300ml milk (I used semi skimmed), plus 2 tbsp more
50g butter
500g strong bread flour
1 tsp salt
75g caster sugar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp almond extract
7g sachet fast-action or easy-blend yeast
1 egg, beaten
150g glace cherries, chopped finely
1 apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped
*For the decoration*
3 tbsp icing sugar
cold water
12 raisins
6 glace cherries, whole
1-2 tbsp apricot jam
Instructions
Bring the milk to the boil, then remove from the heat and add the butter. Leave to cool until it reaches hand temperature.
Put the flour, salt, sugar, almond extract and yeast into a bowl. Make a well in the centre. Pour in the warm milk and butter mixture, then add the egg.
Using a wooden spoon, mix well,
At this point I used my free standing mixer which has a dough hook and I let the machine knead my dough for 10 minutes on high
(If you didn't have a mixer to do the hard work for you, then bring everything together with your hands until you have a sticky dough. Tip onto a lightly floured surface and knead by holding the dough with one hand and stretching it with the heel of the other hand, then folding it back on itself. Repeat for 5 mins until smooth and elastic.)
Once the kneading has stopped, put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with oiled cling film, or loosely cover with a plastic bag which is what I use as I did not have any cling film! Leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hr or until doubled in size and a finger pressed into it leaves a dent.
While the dough is still in the bowl, tip in the apple and the glacier cherries. Knead into the dough, making sure everything is well distributed. Leave to rise for 1 hour more, or until doubled in size, again covered by some well-oiled cling film/carrier bag to stop the dough getting a crust.
Divide the dough into 12 even pieces - use an ice cream scoop to ensure even sized balls.
Place one ball onto a lined baking tray and take another ball and cut in half - these will be the bunny ears. Add them to the ball on the baking tray. Repeat with the other balls of dough
Add two raisins on each ball 'face' to make eyes and add a glace cherry in the middle to make a nose. Use a fork and make some whisker indentations.
Cover (but don’t wrap) with more oiled cling film./carrier bag, or a clean tea towel, and set aside for the final prove for 1 hr more.
Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/. Bake for 15- 20 mins on the middle shelf of the oven, until golden brown.
Gently heat the apricot jam to melt, then sieve to get rid of any chunks. While the jam is still warm, brush over the top of the warm buns and leave to cool.
Make the icing - add a little water at a time to the icing sugar to make a paste thats not too thick but not runny either. Place into a piping bag and once the buns have cooled down, pipe whiskers - the 'x' 's on to each bunny face and add some icing to the ears too.
Enjoy - best served on the day they are made. They do not need any butter , they are tasty to eat as they are.
Recipe by Mummy Mishaps at http://www.mummymishaps.co.uk/2017/04/hot-cross-bun-nies.html