London’s Firmdale Hotel Group’s Fabulous London Recipes (including cocktail).

We all need some fabulous fresh London recipes right now, and this spring cocktail recipe (and bus recipe) is just the ticket for an afternoon of baking and cocktails.

And the Spring Hope Cocktail is simply fabulous.

SPRING HOPE COCKTAIL RECIPE
FROM THE OSCAR BAR TEAM AT CHARLOTTE STREET HOTEL

INGREDIENTS:

• 30ml Ketel One Botanical Peach and Orange Blossom (or a vodka of your choice)
• ½ a passion fruit
• ½ a peach 
• 20ml fresh lemon juice
• 20ml agave nectar
• Ginger beer
• Mint leaves

METHOD

1. Combine the Ketel One, lemon juice, agave and passion fruit in a large glass, then give the ingredients a good stir
2. Add ice, slices of peach, lemon and mint
3. Top with ginger beer and enjoy your delicious low ABV cocktail!

Top tip: to make an alcohol free version of this cocktail recipe, substitute the Ketel One Botanical with Seedlip Grove.

HOT CROSS BUN RECIPE

MAKES 15

INGREDIENTS 

• 300ml milk
• 50g butter
• 75g caster sugar
• 500g flour
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon oil
• 7g dried yeast
• 1 egg
• 75g sultanas
• 50g chopped walnuts
• 1 orange zest and juice
• 1 apple, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 75g flour
• 2 tablespoons water

METHOD

1. Mix the flour, salt, sugar and dried yeast together in a large mixing bowl
2. Warm the milk in a saucepan with the butter
3. When the milk is cooled a little, add it to the flour mixture and add the egg. Mix to combine all the ingredients
4. Turn out on to the counter and knead the dough for 5 minutes until the mixture becomes smooth and silky
5. Put the dough in to a floured bowl and cover with a tea towel and leave to prove for 1 hour
6. After an hour, the dough should have doubled in size
7. Turn out on to the counter and add the chopped apple, sultanas, walnuts, orange zest and cinnamon
8. Knead the fruit, nuts and zest into the dough. Then put the mixture back into the floured bowl and prove for an hour
9. When the dough has doubled in size again, turn the mixture out and divide it into 15 equal pieces
10. Roll the portions into a ball and place the balls onto a baking tray
11. Mix the remaining 75g of flour and water until you have a smooth paste. Put the paste into a piping bag
12. Pipe across the buns to give the crisscross effect
13. Bake the buns at 190 degrees Celsius for 22 minutes
14. For the glaze, reduce the juice of half an orange by half. Then add 1 tablespoon of honey and bring the mixture to the boil
15. When the buns come out of the oven, brush them with the glaze and enjoy with a slab of butter