Bath Buns
Buttery, fragrant brioche-like buns, studded with candied peel, glazed with sugar and sprinkled with crunchy caraway comfits. The epitome of fashionable confectionery in the Bath where Jane reluctantly took the waters.
Buttery, fragrant brioche-like buns, studded with candied peel, glazed with sugar and sprinkled with crunchy caraway comfits. The epitome of fashionable confectionery in the Bath where Jane reluctantly took the waters.
Bath never much pleased me, I confess, with its ladies parading and its gentlemen listening to themselves talk — but one finds buns there that must be acknowledged as excellent. The dough is worked with good butter and needs time to rise; you slip in candied peel, and on top, those little caraway seeds coated in sugar that crack under the tooth. Warm from the oven, it is a sin of gluttony I very easily forgive myself.
- •Wheat flour — one pound (base of the dough)
- •Fresh butter — a good portion (richness)
- •Brewer's yeast (barm) — as needed (leavening)
- •Eggs — two or three (softness)
- •Warm milk — as needed (liquid)
- •Candied citrus peel — a handful (filling)
- •Caraway comfits (seeds coated in sugar) — as much as you like (crunchy decoration)
- •Sugar — to taste (sweetness and glaze)
Bath Buns
Buttery, fragrant brioche-like buns, studded with candied peel, glazed with sugar and sprinkled with crunchy caraway comfits. The epitome of fashionable confectionery in the Bath where Jane reluctantly took the waters.
Why this dish? Jane lived in Bath for several years, the fashionable spa town she mocks in Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. Bath buns, rich sweet buns crowned with caraway comfits, were an emblematic treat bought and nibbled in the town's tea rooms.
Bath never much pleased me, I confess, with its ladies parading and its gentlemen listening to themselves talk — but one finds buns there that must be acknowledged as excellent. The dough is worked with good butter and needs time to rise; you slip in candied peel, and on top, those little caraway seeds coated in sugar that crack under the tooth. Warm from the oven, it is a sin of gluttony I very easily forgive myself.
Ingredients (period version)
- Wheat flour — one pound (base of the dough)
- Fresh butter — a good portion (richness)
- Brewer's yeast (barm) — as needed (leavening)
- Eggs — two or three (softness)
- Warm milk — as needed (liquid)
- Candied citrus peel — a handful (filling)
- Caraway comfits (seeds coated in sugar) — as much as you like (crunchy decoration)
- Sugar — to taste (sweetness and glaze)
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour — 450 g (base of the dough)
- Soft unsalted butter — 120 g (richness)
- Active dry yeast — 7 g (leavening)
- Eggs — 2 (softness)
- Warm milk — 120 ml (liquid)
- Sugar — 60 g + a little for glaze (sweetness)
- Candied orange and lemon peel — 80 g (filling)
- Caraway seeds — 1 teaspoon (+ pearl sugar) (crunchy decoration)
Method
- Dissolve the yeast in warm milk with a spoonful of sugar; let it foam for 10 minutes.
- Mix the flour, sugar, eggs and yeasted milk, then incorporate the soft butter. Knead until a supple dough forms and let rise, covered, for 1 hour.
- Punch down, incorporate the candied peel, shape 10 to 12 small buns and place them on a baking sheet.
- Let rise again for 45 minutes, then glaze with sweetened milk and sprinkle with pearl sugar and caraway seeds.
- Bake at 190°C for 15 to 18 minutes until a nice golden colour. Enjoy warm.
How it was made : Bath buns descend from the 18th-century "Bath cake", originally very rich in butter and eggs. In Jane's time, they were crowned with caraway comfits — caraway seeds patiently coated in layers of sugar, a confectionery then much prized. The modern version often uses pearl sugar, which is easier to find.
The contemporary twist : Insert a large sugar lump at the bottom of each bun before baking, in late Victorian fashion, for a melting surprise in the centre.
Sources : Maggie Lane, Jane Austen and Food (1995) · Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey (1817)
Jane Austen · Charactorium
