April 8 , 2010
“Hot cross buns, hot cross buns. One 'ah penny, two 'ah penny, hot cross buns. If you have no daughters, give them to your sons, one 'ah penny, two 'ah penny, hot cross buns." - English ditty
Even though Easter is over, hot cross buns are high on my list of traditions I want to keep alive for future generations.
A family custom in many households around the world but especially in England, these sweet yeast rolls are served warm either on Good Friday or Easter Sunday morning.
Perhaps you wonder what hot cross buns are if you never tried one.
Here is how I would describe them if baked to perfection.
Sweet and delicious with a glossy-browned finish on top, filled with mild spices, currants, or dried fruit and raisins, and lastly decorated on top with white "powdered sugar" icing in the shape of a cross, a reminder of the crucifixion of Christ.
In addition to being simply good to eat, I find the lore surrounding hot cross buns deliciously interesting.
For example, did you know that Elizabeth I, Queen of England, once banned the buns because she feared they would bring the return of Catholicism? The buns were so popular, however, that she relented.
And before that, the Romans brought the buns to England in the 1360s, whereupon a monk distributed them to the poor for food and healing. Because the buns had a cross on top, many believed they had magical healing powers. The buns were crushed into a powder that was subsequently used as medicine.
Additionally, superstition held that hot cross buns protected one's household from evil, therefore, families hung them from the ceilings to ward off evil spirits.
Another story tells the tale of an English widow whose son went off to sea. She baked his favorite hot cross buns, every Good Friday and hung them in her window hoping he would come home. Although he never returned, the English people continued the tradition and baked hot cross buns every Good Friday.
I guess I do the same with our sons, in a manner of speaking, although I don't hang the buns in the window.
On this particular Easter weekend for example, our grown kids, who incidentally never saw an Easter Sunday morning without a hot cross bun in their lives, all called commenting about hot cross buns.
One son who is away at school lamented the fact that he had no hot cross buns for Easter. It saddened him.
Another son wondered if he should stop at a bakery on his way home for Easter. Did I need him to pick up hot cross buns? Just wanted to be sure we had some, he said.
Another son is newly married and lives in another state. In the afternoon they called with their greetings. My son's bride said she was curious about something and asked, "What are hot cross buns?" She said they went to a church that served them for Easter breakfast, and she didn't know what they were. Then she laughed and said, "But your son seemed to know all about them."
As I said, I am doing my part to keep this tradition alive.
The lyrics of the English ditty did say something about giving hot cross buns to your sons, didn't it?
