Although Easter is not celebrated by everyone in England because of the different religions which coexist here, it is quite a big holiday.
What has come and gone is also the usual controversy about the name change which took place a few years back regarding the Easter Egg Hunt now called Cadbury Egg Hunt.
It must be said that the custom of having chocolate eggs on Easter Day in the Anglo-Saxon culture dates back to the mid 19th century, to the Victorian era, when Easter was more than ever synonymous with decorations, flowers and perfumes.
John Cadbury is the father of the Easter confectionery product par excellence.
It is the biggest chocolate producer in the United Kingdom and one of the most famous ones worldwide.
Cadbury chocolate was initially born through a simple mixture of rather mouldable chocolate, the production of the chocolate egg began to improve with the use of increasingly refined chocolate and more complex decorations.
Nowadays in England, children have to try find eggs at a real egg hunt on Easter Sunday.
Even this custom of the Easter Egg Hunt was born in the Victorian era on the initiative of Cadbury and entails that the little ones, after the religious service on Easter Sunday, spend time in parks and gardens, hunting for eggs hidden by their parents.
Tradition has it that families hide painted chocolate - or alternatively plastic - eggs that children must find to discover the surprise inside them that the Easter Bunny brought them as a gift.
The situation began to get complicated five years ago when the National Trust (the body that manages many British monuments and parks), together with Cadbury chocolate factory, decided to change the name of the traditional Easter hunt from Easter Egg Hunt to Great Britain Egg Hunt or Cadbury Egg Hunt by eliminating the term referring to the religious holiday altogether.
Although the reasons for this decision recalled objectives of inclusiveness also towards non-religious people, by many the initiative was seen in a highly speculative sense: in essence, a marketing strategy aimed at promoting Cadbury eggs to the detriment of its religious message.
In London every year there is also a representation of the Passion of Christ in Trafalgar Square: it is free, it involves many extras and the public, so much so that it even justifies the mega screens around the square.
There are normally two performances and people who participate are both believers and non-believers because it is quite the show.
Another typical Easter British tradition is making hot cross buns at home.
Children and parents normally make them together and have them either for breakfast before going to mass or after their meal on Easter Sunday.
But…what are hot cross buns?
They are sweet and soft leavened baked goods with a very special story to tell!
In fact, it seems that they were born in the Middle Ages, idea of a monk who created these buns to offer to the less fortunate on Good Friday.
Recognizing them is really simple because they have a characteristic cross on the top (evident symbolic reference to the religious cross).
The dough is made with Manitoba flour and a mixture of sugar, ground cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg powder, milk, eggs and butter.
Therefore they are spiced and they smell great when they come out of the oven and they are best eaten warm out of the oven.
