St. Clement Hot Cross Buns

These citrusy hot cross buns are plant-based using vegetable oil and dairy-free milk to create an enriched dough without the use of dairy and eggs.

Makes 9 buns

Ingredients

For the buns

For the crosses

For the glaze

Method

Zest and juice the oranges, reserving 50ml of the juice for later.
Weigh out the remaining orange juice and top up to 100ml if needed with water. Add the sultanas and allow to soak while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
To a freestanding mixer bowl, add the flours, oil, yeast, sugar, mixed peel spices, soya milk and orange zest. Add in the orange juice and sultanas and knead for 5 minutes on a medium setting. Alternatively you can do this by hand but resist the temptation to add more flour – the dough should be ever so slightly sticky.
Lightly great a large bowl the oil, place the dough in and cover. Allow to double in size for 1-2 hours.
Knock the dough back and evenly divide into 9 balls.
Line a baking tin with baking paper and arrange the balls in a 3×3 format.
Cover and allow to double in size again, about 1-1.5 hours.
Once the dough has almost fully risen, preheat the oven to 200°C fan/ 220°C convection.
Prepare the batter by mixing the ingredients together to form a smooth pipeable mixture. Place into a piping bag.
Once the oven it up to temperature, pipe crosses over the tops of your buns.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the glaze by heating the orange juice, sugar and spices together till the sugar has dissolved.
Once the buns are cooked, generously glaze them, using all of the liquid.
Remove the buns from the tray onto a wire cooking rack, removing the baking parchment as well.
Best enjoyed fresh on the same day, or delicious toasted if a day or two old.

Per bun*: 254kcal/ 4.6g fat/ 0.4g saturated fat/ 46g carbohydrates/ 2.8g fibre/ 6.1g protein

*Analysis based on unsweetened soya milk