Roxana Jullapat's Hot Cross Buns with Candied Kumquats

Though I live in Berkeley, one of my weekly rituals is listening to LA radio station KCRW's Good Food online. I usually save it for when I am cleaning up and need a push toward the finish line, because I know 45 minutes will fly by with Evan Kleiman and friends, and I end up with a sparkling kitchen and a clear head. 

Good Food's Market Report segment, in which Amelia Saltsman chats up farmers, purveyors and chefs about ways to use seasonal produce at the Santa Monica Farmers Market, is how I became familiar with LA pastry chef (formerly of Ammo & owner of new restaurant Cooks County) Roxana Jullapat. I love her ideas for seasonal fruit, but became a touch obsessed with making her Hot Cross Buns with Candied Kumquats for Easter. So much so that I bookmarked the recipe in my brain stem for a year.