__NOTOC__ A saffron bun, Cornish tea treat bun or revel bun, is a rich, spiced yeast-leavened

sweet bun 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, sw ...

that is flavoured with saffron and contains dried fruit including currants and raisins similar to a teacake. The main ingredients are plain flour, butter, yeast, caster sugar, currants and sultanas. Larger versions baked in a loaf tin are known as saffron cake. Similar buns are

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

''lussebulle'' or ''lussekatt'', Norwegian ''lussekatt''.

West Country

The "revel bun" from Cornwall is baked for special occasions, such as anniversary feasts (revels), or the dedication of a church. Saffron was historically grown in the mild climate of Devon & Cornwall but it is likely that saffron from Spain had been traded for centuries before. In the West of Cornwall, large saffron buns are also known as "tea treat buns" and are associated with Methodist

Sunday school A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. Su ...

outings or activities. In parts of Britain, the buns were traditionally baked on sycamore leaves and dusted with powdered

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 ...

Scandinavian St Lucia bun

In Sweden and Norway, no cinnamon or nutmeg is used in the bun, and raisins are used instead of currants. The buns are baked into many traditional shapes, of which the simplest is a reversed S-shape. They have traditional religious symbolism and are eaten during

Advent Advent is a Christian season of preparation for the Nativity of Christ at Christmas. It is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christianity. The name was adopted from Latin "coming; arrival", translating Greek ''parousia''. In ...

, and especially on Saint Lucy's Day, 13 December. In addition to Sweden, they are also prepared and eaten in much the same way in Finland, particularly in Swedish-speaking areas, and by Swedish-speaking Finns, as well as in Norway and less commonly in Denmark.

Saffron colouring

Most commercially available saffron buns and cakes today contain food dyes that enhance the natural yellow provided by saffron. The very high cost of saffron – the world's most expensive spice by weight – makes the inclusion of sufficient saffron to produce a rich colour an uneconomical option. The addition of food colouring in Cornish saffron buns was already common by the end of the First World War when the scarcity of saffron tempted bakers to find other ways to colour their products.

References

Bibliography

*Davidson, Alan. ''Oxford Companion to Food'' (1999), "Bun". p. 114,

External links