Rosemary & raisin buns
a different sort of Easter bun
Rosemary and raisins. An excellent combination, and one that I have been pedalling hard since I first encountered pan di ramerino at Cantinetta dei Verrazzano last summer.
Pan di ramerino — glossy buns, fragrant with rosemary and studded with raisins — can be found in bakeries across Florence all year round. However, they were traditionally made for the Thursday before Easter, Giovedì Santo, hence their characteristic crossed tops.
I have been thinking about these buns for months, since last June in fact. The memory of them is filed in a very specific Florentine corner of my brain.
A couple of weeks ago, when the shops started to flog Mini Eggs, and large trays of hot cross buns began to appear at my favourite bakeries, I decided now was the time to turn those recurring thoughts into an Easter reality.
While the results remain true to that memory, in a move that no doubt would have Florentine nonnas rolling in their graves, I borrowed a technique used to make Japanese milk bread (shokupan) for softness and lightness in the buns. Tangzhong is a paste made by cooking flour and water to gelatinise the flour’s starches. Adding this to the dough enables higher hydration, and results in softer buns that last a little longer, taking them into toasted-and-double-buttered territory on days two and three without compromise.
Each butter-slicked bun has transported me back to Florence and I’m looking forward to making yet another batch on Giovedì Santo, according to my newly adopted Tuscan tradition.
I hope you have a very happy Easter, full of buns, bunnies, blossom, and any of your own traditions.
Rosemary & raisin buns
