love me some hot cross buns

~ jama

Happy Good Friday!

What are you doing today? Will you, perchance, be wandering city streets with your basket or cart peddling freshly baked hot cross buns? If so, then it’s likely you’ll be singing this classic rhyme as you go:

Hot Cross Buns,
Hot cross buns;
One a penny, two a penny,
Hot Cross Buns.
If your daughter don't like them,
Give them to your sons;
One a penny, two a penny,
Hot Cross Buns.

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Walter Crane (The Baby’s Bouquet, 1878).

I must say you’re in excellent voice. You’d fit right in with 18th century London hawkers and their “hot cross buns” street cry in the days leading up to Easter. From street cry to nursery rhyme to an aid in musical education, “Hot Cross Buns” is now a cherished part of our childhood lexicons.

~ from The Illustrated London News (1861).

Until the 18th century these yeast-risen beauties were called “Cross Buns” or “Good Friday Buns.” The first written record of the name “Hot Cross Buns” was in a popular rhyme published in Poor Robin’s Almanack (1733):

Good Friday comes this month -- the old woman runs
With one or two a-penny hot cross buns,
Whose virtue is, if you believe what's said,
They'll not grow mouldy like the common bread.
~ from an 1860s book of nursery rhymes printed in London.

There was no standard version of the street cry, and once it had evolved into a nursery rhyme, even more variants emerged. Esteemed folklorists Iona and Peter Opie collected one such variant in their compilation of 19th century children’s booklets:

'Tis Good Friday morning, the little boy runs,
Along with his sister, to buy hot cross buns;
Her apron is full, yet her brother, the elf,
Unsatisfied still, must buy one for himself.
Charles Crombie (Simple Simon and His Friends, 1899).

The words closest to the rhyme that has survived were printed as a round in the London Chronicle (1767):

One a penny, two a penny, hot cross-buns;
If you’ve no daughters, give them to your sons;
And if you’ve no kind of pretty little elves,
Why then good faith, e’en eat them all yourselves.
~ by Thomas Rowlandson/Cries of London, Met Museum.

I love that a small bun had its own song and that the rhyme was such a dynamic entity as different people made it their own. But that’s the beauty of oral folk traditions.

But about those buns.

Did you eat them every Easter when you were growing up? We had them occasionally and it was such a treat. Who could resist a sweet spiced bun studded with dried fruit and mixed peel, that special white cross piped in icing or scored over the top? Remember the thrill of pulling those soft warm babies apart, inhaling the fragrance of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, then biting into a plump chewy raisin? Oh, yum.

Marjorie Torrey (Sing Mother Goose, 1945).

But this little bun is so much more than meets the eye (or stomach) because of its link to Christianity. Of course we know the white cross symbolizes the crucifixion of Christ and the spices represent the spices used to embalm his body preceding burial.

Though this is how we commonly view the bun’s significance, it is likely hot cross buns have pre-Christian origins. Greeks during the 6th century AD may have marked cakes with a cross, and the pagan Saxons baked cakes marked with a cross in early spring in honor of Eostre, the pagan goddess of light and dawn (is this where the name ‘Easter” comes from?). The cross symbolized several things: rebirth of the world after winter, the four seasons, the four quarters of the moon.

Jessie Willcox Smith (Mother Goose, 1914).

Whom should we thank for the contemporary hot cross bun? Perhaps Brother Thomas Rocliffe, a monk at St Albans Abbey in England. In 1361 he created a recipe for the ‘Alban Bun’, which was quite similar to the hot cross bun. He distributed his buns to the poor on Good Friday.

Never boring, these buns are steeped in folklore. Supposedly, if you bake them on Good Friday, they won’t spoil or turn moldy all year. Hang one in your kitchen to protect against fire and ward off evil spirits. All breads will turn out perfectly too. Don’t forget to set one aside in case someone in your household falls ill. Its powerful holy connotations can cure even the most dreadful diseases.

Going on a sea voyage? Pack a few of these mighty buns to guard against shipwreck. Want to forge a friendship? Share a bun to strengthen your bond for the next year. “Half for you and half for me, between us two, good luck shall be.” On and on.

As much a part of Easter as bunnies, chicks, eggs, lilies, jelly beans and ham, the hot cross bun is a small treat with a big story, a very tasty bite of history.

~ from my copy of Tomie dePaola’s Mother Goose (1985).
from my copy of Michael Hague’s Mother Goose: A Collection of Classic Nursery Rhymes (1984).

Enjoy this poem by Victorian poet and children’s author Julia Goddard. It was published in a middle class magazine called Once a Week in April 1867.

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HOT CROSS BUNS - (After Pope)
by Julia Goddard

Awake, my muse! I aside thy buskins fling,
This day 'tis mine of hot cross buns to sing;
Sure none but pedants would disdain the theme,
The climax of the schoolboy's Lenten dream:
Salt fish with egg-sauce to its birth he owes,
And hot cross buns await him at its close.
Say to what god or goddess I shall bend,
Or Pallas wise, or Ceres, be my friend?
That knowledge might impart, of this 'tis said
That she taught man the art of making bread.
Shall I o'er ponderous tome industrious pore
To learn if hot cross buns were known of yore,
Link them with "bouns" blessed by the heathen priest,
Or sweet cakes at the Roman seed-time feast, - 
Find if from later Rome their fame they win
Or to unleavened bread owe origin?
Or to Queen Anne's or George's days draw nigh,
When Chelsea Bun Houses held rivalry?
When the "original" sent forth each hour
Of goodly buns in tins a plenteous store --
Sweet buns, hot buns, slight flavoured with all-spice,
And passing cheap, a penny each the price.
No; later still, our paeans will we raise
And give to modern hot cross buns due praise;
Sing of the baker's triumph and the host
Of ragged urchins in amazement lost,
As buns in hundreds through the glass appear, --
They scarce restrain th' involuntary cheer,
Their pence throw down, snatch up the smoking bun,
Heed not the begging dog, but homeward run.
Even the baby in its mother's arms
Has early learned that hot cross buns have charms.
The little girl that cries them in the street,
Loud rings her bell and promises a treat;
Nor old nor young but listens to the cry,
The young with longing, whilst the elders sigh
In that their hot cross bun days have passed by.

~ from Once a Week (April 20, 1867)

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by Maud Humphrey (mother of Humphrey Bogart).

Will you be eating hot cross buns today? What’s your favorite Easter food tradition?

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The lovely and talented Margaret Simon is hosting the Roundup at Reflections on the Teche. Be sure to check out the full menu of poetic goodness being shared around the blogosphere this week!

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🌹Have a lovely and delicious Easter!🐥

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*Copyright © 2023 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.

36 thoughts on “love me some hot cross buns”

  2. I love visiting your blog, Jama, because I ALWAYS learn something! I must confess that I have never eaten a hot cross bun. I may have to remedy that this weekend. I’ll share with you “…between us two, good luck shall be.” 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  3. 💗 your “yum” image and tulips and bear, and bunnies with buns, and delicious looking baked buns throughout! And how about that “pagan goddess of light and dawn”—cool. Fun that Easter and Passover share time this year. I wouldn’t mind a stroll seeking out some buns today, but I’ll be busy teaching, picking up my mom, and then hosting a Passover… thanks for all the visual treats, and Happiest of Easter 🐣 to you Jama!

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  5. Who knew? This is an amazing history of hot cross buns. I don’t think I’ve ever had one. I love all the symbolism in them for Good Friday. Thanks for sharing your research in such an engaging way.

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    1. I’m surprised that several of you haven’t tried hot cross buns before. Though they’re most commonly associated with Easter, some places sell them year round.

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  6. Wow, Jama, much of this is new to me. I know the traditional rhyme but had no idea that there was so much to know about these beloved buns! One grandmother did make them but I was not with her much on Easter. I love that news article & the poem, “Their pence throw down, snatch up the smoking bun,
    Heed not the begging dog, but homeward run.” Wonderful! As it seems from the sales today, little change. My usual Easter dinner had ham, ham & more ham, which I don’t care for very much. I did research “Eostre” & it seems that it is the origin of “Easter”, but you probably knew that! Happy Easter to you and Len!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I’m sure homemade buns are the best — too bad you weren’t able to enjoy more of your grandmother’s buns. Goddard’s poem does speak to our times. Happy Easter to you too!

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  8. Thank you for this history of hot cross buns. My Easter memories have more to do with candy, especially jelly beans! My mother always bought hot cross buns, but I haven’t had one in years. I’ll have to look for some at the grocery store today!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yes, Easter was mainly about candy for me too. My faves: chocolate marshmallow bunnies, robin eggs, and certain flavors of jelly beans. I don’t remember eating Peeps until I was an adult.

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  9. Wow, Jama! What a history, and a delicious one too. Hot cross buns don’t appear in my family traditions, but I have been tempted to make some after watching the British Baking Show. I love poems and images you shared.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I almost tried making my own buns this year (I have the yeast to prove it), but ran out of time. Maybe next year. It’s time and labor intensive.

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  10. What a delicious post! The pictures are gorgeous too. But about those buns… I haven’t eaten one for years now. We don’t have them in France (or not where I live perched on the mountain-tops), and the last time I had one must have been more than twenty years ago. This must be rectified!

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    1. Interesting. I read somewhere that hot cross buns were eaten on Good Friday to mark the end of Lent. I guess it’s okay to eat them during Lent too, then? 🙂

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  12. Lovely to learn all this lore, Jama, appreciations & a very best Easter Weekend to you. The images, especially of the poor urchin happily running out of the bakery with his treat, are so special.

    Occasionally we scored HCB from a local bakery. My anticipation in food was for the golden baked pineapple rings that were held by sturdy cloves on the Easter ham. Why we didn’t have pineapple rings at any other time was a mystery to me. I loved the candies in the Easter basket but the baked pineapple rings were other so worldly to me & such a different flavor than all the bounty came from our garden or fruit trees near rural Quakertown, N.J., , my loving Dad would give me any they came along on his plate.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Interesting, Jan! Having grown up in Hawaii, those pineapple rings were good, but not magical for me. Also preferred canned pineapple to fresh (go figure). Pineapple upside down cake was a favorite.

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  13. Jama, thanks for the history lesson. I’ve been in a lot of places that served hot cross buns today at church. I’ve tried to make them before, and could never master the cross on top, like your photos have. (I’m sure there is a way to do that.) My favorite Easter food is candy–black jelly beans and chocolate!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Black jelly beans? You’re a licorice fan! We’d make a good pair cause I’d gladly give you all my black jelly beans. My fave are the red ones. One day I shall have to try making my own HCB. That cross on the top is supposedly a paste of flour and water piped onto the dough before baking. That makes more sense than piping a cross in icing afterwards because you’d have to let the buns cool before you could do that. That defeats the purpose of warm buns!

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  14. “But about those buns.” One of my favorite lines in a blogpost ever, Jama. 🙂 I’ve got boiled eggs cooling so I can dye them…enjoy them, and then eat deviled eggs all week. 🙂 And then there’s the robin’s eggs candy. Those things are addictive! (I allow myself one bag per season…and that’s been gone for quite a few weeks now!) xo

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  16. Jama, I remember my mother always buying hot cross buns on Ash Wednesday as our kickoff to Lent treat. They are so delicious when warm. I am glad that you shared the history of the hot cross buns. May your Easter be filled with treats. I made a new dessert for Easter dinner, an Easter pie (rice and ricotta, etc.) I can’t wait to try it along with biscottis and Italian Easter bread.

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  17. Thank you for this yummy bit of history and folklore. I learned a LOT! I love the pagan roots of these mighty little buns (not so much the embalming spices connection…) Hot cross buns were never part of my childhood Easter tradition. We trended more to baskets teeming with chocolates (and both a white and milk chocolate bunny every year), and a big ham dinner with my dad’s cousin and his family.

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    1. Hope you had a lovely Easter. I’m surprised the nuns didn’t tell you about that connection, since hot cross buns have Catholic roots.

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  19. I am not a huge fan of EATING hot cross buns, but it was lovely to wallow in the depictions and the history of the effervescent everpresent first recorder tune that every child in our district learns in 2nd grade! I especially enjoyed the pagan Oestre cross info. Thanks for the time and effort you put into these post, Jama, and Happy Easter to you!

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