Easter, Spring and Something New

Darkness was my first impression of this Easter morning. Usually when I wake the sun is at least peeking, gently slipping through my window shades. There is a glow that illuminates the room in an orangey golden haze, and my mind knows immediately that it is time, another day has dawned and there is reason to wake. Today, when my alarm clock began to blare unforgivingly, it was pitch black save for the alien red glow of the mechanically square shaped numbers that read: 6:00.

When I had managed to stumble out into the kitchen, feeling the walls and flipping on light switches, I approached my ivory clad side by side refrigerator (which had spent the whole night groaning, clanking, and running intermittently like an old engine), and pulled the door wide open to a chilly morning blast. Trying desperately to rub the sleepiness out of my eyes, I squeezed them open and shut trying to focus on the great orange bowl I had set on the highest shelf only six hours ago. When the blury haze of morning fatigue had cleared, I saw it. Inside the orange bowl, just barely touching and clinging to the plastic wrap that was draped over its sides was a puffed mountain of earthy brown dough. Along the seams where the dough had groped at and climbed up the sides of the bowl were the billows and bubbles of it's stretching and expanding. It had swollen to twice the size it was when I had put it in there, and as I lifted back the plastic wrap the sweet, antique aroma of yeast and spices filled my nostrils and enlivened my spirit.

Six hours ago, I had wrapped it up and closed it inside the chilly rubber sealed vault that was my refrigerator. Now, as I opened the door and the pale light from the aging appliance filled the darkness of the kitchen, I pulled out something that was so very different from what I had put in. Life had been breathed into the originally limp, dense piece of sticky, intimidating dough. It had risen and I could put my hands around its lightness, hold it up to my face and breathe in its heavenly aroma. My eyes were open, my mind was alert and I was ready to embrace the day.

There is something magical to me about preparing food for the holidays. In fact, it is what makes the holidays. While Easter has great meaning to me from a religious perspective, it also has great meaning to me from a more cultural perspective. Just this week my Mom said to me, "My mother made it (Easter) special with all of the baking she used to do." While I never got to meet her, I have always felt this great connection with my maternal grandmother. I've spent my life trying to make her proud of me. Thanks to the stories handed down to me by my Aunts, Uncles, my sister and my parents, I feel like I've been able to know her so intimately, so passionately that I strive to be like her, I strive to honor her memory, and I strive to keep her traditions and the love she shared in her own special ways alive. She is who I thought of this morning as I prepared these buns before church. I didn't mind getting up early to begin preparing for the celebration of the day. I have taken on the challenge of embodying and fulfilling the type of love my Grandmother shared.

Per my Aunt's request, this Easter was the year of the Hot Cross Buns. A truly fine example of the melding of culture in America, Hot Cross Buns are an English tradition that has caught hold of almost every American who finds themselves near a bakery during Holy Week. If you happened to have lived in Cleveland twenty or thirty years ago, you might have found yourself at one infamous Cleveland eatery known as Hough Bakery. My Aunt swore up and down that these buns were the closest she'd ever found to the flaky, sweet perfection of Hough Bakery's Hot Cross Buns. Confirmed on this Easter day, this recipe makes Hot Cross Buns which are similar to but decidedly better than those from Hough.

Hot Cross Buns
(Based off of the recipe by Shirley O. Corriher in her 1997 cookbook Cookwise)

1/2 cup sugar
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup raisins
3 TBS. dark rum
1 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
1 tsp. barley malt syrup
1/2 cup warm water (115 degrees F)
1 1/2 cups PLUS 1 cup AND 2 TBS bread flour
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
finely grated zest of 2 whole oranges
2 tsp. Spice Mixture (recipe follows)
1 small can (5 oz.) evaporated milk
1 tsp. salt
1 large egg yolk
4 TBS soft butter
1 TBS oil for bowl
2 TBS finely minced candied ginger
1 large egg beaten
1 TBS heavy whipping cream

1. Stir together the sugar, boiling water, raisins and rum in a small bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand overnight.

2. With a spoon, in the bowl of a heavy duty stand mixer, stir together the yeast, barley malt syrup, and warm water. Let stand 3 minutes until foamy (this means the yeast is alive and awake). Add 1 1/2 cups of the bread flour, brown sugar, orange zest, spice mixture, and evaporated milk. With the paddle attachment, beat the dough on medium speed for four minutes. Turn off the mixer and allow the dough to sit for one hour.

3. Swith from the paddle attachment to the bread hook of the stand mixer. Add 1 cup of the bread flour, salt, and egg yolk. Knead with the bread hook on low speed for 5 minutes. Spread the soft butter evenly across the span of the dough. Knead again for 2 minutes on low speed until butter is just incorporated. Use the oil to coat a large bowl. Place the dough in the oiled bowl, turning once to coat with oil, and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.

Day Two

1. Let dough stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before beginning. After 30 minutes, turn dough out onto a floured countertop or pastry cloth and using your palms, cup and pat the dough into a smooth round. Grab either side of the dough with each hand and stretch into an oval shape. Let the dough spring back slightly and stretch again, pulling with your hands. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let stand 15 minutes.

2. In the meantime, drain the raisins. Toss the raisins and ginger with 2 TBS of the bread flour. Grease a 9 x 13 in baking sheet.

3. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into an 18 x 10 inch rectangle. Sprinkle 2/3 of the raisin mixture over the left 2/3 of the dough. Use the rolling pin to press the pieces of fruit lightly into the dough. Take the right hand side of the plain dough and fold it over the center from right to left. Sprinkle the remaining 1/3 of the mixture on this part of the dough and gently press in again. Fold the remaining 1/3 of the dough from the left hand side over the other 2/3, encasing the dried fruit mixture. Seal the edges with your fingers and use the rolling pin to flatten slightly.

4. Cut the dough into 12 equal pieces. Using the palm of your hand and a rolling, cupping motion, form each piece into a bun. Place the buns evenly spaced, yet close together on the prepared baking sheet. Mix together the beaten egg and the 1 TBP of heavy cream and brush over the tops of the buns. Let rise one hour or until doubled in size.

5. In the meantime, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place a pan of hot water on the bottom rack of the oven. When the rolls have risen, use scissors to snip a cross shape into the top of each roll. Brush with the egg and cream mixture again. Place buns in the oven and immediately turn the temperature up to 375 degrees. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until dark, golden brown. Remove from the oven and transfer buns to a cooling rack.

6. Frost each bun with the following frosting, piping crosses into the cuts on the top of each bun.

Frosting

1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. dark rum
3 TBS heavy cream

1. Whisk all ingredients together, adding more liquid if the frosting is too thick to pipe onto the cooled buns.

Spice Mixture

2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1. In an airtight container mix all ingredients, shaking until mixed well.


Thanks to Shirley O. Corriher for this fantastic recipe.

They are a ton of work, but well worth it in the end. You're going to love them.