Saffron buns and lardy cake were at the top of the 'wish list' of good things I wanted to taste while travelling in the United Kingdom. To my huge delight, saffron buns featured on the shelves of numerous patisseries and bakeries. My favourites would be found at (Rick) Stein's Patisserie in Lanadwell Street, Padstow – fortuitously right opposite the inn where we were staying. Suffice to say I called in there often.
Lardy cake would prove to be more elusive than saffron buns. More on this in a future article.
Back at home, I tracked down a recipe for saffron buns in Theodora Fitzgibbon's A Taste of England – one of a set of English cookbooks that were kindly given to me many years ago by someone who enjoyed reading my weekly newspaper column. (Thank you, I still treasure them!). Research tells me that saffron was grown in parts of Essex and Cambridgeshire from 1450-1560 or thereabouts. It was used predominantly to dye wool, although some texts suggest that it was used as a pigment in manuscripts, as well as having medicinal and culinary uses. A writer in the 1839 edition of The Essex Literary Journal (also known as A Monthly Repository of Literature, and the Arts and Sciences Connected with the County) noted that saffron was grown extensively in the neighbourhood of Saffron Walden and said: 'the flowers are gathered early in the morning and the stigmas, with a portion of the style, carefully picked out of the flowers. They are then dried upon a kiln, under a pressure, to form cake saffron, or loosely, which is then called "hay" saffron... it was considered by the ancients to be a remedy of great efficiency, but in modern practice it is found to possess few sensible qualities, beyond the orange colour which it imparts to alcohol, water, etc.' Ms Fitzgibbon says that saffron buns were preferred to Hot Cross Buns at Easter and the folk who grew or gathered saffron were known as 'crockers'. 'The last field to produce crocus was in Castle Street under the shadow of the Norman castle in Saffron Walden,' she wrote. The recipe for Cornish saffron buns I'm sharing here is my adaptation of Theodora Fitzgibbon's receipt, published after her extensive travels in 1986.
CORNISH SAFFRON BUNS
1/2 teaspoon saffron strands 1 tablespoon hot water 450g baker's flour, sifted 1/4 teaspoon mixed spice 75g butter, diced, at room temperature 75g currants 50g chopped candied peel 200mls milk 40g sugar 7g dried yeast 1 teaspoon sugar, extra 1 egg, lightly whisked Soak the saffron strands in the hot water and leave to infuse. Place the flour, mixed spice, currants, peel and sugar into a bowl. Rub in the butter. Mix to combine, make a well in the centre, then set the bowl aside. Warm the milk to tepid, then pour it into a Pyrex jug. Add the dried yeast and extra sugar and work it up to a froth using a dessertspoon. Leave it on a warm windowsill for a few minutes, then add it to the flour/butter/fruit mixture, along with the saffron and soaking water. Using your hands, mix to form a soft dough and knead into a ball. Sprinkle the dough with a scant dessertspoon of flour, cover with a clean tea towel or cling film, then leave it in a warm corner of your kitchen and allow it to rise for an hour or until it has doubled in size. Dust a board or your bench lightly with flour. Turn out the dough and knead it for a few minutes, then cut it into eight segments and form each into a little bun. Place these buns onto a baking sheet that you have lined with parchment. Cover with the tea towel again and leave to rise again, perhaps for up to 30 minutes at the most. Preheat your oven to 210 degrees C. Place the buns into the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes. Brush with the egg wash, then bake for 2-3 minutes longer. The buns should be golden brown and sound hollow when tapped underneath. Remove and cool for a little while on a wire rack. Serve with butter or clotted cream. Makes 8. Images and text copyright Liz Posmyk, Good Things. Postcards from Padstow...
Tell me dear readers, do you have a wish-list of things you'd like to taste, see and do when you travel? What's on your list? And have you ever tasted or baked Cornish saffron buns – or, indeed, lardy cake?
33 Comments
8/9/2015 03:25:38 am
I have never had a Cornish saffron bun but looking at these, I'm wondering why I've frittered my life away. :)
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Lizzy
8/9/2015 04:22:08 am
Hello Maureen! Welcome back : )
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8/9/2015 05:16:47 am
Well I think it was fate then as you were staying opposite! I couldn't help but pop in every day if I were you :)
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Lizzy
8/9/2015 06:32:36 am
Thanks Lorraine : )
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Lizzy
12/9/2015 02:01:05 am
Oh Amanda, how utterly divine!
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Lizzy
12/9/2015 02:01:22 am
They really are, Mandy. Have a wonderful weekend xx
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Lizzy
12/9/2015 02:01:55 am
Oh yes, mastic ice cream... yum! Must look up the Portugese one now! I am not one to deny myself either, and neither is my Peter xx
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Lizzy
12/9/2015 02:02:13 am
Thanks Leaf... they really are delicious! I love the saffron.
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Lizzy
12/9/2015 02:02:25 am
Thanks Laura, it's a very old recipe xx
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8/9/2015 08:13:07 pm
yum! they look so delicious. I can imagine them smeared with butter, melting nicely ...
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Lizzy
12/9/2015 02:02:38 am
Oh Elizabeth, yes, yes, yes!!!
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8/9/2015 09:15:32 pm
I remember these buns from my childhood. They are wonderful. I don't think I've had one since I left NZ. Your buns look so good sitting on that wire rack. What gorgeous images from your holiday xx
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Lizzy
12/9/2015 02:02:57 am
Thanks Charlie... how lovely that you ate these in your childhood!
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Lizzy
12/9/2015 02:03:10 am
Thank you lovely Zsuzsa xx
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9/9/2015 01:35:26 am
Those window boxes are so pretty Lizzy! How lovely to stay there, I would have popped in every day as well :) The buns are gorgeous, I'll have to try these with my own home-grown saffron, yummo xo
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Lizzy
12/9/2015 02:03:29 am
Oh yes, Rebecca... hope you are feeling better now xx
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10/9/2015 04:34:29 am
Oh these take me back. My granny used to make something very similar.
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Lizzy
12/9/2015 02:03:47 am
Oh how lovely that your granny used to make them too! xx
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13/9/2015 11:24:54 am
We made these today. 12/9/2015 04:02:12 am
Like Glenda, I have to have a pasties de bata when in Portugal. I am not a sweet lover, and especially of anything vaguely custardy (detest wobbly food!) but I make an exception for these tiny little burnt custard and imperfectly shaped tarts. Unfortunately I'm not keen on saffron so have only had a taste of saffron cake. But we LOVE Cornwall, our favourite place outside of Scotland to have a staycation. Your interpretation of this traditional recipe - and those images - just gorgeous.
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Lizzy
20/9/2015 04:10:37 am
Oh Kellie, thank you so kindly for your lovely words... Aha, custard tarts. I see. One of my favourites xx
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Lizzy
20/9/2015 04:10:49 am
Thank you, David, my pleasure xx
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13/9/2015 06:03:44 am
Fantastic!! Rick Stein is my all-time foodie hero - combining that with a patisserie is my idea of heaven! These buns look great - such an interesting combination of ingredients!
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Lizzy
20/9/2015 04:11:06 am
You'd love Padstow then, Red xx
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18/9/2015 03:11:24 am
What an interesting fact that saffron was used to dye wool! We did not try these in Cornwall. I always have a taste wish list, and often recreate that when we return home. Love the pics of Padstow :)
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Lizzy
20/9/2015 04:11:20 am
Tandy, thanks so much. Safe travels xx
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Cooking and writing have been a lifelong passion. Join me as I share with you my favourite recipes; postcards and morsels from my travels; conversations with cookery writers and chefs; and news on food, cookbooks and cooking. - Liz Posmyk
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NB: I use Australian standard measuring cups and spoons in my recipes.
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