Hot cross buns: Why has the symbolic Easter treat sparked debate among Australians?

Early sales of hot cross buns in Australia have once again caught the attention of shoppers. What's the historical significance of the treat, and why have they traditionally been confined to the Easter period?

Hot cross buns are hitting store shelves and bakeries earlier each year. Source: Getty / Portland Press Herald

Key Points

• With Christmas Day celebrations over, Easter hot cross buns are appearing on supermarket shelves across Australia.
• According to Coles, more than 2.5 million hot cross buns were sold prior to 1 January last year.
• The increasingly early arrival of hot cross buns has prompted debate on social media platforms.

Irina Derevich is a baker at a church bakery in Sydney.

Every year, she makes hot cross buns and other Easter sweets using her own traditional recipes.

Recently, she was surprised to see that the Easter delicacy was being sold more than three months before the holiday.

"Easter is the brightest holiday of the year and I always await it with excitement," Derevich said.

Irina Derevich said that she was surprised to see hot cross buns are on sale in December. Credit: Supplied

"Easter cakes and special sweet buns are symbols and signs of Easter days. Therefore, in our traditions, we patiently wait for the holiday to come," she said.

In recent years, supermarkets in Australia have started selling hot cross buns as early as Boxing Day - a trend regularly commented on by social media users.

"Don't forget peoples - it is only 96 days until Easter," a Reddit user posted.

The comments under the post range from "Nothing says consumerism quite like celebrating Jesus' birthday yesterday then celebrating his death four months early today" to "If they were year round, I’d buy them year round".

However, it seems Australian consumers are voting with their wallets for this early start, with more than 2.5 million hot cross buns sold in the week leading up to 1 January last year, according to Coles sales data.

In December 2022, Coles reported Victoria has the highest hot cross bun demand per capita, with over 715,000 buns sold, followed by Queensland and Western Australia.

Where does this tradition come from?

Hot cross buns are a type of sweet and spiced baked bread that typically contains raisins. They're often enjoyed toasted with butter.

The credit for inventing the contemporary hot cross bun, first known as the Alban bun, goes to a 14th-century monk named Thomas Rocliffe.

Although buns were baked by ancient Greeks, Romans, and Saxons to signify changing seasons, Rocliffe's Alban bun, a sweet and fruity bun marked with a cross, became a Good Friday tradition distributed to the local poor.

In the Christian religious tradition, the buns' cross marking represents the crucifixion of Jesus, which followers commemorate on Easter.

There have historically been many superstitions around the buns, which have been mythologised to have magical qualities or possess healing powers.

In the 16th century, under Queen Elizabeth I, England passed forbidding people to sell hot cross buns outside of Good Friday, Christmas or funerals.

Queen Elizabeth II presented with a tray of hot cross buns by a local baker. Source: Getty / John Stillwell/Pool/AFP

'Some things should remain special'

Maldon Bakery in Victoria claims to be Australia's oldest continuously operating bakery. Built in 1854, its traditional Scotch oven was the first brick structure in Maldon.

The bakery's owner, Rebecca Barnett, would never share their special "fair dinkum" hot cross buns recipe but told SBS News that they never start baking them sooner than one month out from Easter Sunday.

"Even that is early compared to when I grew up," she said.

"When my grandpa and Nanna were baking, they would only sell hot cross buns on Saturday morning. Of course, all the shops shut at 12pm on Saturday so everyone could actually have a life, so the entire town would be out in the street buying up their hot cross buns."

The Maldon Bakery was built in 1854, and its owners are proud of their "fair dinkum" hot cross bun recipe. Credit: Supplied

Barnett noted that there was a sense of community excitement during the rush to purchase the buns before the bakery closed.

"It was special because you could only have them on Easter Sunday morning. It was a special tradition. Some things should remain special," she said.

Having been enjoyed across the British Commonwealth for centuries, hot cross buns are available all year round in some places, including the UK.

In Australia, they have traditionally been confined to a certain period each year - though this period seems to be expanding in recent years.

While some people may no longer associate them with religious symbolism, for others, hot cross buns remain a special Easter tradition.

There's also a kind of seasonal logic to why hot cross buns have traditionally been so enjoyed by Australians around March and April.

Unlike the UK and many other countries, Easter arrives in autumn in Australia. Hot cross buns preheated in the oven and served straight away make sense as the weather starts getting colder.