Hot Cross Buns with Maple Sugar inside

Traditional Easter sweet bread buns with hidden maple sugar crystals for a sweet surprise!

Buns-and-maple

INGREDIENTS

Yield: about 7 buns

• 227g. Unbleached all purpose flour
• 4g. Instant dry yeast
• 90g. Eggs (two large eggs)
• 48g. Milk, whole
• 25g. Sugar
• 5g. Salt
• 136g. Butter
• About 1 tsp. of Maple sugar crystals per bun
• Egg Wash: 1 egg + 2T water or milk

Thick pastry cream for the cross:

• 180 g. Milk, whole
• 60 g. Yolks
• 70 g. Sugar
• 15 g. Cornstarch
• 6 g. Vanilla paste
• 6 g. Butter
*You can make this a day or two before.

GLAZE

• ¼ cup of apricot jam
• 1 T honey
• ¼ cup water

PROCEDURE

NOTE ON THE TECHNIQUE:
This recipe is a type of brioche so for those who know, just follow a traditional brioche technique. Otherwise, read below ☺

NOTE ON THE BUTTER:
Make sure that the butter is cool to the touch but malleable, meaning that you can press it down or squeeze it between your fingers. A cold butter is not bad but will take longer to incorporate what you don’t want is a soft room temperature butter. Also, you would ideally get a European or high fat butter for this recipe but it is not necessary if you can’t find it. It will taste delicious either way.

Me-and-buns

BUNS

  • Place eggs and milk on the bottom of your mixing machine, then the sugar and salt. Finally place the flour and yeast on the top of the liquid ingredients.
  • Mix with the paddle attachment just until the dough comes together. Then switch to the hook attachment.
  • Keep mixing for another 4 minutes or until a smooth dough ball has developed.
  • Add the butter little by little, about two tablespoons at a time. Make sure that the dough comes back together as a ball after each addition.
  • Spray the inside of a bowl or cylinder container with some cooking spray. Place the dough inside this bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Put in the refrigerator and ferment the dough overnight (about 10-12hrs).
  • The next morning, take out the dough from the fridge for about one hour and keep it on your counter so it slowly comes back to room temperature.
  • Measure dough pieces weighing about 80g each.
  • Shape them into small balls and make an indent with your thumb on the bottom. Add the maple sugar crystals and close the indent. Roll the ball on your countertop again to close it well.
  • Place them on a sheet tray and proof them for about 1½ hours.
  • Egg wash the top and add the pastry cream cross.
  • Bake at 350F for about 22-25 min.
  • Once the buns are out of the oven, brush them with some of the glaze and let them come to room temperature before biting into them…or at least try!
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THICK PASTRY CREAM

  • Mix the sugar, yolks and cornstarch in a bowl.
  • Heat the milk in a thick bottom pot and bring almost to a boil.
  • Add some of the hot milk over the yolk mixture while mixing with a whisk. Then transfer everything back into the pot.
  • Cook until right as it starts to simmer. At this point, mix vigorously with the whisk or spatula for about one minute, which is longer than a regular pastry cream as this one needs to be thick to make the crosses on top of the buns. If you have a thermometer, I like to cook it to 80ºC or 176ºF. Remove from the heat.
  • Add to a blender and blend on high speed with the vanilla and cold butter for about 1 minute.
  • Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate preferably for a few hours or at least until is cool to the touch.
  • To make the cross, I like to put the pastry cream in a piping bag with a medium star tip but you can use a zip top bag and cut one tip if you don’t have a piping bag, or use any tip you like.

GLAZE

  • Cook the three ingredients together in a small pot until it is the consistency of honey.
  • Strain the glaze in case there are pieces of apricots left.
  • Keep it covered at room temperature until ready to use.

Serve with some jam, butter or split in half and fill with your favorite ice cream! Enjoy with your family or loved ones and Happy Easter!

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