White Chocolate and Raspberry Hot Cross Buns

Last year I attempted to find the best Hot Cross Bun recipe and tested a few recipes all in the name of research.  We ended up trialling only four recipes but its surprising just how quickly this can become too much of a good thing and we decided it was maybe a good idea to give the Hot Cross Buns a bit of a rest this year.  Then Butter Hearts Sugar posted her recipe for White Chocolate and Raspberry Hot Cross Buns and I couldn't get them out of my mind!  For days I sat at work in front of my computer screen and instead of seeing the never-ending list of numbers and figures I should have been focusing on, I saw plump new season raspberries, white chocolate drops and buns, still warm from the oven with butter melting into a pool of pure badness!

In Oscar Wilde own words "I can resist everything temptation" and here is my version of the recipe.

White Chocolate and Raspberry Hot Cross Buns
2 x 7g sachets dried yest
125ml lukewarm water
645g strong white flour
2 tbsp vanilla sugar
40g butter
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
100g fresh raspberries
135g white chocolate, either use chips or cut squares into chunks
180ml water
Small amount of sugar syrup, to glaze
Small amount of tempered white chocolate, for crosses

Put the yeast, 2 tsp of the flour, 1 tsp of the vanilla sugar and lukewarm water in a small bowl and mix well.  leave the bowl in a warm place for 10 mins or until the mixture is frothy and increased in volume.

Sift the flour into a bowl, stir in the rest of the vanilla sugar and run in the butter with your fingertips.  Stir through the raspberries and chocolate chips with a butter knife.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the vanilla bean paste, yeast mixture and as much of the 180ml of water as you need to make a soft dough.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 mins or until smooth, add more flour as necessary to stop the dough sticking.

Place the dough into a large floured bowl and cover with clingfilm.  Sit the bowl in a warm place for 30-40 mins or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 200C and line a tray with baking paper.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently to deflate.

Divide the dough into 12 portions and roll into balls.  Place the dough on the baking tray just touching each other.  Cover with a tea towel and let them sit in a warm place until nearly doubled in size again.

Bake the buns for 20 mins or until golden brown.

Move to a cooling rack and brush over some sugar syrup while they are still warm.  Leave to cool and them pipe crosses on using the tempered white chocolate.

Makes 12 (although I got a bakers dozen out of my batch)
Butter Hearts Sugar

I didn't knead mine quite as much as the recipe states, I didn't want the raspberries to turn to mush and as a result the buns are a bit more 'knobbly' than they maybe should be.  I'm not too sure if adding frozen raspberries to the mixture at bun shaping stage might be worth a go? 

I had to leave the taste testing down to Hubby on this one, owing to my recent addiction to man sized tissues and lemon sip cold and flu tablets that have done nothing but prolong the symptoms of the cold and left my nose looking like Rudolph!  Grrrr.  They got two thumbs up though, and if he had more thumbs they would have got more! I've been asked to make another batch too ... but I think that can wait for a couple of days ... I'm off to bed with my man sized tissues, a hot cuppa and the Bourke Street Bakery book!