Easter Buns Fly Off Shelves in Ooty

Ooty: Recall the famous nursery rhyme: ‘Hot cross buns! Hot cross buns! One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns’, and instantly it would take even the nonagenarians to revisit the childhood days as this rhyme on ‘hot cross buns’, fondly known as ‘Easter buns’, heralds the lent days entering the concluding stages and the Easter celebration.

The hot cross bun, a special, puffier bun with distinctive flavour and taste, is available only during the Easter weekend. As the hills here, known for their good chunk of Christian population and the continuing British-era English baking touch and class, has begun to witness tourists influx for the extended weekend due to Good Friday holiday, making a few bakers come out with hot cross buns to bring the traditional flavour and spice to Easter celebrations.

S. Rizwan, proprietor of Aazam Bakery on Commercial Road here, said many Christians, local residents and even tourists buy hot cross buns during Easter weekend as the display of the buns in the bakery racks charms the buyers.

“It is a very special bun targeted for the Easter weekend. We normally blend dry fruits, raisins and spices with flour and bake it to perfection to bring a unique flavour and sweet taste to hot cross buns. The blend in the hot cross bun provides good energy due to its nutrients. It is now sold as Rs. 25 per piece. It is good to see a baking product become a famous Easter weekend delicacy. People buy them more on Good Friday day and the sale would go on till Easter day. The bun, marked with a cross, made of maida, on the top, brings it the name hot cross bun,” he explained.