Hot cross buns were invented by Sir Francis Bun who first put a bun in the oven in 1542.

Hot cross buns were invented by Sir Francis Bun who first put a bun in the oven in 1542. In 1592, Queen Elizabeth I decreed that hot cross buns could no longer be sold on any day except for Good Friday, Christmas or for burials. They were simply too special to be eaten any other day. To get around this,  people baked the buns in their own kitchens. But if they were caught they had to give up all of the illegal buns on their premises to the poor.