Hot cross bun baked in 1821 smells just as good today
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IT was the year Napoleon died, Constable painted the Hay Wain – and the world’s oldest hot cross bun was baked.
Today the bun – made on Good Friday, 1821 – looks almost as good as the day it left the oven.
It has been passed through five generations to Nancy Titman, 94, who keeps it in a box.
It still has its cross on top and no traces of mould.The bun, which has retained its smell, was made by Nancy’s great-great-great-grandfather William Skinner, who had a bakery in London.
“It is a relic which has been passed down through our family and we get it out every Good Friday,” said Nancy, of Deeping St James, Lincolnshire.
“It is rock-hard and the currants have disintegrated but it still smells and looks like a hot cross bun.”
In the 19th Century many believed hot cross buns baked on Good Friday had special powers to cure complaints such as indigestion.
“My mum said our ancestors worked in a baker’s shop and they believed buns baked on Good Friday didn’t go mouldy,” said Nancy.
“It is an unusual family heirloom but I’m proud of it.”
Nancy was given the bun, which has the date March 1821 on the base, by her mother. She plans to keep up the tradition by handing it to her daughter Anthea and her 10-year-old granddaughter, Hannah. -
Back then they didnt use any preservatives?