The greatest British Easter invention is the hot cross bun, a baker's treat stuffed with raisins and decorated with a pale cross on its sticky brown surface. This year the experimental cooking guru Heston Blumenthal created his own version of this old recipe for a supermarket, flavoured with Earl Grey tea, but remixes aside the tradition is still going strong. It expresses quite a relaxed attitude to the sacred meaning of this spring festival. Since the 18th century and reputedly earlier, hot cross buns have encapsulated a British attitude in which respect is paid to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but not in a way that spoils the buns.
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