‘Hot Cross Buns, Hot Cross Buns, one ha’ penny two ha’ penny,  Hot Cross Buns!’ So go the first lines of the old English playground rhyme at Easter time. These buns are part of English tradition, usually eaten on Good Friday. But their deliciousness and religious significance has travelled to Ireland and beyond. Any country where Christianity is in evidence,  in fact. Historical records bob and weave between the first origins of the buns – some say they pre-date Christianity altogether, believing a similar recipe was first used by pagans to celebrate the Goddess Eostre, during a  spring festival said to have given Easter it’s title. (This fertile lady of the spring season is also accredited with giving rise to the name of the female hormone estrogen, by the way. Very prolific, she was!) However the Hot Cross Bun came to be – we are only glad it did. Who would miss the yeasty dough, flecked with currants or raisins, infused with spices, and marked with a cross. Even those elements of the bun have meanings –  the bread base is said to represent Holy Communion, the spices depict the spices Christ was entombed in, the cross a visual reference to his death.  Splitting and light toasting is the best way to eat these buns. Gentle heat develops the spicy flavours. A good lathering of Irish country butter melts seductively into the dough. If you have one leftover – you can follow ancient traditions and hang it in the kitchen to ward off danger through the year. It might also be handy to note that the power of the Hot Cross Bun was once thought to cure all ills. But you probably won’t have any left – is our bet. Hot Cross buns are just too nice not to be eaten all at once…