Royal Breakfast Tea Brioche Hot Cross Buns with Honey Lemon Glaze

This Easter, spend the perfect Sunday afternoon with our luxurious hot cross bun recipe that pairs perfectly with a homemade honey lemon glaze. Read on for a guaranteed pleasurable indulgence.

Ingredients

Bun
– 6g Australian Tea Masters Royal Breakfast Tea leaves
– 1 disposable tea bag
– 2/3 cup water
– 20g raisins
– 20g sultanas
– 20g dried cranberries
– 1 1/3 cup plain flour
– 1 tsp instant yeast
– 1/2 tsp salt
– 1 1/2 tbsp sugar
– 1 tbsp milk, chilled
– 2 eggs, chilled
– 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
– Egg wash

Cross
– 1/4 cup flour
– 3 tbsp warm water
– Glaze
– 1 tbsp honey
– 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
– Orange zest, to garnish
– Lemon zest, to garnish

Method

• Seal the tea leaves into tea bag and place in a pot of water. Bring to a boil then remove from heat and add in roughly chopped raisin, sultanas and cranberries. Stir well and set aside for 20 minutes.
• Carefully drain the fruits and set aside remaining tea.

• For the buns, mix flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a bowl. Whisk eggs with milk and pour into the mixture.
• With a dough hook attached to the mixer, mix the dough on low speed for 2 minutes.
• Add in butter every 1 minute in 4 portions, scraping down sides of bowl after each addition until all butter is well incorporated.
• Increase speed to medium and add in the hydrated fruits. Mix thoroughly till fruits are evenly distributed and dough does not stick to the bowl.

• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise till double in size, around 1 hour. Punch down the dough and cover again to refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
• Remove dough from fridge. Gently turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 7 portions.
• Flour lightly and fold in edges of each portion. Gently cup the dough and rotate in a circular motion to form balls.
• Heavily grease a 9” cake pan with butter and arrange the dough balls seam-side down in a flower pattern. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let dough rise for around 1 hour till double in size.
• Meanwhile, preheat oven to 190°C.
• For the cross, mix all ingredients till a smooth and thick syrup forms. Gently brush egg wash then pipe the classic crosses across the buns.
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 190°C till buns are deeply golden on top, rotating the pan halfway through.

For the glaze, mix all ingredients together along with 1/2 tbsp of remaining tea from Step 1.
Generously brush glaze on the tops of the buns and sprinkle zest whilst still hot out of the oven.
Let cool in pan for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack. Cool for a further 5 minutes before
serving warm.

Buns can be stored in airtight container in room temperature for 2 days and in fridge up to 4 days.
To reheat, bake at 150°C for 10 minutes.

Pro tip: Dough can be made beforehand and kept in fridge to proof overnight for a richer brioche
taste.

Taking it further: Toasted hot cross buns smeared with butter makes a great meal for Easter. Or you could go the extra mile — halve the hot cross buns and toast, then spread both sides with cheese, top with figs and drizzle honey over for a decadent Easter meal! Whichever you choose, enjoy these hot cross buns served warm with Royal Breakfast tea — a perfect pairing that is bound to please!