Basic

Hot Cross Bun Bread Pudding

Do you have left over hot cross buns you bought or made that have gone slightly stale? Don’t throw them out – you can use them in a simple hot cross bun bread pudding!

This recipe is a slight twist on my traditional bread pudding but it’s all equally as tasty – I promise. I’ve made this recipe quite lot, especially around Easter each year but this year is slightly different as ingredient availability has been terrible. That’s why I have made some changes and they work well, so you can make suitable changes to work with what you have.

I had no light brown sugar so used coconut sugar, added more spices (but use as much or as little spice as you like) and a little more fruit – honestly it makes a tasty bread pudding – work with what you have, if you can.

I have recipes for both traditional bread pudding and traditional hot cross buns, if you’re interested.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

1,000g Hot cross buns, roughly chopped.

1,200ml Whole milk.

200g Dried mixed fruit.

Ground spices (I used a mix of cinnamon, ginger, mixed spice, all spice and nutmeg) as much or as little as you’d like.

4 Egg.

150g Coconut sugar (plus additional for sprinkling on top before baking).

100g Granulated sugar.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

Method:

Before you get into making the bread pudding, you’re best to do some prep. Weigh up all your ingredients, line a 9×13 cake tin and preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f.

To start, grab your jug or bowl of whole milk and place the eggs and ground spices into it and give it all a good whisk until everything is combined.

Take your bowl of roughly chopped hot cross buns and pour over the liquid mix all over.

Then you can add in the sugars, dried fruit and vanilla extract and start to combined everything using your hands. This is he best way to make this pudding, if you can’t mix by hand, feel free to use a stand mixer.

After a couple of minutes of mixing, there should be no big lumps of bread and everything should be fully incorporated.

Now you can take your lined 9×13 inch cake tin, and pour in the bread pudding mixture.

You will need to level this off as best you can, using either a small cranked palette knife or a silicon spatula – either work pretty well.

Just before you place into the oven, you will want to sprinkle over some sugar (whichever you have, I had a small amount of brown sugar left over from another bake), this will help create a crunchy texture on top, as well as a touch of sweetness.

You can then go ahead and bake in your preheated oven for 40-50 minutes. You will know when its done, as it will look perfectly crunchy and be firm to the touch.

Allow to cool down completely before slicing up, its best enjoyed cold on its own. Well, that’s how I choose to enjoy it personally.

That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The YouTube video will be linked down below.

Crumpets

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Today, I’ll be showing you how to make a batch of crumpets – they’re really easy to make and having all the time in the world, why not knock a batch up?

I was hungry the other day and really wanted crumpets, but it’s not an essential is it? So, I found my old college work books and looked for a recipe. Low and behold, there was a recipe for crumpets! I hadn’t made these since I was in maybe first or second year of college… You’re looking a 6 or 7 years ago (yikes).

Anyway, if you’re not sure what a crumpet is, are you alright? Crumpets (or sometimes known as pikelets. I think this is a regional thing, here in the West Midlands, they are known by both names) are a small yeasted breakfast bread, which is baked on a hot plate (or frying pan). They are instantly recognisable as they have holes all over the top of them, this allows whatever you spread on them to permeate through – salted butter is the way to go with these, it’s a classic.

These are normally pretty readily available in the supermarkets but with the current Covid-19 situation, finding anything is still pretty difficult. That’s why making your own is the best thing to do – plus that way, you know what’s going into your food and it tastes a lot better!

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

500g Strong bread flour.

530ml Water, at 37˚c/99˚f.

25g Fresh yeast.

8g Salt.

25g Sugar.

155ml Water, at 37˚c/99˚f.

Method:

Before you get into making these crumpets, you’re best to do some prep work. Start by weighing up your ingredients and getting any equipment you may need, such as a whisk and mixing bowl.

To start own the crumpets, grab yourself a large mixing bowl and into it place the flour and salt. Then give them a good mix until they are combined.

Then you can go ahead and add in the yeast, sugar and 530ml of water. Whisk until a smooth batter forms, this isn’t like other breads as it’s a loose consistency but it’s completely normal.

Once smooth, you can go ahead and cover the bowl with some clingfilm (or like I have, a plastic food bag because I ran out of clingfilm) and leave somewhere warm to ferment for 40-50 minutes.

You will notice that the mixture will have risen well and look a little messy, that’s perfect. The fermenting time is done.

Go ahead and add in the second weight of water, which is 155ml and whisk until the water has been fully incorporated and the batter is perfectly smooth.

The mixture needs between 5-10 minutes to rest, so just leave uncovered on the side while you prepare the frying pan.

Grab yourself a small/medium frying pan and a 10cm/4 inch egg ring/bottomless cake tin. My egg rings weren’t deep sided enough, so made a slightly bigger crumpet using my 4 inch cake tin.

Lightly grease your frying pan and the ring you’re using and place the ring in the drying pan over a medium heat on the hob..

Once the frying pan is preheated, you can go ahead and pour the batter in, filling the ring about 1/3 of the way full as these do rise a little while baking.

You will think nothing is happening at first but as they start to bake, you’ll notice bubbles start to form all on top of the crumpet, thats perfect. This happens over a few minutes, once they are almost done, you should be able to burst a bubble in the centre and it won’t fill back in, if it does, it needs longe.

Once they have done on the one side, remove the ring and flip onto the other side just to colour and finish them off.

Now that it’s done, transfer onto a cooling rack. Although these can be enjoyed while fresh, I preferred to let mine cool fully and then reheat them in the toaster and slather in butter.

From this amount of batter, you should be able to make around 10 generously size crumpets. These are way better than the ones you can buy from the supermarket – let me tell you.

Cadbury Mini Egg Cookies

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Easter is juts a few weeks away, so why not get ahead with your Easter baking and make these Cadbury Mini Egg cookies? These will go down a treat with everybody!

The cookie dough is a simple vanilla one, but when you add in the mini eggs you not only get the chocolate and vanilla combination but you also get a pop of colour from the mini eggs – it’s a win win in my opinion. If you make these cookies, you should get around 12 cookies!

Now,I’m not sure if Cadbury mini eggs are available all over the world but in the UK they are one of the treats that show Easter is near (even if that is in January… Yes, I found mini eggs in January), I use Cadbury mini eggs, mostly because they’re a classic but also the colour doesn’t fade while they are in the oven. Feel free to use whichever mini eggs you can get a hold of.

I just wanted to let people know that this recipe like the next few was recorded before the coronavirus really impacted the UK, so I was able to buy ingredients pretty freely. I didn’t want people to think I wasn’t considering the current situation, stay in and keep safe!

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

75g Butter.

75g Light brown sugar.

75g Granulated sugar.

1 Egg.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

175g Plain flour.

1/2 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt.

100-120g Cadbury mini eggs (plus extra to decorate).

Method:

Before you get into making these cookies, I recommend you do some prep work. Start by weighing up all your ingredients, lining a baking tray with parchment paper and preheating your oven to 180˚c/350˚f.

To start, take a large mixing bowl and place the butter, light brown sugar and granulated sugar and beat them together on a medium-high speed until the mixture is lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency.

Once lighter and fluffier, you can go ahead and give the mixing bowl a good scraping down, just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in while mixing.

Go ahead and add in the egg and vanilla, then mix until they have been fully worked in. You may notice a change in consistency, this is normal, don’t worry.

Now you can go ahead and give the bowl a good scraping down, this is again just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in while mixing.

Grab your sieve and place it not the mixing bowl and pass the plain flour, baking powder and salt through it. This is just to remove any lumps that may be in the dry mix. You can also go ahead and add the mini eggs into the bowl as well.

Then mix on a medium speed until the dry ingredients have been incorporated and the mini eggs are equally distributed in the cookie dough.

Give the bowl another good scraping down, just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in.

Take your lined baking tray, a cookie scoop and the cookie dough and start to tray up!

For each cookie, take two scoops of cookie dough and roll them together and place onto the baking tray. This next step is optional but it helps the cookies bake a little more uniform. Grab a large circular cookie cutter and just round off the balls of dough a little.

Once you have a tray full of cookie dough, place into your preheated oven and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown round the edges.

Once the baking time is finished, you can take them from the oven and finish them off with some more mini eggs (because is it possible to have too much chocolate?).

Now that they’re baked, you can allow them to cool on the baking tray or transfer onto a cooling rack, either will be fine. Once cooled, enjoy or you can freeze them, whichever works best for you.

Cheese and Bacon Hot Cross Buns

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Easter is only a few weeks away and with the country being on lockdown due to the coronavirus, why not stay in and make a batch of hot cross buns? I promise, they’re pretty easy and don’t require a lot of ingredients.

How is the self-isolating going? Family or friends driving you nuts yet? Why don’t you get in the kitchen and make a batch of these hot cross buns up! They are different to the traditional hot cross bun, as they are savoury. A ‘traditional’ hot cross bun is made with mixed dried fruit and spices, where as this one has cheese and bacon – quite the difference, huh?

The flavours are simple, mostly because you can add too many flavours to a bread and it simply ruins it but feel free to add whatever you like to the dough.

There is one thing I wanted to say about this recipe and the next few coming up. They were recorded before the coronavirus really started to impact everyday life and when you could go to the supermarket and buy whatever you needed (hope you panic buyers are happy with what you’ve got). I didn’t want anyone to think I was being insensitive with what I was making, especially now that ingredients are getting harder and harder to find.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

500g Strong bread flour.

5g Salt.

50g Fresh yeast.

75g Butter.

50g Granulated sugar.

1 Egg.

175ml Water, warm.

100g Cheddar cheese.

75g Bacon, cooked and chopped small.

Cross paste:

Bread flour.

Water.

Method:

Before you get into making the buns, you’re best to do some prep work. Weigh up all your ingredients, lightly oil a large mixing bowl and get any equipment you may need ready, such as a stand mixer and a spatula.

Into a large mixing bowl, place the flour and salt and give it all a good whisk together, just until the two ingredients are fully incorporated.

Go ahead and add the remaining ingredients, except for the cheese and bacon into the bowl and then start to mix it on a low speed (the second or third lowest is ideal) and mix for 5-6 minutes or until a clear dough forms.

Then you can go ahead and add the cheese and bacon and mix for a further 1-2 minutes, or until they are fairly distributed within the dough.

Flour your work surface with some bread flour and then place the dough on top of it. Give the dough a brief knead, just until the dough is smooth and elastic. Bring it into a ball shape.

You can then transfer the dough into your lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film and leave it somewhere warm to proof for roughly an hour or until doubled in size.

Once the dough has doubled in size, you’ll want to knock the dough back. Start by lightly flouring your work surface with some bread flour and place the dough onto it and press down the dough to remove the gases that have built up in the dough during the first proof.

Now it’s been knocked back, you can bring it back into a ball shape and cover with cling film to prevent a skin forming on the dough.

Take the weight of the dough and divide it by 12, then scale the dough up into 12 equal portions and round the balls of dough up into a smooth and well shaped ball then place onto a lined baking tray.

On the tray, you should be able to place 12 buns easily, stick to using the 3 across by 4 down layout. Leave an equal amount of space between the buns as they will batch while proofing and baking.

Now if the ideal time to preheat your oven to 200˚c/390˚f and to make the cross paste. To make the paste, simple add a small amount of flour into a bowl and add as much water as required. Mixing well in between, make sure the paste is thick enough to hold its shape but is loose enough to pipe easily.

Cover with clingfilm and leave somewhere warm for roughly 45-60 minutes or until they are well risen (if they’re batching, thats a good thing).

Place the hot cross buns into the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes or until well coloured (not like mine, which caught a little due to having a grocery order delivered. I timed it perfectly but the delivery driver came early fgs!).

Brioche Buns

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

If you’re looking a rich but light and fluffy bread bin recipe, I have the recipe for you. TodayI’ll be sharing my recipe for brioche buns, these are far superior to the ones you can buy in your local shops.

Brioche buns have increased in popularity, mostly due to how well they work with burgers. This is because the dough is enriched with both butter and egg, making for a richer, softer and moister bun.

Using this recipe, you can keep it plain or add in dried fruit or chocolate chips for a sweet alternative. It’s a pretty versatile recipe, for savoury or sweet.

Now, I am aware of the current situation in the world and how trying to buy even the basics is becoming harder each day. The recipes for the next 3 weeks were recorded before this outbreak – I’ll be returning to more basic recipes once the time comes.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

500g White bread flour.

8g Salt.

50g Fresh yeast.

125g Butter.

50g Granulated sugar.

250ml Egg.

75ml Milk.

Method:

Before you get into the baking, you’re best to do some preparations. Start by weighing up all your ingredients, oiling a large bowl and getting any equipment you may need ready, such as a large mixing bowl or spatula.

To start, take your large mixing bowl and add in the white bread flour along with the salt and whisk until they are well combined.

You can then go ahead and add the remaining ingredients.

Start the mixer on a low speed to start and mix until a dough has formed. When the dough is completely mixed, it will have a softer consistency compared to a standard dough, this is due to the addition of butter and egg.

Generously flour your countertop, then give the dough a knead until it is smooth and elastic. Bring it into a ball shape, using your hands to round it off, then you can place it into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with clingfilm.

Allow the dough to proof for around an hour or until the dough has doubled in size (the time will vary depending on how warm it is where you’re leaving the dough to proof – try not to exceed 35/36˚c).

While your dough is proofing, it’s the perfect time to wash up and get clean – this is usually what I do. It will save you having a lot more washing up at the end, cleaning as you go along is honestly the best time saving thing you can do in the kitchen.

Once you’re cleaned down and the dough has proofed up, you can then go ahead and flour your surface and place the dough directly onto it. Now you’ll want to knock the dough back, this is simply the process of removing the gases that built up in the dough during the first proof.

Bring the dough back into a ball shape and then weigh the total weight and divide that by 12 to get the weight of each dough ball.

Take the dough balls and round them off using the palm and side of your hand along with the countertop and round it off until its a smooth ball shape. Place around 6 on to a standard baking tray, these proof up pretty big and need space to expand. Cover with clingfilm and leave somewhere warm for roughly 30-45 minutes or until they have doubled in size again.

As mentioned earlier, the proofing time will really depend on how warm it it where you are or where you’re placing the dough, for me, I just keep mine on the countertop in the kitchen but you may need to find somewhere warmer or cooler. I also recommend preheating your oven to 200˚c/390˚f at this point.

Now that the buns have risen well, you’ll want to remove the clingfilm from on top and then place the trays into the preheated oven and bake for 12-15 minutes or until they are a very nice brown colour all over (these buns will colour well due to the dough being enriched).

You’ll know once the buns are done as they will have take on a consistent ‘golden’ brown colour and feel light when lifted up. Transfer from the baking tray onto a cooling rack, this will stop the buns going soggy on the baking tray.

So, there you go. My recipe for brioche buns, now all you need is to make some burger patties and you’ll be away!

Creme Egg Blondies

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

I’m glad I can finally share these Cadbury creme egg blondies with you today!

I made these a short while back and ever since, I’ve been wanting them again. They are sweet, chocolatey and perfectly dense and gooey – what more could you possibly want from a blondie?

I’ve taken my easy blondie recipe and amended it to suit the Easter theme a little better. I simply take some white chocolate spread and colour it with some orange paste to represent the ‘egg yolk’ in the creme egg and have some kept white to swirl throughout the blondies and make sure you cut up your creme eggs, I like to quarter mine but you can make them bigger (using halves for example).

These blondies are ideal to make if you’re stuck in quarantine and well worth the time you will be investing… Who doesn’t want this sweet confection? Might as well leave this isolation with a cavity or two.

I feel that I have to let you know that this recipe was made before the panic buying phenomenon happened in the UK, so I was able to get ingredients pretty freely. I understand that because of the current situation, you may not be able to find all the ingredients you need and I understand that.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

200g White chocolate.

130g Butter.

160g Granulated sugar.

190g Plain flour.

1/2 tsp Salt.

3 Eggs.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

80g White chocolate spread.

80g White chocolate spread (coloured orange).

Creme eggs (as many as you need, either halved or quartered).

Method:

Before you get into making the blondies, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up all of your ingredients, line your 8 inch square tin and preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and get any equipment you intend on using. I recommend colouring your white chocolate spread now, to save time and get the job done.

Into a heatproof bowl, place your butter and white chocolate and melt them over a bain-marie (which is over a medium heat), try your best not to get the mixture too hot. If this happens, the mixture may split.Once the butter and chocolate are melted, add in your sugar and straight away whisk it in, until it has been fully incorporated.

Next you can add in the plain flour and salt, passing them through a sieve first, just to remove any lumps that may be in the dry mix. Mix on a low-medium speed until the dry ingredients have been fully incorporated, try your best not to over mix.

Now you can add in all of your eggs and vanilla extract and whisk until everything is smooth and the consistency has become looser in consistency.

Take your lined cake tin and pour your blondie batter into the tin and level it out as best you can.

Grab your both of your white chocolate spreads and warm them in the microwave to make them a little more fluid. Then take dollops and place on top of the blondie batter and just swirl it around until you have a marble effect.

Place in the preheated oven and bake for about 20 minutes and then remove from the oven and place on the creme eggs. You can then go ahead and place them back in the oven to bake for a further 10-15 minutes.

Once they are fully baked, allow them to cool down fully before you try and remove them from the tin. Once completely cooled down, place the tin into the fridge (this is to help them be as dense and fudgy as possible) overnight or until the following day.

Then you can cut them up into slices, I went with 8 generous slices but you could also make them into 16 smaller squares. However you choose to cut them up, they’ll still taste the same!

Mini Egg No-Bake Cheesecake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Easter is just a few weeks away and considering that you may have family and/or friends around you and don’t have time to be slaving away in the kitchen, today I’m going to be sharing my recipe for a super easy and colourful no-bake cheesecake.

Don’t get me wrong, I love baking but sometimes you don’t want to be in the kitchen for hours on end making something. That’s why I’m sharing my recipe for this Easter edition of a no-bake cheesecake – it includes 3 colourful layers of vanilla cheesecake, with freshly whipped cream and Cadbury mini eggs.

There is another reason this cheesecake may be ideal, it uses no electrical equipment. Meaning no matter what you have, you should be able to make this. All you need, at the very least is a 6 inch cake tin, whisk and a large mixing bowl.

If you have a stand or hand mixer, feel free to use it for convenience. I also recommend using a small cranked palette knife, to help spread and level the mixture out once its in the tin.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Base:

125g Digestive biscuits.

50g Butter, melted.

Cheesecake:

300g Soft cheese.

75g Icing sugar.

1/2-1 tsp Vanilla extract.

200ml Double cream.

Topping:

200ml Double cream.

1tsp Vanilla extract.

25g Icing sugar.

Methods:

Before you get into any element of the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up all of the ingredients, preparing your cake tin with a circle of parchment paper (this is optional) and get any equipment you may use ready.

Base:

To start on the recipe, you’ll want to work on the base first.

Take your digestive biscuits and place them into a food safe bag, then take a rolling pin and gently press it into the biscuits until they break down into a crumb or sandy looking consistency. Make sure that the mixture is completely in crumb form, otherwise when the butter is added, it won’t be distributed fairly.

Transfer the biscuits crumbs into a small/medium bowl and then go ahead and melt the butter, either in a saucepan on the hob or in the microwavable safe bowl. Add the butter directly into the biscuit crumbs and mix the two together until fully combined – it will resemble wet sand.

Take your 6 inch cake tin and pour the mixture straight into it, then compress it down using something like a clean and empty jar or similar until its compressed and level, then place into the fridge to chill while you make the cheesecake filling.

Filling:

Start by taking a large mixing bowl and placing the soft cheese, icing sugar and vanilla extract and whisking them all together until they are fully combined. You may notice that the mixture has a loose consistency at this point but don’t worry, this will change as we work through the recipe.

Go ahead and add in all of the double cream and give it a very good whisk until the cream has been fully worked in and the mixture has reached a stiff peak consistency. This may take a bit longer if you’re doing it by hand, a hand or stand mixer is ideal for this stage but not essential.

Split the cheesecake filling between 3 separate bowls and add your colourings, I went with purple, blue and pink but feel free to change the colours to suit you.

Whisk the colourings into the cheesecake filling, ensuring they are a solid colour, with no marbling. I recommend using colouring pastes, as they work best and won’t alter the consistency of the filling.

Remove the cake tin from the fridge and place your first layer of cheesecake filling into and level it off as best you can using a cranked palette knife or the back of a spoon may also work well. Repeat with the remaining layers, I started with the purple, followed by the blue and finished with the pink.

Place the cheesecake into the fridge and allow to chill for 6-8 hours or overnight, whichever you can do. The longer it can chill, the better end result.

Topping:

Take the double cream, icing sugar and vanilla extract and place them into a large mixing bowl and whisk them all together until the cream is at stiff peaks and holds its shape. Try your best not to over whisk the cream, otherwise it will be granular and unpleasant to taste.

Place the cream into a piping bag fitted with your piping nozzle of choice, I went with a open star nozzle.

Assembly:

Once the cheesecake has had its time in the fridge, feel free to take your plate or cake stand of choice and place the cheesecake onto it.

Take the whipped cream an start to pip rosettes onto the top edge of the cheesecake, how close you pipe them together is completely up to you, I piped mine right next to one another.

To finish place a mini egg on each rosette, I followed a colour pattern but feel free to make it however you want to, it’s really easy for you to personalise.

Traditional Hot Cross Buns

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Seeing as Easter is just around the corner, why don’t you give these easy hot cross buns a go? I promise, they’ll beat the ones you can buy at the supermarkets.

If you like hot cross buns, this is the recipe for you. Although these are more traditionally eaten on Good Friday, you can get a practice batch or two made so you can serve up the perfect ones when the time comes.

If you don’t know what a hot cross bun is, I’ll give you a brief rundown. They are basically a sweet bun, which is spiced and studded with dried fruit. They are traditionally eaten on Good Friday to celebrate the end of Lent – the cross on top of the bun is to represent the crucifixion of Jesus.

When you consider all of what’s going on in the world at the moment, making a batch of these up to be enjoyed with your friends and family, may just be the best idea, especially if you’re in isolation.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Buns:

500g Strong bread flour.

5g Salt.

50g Fresh yeast.

75g Butter.

75g Granulated sugar.

1 Egg.

175ml Water, warm.

175g Dried fruit.

2-3 tsp Ground mixed spice

Cross paste:

Small amount of flour.

Water (as much as needed).

Method:

Before you get into the baking, it’s best to do some prep. Start by weighing up all your ingredients, getting your equipment such as your mixer ready and line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Into your mixing bowl, place the strong bread flour along with the salt and mix the two together until they are well combined.

Next, you can go ahead and add in the yeast, butter, granulated sugar, egg, water and ground mixed spice.

Mix on a low speed until a clear dough has formed. Then you can go ahead and add the dried fruit and mix until it’s fairly distributed into the dough (try not to over mix as it may crush the fruit).

Flour your surface with bread flour and pie the dough a brief knead, then go ahead and round it off and place into an oiled bowl and cover with clingfilm.

Allow the dough to proof for about an hour or until roughly doubled in size. If possible, place the dough somewhere warm, it will help the yeast work.

While you’re waiting for your dough to proof, you can have a little tidy up and wash up the dishes. It will save you time later on plus it doesn’t hurt to be organised.

Once the dough has proofed, flour your surface and knock the dough back. This is simply the process of removing the gases that have built up in the dough during the first proof.

Shape the dough off into a ball shape and weigh it. Take that weight and divide it by 12, so for me it was 90g per bun. Scale off dough off at 90g each (make sure to keep the dough covered, to prevent it skinning over).

Round the balls of dough off, so they are more rounded and bun shaped, if that makes sense. Place onto a standard size baking tray, which has been lined and place them in a 3 across by 4 down format, this way, they’ll batch up a little while baking.

Give the dough room to proof up, so make sure the spacing between the balls of dough is roughly equal. Now is the perfect time to consider preheating your oven to 220˚c/430˚f.

Cover them with some clingfilm and allow to proof up a second time for around 30-45 minutes or until they have proofed up to be touching/batching.

While the buns are proofing, now is the best time to make the cross paste (which is really easy). Into a mixing bowl, place a some bread flour and add a small amount of water and mix until a thick but pliable paste is formed. I recommend adding a little water to start with as you can always add more but can’t take away.

Place the paste into a piping bag, not fitted with a nozzle (you’ll just snip the end off later, once it’s needed.

Once the buns are proofed, remove the clingfilm from on the buns, then you can take your piping bag with the paste in, and cut a small hole in the end. Pipe a line through the centre going horizontally and vertically.

Place the buns into the preheated oven and bake for 14-16 minutes or until they are golden brown.

While they are in the oven baking, you can quickly make the glaze. Into a bowl place equal parts boiling water and honey and give it a mix until combined. You’ll want to have this made just in advance as it goes on the buns while hot.

Now that they are baked, remove from the oven and straightaway brush the glaze over, then allow to cool for 5 minutes on the tray before transferring to a cooling rack to cool fully.

That’s how you make hot cross buns, pretty easy right? with a little time, you can have these Easter favourites homemade. Is there anything better than homemade bread?

So, that’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my Instagram and Twitter. The YouTube video will be linked down below.

Traditional Irish Soda Bread

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

If you’re looking for a traditional style soda bread, look no further. Today I’m sharing my recipe for a brown soda bread.

There are plenty of varieties when it comes to soda bread, so it’s not a one size fits all kind of situation. You can get soda breads made with white, brown and wholemeal flour and even a mixture – I really think it depends on where you’re from as they have their own variation.

This bread does have a different texture and taste to other breads but thats what makes it special. The other thing to note is that this bread doesn’t contain any yeast but does contain bicarbonate of soda as a leavening agent and the use of buttermilk in place of water – these small differences make the bread unlike many other products.

If you make this loaf, make it in advance. Then you can have a full Irish breakfast and enjoy the bread to help soak up that hangover.

For the wheat bran, take some wholemeal flour and sift it. The bits left over in the sieve are what you’re looking for, keep them in a bowl until needed later on.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

500g Brown bread flour.

20g Wheat bran.

15g Black treacle.

3g Salt.

30g Bicarbonate of soda.

15g Granulated white sugar.

40g Butter or shortening.

390ml Buttermilk, cold.

Method:

Before you get into the making and baking, you’re best to do some prep work. Weigh up all your ingredients, line a baking tray with a piece of parchment paper and get any other equipment ready, like a stand mixer or spatula.

Into your mixing bowl of choice, place the brown flour, salt and butter and mix over a low speed for about 1 minute.

Add in the bicarbonate of soda, black treacle, granulated white sugar and butter milk, then mix on a low-medium speed for 3-4 minutes until a dough forms.

You’ll know the dough is perfectly mixed when it’s similar to scone dough.

Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and give it a brief knead, just to help work the final few bits in. Bring it into a ball shape.

While it’s on the counter top, flatten the ball shape into a disk, turning to keep it as circular as possible.

Place onto a lined baking tray and rearrange the shape if needed.

Now you can cut the dough in either a ‘+’ or ‘x’, cutting all the way through, so this using a plastic or metal scotch scraper.

Dust the top of the loaf with the wheat bran and leave on the counter top for 20 minutes, then you can place the bread in the oven and bake it off at 220˚c/430˚f for 25-30 minutes.

Once baked, the bottom of the bread should sound hollow. Remove from the baking tray and allow to cool on a cooling rack.

Slice the bread into slices and enjoy it on its own with butter or as part of a full Irish breakfast.

That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my Instagram and Twitter. The YouTube video will be linked down below.

Iced Buns | Iced Fingers

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

If you have grew up in the UK at any point, you may recognise these – they are a classic.

Today I’ll be sharing my recipe for iced buns/iced fingers (if you have another name for them, let me know), these are a simple yet classic treat.

It starts with an enriched bread roll, which is topped with a sweet white icing. It’s such a simple yet sweet treat. If you ask you grandparents, parents or other family members, they’ll remember these. It’s almost like they are irresistible – if you want to take them one step further, you could add a spot of jam into the middle of each of them!

Sharing a recipe like this shows you how simple and straight forward these treats are, no fancy equipment is needed and with a little time you can have a nostalgic bake done. If sweet breads aren’t your thing, don’t you worry. In the coming months I’ll have a selection of savoury breads to share with you all!

I really hope you get the chance to make these buns, they are much better than the ones you can buy in the supermarket!

There is one thing I wanted to add into the intro as it does explain something. The day I was making these I had an food delivery booked with a supermarket and just as I was about to place these buns into the oven, I realised there would be more than enough time for these to bake before the delivery slot but with me being me and my luck, the delivery driver came early and my buns baked for a little extra… Moral of the story, manage your time better! 😂

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Bread:

500g White bread flour.

5g Salt.

50g Fresh yeast.

75g Butter.

75g Granulated sugar.

1 Egg.

175ml Water, warmed.

Icing:

400g Icing sugar.

Water or milk, enough to get a consistency which spreads but holds it’s shape.

Method:

Before you get into the baking, make sure to do some prep work. Start by weighing up your ingredients, lining your baking tray with parchment paper and get any other equipment you may need like a mixing bowl or a spatula.

Into your mixing bowl, place the flour and salt and whisk the two until well combined. Then you can go ahead and add in the fresh yeast, butter, granulated sugar, egg and water.

Mix on a low speed for about 1 minutes before working your way up to a medium low until a clear dough forms, which is about 4-5 minutes.

Transfer the dough from the mixing bowl onto a lightly floured surface and give a brief knead until its smooth and elastic. You can then go ahead and place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film and allow it to proof for 45-60 minutes or until roughly doubled in size.

Once the dough has doubled in size, remove it from the bowl and place onto a lightly floured surface and knock the dough back. This is the process of removing the gasses that have built up in the dough while it was proofing.

Bring it back into a ball shape and weigh the dough, then go ahead and get a total weight, then divide it by 10 – weigh up those individual amounts of dough.

Take the mounds of dough and round them off using your hand and work surface, then roll out into a sausage shape, just big enough to sit two within close proximity on the tray.

Place them all onto the tray and cover with cling film and allow to proof for a second time but this time for 30-45 minutes (or until they can be gently pushed and it springs back out).

When there is about 15 minutes remaining to the second proof, you can preheat your oven to 200˚c/390˚f. When the times right, remove the clingfilm from on top of the proofed dough and then place into your preheated oven and bake off for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown (not like mine but you know, haha).

To make the icing, place the icing sugar into a mixing bowl and add a small amount of water at a time, mixing until it achieves a consistency which allows it to spread but also hold its shape.

Place it into a piping bad and pipe the icing over the buns, now you can control how much or how little icing each bun has.

Allow the icing to harden up a little before you enjoy them!

That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my Instagram and Twitter. The YouTube video will be linked down below.

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