Hot-Cross Buns: Giving Tradition A Fresh Accent (Published 1991) (2024)

FAQs

What is the tradition behind the hot cross bun? ›

The Greeks in the 6th century AD may have marked cakes with a cross. In the Christian tradition, the making of buns with a cross on them and consuming them after breaking the fast on Good Friday, along with "crying about 'Hot cross buns'", is done in order to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus.

“Hot Cross Buns”

As many who sing “Three Blind Mice” will notice, the piece is sung in the same tune with the same melody as the nursery rhyme, “Hot Cross Buns,” about a baker making his wares.

The custom, widespread in Catholic countries, of marking every new loaf of bread with the sign of the cross took on a special meaning on Good Friday. In Austria, for instance, Karfreitaglaib, bread with a cross imprinted on it, was eaten on this day. But the most famous Good Friday bread is the hot cross bun.

The cross is usually piped using a flour and water paste but can also be made from shortcrust pastry. For Christians, the cross represents the crucifixion of Jesus. The spices inside the buns symbolise the spices put on the body of Jesus after he died. The buns are best served hot, hence how they received their name.

It has been suggested that the Elizabethan order to control these early versions of hot cross buns was for fear that they were too 'Catholic', and that they had become associated with the bread of the Eucharist, which was sometimes marked with a cross.

Pagans worshipped Eostre, the goddess of dawn and spring. As spring arrived, the pagans would celebrate a month long festival of the transitioning time from winter entering into spring. This festival saw the Saxons making buns marked with a cross, which represented the four phases of the moon, to offer to the goddess.

The first year I lived overseas, in Germany, I was devastated to discover that they did not have hot cross buns at Easter time. But then I found they had something even better: Osterbrot. Translated directly: Easter bread — which is in essence, a giant hot cross bun.

Teacakes are often larger and flatter with a slightly harder consistency, meaning they can be enjoyed with a range of condiments, including jams and marmalades. A Hot Cross Bun is softer, with more spices baked in, so is often just enjoyed with butter.

States that recognize Good Friday as a holiday

Traditionally, meat from land animals (beef, pork, poultry) was prohibited. Fish, as it was not considered “flesh” in the same way, was allowed.

Hot Cross Buns are inextricably linked to Easter and to Christianity. But in reality, they probably have pre-Christian origins. 'Cross Buns' were baked to celebrate Eostre, a Germanic Goddess of Fertility, after which the season of Easter is said to be named.

Do the French eat hot cross buns? ›

The French don't do hot cross buns.

If you're in the Paris region, Marks and Spencer's is your saviour with a selection that included a version with chocolate chips instead of raisins for dried-fruit refuseniks. Best of all, they're often reduced in price because their existence confuses Parisians.

Traditionally, hot cross buns are associated with Easter—a Christian holiday and festival celebrating the resurrection of Jesus—and eaten on Good Friday, or the Friday before Easter.

'First footing' is an old Hogmanay custom: shortly after midnight, neighbours would visit one another to offer their best wishes for the New Year and take gifts such as black bun (a fruit cake wrapped in pastry) to symbolise that the household would not go hungry that year.

The origins of spiced bun are not quite clear, however, it is widely believed that bun and cheese was derived from English hot cross buns, which were traditionally eaten by the British on Good Friday, with the cross symbolising the crucifixion of Jesus.

After the Chinese Mexicans managed to plant their roots in Hong Kong and Macau, it was found that a Chinese Mexican family had opened up a coffee shop in 1946 and sold the Mexican coffee bun through the shop as a tribute to the traditional Mexican bun which had a sweet cookie crust, concha, similar to the Mexican ...

La Farine, which opened in 1977 in Berkeley claims to have invented the morning bun. According to company lore, when the bakery's founder, Lili Lecocq, started out, she developed a particularly good croissant dough.