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Cornish saffron buns 

9/9/2015

33 Comments

 
Cornish saffron buns by Liz Posmyk Good Things
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.

Cornish saffron buns II by Liz Posmyk Good Things

Postcards from Padstow...  

Stein's Patisserie in Padstow Cornwall by Liz Posmyk Good Things
Stein's Patisserie in Lanadwell Street, Padstow
Window box in Padstow, Cornwall by Liz Posmyk Good Things
Colourful window boxes are a feature in Padstow
Padstow in Cornwall, UK
Boats on the harbour at Padstow, Cornwall

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
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef link
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. :)

Reply
Lizzy
8/9/2015 04:22:08 am

Hello Maureen! Welcome back : )

Reply
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella link
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 :)

Reply
Lizzy
8/9/2015 06:32:36 am

Thanks Lorraine : )

Reply
Amanda link
8/9/2015 09:11:39 am

I think it would be deadly for me to stay so close to a bun shop. When we were in London a few years back I found the most utterly divine Eccles cakes made with proper lard pastry and just about ate my body weight in them.

Reply
Lizzy
12/9/2015 02:01:05 am

Oh Amanda, how utterly divine!

Reply
Mandy link
8/9/2015 10:17:00 am

Not sure I have heard of Cornish saffron buns before, they sounds divine!
Have a happy day Lizzy.
:-) Mandy xo

Reply
Lizzy
12/9/2015 02:01:22 am

They really are, Mandy. Have a wonderful weekend xx

Reply
Glenda link
8/9/2015 11:03:04 am

These sure look good Liz. My must have list for Portugal was pastéis de nata and I had at least two everyday!!! My must have list for Lebanon was mastic ice cream and I managed a few. I am not one to deny myself :)

Reply
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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leaf link
8/9/2015 03:55:06 pm

Those are some good-looking buns! I'm intrigued by the inclusion of saffron.

Reply
Lizzy
12/9/2015 02:02:13 am

Thanks Leaf... they really are delicious! I love the saffron.

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Laura (Tutti Dolci) link
8/9/2015 06:27:38 pm

What tasty buns, I love that you added saffron!

Reply
Lizzy
12/9/2015 02:02:25 am

Thanks Laura, it's a very old recipe xx

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e / dig in hobart link
8/9/2015 08:13:07 pm

yum! they look so delicious. I can imagine them smeared with butter, melting nicely ...

Reply
Lizzy
12/9/2015 02:02:38 am

Oh Elizabeth, yes, yes, yes!!!

Reply
Hotly Spiced link
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

Reply
Lizzy
12/9/2015 02:02:57 am

Thanks Charlie... how lovely that you ate these in your childhood!

Reply
Zsuzsa link
8/9/2015 09:33:28 pm

Lizzy these look absolutely scrumptious.

Reply
Lizzy
12/9/2015 02:03:10 am

Thank you lovely Zsuzsa xx

Reply
InTolerant Chef link
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

Reply
Lizzy
12/9/2015 02:03:29 am

Oh yes, Rebecca... hope you are feeling better now xx

Reply
Claire | Sprinkles and Sprouts link
10/9/2015 04:34:29 am

Oh these take me back. My granny used to make something very similar.
Pinning this and will be trying then this weekend.

YUMMY!!!

Reply
Lizzy
12/9/2015 02:03:47 am

Oh how lovely that your granny used to make them too! xx

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Claire | Sprinkles and Sprouts link
13/9/2015 11:24:54 am

We made these today.
They were so good! Warm from the oven with spread with far more butter than we should have. Divine!
Thank you for the recipe x

kellie@foodtoglow link
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.

Reply
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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David link
12/9/2015 07:15:36 pm

These buns sound wonderful, and I might actually prefer them to hot cross buns, as well! Thanks also for the history of saffron in England!

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Lizzy
20/9/2015 04:10:49 am

Thank you, David, my pleasure xx

Reply
Red Nomad OZ link
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!

Reply
Lizzy
20/9/2015 04:11:06 am

You'd love Padstow then, Red xx

Reply
Tandy | Lavender and Lime link
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 :)

Reply
Lizzy
20/9/2015 04:11:20 am

Tandy, thanks so much. Safe travels xx

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    Photo of Liz Posmyk, Food Writer, Cook and Traveller

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Good Things is written and published by Liz Posmyk © 2011-2020.   All rights reserved.
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