Heavy Hot Cross to Bear
My attempt at Hamelman’s Hot Cross buns from his Bread book. I made these on previous Easter’s and they were always well received. One of the reasons I like his version is because the crossing paste is extra tasty. It is made with butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, lemon zest and flour. I am not going to post his recipe so buy the book. The recipe makes enough paste for four dozen buns and since I was only making two dozen and I didn’t have a smaller tip, I piped it on thick. The other thing that made these better this time was making my own candied orange peel and using the leftover orange flavored sugar water to brush on the buns after they come out of the oven. I usually buy candied fruit at the market but could not find it in any store and after making my own I will never buy them again.
Without further ado here are more Hot Cross Buns to throw on the pile. 
Happy Easter
Comments
I see you've got a baker's dozen on the left there! It's only right to check them before sharing! 😁
Well done for making your own candied orange, that's on my to-do list - peels still in the freezer!
Even if I'm a bit of a stickler about the cross being just flour and water, I'd be very happy to receive one!
Happy Easter!
Michael
The intensity of flavor in the orange peels was an eye opener. I used a vegetable peeler and scraped away the remaining pith before blanching so there was no bitterness. I am a stickler for the cross to be baked on and not a sugar icing piped on afterwards. My only regret with this batch was not soaking the currants beforehand to plump them up and prevent them from stealing water from the dough.
The cross is a Celtic symbol for the four seasons pre-dating Easter although the spice mixture is related to embalming as I found out in my readings so
Happy Equinox
Don
These look delicious Don. You’ll be happy to know that I did a paste cross on my second batch so was able to eat them warm. Now that I know that I like HXB, I’ll know to plan ahead next year and make candied peel in advance. I’ve made it before and they turn out way better than store bought.
Benny
I hope it was a nice Easter for you. The candied peel and the orange simple syrup was a nice touch that I will definitely do again. I used two oranges this time but will make extra in the future to dip in melted chocolate.
Don
They look fabulous. I made the traditional English hot cross buns again this year and they were great. I noted that Hamelman's 3rd ed. had a more complex crossing paste from his previous books. I think I'll go with the updated one you made as it looks delicious. I used the old paste with year that is 100% pastry flour, 30% veg oil and 70% water; quite bland compared to the one you made. The buns were great though, unchanged from pervious editions.
My 1st edition has the elaborate crossing paste and I highly recommend it. Making your own candied peels is an upgrade as well.