Hot cross buns are a staple of the Lenten season, but one local bakery, Emerson’s, which has five locations throughout the region, takes the cake.
“We make them every year,” said Emerson’s owner, Steve Emerson. “We sell a lot of them.”
Lent leads up to Easter and honors the 40 days Jesus Christ spent in the desert. Observant Christians will often engage in fasting or will voluntarily give up something in an effort to emulate the discipline and self-deprivation of Christ during his time in the wilderness.
Historically, hot cross buns were eaten at the end of Lent and made with ingredients people tended to give up for the season.
The buns get their name from the cross that appears on top of them – sometimes in the dough itself, sometimes painted over with frosting – but there’s debate about whether the cross is an overt nod to the Crucifixion, as there’s evidence that the cakes may predate Christianity.
For instance, food writer Clementine Paddleford, writing for the now-defunct Washington Evening Star in 1947, tied the practice back to various pagan culinary traditions in Europe (with possible parallels occurring in the precolonial Americas, as well), arguing the buns were later appropriated by the church during the medieval period.
“The early Christians tried hard to abolish this custom of baking cakes for pagan gods,” Paddleford writes. “But those who joined the new faith were devoted to their festivals and clung to them.
“Gradually the Christians took over the most alluring of the pagan customs and gave them new meanings. The mark of the cross on the bun no longer symbolized horns but became a sign of Christian faith. In the medieval church, buns were made of the dough for the consecrated Host and were distributed to communicants after Easter Mass. The making of the bun was a rite that belonged exclusively to the church.”
These days, most people probably aren’t thinking about a pastry’s origins as they chow down, and the people who make baked goods are naturally more interested in making something tasty and creative than academic debates.
“Being a baker is not a job; it’s a career,” said Baker Gary Shay, who’s now retired. “You either love it or you don’t, and if you don’t love being a baker, you’re in the wrong place.”
Shay worked for Emerson’s for about 26 years before retiring, mostly under Steve Emerson’s father, Cecil Emerson. Well, that was his legal name, but most people referred to Cecil Emerson as “Zeke” Emerson.
Shay had actually owned his own bakery as a young man, but after his brother (who co-ran the bakery with him) died, it became too much to manage by himself. Zeke Emerson bought some of his equipment from him and gave him a job.
“He was a really great guy to work for,” Shay said.
Zeke and his wife, Sharon, married young. At the time, Zeke was working part-time at the Latonia Race Track at night and as a baker during the day. Eventually, Zeke and Sharon saved up (and borrowed) enough money for a storefront on Manderlay Drive in Florence, which became their first location. The business didn’t operate there for very long, however— about three years, Steve said.
The building that would eventually become their main location on Dixie Highway in Florence actually started off as a house.
“It’s undergone at least four different renovations, expansions and whatnot,” over the years, Steve Emerson said, but it still operates today.
The bakery now has five locations throughout Northern Kentucky and supplies food to other businesses and restaurants.
“It’s just pretty much all over everything: danishes, donuts, cookies, breads, pies, cakes,” Shay said. “It’s a full line bakery.”
Hot cross buns disappear after the Easter holiday, so if you want to get your hands on some, this week is the time to do it.
Find out more about Emerson’s, including all of its storefront locations and operating hours at emersonsbakeryky.com.