04/06/2026
Interesting!
In 1361 a monk in England baked a spiced bun, gave it away free to the poor at the abbey door, and served it with free wine. That bun became the hot cross bun. I just made the original medieval version and it is genuinely different from anything you will find in a supermarket.
No refined sugar, only honey. No piped cross, the cross is cut into the dough with a knife before baking, opening up into four quarters in the oven. The spice is cardamom and grains of paradise, a medieval African spice that was the dominant warming spice in English cooking before black pepper became cheap and widely available. The result is darker, denser, more floral and more complex than a modern hot cross bun, and considerably better.
The original recipe is still a closely guarded secret held by St Albans Cathedral, who still bake these every Lent from the same abbey that Brother Thomas Rocliffe baked them in 663 years ago. My recreation from the known ingredients scores a 7.9 out of 10. The full history going back to 1361, the story of how Henry VIII nearly destroyed the tradition entirely, and the full recipe are on the blog now.
https://eatshistory.com/the-origin-of-hot-cross-buns-the-1361-alban-bun-recipe-that-started-it-all/
Happy Easter to everyone celebrating this weekend!
