⅓ c. finely chopped candied orange peel (this is available from King Arthur Flour or you can make your own
⅓ c. golden raisins
3¼ - 3¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Instructions
Heat the milk and butter together until the butter melts. Cool to 110 degrees (a candy thermometer is very helpful. )
Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in a large bowl. Beat in the sugar and eggs using a hand mixer or wooden spoon. Add salt, warm milk mixture, spices, and 2 cups of flour and mix to thoroughly combine.
Add 1 cup of flour, sprinkle your work surface with additional flour, and knead, picking up and slapping down the dough as much as possible. The video here is very instructive, though this dough is somewhat stickier than the one he’s working with so don’t expect his perfect results. A dough scraper is pretty essential here – you can get one on Amazon for about 50 cents.) Add the peel and raisins, and knead those in as well. You may have to add up to ¾ c. additional flour, but add in small increments, and keep kneading until your dough springs back when its pushed down. (This is a very sticky dough, and it’s OK if it’s not completely smooth.) Turn into an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise at about 70 degrees until it’s double in size, from 2-2 ½ hours.
Pull the dough gently out of the bowl (no need to punch down) and let it relax for about 10 minutes. Then form into buns by pinching into round shapes, and place them seam side down on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover loosely and let rise an additional 1 ½ hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Whisk together 1 egg and 2 tsps of milk . Brush tops of buns with egg mixture and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until buns are golden brown.
When buns are cooled, brush glaze made from powdered sugar and water over the top. Pipe or spoon lemon curd over the buns in the shape of crosses. Serve warm with butter and additional lemon curd.
Recipe by The Domestic Front at http://www.thedomesticfront.com/hot-cross-buns/