Hot Cross Buns

SAINSBURY’s in St Albans will be batch-baking the Alban Hot Cross Bun for its customers on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, using a recipe that dates from 1361.

The Alban Bun, which uses wholemeal flour, milk, cardamom, and yeast, is an established part of the history of the Abbey and Cathedral. It can trace its roots back to Fr Thomas Rockcliffe, who baked the buns to give out to the local poor. The tradition has continued in the Cathedral for hundreds of years, and proceeds this year will go the local charity for homeless people, Open Door.

“The hot cross bun is now available throughout the year, and its connection with the Easter story has been lost,” Hamish Thompson, a director of Cathedral Enterprises, said. “We felt that publicising the Alban Bun was a great way of reconnecting the symbolism of the bun with the Easter story.”

The Cathedral sought a com mercial partner to make the bun on a bigger scale, and has been delighted with the response from Sainsbury’s. “It all felt to us like the intersection of God and Mammon: a chance to get the point across about the sym bolism, but at the same time po tentially raise some additional money for the Cathedral’s mission,” Mr Thompson said.

“The buns do have a very dis tinctive taste, and what Sainsbury’s see is the opportunity potentially

to retail an interesting new prod-uct.”

Canon Kevin Walton said on Tuesday that the reception so far had exceeded all expectations. “There’s been a lot of press interest. Indi viduals have been emailing us for the recipe, but we’re having to hold that back for the time being for com mercial reasons,” he said.

“As well as promoting the mean ing of Easter, it’s also raising the profile of St Albans as a place of missions and pilgrimage.”