A Note From The Chef

When it comes to cutting costs, cooking at home is a great place to make a big impact on your food budget. For every dollar you spend in a restaurant, only 25 to 40 cents goes to food. The rest pays for labor, rent, utilities, taxes and profit. While the economic slump may be bad for your wallet, it could be good for your waistline. That's because, according to nutritionists, by eating out less and cooking more at home – you are more likely to eat nutritious foods in reasonable portions.

At every class I talk about the skills, tips and techniques to make great food at home. Whether it’s simple and healthy, hearty and traditional or exotic and elegant; we’ll give you the confidence to make it yourself.

On a sidenote, Bekins has just released four new TV commercials! One of the commercials is focused on our cooking school and you can view them on our website here.

April is the month of the moveable feasts of Easter and Passover. They are called moveable because they do not fall on a fixed date on the calendar. The Easter feast marks the end of the Lenten fast. Eggs are symbolically associated with rebirth and immortality; hence, their connection with Easter. In early Christian times eggs were forbidden during Lent, making them bountiful and exciting 40 days later. It is why we color and decorate them in celebration to this day.

Try your hand at making the traditional Hot Cross Buns in the recipe of the month below!

Cheers!

Chef Tom Reinhart

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Recipe of The Month

Hot Cross Buns
In English tradition, Hot Cross Buns were the only permissible food to be eaten by the faithful on Good Friday. That tradition suffered attack during the 16th century; however, when Queen Elizabeth I banned Roman Catholicism, bakers were tried for “Popery” for signing the cross on their Good Friday buns.

Their defense was that it was necessary to mark a cross on the dough to ensure that the buns would rise. In time, the buns popularity prevailed and the Queen compromised by limiting the bun's consumption to proper religious ceremonies, such as Christmas, Easter or funerals.

1/2 cup warm milk (110°F)
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp./0.25 oz./7 grams)
1/2 tsp. granulated sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour (and 1/4 cup extra flour as needed for kneading)
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened and cut into small pieces
1 egg
2 tbsp. raisins or currants
2 tbsp. grated orange or lemon zest

For the Egg Wash:
1 egg white or yolk, beaten
3 tbsp. granulated sugar

Icing for the Crosses:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. milk or cream
 

For the Buns:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together the milk, yeast and 1/2 tsp. granulated sugar. Set aside until foamy, about 5-10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, mix together the 2 cups flour, the allspice, cinnamon, salt and the 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Add half of the flour mixture to the milk mixture. Using the flat beater, beat until ingredients are combined. Add the butter and egg and mix to combine. Add the remaining flour mixture and beat until a soft dough forms.

Fit the mixer with the dough hook and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. If needed, add extra flour, 1 tbsp. at a time (up to 1/4 cup) to keep the dough from being too sticky. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled large bowl and turn to coat with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until almost doubled in size, about 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

On a lightly floured work surface, punch down the dough and knead in the raisins and grated orange zest. Shape the dough into a 12-inch log and cut into 12 equal pieces. Cover with clean plastic wrap and let dough rest for 10 minutes. Shape each piece into a ball and place on the prepared baking sheet, spacing the buns 1-1/2 inches apart. Cover and let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).

For the Egg Wash:
In a small bowl, mix together the beaten egg white (or yolk) with the 3 tbsp. of sugar to make a glaze. Brush the buns with the glaze.

Bake buns in preheated 400°F oven for 12 minutes. Remove buns from oven and transfer to wire rack. Cool buns for 5 to 10 minutes while you make the icing for the crosses.

Icing for the Crosses:
Combine all the icing ingredients in a small bowl and beat until thick. Use a pastry bag and tip to pipe thick crosses onto the buns. (If you don't have a pastry bag, fill a sturdy plastic ziploc bag with the icing, squeezing it down into one corner. Snip the tip of the bag off, and squeeze the icing onto the buns making a cross design over the tops).

Ingredients

Learn more about the ingredients that you use and how to substitute them when you don't have what the recipe calls for.

Currants
Substitutes: Raisins (larger) OR golden raisins (for baking).

Allspice
Substitutes: equal parts cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, all ground OR equal parts cinnamon and cloves, all ground OR equal parts cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and black pepper, all ground.

Information courtesy of “The Cook’s Thesaurus”.