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We’ve prob­a­bly all sang that lit­tle ditty at some time in our lives.  I know we did when we were kids grow­ing up in Aus­tralia.  Bread often plays a major role in hol­i­day and reli­gious obser­vances. The hot cross bun is tra­di­tional Lenton bread, its exact ori­gins unknown. Some say that it has pagan ori­gins, the cross rep­re­sent­ing the moon and its four quar­ters. Anglo-Saxons ate the sacra­men­tal buns in honor of their god­dess Eas­t­ore. When the Romans arrived in Britain, the clergy tried to stop the use of the sacra­men­tal buns, but could not. So they blessed them and gave the cross on the buns a Chris­t­ian mean­ing. Tra­di­tion­ally these buns are dec­o­rated with dough piped across the top before bak­ing, not a sweet icing as is com­monly seen. A thin glaze brushed over the buns pro­vides the added sweetness.

Yield: 30 Rolls

Ingre­di­ents:

Dough
10 ounces Golden raisins
10 ounces Dark raisins
3 ounces Can­died orange peel
2 lb. 4 oz. Bread flour
4 ounces Short­en­ing
3 1/2 ounces Gran­u­lated sugar
10 grams Dough con­di­tioner, optional
2 ounces Dry milk pow­der
2 3/4 ounces Com­pressed yeast
1 Table­spoon Salt
2 Eggs
1 tea­spoon Vanilla extract
1 tea­spoon Car­damom, ground
1 tea­spoon All­spice, ground
2 tea­spoons Gin­ger, ground
1 Table­spoon Cin­na­mon, ground
19 fluid ounces Water

Cross Dough
4 ounces Pas­try flour
3/4 ounce Short­en­ing
3 1/2 fluid ounces Milk

6 fluid ounces Bun Glaze

Method:

1.    Place the raisins and can­died orange peel in a small bowl and cover with hot water. Let soften in the water for 5 min­utes. Drain the water and let the fruit con­di­tion for 2 to 4 hours before using. Set aside.

2.    Place the flour, short­en­ing, sugar, dough con­di­tioner, if using, dry milk pow­der, yeast, salt, eggs, vanilla extract and spices in the bowl of a mixer fit­ted with the dough hook. Add the water and mix the dough on low speed for 3 min­utes until moist­ened. Stop the machine and scrape the bowl. Add addi­tional flour if nec­es­sary to cre­ate a soft dough. Mix the dough on medium speed for 6 to 7 min­utes until it is soft and pliable.

3.    Add the con­di­tioned fruit and mix the dough on low speed until the fruit is well dis­trib­uted in the dough. If nec­es­sary, dust the dough lightly with more flour to help the fruit incorporate.

4.    Scrape the dough onto a flour-dusted work­bench. Cover and fer­ment for 30 min­utes. Deflate the dough and fold it into thirds then let it rest for another 15 minutes.

5.    Divide the dough into 3–1/2-ounce (100-gram) pieces. Round the dough into tight rolls with a smooth top sur­face. Place the formed rolls, seam side down on a paper-lined half sheet pan. Posi­tion them in rows on the tray, 5 rolls by 6 rolls so that the rolls touch when fully proofed.

6.    Proof the rolls with low humid­ity until dou­bled in size, approx­i­mately 50 minutes.

7.    While the rolls proof, pre­pare the cross dough. Com­bine the pas­try flour, short­en­ing and milk in the bowl of a mixer fit­ted with a pad­dle attach­ment. Mix on medium speed until the short­en­ing is well blended and the dough is lump free.

8.    When the rolls have proofed, scoop the cross mix­ture into a pas­try bag fit­ted with a plain tip. Quickly pipe a cross over the sur­face of each roll.

9.    Bake at 375°F (190°C) until the rolls are a rich brown color, approx­i­mately 15 minutes.

10.    Brush the hot rolls gen­er­ously with the chilled Bun Glaze, mak­ing cer­tain they are well coated so that no dry spots appear when the glaze dries.

Source: On Bak­ing — Laben­sky et. al.