5 Great Historical Myths And Traditions About Hot Cross Buns, a Pre-Easter Pastry | Smart News | Smithsonian 5 Great Historical Myths And Traditions About Hot Cross Buns, a Pre-Easter Pastry From solidifying friendships to driving evil spirits away, legends abound about these sweet dough balls (Photo: I Love Images/Corbis) smithsonian.com April 17, 2014 Delicious hot cross buns —those doughy, raisin-studded delights—are traditionally eaten during Lent, especially in the week leading up to Easter. Marked with an icing or dough cross on top, they've been a holiday staple of some communities for centuries. (Versions of the hot cross bun even appeared in ancient Greece.) Given the baked good's long history, legends and superstitions have had ample time to develop and grow around them. Here are five favorites: A 12th-century monk was the first person to mark the bun with a cross. This monk baked the buns on Good Friday, in honor of the upcoming Easter holiday, IrishCentral reports , and they soon gained popularity around England as a symbol of the holiday weekend.

However, the first definite record of hot cross buns comes from a 16th and 17th century text stating: "Good Friday comes this month, the old woman runs, with one or two a penny hot cross buns." Nowadays the cross might be made of chocolate icing or cream, but, traditionally, it is made of a simple dough or just a knife imprint. They stay fresh for a whole year. If you hang a hot cross bun from your kitchen rafters on Good Friday, legend has it that the bread will remain fresh and mold-free throughout the entire year. This harkens back to the body of Christ, which, according to the Bible, did not show any signs of decay after his crucifixion and prior to his resurrection. The bun should be replaced each year on Good Friday. Later in the year, the buns were sometimes broken up, mixed with water and treated as a medicine, FoodTimeline reports . They expel bad spirits. Due to the blessed cross on top, hot cross buns hung in the kitchen are supposed to protect from evil spirits . They're also said to prevent kitchen fires from breaking out, and ensure that all breads baked that year will turn out perfectly delicious.

Likewise, taking hot cross buns on a voyage at sea endows the boat with some protection from shipwreck, according to legend. And cement friendships. Those who share a hot cross bun are supposed to enjoy a strong friendship and bond for the next year. A line from an old rhyme captures this lore, says Irish Central: "Half for you and half for me, between us two, good luck shall be." They're too sacred to eat any old day. In 1592, Queen Elizabeth I decreed that hot cross buns could no longer be sold on any day except for Good Friday, Christmas or for burials. They were simply too special to be eaten any other day. To get around this, FoodTimeline explains that people baked the buns in their own kitchens—although if they were caught they had to give up all of the illegal buns on their premises to the poor. So, now you're chance to enjoy! You can buy them or make them at home . Like this article? Easter Foods Easter Foods There are some special foods eaten at Easter time, one of the most famous are Hot Cross Buns. These are often eaten in the U.K. on Good Friday .

These are yeast dough buns with currants and raisins in them. They were eaten all year round in pagan, pre-Christian times, the bun represented the moon and the four quarters, the four seasons. Christians took over this yummy tradition and changed the meaning so the cross represented the cross that Jesus died on. Here's a recipe for Hot Cross Buns . Another food eaten in the U.K. at Easter time is Simnel Cake. This is a rich fruit cake covered with a layer of Marzipan. There are 11 marzipan balls put around the top of the cake that represent the 11 faithful disciples of Jesus. The cake is also has a layer of Marzipan in the middle of it! It is traditionally eaten on Mothering Sunday in the U.K. which is always on the middle Sunday of Lent . Here's a recipe for Simnel Cake . Simnel Cakes were first made by servant girls and maids to take home to their mothers on Mothering Sunday. Pancakes are eaten on Shrove Tuesday , traditionally to use up all the fatty foods before Lent. In Denmark they eat 'Shrovetide Buns'. In Italy , salty Pretzels are traditionally eaten at Easter time.

In Russia, little pancakes called 'Blini's' topped with anchovies and a mixture of cream, soft cream, dried fruit and orange peel called 'Paska' are eaten. A traditional Greek Easter cake is made with Oranges and Almonds in it. It is eaten with a spicy orange sauce poured over it. And, of course, there are Easter Eggs!!! Traditional Irish hot cross buns recipe for Easter | IrishCentral.com Traditional Irish hot cross buns recipe for Easter Zach Gallagher SHARES / Hot cross buns: The treat that ensures friendship marked with a sacred holy cross, they’re also delicious!Zach Gallagher Hot cross buns are traditionally baked to be eaten during Lent , the 40 days before Easter. The bun acquired mythical properties over the centuries and early literature reveals that the hot cross bun was also known as the Good Friday bun. The most famous story says that the origins of the hot cross bun date to the 12th century when an English monk was said to have placed the sign of the cross on the buns to honor Good Friday. Throughout history the bun has received credit for special virtues, among them that of ensuring friendship between two people sharing a bun.

An old rhyme states, "Half for you and half for me, between us two, good luck shall be." Another tradition holds that a hot cross bun should be kept hanging from the kitchen ceiling from one year to another to ward off evil spirits. Healing properties were also attributed to it. Gratings from a preserved bun were mixed with water to provide a cure for the common cold. There are loads of delicious ways to eat this legendary treat: you can slice them, toast them and butter them. I love them toasted with real butter and strawberry jam. This recipe is an old family one and it makes about 10 buns - but we always double it up. 4 cups bread (strong) flour Pinch of salt 2 tsp (1 packet) active dry yeast 1/4 cup caster sugar 1 cup warm milk (30 seconds in microwave will do) 1 cup dried seedless raisins Grated rind of an orange Method: 1. Put the flour, salt and mixed spice in a bowl, and give them a quick whisk to mix. Rub in the butter to the flour mix until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the yeast, sugar, beaten egg and milk, and stir together into a soft dough. 2.

Knead for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. If you are using a mixer to make these buns give it five minutes on low with the dough hook. Add in the dried fruit and the grated orange rind and knead for another minute. 3. Roll out the mix slightly and cut the dough into 10 pieces. Roll these into balls on the table using the flat of your hand and place on a baking sheet or tray. Leave their own width again between each bun so they will have room to rise. 4. To make the cross mix 1 cup flour with about 3 tablespoons of cold water to make a basic soft dough. Roll it out really thin and cut into little strips. Dampen with a little water and stick to the top of each bun. Take a length of plastic wrap and brush with a little cooking oil. Place this loosely on top of the buns (oiled side down) and leave in the kitchen to double in size - about 20 minutes depending on the weather and the warmth of the room. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 390ºF (360ºF if a fan oven) for 20 minutes.

Hot cross buns were traditionally brushed with a sugar and water glaze when they're still hot, but I prefer to brush them with local honey Enjoy! What foods are traditionally eaten at Easter time? Woodlands Junior School is in the south-east corner of England Good Friday Hot Cross Buns are traditionally served on Good Friday . A Hot Cross Bun is rich, spiced tea cake. Hot Cross Buns Easter day, like Christmas day , is also associated with special food. Boiled eggs are traditionally served at breakfast. Roast lamb, which is the main dish at Jewish Passover, is the traditional meat for the main meal on Easter Day. Simnel cake is baked for tea. Simnel cake The Simnel cake is a fruit cake with a flat layer of marzipan (sugar almond paste) on top and decorated with 11 marzipan balls representing the 12 apostles minus Judas, who betrayed Christ. Originally the simnel cake was a gift to mothers on Mothering Sunday in Mid Lent. Easter Biscuits Easter Biscuits are sometimes called "Cakes", and are eaten on Easter Sunday. They contain spices, currants and sometimes grated lemon rind.

Easy Easter Hot Cross Buns Recipe Pin20K Shares 20K Of all the Easter recipes I see every year, hot cross buns are probably my favorite. The sweet and spicy taste always takes me back to when I was a kid. I’d eat them in the weeks leading up to Easter and then be bummed to have to wait another year to see them again. I posted a different hot cross bun recipe last year but wanted to come up with an easier, no-hassle recipe for this Easter. I also added some better pictures showing the various stages of the process. I think it’s much easier when you can compare what your making to what it should hopefully look like. This time I based the dough on a recipe I’ve been using a lot lately. I use it for any sort of sweet bread I need to make, like this Cinnamon Crumb Bread or these obnoxiously good Triple Berry Breakfast Buns and it hasn’t let me down yet! Like all yeast recipes, waiting is the hardest part. Take a deep breath and relax while the yeast works its bubbly magic, or you could finish all of the other crap from the list on your Post-It…yup that would be my day.

Hot cross buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday two days before Easter Sunday. So if you decide to make these, Thursday would be the best time. Then all you have to do on Friday if you’re like me, is slice them in half and spread a thick layer of salty butter on the inside. So I know you’re looking at my buns and asking yourself where’s the frosting? Sorry, but I grew up with the traditional flour and water mixture for the cross. If you prefer the frosting version, just skip step #10 and add you’re own. Happy Easter! Grease a 13 x 10 baking tray with butter and set aside. In a medium bowl combine the warm water and yeast. Mix until dissolved. Add the sugar, dried milk and egg and whisk until combined. Add 1 1/2 cups of the flour and mix well with a wooden spoon until it looks more like a smooth batter. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes it should look bubbly but still very wet. Add the oil and salt and fold through. Add the remaining cup of flour and mix into a ball. Transfer to a stand mixer with a dough hook and add the spices.

If the dough is still a little wet, add another tablespoon or two of flour. Mix the dough on low speed for 5 minutes. Add the raisins and mix for another 2 minutes. Transfer the dough to your table and form the dough into a ball. Place the dough into a bowl which has been lightly greased with olive oil. Cover and let rest for about another 30 minutes. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, and roll into small balls. An easy way to do this is to cup the dough under your palm and gently roll it in a circle while gently pressing down on it. Place all 12 dough balls onto the prepared baking tray in a 4 x 3 formation. Cover with a clean towel and let rise for another hour or until they have started to come together on the tray. While they are rising make the mixture for the cross. Mix the water and flour together to form a paste. Once the buns are ready for the oven, using a piping bag or zip lock back with the corner snipped of, squeeze the cross mixture across the buns in both directions to form the cross. Preheat the oven to 380 degrees F.

Place in the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes and golden brown. Bring the sugar and water to a boil in a pot. Simmer until reduced to about three-four tablespoons of liquid still left. Glaze the buns when they come out of the oven and let cool. Cover and seal if you're keeping them for the next day. Food Timeline--Easter foods: history & symbolism Easter eggs , American Egg Board "Because the use of eggs was forbidden during Lent, they were brought to the table on Easter Day, coloured red to symbolize the Easter joy. This custom is found not only in the Latin but also in the Oriental Churches. The symbolic meaning of a new creation of mankind by Jesus risen from the dead was probably an invention of later times. The custom may have its origin in paganism, for a great many pagan customs, celebrating the return of spring, gravitated to Easter. The egg is the emblem of the germinating life of early spring. Easter eggs, the children are told, come from Rome with the bells which on Thursday go to Rome and return Saturday morning. The sponsors in some countries give Easter eggs to their god-children.

Coloured eggs are used by children at Easter in a sort of game which consists in testing the strength of the shells (Kraus, Real-Encyklop die, s. v. Ei). Both coloured and uncoloured eggs are used in some parts of the United States for this game, known as "egg-picking". Another practice is the "egg-rolling" by children on Easter Monday on the lawn of the White House in Washington." About the White House Easter Egg Roll Why do we decorate eggs? Historians tell us the people have been decorating eggs for thousands of years. The practice was inspired by religion. Techniques and styles vary according to culture and period. Decorative eggs were also fabricated from other foods, most notably confectionery. Notes here: "Because eggs embody the essence of life, people from ancient times to the modern day have surrounded them wtih magical beliefs, endowing them with the power not only to create life but to prophesy the future. Eggs symbolize birth and are believed to ensure fertility. They also symbolize rebirth, and thus long life and even immortality.

Eggs represent life in its various stages of development, encompassing the mystery and magic of creation...The concept of eggs as life symbols went hand in hand with the concept of eggs as emblems of immortality. Easter eggs, in fact, symbolize immortality, and particularly the resurrection of Christ, who rose from a sealed tomb just as a bird breaks through an eggshell." ---Nectar and Ambrosia: An Encyclopedia of Food in World Mythology, Tamra Andrews [ABC-CLIO:Santa Barbara CA] 2000 (p. 85-6) "Apparently eggs were colored red to represent the life force as early as 5000 B.C. and given as emblems of friendship during the festivals of the spring equinox. No one knows how long ago the custom began in China of giving red eggs to children on their birthdays; red for the Chinese symbolizes long life and happiness. The Persians have also exchanged elaborately gilded and painted eggs for thousands of years. Christianity readily adopted eggs...to its own symbolic uses.

The shell became the symbol of the tomb from which Christ had risen and the meat of the egg the representation of resurrection, of the new life of the new Christian, and of the hope of eternal life...Thus, it might be said that most cultures have their own "egg signature"-- their own style and form of egg decoration or of fabricating eggs from other materials. While these "styles" were originally religious in character, they have become intricate, elaborate, often costly, and almost uniformly secular. Even within the Western Christian tradition there are...numerous variations in egg decoration. In certain areas of Germany, Easter eggs were hung on trees and bushes, and the Pennsylvania Dutch (really Germans) brought this custom to America...One of the most common variations of the fabricated...egg is the egg that opens to reaveal a "surprise" or treasure. The most spectactular of this genre is probably the famous Nuremberg egg made in 1700. it opens to reveal a gold yolk, which in turn yields an enamel chick, which contains a jeweled egg, and that contains a handsome ring.

The painting of Easter eggs (as opposed to dyeing) dates from the thirteenth century, but the art of fabricating ornate artifical eggs with "treasures" inside was a sixteenth-century invention... Louis XV...secularized the custom by encouraging the decorating of eggs as ordinary gifts...the jeweled egg--was brought to its greatest point of refinement by Carl Faberge..." ---The Chicken Book , (p. 184-186) Faberge eggs , Imperial 19th century Russian art Pysanky , Ukranian egg painting, instructions and sybolism Easter candy The tradition of exchanging decorated candies, chocolates, jelly beans and other sweets at Easter flourished in the 19th century. Coincidentally, this is the same time folks began exchanging the same type of specialized sweets for Valentines Day . Advances made possible by the Industrial Revolution are responsible for this. Panorama eggs (hollow sugar eggs with scenes inside) feature prominently in traditional Easter baskets. Marshmallow Peeps were introduced in 1953.

[1820s London] "Egg Comfits: 'Have the two halves of an egg made in box-wood; take some gum paste, roll it out, thin, and put into the casts, make it lay close, cut off with a knife the outside edges quite smooth, let them dry...They are usually filled with imitations of all sorts of fruits--In Paris they put in a number of nick-nacks, little almanacks, smelling bottles with essences, and even things of value, for presents. Join the two halves with some of the same paste, moistend with a little water and gum arabic'... These eggs were covered with syrup in the comfit pan, which, considering the fragility of sugar paste, must have been a delicate operation. It is still perfectly feasible to make such eggs, although no one but the most dedicated of experimental confectioners would ever attempt to pan them. The underlying concept has survived, but removed to an entirely different branch of confectionery, to enjoy enormous success as the chocolate Easter egg." ---Sugar Plums and Sherbet: The Prehistory of Sweets, Laura Mason [Prospect Books:Devon] 2004 (p.

130) "No. 212. Eggs in Rock Sugar. Make moulds which open in two equal parts, shaped like large eggs; place them on a table, and take sugar prepared as at No. 209, and fill one half of each mould, while your assistant closes them instantly and completely. They are very light, and look very natural. "No. 213.--Eggs in Grained Sugar. To make egg-shells as thin as natural ones, take moulds in lead, opening in two, and run one side in grained sugar, as for bon-bons, (see No. 53); another person must instantly close it, turning it round in his hands till the sugar has taken all round the mould inside; there must be a person to every two moulds, as only one can be turned in the hand at a time; the egg comes out whole, having neither opening nor seam; it is empty and transparent, nor can any one imagine how it is made. Fruit, or any thing else, may be imitated in the same manner.

If you choose to break one end of the egg, it may be filled with yellow cream to represent the yolk of a boiled egg." ---The Italian Confectioner, or Complete Economy of Desserts, G. A. Jarrin, facsimile 3rd edition 1827 [Brieingingsville PA] 2010 (p. 95) [1920s USA] "Hollow Chocolate Eggs. Take a small cocoanut, saw carefully in two lengthwise and clean out center thoroughly. Dry well, then grease the inside with Nucoa Butter. Take sweet chocolate coating that has been thoroughly chilled and cover the inside to a thickness of about 1/2 inch. Set in a cool place and allow to harden. When hard and cool, remove the chocolate crust carefully from the shell. Do not handle too much as they scratch easily. Repeat the foregoing operation for as many eggs as you wish, then take two of the halved shells, spread moist coating along the shells and stick them together. Before sticking them together, drop two or three little pieces of candy inside the shells so as to produce a rattle when the shells are closed.

Now when the shells are stuck together run a band of any color icing around the joint. The entire egg can be iced if so desired, or the coating can be given a rough appearance." "Easter Bunny Wafers Run cream into a flat rabbit mold in starch, flavoring and coloring to suit. Allow the cream to set, then remove from the starch. Now run a hard buterscotch wafer...on a greased slab. Run these wafers about 2 1/2 inches in diameter then have a helper put a cream rabbit flatly in the center of each wafer. Work quickly as the butterscotch sets rapidly. Placing a couple of very small candy eggs besides the rabbit looks nice and increases the novelty of the piece. "Fried Eggs Made of Candy in a Frying Pan Get some toy skillets; cast a couple of circles of white cream in the center (cast only one if room will not permit two). After the white has hardened cast a little bright orange cream on top of the white. You will now have a fried egg made of candy.

When the egg or eggs harden, with a brush coat them with a thin syrup, then take sugar and powdered charcoal, rubbed down, and shake this lightly over the syrup to give a salt and pepper effect." ---Rigby's Reliable Candy Teacher, W.O. Rigby, 19th edition [Rigby Publishing Company:Topeka KS] undated 1920s? (p. 211-212) [NOTE: This book also offers recipes for Fried Eggs on Toast for Easter, Chocolate Nougat Eggs for Easter, Almond Paste Chicks and Hard Nougat Eggs.] Historians tell us religions sometimes use food (taboos/traditional holiday meals) to forge identity and create community. Early Christians embraced ham, in part, to proclaim their religious beliefs. According to the Encyclopedia of Religion, Mircea Eliade editor in chief [MacMillan:New York] 1987, volume 5 (p. 558): "Among Easter foods the most significant is the Easter lamb, which is in many places the main dish of the Easter Sunday meal.

Corresponding to the Passover lamb and to Christ, the Lamb of God, this dish has become a central symbol of Easter. Also popular among European and Americans on Easter is ham, because the pig was considered a symbol of luck in pre-Christian Europe." Bread has long played an important role in religious ceremonies and holidays. This is true in many cultures and cuisines. Holiday breads are often baked in symbolic shapes and include special ingredients. Easter breads often feature eggs, a commodity forbidden by the Catholic Church during lent. English Hot Cross Buns , Italian Colomba & Russian Kulich are two prime examples of this culinary genre. Bread symbolism "Easter celebrates the resurrection of Christ but it also celebrates fertility, and the season of renewal...On Holy Thursday to commemorate the Last Supper, when Christ shared bread with his disciples, they prepare in absolute silence a brioche or egg bread called koulitch. On the Saturday night of Resurrection, they walk in procession to church with a basket of eggs, holding a candle in one hand, and the bread in the other.

They exchange a kiss and ask each other's forgiveness for any offense they might have committed against one another, as a token of peace for the future." ---The History of Bread, Bernard Dupaigne, Harry N. Abrams :New York] 1999 (p. 137, 139) "Easter has always had a close association with food. The word comes from the name for the Anglo-Saxon goddess of light and spring, Eostre, and special dishes were cooked in her honour so that the year would be endowed with fertility. Most important of these dishes was a small spiced bun, from which our hot cross bun derives but from which also the traditional spicy sweet bread of Greece probably had its origins. The baking of buns associated with religious offerings goes back to remotest antiquity. The Egyptians offered small round cakes to the goddess of the moon, each marked with a representation of the horns of an ox, which were her symbol. In ancient Greece, a similar small, sacred bread containing the finest sifted flour and honey, had the name bous meaning "ox" and from which the word bun is said to have originated.

In time, the representation of the horns became a simple cross, although it also has been suggested that this was intended to symbolise the four quarters of the moon. The old association of protection and fertility, and thus birth and rebirth, was transposed into a Christianised form and the ritual of baking "hot cross buns" became standard practice of the Easter celebration in English society. In the Baltic region of Russia, their Easter cake is kulich, a yeast dough of enormous proportions lavishly decorated with crystallised citrus peel. In traditional households it is presented on a table decorated with decorated eggs and the younger members of the family visit to share the eggs and bread." ---"An ancient tradition," J. Passmore, Courier Mail (Queensland, Australia), March 26, 1997, LIFE; Pg. 40 Hot Cross Buns "The practice of eating special small cakes at the time of the Spring festival seems to date back at least to the ancient Greeks, but the English custom of eating spiced buns on Good Friday was perhaps institutionalized in Tudor times, when a London bylaw was introduced forbidding the sale of such buns except on Good Friday, at Christmas, and at burials.

The first intimation we have of a cross appearing on the bun, in remembrance of Christ's cross, comes in Poor Robin's Amanack (1733): Good Friday comes this month, the old woman runs, with one or two a penny hot cross buns' (a version of the once familiar street-dry "One-a-penny, two-a penny, hot cross buns'). At this stage the cross was presumably simply incised with a knife, rather than piped on in pastry, as is the modern commercial practice. As yet, too, the name of such buns was just cross buns: James Boswell recorded in his Life of Johnson (1791): 9 Apr. An. 1773 Being Good Friday I breakfasted with him and cross-buns.' The fact that they were generally sold hot, however, seems to have led by the early nineteenth century to the incorporation of hot into their name." ---An A-Z of Food & Drink, John Ayto [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 2002 (p.

164) "The pagans worshipped the goddess Eostre (after whom Easter was named) by serving tiny cakes, often decorated with a cross, at their annual spring festival. When archaeologists excavated the ancient city of Herculaneum in southwestern Italy, which had been buried under volcanic ask and lava since 79 C.E., they found two small loaves, each with a cross on it, among the ruins. The English word "bun" probably came from the Greek boun, which referred to a ceremonial cake of circular or crescent shape, made of flour and honey and offered to the gods. Superstitions regarding bread that was baked on Good Friday date back to a very early period. In England particulary, people believed that bread baked on this day could be hardened in the oven and kept all year to protect the house from fire. Sailors took leaves of it on their voyages to prevent shipwreck, and a Good Friday loaf was often buried in a heap of corn to protect it from rats, mice, and weevils. Finely grated and mixed with water, it was sometimes used as a medicine.

In England nowadays, hot cross buns are served at break are served at breakfast on Good Friday morning. They are small, usually spiced buns whose sugary surface is marked with a cross. The English believe that hanging a hot cross bun in the house on this day offers protection from bad luck in the coming year. It's not unusual to see Good Friday buns or cakes hanging on a rack or in a wire basket for years, gathering dust and growing black with mold--although some people believe that if the ingredients are mixed, the dough prepared, and the buns baked on Good Friday itself, they will never get moldy." ---Holiday Symbols and Customs, Sue Ellen Thompson, 3rd edition [Omnigraphics:Detroit] 2003, (p. 233) "Hot cross bun, a round bun made from a rich yeast dough containing flour, milk, sugar, butter, eggs, currants, and spices, such as cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. In England, hot cross buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday; they are marked on top with a cross, wither cut in the dough or composed of strips of pastry.

The mark is of ancient origin, connected with religious offerings of bread, which replaced earlier, less civilized offerings of blood. The Egyptians offered small round cakes, marked with a representation of the horns of an ox, to the goddess of the moon. The Greeks and Romans had similar practices and the Saxons ate buns marked with a cross in honor of the goddess of light, Eostre, whose name was transferred to Easter. According to superstition, hot cross buns and loaves baked on Good Friday never went mouldy, and were sometimes kept as charms from one year to the next. Like Chelsea buns, hot cross buns were sold in great quantities by the Chelsea Bun House; in the 18th century large numbers of people flocked to Chelsea during the Easter period expressly to visit this establishment." ---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p.

114) "Bath buns, hot cross buns, spice buns, penny buns, Chelsea buns, currant buns-all these small, soft, plump, sweet, fermented' cakes are English institutions...The most interesting of the recipes is perhaps the simple spiced fruit bun, the original of our Good Friday hot cross bun without the cross. These spice buns first became popular in Tudor days, at the same period as the larger spice loaves or cakes, and were no doubt usually made form the same batch of spiced and butter-enriched fruit dough.

For a long time bakers were permitted to offer these breads and buns for sale only on special occasions, as is shown by the following decree, issued in 1592, the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Elizabeth I, by the London Clerk of the Markets: That no bakers, etc, at any time or times hereafter make, utter, or sell by retail, within or without their houses, unto any of the Queen's subject any spice cakes, buns, biscuits, or other spice bread (being bread out of size and not by law allowed) except it be at burials, or on Friday before Easter, or at Christmas, upon pain or forfeiture of all such spiced bread to the poor...If anybody wanted spice bread and buns for a private celebration, then, these delicacies had to be made at home. In the time of James I, further attempts to prevent bakers from making spice breads and buns proved impossible to enforce, and in this matter the bakers were allowed their way.

Although for different reasons, the situation now is much as it was in the late seventeenth century, spice buns appearing only at Easter--not, to be sure, on Good Friday when bakeries are closed, but about a fortnight in advance..." ---English Bread and Yeast Cookery, Elizabeth David [Penguin Books:Middlesex UK] 1979 (p. 473-5) [NOTE: This book contains a recipe for hot cross buns.] [1875] "Hot Cross Buns Mix two pounds of flour with a small tea-spoonful of powdered spice and half a tea-spoonful of salt. Rub in half a pound of good butter. Make a hollow in the flour, and pour in a wine-glassful of yeast and half a pint of warmed milk slightly coloured with saffron. Mix the surrounding flour with the milk and yeast to a thin batter; throw a little dry flour over, and set the pan before the fire with the milk and yeast to a thin batter; throw a little dry flour over, and set the pan before the fire to rise.

When risen, work in a little sugar, one egg, half a pound of currants, and milk to make a soft dough. Cover over as before, and let it stand half an hour. Then make the dough into buns, and mark them with the back of a knife. Time, fifteen to twenty-minutes to bake. Probable cost, 1d. each. Sufficient for twenty-four buns." (p. 319-320) "Good Friday Buns (Commonly called Hot Cross Buns). --Rub a quarter of a pound of butter into two pounds of flour. Add a pinch of salt; then mix a wine-glassful of fresh, thick yeast with a pint and a half of warmed milk; and stir these into the flour till it forms a light batter. Put the batter in a warm place to rise. When sufficiently risen, work into it half a pound of sugar, half a pound of currants, half a nutmeg, grated, and a quarter of an ounce of powdered mace. Knead these well into the dough, make it up into buns, and place them on buttered baking-tins.

Make a cross on them with the black of a knife, brush a little clarified butter over the top, and let them stand a quarter of an hour before the fire. Bake in a good oven. When bread is made at home, hot cross buns may be made by mixing the currants, &c. with bread dough after it was risen. Time, one hour to let the dough rise; twenty minutes to bake. Sufficient for two dozen buns. Probable cost, 1s. 6d. for this quality." (p. 260) ---Cassell's Dictionary of Cookery with Numerous Illustrations [Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co.:London] 1875 RECOMMENDED READING: "Easter," The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, Andrew F. Smith [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 2004 (p. 419-420) "The colomba, a pannetone-like sweet bread shaped like a dove, is Italy's best known Easter bread.

Originally from Lombardy, it is now mass-produced and eaten everywhere in the country." ---"Festivity and Food," Oxford Companion to Italian Food, Gillian Riley [Oxford University Press:New York] 2007 (p. 199) "Colomba pasquale. 'Easter dove.' Dove-shaped Easter cake, said to have been created in Milan to honor the legend of two white doves who settled on a Milanese war chariot until the city won the battle of Legnano in 1176. Pavia also claims the cake was created in the shape of a dove by a young girl who brought it to the Lombard conqueror of Pavia, Alboin, in 572, who was so impressed that he allowed her to go free." ---Dictionary of Italian Food and Drink, John Mariani [Broadway Books:New York] 1998 (p. 79) "Lombardy claims la colomba, a delicate panettone-like sweet bread shaped like a dove. It has become the national Easter bread of Italy and is made industrially and shipped all over the country. Even so, many local specialties remain.

The dove, a pagan symbol of the coming of spring as well as the sign of the Holy Spirit in Catholicism, is the inspiration for a sweet called mascardini in Palermo, pasta raffinata in Noto, and caneddate in Syracuse, where it is shaped like a dove sitting with little candies at its base. It tastes nothing like the la colomba, for it is made of pasta forte, a mixture of sugar, flour, and water spiced with cinnamon and cloves; some bakers add finely pestled almonds." ---Celebrating Italy, Carol Field [Harper Perennial:New York] 1990, 1997 (p. 423) Leave the buns for Good Friday | Eternity News In Depth | easter Leave the buns for Good Friday I have a confession to make. I don’t like hot cross buns. They don’t symbolise anything to me other than a weird use of currants.

Share via Email Kaley Payne | March 29th, 2013 11:31 AM An outcry from Tasmanian priest, Father Tony Kennedy about the increasingly early sale of hot cross buns (now in stores from January) prompted this Eternity writer to investigate the myths and truths on the place of the hot cross bun in Christian history. Though I’ve been a Christian for quite some time, it never even occurred to me that the cross on the bun could be anything other than a decoration, an adornment. Quite the contrary, according to Father Tony Kennedy, a Tasmanian priest who decried the encroaching commercialisation of Easter’s traditional symbols, and claimed that the hot cross bun had lost much of its religious significance because of its availability outside the Easter season. [Tweet “[they] were originally eaten on Good Friday to remind people of the day Jesus died on the cross.”] “Woolworths should remove the cross and sell them as buns, and put it [the cross] back on Good Friday,” Father Kennedy told The Hobart Mercury, after observing the first hot cross buns were on sale in early January.

Father Kennedy said hot cross buns were originally eaten on Good Friday to remind people of the day Jesus died on the cross. But Murdoch University’s Associate Professor of Church History, Rowan Strong, says the origins of the hot cross bun, or “cross buns”, as he calls them (history suggests they weren’t always hot) are “shrouded in mystery”. “Some speculate they may have had their origins in pagan customs which Christians took over,” Strong said. “But they are certainly well-attested in the medieval period, where they were associated with Easter, and were particularly eaten on Good Friday, because of the association with the crucifixion.” “Protestant reformers in England disliked the practice. For them, it was associated with Catholic superstition.” Strong says the practice of eating hot cross buns was prolific enough to warrant Elizabeth I’s government to legislate that bakers could only make them at Easter and Christmas. Revd Dr Andrew McGowan, Warden of Trinity College at The University of Melbourne, says the history of the hot cross bun, or at least the cross-shaped marking, could go even further back, to Ancient Rome.

“There were breads marked with cross-shapes in the ancient world, allowing diners to easily divide loaves into four pieces.” But he agrees with Professor Strong, averring that the origin of the modern hot cross bun is most clearly seen in medieval times. “In Medieval England, buns or cakes were sometimes distributed (especially to the needy) on days of special significance, including Good Friday.” McGowan says the addition of a cross to these buns is not attested until the 1700s, when the term “cross bun” was first recorded, though the decoration may have been added before then. “But it was certainly a specific addition to remind eaters of the cross of Jesus.” It appears then that the hot cross bun as we know and eat it today emerged in England only a few hundred years ago. So what’s all the fuss about? Are hot cross buns still religious symbols that should only be eaten on Good Friday?

McGowan doubts there has ever been anything but a “loose” religious purpose to eating hot cross buns, saying, “What has happened is a loss of the specific understanding that they were ever connected to Good Friday, and hence they’ve drifted into the general reality of pre-Easter supermarket shopping.” Strong says the hot cross bun has travelled a familiar path into secular culture, so much that we have lost any genuine or conscious connection with the historical Christian purpose or reference. “Cross buns were definitely a part of the customs by which Christian beliefs entered into the homes and domestic cultures of Christians through the Middle Ages, so that Christianity was not just something that happened in church, but was part of a living Christian culture, associated with the round of the Christian year and the sacred seasons. “There are other examples of this too – fish on Fridays, pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. But these customs underwent a massive reduction in the Reformation, as they were labelled superstitious by the reformers. “Some have survived, like hot cross buns, only to be shorn of their Christian meaning with the growth of secular culture.” Philosopher John Armstrong wrote an article in The Conversation about Easter’s fall from grace.

In it he suggests Christians haven’t just lost the religious significance of the hot cross bun, but that Easter itself has been commercialised, but commercialised with consent. “It’s not that chocolate manufacturers have taken something that everyone cherished and (behind our backs) turned it into a cash-cow,” says Armstrong. “We had to lose faith, first in Christianity, then in the themes it represents, before the manufacturers could get a look in.” Armstrong argues that Easter (or at least the Christian celebration of Easter) hasn’t been able to find a strong enough market in a modern, secular society, to muster its own commercialisation of the religious holiday. “The more elevated and noble your concerns, the more — not the less — you should be interested in commercialisation.” He quotes an Anthony Trollope character who says: “If good people will not fight for ownership of the world, the bad people get the lot.” Does that mean Christians haven’t fought hard enough to keep the hot cross bun as a religious symbol? Or to keep other non-religious symbols — Easter eggs, bunny rabbits — out of the equation? Strong says Christians, now a minority, won’t be able to stop the secularisation of Easter in society.

“There are clearly many, many Australians who are happy to buy and eat hot cross buns other than just on Good Friday. I think Christians have to adjust to the fact that most of the prevailing culture makes little or no concessions to Christian beliefs. We would be better off developing our own counter-cultural way of life. “So, for example, hot cross buns will continue to be sold for increasingly longer periods of time so long as shops see profit in doing so. But Christians concerned with keeping the religious tradition could perhaps make their own and eat them only on Good Friday.” Want to bake your own? Our friend Beth Braga has the recipe for you:

Question: Traditionally, Easter buns are eaten on which day?
Answer: Good Friday