I did a bit of baking over the weekend – it’s the kinda thing I do during a lazy long weekend where the only firm plans are to dye my hair and watch Dr Who. The most successful of these baking endeavours were my Hot Cross Buns. Determined to better my 2009 results at making Hot Cross Buns, I spent Friday afternoon ensconced in the kitchen making not only Hot Cross Buns, but three variations which were dreamt up during one afternoon a couple of weeks ago. Happily I can report that the results were astronomically better than last year. The final results were a half dozen each of the following:
- Hot Cross Buns Made with glacé cherries instead of candied peel, because I prefer my fruit that way.
- Lady Grey Buns Made with currants and sultanas soaked in Lady Grey tea and with the zest of lemon and orange. My Aunt has a recipe for Tea Bread made with currants macerated in tea which is one of the best things ever. This was a variation on that idea.
- Chocolate and Orange Buns I remember having Hot Cross Buns made with chocolate chips instead of the usual fruit when I was a kid. I decided to revisit this idea in a couple of different forms this year. The first of these was this jaffa-type bun made with dark chocolate chips and orange zest.
- Chocolate and Ginger Buns This was the second of the chocolate varieties. Made with equal parts dark chocolate chips and chopped stem ginger (a new food find of mine), they were mighty yummy.
Of course there is photographic evidence of my endeavours (though admittedly not the best quality photographic evidence). Here are the buns about ten minutes after they came out of the oven.
And here they are about five minutes after that
And remember how I said I was looking forward to the new Doctor Who? Well, after watching Saturday’s episode I am very much looking forward to the upcoming season. First impressions of the new Doctor were favourable, and I like the new look of the TARDIS.