Hot cross buns recipe | Jamie magazine recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the oldest hot cross bun? ›

THE world's oldest hot cross bun has been traced back more than two centuries... to a Good Friday and a house in Essex. Andrew Munson and his wife Dot, 73, were passed the 209-year-old bun by an old neighbour with a note saying it was baked on Good Friday 1807 in a Colchester oven.

A traditional Hot Cross bun should be topped with a slightly sticky glaze to make them glorious shiny and a cross. Some people pipe the cross, others roll out a little pastry to make a slightly thicker, neater one. It should be plain though, just flour and water (we will tackle the thorny problem of novelty shortly).

The so-called 'Alban Bun' was made with flour, eggs, yeast, currants and an expensive spice similar to cardamom fittingly called grains of paradise. Imprinted with a cross using a knife, the lavish buns were supposedly distributed to the poor at the gates of St Alban's Abbey from 1361.

DO NOT add too much flour – results in dry dough = tough buns. Sultanas: Some recipes say to add sultanas after the dough has been kneaded or risen. If you do this, you'll find it very hard to disperse them evenly throughout the dough. By adding them before kneading, some do get squished.

Spiced buns were banned when the English broke ties with the Catholic Church in the 16th century. However, by 1592, Queen Elizabeth I relented and granted permission for commercial bakers to produce the buns for funerals, Christmas, and Easter. Otherwise, they could be baked in homes.

Your hot cross buns are made entirely out of vegetable products so there's no need for anyone to pray over the batter while the baker stirs in currants and citrus peel. The stamp on the package simply signals to Muslims that it's okay to eat those buns — not that someone prayed over them.

Hot cross buns contain a little fat from butter/shortening (around 5%) and are high in carbohydrate so consideration is needed around portion size for people with diabetes. Hot cross bun sizes vary a lot. For example, one commercial variety sold in a 6 pack contains 40g carbohydrate and 920 kJ (220 calories).

If you have used active dry yeast then it is likely that the yeast did not activate properly as the grains of dried yeast are too large to dissolve fully once they have been mixed into the flour.

Your dough can become sticky when you add too much water or the flour isn't suitable for the type of dough you are making. Over proofing or fermenting the dough can also result in the gluten structure weakening causing sticky dough.

In 1592, during the reign of Elizabeth I of England, the London Clerk of Markets issued a decree forbidding the sale of hot cross buns and other spiced breads, except at burials, on Good Friday, or at Christmas. The punishment for transgressing the decree was forfeiture of all the forbidden product to the poor.

Can you eat old hot cross buns? ›

Revive. If your buns are starting to turn stale, sprinkle with water and heat for a few minutes in the oven. If they're very stale, blitz into breadcrumbs and add to puddings, like our hot cross bun treacle tart. You can freeze hot cross buns.

The buns mark the end of Lent and different parts of the hot cross bun have a certain meaning, including the cross representing the crucifixion of Jesus, and the spices inside signifying the spices used to embalm him at his burial. They are now available all year round in some places.

The white topping on hot cross buns is typically a mixture of flour, water, and sugar. This simple yet versatile combination is known as a “cross paste” and is piped onto the buns before baking. Once the buns are in the oven, the paste sets and forms the iconic cross shape that gives these treats their name.

Goat's cheese, fig and rosemary

2. Halve and toast the hot cross bun and spread both sides with goat's cheese. Add the fresh fig or spoon over the dried figs. Drizzle the fresh fig with honey or the dried fig with some of the syrup and add some finely chopped fresh rosemary.

Flour Cross: Pipe a “paste” of flour and water on top of each bun BEFORE baking. This is the most traditional application of the cross and the method I usually choose. It gets a *little* hard after baking, but it's still perfectly chewy.

It is hypothesised that the contemporary hot cross bun of Christianity derives at some distance from a bun developed in St Albans in England. There in 1361, Brother Thomas Rodcliffe, a Christian monk at St Albans Abbey, developed a similar recipe called an "Alban Bun" and distributed the bun to the poor on Good Friday.

History of the hot cross bun

Although the Ancient Greeks, Romans and Saxons all baked a type of bun to mark the changing seasons, it was Brother Rocliffe who made the Alban Bun in 1361. A sweet, fruity bake bearing a cross on top, the buns were given to the local poor on Good Friday.

Hot Cross Buns are inextricably linked to Easter and to Christianity. But in reality, they probably have pre-Christian origins. 'Cross Buns' were baked to celebrate Eostre, a Germanic Goddess of Fertility, after which the season of Easter is said to be named.

They're yeasted sweet buns filled with spices and various fruits such as currants, raisins, and/or candied citrus. They're decorated with a white cross representing the crucifix, either marked right into the dough or etched on top with icing. Hot cross buns are a traditional Easter food, typically eaten on Good Friday.