National Hot Cross Buns Day

Five Food Finds about Hot Cross Buns

  • A hot cross bun is a spiced sweet bun made with currants or raisins and marked with a cross on the top, traditionally eaten on Good Friday.
  • In many historically Christian countries, buns are traditionally eaten hot or toasted on Good Friday, with the cross standing as a symbol of the Crucifixion.
  • They are believed by some to pre-date Christianity, although the first recorded use of the term “hot cross bun” was not until 1733.
  • It is believed that buns marked with a cross were eaten by Saxons in honour of the goddess Eostre (the cross is thought to have symbolised the four quarters of the moon); “Eostre” is probably the origin of the name “Easter”.
  • Others claim that the Greeks marked cakes with a cross, much earlier.