Hot cross buns recipe | Jamie magazine recipes (2024)

FAQs

Why are my hot cross buns so hard? ›

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.

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.

Traditionally, the cross decorating the buns was made from a simple paste of flour and water. Over time the cross has changed and some bakers mark their buns with a sweet frosting called fondant, which is similar to the icing used to top a cinnamon roll.

In hot cross buns that don't contain dried fruit, many will contain chocolate, instead, which is also a known toxin for dogs. Even the plain hot cross buns can be very high in sugar which is just as bad for your pet's teeth, and may upset your dog's stomach resulting in vomiting or diarrhoea.

It has been suggested that the Elizabethan order to control these early versions of hot cross buns was for fear that they were too 'Catholic', and that they had become associated with the bread of the Eucharist, which was sometimes marked with a cross.

While an average bun contains around 230 calories, there are healthier types. Good-quality, sourdough hot cross buns, purchased from health food shops and local grocery stores, contain healthier ingredients such as sultanas, currants and apricots and aren't filled with processed additives and preservatives.

They are symbolic of this significant day in the Christian faith when Jesus was crucified. Each bun is decorated with a cross made from flour paste, which represents the cross on which Christ died. The spices in hot cross buns are said to represent the spices that were used to embalm Christ after his death.

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.

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.

What day do you eat hot cross buns? ›

Traditionally, hot cross buns are associated with Easter—a Christian holiday and festival celebrating the resurrection of Jesus—and eaten on Good Friday, or the Friday before Easter.

Pagans worshipped Eostre, the goddess of dawn and spring. As spring arrived, the pagans would celebrate a month long festival of the transitioning time from winter entering into spring. This festival saw the Saxons making buns marked with a cross, which represented the four phases of the moon, to offer to the goddess.

They are still enjoyed today in America and in England, where they have perfected the art of making these small, round and moist rolls. Our candied fruit mix includes natural, red and green orange peels, lemon peels and citron.

The term 'hot cross bun' wasn't entered in the Oxford Dictionary until 1733, since the bun was known by other names, including cross bun, spiced bun and Good Friday bun.

You can freeze hot cross buns. Slice them in half first to make them easier to reheat, wrap well, then heat from frozen in the toaster. Generously spread with butter and tuck in.

There could be a number of reasons why your hot cross buns turn out heavy or even hard. The most common reasons are as follows: Over kneading – this is more likely to happen if you use an electric mixer and dough hook. If you over knead dough it will break down the glutens and make the buns hard.

Hard crusts/bread/buns etc means that you are either baking on too low heat and for too long, OR the dough you started off with was not kneaded well enough.

If you want it to remain as fresh as possible, then you really have to enclose it in something like a plastic bag to retain its moisture. But the crust will be soft if you do that. For me, I just use bags to keep it fresher and then I will reheat a bun or loaf briefly to crisp the crust up again the next day.