British Hot Cross Buns - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened, cut into pieces
1 egg
2/3 cup dried currants
1/4 cup diced candied citron
Glaze:
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon water
Icing:
2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons water

Preparation

Heat milk in a small saucepan to 110 degrees F (43 degrees C); pour milk into a bowl. Whisk 1/2 cup flour and yeast into milk; cover with plastic wrap and let stand until bubbly, about 15 minutes.
Place 1 2/3 cups flour, 1/3 cup white sugar, salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg into the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment; turn mixer on for a few seconds on low speed to combine. Place butter into flour mixture; mix on low speed until incorporated, about 2 minutes.
Place yeast mixture and egg into flour mixture; mix on low speed for 2 minutes. Stop mixer and allow to rest for 10 minutes; mix on medium speed until smooth and elastic, about 2 minutes. At slowest speed, mix currants and citron into dough until evenly distributed, about 1 minute.
Butter the inside of a large bowl; place dough in bowl, turn to butter dough on all sides. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; let dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Line a baking sheet with parchment. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Pat dough into a rough square, and cut into 12 equal pieces. Form each piece into a round bun; place on prepared baking sheet. Press a cross into each bun with the back of a knife; cover buns with a damp cloth and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Bake buns in the preheated oven until deep golden brown, about 15 minutes.
Bring 2 tablespoons white sugar with 1 tablespoon water to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove buns from oven; lift parchment and transfer buns to a wire rack. Brush immediately with sugar glaze; allow buns to cool completely, about 20 minutes.
Stir confectioners' sugar and remaining 2 teaspoons water together in a small bowl; heat icing mixture in microwave until smooth and warm to the touch, about 10 seconds. Place icing in a sandwich bag, snip off one corner of the bag, and pipe in a cross over fully cooled buns; allow icing to dry for 30 minutes.