Good Friday Hot Cross Buns

My relationship with my Brazilian personal trainer didn’t get off to a great start.  I first laid eyes on him at a small group training session where he introduced himself as the newest member of staff at the gym.

Heat and serve

Then he said his name but there was a lot of competing noise and I thought he said, ‘Diablo’.  Later on during the session he had given us an exercise to do but I was floundering with a lack of co-ordination and all in a tangle so I yelled out, ‘Diablo, is this what we’re meant to be doing?’

The dough has risen

And then two women burst into hysterics saying, ‘It’s not ‘Diablo’, it’s Tiablo’.  Now the reality here is that none of us is familiar with Spanish or Portuguese.

Give it a punch

When Drew came home that night I told him the story and he said, ‘Tell me now you didn’t call him, ‘Diablo'”.

‘Why?’ I asked.

Ready for the oven

And because Drew dabbles in Spanish he said, ‘Because that’s ‘devil’ in Spanish.  As if anyone would call their child, ‘the devil'”.  So now I know some Spanish.  And as I now know, his name isn’t ‘Tiablo’, it’s ‘Tiago’, so I’m not not only one who got that wrong.  And I’ve just corrected it in my phone.

A double quantity is a double blessing

Anyway, after a rocky start we are now getting along famously and Tiago is even confiding in me.  Yes, he’s let me know something very personal.

Get ready.

He can’t put on weight.

Cue the violins.

Cooling

He was doing fun runs and mini marathons but he had to stop because with all the exercise he wasn’t able to eat enough to maintain his weight.  I think he needs to have some food bloggers in his circle of friends.

These have lovely spices

It was lovely of him to share this news but probably if he was looking for sympathy he should share it with someone whose age isn’t impacted and reeling from declining hormones and metabolism resulting in war-path behaviour and a thickening girth.

Where’s the butter?

After telling me I need to eat two pieces of fruit and five vegetables per day, I’m sure he wouldn’t have a problem with skeletal issues if he just adjusted to my diet.  Did he even eat hot cross buns slathered in butter on Good Friday?

I like mine with raspberry jam

It’s always been a tradition that on Good Friday, hot cross buns are served.  It’s actually not that difficult to make your own although, earlier in the week I did confess to a bun disaster.  I’m not posting that recipe.  This recipe is adapted from the Australian Women’s Weekly and is an oldie but a goodie.

I always make a double batch as it’s no extra effort to make more and the bonus buns can either be frozen for the other days celebrating Easter or be given away as gifts to family and friends.

If you can’t tolerate gluten, these can be made using GF flour and they’ll turn out just as well; I’ve done that in the past.

It’s not Easter without a Hot Cross Bun

Happy Easter.