Currants are used a lot in baking in Britain.   This is because, in that part of the world, they were for a long time the cheapest of all the dried fruit.   Putting raisins or mixed fruit into bread, cake, or buns was more expensive.
        In North America today, most bread, cake, and buns with dried fruit in them either have raisins (generally Thompson seedless raisins) or else have mixed fruit, including raisins and candied peel, and sometimes bits of glacé cherries.   But currants have a distinctive flavour, very different from that of other dried grapes; and the use of just currants in many British recipes means a distinctive flavour to plain British cooking—by which I mean the cheap sort of thing that ordinary people could afford for every day.

Ingredients

Directions

Making the Dough
Put the lukewarm water in a warmed mixing bowl, and add the yeast and one teaspoonful of sugar.   Let the yeast prove.
        Place the flour in another mixing bowl and rub in the butter.   Break the egg into a bowl, and beat it lightly with a fork.   Add it to the proved yeast, along with the milk, and about half the flour.   Cover the bowl with a piece of waxed paper or plastic, and tuck a dishcloth over to keep it from shifting.   Allow the dough to rise in a warm place for a few hours until it is approximately double the bulk.
        Stir in the currants, and the rest of the flour/butter mixture.   Knead the dough well.

To make Currant Buns
Divide the dough into twelve pieces of equal size, gauging them by weight in the palm of your hand rather than by size.   Shape each piece roughly into a ball.
        Cover a large baking sheet with aluminum foil, grease it, and dust it with flour.   Place each of the buns on it.   Space them well apart to allow for the increase in size when they rise.

To Make a Fruit Loaf
Grease a large loaf tin.   Shape the dough into a sausage shape, and place it in the tin, with the smooth side up.

Glazing with Egg
Mix egg or egg yolk with a little water.   Brush over the top of the buns or loaf.

Overnight
Cover the baking sheet or tin with a sheet of waxed paper, putting a dish towel on top so that it won't shift.   Leave the dough to rise overnight.   (If you are baking a loaf, the dough will puff up over the top of the tin.)

Baking
Bake buns at 350°F for about twenty minutes.   Bake a loaf at 425°F for twenty minutes, then 350°F for a further twenty to thirty minutes, or until golden brown.
        If you have made a loaf, then cool it on a wire rack.

Sticky Buns
If you are making currant buns, then, while the buns are in the oven, mix a half a cup of hot water with two tablespoons of white sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved.
        As soon as the buns have been taken out of the oven, quickly brush them over with the sweetened water, covering the tops and sides.   The heat of the buns will evaporate most of the water, leaving a sticky glaze.
        Buns may be served hot or cold.

Makes one dozen buns, or one large loaf.