Thai Orange-Macadamia buns

In 'Bread' van Jeffrey Hamelman is a delicious recipe for Hot cross buns. I’ve baked them many times before with just raisins. Thai people eat rice every day and all day, but they also like my raisin buns.

Today I will use a different filling for the buns. For the Bread Baking Day #35 I give these buns a Thai flavour. I use orangepeel and macadamianuts from Thailand. Don't know where the raisins come from. Because the orangepeel was preserved it had a strong taste, but combined with the macadamianuts and the raisins it was a delicious bun.


This is what I did:

Sponge
• 37 g flour
• 190 g warm milk, 40 – 45 °C
• 9 g sugar
• 7 g dry yeast

Dough
• 360 g flour
• 57 g soft butter
• 1 egg, about 37 g
• 57 g sugar
• 5 g salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• the sponge

Filling
• 15 g orangepeel, chopped
• 100 g raisins, soaked in hot water
• 75 g macadamia nuts, chopped

On top
• wisked egg for color

Sponge: combine milk and yeast in a medium bowl. Wait till the bubbles show. Wisk in flour and sugar, the mixture will be very liquid. Cover and let rest until it is about 3 times its original volume, 30 – 40 minutes

Dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle, mix final dough flour and softened butter in little bits until the butter is evenly distributed through the flour.

Add egg, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Continue to mix until combined.
Replace the mixer paddle with the dough hook. Add the sponge and start mixing at low speed. Add water as needed to make very soft dough and mix until well combined, about 3 minutes.

Mix at medium speed, occasionally scraping the dough down the sides of the bowl. Mix till the dough starts to leave the sides and comes together around the dough hook.
Add the orange peels, raisins and the macadamia nuts. Mix in low speed just until they are evenly distributed through the dough.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled, covered container. Ferment in a warm place for one hour, with a fold at 30 minutes.
Turn the dough onto an oiled counter and divide it into 12 pieces (about 72 g each).


Lightly degas each piece of dough and tuck the edges under to form a loose ball. To tighten the ball, place it on the counter with your cupped hand loosely around it, and move your hand in a tight circle several times.
Place the balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Press them lightly with your palm to flatten them a bit.

Cover and proof in a warm place for about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 220 °C.

Brush the egg on the buns and bake them for 10 - 12 minutes, in my oven I needed to bake them a few minutes longer. Cool them on a wire rack.

Inspired by:
• 'Bread' by Jeffrey Hamelman
• Arden
• Wild Yeast

For the first time I will send these buns with dry fruit to Mymoonah of Pearl City host of Bread Bake Day #35 and to Zorra of Kochtopf