THE supermarket shelves might very well be stacked with buns in every shape, size and form, positioned alongside the ubiquitous tins of Tastee cheese, clear reminders to all around that the bun-eating season is at hand. But no one knows that better than 82-year-old Barbara Davis who has already taken out her own baking equipment. After all, buns have played an integral role in her life and she has been mixing her own bun mixture for 70 years.

Davis’ garden presents itself as a lush tropical environment, for with the afternoon rain now over, the well-maintained garden stands elegant waiting as it were for a final inspection. It’s difficult not to be distracted, but we’re on a bun mission and so step into the cosy home with that wonderful smell of baking permeating the air.

“The rain is great for the garden but terrible for my arthritis,” declares this very elegant and attractive woman who today, although not so steady on her feet (and as such is using a walker), is no less enthused about sharing her extraordinary bun journey.

“Come on over,” she says. “Meet my yabba and spoon. They’ve been my baking companions for some 40-odd years”.

It’s all pretty amazing – the deep, dark-stained yabba, that wooden spoon from which the thick, fruity mixture falls and the enthusiasm with which she mixes. “I’m from a household of bakers,” she shares. “It’s a tradition that was handed down from my grandmother. don’t ask me the exact measurement (she obviously read our minds), but I’ll tell you what goes into the bun.”

We happily pull up a seat right alongside the yabba and in between mouthfuls of bun mixture hang on to her every word. “My mother who was taught to bake by her mother died when I was only eight so you could say that I was self-taught. But there are always the memories and inspiration and so with flour, baking powder, spices, brown sugar, Dragon stout, butter, eggs, molasses, aniseed and honey, I make a bulk (mixture) and mix and taste until it’s perfect. The mixing takes a long time and it’s all done by hand. It takes forever to get out the lumps.” We watch in fascination. “I use raisins, currants and cherries; but never mixed peel, simply because lots of people just don’t like it,” she adds.

Her shiny buns are a result of a special glaze made either from egg white or melted brown sugar. “For the egg white glaze,” she explains, “I beat a few egg whites and then use a brush, a little water is sometimes added. For the sugar-glaze, brown sugar and water are brought to a syrup and then glazed over the bun.

“I bake for my close family and friends both here and overseas, and with a week to go I’ve got a couple more to bake and pack,” she tells Thursday Food.

As if on cue, her daughter Janette Hutchinson, herself a noted ‘spreader’ of exquisite tables, arrives and is eager for a slice of her mother’s bun. “It’s absolutely delicious,” she states, “and could put you in a lot of trouble.”

She’s not playing the role of a partial daughter. The bun is moist, rich and delicious and yes, could put us all in a lot of trouble. But with our tradition of eating bun and cheese from Good Friday straight through to Easter Monday, who’s counting calories, especially with bun this good?