A penny bun, or penny loaf, is a British term for a small loaf of bread. The penny bun was mentioned in the 13th-century guidelines established by the Assize of Bread and Ale. Originally, the term was a specific reference to the cost of the loaf. While the weight could fluctuate in accordance with the price of grain, the loaf always kept the same price: one penny.
The law changed over the centuries, and a modern reference to a penny bun is more likely to refer to a yeast sweet roll made with white flour than to a plain loaf of bread.
Contemporary recipes for penny buns frequently include candied or dried fruit and have a sugary glaze on top. Most recipes make a light, sweet, buttery roll that is similar to a hot cross bun. They are made like most other yeast breads and are fairly easy to make; most beginners could make the bread. The important step, as with all yeast breads, is to use good yeast and to give the breast enough time to rise.
The penny bun was popular enough in England over the years that it came to have a day named after it. Penny Bun Day, or Penny Loaf Day, came about after a prophetic dream by a rich Englishman. The Nottingham town of Newark was under siege during the English Civil War in 1644 when Hercules Clay dreamed on 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 created a fund of £100 to provide penny buns, food and clothing 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 listening to a sermon. The Penny Loaf Day sermon remains a tradition in parts of rural England.
"Penny Bun" is also the common name of Boletus edulis, an edible fungus. The large, meaty mushroom, also known as the cep, porcini or porcino mushroom, grows throughout North America and Europe in the summer and autumn. It is popular with chefs and appears in a variety of recipes.