Soft Classic Hot cross Buns

1. Measure out all the ingredients for the dough. Separate the milk into two portions. Place ½ cup of milk in a small saucepan, and the other ½ cup in the mixer bowl.

Making tangzhong

1. Take 2 ½ tbsp (about 25 g) of the measured AP flour, and whisk it into the milk in the saucepan. Make sure the flour-milk mix is completely smooth, with no lumps.
2. Heat the flour-milk mix over medium heat, while whisking constantly. In a few minutes the flour-milk mix will start to thicken. Keep mixing while whisking, until you have a runny paste. Remove from the heat. The tangzhong paste is now ready. (It should weigh about 130 to 140 g - about ½ cup).
3. Cover the tangzhong with plastic wrap, making sure it's touching the surface of the paste. Let it cool down to room temperature before using.

Additions (prepare this while the dough is proofing for the first time)

1. Let the raisins sit in the warm orange for at least 30 minutes (this is to soften the raisins and for them to absorb orange flavor). Drain and just lightly squeeze the raisins to make sure they are not soaked.
2. If you'd like to, you can add bourbon or brandy or cognac to the orange juice as well.

Flour paste for the crosses (prepare this while hot cross buns are proofing for the final time)

1. Place the flour and confectioner's sugar in a bowl and whisk together.
2. Add water, 1 tbsp at a time, until you have a smooth paste that's runny enough to pipe easily, but will not run off the sides of the buns either. (For me, this is about 4 tbsp and a bit of water).
3. Place the flour paste in a small piping bag, or a ziploc bag and set aside.

For the sweet glaze (make this when the hot cross buns are almost done baking)

1. Place the jam, honey, and vanilla in a saucepan. Heat over low heat until the mixture is runny and liquid. To make the glaze even smoother, pass the jam mix through a fine sieve to remove any bigger chunks.
2. Return the glaze to the saucepan and keep it warm until the hot cross buns are ready.
3. See recipe notes for egg wash instructions.

Activating yeast

1. Dissolve about ½ tbsp of the sugar in the warm milk in your mixer bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the milk and stir gently. Let the yeast activate for about 10 - 15 minutes until it looks frothy and foamy.

Hot cross bun dough

1. Once the yeast is activated. In to the mixing bowl with the activated yeast - add the rest of the sugar, eggs, melted butter, spices, zest, tangzhong, and vanilla. Add the remaining flour, and finally the salt.
2. Mix all the ingredients together to form a scraggly dough.
3. With the kneading hook attached to the stand mixer - knead the dough until you have a smooth dough (about 2 - 3 minutes). Check the consistency of the dough. It should be soft and sticky. When kneading the dough at mid speed, the dough should still stick to the bottom, but not to the sides of the bowl. If needed add more milk to the dough to get it to the right consistency.
4. Knead the dough for a further 10 - 12 minutes. (See recipe notes about adding the raisins at this point).
5. When the dough is smooth and shiny and well kneaded, you can add the prepared raisins and mixed peel, and fold them into the dough until they are well distributed. You can knead the dough in the mixer on low speed to incorporate them. However, I prefer to flatten out the dough on a very lightly dusted surface and sprinkle the raisins and mixed peel over the dough. Then roll up the dough and knead it for a couple of minutes to mix it all in evenly.
6. Place the ball of dough in an oiled bowl, covered with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise, until doubled in size (about 1 hour).
7. When the dough has proofed, you can use it right away, OR you can deflate the dough, reshape it and refrigerate the dough for 2 - 24 hours. A chilled dough will be easier to shape.
8. When the dough has proofed, gently press on the dough to remove excess air.
9. Divide the dough into 15 equal portions. (Weigh the dough and divide the weight by 15. This is how much each portion should weigh. This can be between 73 - 77 g).

Shaping the dough balls

1. Line a half sheet baking pan, or a jelly sheet pan with parchment paper.
2. Take each dough portion, and fold over the edges towards the middle. Then pinch these edges at the bottom to seal. Gently roll the ball of dough on your work surface (seam side down) with a cupped hand to shape the dough ball. Make sure the work surface doesn't have any flour to allow the dough to tighten into a smooth ball.
3. Place each of the dough balls on the prepared baking pan, in a 3 x 5 configuration. Leave about ½ - ¾ inch of space between the dough balls.
4. Cover the hot cross buns, and let them proof for the final time. On a cold day, this takes me about 90 minutes, and on a hot day, about 45 minutes. The way I test for proofing is by gently pressing my finger tip into a couple of the buns. If the indentation springs back up, then it’s not ready. If the indentation remains, then they are sufficiently proofed and are ready to be baked.

Baking the hot cross buns

1. While the dough is proofing, prepare the flour paste for the crosses, and preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Snip off the edge of the piping bag (make sure the opening is smaller than the desired thickness of the lines that you want to pipe). Pipe the flour paste over the hot cross buns. 
3. Place the buns in the preheated oven and bake for 25 - 30 minutes. Rotate the tray if needed, halfway through baking.
4. While baking, prepare the sticky glaze, and keep it warm.
5. As soon as the buns are done baking (an instant read thermometer will register at 200°F or over when they are done baking), remove the baking tray from the oven, and let the hot cross buns cool for a few minutes.
6. Brush the warm apricot glaze over the warm buns, and then let them cool completely.
7. These are best eaten warm or lightly toasted with a little butter. Enjoy!