Cranberry Hot Cross Buns

Easter is almost upon us, hence 'tis the season for making hot cross buns.  I have always wanted to try making my own hot cross buns, and was sold when I saw a recipe in this month's Gourmet Traveller Magazine for sour cherry hot cross buns. The recipe has been posted online here.

Instead of sour cherries, I used dried cranberries, as I already had some in the house.  These buns do take some time to make, so think of it as a half a day project while you wait for risings, baking etc. The buns are not hard to make.  The hardest part for me was marking the cross - the first piping tip I used was too thin for the flour paste used to mark the cross, hence I expended lots of energy getting nowhere before switching to a broader tip.  Remember to put the glaze on while the buns are still hot (although the recipe is silent on this).

The resulting buns were soft and moist inside, with a lovely sweet sugar glaze on top:

I am not a huge bread person, but I really enjoyed eating one of these hot cross buns with a dab of margarine:

If you are looking for a good hot cross bun recipe to cut your teeth on, I recommend trying this sour cherry hot cross bun recipe (with cherries or other fruit).