Hot-Cross Bun recipe by artisan baker Aiden Chapman

For Easter, baker Aidan Chapman of the Phoenix Bakery in Weymouth likes to do things properly and his annual two-week stint making 1000s of hot-cross buns is no exception. Here is his recipe for exceptional buns, perfect to make at home, that don't take too long to make.

Makes about 12 buns

Method

For the dough

In a large bowl, add all the liquid ingredients, including the egg and the fresh yeast - if using. Whisk briefly to mix in the egg and break up the fresh yeast. Next add all the remaining ingredients and stir together using your dough whisk until the mixture starts to come together and becomes too stiff to stir. Tip onto a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough becomes smooth, which will take a few minutes. Put the ball of dough back into the bowl and leave, covered, for about an hour.

Take the dough from the bowl, back onto the lightly floured worktop and give a quick knead to knock the dough down. Divide the dough into 12 pieces, each around 120g and roll each into a ball, placing them onto lightly oiled baking sheets, pressing them down to flatten them a little. Cover with a damp tea-towel and leave for about 40 minutes after which time they should have doubled in size.

Set your oven to 200°C. Now is the time to add the crosses to the buns.

For the Crosses

Mix these ingredients using a dough whisk to form a very smooth, lump-free mixture, suitable for a large-nozzled piping bag. Then pipe the mixture across the buns, doing all the parallel lines across all buns before repeating having turned the tray through a right angle to compete the crosses.

Bake the buns for 15-20 minutes until golden, turning once if needed for an even colour. While baking, make your glaze.

For the glaze

Mix all the ingredients and heat gently until melted. Glaze the buns as soon as they come out of the oven, putting them onto a cooling rack first. Tasty sliced and buttered, sliced, buttered and jammed, toasted buttered, toasted, buttered and jammed.