[Sca-cooks] Age of "hot cross buns"?

[Terry Decker]

While the term "hot cross buns" is fairly recent, the idea of the spice bun
for Easter is definitely and old one.  Such spice breads were a specialty
item that bakers were allowed to make only at specific times since they fell
outside of the Assize of Bread.

Stow's Survey of London, 1598, editted by John Strype in 1720, and quoted by
Elizabeth David in English Bread and Yeast Cookery, has a decree from 1592
issued by the London Clerk of the Markets, " That no bakers, etc, at any
time or times hereafter make, utter, or sell by retail, within or without
their houses, unto any of the Queen's subjects any spice cakes, buns,
biscuits or other spice bread ( being bread out of size and not by law
allowed) except it be at burials, or on Friday before Easter, or at
Christmas, upon pain of forfeiture of all such spice bread to the poor."

The decree proved unenforceable and fell by the wayside sometime in the
reign of James I.

Bear




>Does anyone know how old the "traditional" hot cross buns for Easter
>time are? I have a suspicion that they fall into one of those
>"traditional but not period" categories, but could sure be wrong!
>--maire
>p.s.  For Lainie....Hey, Lainie! Someone on another list says that
>Hersheys has come out with a kiss that has caramel in it? <g> Aren't you
>glad Lent is half over? ;-D