Traditionally known as Good Friday buns, these little cinnamon rolls have become so popular that they’re now available all year round (yay!) But buying hot cross buns means you miss out on the wafts of cinnamony baked goodness filling your house — so, here's a recipe to make your own from scratch.

For the buns:

• 500g cake flour
• 50g butter
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 280ml buttermilk
• 2 tsp (10g) yeast
• 1 beaten egg
• 125g raisins (or other dried fruit) soaked in 100ml boiling water

For the cross:

• 100g cake flour
• 100ml water

For the glaze:

• 100g sugar
• 100ml water for glaze

1. Sieve the flour into a bowl, rub in the butter and stir in the sugar, salt and cinnamon.
2. Mix the buttermilk with the yeast and beaten egg. As soon as it starts to foam, add this mixture to the flour. Mix together with your hands until it comes together to form a soft dough. Knead for 5-10 minutes until soft and springy. You can do this by hand or by using a mixer with a dough hook — we used the KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer

3. Add the raisins or dried fruit and knead well. Since they’re in season, we added some dried figs to our homemade buns.
4. Shape the dough into 12 balls, place on a greased tray or two and leave somewhere warm to double in size for about 30-45 minutes. For guaranteed crispy crusts, the Demarle Silpain Baking Mat is ideal as its non-stick mesh texture wicks away the outside moisture.

5. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
6. Make the mixture for your cross in the mean time. Sift the required amount of flour into a bowl and add the water, then mix to a rough paste.
7. Scoop the mixture into a piping bag and pipe a cross over each bun then place in the oven.

8. Once the oven has reached the required temperature you can bake your now crossed buns for 12-15 minutes until risen and golden brown.
9. While your buns are a-baking, get started on the glaze. Place the sugar and water in a small saucepan.
10. Simmer for 5-10 minutes then remove from the heat and set aside.
11. Remove the buns from the oven and brush with the glaze. Serve piping hot with lashings of butter and dollops of maple syrup.

With thanks to Jules Mercer for her beautiful styling.