The Bath bun is a

sweet roll A sweet roll or sweet bun refers to any of a number of sweet, baked, yeast-leavened breakfast or dessert foods. They may contain spices, nuts, candied fruits, etc., and are often glazed or topped with icing. Compared to regular bread dough, ...

made from a milk-based yeast dough with crushed sugar sprinkled on top after baking. Variations in ingredients include enclosing a lump of sugar in the bun or adding candied fruit peel, currants, raisins or sultanas. The change from a light, shaped bun to a heavier, often fruited or highly sugared irregular one may date from the

Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary The Crystal Palace, structure in which it was held), was an International Exhib ...

of 1851 when almost a million were produced and consumed in five and a half months (the "London Bath bun"). References to Bath buns date from 1763, and

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

wrote in a letter of "disordering my stomach with Bath Bunns" in 1801. The original 18th-century recipe used a brioche or rich egg and butter dough which was then covered with caraway seedsDavidson, Alan, "Bun" in ''Oxford Companion to Food'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, p. 114. coated in several layers of

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

, similar to

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

''dragée''. The bun's creation is attributed to William Oliver in the 18th century. Oliver also created the Bath Oliver dry biscuit after the bun proved too fattening for his rheumatic patients. The bun may also have descended from the 18th-century "Bath cake". The buns are still produced in the

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

area of England. Although this is disputed, the 18th-century '"Bath cake" may also have been the forerunner of the Sally Lunn bun, which also originates from Bath.

References

External links

Traditional Bath bun recipeBath bun with fruitBath bun containing sugar cube
Somerset cuisine 1763 introductions British breads Yeast breads Sweet breads Culture in Bath, Somerset History of Bath, Somerset Buns {{UK-dessert-stub

See also

References

External links