Buttered, toasted Hot Cross Buns

[lurker172602]

Is there anything better?

I went out early this morning to get my groceries, to beat the rush later, and bought some, still warm from the bakery.  Nom nom nom

[j*oono]

Fawlty Towers - Don't mention the war 😄

[imastawka]

---

@lal-au0 wrote:

you are not missing much joanie. hot cross buns are english food. you need to aquire the taste for it from early childhood or you won't like it (just as with most other english food except bacon), but that's not a guarantee that you will like them. hubby is a pom and he doesn't like them.

the reason why everyone here is so excited about them is cos they are english (descendants) and have grown up with knowing nothing better than hot cross buns. 

you probably find that in other countries people would try a bite and then not wanting another one.

---

But lal,  hot cross buns are just a more delicious form of Stollen IMO

[soulart2]

Bugga!!!  Bought the hot cross buns, went to have one for lunch and.......forgot I needed butter.  Guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow.

[lind9650]

Soulart, do you have fresh cream in the kitchen? Beat it until it turns into butter, then you can eat your HC Buns.

I get my HC Buns from the local Bakery. Yummy, yum, yum.

The Supermarket ones are not half a good.

Erica

[soulart2]

Hi Lind, no cream in the fridge.....never mind, at least I have something to look forward to tomorrow !

[tasfleur]

Here you go soulart, and a happy Easter to you!

[soulart2]

Oh thanks tas hahhaaa

and Happy Easter to you too.

I made do with a piece of mudcake instead.

[zanadoo_56]

---

@lal-au0 wrote:

you are not missing much joanie. hot cross buns are english food. you need to aquire the taste for it from early childhood or you won't like it (just as with most other english food except bacon), but that's not a guarantee that you will like them. hubby is a pom and he doesn't like them.

the reason why everyone here is so excited about them is cos they are english (descendants) and have grown up with knowing nothing better than hot cross buns. 

you probably find that in other countries people would try a bite and then not wanting another one.

---

I think compared to Vegemite (which I like BTW), I don't think you need to have grown up with Hot Cross Buns to like them.  I like them but I've tried a few in the shops (bakeries and supermarkets) and I have to say some have been vile tasting.  There was a packet bought a couple of years ago from IGA (I'd never heard of the bakery company they used) that were despite having fruit and (allegedly) spices, had barely any flavour and what they actually had was bitter and nasty.  Not even melted butter made them palatable.

I ordered some from Coles (home brand) and they were out of the ones I wanted so they substituted chocolate ones.  First chocolate Hot Cross Buns I'd ever tasted....and the last.  Very disappointing and very sticky and messy as well.

My ancestors were Italian not English, but having been brought up on good old Tip Top Hot Cross Buns, I find I still like them the best, especially microwaved with melted butter.  I think the key is consistency.  Sometimes the local bakery does them well, sometimes they don't rise as much and sometimes they have enough fruit and sometimes not.  Tip Top always seem to get it right.

[tasfleur]

From goodfood.com.au ..... 

Burial buns

A decree was issued in 1592 by "The London Clerk of the Markets" that forbid the sale of spiced buns except at burials, Christmas and Good Friday. Given that hot cross buns seem to be on the shelves from New Year's Day onwards in Australia, I think it's safe to say that rule is no longer enforced.

Advertisement

Two for one?

"Hot cross buns! Hot cross buns! One a penny, two a penny. Hot cross buns." The nursery rhyme so many children first learn on the recorder dates back to the 18th century and was probably based on the spruiking calls of London bun-hawkers. Why would you want to buy one bun for a penny when you can get two for the same low, low price? Because small buns were sold as a pair while the the bigger guys were traded individually.

Mouldy superstition

According to the The Oxford Companion to Food, old English superstition dictates that hot cross buns and loaves baked on Good Friday were impervious to mould and would be kept as lucky charms from one year to the next. Delicious stuff. 

Kilojoule counting

A standard, 27 per cent fruit hot cross bun from Coles contains 1102 kilojoules. This is only slightly less than a McDonald's cheeseburger, which has 1180 kilojoules (along with a much higher fat content but lower sugar). It would take an 80-kilogram person about half an hour of jogging to burn off one bun, however, that's provided you eat the bun without butter. 

Before there were gluten-free varieties …

The earliest hot cross buns might date back to ancient Roman times. When archaeologists excavated the city of Herculaneum, which suffered from the same fiery fate as Pompeii, two carbonised loaves were found in the ruins, each marked with a cross. The cross was probably to make the bun easier to break into four.

Old bun

The world's oldest hot cross bun could be more than 200. According to the BBC, a couple from Essex, England, possess a bun with an accompanying letter stating it was produced in Colchester for Good Friday in 1807. The bun looks to be in reasonably good nick, although might need a few seconds in the microwave for morning tea at Essex Rotary Club.

[bluecat*dancing]

I have some Belgian chocolate and sour cherry hot cross buns from Aldi that I am looking forward to trying.