Hot Cross Tear and Share Bread

It’s almost Easter time. I’m loving the start of spring. Since moving into our home, I have become much more aware of the garden and seasons. I love seeing the flowers growing and the beautiful colours that spring up.

And as it’s Easter, I decided to make a traditional hot cross bun recipe but with a bit of a twist. I love the sweetly, spiced buns – perfect with a schmear of butter on top.

To change things up however, I cracked out my RMC-M4502E Multicooker from Redmond. This is a great device to have in a kitchen. You can bake, cook, steam, fry almost anything in the multicooker. Take a look at the table below which shows the multitude of features of the multicooker.

I made small buns from the hot cross dough and popped these into the non-stick bowl which comes with the multicooker. I stuck them in, in a haphazard way, a bit like monkey bread.

 I had made small crosses in the buns, with a paste made from flour and water, but sadly these disappeared whilst cooking.

I set the multicooker to bake and it took around 50 minutes. The kitchen smelled beautiful whilst it was baking away.

The resultant big bun which slid easily out of the bowl when baked, was well coloured on the sides and had a good color on top, but I wanted to add a bit of icing on top, just to pretty it up a bit. I also took some micro eggs and crushed these to sprinkle into the wet icing.

The giant bun looked delicious and it was good fun to grab handfuls of the hot cross bun, to devour. It would be perfect for an Easter buffet.

The RMC-M4502E Multicooker from Redmond made this recipe so easy to knock up. The bowl was the perfect shape to place the balls of dough in, and also ideal for letting the dough rise before cooking. With the non-stick coating I knew it would slide out easily.
Here’s the recipe.
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Hot Cross Tear and Share Breadby S Vettese April-05-2017Hot Cross Bun flavoured tear and share breadIngredients

• 500 grams self-raising flour
• 150 ml warm milk (I used soya)
• 150 ml warm water
• 1 large egg
• Half teaspoon of salt
• 2 packets of active dried yeast (about 14 grams)
• 2 teaspoons allspice
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 50 grams caster sugar
• 100 grams raisins
• 50 grams mixed peel
• 10 -20 grams crushed micro chocolate eggs
• Icing sugar

InstructionsIn a bowl of a stand mixer add the flour, salt, yeast (keeping it away from the salt), cinnamon, all spice and sugar.Give this a mix with a whisk then add the milk, warm water and egg and give this a good mix with a wooden spoon until it comes together into a dough.Add the raisins and mixed peel and stir through.With the dough hook attachment, mix the dough for five minutes until the glutens develop and dough begins to come away from the sides of the bowl.Cover with clingfilm and allow to prove in a warm place for 2 hours. After this time, punch the air out and place the dough onto a floured surface.With floured hands, pinch into little balls, rolling between your hands. I made the balls about two tablespoons worth.In the bowl of the multi cooker, place the balls in a random fashion and cover the bowl with more clingfilm and allow to prove for about 1 hour.Place the bowl into the multi cooker and bake for 1 hour.After this time, remove the giant bun from the multi cooker and allow to cool slightly.Make a simple icing from water and icing sugar and drizzle this over the big bun, then top with some crushed chocolate micro eggs.Let everyone get stuck in, tearing chunks from the bun and enjoy.DetailsPrep time: 3hr 30 mins Cook time: 1 hr Total time: 4hr 30 mins Yield: I loaf
Disclosure Statement: I received the multicooker free to review. I have been paid to develop this recipe using the multicooker.