It’s that time of year when hot cross buns become part of the celebration of Easter – but there’s only one place where it is possible to buy the closest recipe to the original bun that started the tradition over 900 years ago.
“Hot cross buns, hot cross buns, one a penny two a penny, hot cross buns” – the Alban Bun
The Alban bun was first produced on the site of St Albans Cathedral by a medieval monk. According to Ye Book of St Albans, in 1361 the monk – Thomas Rocliffe – “caused a quantity of small sweet spiced cakes, marked with a cross, to be made”.
The cakes, which were given away on Good Friday, “so pleased the palates of the people who were the recipients that they became talked about, and various were the attempts to imitate the cakes of Father Rocliffe all over the country, but the recipe of which was kept within the walls of the Abbey”.
This story, reported in the local newspaper in 1862, was rediscovered about thirty years ago and people began to try and reproduce the bun based on a recipe found in the archives, with St Alban Cathedral’s in-house refectory cook Anne Hunt initially taking charge.
Today the buns are mainly made by chef Graca Tilson, pictured, who first started making them in lockdown. She will do a batch of 120 a day – all of which are sold from the cathedral.
Although the basic ingredients such as flour, eggs, fresh yeast and currants are highlighted for consumers, the exact mix of spices they contain are not revealed, although they are rumoured to include grains of paradise or cardamon.
“This year I started making them on the 18th of February and I’ll finish on the 6th of April, Easter Monday.
“The closer we get to Easter the more we sell,” she explained. “People come in to buy packs to give to their families and friends.”
As one of only a handful of people who know the recipe, she is sworn to keep it a secret, which adds to the fascination with the buns:
“It’s because it’s exclusive to the Cathedral, it’s the original hot cross bun, the recipe is secret so we can’t share it, and we only make them during Lent.’
Eventually the recipe will be passed on to another baker, just as it was given to Graca.
The Alban Bun has featured on TV shows like The One Show, Lorraine, Good Morning Britain and on Mary Berry’s Easter Feast, and has even been taken back to the Vatican by visiting Catholic priests.
You can only buy the Alban Bun from St Alban’s Cathedral Refectory.
