Turn out the proved dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knock back the dough. Shape the dough into a ball and place it into the buttered/greased mixing bowl, then cover with a clean tea towel and set aside in a warm place for one hour to prove. Knead lightly for 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Carefully work the mixed dried fruit and mixed peel into the dough until well combined. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Mix together to a form a soft, pliable dough. Make a well in the centre of the mixture, then add the sugar and yeast.īeat the egg and add to the flour with the tepid milk. Sieve the flour, salt, ground mixed spice and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl, then rub in the butter using your fingertips. I hope you have enjoyed recipe number two in my Easter collection, I will be back tomorrow as usual with a rather nice egg recipe! Have a great day, Karen. I made two dozen of these yesterday in readiness for Easter as they freeze so well just remember to take them out to defrost, although they will defrost quite nicely in a cool to warm oven and of course, some modern toasters have a “defrost” setting on them too. I add an egg to my flour paste for the crosses, hence them being so yellow – NO artificial colouring there, but just good free-range eggy goodness! However, if you prefer a cross in a lighter hue of yellow, just rub some butter into some flour and add some milk or eater until you have a stiff paste that can be piped onto the buns. You can still have a pint in the pub if you wish today, whilst admiring the collection of Hot Cross Buns in various stages of decay! As you can see from the photo below, there is a net of Hot Cross Buns that hangs above the bar at The Widow’s Son, and each year a sailor comes to add another bun to the collection, the buns being baked specially for the occasion with the current year piped on them between the cross.Īlan Beckett places the bun on Good Friday, 4th April 1958.īut back to my recipe for Hot Cross Buns this recipe is adapted from a Tudor recipe for spiced baked buns, and has been my favourite Hot Cross Bun recipe for some years now, mainly for the blend of spices and fruity filling, as well as a light but filling nice texture too. Successive landlords have kept the tradition going after the pub was opened. The son never returned, but undaunted the widow left the bun waiting for him and added a new bun each year. In the early 19th century, a widow who lived on the site was expecting her sailor son back home for Easter, and placed a hot cross bun ready for him on Good Friday. One of the most well-known traditions surrounding Hot Cross Buns is still in practice today and takes place in a London Pub! At the Pub, The Widow’s Son at Bromley by Bow, a Hot Cross Bun Ceremony takes place each Good Friday. It can be said that these were the earliest examples of what we know to be Hot Cross Buns today, and from the late 1600’s onwards the custom grew that special spices buns known as “Good Friday Buns” were to be marked with a cross and were to be eaten for breakfast on Good Friday. The first buns with crosses that were attributed to the festival of Easter came along a little later however, as Kate Colquhoun states in her excellent book “ Taste: The Story Of Britain Through Its Cooking“……….“In honour of Eastre, goddess of spring and the dawn, bread dough could be studded with dried fruits and baked into small loaves that, as Christianity spread, began to be marked with a cross by monks: the earliest form of hot-cross bun”. A cross marked on the dough was also believed to help the bread to rise. Hot Cross buns have quite a history behind them the idea of marking crosses on baked goods such as bread, cakes and buns goes right back to pre-Medieval times and was a visible sign that the bread was “blessed” and had the power to ward off evil spirits, as well as help with the longevity of the bread by stopping it going mouldy or becoming stale so quickly.
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