Hot Cross Buns

I've never before given any thought to hot cross buns. They've always reminded me a bit of Christmas fruit cake with their raisins, spices and bits of fruit. Meh.

This year, I'm reconsidering for several reasons. First, there is what seems to be the inevitable but gradual giving of second thought to all the edibles you once thought gross when young and foolish (boozy desserts and mincemeat also fall into this category).

Second, there has been the temptation by way of intriguing recipes accompanied by glossy photos -- this month's LCBO mag, Food & Drink, has four takes on the hot cross bun in their current spring issue, including chocolate cranberry and brown butter almond. Blasphemous to the the traditionalists, to be sure, but that's what I'll be prepping to share with the family for Easter Sunday breaky. (I'll be bucking tradition there, too -- HCBs are traditionally served on Good Friday. Ah, well).

These little treats have got quite the fascinating history, too, if you believe all the folklore. Some say they actually originate in the pagan tradition, with the four sections created by the cross referring to the phases of the moon. Others attribute their origins to the Greeks. At some point, the Christians reportedly claimed them as their own, calling the cross a cross, and Elizabeth I is rumoured to have banned them from Protestant England, feeling they were too remniscent of the Catholicism she aimed to quash.

Bakeries around the region are also getting in on the hot cross bun action, as they often do at this time of year. At least three that I frequent -- Golden Hearth and Nougat in Kitchener and Grain Harvest Breadhouse (with locations in both Kitchener and Waterloo) -- will be selling their own versions of the bun this weekend.

Grain Harvest started making hot cross buns the same year their original Waterloo bakery opened in the late 1980s. (Now with three locations and a busy wholesale business that ships baked goods from Windsor to Ottawa, they'll celebrate their 20th anniversary this September).

"They always contain raisins," says Roland Berchtold, one of Grain Harvest's founders, says of his HCBs.

"Some have cut fruit, too. There are many varieties. We put lemon and orange peel in, and either raisins or sultanas. But what really makes them is the cinnamon and clove. That's what binds it all together. And, of course, there's freshness. We're baking every night fresh and that's the absolute key."

Grain Harvest actually starts selling hot cross buns in mid-February and continues to sell them beyond Easter. "As long as people will buy them," says Berchtold. "Usually when the weather starts to get warm, people look to other things."

Should you have a little time on your hands this weekend, or be looking for a last minute traditional treat for your beloveds, here is Berchtold's recipe for hot cross buns -- slightly tweaked.

"My usual recipe starts with something like 45 pounds of flour," he laughs. " So this recipe is very close to what we do but it's in cups and so on."

Grain Harvest's Traditional Hot Cross Buns

Dough

1/4 cup water, room temperature

1/2 cup warm milk

1/4 cup melted butter

1 egg

3-1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup raw sugar

1-1/2 tsp dry active yeast

1 tbsp cinnamon

pinch nutmeg

pinch ground cloves

1/2 tbsp salt

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped mixed candied fruit

Icing

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

2 tbsp water

Mix all dough ingredients except raisins and fruit for five minutes or until smooth dough has formed. Add raisins and fruit. Cover dough and let rest for 15 min.

Cut dough into pieces of desired size (12 to 15 pieces total), shape into balls and place on greased baking sheet. Let rise to double the size.

Bake at 370 for 15 to 17 min. Let cool.

Use icing to decorate, making crosses using a piping bag or a baggie with the corner tip cut off.