English Tea Buns

My great-grandparents came to the United States from England. When my mother (Marie Goff Allred) was growing up, she recalls going to her Grandmother Scholes house every Sunday afternoon and eating English Tea Buns. Years later my mother enlisted the help of her mother (Sarah Scholes Goff) to adjust and modify the recipe to translate to modern times. Below is a copy of the original recipe and then the modified recipe.

English Tea Buns:
1 cup yeast [ This may have referred to using a cup of sour dough starter as the natural leavening.]
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. nutmeg
2 cup raisins
2 tsp. salt
1 sifter flour [That was tricky to figure out. How much flour is in a sifter full?]
grated rind of lemon
[Note that there is no liquid called for in this recipe. My mother couldn't figure out why her recipe never turned out right. One day she watched as her mother made the tea buns. Marie asked Sarah why she had added a cup of milk. The recipe didn't call for milk. Sarah replied, "Everybody knows that you have to add a cup of milk!"]

So, here is the revised, modified version:
1 Tb. dry yeast softened in one cup of warm water
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs beaten
1 cup warm milk
6 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. lemon flavoring or zest of one lemon
2 cups raisins
Mix all ingredients except raisins. Knead to a soft dough. Add raisins. Let rise until double in bulk (1 hour or more.) Punch down, form into small buns. Try to have the raisins covered as they burn easily. Dip the top of the bun in milk (about 1/4 cup flavored with 1/2 tsp. lemon flavoring) then dip in sugar. Place on greased pan. Let rise until light. Bake at 250 to 300 degrees until golden brown.