The FastDay Forum

BTW, I checked Breadandwine's recipe for the buns and if I remember correctly there is no milk? My recipe for HCB has milk AND butter, which do make a difference in their lightness.

Sorry, TML, but the inclusion of milk - or butter for that matter - has no bearing on the lightness of bread. What does is the amount of water you can incorporate into the bread - witness my ciabatta recipe that has an extra 25% of water and rises better than any conventional loaf I make!

As you are aware, I'm a vegan, so I never put dairy or eggs in my bread. Apart from my dietary requirements, I see no need for those ingredients in a bread dough. Bread is basically flour, water and yeast (and salt if required) - adding sugar, fruit and spices turns it into a bun dough. IMO, the only way you would be able to tell the difference between my recipe and yours, TML, is to make them both and do a side by side tasting.

Trouble is, received wisdoms get in the way, and we tend to follow recipes handed down to us without questioning their rationale.

I think that sugar is important. Where goes yeast, there goes sugar, as my great-grandmother used to say. Sugar feeds the yeast and makes the dough rise better and faster.

Personally, I wouldn't make hot cross buns without butter or milk, they would be just sweet bread. But we all choose what we make and how we make it. I can guarantee you though that I can tell if a sweet bread has or has not butter and milk in the dough. It's a matter of experience. We make a similar sweet bread to hot cross buns here all year but for Lent we do it with no butter and milk. IME, the second edition is less fluffy, thus my advice to Caroline.

Fair enough, TML, it's horses for courses, really.

Cheers, B&W

Hee heeeeee, my great-aunt said "a bun for my hun". I love they way old people used to rhyme everything!