The origins of hot cross buns date back more than 3,000 years.

A traditional Easter delicacy in Britain, the humble hot cross bun is the source of much tradition and superstition, and was once considered controversial enough to be outlawed by Queen Elizabeth I of England.

Hot cross buns are a yeast-based bread made with spices and raisins, decorated with the shape of a cross. They are sold throughout Britain around Easter and the Lenten period but were once only available from street vendors whose cries became a well known nursery rhyme...

Hot cross buns!

Hot cross buns!

One a penny, two a penny,

Hot cross buns.

If you have no daughters,

Give them to your sons.

One a penny, two a penny,

Hot cross buns.

Pagan history

Hot cross bun recipe By Heather Sunderland For the buns: 15g dried, active yeast 40g brown sugar 150ml tepid water 450g plain flour 1 level tsp sea salt 2 tsp cinnamon ¼ tsp cloves ¼ tsp nutmeg 50g margarine 100g raisins Warm milk and 1 beaten egg to make 150ml For the cross: 75g plain flour 80ml water For the glaze: 50g sugar 50ml water Mix 1 tsp of sugar into the tepid water, sprinkle in yeast, whisking to disperse grains. Let it stand in a warm place for 10-15 minutes. Yeast should be frothing well. • Mix flour, salt and spices in large bowl. • Rub in margarine. • Mix in rest of flour and raisins. • Add yeast and then milk and egg mixture, mixing until it is a pliable dough. • Knead thoroughly. • Place in a greased bowl and cover with polythene or clean tea towel. Place the bowl away from draughts and let rise for until doubled in size – about 1 hour. • Empty onto a floured worktop and knead well. • Divide dough into 12 pieces. Shape into buns and put on a lined baking tray. • Cover with tea towel put in warm place to rise. They should double in size, taking around 1 to 1 ½ hours. • Make flour paste for crosses by mixing flour and water in a bowl until smooth. Add more water if necessary. Spoon into piping bag (use plastic bag with corner snipped off) and pipe crosses over the top of buns. • Bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 200ºC or until the buns are nicely browned and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. • Remove from oven and brush with glaze while still hot. • Best eaten cut in half and slathered in butter while still warm.

Like so many Easter traditions, these hot cross buns have pagan roots and pre-date Christianity by around 3,000 years. The cross on top of the buns is said to represent the cross that Jesus died on, the four seasons of the year or the four phases of the moon, depending on who’s telling the story.

Starting as far back as the Assyrians and Babylonians more than 3,000 years ago, and their worshipping of the moon-goddess Ishtar, sacramental buns and breads were baked throughout the pre-Christian world to honour gods and goddesses.

The ancient Egyptians offered small, round cakes to Hathor, their cow-headed moon goddess, and were the first to inscribe the top of it with a symbol: an ox and crescent moon. The Greeks carried on this tradition of offering cakes to the lunar deities and called it a boun, believed to be where the word bun came from. They changed the symbol to a large cross to symbolise the four quarters of the moon.

Hot cross buns become Christian

The tradition continued throughout Roman times and was adopted by the Saxons. The Saxons used them in worship to Eostre, the goddess of dawn and fertility, whose name gives us the word Easter. It was the Saxons who carried the tradition over to England.

In England, the buns were adopted by the Christian church, which re-interpreted the cross as the symbol of Christ when Father Thomas Rockcliffe began distributing hot cross buns to the poor of St Albans.

Buns with magical powers

In the years that followed, many superstitions grew around the buns and by the Middle Ages they were thought to hold magical powers. It was said you could keep a hot cross bun that had been baked on Good Friday for at least a year and it wouldn’t go mouldy, that one hung up in your house would protect all inhabitants throughout the year and that keeping a batch of them in your oven would protect the house from fires. Sailors took hot cross buns to sea with them to prevent shipwreck and they were even used to cure ills – a bun baked on Good Friday and left to go hard would be ground into powder and mixed with water for a sick person to drink.

Outlawed by Queen Elizabeth I

During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England, Roman Catholicism was banned and with it all symbols of the cross. The buns became outlawed but neither the Church nor the State could suppress their popularity, and the customs continued. Eventually, in 1592, Elizabeth passed a law that forbade hot cross buns to be made, bought or sold at any time other than Christmas, Easter and funerals.

These delicious buns have become a symbol of Easter and are eaten toasted and slathered in butter throughout Britain at this time of year. It is said that if you share the bun with a friend it will ensure your friendship for the coming year, particularly if you recite the rhyme, “Half for you and half for me, between us two shall goodwill be.”

Heather Sunderland - HT