Her Majesty’s hot cross buns! Buckingham Palace pastry chefs share eight-step recipe for making the traditional Easter treat at home
- Buckingham Palace chefs revealed how to make delicious Hot Cross Buns
- The pastry chefs took to the Royal Family’s Instagram to share the recipe
- Treats feature golden sultanas, raisins, ground mixed spice and free-range eggs
Buckingham Palace chefs have revealed how to make a traditional Good Friday treat fit for the Queen.
Her Majesty’s pastry chefs took to the Royal Family’s Instagram account to share their recipe for delicious Hot Cross Buns.
The recipe features golden sultanas, raisins, ground mixed spice, which are mixed with free-range eggs, flour, fresh yeast and caster sugar before being kneaded and popped in the oven.
HOW TO MAKE THE ROYAL FAMILY’S HOT CROSS BUNS
Ingredients:
1.5 free-range eggs 130ml (½ cup) tepid water
25g (1/8 cup) fresh yeast 2 tablespoons candied mixed peel
375g (3 cups) strong flour 2 tablespoons golden sultanas
2 tablespoons unrefined caster sugar 2 tablespoons raisins
60g (¼ cup) unsalted butter, chilled and diced
A generous pinch of salt
2 teaspoons ground mixed spice
Her Majesty’s pastry chefs took to the Royal Family’s Instagram account to share their recipe for delicious Hot Cross Buns
For the piping paste:
4 tablespoons plain white flour
1 tablespoon unrefined caster sugar
1 tablespoon cold water
For the sugar syrup:
100ml (½ cup) water
200g (1 cup) unrefined caster sugar
Equipment:
piping bag
Place the eggs and dispersed yeast into a small bowl and mix together before pouring into the well in the centre of the dry ingredients
Method:
Preheat the oven to 220ºC (425ºF, gas mark 7)
- Disperse the yeast in the tepid water. Sieve the flour, salt, sugar and mixed spice into a large mixing bowl
- Make a well in the centre of the mixture. Place the eggs and dispersed yeast into a small bowl and mix together before pouring into the well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Mix together to form a soft pliable dough and work in the butter
- Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured work surface and carefully incorporate the dried fruit into the dough. Knead the dough for a further 5 minutes, or until it feels smooth and elastic.
- Divide the dough into evenly sized buns – this recipe will make about 15. You can weigh them on a set of scales to ensure consistent sizes; you will need about 50 grams of dough per bun.
- Roll each piece of dough into a ball and place on to a lined baking tray and cover with cling film and leave to prove for 30-45 minutes – they should double in size
- While you are waiting, mix together the ingredients for the piping paste to form a paste with a consistency that will allow you to pipe a cross on to each bun
- Once the buns have finished their prove, pipe the crosses, then place the buns on the middle shelf of the preheated oven and bake for 8–12 minutes, or until they turn a pale golden brown
- Whilst they bake, boil together the sugar and water to make the sugar syrup. As soon as you remove the buns from the oven, brush them with the warm sugar syrup and set aside to cool on a wire rack
Once the buns have finished their prove, pipe the crosses, then place the buns on the middle shelf of the preheated oven and bake for 8–12 minutes
The easy step by step video caption read: ‘Are you enjoying a Hot Cross Bun this Good Friday? The Royal Pastry Chefs have shared their method of making this traditional #Easter Treat.’
Hot Cross Buns are first supposed to have been made by a monk in St Albans Abbey in the fourteenth century, to distribute to the poor.
They are named after the flour paste cross on top representing Jesus’s crucifixion.
In 1592, Queen Elizabeth I decreed that the buns could no longer be sold on any day except for Good Friday, Christmas or for burials.
The myth is that they simply were too special to be eaten any other day.
Roll each piece of dough into a ball and place on to a lined baking tray and cover with cling film and leave to prove for 30-45 minutes – they should double in size
Once the buns have finished their prove, pipe the crosses, then place the buns on the middle shelf of the preheated oven and bake for 8–12 minutes, or until they turn a pale golden brown
The Royal Family celebrate Easter at Windsor Castle where The Queen usually attends a church service on Easter Sunday at St George’s Chapel.
However Her Majesty is not expected to attend the Easter Sunday service this weekend, according to a royal source.
Traditionally the Queen distributes Maundy Money each year on the Thursday before Easter Sunday.
She travels to a different cathedral across the country to hand out special coins to men and women in recognition for their contribution to their community and church.
This year Prince Charles and Camilla represented her at the Royal Maundy service at Windsor.
The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are greeted by the Bishop of Worcester as they represent the Queen, at the Royal Maundy Service at St George’s Chapel, Windsor
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