Hot Cross Buns
By: Beverley Ann D'Cruz
Published: Thursday, December 10, 2009 - 12:46am

Ingredients




2 cups sifted flour
4 tablespoons shortening
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sour milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preparation

1 Sift flour once, measure, add baking soda, baking powder, salt, sugar and spices, and sift again. Cut in shortening. Add raisins. Add enough sour milk to make a stiff dough.  2  Turn onto floured board. Knead slightly. Roll 1/2 inch thick. Cut with 2 inch cutter. Place close together in shallow pan. 3 With sharp knife, cut a cross in each roll. Brush with a solution of milk and sugar. 4 Bake in hot 475 degrees for 20 minutes. Brush again with sugar and milk solution.  5 Fill cross with plain frosting. Serve hot. Makes 12 buns.

About


Traditionally baked in England on Good Friday, these buns were once believed to cure any ailment; people dried them and saved them for the rest of the year for this purpose. The buns were generally sold by poor and elderly on the streets: Hot cross buns! / Hot cross buns! / One a penny, two a penny! / Hot cross buns! / If you have no daughters / Give them to your Sons. (From "Rare Bits: Unusual Origins of Popular Recipes" by Patricia Bunning Stevens).