Hot Cross Buns

Cover raisins/currants with water in a saucepan and bring it to a boil.

Remove from heat and let sit for about 10 minutes.

Drain water and set aside.

Combine yeast, warm water and 1 cup flour to the bowl of your stand mixer, mix well and set aside for 15 min

To the rest of the flour add the sugar, salt, cinnamon, mixed spices and orange zest, set aside

Drain raisins and dry them with paper towels or clean tea towel.

Add remaining flour to the bowl of your stand mixer together with the egg and butter.

Knead the mixture until you have a slight sticky ball of dough. You might need to add a bit more flour (tablespoon at the time).

Transfer the dough to your workplace and roll out the dough to a rectangle

Add half of the raisins/currants and fold one half the dough to the middle and the other half over that.

Gently roll out the dough again to a rectangle and add the rest of the raisins/currants

Repeat the fold and then form a ball.

Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and let it rise for about 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Cut the dough in 12 equal size pieces (about 95 gram each) and shape them into nice looking balls.

Grease a rectangle roasting pan with some butter and boil some water.

Transfer the little balls of dough to the roasting pan and place it in a turned OFF oven.

Also place a little bowl with boiling hot water in the oven to prevent the dough from drying out.

Let the buns rise for another hour.

About 15 minutes before baking time, remove the little bowl with water and buns and start preheating the oven to 220 degrees Celsius.

Combine the flour and water and pour it in a piping bag (or zip lock bag) and make the crosses.

Bake the buns in about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Let buns cool for about 10 minutes in the pan

Remove buns from the pan and transfer them to a wire rack

Melt 3 tablespoons of apricot jam in a small saucepan.

Brush the melted jam on top of the warm hot cross buns.