January 04

  

Solange Luyon's Birthday
 
  sorcerer-86  

"And now for the gay Sally Lunn" 
from Gilbert and Sullivan's The Sorcerer performed at MIT. Nov 18, 2000

 

 

Solange Luyon, whom in England was known as Sally Lunn, was a young French refugee who fled the persecution of Protestants and emigrated to Bath, England in the 1700s where she found work in a bakery in Lilliput Alley. She had a French flair for making brioche and created a popular sweet bun to which her name became attached. Sally peddled her buns, both literally and figuratively,  through the streets of Bath. One of her lovers was William Dalmer, the best-known baker in Bath and an amateur songwriter. Dalmer was captivated by Sally's beauty and tasty buns, and wrote a song about Sally peddling her wares covered in a white cloth throughout the streets of Bath. His song, Sally Lunn or the Much admired Breakfast Cake, became an instant hit and made so much money for Dalmer, that he retired from the bakery business. One verse from the song goes

"Buy my nice Sally Lunn,
The very best of Bunn,
I think her the sweetest of any."

Another amour of Sally's was the great French chef, Antoine Careme  who lived in England for a short time when he was the Prince Regent's chef.  Careme not only stole Sally's heart, but her bun recipe as well. When he returned to Paris, he transformed Sally's famous bun recipe into a teacake which he called a Solilemne. 

 
The Sally Lunn is also hysterically commemorated in Gilbert and Sullivan's "Teatime" from their operetta "The Sorcerer."
 

"The eggs and the ham,
and the strawberry jam!
The rollicking bun,
and the gay Sally Lunn!

Bath has several popular Sally Lunn tearooms including the Sally Lunn's House which is the oldest known house in Bath where patrons can sample Sally's tasty buns. So let's celebrate Sally's birthday with a bun tasting party which watching a DVD of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Sorcerer.
 

Sally Lunn Buns

 

Ingredients

4 TB butter
1/2 cup milk
pinch of salt		 3 cups plain flour
1  egg
2 tsp dried yeast		  

Instructions

  1. Put the butter and the milk into a saucepan.
  2. Stir over a very low heat until the milk is lukewarm and the butter has melted.
  3. Sieve the salt and flour together into a bowl.
  4. Prepare the yeast according to instructions on the packet.
  5. Add the yeast mix, milk and butter mix and the egg to the flour and mix to a smooth dough.
  6. Put a large TB of dough onto a greased baking pan.
  7. Leave to rise for 1 hour in a warm place.
  8. Preheat oven to at 190º F.
  9. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Serves 6-8

 © 2010 Gordon Nary