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Pear & Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

Recipe adapted from the Cook and The Baker, and inspired by Erin Made This. 

Traditional sultana version: if chocolate isn’t for you, you can stick to the original recipe and use 350g dried fruit - sultanas, dried apricots, currants. Soak sultanas in 1 cup of strong, hot Earl Grey tea 30 minutes for extra flavour. In this version, add the dried fruit at the end of the kneading process (before the first prove), rather than before the second prove. Feel free to up the spices as well!

Best eaten on the day, or reheated the day after. Any extras freeze extremely well, wrapped individually in plastic wrap. 

Ingredients
  • 250 ml skim milk (1 cup)
  • 200 ml water
  • 10 g instant dried yeast (2 teaspoons)
  • 110 g caster sugar (1/2 cup)
  • 1 egg , at room temperature, lightly beaten
  • 860 g strong/bread flour (5 and 3/4 cups)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons mixed spice
  • 1 heaped teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 85 g butter , softened
  • 3 beurre bosc pears
  • 150 g dark chocolate
piping paste:
  • 6 tablespoons flour
  • 2 tablespoons caster sugar
  • 1/4 cup water + a bit extra
glaze:
  • 1/2 cup caster sugar
  • 1/4 cup water
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
  2. In a small saucepan, warm the skim milk and 200ml water to lukewarm (30°C on a thermometer, or just a little cooler than body temperature). Remove from the heat.
  3. Stir in the yeast, sugar and egg until the yeast has dissolved. Set aside
  4. Put the flour, mixed spice, cinnamon and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment (or in a large bowl if kneading by hand).
  5. Add the yeast mixture and the softened butter to the flour mixture. Knead on low peed until just incorporated. Turn the speed to medium and mix for 8 minutes. (if kneading by hand, knead for 10-12 minutes or until smooth).
  6. Remove the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for 1 minute. Form a ball, and place in a large, lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to prove for 45min - 1 hour or until doubled in size.

  7. Pears: if your pears are ripe, skip this roasting step and cut straight into chunks. If they are very hard: peel the pears and chop each into 4-6 segments. Place on the baking paper lined tray. Melt a tablespoon of butter and pour over the pears, tossing to coat. Place in oven for 15-20 minutes until just fork tender. Remove to let cool, then chop into small chunks.

  8. Chop the chocolate into chunks.
  9. When the dough has proved, tip out onto a lightly floured bench and gently knead in the pear and chocolate. It won’t really mix in properly, but don’t worry - you can make sure to push bits in when you form it into buns.
  10. Divide the dough into 15-18 pieces and roll into balls, keeping the bits of pear and chocolate inside. This can get a bit fiddly, but rustic is good!
  11. Place onto a large baking tray lined with baking paper, leaving room for rising.
  12. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to prove for 45 minutes.
Piping Crosses

  1. Stir together the flour and sugar in a small bowl. Add enough water to form a smooth paste.

  2. Fill a piping bag and pipe crosses on the top of the buns (for a make-shift piping bag, cut a tiny piece out of the corner of a ziplock bag).
  3. Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes until lightly golden and the buns sound hollow when tapped on the base.
Sugar Glaze

  1. Dissolve the sugar in 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Brush this glaze over the buns just after you remove from the oven.

  2. Best eaten on the day or heated for a couple of days after. Extras freeze well, wrapped individually in plastic wrap.