It used to be believed that hot cross buns and loaves baked on Good Friday never went mouldy, so they were sometimes were kept as charms from one year to the next, according to The Oxford Companion to Food.
That definitely wouldn’t apply to today’s hot cross buns, baked very much in advance of Good Friday, indeed, in some quarters before the Christmas decorations are down.
As with many traditions attached to Christian festivals, this one started well BC - before Christ. Egyptians offered small round cakes marked with a representation of the horns of an ox to the goddess of the moon and the Saxons ate buns marked with a cross in honour of Eostre, the goddess of light who gave her name to Easter.
After the Reformation of the Catholic Church the cross cut in the bun was said to be there to let the devil fly out.
Hot cross buns are made with a rich yeast dough containing flour, milk, sugar, eggs dried fruit and spices.
Until it closed in 1839, the Chelsea Bun House used to draw people from all over London for its hot cross buns and the namesake chelsea buns.
If you are going to have a go making your own remember to use tepid water to soak the yeast – hot water will kill the live substance and too-cold water will inhibit its growth. For every kilo of flour knead for about 10 minutes by hand or five minutes in a mixer with a dough hook. Use a light hand when rolling out your dough and do not press down too hard.
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