Hot Cross Buns!

Although you can buy hot cross buns all year round these days, they're generally synonymous with Easter time.

Made by mixing together flour, milk, butter, yeast, eggs, spices and raisins or currants, and baking the mixture in the oven, this sweet bun is traditionally eaten on Good Friday to mark the end of lent.

Hot cross buns are loaded with religious symbolism. The bread is said to represent holy communion, the spices refer to those used to embalm Jesus, and the pastry or icing cross glaze on top of the bun symbolises the crucifixion of Jesus.

It's not entirely clear when the first hot cross buns were made, or who their creator was, as several stories abound, many of which are steeped in folklore.

The Egyptians, Romans and Ancient Greeks all created different types of buns to mark the changes of the seasons, and it was the early Saxons who put a cross on their buns to represent the goddess of spring and fertility.

Some people argue that hot cross buns originated in St Albans in the 14th century, when a monk named Brother Thomas Rocliffe created a recipe for Alban buns, which he handed out to the poor on Good Friday.

During the reign of Elizabeth I of England, in around 1592, hot cross buns and other spiced breads were forbidden for sale except at Easter, Christmas or for funerals. James I of England also attempted to ban the sale of hot cross buns outside of religious periods during the early 1600s. However, it was difficult to enforce this ban, as hot cross buns grew in popularity, and so many people began to make them at home.

The first actual records referring to hot cross buns date back to 1733. A London street crier was heard shouting: 'Good Friday comes this month, the old woman runs. With one or two a penny hot cross buns.’

There has been much superstition surrounding hot cross buns over the years. One popular belief was that if you baked a hot cross bun on Good Friday it would stay fresh for a whole year. Some people believed that hot cross buns had medicinal properties and that they could make you feel better after an illness. They were also carried by sailors to prevent shipwrecks and hung up in homes to ward off evil spirits and prevent fires.

Although there have always been variations of sweet breads such as the lardy cake, Banbury buns, bara brith and barmbrack, hot cross buns remain eternally popular, with many variations now gracing the supermarket shelves. As well as the traditional spice and raisin or currant recipe, you can find them with cranberry and apple, cinnamon and orange and toffee or chocolate chips… there are even mini versions! Although most hot cross buns are toasted and slathered in butter, some people cover them in cheese, jam or chocolate spread.

However you like your hot cross buns, make sure you keep them fresh with the sturdy, airtight food containers from Solent Plastics.

The Solent Plastics team would like to wish you all a Happy Easter!