On the first day of Lent and during the six weeks that follow, many bakeries bake hot cross buns. They are generally only served during the Lenten season, preserving their Christian significance. Yet they are probably the outgrowth of the ancient pagan sacramental cakes eaten by Anglo-Saxons in honor of their goddess "Eastore." Supposedly the early clergy tried to stop the use of the sacramental cakes but as they could not, they gave them Christian meaning by blessing them and decorating them with the cross. The Italian Tortona is a twist of dough baked around a colored egg.

Another story of the hot cross bun dates back to England over one hundred and fifty years ago. A widow who lived at Bow in the East End of London, so the story goes, was expecting her son to come home from sea. On Good Friday, she saved a bun for him but he never returned. It is said that patrons of inns in England still follow this custom in her honor.