Rosie’s Hot Cross Buns & An Award

I was in the kitchen this morning getting all ready to bake my Easter Nest cake when hubby requested one of his favourite Easter bakes of hot cross buns. I hadn’t planned on making these today but as Mr R hardly requests any form of baking who am I to disappoint? He had spotted some hot cross buns in our local baker’s window and this must have jolted his request!

Hot cross buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday with the cross standing for the crucifixion of Christ. They date back many years and they are a sweetened spiced currant yeast bun with the cross being made from sweetened flour water or pastry. They are then glazed over with sugar syrup straight from the oven. There are many variations of spices that can be used but I settle for a more traditional approach. I just adore splitting open a freshly baked bun and spreading butter over letting it melt its way through the interior, be warned though, you have to watch for the dribbles of butter that may ooze down your chin :P

Rosie’s Hot Cross Buns

Makes 12 buns

Ingredients
450g (1lb) strong plain white flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
50g (2 oz) butter
7g sachet of fast acting dried yeast
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
25g (1 oz) caster sugar
100g (4 oz) luxury dried mixed fruit and peel, I use Sainsbury’s
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Approx 250ml (9 fl oz) tepid milk
A little extra flour for kneading
For The Cross
3 tbsp strong plain flour
2 tsp caster sugar
2 tbsp water
For The Sugar Syrup
50g (2 oz) caster sugar
3 tbsp water
You will need 2 baking trays lined with non-stick mats, a piping bag with a small plain nozzle.

Method

In a large bowl sift the flour, salt and spices adding the butter and rubbing through with your fingertips. Next, stir in the yeast, lemon zest, mixed dried fruit and sugar. Making a slight well in the middle add the milk a little at a time until you have a soft dough, (you may not require all the milk). Cover over the dough with a clean tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size.

On a lightly floured surface turn out the dough and knead until smooth and elastic. Cut the dough into equal portions of 12 (or less if you want larger buns.) Taking each piece of dough form into smooth balls and slightly flatten making a cross shape with the back of a knife on each one. Place onto the baking trays and cover over with clean tea towels and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas mark 5.

Make the sweetened flour water for the crosses, add the flour, sugar and water and stir through until this becomes a smooth paste. Fill a piping bag and pipe on each bun the sign of a cross. Place the buns into the preheated oven and bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until golden brown.
While the buns are baking make the sugar syrup glaze by adding the sugar and water to a saucepan bring to the boil for about 2 minutes to make sure all the sugar has melted and it has become a syrup consistency.

When the buns are golden brown from the oven brush the sugar syrup glaze all over each one and transfer onto a wire rack to cool.

They can be served warm with butter or eaten cold you can also toast them the next day and smear with butter – yum.

Ruth over at Ruth’s Kitchen Experiments put a huge smile on my face last night when I found out I had been awarded “You make my day” award. Thank you so much Ruth you are such a sweetie and I am thrilled and very honoured to receive this! *Rosie jumps for joy*.........

I would like to pass this award onto ALL my blogging friends you are such a great bunch of people and it’s such a pleasure to know you all ... Please do take the badge and place it on your Blog.

For my subscribers, I would also like to pass you this award too for being such loyal readers - you really do make my day, every day :D Thank you!

Best wishes Rosie x

Rosie’s Easter Nest Chocolate Cake

Chocolate seems to be on everyone’s mind at Easter time and this recipe I am sharing with you has been one I have been baking for many years now since the age of 11 yrs. I first remember baking this at school and bringing my cake eagerly home to show my mum, gosh I felt so proud of my accomplishment. Like I have said before, food revokes fond memories of places and time.

This cake is basically a chocolate Victoria sponge, sandwiched in the middle with chocolate buttercream with the top of one sponge having a hole cut out to make a nest. The top and sides of the cake are smothered in chocolate buttercream. Cadbury’s flakes are used chopped up to represent twigs in the nest and sugar coated chocolate eggs with little yellow furry chicks are placed sat on the eggs for finishing touches.

Rosie’s Easter Nest Chocolate Cake

Ingredients
200g (7 oz) self-raising flour
25g (1 oz) cocoa powder
½ tsp baking powder
225g (8 oz) softened butter
225g (8 oz) caster sugar
4 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
For The Chocolate Butter Icing
450g (1lb) icing sugar
25g (1 oz) cocoa powder
50g (2 oz) softened butter
90ml (3 fl oz) milk
For Decoration
2 chocolate Cadbury’s flakes- cut into twigs
Sugar coated chocolate eggs, I used Cadbury’s mini eggs
Fluffy yellow chicks
A 23cm (9 in) cake board

You will also need x 2 20cm (8 in) sandwich tins greased lightly with butter and greaseproof paper based lined, you will also need a 10 cm (4 in) round cutter to cut out the centre of the top sponge.

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/400°F/Gas mark 6.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder together into a bowl and place aside. In a large mixing bowl add the butter and sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Beat the eggs together with the milk and vanilla extract in a jug and add a little at a time to the butter mixture, beating until all incorporated. Add the flour mixture and fold through gently with a large metal spoon until fully combined. Divide the mixture equally between the two sandwich tins and smooth the mixture over with a spatula. Place into the preheated oven to bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until fully baked and feeling firm to a gentle touch in the centre. You can also test by inserting a skewer into the centre of the sponge and it should come out clean. Leave in the tins to cool for at least 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to finishing cooling. When completely cold remove the base papers.

Make the chocolate icing by beating all the ingredients together until light and fluffy.

Taking one of the cold sponges cut out a hole in the middle with the round cutter. Place the bottom sponge on a cake board and spread a little of the chocolate buttercream over smoothing it to cover the whole area of the sponge. Place the top sponge on and spread the chocolate buttercream over the top and sides making sure the centre is fully covered in buttercream too. Place the chopped Cadbury’s flakes around the top of the cut out centre to form the nest, then place the sugar coated chocolate eggs in the nest. Finishing off by placing the fluffy yellow chicks sat on the eggs for decoration.

Rosie's Simnel Cake

After my bout of flu last week, today is the first time I have really ventured into the kitchen to bake up some treats for Easter. I have always baked a Simnel cake for Easter Sunday teatime to cut into and I have played around with my recipe for a few years now having eventually settled for this one I am sharing with you. Of course the spices can be altered to each individual taste by omitting mixed spice and adding cinnamon instead etc.

I always have bags of dried luxury fruit that also contain dried mixed peel in my store cupboard from Sainsbury’s which I find work for me, but there is no reason why you can’t just add the dried fruit of your choice as long as the weight remains the same. If you haven’t got a kitchen blowtorch a preheated grill will brown the top of the marzipan on the cake just as good. Like my dad would have said to me, “where there’s a will there’s a way”, and he was so right! The decorations are optional and you could even place fresh primroses in the centre of the cake before serving to give it that spring feeling.

Next on my list to bake is my Easter Nest Chocolate Cake that I have been baking since the start of time *giggle*. Keep an eye out for this cake coming in the next day or two!

Simnel Cake

Ingredients
225g (8 oz) softened butter
225g (8 oz) soft dark brown sugar
350g (12 oz) Self-raising flour
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
½ tsp mixed spice
400g (14 oz) luxury mixed dried fruit, see above
50g (2 oz) glace cherries, washed, dried and chopped into quarters
Zest of 1 lemon
100g (4 oz) chopped hazelnuts
4 eggs, beaten
3 tbsp milk
3 x 225g (8 oz) blocks of golden marzipan
Icing sugar, for dusting
1 tbsp apricot jam warmed with 1 tbsp water
For Decoration
A yellow ribbon to fit around the cake
A few sugar flowers (optional)
A little furry yellow Easter chick (optional)
23cm (9 in) cake board

You will need a 20cm (8 in) round springform tin double lined base and sides with greaseproof paper.

Method

Preheat the oven to 160°C/fan 140°C/325°F/Gas mark 3.

In a large mixing bowl add the flour, nutmeg, mixed spice, dried fruits, lemon zest and nuts coating them through with your hands.

In another large mixing bowl add the butter and sugar and beat together until pale and fluffy. Add the egg mixture a little at a time beating well in; making sure all is combined into the mixture between each addition. Next add the flour mixture from the other bowl and carefully fold through with a large metal spoon adding the milk lastly, working this through until you have a well combined mixture.

Spoon half the mixture into the prepared singform tin, levelling off with a spatula. Roll out one of the blocks of golden marzipan making a circle slightly smaller than the cake tin size, on a lightly dusted surface of icing sugar. Place the marzipan circle on top of the cake mixture in the cake tin, spreading the remaining cake mixture over the top of the marzipan and smoothing down with a spatula.

Place the cake into the bottom of the preheated oven and bake for 2 hours or until fully baked. You can check by inserting a skewer into the centre and if it comes out clean the cake is ready. Leave to fully cool in the tin.

Take the cake out of tin removing all the greaseproof paper and place onto the cake board. On a slightly dusted surface of icing sugar roll out another block of marzipan the size to fit the top of the cake, crimping all the way around the side. With the warmed apricot jam and water spread this over the top of the cake to ‘glue’ the marzipan down. Place the marzipan on top and smooth it down with your hands. Make 11 balls of marzipan out of the remaining marzipan, (you may not require the entire block), sticking these around the edge of the cake. With a kitchen blowtorch slightly brown the top of the marzipan and the marzipan balls or brown under a preheated grill for a few seconds.

To finish off, tie the yellow ribbon around the cake securing the ribbon at the back with a pin but remember to remove before serving. Place the sugar flowers and chick in the centre of the cake to finish off.