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.

Add the extra flour if required so the dough comes away from the bowl – the trick is to use the minimum to keep the dough soft so it rises easily (= fluffy buns), but just enough so the dough doesn't massively stick to your fingers (should be bit sticky though). Tough dough from too much flour = tough buns!

The first mention of Hot Cross Buns in English comes from a 1733 Almanac printed in England. According to English tradition, the buns were first baked by a resident monk at St. Alban's Abbey in the 14th century. He distributed them on Good Friday to the poor.

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.

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.

Iceland faces backlash after Christian symbol on hot cross buns replaced with ticks. Iceland is trialling a new kind of hot cross bun which has a tick on the top of it instead of the traditional cross. The supermarket faced controversy for the move on Tuesday, after it was accused of being offensive to Christians.

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.

Chocolate Chips: For an indulgent treat, swap out raisins for chocolate chips of your choice—dark, milk, or white. The creamy sweetness of chocolate will melt into each bite. Dried Figs: Lastly, step up your hot cross bun game with the sweet and earthy flavour of dried figs.

Serve the buns warm from the oven, cold or lightly toasted - whichever way make sure to add a generous spread of my tangy orange and nutmeg spiced butter.

Store homemade hot cross buns in an airtight container in the pantry for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months. If freezing, wrap hot cross buns individually in baking paper, so you can remove and thaw the portions you require.

How did hot cross buns get their name? ›

The cross, originally made from dough, was now often made from flour and water. Around that time, hot cross buns became a popular street food in England, with vendors selling them on Good Friday. They would sell them still hot from the oven – hence the “hot” in the name.

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.

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.

Hot cross buns became commemorations of Good Friday, and across Christendom the cross came to represent the crucifixion and the spices symbolised those used to embalm Jesus at his burial. The bun had been blessed.

Enjoy tasty treats all year round with our hot cross buns. These sweet and mildly spiced round buns are an absolute favourite during Good Friday and Easter. Have it just like that or toast it before adding some spreadable butter and jam for the perfect evening snack with your everyday tea.

Sometimes this culinary innovation is attributed to a particular 12th-century monk, and other times it's a 14th-century monk from St Albans named Thomas Rocliffe. The so-called 'Alban Bun' was made with flour, eggs, yeast, currants and an expensive spice similar to cardamom fittingly called grains of paradise.

Traditionally eaten on Good Friday to commemorate the Crucifixion, hot cross buns found an enemy in Elizabeth I, who, in 1592, finding too much Popery in their popularity, banned their consumption except on specific holidays.

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.

One a penny, two a penny, hot cross-buns; If you've no daughters, give them to your sons; And if you've no kind of pretty little elves, Why then good faith, e'en eat them all yourselves.