Hot cross buns: Easter recipe shared by Bouchon Bakery | amNewYork (2024)

• 263 grams /1 3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

  6 grams / 1 3/4 teaspoons instant yeast

  31 grams / 2 tablespoons + 1 3/4 teaspoons granulated sugar

  6 grams / 1 teaspoon fine sea salt

  132 grams / 1/2 cub + 1 1/2 teaspoons eggs

  44 grams / 2 tablespoons + 2 1/4 teaspoons whole milk

  118 grams / 4.1 ounces unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

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• After about 30 minutes, there will be some dough sticking to the sides of the mixing bowl. You will know the dough is ready if it is smooth and elastic-like.

  Add the butter a few pieces at a time with mixer on low, incorporating each addition before adding the next. Stop and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and push the dough off the hook. Continue to mix for about 10 minutes.

  TIP: If some chunks of butter remain whole in the dough, try and push them into the dough, first turning the mixer off before you reach your hand in. The butter will give the dough a glossy sheen.

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• Fruit instructions:

  See Also

  Fresh Food Nation : Simple, Seasonal Recipes from America's Farmers by Martha Holmberg (2013, Trade Paperback) for sale online | eBay

  122 grams / ¾ cup dried currants

  61 grams / ½ cup dried cranberries

  3 grams / ½ teaspoon vanilla paste

  Combine the currants and cranberries in a medium bowl and pour 2 cups boiling water over them. Let sit for 5 minutes to plump the fruit, then drain and pat dry with paper towels. Dry the bowl, return the fruit to it, and toss with the vanilla paste.

  Run a bowl scraper around the sides and down to the bottom of the bowl of brioche dough to release the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface, adding flour only as needed to keep it from sticking.

  With your hands, gently pat the dough into a circular shape. Pour some of the currant-cranberry mixture onto the dough and knead it into the dough (which will be sticky) to distribute it evenly.

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• Stretch the left side of the dough out and fold it over two-thirds of the dough, add more fruit, then stretch and fold it from the right side to the opposite side, as if you were folding a letter. Repeat the process, working from the bottom and then the top to evenly incorporate the fruit.

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• Turn the dough over, lift it up with a bench scraper, and place it seam side down in a large bowl sprayed with non-stick spray or a couple drops of vegetable oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean dish towel and let the dough sit at room temperature for 45 minutes.

  Remove the dough from the bowl, press down to release some of the air, then return the dough to the bowl, seam side down, cover, and let sit for another 45 minutes.

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• Use the bowl scraper to release the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Using a bench scraper, divide the dough into 12 equal portions (78 grams each).

  Spray a quarter sheet pan with nonstick spray. Line the bottom with parchment paper and spray the paper.

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• Place each ball on the sheet pan. Brush the tops with egg wash (well-whipped eggs). Cover with plastic wrap and move to a warm spot to proof for about an hour.

  Preheat the oven to 325°F (convection) or 350°F (standard).

  Brush the tops of the buns with egg wash again. Bake for 17 to 22 minutes in a convection oven, 25 to 30 minutes in a standard oven, until the tops are a rich golden brown and, when tested with a toothpick, the centers are baked through. Set the pan on a cooling rack and let cool completely.

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• 258 grams / 2 ¼ cups powdered sugar

  1 gram / 3/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  1 gram / 3/8 teaspoon ground cardamom

  40 grams / 2 ½ tablespoons whole milk

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• Serve the whole pan, or cut into individual buns.

  The buns are best the day they are baked, but they can be stored, before icing, wrapped tightly in a few layers of plastic wrap or in a single layer in a covered container at room temperature for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 1 week.

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Traditionally eaten two days before Easter on Good Friday, the hot cross bun has its roots in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Superstition says if you share a hot cross bun with another person, friendship and goodwill are ensured for the following year.

But all that aside, the sweet buns are delicious and a treat to look forward to come spring.

We visited Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery where pastry chef and Director of Bouchon Bakery Alessandra Altieri showed us how to make them at home!

The recipe is adapted from the cookbook “Bouchon Bakery” by Thomas Keller and Sebastien Rouxel.

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