Hot Cross Buns

The origin or the hot cross bun is unknown, but some say it dates from early, even pagan, times, when the small round shape represented the sun, the cross dividing it into four parts for the seasons. Breads bearing crosses were commonplace, though, right up until the Reformation in the sixteenth century, usually to guard against evil spirits and bad luck. In the Middle Ages the strongest and most effective bread was that made on Good Friday. It was suspended from the ceiling to guard the ho