Everyday Systems

This might be a silly question for some but are hot cross buns an S? They must be a british thing because I've never had them before but my Brit housemates assure me it's an 'Easter' thing and 'u have to have them at Easter', and they've bought TWO packs, and keep trying to get me to eat one.

I've never had them before, so I dont even know if they're worth eating. They look more like sweet bread..does that make them an S?

There's a recipe at http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/datab ... _397.shtml that might help you decide. They are fairly high in sugar, but a lot of it is from fruit. I'd say they're an S-food. I can't stand the things, personally, so it's not really an issue in my case.

I'd count them as a Sweet, but on the other hand, if you had just one or maybe half of one as part of a meal, I wouldn't necessarily think it merited a red day on your Habitcal. I think sometimes it makes more sense to keep the peace than to be too rigid, especially if you're sticking to the spirit of the law. But that's just me!

my Brit housemates assure me it's an 'Easter' thing and 'u have to have them at Easter'

It's true, we do have them at Easter and they're everywhere in the supermarkets throughout Lent. Personally though, I consider them a treat to have over the Easter weekend, nice split in half, toasted and topped with something nice, especially if served with a pot of tea or coffee. I think if you have them as an every day food on normal occasions, it takes the "specialness" out of them! (like if you were to eat Easter eggs before Easter). Saying that though, they're not really much of an "S" because the sweetness is mainly from the fruit.

Hot cross buns are relatively healthy, as they do not contain much sugar or fat, so I'd treat them as food acceptable as part of a meal on an N day.

Having said that, hot cross buns were traditionally eaten only on Good Friday, and have only been available for weeks and months of the year relatively recently. So if you want the authentic experience, you might prefer to wait until Good Friday and get them from a good local bakery, not a supermarket.

I was thinking about this as I munched on an HCB last Saturday so I looked up the recipe in my breadmaker recipe book, and the only added sugar was a small amount in the dough (no more than any other bread recipe) and the sugar glaze on the top.

So it depends how strict you are being with the 'no sugar' rule - personally I'd probably not have them even though they are low in sugar because they 'feel' like an S...

Plus, the ONLY way to eat them is toasted, with plenty of REAL BUTTER. So that makes me even more inclined to forbid them on N-days!

They were definitely a Good Friday breakfast treat only when I was growing up. I don't think they were available before then.

funfuture wrote:They were definitely a Good Friday breakfast treat only when I was growing up. I don't think they were available before then.

Yes, they were for me too. They came in a paper bag from a real bakery and we only had them on the morning of Good Friday, toasted and dripping with loads of butter! I think we may have had some left for Saturday and Easter Sunday too, but on Easter Sunday we were too busy stuffing ourselves with chocolate eggs / bunnies to pay much attention LOL

p.s. Who else ate Easter egg chocolate for breakfast every morning for the few days after Easter? (secretly of course as parents strictly forbade chocolate eating before "real food" LOL)

Thanks for all the replies! I've decided I'm going to hold back on them until Saturday morning, but not counting them as a full S treat, so I'm allowed my usual S-day treat in addition to a hot cross bun since they're a borderline food!

On a side note, I can't believe they were banned in England at one point??

I eat them untoasted, buttered then with cheese spread or cheddar cheese on. Mind you, I like cheese with fruit cake too. Definitely an S day treat in my mind.

Had one toasted and buttered for breakfast this morning. I'm glad I waited until Saturday. I really felt like I deserved it!

They were a lot less sweet than I thought they were going to be though. I expected them to be more sweet-like, but they're def very borderline.

Toasted under the grill with butter, a slice of havarti cheese on the side and some fruit - a great breakfast!

Guess I have always had the wrong idea about hot cross buns. I thought they were a kind of sweet roll with currants inside and icing on top, and I thought people ate them on Easter Sunday, after the Lenten fast was over. Wonder where I could find some of these to try?