Queuing outside the shop has become a staple part of many people’s Easter weekend and owner Martin Senner said he expected to sell about 6,000 buns before the shop closes at midday.
But sales of the annual treat started about a month ago, he said, with the buns being made in batches and stored in the shop’s freezer until they were taken out to have a final prove before being baked and put on the shelves.
By the end of the week the shop will have sold between 25,000 and 30,000 buns.
Each year the Good Friday opening is heralded by a sign which was ‘thrown together’ at the last minute by Martin’s father, Brian, when he first decided to open on Good Friday some 40 or more years ago.
‘My dad knocked it up in the garage. I was going to dump it, but I still put it out,’ said Mr Senner.
Baking starts at about 8pm and carries on all night, with the store’s team of four bakers taking it in turns to cover the shifts.
One of the team is Martin Ashworth, who at the time the Guernsey Press visited was coming to the end of a shift, which started at 1.30am.
‘It’ll be the same again tomorrow and the same on Friday,’ he said.
‘It’s pretty much just work and sleep at this time of the year,’ added Mr Senner.
‘They’re proper bakers,’ he said of his team. ‘They’re the last of a dying breed.’
Despite what some might think, there is no secret ingredient in a Senners hot cross bun.
‘It’s a standard recipe which we’ve used for years,’ said Mr Senner.
‘We use a liquid mix of spices which includes cinnamon, nutmeg and all sorts.’
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