Hot Cross Bun History

A history of Ferguson Plarre’s Hot Cross Buns

Traditional Ferguson Plarre Hot Cross Buns were first baked in the late 1940’s but our premium Chocolate Cross Buns only arrived in our shops in 2008!Our traditional buns are famous for their generous quantities of fruit (in fact they contain more fruit than flour) and are the result of a culmination of more than 100 years, combined pastry cooking experience gleaned by Percy Ferguson & Otto Plarre.Now you can feel really good about your buns, as they are now Palm Oil Free, and made with real butter, to maximise the taste and help the environment at the same time.

The Ferguson Plarre Bakehouses Hot Cross Bun has won numerous baking competitions over the years due to its delicious combination of quality fruit and the irreplaceable contribution of experienced pastry cooks.

In 2011 our buns were awarded the runners-up trophy in the National Hot Cross Bun competition against hundreds of Australia’s best bakers.

We invite you to try our Hot Cross Buns…now a family recipe for nearly 100 years.

Extract from the Ferguson Plarre book “A Recipe for Success”: The Hot Cross Buns Episode (1912) .

Otto Plarre & Percy Ferguson excelled at making Hot Cross Buns and became famous very quickly for their skill with this product.

But Otto’s first attempt at supplying the Easter shoppers was disastrous! Otto had prepared a large batch of buns on Easter Thursday and they had sold exceedingly well.

Expecting most sales the following day, Easter Friday, as would have been the case in his native Europe, Otto prepared an even bigger batch, only to learn that his new Australian customers did not shop on that day.

He was left literally, holding the bag. Otto Plarre & Percy Ferguson traditionally baked very rich hot cross buns. There was always as much fruit as flour and subsequently their Easter buns became very famous.

Ferguson Plarre Bakehouses prides itself on delivering the very best Hot Cross Bun for all of our customers and we recently were voted No1 in a blind taste test against some of our rivals.