Hot Cross Buns Recipe and Happy Easter

There’s nothing better than the smell of fresh homemade Hot Cross Buns wafting through your kitchen. Warm bread + fragrant spices = heaven! The best part is that they are easier to make than you think and taste heavenly. I hope you get to try this out! Its so therapeutic to bake these gorgeous buns! You can even try out without piping the cross on these buns and skip that step all together.

I know nothing much has changed since last Easter... its around the same time when Covid started and its been a year... and we are still fighting this pandemic... and we all should be grateful that we have come this far.

Easter reminds us that hope must never be lost for as dark as the road may seem, there always lies light at the end of it. I hope this Easter will fill your home with peace, faith and joy! Wishing you all a Happy and Blessed Easter!

Here is the recipe to make these hot cross buns:

INGREDIENTS

Buns

·         2 packets dry, instant or rapid rise yeast, 1/2-oz. or 14 grams (just over 1 tablespoon)

·         1 1/2 cups warm milk (375 ml)

·         3/4 cup superfine sugar (130 grams)

·         4 1/2 cups bread flour or plain/all purpose, (645 grams) PLUS up to 1/4 cup extra if needed

·         2 teaspoons  mixed spice

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         1 cup raisins, (5.4-oz. or 155 grams)

·         zest of an orange 2 tablespoons

·         1 large egg 

·         1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly (2.1-oz. or 60 grams)

To draw the Cross

·         1/2 cup all purpose or plain flour, (2.6-oz. or 75 grams)

·         5 tablespoons warm water

·         1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Glaze

·         1 tbsp jam, (orange marmalade or apricot jam – I used orange)

·         2 teaspoons boiling water

 

Method

1.       Mix yeast, milk and 2 teaspoons of the sugar in a small bowl to activate. Set aside until frothy on top, about 3-5 minutes.

2.       In a large bowl and combine flour, remaining sugar, all spice and salt. Give those dry ingredients a light whisk to combine, then add in the raisins and orange zest.

3.       Create a well in the centre of the dry ingredients; pour in the yeast, cooled melted butter and egg.

4.       If you are using a standmixer, Mix until a smooth elastic dough forms, about 5 minutes on low speed (setting 2). Add extra flour, 1 tablespoon at a time while mixing, ONLY if needed, until the dough JUST pulls away from sides of bowl (not too sticky). Or if you are using your hand to mix, knead the dough for about 10 minutes.

FIRST RISE

Lightly oil the same mixing bowl you worked with. Place dough inside bowl, cover with plastic cling wrap and place a dry tea towel over the top. Leave in a warm place to prove for 1-2 hours, or until doubled in size.

Shape into Buns

1.       Line a deep 9 x 13-inch (31cm x 23cm) baking tray with baking paper. You want a piece long enough to create a slight over-hang for easier lifting once baked. Set aside.

2.       Remove cling wrap and punch down dough with fist to deflate and knock the air out. Transfer dough to a clean, lightly floured work surface.

3.       Knead dough for an additional minute or two to get remaining air out. Shape dough into a log and divide into 12 equal pieces (each piece should weigh about 4-oz. or 116-119 grams). Briefly roll each piece into a ball, evenly spacing them out on the tray as you go into rows of 3 x 4.

SECOND RISE

1.       Preheat oven to 180°C.

2.       Cover tray with plastic wrap; place dry tea towel over the top and leave in a warm place for an additional 30 minutes, or until doubled in size.

Pipe the Crosses

1. Mix flour and water to a thick-ish paste (like a thick pancake batter)
2. Grab a sandwich-sized ziplock bag. Snip corner to measure a 3mm hole (0.1-inch). Spoon paste into bag; carefully press the air out and SEAL the top. (Test hole is big enough by squeezing out some paste into a bowl first. If you can create a small straight line, you're ready to make your crosses. At this point you can add a little extra water to the paste ONLY IF needed).
3. Remove cling wrap and slowly pipe crosses onto buns. You want some paste to fall into and hug each roll/crevice so while they bake and rise up, the crosses don't break).

Bake

Place buns into preheated oven and bake for 22-25 minutes, or until deep, golden brown on top.

Glaze

1.       Transfer buns to a wire cooling rack.

2.       Mix jam  and boiling water together in a small bowl. Brush buns over with glaze, then leave to cool. 

3.       Allow to cool to just warm to the touch before serving.

Image copyright Tickled by Inspirations

Lemon Blueberry Cake

This easy lemon blueberry cake is a burst of beautiful flavours and I call this a sunshine cake. Its moist, tender and bursting with lemon flavour and blueberries. It’s a great combo of flavours and a great show stopper dessert. I am going to share this recipe which didn’t fail me in my first shot. Try it out and do let me know how it turns out! This cake goes well with cream cheese frosting or buttercream. But I love it with Chocolate… because nothing can go wrong with chocolate!

This recipe is adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction

 

Serves 10 to 12

Ingredients

1 cup softened unsalted butter
1 and 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour 
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 Tablespoons lemon zest
1/2 cup lemon juice (3 medium lemons)
1 and 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour (to coat blueberries)


Method:

Preheat oven to177°C. If you want to make a layer cake grease three 9-inch cake pans, line with parchment paper, then grease the parchment paper. I used one 12inch pan.

Make the cake: Using a handheld or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high until creamy – about 1 minute. Add granulated and brown sugars and beat on medium speed until creamed, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until everything is completely combined, about 2 full minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients - flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Beat on low speed for 5 seconds, then beat in the milk, lemon zest, and lemon juice, just until combined. Toss the blueberries with 1 tablespoon of flour and gently fold into the batter. Batter is extremely thick. So do not over-mix as over-mixing will lead to a dense textured crumb.

Spoon batter evenly into 3 prepared cake pans. If you are only using 2 cake pans or 1 cake pan, your bake time will be longer. Bake the three layers for about 21-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the pan before assembling and frosting.

You can frost it with cream cheese frosting or buttercream or chocolate. They all work well with this cake. 

Above pictures are copyrighted Tickled by Inspirations.

Nutella Buttercream Recipe

Nothing can go wrong to your cake if you use the right kind of frosting…. Nutella buttercream frosting is my all-time favorite and has me swooning all the time! It is simple to make, its rich, incredibly addictive and silky smooth. It is even better than I ever imagined!! And it goes well with any chocolate cake, or cupcakes and even better with chocolate coffee flavored cake! 

I recently baked a dark chocolate cake flavoured with coffee and layered it with nutella buttercream frosting, chocolate fudge and McVities digestive nibbles for the crunch… And this cake was baked for a special and gorgeous gal who is an amazing baker herself, who has baked many gorgeous cakes for me every year!! And I am glad the cake brought a huge smile and joy on her special day! This is probably the decadent cake that I have ever baked.

For those who want my recipe for the dark chocolate cake, please click here. This cake recipe is super simple and has never failed me!

And I adapted the recipe for my Nutella frosting from https://www.bakedbyanintrovert.com/nutella-frosting/

Here is the recipe

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup (210 grams) Nutella

1/8 teaspoon salt

2-4 cups (240 grams)confectioners’, sifted

2-3 tablespoons heavy cream

Instructions

·         In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or with an electric hand mixer, beat the butter on medium-high speed until smooth. 

·         Add the Nutella and salt and continue to beat until well combined for about 2 minutes.

·         Add 1 cup of confectioner’s sugar and beat on medium-low speed until most of the sugar is moistened. 

·         Gradually add the remaining sugar until the frosting is the desired texture, beating on medium-low speed until the sugar is moistened. You may need more or less sugar depending on how you plan to use the frosting.

·         Add the heavy cream and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

TIPS

·         Make sure you use soft butter for this recipe. Set the butter out on the counter for at least 1 and 1/2 hours before using.

·         Frosting can be stored up to 4 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Let it stand at room temperature to soften before use.

If you are a chocoholic, I hope you get to try it out soon and let me know how it turns out!!! Wishing you all a happy weekend!!!!

Above Images are copyrighted by Tickled by Inspirations

Gingerbread Garam Masala Cake with Orange Buttercream Cheese Frosting

The spiced flavor in Gingerbread cake is the epitome of any holiday treat because it is filled with warm and cozy flavours. It works great as part of your dessert, breakfast or tea. The flavours are strong that scream Holiday and goes perfectly well with coffee. The recent cake competition that I took part in , made me think out of the box… I had to step out of my usual comfort box where I used to regularly bake anything with chocolate. Unique flavoured cake category definitely made me think out of the box and discover how I could add a twist to the flavor. So I decided to take my gingerbread cake to another level and I added a teaspoon of garam masala to the recipe, which actually complimented the cake with the other spices and it wasn’t strong at all. I felt good trying something new though I could never associate garam masala in a cake… but this recipe changed my outlook completely! 

You can frost this cake with chocolate, caramel, white chocolate or any cheese frosting! I paired my gingerbread cake with orange buttercream cheese frosting. It was the perfect tanginess and sweetness to this cake. This wintery cake can be made any time of the year if you want to feel festive!! Decorate it with rosemary or thyme, cranberries or pomegranate and your cake will be show stopper for sure! I hope you get to try out this recipe and keep me posted on how it turns out!!

INGREDIENTS:

For the Garam Masala Gingerbread Cake

·         1 cup brown sugar

·         3/4^th cup butter

·         2 large egg  

·         1/2 cup molasses

·         2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

·         1/4^th  teaspoon baking soda

·         1 teaspoon baking powder

·         1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

·         1 teaspoon ground ginger

·         1 heaped teaspoon Garam masala

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·         1 cup hot water

For the Orange Buttercream Cheese Frosting:

·         1 lb of cream cheese room temp

·         1 cup butter room temp

·         2 Tablespoon orange zest

·         1 Tablespoon orange juice

·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·         200gm powdered sugar

Instructions

1.       Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2.       Lightly grease and flour pans and place parchment on the bottoms. This is a sticky cake so please do not omit the parchment paper on the bottom of the pans.

3.       In a large bowl add the flour, spices, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Stir with whisk to combine. Set aside.

4.       In bowl of mixer fitted with paddle attachment beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy.

5.       Add the eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl after each addition.

6.       Add in the vanilla and molasses. Mix well to combine.

7.       With mixer on low speed add the flour mixture in by spoonful alternately with the hot water, starting and ending with the flour.

8.       Mix just until well combined and smooth.

9.       Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans, smoothing the tops.

10.   Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

11.   Cool completely.

To make BUTTERCREAM frosting:

12.   Cream the cream cheese and butter together until light and fluffy.

13.   Add in the vanilla, orange juice and orange zest, mix well to combine.

14.   With mixer on low speed add in powdered sugar one spoonful at a time until well combined and completely mixed and creamy, about 3-5 minutes of mixing after all powdered sugar is added. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.

15.   Note: This is a soft frosting because of the cream cheese, it does not pipe designs due to its soft nature.

 ASSEMBLY:

16.   Place dab of frosting on cake board/cake plate to keep cake in place.

17.   Place the first cake layer on the cake board/plate.

18.   Spread a large dollop of buttercream on top and spread evenly to the edges of the cake.

19.   Place next cake layer on top and spread with buttercream.

20.   Repeat with remaining cake layer until all are stacked.

21.   Once all the layers are in place apply a crumb coat of buttercream around the top and sides of cake. Refrigerate at least 45 min. (Crumb coat gives a nice smooth base to work with when ready to apply final coat of buttercream and decorate).

22.   Apply final coat of buttercream, I chose a semi-naked cake design for this but I still used a crumb coat to keep the final coat clean.

23.   Decorate with fruits or nuts or any holiday cookies and greenery you may have on hand.

All the above pictures are copyrighted Ticked by Inspirations.

Chocolate Tiramisu Layer Cake

I am an advocate for simple recipes with easy ingredients and high in flavor. But this recipe is not an easy one but the effort and hard work is all worth it if you are baking for a special occasion. I baked this cake for my husband who was traveling on his birthday… it is a 4 layer cake vanilla sponge cake soaked with coffee and Kahlua, crushed chocolate, cheese frosting, and soft dense chocolate cake. The flavours of chocolate and coffee go so well together… It took me 2 days to make this and to make it look sophisticated and a show-stopper, I wrapped it with chocolate lace and topped with raspberries and icing sugar! This is seriously one of my kitchen pride moment!!.... And the result is utter bliss!! I couldn’t think of a better cake for my birthday boy, who still has a huge grin on his face and hunts my fridge looking for leftovers…. 

If you have any love for chocolate coffee Kahlua cake and cheese frosting, this is the cake to go for!

Ingredients for plain sponge cake

§  Sugar ¾ cup

§  Vanilla 1 tsp.

§  Plain Flour 1 ¼ cup

 Baking Powder 1 1/2 tsp

§  Corn starch 1 tsp.

§  Eggs 6

     Ingredients for chocolate cake

·         3/4 cup Cocoa Powder

            ·         2 cups sugar (I used brown sugar)

·         1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

·         1 teaspoon salt

·         2 teaspoons vanilla extract

·         1 cup milk

·         1 cup water boiling mixed with 1 teaspoon of espresso powder

·         2 eggs

·         1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

·         1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

·         1/2 cup vegetable oil

Ingredients for Cheese Cream Frosting

·         Heavy Whipping cream 1 cup

      ·         Mascarpone cheese 16oz or Philadelphia Cheese

       ·         Powdered sugar 5 tbsp. or more as per your taste to sweetness

C     Coffee Or Espresso  1 cup (1 or 2 tsp. instant coffee powder mixed with water) with Kahlua (optional)

Servings: 10 to 12

       Method

T      To make chocolate cake

• Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round pans or one 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
• Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of electric mixer 2 minutes. Stir in hot coffee mixture (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
• Bake 30 to 35 minutes for round pans, until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks.

To make the sponge cake

1.     Beat 6 eggs until foamy. Then slowly add the sugar and vanilla while beating the egg mixture.

2.    Now to add the dry ingredients. Sift the flour and cornstarch and fold it into the beaten eggs using a whisk.

3.    Prepare 2 round baking pans (9 inches in diameter) with parchment paper and grease it with butter. Pour the batter evenly between the two pans.

4.    Bake in a preheated oven at 176 degrees Celsius for 28-30 minutes. Then transfer to a cooling rack to cool to room temperature.

6.    In a small bowl mix together the coffee and Kahlua and keep it aside

T    To make Frosting

Whip heavy cream in a bowl until stiff peaks are formed. Refrigerate this bowl of whipped cream.  In a separate bowl beat the mascarpone cheese until smooth and add the powdered sugar and beat well till its smooth. Fold the mascarpone mixture into the whipped cream with a rubber spatula until no white streaks remain. If this mixture is a bit runny refrigerate it till its set.

L     Layering

·         Start layering the cake in this order: a layer of chocolate cake, top it with cheese frosting

·         Then top it with a layer of sponge cake, pour a bit of coffee mixture on it. Then spread the cheese frosting. You can also add a bit of coarsely crushed chocolate like KitKat or Maltesers.

·         And continue the layers in the same manner till you spread the cheese frosting on top and sides.

·         Sprinkle Cocoa powder and garnish it with berries and dusted icing sugar.

·         I managed to make a chocolate lace to cover the sides. Please click here for the tutorial or you can pipe any icing and decorate the sides.

Tips:

• Bake the cakes in advance – preferably a day
• If you want to make this recipe kid friendly - minus the Kahlua. 

All the above pictures are copyrighted Tickled by Inspirations.