Sticky Hot Cross Buns

Buns
 750 ml white bread flour
 1 sachet instant yeast
 5 ml salt
 80 ml castor sugar
 300 ml milk
 1 large egg
 60 g soft butter
 10 ml ground cinnamon
 5 ml ground mixed spice
 3 ml ground cloves
 200 g fruit cake mix
Crosses
 250 ml flour
 25 ml castor sugar
 150 ml water
Glaze
 60 ml milk
 60 ml castor sugar

1

Place flour, sugar, salt and butter into a large mixing bowl.

2

Add spices and fruit cake mix, combine.

3

Pour yeast into milk, add egg and mix well.

4

Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the yeast mixture. Mix well, and turn out onto a floured work surface.

5

Knead until dough is silky. The raisins will go everywhere, this is totally normal.

6

Leave in a large glass bowl for 45 Minutes to double in size. Cover with a towel or cling film.

7

Turn out the dough onto a clean surface and knead for a minute. Divide into 16 equal pieces.

8

Roll each piece into a round bread roll and place onto a greased baking sheet, leaving some space in between for the buns to rise.

9

Cover with a dish towel and leave to rise for 30 Minutes. Preheat oven to 200ºC.

10

Mix crosses ingredients and pour sticky mixture into a zip lock bag or a piping bag.

11

Snip the corner of the zip lock bag or piping bag and pipe crosses onto the buns.

12

Place buns into the oven and reduce the temperature to 180ºC. Bake for 25 Minutes, until buns are golden on the top and sound hollow when tapped.

13

Combine the glaze ingredients and heat in the microwave for 2 Minutes, stirring every 30 seconds to prevent boiling over.

14

Brush glaze over the buns and cool on a wire rack.

15

Serve with butter, cheese or jam