Retro Recipe Bath Buns

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Taken from Wiki.
The Bath bun is a sweet roll made from a milk-based yeast dough. It has a lump of sugar baked in the bottom and more crushed sugar sprinkled on top after baking. Variations in ingredients include candied fruit peel, currants or larger raisins or sultanas.
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The bun's creation is attributed to William Oliver in the 18th century. Oliver also created the Bath Oliver dry biscuit after the bun proved too fattening for his rheumatic patients. The bun may also have descended from the 18th century 'Bath cake'.

The recipe comes from my late Grannie's recipe collection and this one dates from 1950's.
To adjust it to the modern world of packet yeast, I would recommend 1 packet in exchange for the 1/2 oz fresh yeast unless the directions state otherwise. I would also mix the yeast as per the instructions here, simply because the yeast is not really being activated in the standard sense if you read the instructions.

Bath Buns

Ingredients
3oz butter
8oz flour
1oz mixed peel (or you could use currants)
1/2oz (fresh) yeast
2oz sugar
1/2 gill* milk and water
1 large egg
crushed lump or preserving sugar

Method
Rub the butter into the warm, sifted flour and mixed in the mixed peel.
Cream the yeast with 1tsp of sugar.
Bring the water and milk to blood heat and beat in the egg
Add the egg mixture to the yeast mixture and stir into the flour.
Knead until the dough is smooth.
Put the dough in a warm place and cover it with a cloth. Leave it to rise for an hour. It should double in size.
Shape it into 10 small buns and leave these to rise again in a warm place for 10 minutes.
Bake at Regulo 7, 425F for about 20 minutes, brushing with egg and sprinkling with sugar thickly in the final few minutes of cooking.

*A gill is equivalent to 1/4 pint or 5 fluid ounces.

You are aiming for something that looks a little like this

Bath-Buns.jpg
 
Wow, I haven't seen these in years! My mum used to buy them from the local bakery - there was an iced variant too which was even more delicious. They had currants rather than mixed peel and were really quite a treat at that time.
 
Have not seen bath buns for years but the old school Lardy cake is making a revival
 
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