One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns. It’s a chant that has echoed through the ages, from the street hawkers of 18th-century London, England, to the modern-day child learning their first notes on the piano. There’s a romantic, Dickensian ring to it, recalling bakeries dimly lit by waning candles, where a frantic rotation of hot cross buns is ushered to and from wood-fired ovens. And why not? The rhyme’s namesake, the hot cross bun, is the picture of Old-World romanticism. A crisp white cross lays atop a bun studded with jewel-like speckles of sultanas and raisins. Torn open for a generous pat of butter, the aromas of warm spice and bright citrus rise into the air with wisps of steam. Today, hot cross buns are a delicacy classically reserved for Good Friday, marking the end of Lent. But their symbolic importance goes back thousands of years to the very antiquity of bread-baking.
Bread loaves marked with a cross have been found at ancient archaeological sites in Egypt, Greece, and Italy. Most were baked to celebrate pagan rites focused on renewal. The
