Two years ago this time my husband + I had our first Easter gathering with our family at our home. It was a breakfast table after church with toasted hot cross buns, my sister busy making coffee for everyone, everybody slowly finding their place in comfort.

This year, we treasure the kept memory from past times and find a new way to have an Easter weekend. It might be in the enclosed walls of our homes with not all our loved ones around, but this time let’s promise ourselves to make it different, to put the same amount of effort into making ourselves happy. Make it different by baking your own hot cross buns instead of buying your favourite ones even if it does not at all come out the way you wished. It creates a memory. Stay in your lounge wear, pull up your legs on a chair and listen to Edith Piaf. Cuddle with your four legged babies and just take it very slow for a change.

Pear Preserve

Ingredients

• 2.7 kg mixed green and red pears, peeled

• 2 Peeled lemon skins

• ±3 cups water

• 125ml Orange blossom water

• 125ml Apple Juice

• 125ml Pomegranate Molasses

• 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

• 1 Cup Honey

• 6 Cinnamon sticks

Directions

• Place peeled lemon skins and your peeled pears in a bowl and cover with water.

• Combine water, orange blossom water, apple juice, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice and honey in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add cinnamon sticks.

• Continue simmering until a jam like texture has been reached.

• Add pears to honey syrup and stir gently until heated through.

Modified Hot Cross Buns

Ingredients

Bun

• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast

• ½ cup caster sugar

• 1 ½ cups lukewarm milk

• 4 ¼ cups sifted plain flour

• 2 tablespoons mixed spice

• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 50g unsalted butter, melted

• 1 egg

• 1 ½ cup sultanas

• ½ cup plain flour, extra

• ⅓ cup water Unsalted butter to serve

Glaze

• 1 tablespoon water

• 1 teaspoons gelatine powder

• ½ cup caster sugar

• ¼ cup water, extra

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat your oven to 200ºC

• Mix the yeast, 2 teaspoons of sugar and the milk in a bowl and leave for 5min.

• Add the flour, mixed spice, cinnamon, butter, egg, sultanas and remaining sugar to the milk and yeast mixture. Mix until a sticky dough forms.

• Knead the dough on a floured surface for at least 8min until the dough becomes elastic.

• Place the knead dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover. Place the bowl in a warm place for 1 hour or until it doubled in size.

• Divide the dough into 12 pieces and roughly roll into balls. Arrange the dough balls in a lightly greased 22cm cake tin, lined with non-stick baking paper.

• Cover with a damp cloth and set aside in a warm place for 30min or until risen.

• Place the extra flour and water in a bowl and stir to combine.

• Place into a piping bag and pipe crosses on the buns. Bake for 30-35min or until golden and springy to touch.

  While waiting for the buns in the oven, start your glaze.
  

• Place the water in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatine over. Set aside for 2min until the gelatine dissolved.

• Combine water and sugar in a small saucepan, cook on low heat until sugar completely dissolved. Add the gelatine mixture and cook for 1-2min until the gelatine has dissolved.

• Brush the buns with the glaze while still warm.

  Serve warm with butter.