Hot cross buns, one a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns.

This illustration is from the book Popular Nursery Rhymes : Mother Goose Rhymes with explanations and illustrations. Edited by Jennifer Mullherin and published by Granada. ISBN 0246114924

I don’t have a  very good memory but I think this is the first time I have made hot cross buns.  I know both of my daughters have made them at some stage but I don’t think I ever got around to doing so, until this year.

Here is the result.

Not quite the same as those you buy in the shops but I can vouch for the delicious taste.

I didn’t have any allspice in the cupboard so used mixed spice instead but it didn’t seem to spoil the taste.  All spice is from the pimento berry and mixed spice is exactly what it says it is – a mixture of spices.

Hot cross buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday, with the cross standing as a symbol of the crucifixion.  Protestant England attempted to ban the sale of the buns by bakers but they were too popular, and instead Elizabeth I passed a law permitting bakeries to sell them, but only at Easter and Christmas.

In modern times hot cross buns seem to appear in the stores almost as soon as Valentine’s Day is over.

There is a good article here on the hot cross bun.