Hot Cross Buns

A greedy young feller called meller

Ate ten hot-cross buns in a celler

The pain ‘neath his vest

Wouldn’t give him a rest

And now his a hot cross young feller.

NFCS 0853:194

Ash Wednesday not only marks the beginning of Lent, but of everything that accompanies the Lenten season. One tradition that starts showing up on shelves is the hot cross bun.

Traditionally associated with Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, but also made and eaten on Shrove Tuesday and Halloween, hot cross buns were used to break the black fast, which limited most to tea and water. Instead of being made with butter and milk, barm could be used instead. For Catholics, these buns are loaded with meaning. The cross, made of flour paste or short crust pastry, represented the passion and crucifixion of Christ, and the spices represented those used to embalm his body. The dried fruit was a reminder that Christians were not restricted to plain food. However, history tells a different story.

All children welcome the recurrence of what is for them a little festival, and the brown, shiny-topped, steaming buns disappear from countless breakfast tables with startling rapidity.

Dublin Daily Express ,March 30 1907

Small buns marked with crosses made in honor of Eostre, a spring and light goddess, were said to be eaten during spring festivals, and cakes marked with horns or crosses were dedicated to goddess of the hunt and moon Diana. These are thought to have represented either the phases of the moon or the four seasons. Cakes similar to hot cross buns were found at Herculaneum (79 CE) and Pompeii. The modern recipe is said to have originated at the Cathedral of St Albans with 14th century monk Thomas Rodcliffe, who added yeast and cinnamon to the buns before distributing them to the poor on Good Friday 1361. In the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth forbid the sale of hot cross buns with the exceptions of burials, Good Friday, and Christmas. If caught, all the buns had to be given to the poor. They were made at home, in secret.

“Good Friday comes this month: the old woman runs / With one or two a penny ‘hot cross buns,’ / Whose virtue is, if you believe what’s said, / They’ll not grow mouldy like the common bread” – Poor Robin’s Almanack, 1733

Buns made on Good Friday and hung from the rafters were said to be incorruptible, and would not mold or go bad for the entire year. A bun was kept and was either grated into water or eaten in tiny pieces by anyone who fell ill. It was also seen as a source of healing and protection against spirits, fire, and shipwrecks. They were also crumbled over the land to ensure successful crops.

Hot cross buns were split between two friends with the lines “half for you and half for me, between us two, good luck shall be.”

“Every time I talk about it, I am depressed. We took a lot of trouble, and they were certainly a lovely bun. Although you could get some hot-cross buns in those days at “two-a-penny,” we had a good sale for our “specials” at 1s for eight.” – Belfast bakery manager, Belfast Telegraph 23 March 1951

Although one paper lamented that the “doom of the hot cross bun seems sealed” in 1909, 55,000 were baked an hour to meet demand in London in 1927. One bakery in Belfast reported 200,000 buns made to fulfill demand in 1953, the most since the beginning of WWII, when production was suspended in 1940 due to rationing and ingredient shortages controlled by the Ministry of Food. By 1957, one other largest bakeries was churning out half a million per year.

A shift from eating buns on Good Friday to Ash Wednesday was also observed in the 20th century.

In 1987, The Health Education Bureau, with the Irish Heart Foundation and the Irish Cancer Society, organized a “national Knot-out.” Hot cross buns were offered in exchange for packets of cigarettes in Dublin: “trade a snack for a pack.” Or, in the words of one pessimistic reporter, “so instead of being skinny nervous wrecks, the reformed smokers can become fat nervous wrecks, and have the consolation of getting hooked on cholesterol as well as tobacco.”

Folklore – Ash Wednesday

Ashes were not put out on this day. Children would tie or pin pieces of paper or paper bags of ashes (ash bags) to the backs of unsuspecting neighbors, especially bachelors and spinsters. Ash Wednesday was also called Puss Wednesday, due to the expressions of women, who did not get married by Shrove Tuesday. As well that day, a piece of meat (or flitch of bacon) was hung from the rafters to represent that meat that would be abstained from during Lent. “Praties and point” was a meal consisting of potatoes that were pointed to the meat above.

Hot Cross Buns Recipe

This makes six buns. To make this recipe vegan, use plant-based milk and butter and either powdered egg substitute or a flax egg (1 tablespoon flax + 2 tablespoons water).

INGREDIENTS

BUNS

1 1/2 teaspoons (4.5g) instant yeast

1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar

3/4 cups milk, warm

2 cups + 2 tablespoons (320g) bread flour or all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon mixed spice

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cups (210g) sultanas

orange zest

2 tablespoons (25g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1/2 egg

CROSSES

extra flour

water

GLAZE

jam or marmalade (apricot, apple, orange)

water

METHOD

1. Mix dry ingredients (except dried fruit and zest) together. Add the rest and knead until you have a smooth dough – if using a doug hook on a mixer, this should take about 5 minutes, if by hand, 10.

2. Turn dough into an oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in bulk – about 45 minutes.

3. Punch down dough and shape into a log, then separate into 12 sections. From each into a round and arrange on a tray or tin lined in parchment paper. Cover and let rise another 45 minutes.

4. Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Prepare paste for crosses by mixing 2 parts flour to 1 part water. You can either use a pastry bag, a Ziploc bag with the corner cut, or spoon over each bun – it’s easier to do one line all the way down and across for each row.

5. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden. Glaze with jam while still warm and then cool.