Hot cross buns are traditionally baked on Good Friday, although they can often be purchased at other times of year.

The Jamaican spiced bun is shaped like a loaf of bread and is a dark brown colour.

During Elizabethan times, buns made with spices and eggs were cooked, to which, during Lent, raisins and corintas were added.

After the Lutheran Reformation, this bread was consumed on Good Friday, with the custom of marking it with a cross before putting it in the oven, as a way to ward off evil spirits.

The English gingerbread recipe was learned by African slaves when they were brought by the British to the West Indies.