Talk:Hot cross bun

Candied citrus fruits
The ones most commonly bought in the UK they have candied citrus fruits in them, not just in the US. Also see Delia Smith on hot x buns. & Nigella 92.25.88.203 (talk) 23:15, 3 April 2010 (UTC)

In Australia the first ones without candied citrus started emerging in the late 90s. They were to cater for small children with a fussy, undeveloped palate. In Australia now this is the norm for cheap supermarket versions - even those served to adults. Australian recipes online often refer to the inclusion of "mixed dried fruit" which is a medley of sultanas, raisins and candied peel. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.15.64.15 (talk) 21:58, 9 January 2019 (UTC)


 * 92.25.88.203 -- Please do not remove properly referenced claims. Especially please do not also remove the references. Because you have done this, I am tempted to undo all your recent edits. Politeness and AGF, however, require that you be given time to restore that which you have removed. Plus, some of them seem to be worthwhile. Lou Sander (talk) 00:33, 4 April 2010 (UTC)


 * I agree. Also it's not a good idea to change definitions taken from the Oxford English Dictionary. No candied fruits or lemon zest there, I'm afraid. If other ingredients are sometimes added, it's legitimate to mention them as long as a reference from a reliable source is included. Doing otherwise isn't a good idea, since anybody anywhere can publish a recipe with an unusual ingredient. If an eminent chef gives us a recipe for hot cross buns with sausages inside, that's not enough to make a general claim that hot cross buns include sausages. Good Cop (talk) 02:24, 4 April 2010 (UTC)

Yes, anybody can publish a recipe with an unusual ingredient but we are not talking about an unusual ingredient here. 92.25.88.203 (talk) 23:57, 4 April 2010 (UTC)

Obviously a sourced reference is needed but in my experience (in the UK) most hcb's contain fruit and have done for a long time. The OED is either incorrect, or considers the fruit not to be a major ingredient. Also it doesn't mention raisins. What does the OED atually say as I don't happen to have a copy to hand! As it stand the article doesn't mention candied citrus fruit aka mixed peel aka dried fruit at all which is obviously incorrect. 92.25.88.203 (talk) 22:16, 4 April 2010 (UTC) OK, got access to OED through my local library website: A type of sweet spiced currant bun marked with a cross and traditionally eaten hot or toasted on Good Friday. It is clear that this definition doesn't preclude the inclusion of candied citrus. 92.25.88.203 (talk) 23:14, 4 April 2010 (UTC)

'Citation needed' - citation given
I can confirm that the paragraph attributed to Elizabeth David (at least, as it stands at the moment) is indeed exactly what she says in her well-researched book English Bread and Yeast Cookery. I personally think it is unlikely that Hot Cross Buns were really made from consecrated dough (for oh so many reasons) but it is exactly the sort of thing the Puritans would claim and even believe, and then use as justification for the anti-bun laws which are a matter of historical record. I cannot add this needed citation, as the article is semi-protected. 82.24.248.137 (talk) 01:01, 25 April 2011 (UTC)


 * I've ordered the above book on interlibrary loan. When it comes in, I'll put a specific reference into the article. (This book should help me with a number of other British baked goods articles that I've been working on.) Lou Sander (talk) 20:27, 6 April 2012 (UTC)

Easter Sunday
An anonymous editor has inserted unsupported claims that hot cross buns are traditionally eaten on Easter Sunday, replacing claims that they are traditionally eaten on Good Friday. I reverted the Easter Sunday claims. However, a review of the references shows many that support that the buns are baked and sold on Good Friday, but nothing at all about when they are traditionally eaten. Right now the article contains unsupported but longstanding claims about the buns being eaten on the same day they are baked and sold. IMHO because they are longstanding, they trump the new, unsupported claims about Easter. In any event, we need some references to when the buns are eaten. In their absence, we should mention only when they are baked and sold. Lou Sander (talk) 12:05, 7 April 2012 (UTC)

Pagan Tradition?
Noticed someone changed the 'History' section, which was then reverted. I guess the edit was a little too extreme, but if there's some additional (sourced) info about earlier pagan sources then such info should definitely be included in the article. I've reproduced the earlier text here, in case it contains useful ideas. Most of these ideas are still included in the article anyway.


 * The original use of hot cross buns comes from Pagan traditions it is a representation of the sun wheel used during the spring equinox or " Ostara" sabbat  honoring the Goddess Oster which falls on or about March 20th, after the inquisitions and forced conversion of Pagans many of their traditions become absorbed by the christians  this includes hot cross buns .  The christian use of hot cross buns is during the lent season and easter holiday.

And maybe some useful articles:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/apr/03/easter-pagan-symbolism http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8598312.stm

Lionfish0 (talk) 08:30, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

Marking the buns
When I was young, buns were marked by a pressed in cross, and that's what I learnt at school (about 1963). — Preceding unsigned comment added by Olwenwilliams (talk • contribs) 00:29, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

Popular all year round!?
I don't want to remove a cited comment (that HCBs are popular all year round, from BBC article 2010) but this is just a nonsense, at least in the UK. I now live in Hongkong, and this gives a totally misleading impression of when they are eaten (sold) during the year when I direct people to this page. If you try to buy these buns in July, you can see how many shops you need to visit before you find them compared with the week leading up to Easter. If someone else can decide if this cited remark is worthy of deletion, that would be good. 143.89.16.8 (talk) 07:22, 15 April 2014 (UTC)
 * Really, you can buy them in Tescos in July.--  SabreBD  (talk ) 08:45, 15 April 2014 (UTC)
 * Really? The don't (didn't) in my local Sainsbury's. Would you say they were popular? I mean, now-a-days some Tesco's are bigger than the towns their in, not everything they sell is to be described as 'popular'..143.89.16.8 (talk) 12:48, 15 April 2014 (UTC)
 * I've changed "popular" to "available", to make the article agree better with the reference and with common sense. Lou Sander (talk) 13:48, 15 April 2014 (UTC)
 * That is more accurate.--  SabreBD  (talk ) 14:02, 15 April 2014 (UTC)


 * They are definitely available in most Canadian supermarkets all year round. EdittingPrincess (talk) 12:08, 27 December 2021 (UTC)

Forbidden or not during lent?
The opening sentence in the History section says:

> In many historically Christian countries, plain buns made without dairy products (forbidden in Lent until Palm Sunday) are traditionally eaten hot or toasted during Lent, beginning with the evening of Shrove Tuesday (the evening before Ash Wednesday) to midday Good Friday.

I'm a native English speaker and, in the way I parse this at least, the subject of the sentence is "plain buns made without dairy products", and the rest of the sentence says that such buns are both "forbidden in Lent until Palm Sunday" and "traditionally eaten ... during Lent".

I suspect this sentence is trying to say that it is the dairy products that are forbidden, but it doesn't parse properly for that meaning.

An easy fix would be to simply add "because dairy products are" at the start of the parenthetical clause, thus:

> In many historically Christian countries, plain buns made without dairy products (because dairy products are forbidden in Lent until Palm Sunday) are traditionally eaten hot or toasted during Lent, beginning with the evening of Shrove Tuesday (the evening before Ash Wednesday) to midday Good Friday.

but I'm sure someone else can do better. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bsh1234 (talk • contribs) 18:34, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

Variants in Bremen and Fryslân
At "http://www.lekker-frysk.nl/hitewigge.htm", "http://www.rezeptewiki.org/wiki/Hite_wigge" you will find recipies for Fryslân "Hite Wigge"

At "http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bremer_K%C3%BCche#Hei.C3.9Fwecken" Hedwig are mentioned as part of traditional Bremen cusine.

At "http://www.nordfriesen.info/index.php/gaumenschmaus/794-heedewecken-heissewecken" is a recipe for "Heede Wecken"

See also at "http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hei%C3%9Fwecke" "Heißwecken sind ein traditionelles Gebäck, [...] seit dem Spätmittelalter nachgewiesen ist und in Nord- und Nordwestdeutschland vor dem Beginn der vorösterlichen Fastenzeit gegessen wurde, speziell von Rosenmontag bis Aschermittwoch." (Heisswecken are a traditional pastry [...] established since the late medieval, eaten in North- and Northwest-Germany before the pre-easter fasting period, especially from rose-monday to ash-wednesday.) -- templinægnuwhv·de - 2015-04-19 - 15:00 UTC — Preceding unsigned comment added by 31.150.39.121 (talk) 14:58, 19 April 2015 (UTC)

The Song
I feel like there should be some mention of the popular piano song "Hot cross buns" as it is one of the most played pieces of music in the English speaking world Δρ∈rs∈ghiη (talk) 20:46, 5 May 2015 (UTC)
 * There is, right at the top of the article: "This article is about the food. For the nursery rhyme, see Hot Cross Buns." Anomie⚔ 21:19, 5 May 2015 (UTC)

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There is no "Hedwig"
The https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heißwecke could be mentioned, although it doesn't mostly have a cross on it. But nowhere in Germany it's named Hedwig. That part is just made up.2A02:8109:8140:743C:B4E2:7B36:811B:EC28 (talk) 03:02, 1 June 2018 (UTC)

How the cross is made
I've a recollection of reading that the cross is traditionally an indentation of the bun, rather than being made of pastry. And furthermore that the name derives from the "hot cross", a device used to indent the bun. Is this an apocryphal story? — Smjg (talk) 18:11, 7 April 2023 (UTC)


 * I have seen buns long ago with a cross made by slashing the dough with a knife - it's quicker that way. But not for a while now, and one would need a citation. Have not heard of the device you mention - it sounds a lot of trouble for something used so infrequently. Sbishop (talk) 07:36, 8 April 2023 (UTC)


 * Infrequently, eh? I would imagine that bakeries that make hot cross buns by this method would use it quite a lot.  In my family we used to home-make Easter eggs, and had a set of moulds for them.  As if this isn't "a lot of trouble for something used so infrequently".... — Smjg (talk) 10:40, 11 April 2023 (UTC)

Why Are There Only Hot Cross-Crossed Buns In The United States
Why Are There Only Hot Cross-Crossed Buns In The United States 2804:C58:2378:0:3C8C:C938:1A2E:AE00 (talk) 13:25, 27 March 2024 (UTC)

"Hot Cross Buns" is also known as a medical term
I think we should make a category for Hot Cross Bun with a "lack of info" template for the medical term, because especially in other languages, it's hard to know the translation... The thing is, I don't know which template to use... Sylv1 Durif (talk) 21:46, 4 May 2024 (UTC)