Yellow and Green Hot Cross Buns
I was very pleased with how my Yellow and Green Hot Cross Buns turned out. Their taste is great too. The only issue is that the colour is not very intense, but that might be because I used no food colouring, only superfoods. For the yellow one I’ve used turmeric and for the green one I used matcha and spinach powder. These are fun and cute, so they would make a great addition to the Easter menu.
Hot cross buns need a lot of faffing around, they need a lot of proving time, and this makes them not exactly easy to make. So, I’ve decided to make more and freeze some for later. This means that before Easter I will not need to bake theme, having more spare time. The recipe is not difficult per se, but they need two intervals of 1 hour and a half of proving, before the last proving time of 1 hour.
Ingredients for 12 Yellow and Green Hot Cross Buns:
– 300g strong white flour
– 200g strong wholemeal flour
– 70g sugar
– 12g yeast
– 2 free range eggs
– 300ml soya milk, warm
– 50g plain white flour
for yellow buns
– 2 tsp turmeric
– 2 tsp cinnamon
– 75g raisins
for green buns
– 1 tsp matcha
– 1 heaped tsp spirulina powder
– 75g raisins
To make the dough, but in the bowl of the food mixer half of the strong flour. Make a well and put half of the yeast, half of the sugar, pour 150ml milk and one egg. Continue by adding the turmeric and cinnamon. Knead at low speed for 6 to 7 minutes. You can knead by hand, but raise the time to 10 minutes if you are doing that.
Tip the dough onto the floured surface and spread it with your hands. Add the raisins and knead until they are incorporated into the dough. Put the dough in an oiled bowl, cover, and leave to rise for one hour and a half.
Clean the bowl of the food mixer and repeat with the rest of the strong flour, sugar, milk, egg, and add the matcha and spirulina powder. After it is kneaded for 6 to 7 minutes, tip it onto the floured worktop, and incorporate the raisins. Put the dough in an oiled bowl, cover, and leave to rise for one hour and a half.
After the time is up, sprinkle a bit of flour on the worktop, tip the first dough and knead a bit. Put it back in the bowl, cover it, and leave it for another hour and a half. Do the same with the other dough.
Now, tip the dough on the floured worktop. Cut it in 6 equal pieces, using a kitchen scale if you want to. Each one is about 90g. Shape the buns and place them on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper. Do the same with the green dough. Cover the buns with a tea towel and leave them to prove for another hour.
Preheat the oven at 220C or 200C for fan ovens. Make a flour paste from the 50g of plain flour with water. Add the water gradually so the paste is not too runny. Put the paste in a pipping bag and make the crosses over the buns, or use a teaspoon and lots of patience to make the decorations. Put the trays in the oven. Bake the buns for 12-15 minutes or until golden.
Transfer them on a cooling rack and leave to cool completely. Serve them with what you like. This time I served them with sugar-free raspberry jam.
