A spiced bun is a sweet bun to which

spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spice ...

s were added during the baking process. Common examples are the

hot cross bun A hot cross bun is a spiced sweet bun usually made with fruit, marked with a cross on the top, and has been traditionally eaten on Good Friday in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, India, Pakistan an ...

and the

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n spiced bun.

Common spices

Spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spice ...

s used in the preparation of spiced buns include: * cinnamon * mace *

nutmeg Nutmeg is the seed or ground spice of several species of the genus ''Myristica''. ''Myristica fragrans'' (fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg) is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fruit: nutmeg, from its seed, an ...

* coriander * allspice *

saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent in ...

mixed spice Mixed spice, also called pudding spice, is a British blend of sweet spices, similar to the pumpkin pie spice used in the United States. Cinnamon is the dominant flavour, with nutmeg and allspice. It is often used in baking, or to complement fruits ...

- a non-standardised mixture of spices used in the preparation of many spicy foods.

History

It is not known where or from the work of whom that ''spiced buns'' first came into being. However, it is likely that they evolved congruently throughout bakeries in Europe in the 17th and 18th century, a time when most exotic spices became more commonly available. Spiced buns are carried by

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and ...

ers such as

bakeries A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, donuts, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who w ...

and supermarkets.

Types

Many local forms of the ''spiced bun'' exist, an example of which is the Cornish

saffron bun __NOTOC__ A saffron bun, Cornish tea treat bun or revel bun, is a rich, spiced yeast-leavened sweet bun that is flavoured with saffron and contains dried fruit including currants and raisins similar to a teacake. The main ingredients are plain ...

. The

is probably the most well-known manifestation of the spiced bun, and a great tradition has grown up around it in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Hot cross buns are traditionally baked on Good Friday, although they can often be purchased at other times of year. In Australia and New Zealand, the Boston bun is a larger variety of the spiced bun, topped with coconut icing. The Jamaican spiced bun is shaped like a loaf of bread and is a dark brown colour. It is commonly eaten with cheese and is also eaten with

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condimen ...

or alone with a glass of milk. It is also popular in other Caribbean nations. Bon bread, also called pambón or black bread, is a traditional bread from the Afro-Anglo-Saxon Caribbean, typical of the Caribbean coast of

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

, Costa Rica and

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

, and the Colombian archipelago of San Andrés and Providencia. It is a dark spiced bread, derived from gingerbread of English origin. Bread bon derives from bun, a type of English bun characterized by its dark color, due to the addition of ginger. The origin of this bread can be traced back to the Middle Ages. During Elizabethan times, buns made with spices and eggs were cooked, to which, during Lent, raisins and corintas were added. After the Lutheran Reformation, this bread was consumed on Good Friday, with the custom of marking it with a cross before putting it in the oven, as a way to ward off evil spirits. In the 17th century, it became popular as a breakfast. The English gingerbread recipe was learned by African slaves when they were brought by the British to the West Indies. In the Caribbean islands, ginger was replaced by sugar cane molasses, due to the abundance of sugar plantations. This molasses is what gives it the dark color.

References

{{reflist Buns

Common spices

History

Types

See also

References