Bath bun

The Bath bun is a sweet roll made from a milk-based yeast dough with crushed sugar sprinkled on top after baking.[1][2] Variations in ingredients include enclosing a lump of sugar in the bun [3] or adding candied fruit peel, currants, raisins or sultanas.

Bath bun
TypeSweet roll
Place of originUnited Kingdom
Region or stateSomerset
Main ingredientsSugar, candied fruit peel, currants or raisins or sultanas

The change from a light, shaped bun to a heavier, often fruited or highly sugared irregular one may date from the Great Exhibition of 1851 when almost a million were produced and consumed in five and a half months (the "London Bath bun").[2]

References to Bath buns date from 1763,[4] and Jane Austen wrote in a letter of "disordering my stomach with Bath Bunns" in 1801.[1] The original 18th-century recipe used a brioche or rich egg and butter dough which was then covered with caraway seeds[5] coated in several layers of sugar, similar to French dragée.[3]

The bun's creation is attributed to William Oliver in the 18th century.[6] Oliver also created the Bath Oliver dry biscuit after the bun proved too fattening for his rheumatic patients.[7] The bun may also have descended from the 18th-century "Bath cake". The buns are still produced in the Bath area of England.[4]

Although this is disputed, the 18th-century '"Bath cake" may also have been the forerunner of the Sally Lunn bun, which also originates from Bath.[3][5]

See also

References
  1. John Ayto (18 October 2012). The Diner's Dictionary: Word Origins of Food and Drink. Oxford University Press. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-19-964024-9.
  2. David, Elizabeth (2001). English Bread and Yeast Cookery. Penguin. p. 624. ISBN 978-0140299748.
  3. "Local Bath Delicacies". Visit Bath. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
  4. "Bath". About Britain. Archived from the original on 23 March 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
  5. Davidson, Alan, "Bun" in Oxford Companion to Food, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, p. 114. ISBN 0-19-211579-0
  6. Bender, David A. "Bath bun", in A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition, Oxford University Press.
  7. "Biography of Dr Oliver". Archived from the original on 2007-11-16. Retrieved 2006-03-24.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.