As our regular customers know, dried mango is one of our most popular dried fruit offerings. Especially coveted by the under 5 age group, some of whom refuse to leave the shop without this fruity morsel!

Our mango is from Burkina Faso. The importer works directly with family farmers and cooperatives to build independent and sustainable businesses. See more about how the mango is produced and the impact it has on the local area in our Producer Spotlight.

When I saw a post on Instagram about hot cross buns with mango I knew I really wanted to make them, thanks @blueandbakedgoods for the inspiration. Very happy with how they came out. Although they take a long time, the actual hands on time is less than I expected.

Where to get a sourdough starter

Ask your friends, relatives or work colleagues. Someone has probably started making sourdough in lockdown. They will have spare, as it’s part of the process. I discovered that it survives fine being posted!
Search the Olio (food sharing) app listings: https://olioex.com

Recipe

There are lots of recipes for hot cross buns online, and on YouTube. I just used mango instead of the dried fruit suggested. You could also use our delicious dried figs or cranberries.

This is the recipe I used from @fermentikitchen It was easy to follow and not too complicated.

Ingredients

For the dough:

240g warm milk
500g plain flour
50g sugar
113g salted butter (as our butter is salted I omitted the salt mentioned in the video)
100g active starter (must be “activated” before starting the recipe)
2 eggs
80g mango (cut up small, scissors are easiest)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

For the cross:

40g plain flour & 45g water

For the glaze:

Maple syrup or honey

12 hours of (overnight) bulk rise is needed. Total time ~17 hours.