Not sure what to bring to the in-law's this Easter? No matter where you go there's always going to be a Hot Cross Bun or two! Spice things up with this Dark Chocolate and Orange Hot Cross Buns! Sure to be a real crowd pleaser, this unique flavour will leave you wanting more!
This recipe has been created by The Party Project, adding her unique touch to this traditional recipe by adding beautiful pink ombre icing! Be sure to check out her other unique Easter creations!
Ingredients for Hot Cross Buns:
4 Cups of Flour
1/3 Cup of Caster Sugar
2 tsp Mixed Spice
1/2 tsp Ground Cloves
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
Pinch of Grated Nutmeg
Zest of 1 Orange
1 tbsp Dried Yeast
40g of Unsalted Butter
1 1/4 Cups of Warm Milk
1 egg
1/2 Cup of Sultanas
1 Cup of Dark Chocolate Chips
Topping Ingredients:
1/2 Cup of Flour
1/3 Cup of Water
Wilton Gel Colour - Rose
Glaze Ingredients:
Juice of an Orange
2 tbsp Caster Sugar
Method
01. Place all of the dry ingredients (sugar, flour, spices, orange, and yeast) into a bowl and stir
02. Melt the butter & leave to cool. Combine cooled butter, beaten egg and half of the milk to the bowl and mix with your hands. Add the remaining milk little by little to achieve a nice soft dough. You may not need all of the milk.
03. Lightly flour your bench and knead the dough a little. Flatten it out into a disc shape, and add the saltanas and choc chips on top. Fold the dough over and knead ingredients to incorporate. Lightly knead for 10 minutes in total.
04. Lightly grease a bowl, place the dough inside. Cover with a damp, clean tea towel and leave it in a warm place for 1-1.5 hours until it doubles in size
05. Place the dough back onto the floured bench, and divide it into 12 portions. Some choose to weigh them to be exact, but you can also guess the size.
06. Grease and line a cake tin, Sally used a 27.5 x17.5 sized tin. Roll each portion into a little ball shape, and pop into the prepared tin snug next to each other. Cover again with a damp tea towel, and allow to rest in the same warm place for another half an hour.
07. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees celsius. To make the topping, add the flour to water in a bowl & divide mixture into 4 bowls. Using a toothpick to add a little bit of the colour at a time, colour each mixture to a different shade of pink.
08. Once your buns have rise, place your pink topping into icing bags and pipe a cross on to the top of each one from a row of dark pink, up to the light pink.
09. Place in the oven for around 15 minutes, or until they turn a lovely caramel brown colour. While they are still in the oven, squeeze the juice out of the orange into a small saucepan, and add the sugar. Cook on a medium heat, stirring until it thickens for approximately 3 minutes.
10. Glaze the Hot Cross Buns with the Gooey Orange Syrup. Enjoy your delicious, Pink Ombré, Chocolate Orange Hot Cross Buns!
Recipe & Photographs: The Party Project