Easter 2014: Edd Kimber's Chocolate Orange Hot Cross Buns

Baking your own Hot Cross Buns is more than a little daunting, which is probably why we’ve never tried it before.

But when you get an invitation from Great British Bake Off winner Edd Kimber to personally show you how to make his extra special Easter buns – well, who would say no to that?

Since winning the first series of the now iconic BBC show back in 2010, Edd has fast become one of our favourite celeb bakers for his easy to follow but utterly scrumptious recipes.

This year Edd has taken the classic Easter Hot Cross Bun and given it a tasty twist by adding chocolate and orange – one of our absolute favourite flavour combinations.

As well as baking and writing cook books (he’s already on his third, a French-themed collection out later this year) Edd has discovered a passion for food styling – making food look as beautiful as possible.

“I just love it,” he beams. “We’re shooting the images for my new book at the moment and it’s my favourite part of the process.”

“I spent 20 minutes yesterday deciding on the exact positioning of a passion fruit pip!”

[Amazingly life-like cake creations will leave you stunned]

[15 of the best Easter eggs for 2014]

During our one-on-one baking session with The Boy Who Bakes, it becomes clear that Edd is a man of precision – even weighing out each of the buns pre baking.

“I am quite precise when it comes to baking, especially when developing new recipes,” Edd admits to us as we’re elbow-deep in mixed spice and yeast.

“But that doesn’t mean you have to be! The way I see it, if I’m precise and I know that recipe works then you guys get to play with it and have fun.”

By the end of our session we’ve picked up more than a few tips from Edd (which are all revealed in the video above), who really does make this whole baking malarkey seem really easy.

Our buns are spicy and delicious, they look the part and if we can do it, anyone can. Seriously.

Servings:  8
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

225g (8 oz) plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
25g (1 oz) Stork block
7g sachet fast action dried yeast
40g (1½ oz) sugar
15g cocoa powder
55g (2 oz) milk chocolate, chopped
55g (2 oz) dried apricots, chopped
Zest 1 orange
1 level teaspoon mixed spice
150ml (¼ pint) semi skimmed milk

Crosses:
25g (1 oz) Stork tub
55g (2 oz) plain flour

Glaze:
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice

METHOD:

Sieve the flour and salt into a mixing bowl and rub in the Stork until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the yeast, sugar, cocoa, spice and orange zest.
Warm the milk to 37° C or lukewarm, pour into the flour mixture and mix to a soft dough. 
Turn out onto a floured surface and knead dough until elastic and no longer sticky. Cover with lightly oiled clingfilm and leave in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size. Knead in the chocolate and apricots and shape into 8-9 rolls and place them on a greased baking sheet. Cover with lightly oiled clingfilm and leave in a warm place for about 45 minutes.
To make the crosses, blend the Stork with the flour and 4 tablespoons of water. Gently remove the clingfilm from the buns and pipe the mixture into a cross on top of each.
Bake in a preheated oven at 210°C, 190°C fan, Gas 7 for about 15 minutes until golden brown.
To make the glaze, gently warm the sugar and orange juice until dissolved. Brush over the hot buns, return to the oven and cook for a further 2 minutes.