Simnel Vegan Hot Cross Buns

Hoppy Easter

Vegan hot cross buns could only mean one thing… Hoppy Easter Everybunny!

I make this same pun every year, and it never gets old. I know, I know. It’s not quite Easter… yet. But it seems that the second Christmas is over, the stollen and gingerbread houses that line supermarket shelves are immediately replaced by pastel-coloured mini eggs and hot cross buns. I am forced (yes, FORCED) to buy packet after packet of hot cross buns, even though I am still ploughing my way through the remainder of the Christmas fruitcake.

Can you tell that I really, really like dried fruit?

Vegan Hot Cross Buns

Oh, hot cross buns. I adore them. They are meant to be baked on and eaten during Good Friday. But these delicious little buns deserve a lot more showtime than that. So, yes, I stuff myself silly with vegan hot cross buns during Lent. Sue me.

Side note – I am a little bit of a history buff when it comes to food, and if you wanted to know the story behind these delightful little buns, this is a great article. 

Every year back home, my grandfather would bake a massive batch of his hot cross buns–fluffy little things that were a riot of fruit and spice. He would parade them around the house, all the while singing one a penny, two a penny. I loved to eat mine plain, or with lashings of salted butter. My sister, ever the non-traditionalist, ate her bun toasted with a generous smear of Nutella. In fact, she eats everything with a smear of Nutella.

Now I make my own vegan hot cross buns. While the hot cross buns sold in supermarkets are usually vegan, there is simply no beating homemade. Store-bought is never as fluffy, the raisins just aren’t as succulent and–of course–they won’t fill your kitchen with the perfume of cinnamon and lemon zest.

Simnel Cake

But, in true The Sasha Diaries fashion, this is not your average vegan hot cross bun. Surprise, surprise. 

Something else we at Easter back home was simnel cake, although they played more of a supporting role. They are the Robin to the hot cross bun’s Batman, if you will.

Now, simnel cake is absolutely delicious, as anything stuffed with marzipan is bound to be. But I think it was never as popular as the hot cross bun because Christmas had exhausted our desire for anything fruitcake-related. And while simnel cake is fruitcake’s lighter, springier cousin, there is no denying the similarity between the two.

I decided that this year, simnel cake and hot cross buns should share the limelight. So… I made a simnel hot cross bun. A vegan hot cross bun with all the flavours of a simnel cake. Uh, huh. The stuff of dreams.

Mmm… Marzipan

My simnel vegan hot cross buns are pretty fruity. Raisins, sultanas, mixed peel, glacé cherries… so if you prefer things 100% traditional: look away!

(If you prefer things traditional, I should warn you now that you may not like my blog very much.)

In addition to the dried fruit, these beautifully-soft buns are studded with gooey, melted marzipan. Seconds after they are taken out from the oven, they are glazed with sticky, sweet apricot jam (à la simnel cake), and sprinkled with an ample amount of toasted slivered almonds.

If you’re feeling naughty, and want to take this grown-up spin on the classic hot cross bun a little further, a good splash of amaretto in the glaze goes down really well *wink wink.

Sugar and SPICE

I must admit, I am a cardamom junkie. So when I infuse the milk and (vegan!) butter with sugar and citrus zest, I like to add three crushed pods of cardamom to the mix. As the mixture bubbles, it throws zesty, floral aromas into the air. Mmmm, cardamom. When the infusion is ready, I cool it down before adding it to the yeast mixture–you don’t want to kill it!

Another tip – steep the dried fruit in some orange juice for a few hours. This is my secret to plump, succulent sultanas that ooze as you bite into them. Just drain them well before kneading the plump little raisins into the dough.

Simnel Vegan Hot Cross Buns

 

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Prep time

2 hours

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

2 hours 30 mins

 

Beautifully soft buns with studs of melted marzipan and tart sour cherries finished with a sticky apricot glaze. A grown-up version of a traditional Easter treat

Author: Sasha Gill

Serves: 8

Ingredients

Dough

• ¼ cup soy milk
• ½ cup water
• ¼ cup aquafaba
• ¼ cup (60 g) vegan butter
• 2 cardamom pods, crushed
• 2 cloves
• Zest of 1 lemon
• ¼ cup light brown sugar
• 1 packet active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2½ cups strong white bread flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup raisins, sultanas, currant, cherries, mixed peel*
• ¼ cup golden marzipan, well chilled and grated**

Crosses

• ¼ cup plain flour
• ¼ cup water

Glaze

• 1 tablespoon apricot jam
• 1 tablespoon water, or amaretto
• ¼ cup toasted flaked almonds

Instructions

1. Combine the milk, water, aquafaba, vegan butter, cardamom pods and zest in a small saucepan and gently heat until the butter has melted. Add the sugar and stir until it has dissolved. Set this aside and let it cool until the mixture is lukewarm (37C), and you can dip your finger in it and it feels neither hot or cold. Remove the cardamom pods and cloves.
2. Pour the yeast into the lukewarm liquid mixture and stir. Leave it until it is bubbly and frothy, about 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, mix together the spices, flour, and salt. Make a well in the centre and pour in the liquid+yeast mixture, and stir with a wooden spoon until it comes together in a shaggy dough. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured counter and knead for 7-10 minutes until it forms a smooth and elastic ball. use your fingers or a rolling pin to flatten out the dough into a square
4. Drain the raisins well, if you are soaking them in orange juice, and sprinkle this, as well as the chilled and grated marzipan, over the dough square. Roll the dough up like a cinnamon roll, then knead a minute or so to incorporate the fruit and marzipan into the dough. Place the dough into a well-oiled bowl and cover with a tea towel. Leave this in a warm place until double in size, about 1 hour.
5. Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it back with your fist to release some of the air, and then gently knead the dough into a ball.
6. Divide the dough into 8 equal portions.Roll each portion of dough into a ball and place them on a tray lined with baking paper. Cover the balls of dough with the tea towel and return the tray to a warm place to prove for 30 minutes or until the balls of dough have slightly risen.
7. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 170°C. To make the crosses, mix together the flour and water until you have a thick paste. Pour the paste into a small piping bag, or a small plastic bag and snip off the corner. Pipe a cross onto each bun.
8. Bake the buns for 25-30 minutes, or until they are golden. Meanwhile, make the glaze by heating the jam and water (or amaretto) together in a small saucepan until it is more liquid and easy to brush onto the buns
9. Brush the glaze over the buns as soon as you take them out of the oven, and sprinkle with the flaked almonds. Serve the hot cross buns with a generous spread of butter. Any leftover buns can be stored in the fridge, or freezer and toasted before serving.

Notes

* I like to soak my dried fruits (especially the sultanas and raisins) in orange juice for about an hour before using them in the dough. This is optional but makes your fruit very plump and juicy! Just drain the well before kneading it into the dough

** The marzipan has to be very cold so it doesn't smear together as you knead the dough. Alternatively, you can make 8 equal marzipan balls and place each ball in the centre of each dough ball, and bake the buns with the seam side down. I have done them both ways and both are absolutely delightful!

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