Traditional Hot Cross Buns

Hot Cross Buns,
Hot Cross Buns,
One-a-penny,
Two-a-penny,
Hot Cross Buns.

The tune to this little ditty was one of the first things I learnt to play on my recorder at primary school! I went to a local C of E school and so the links between hot cross buns and Christianity have never been in doubt in my mind...until now!

Any good Christian family will teach their children that the cross on top of a hot cross bun is directly linked to the story of Jesus’ crucifixion. As long as I can remember before heading to church on Good Friday morning, for the stations of the cross, we would all gather on Mum and Dad’s bed for a breakfast of hot cross buns. But, as I started looking around the internet for a recipe this year I found a few things out about the hot cross bun that I didn’t know...

Although there seems no doubt that hot cross buns are English in origin, they may have been around long before this country became Christian. In fact, it seems they might be another example of a pagan tradition that Christianity took over. There is some suggesting that the spiced buns were eaten when celebrating the goddess Eostre. Now even I can see (or hear) that Eostre sounds a lot like Easter... coincidence I think not!!!

Regardless of whether they are Christian or not, there are also some rather cool superstitions surrounding the hot cross bun. So the story goes...if you bake hot cross buns on Good Friday they will not spoil or go mouldy!!! I’m actually quite tempted to try this one out. Another superstition is that hot cross buns can protect sailors from shipwrecks. I’m afraid I can’t test this one so we’ll just have to trust the internet!

After spending just 20mins surfing the internet, I soon realised that the origins of the humble hot cross buns weren’t quite as straight forward as I originally thought! I just hoped that baking them would be easy.

The fact that they have been around for hundreds of years also brings its own challenges. Do you know just how many varieties of hot cross bun you can get now? I’m talking chocolate, toffee, apple, cinnamon, earl grey, orange blossom – you name it, a supermarket makes it! I’m particularly a fan of the GIANT hot cross bun loaf that Asda do but that’s a whole other ball game!

I decided to begin with I would try a traditional recipe from none other than Mrs Beeton. I’m not a big bread baker as I find no matter what tip or trick I use to kick start my yeast into gear I never quite get it right. BUT by just tweaking the traditional recipe a little bit I was able to SUCCESSFULLY bake my first batch of traditional hot cross buns!!!

The spice balance really is quite a personal thing so feel free to adjust this to your taste: I used a little less than Mrs Beeton calls for and also adjusted the dried fruit used.

Now that I’ve managed to master this traditional version next I will have to take on the supermarkets and attempt a twist on this classic.

Hot Chilli Bangers with Caramelised Onions

Halloweens been and gone and Bonfire night is just round the corner so that can only mean one thing - the clocks have gone back, and the cold dark nights are drawing in!!!

The sweet and spicy marinade on these sausages will keep you warm and put a spring in your step, even when its dark and dingy outside!

If you're on a budget, why not serve these in hot dog buns on fireworks night to keep friends and family warm!

Pricing (based on Asda's own brand unless otherwise specified):

Sausages 21p, Onion 8p, Honey 10p, Tomato Puree 5p, Chilli 1p, Garlic 2p, Water FREE!

Total per serving =  47p

Low Fat Creamy Mushroom and Chicken Pasta Bake

Diets - lets be honest, they are restrictive, they're not the same as teaching yourself healthy eating habits, and on diets there are certain foods that are off limits including creamy, cheesey pasta bakes!

However, I have come up with a delicious alternative to normal creamy jars of pasta bake that mean when you're 'dieting' or trying to get back into healthy eating habits, you can still have a big bowl of comfort food and not feel the guilt!

My healthy eating saviour is 0% fat Greek yogurt (in case your wondering I use Total!), this is what gives the dish its distinct creaminess (you may have noticed it in my curries too!), so you may need to nip down to the supermarkets to get the ingredients but it will be WELL worth it! Trust me!

I'd also recommend either using wholewheat pasta or pasta with low dietary carbs like Dreamfields but its not essential!