The penny bun is a small loaf of bread that was sized according to guidelines set forth by England’s Assizes of Bread and Ale of 1226. It was not a specific reference to its cost, and its price and weight could vary. Penny Bun Day was born after a prophetic dream of a wealthy Englishman, and by the 1800s, thousands of penny buns were handed out in exchange for the recipients first hearing a sermon. Other foods that bear the name include the California king bolete mushroom.
A bun or loaf is a British term for a small loaf of bread. The penny bun was sized according to guidelines set forth by England’s Assizes of Bread and Ale of 1226. While it was called a penny bun, however, the term was not a specific reference to its cost. Both its price and its weight could vary according to the type of flour used in the bread. The law has changed over the centuries, and a modern reference to a penny roll is more likely to refer to a sweet yeast roll made with white flour rather than a simple loaf of bread.
Contemporary recipes for penny buns often include candied or dried fruit and have a sugary glaze on top. Most recipes make a light, sweet, buttery roll that’s similar to a hot bun. They’re made like most other yeast breads and are fairly easy to make; most beginners could make bread. The important step, as with all yeast breads, is to use good yeast and give the breasts time to rise.
The penny bun has been popular enough in England over the years that it had a day after which it was named. Penny Bun Day, or Penny Loaf Day, was born after a prophetic dream of a wealthy Englishman. The city of Newark in Nottingham was under siege during the English Civil War in 1644 when Hercules Clay dreamed for three successive nights that his house burned down. The third dream convinced him to evacuate his family and his house was later destroyed in the war.
Grateful for the warning dreams, Clay set up a £100 Great Britain Pounds (GBP) fund to provide sandwiches, food and clothes for the poor every March 11, the anniversary of his third dream. By the 1800s, thousands of penny buns were handed out in exchange for the recipients first hearing a sermon. The original fund is history, but the Penny Loaf Day sermon remains a tradition in parts of rural England.
While bread is the most common form of penny bun, there are other foods that also bear the name, including the California king bolete mushroom. The large, fleshy mushroom, also known as porcini mushroom, grows throughout North America and Europe in summer through late fall. It is popular with chefs and appears in a variety of recipes.
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