Hot Cross Buns are back for the run up to the Easter Holidays, but what is so special about ours compared to the Large Mutltiples offerings?
Our Hot Cross Buns are produced with a fermented dough process, this is for two reasons -
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For a fuller, richer flavour
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To enable a much higher percentage of fruit to be added to the dough
This lenghty production process and high ingredient cost obviously makes the product more expensive than the supermarket fare, but the flavour and consistency more than make up for the additional cost, in fact to be honest we feel the Large Mutltiples version of a Hot Cross Bun is so poor it has ruined many peoples opinion of the product.
The Large Mutltiples produce a flavourless, hard, sometimes almost bullet like version lacking in fruit and body, and to mask the bland nature of their product they are generally over flavoured with bun spice, and of course they have been available to buy from the these outlets it seems since Christmas, making a travesty of tradition.
What are they and where are they from?
Hot cross buns are small festive breads eaten on Good Friday in Britain; a few bakers (see below) still use old-fashioned production methods.
What is their heritage?
No-one knows when the tradition began, but in 16th-century England, bakers were limited by law to occasions when these special doughs could be made. Good Friday was one; “cross buns” marked this holy day towards the end of the Lent fast. (Convincing evidence has yet to be produced for speculations about pagan origins and sun symbols.)
The rhyme “one a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns” recalls the habit of selling them warm from baking. In the 18th century, huge quantities were produced by the Chelsea Bun House, causing large crowds to gather. Until recently, hot cross buns were only sold on Good Friday. Like too much British baking, they have become a travesty through the use, or more accurately, misuse of the Chorleywood industrial baking process.
What do they look and taste like?
A good hot cross bun should be round, 7 – 10cm in diameter, well-risen (not squarish and squashed) and highly glazed, with a cross on top (this is usually made with flour and water paste, although strips of marzipan or cutting a cross are alternatives). The crumb should be fairly pale, not too soft or sticky, and have a light flavour of sweet spices and/or candied peel and dried fruit.
How are they used?
Eat warm or split, toasted with butter for breakfast, tea or a snack; make bread-and butter pudding with leftovers.
Where can I buy them?
Finding hot cross buns made to "Slow Food" principles can be quite difficult. Here at Sextons we still adhere to the traditional production methods.
The Traditions of Easter
As with almost all "Christian" holidays, Easter has been secularized and commercialized. The dichotomous nature of Easter and its symbols, however, is not necessarily a modern fabrication.
Since its conception as a holy celebration in the second century, Easter has had its non-religious side. In fact, Easter was originally a pagan festival.
The ancient Saxons celebrated the return of spring with an uproarious festival commemorating their goddess of offspring and of springtime, Eastre. When the second-century Christian missionaries encountered the tribes of the north with their pagan celebrations, they attempted to convert them to Christianity. They did so, however, in a clandestine manner.
It would have been suicide for the very early Christian converts to celebrate their holy days with observances that did not coincide with celebrations that already existed. To save lives, the missionaries cleverly decided to spread their religious message slowly throughout the populations by allowing them to continue to celebrate pagan feasts, but to do so in a Christian manner.
As it happened, the pagan festival of Eastre occurred at the same time of year as the Christian observance of the Resurrection of Christ. It made sense, therefore, to alter the festival itself, to make it a Christian celebration as converts were slowly won over. The early name, Eastre, was eventually changed to its modern spelling, Easter.
The Date of Easter
Prior to A.D. 325, Easter was variously celebrated on different days of the week, including Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In that year, the Council of Nicaea was convened by emperor Constantine. It issued the Easter Rule which states that Easter shall be celebrated on the first Sunday that occurs after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox. However, a caveat must be introduced here. The "full moon" in the rule is the ecclesiastical full moon, which is defined as the fourteenth day of a tabular lunation, where day 1 corresponds to the ecclesiastical New Moon. It does not always occur on the same date as the astronomical full moon. The ecclesiastical "vernal equinox" is always on March 21. Therefore, Easter must be celebrated on a Sunday between the dates of March 22 and April 25.
The Lenten Season
Lent is the forty-six day period just prior to Easter Sunday. It begins on Ash Wednesday.
Mardi Gras (French for "Fat Tuesday") is a celebration, sometimes called "Carnival," practiced around the world, on the Tuesday prior to Ash Wednesday. It was designed as a way to "get it all out" before the sacrifices of Lent began.
The Easter Bunny is not a modern invention. The symbol originated with the pagan festival of Eastre. The goddess, Eastre, was worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol, the rabbit, a symbol of fertility.
The Easter Egg
As with the Easter Bunny and the holiday itself, the Easter Egg predates the Christian holiday of Easter. The exchange of eggs in the springtime is a custom that was centuries old when Easter was first celebrated by Christians.
From the earliest times, the egg was a symbol of rebirth in most cultures. Eggs were often wrapped in gold leaf or, if you were a peasant, colored brightly by boiling them with the leaves or petals of certain flowers.