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Buns are spongy rounded, elongated or differently shaped breads with a sweet or savory taste. Though the basic bread of the bun tastes bland, a number of ingredients added to the bun make it attain delicious flavors. Currants, nuts, chocolate chips, marshmallows, and cherries are some of the ingredients that are added to sweet buns. Party buns are prepared with a variety of toppings which may be cream, chocolate etc. Savory buns are made with spiced and herbed vegetable, meat or cheese fillings. Buns are an anytime favorite snack item which can be eaten even for a meal. Halapchi, the Lutonian dumpling and baozi the Chinese dumpling are also referred to as buns. Popular buns recipe usually includes any of those for Boston bun, burger bun, hot dog, mantau, hot cross buns and cinnamon bun. The variety of buns that are made today does not end with these as there are a lot more.


History of Buns


The origin of buns can be traced to the origin of bread in the ancient times. The origin of the bun can be understood from the origin of different types of buns recipe. For example, the origin of the famous hot cross bun, eaten popularly during Easter can be dated back to the 18th century, precisely the year 1733. The Saxons were believed to have been the first to have prepared these buns, which are characterized by a cross in honor of their Goddess Eostre, from whom the term Easter is believed to have come into existence. According to another school of thought, the Greeks seem to be the first to have conceptualized breads with the cross as they were believed to have made cakes with the cross on them long before the Saxons. The origin of the hot dog is traced to Frankfurter and Weiner in Germany. Mantau, the Chinese steamed bun, has its origins in the period of Zhuge Liang.


Ingredients Used for Making Buns


Buns are made with a number of ingredients which vary in number according to the complexity of the buns recipe. The basic bun is made from flour and milk. Sugar is added lightly and cardamom may be added for flavoring, butter is used as the cooking medium and the bread dough is leavened with yeast for a spongy, thick and puffed up appearance. Other ingredients, which may be sweet or savory, are added to the basic bread dough to make sweet or savory buns. A number of bun recipes include slitting the bun into two halfs and stuffing it with a filling. Sweet buns are filled with sweet cream, fruit, chocolate and nuts, while savory buns are filled with sausages, other meat, vegetables, cheese, or greens with a variety of condiments.


Preparation of Buns Recipe


Buns are usually baked, but some of them like the Chinese Mantau may be steamed. Baking a bun is an easy task. The process is similar to baking bread. All the ingredients are mixed together and dough is made which is left to rise for a while before baking. Any ingredient used as a decoration can be placed on the dough prior to baking. Buns can also be decorated like a cake after removing them from the oven and cooling them. The Chinese steamed buns are made in bamboo steamers which are specifically sold for the purpose. A basic dough is made with flour and milk. Baking powder is used as the leavening agent. The dough may be filled with pork or any other meat cooked with Chinese sauces and other flavoring agents and placed in steamers which are steamed. Certain bun recipes made with hot dog and burgers use prepared buns for filling the stuffings. The buns are either slit across for accommodating the stuffings or the stuffings are sandwiched between two individual buns.


Serving and Eating Buns


Buns are wholesome and mostly they are eaten as a filling snack or even as a main course meal. Sweet buns are mostly served as a snack or a dessert if they are made with cream or chocolate or excessive sweet toppings. Breakfast buns are also very popular. Buns are usually served hot. Sweet buns are served with dessert sauces, like dessert chocolate sauce etc. Hot buns are served with savory sauces. Salads also make suitable accompaniments for savory buns. Coffee buns are usually sweet and are served with hot coffee as a snack. Buns that are served as a main course item for a meal are stuffed with adequate burgers, vegetables, meat, cheese, mayonnaise, green leaves to make a satiating course. The multi-tiered fillings are doused in two or three varieties of sauces and served. Fries and chips, and salads are fondly sought accompaniments for these burger bun dishes.


Popular Buns Recipes


Popular buns include the following:


• Hot cross buns – or simply cross buns, these are traditional buns popularly eaten during Easter. These are sweet buns made with candied fruits, currants and raisins, and they are also spiced. These buns are characterized by a cross sign on them which has earned the bun its name. the cross sign may be as simple as a cut on top of the bread or a cross made out of any of the ingredients which may be strips made of flour and water, white solidified strips of cream and icing sugar, or rice paper.

• Boston Bun- this is a traditional Australian spiced bun with coconut topping, commonly served as a teatime snack. Ideally the bun is supposed to contain potato but the modern versions do not.

• Cinnamon bun- also known as cinnamon swirl , cinnamon roll, or cinnamon snail, these are sweet rolled buns, containing cinnamon and powdered sugar spread on the buttered dough which is rolled and cut into individual parts for baking. Chopped grapes and raisins are also rolled inside the dough if desired. The cinnamon roll is more like a pastry and is popular in the cuisines of United States and Northern Europe. The cinnamon buns are often glazed.