Hot cross buns! Hot cross buns! One a penny, two a penny, Hot cross buns! When Easter comes many have this rhyme on their lips. Why ?   Once Hot cross buns were toasted , buttered and eaten cold as an Easter treat. Now people are eating them in large numbers not only on Easter days but in all year round. What is the speciality of Hot Cross Buns then?   In England six to nine varieties of Hot cross buns are available during the Easter time. Some varieties are available only in Easter time while some others are available through out the year.   Waitrose  one of the supermarket chains in England says its hot cross bun sales are up 28 percent on last year. Then what is the importance of hot cross buns? Have you ever thought?   Steve Jenkins, the Church of England spokesman says  “You have got the bread, as per the communion, you have got the spices that represent the spices Jesus was wrapped in the tomb, and you have got the cross. They are fairly full of Christian symbolism,”   The hot cross buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday in many Christian countries. The  cross stands as a symbol of crucification of Jesus. It is believed that rather than Christians , Saxons ate buns marked with a cross in honour of the goddess Eostre (the cross symbolises the four quarters of the moon); Probably “Eostre “ is the origin of the name "Easter".   There are many stories regarding hot cross buns. Some of them are interesting superstitions. English folklore is rich with hot cross bun superstitions. I share some of them here.   It says that buns baked and served on Good Friday will not spoil during the subsequent year !!!. Such a hot cross bun is used for medicinal purposes also. If a piece of it is given to someone who is ill he/ she will be recovered easily.   If a hot cross bun is hung in the kitchen, it will protect from fires. It also  ensure that all breads cooked there turn out perfectly!!!   When a hot cross bun is shared the slogan "Half for you and half for me, Between us two shall goodwill be" is often recited. This is on the belief that sharing a hot cross bun with another believed to ensure friendship throughout the coming year especially if this slogan is said at that time.   In some high degree of superstition it says that if a hot cross bun is taken on a sea voyage, the ship will be protected from wreckage!!!   Who coined this term Hot Cross Bun? You may commonly hear a suggestion that a 12th Century monk was the first who incised a cross on a bun. But it is amazing that the Oxford English Dictionary's first reference to Hot cross buns is only from 1733. It's in the form of the famous ditty narrated below.   “Good Friday comes this Month, the old woman runs, With one or two a Penny hot cross Buns.”