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Tarn Rodgers Johns's avatar

Just made these, they taste great!! Thanks for sharing the recipe :) For some reason whenever I’ve made hot cross buns the cross disappears after baking. What am I doing wrong?!

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Ruth Barry's avatar

I’m so pleased to hear you made the buns! Thank you, I’m glad they turned out well. Re: the crosses, it sounds like the cross mixture might be a bit too loose. A toothpaste-like consistency would be ideal. Alternatively, you could roll thin ropes of marzipan, if you like that sort of thing, and make the crosses that way. I think some folks even make a flour mixture stiff enough to roll into ropes too. That might work for you. A very happy Easter, if you’re celebrating, and thanks again for the note!❤️❤️❤️

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EmnEllie's avatar

These look superb! As regards Sultanas, the more the merrier.

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Ruth Barry's avatar

Such division on the fruit front! In my first test, I used 50 g each of raisins and sultanas and 30 g of currants. They felt quite jam-packed for my taste, but maybe they’d be perfect for you! ❤️

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Lisa McLean's avatar

Thank you for this post and recipe, and happy Easter to you.

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Ruth Barry's avatar

And to you, Lisa! I hope there’ll be HCBs!

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Sophia Real | Real Simple Food's avatar

These look spectacular Ruth!

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Ruth Barry's avatar

Thanks, Sophia! Taste tested by all my neighbors, who gave them the thumbs up ☺️❤️

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Jessica Grosman's avatar

I can’t wait to try this recipe! I’ve been looking at another recipe which macerates the dried fruits in rum before adding to the dough, but I’m concerned about how that will affect the hydration of the dough. So maybe I’ll try both recipes? Can one ever have too many hot cross buns???

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Ruth Barry's avatar

I think macerating in rum would work fine! I would probably just pat the fruit dry afterwards. It’s quite common to soak the fruit in tea too, I’m going to try that with my next batch. I’m not sure if you’re usually a metric or imperial measurement user, but I would recommend following metric if you can. It’s much more precise. I’d love to hear how you get on with the recipe ☺️❤️

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Jessica Grosman's avatar

Thanks for the suggestion of patting the fruit dry, that’s helpful. I bake by weight (grams) but my oven is in Fahrenheit.

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Ruth Barry's avatar

That’s perfect. Fahrenheit is totally fine, it’s easier to match up than grams to ounces. I moved to the US at the end of last year so I’m having to get my head around Fahrenheit. I’ve changed my weather app but still ask Siri most mornings what such and such is in Celsius 🙃

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RWS's avatar

No to HCB (Hot Cross Buns) … until now that is. Ha, and I always thought the UK had a monopoly…. 😉

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Ruth Barry's avatar

41 years! It took me 41 years! Better late than never, I suppose…😂

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