Happy Easter! Hot Cross Buns

Hot cross buns, hot cross buns… Are you singing it in your head yet?  I can't help hearing the melody every time I think of the traditional Easter treat.  Yet many people in the western US have probably never seen actual hot cross buns.  Some bakeries carry them this time of year, but if you want to add this traditional British and Irish touch to your Easter brunch, it's probably easiest to make them yourself.

So what are hot cross buns?  They're slightly sweet rolls with spices and fruit, common in Ireland throughout the Easter season.  They're a great brunch or afternoon tea item, but not sweet enough for dessert.  They are yeast rolls, so allow at least 2 1/2 hours to make these (though you absolutely can make them the night before your brunch).





Ingredients:

• 4 cups AP flour
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup (8 tbs) butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp each allspice and nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup mixed dried fruit, such as raisins, currants, or cherries
• zest of 1 orange

For the glaze:

• 1 egg
• 1 tbs water

For the cross:

• 1/2 cup AP flour
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tbs powdered sugar
• 1 tbs butter, melted

Instructions:

Heat the milk and butter on the stove until the butter melts and the milk just begins to steam.  Stir in the sugar and yeast and let stand for 10 minutes or so, until the mixture becomes foamy.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, spices, and salt.  Slowly add the milk mixture, stirring.  Add the eggs one at a time, then the fruit and orange zest, mixing to combine.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth and shiny.  Return the dough to the bowl, lightly oiled, cover the bowl with a clean dishtowel, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, divide the dough into 12-15 even balls.  Turn each ball inside out, pinching the bottoms together.  Set them pinched side down on a lightly oiled baking sheet, cover loosely, and set aside to rise for another 30 minutes or so, until doubled in size.

Pre-heat the oven to 400F.  Make the glaze by whisking together the egg and water.  Lightly brush the buns with the glaze, then make the crosses.  Mix together all ingredients to make a dough.  Form a cross across the top of each bun either using a pastry bag or using your fingers.

Bake in the pre-heated oven 15-20 minutes, until puffed and golden.  Allow to cool until slightly warm.

Irish (American) Soda Bread, Version II

My first Irish (American) soda bread experiment was absolutely delicious, and I would definitely make it again, but the bread turned out much softer and springier than I had expected, and I felt it could do with a little more fruit.  Somehow, it just wasn't quite like the soda bread I used to buy this time of year from a local bakery.  So, naturally, I decided to give it another try, especially since I needed some bread for my St Patrick's Day breakfast anyway.

This time, I took the same simple white soda bread recipe I used last time, and added currants and a little sugar.  I hoped leaving out the egg I used last time would result in something with the texture of a basic soda bread, and the sugar and currants would add just enough sweetness to the finished product.

It turned out wonderfully!  It's just sweet enough, but still has the texture of traditional soda bread.  Perfect for breakfast, with lots of butter!


Ingredients:

• 2 cups AP flour
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tbs brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/3 cup dried currants

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350F.  Flour a baking sheet.  Combine flour, sugar, and baking soda in a medium mixing bowl.  Add buttermilk and stir until just combined.  Fold in currants.  Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface and form into a round loaf.  Place loaf on the floured baking sheet, cut a deep cross in the top (at least half way through), and bake in the preheated oven 30-40 minutes, or until the loaf is golden brown and makes a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom.  Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Irish (American) Soda Bread

With one week to go until St Patrick's Day, Irish soda bread is beginning to appear in bakeries and even grocery stores across the US.  It's a slightly sweet quick bread, made with raisins, dried currants, and sometimes caraway seeds, and is absolutely delicious buttered.  It's a St Patrick's Day treat that I look forward to every year.

But like many American St Patrick's Day traditions, this bread actually originated on this side of the Atlantic.  It probably evolved from the simple soda breads made in Ireland; it's essentially a basic white soda bread with sugar and dried fruit added.  These additions, as well as the use of more finely milled white flour made it a more expensive loaf than the brown soda bread it evolved from, an indulgence made possible by the increasing prosperity of Irish Americans in the late 19th century.

If you're looking for a nice sweet bread to smear with butter for your St Patrick's Day breakfast, look no further.  If, however, you're after a traditional addition to your supper, or a more savory slice of toast, you may want to try brown soda bread or traditional white soda bread.  All are delicious, so it's really just a matter of preference.

Ingredients:

• 2- 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup buttermilk

• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda 

•  1 large egg 

•  2 tbs sugar 

•  1/3 cups dried currants or rasins

• pinch of salt 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 and sprinkle a cookie sheet with flour. Combine dry ingredients except fruit in a medium mixing bowl. Beat together egg and buttermilk until combined.  Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients a little at a time, mixing with a wooden spoon after each addition. Add  more flour as needed.  When the mixture forms a crumbly dough, fold in fruit, and form into a ball. Place the dough on the prepared cookie sheet and cut a deep cross in the top (at least half way through the dough).  Bake in the preheated oven 30-35 minutes, or until the outside is golden brown, the loaf has at least doubled in size, and the bread makes a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom. Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.

To make this American version of soda bread, I just took my basic white soda bread recipe and added some sugar, an egg, and a little fruit.  The egg and sugar completely transform the bread; this is a much softer loaf.  It's still extremely quick and easy to make, which it the whole point of using baking soda rather than yeast, and means you can easily bake a loaf while you're preparing the rest of your St Patrick's Day brunch.  This is excellent news, as this bread really is best still a little warm from the oven.  If you don't want to get up early enough to bake, though, it will keep overnight.

Irish Brown Bread

As I mentioned before in my Irish soda bread post, brown soda bread is actually much more common in Ireland, both today and historically.  It's essentially the same recipe as white soda bread, only made with  whole grain flour, which was traditionally cheaper than white flour.  I've seen other recipes for brown soda bread including things like oats and molasses, but as usual, I've started with the simplest version of the recipe, though I may try and post one of the molasses ones later.



Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• approximately 2 cups buttermilk*

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 450F.  Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  Make a well in the center and pour in the milk.  Stir briefly, and add a little more milk if needed, but the dough should be quite dry.  Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and form into a ball.  Place the dough on a lightly floured baking sheet, cut a deep cross in the top of the bread, at least half way through, and prick each of the four sections with a sharp knife.  Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 400 and continue baking for 20 minutes.  Turn the bread upside down and continue baking approximately 15 minutes, until the bottom makes a hollow sound when tapped.  Allow to cool slightly before serving.



This bread is best within 24 hours of baking.  It's great toasted with breakfast, topped with smoked salmon, or alongside a soup. Or just by itself with lots of butter, for that matter.  If you're looking for an authentic addition to your St Patrick's Day feast, look no further!

* Thrifty Scotswoman's Tip: if you don't have buttermilk in the house and don't want to buy some for just one recipe, you can use regular milk with an acid like lemon juice or vinegar added.  I used 2% milk with about a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar per cup, and it worked really well.

Irish Soda Bread (Traditional)

If you've grown up like I did with the version of this bread that's available in all American bakeries and grocery stores in the week or so before St Patrick's Day, with raisins and sugar, this recipe will be nothing like what you're imagining.  You see, like most American St Patrick's day traditions- corned beef and cabbage, green beer, and the utterly inexplicable wearing of kilts, often in Scottish tartans- the soda bread you see in the shops is an Irish American invention.  The traditional Irish version is much simpler, and not a sweet bread.  

What it is, really, is just a simple white or brown quick bread.  It dates from the early 19th century, when most homes did not have ovens.  Breads were baked on the hearth instead, or else in a large cast-iron pot that could be placed directly in the fire- hence the bread's round shape.  The introduction of baking soda around this time made baking a loaf of bread daily much quicker and easier- no waiting around for the bread to rise- which made at-home baking possible even for farm families who all worked the fields all day.  Soda bread in it's simplest form is made from just four ingredients: flour, baking soda, buttermilk, and salt.  Brown (whole grain, less finely milled) flour was cheaper, and so was used for everyday, while the finer white flour, and maybe sometimes some dried fruit, sugar, or an egg for special occasions.  Here follows the basic recipe, using white all-purpose flour because I didn't have whole grain on hand:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup buttermilk

• 1 tsp baking soda

• pinch of salt 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 and sprinkle a cookie sheet with flour. Combine dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Add buttermilk a little at a time, mixing with a wooden spoon after each addition. When the mixture forms a crumbly dough, form into a ball. Place the dough on the prepared cookie sheet and cut a deep cross in the top (at least half way through the dough). DO NOT skip this step, as the bread will not bake evenly otherwise (or the fairies won't be able to get out, if we're being superstitious). Bake in the preheated oven 30-45 minutes, or until the outside is golden brown, the loaf has at least doubled in size, and the bread makes a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom. Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.

It's really that simple.  While I was researching this recipe, I found everything from the common American quick bread with raisins to a few yeast breads labeled as Irish Soda Bread.  Many of these breads looked almost like deserts, and sounded like they took a lot of work to produce.  This, on the other hand, is so simple that I have no trouble baking it before breakfast on a Saturday morning.  It's great toasted or fresh out of the oven, smeared with butter and jam.