Eggless Hot Cross Buns

Every one loves the nursery rhyme.

"Hot cross buns, Hot cross buns
One a penny, Two a penny, Hot cross buns."
When Reva announced the A.W.E.D. British I wanted to try out theses buns for the event. According to tradition, these buns are prepared and relished on Easter. But now you can get it all round the year. These buns contain spices and candied fruits and are so fragrant. The candied fruits may vary from one recipe to the other. These are English treats, which date back to the pre-christian era.  It is thought that they are the descendants of the small cakes offered to Eostre, the goddess of spring. They may have been marked with a cross even in ancient times, to represent the four quarters of the moon. In later centuries these buns with cross became symbol of Christ's crucification. For more details on these cute buns check here and here
My hubby liked it a lot. Next time, I would like to add more sugar for the extra sweetness. I followed the recipe except for eggs. I just substituted eggs with tofu. The texture was great. It came out as expected. I prepared half of the given measurements and got 6 buns. If you are preparing the whole recipe, then it will yield 12 buns.

Recipe Source: The Knead For Bread
Ingredients:
For the Buns:
Buttermilk-1 1/2cups
Melted butter-1/4cup
Tofu 1/2cup(grind to a fine paste with 1/8cup milk)
Sugar-1/2cup
Flour-3 1/2cups-4cups
Instant Yeast-1tbs
Salt-1tsp
Mace-1/2tsp
Cinnamon-1tsp
Cut Fruits / Tutti frutti-1cup


For the paste:
Flour-3tbs
Powdered Sugar-1/2tsp
Water-2tbs


For Glaze:
Sugar-50gm
Water-50gm


Procedure:
1. Heat Buttermilk till lukewarm. Stir well untill the required temperature.
2. Pour it into a large bowl and mix in the sugar,melted butter and tofu paste with a wooden spoon and keep it aside.
3. Mix 1cup of  flour, spices, salt and yeast in a separate bowl. 
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix with the wooden spoon till smooth.
5. Add another cup of flour and mix well. Add flour little by little until the dough comes together. It will be sticky.
6. Flour the counter, add the dough on top and sprinkle some more flour and knead well for 8 minutes.
7. The dough should be on the sticky side. Add the cut fruits and knead well.
8. Oil a bowl, place the dough inside and rotate to coat the dough with oil.
9. Cover with wrap and keep it in fridge overnight.
10. Take it out from the fridge 4 hours before working on dough. 
11. Punch down the dough and let it rest for 20minutes.
12. Transfer to the counter top and shape it into a log.
13. Cut it into 12 equal parts.
14. Shape each ball into a round and arrange on a tray lined with butter paper.
15. Keep it aside until the balls become double the size.
16. Mix the ingredients given for the paste. Take it in a plastic bag. Cut the tip and pipe out cross on each bun.
17. Preheat oven to 175C.
18. Bake the buns for 30-35minutes.
19. Combine water and sugar given for the glaze. when it starts boiling, remove from flame and set aside.
20. Brush the hot buns with the glaze and serve hot.


Photo Tutorial:

Mix dry ingredients

Mix dry and wet ingredients

Pour onto the counter

Knead to a soft dough

Knead for 8 minutes. You can see the difference between both doughs.

Add the cut fruits

Incorporate them into the dough

Place in an oiled bowl

Let it in fridge overnight

Punch down dough

Shape into log

Cut into 6

Arrange on a greased, lined tray

Prepare the paste

Pipe cross onto the bun

Bake till golden brown

Apply glaze and serve hot

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