Hot Cross Buns White Chocolate and Lemon (Waitrose) By @cinabar

I’m still enjoying finding new Hot Cross bun varieties, and as we needed a top-up grocery order, I decided to have a bit of a splurge and found myself doing a Waitrose order. This is their own brand Hot Cross Buns with White Chocolate and Lemon. They certainly sound like a nice twist, and here's hoping they work.

I opened up the pack and could smell the lemon, which is a good sign. I split them in half, and I could see a small amount of white chocolate, but there weren’t a lot of chocolate drops that were visible. As always, I popped the two halves in the toaster on a low setting, and after a very short while, I could hear a drip and sizzle. Perhaps toasting these wasn’t my best idea! Still, once they popped, they looked okay, but they were a little sticky to get out of the toaster. On the bright side, this meant that the white chocolate was more prominent than I thought they were. 

I buttered the sticky buns and gave them a try, and the flavour was lovely. There was a good balance of sweet and creamy white chocolate and a nice, sharp edge from the lemon. The buns were fluffy too and had a good texture. If I found myself doing another Waitrose order, they are definitely something I would pick up again, as they are a lovely edition. 

Caramelised Biscuit Hot Cross Buns (Aldi) By @Cinabar

I am very much enjoying Hot Cross Bun season. I’ve been trying quite a few traditional ones, but I do like picking up some of the flavoured ones too. Although there are savouries around, my heart is drawn to the sweeter varieties. I picked up a pack of these Caramelised Biscuit Hot Cross Buns which I found in Aldi. 

I split them in half and popped them in the toaster. As I was waiting, I looked at the back of the pack, and it suggested adding biscuit spread as a topping. I wish I had noticed that in the shop. I thought the best plan was to just add some butter and try the Caramelised Biscuit Hot Cross Bun without the addition of any jam or other flavours that may affect it. 

I gave them a try and could definitely pick up on the biscuit taste, but these were much milder than I thought they would be. They are sweet, but not sweet enough for my tastes. There are patches of biscuit spread in the mix, and these are nice, but not every bite has that flavour hit. The conclusion is that I should have bought a jar of biscuit spread, but these should have been okay without it. 

Bramley Apple Hot Cross Buns (Aldi) By @cinabar

I do love Hot Cross Bun season, and I have been trying out some of the flavoured ones this year. The truth is, I quite like the classic recipe, so these new Bramley Apple Hot Cross Buns from Aldi appealed as they didn’t seem too crazy or different. The cheese ones we tried were nice, but so far from being an actual Hot Cross Bun they sort of missed the point.

I opened up the pack, and there was a lovely apple aroma that was sharp. We chopped them in half and popped them in the toaster, and again, there were nice aromas while they were heated up. We served them with butter and gave them the taste test. The best thing about these Bramley Apple Hot Cross Buns is that the spices in them very much give them the feel of a classic bun. They have lovely warming spices, and they tasted spot on that way. The apple is a little sharp, but with the rest of the sweetness from the bun, there is balance, and these worked really well. The bread is fluffy, the fruit is plentiful, and the flavours were lovely. I really liked these, I think they are my favourite variation on a Hot Cross Bun so far. They are a twist, but they keep one foot in the traditional camp too. Perfect for people who want the Hot Cross Bun experience but may not be partial to raisins. 

Caramelised Biscuit Flavour Hot Cross Buns (Aldi) By @Cinabar

There do seem to be a lot of interestingly flavoured Hot Cross Buns out this year, and I am on a quest to see if they are worth it. My gut instinct is that I am a bit of a traditionalist, but let's see if these Caramelised Biscuit Flavour Hot Cross Buns can sway me. 

I opened up the packet, and there was a rich caramel scent that hit me, and I have to say it was absolutely lovely. We had these lightly toasted, and again, the aromas while they were cooking were very promising. I added a bit of butter and gave it a taste test.

The flavour was rich, sweet, and tasty. I could pick up a heavy amount of caramel, spices, and that lovely promised biscuit taste. They definitely achieved their mission, and the spiced biscuit worked well in place of the spices you would expect to find in a regular Hot Cross Bun. There was a little voice in my head asking me why there weren’t any raisins in the mix. Apparently, I favour the traditional buns, but these Caramelised Biscuit Flavour Hot Cross Buns are still a delight. 

Cheese & Black Pepper Hot Cross Buns (Asda) By @cinabar

I was struggling with lemon hot cross buns as not being quite traditional enough for me, so as you can imagine, the discovery of Cheese & Black Pepper Hot Cross Buns did make me pull a face. I love hot cross buns, but for me, it is about juicy currants and spices like cinnamon. They are, at the very least, a sweet treat. I have to admit that I enjoyed the lemon version I tried, but I think this may be a step too far. Savoury hot cross buns, what do you even do with them?

Inside the bag are four buns, and once split in half, you could see all the cheese mixed in there. It did look plentiful. We had these Cheese & Black Pepper Hot Cross Buns as a sandwich with a slice of roast beef inside. These flavours worked really well together, the cheese and the pepper were both nice. The mild cheese is lifted by the spice, but none of the flavours are too strong. The buns were fluffy, and they made a fab sandwich. I thoroughly enjoyed the cheese and pepper flavours, they were well balanced and nice and tasty. As a bread roll alternative, these Cheese & Black Pepper Hot Cross Buns are a winner. They just don’t feel like an Easter treat, but they were a nice lunch.

Lemon & White Chocolate Hot Cross Buns (Asda) By @cinabar

I’m not sure what the exact definition of a Hot Cross Bun is, but if I had to guess, it would be a sweet bread bun marked with a cross and flavoured with fruit and spices. Many supermarkets take a side step and keep the cross and the shape but change the flavours about. Here we have Lemon & White Chocolate Hot Cross Buns from Asda; no spices and no raisins are in the recipe.

The buns do look lovely in the pack, they are a decent size and look quite fluffy. We split them and toasted them, which wasn’t that easy given that they are quite big and fluffy. We have a wide toaster, and we still struggled. After adding a bit of butter, we gave them the taste test, and they were a success. The lemon taste is fairly delicate but still present and fresh, and the white chocolate gave them a sweet, creamy edge after each bite. The flavour reminded me a bit of lemon icing like you might get on a drizzle cake, just that there wasn’t too much of it. I like the Lemon & White Chocolate Hot Cross Buns, they might not be traditional, but they are tasty. Perfect if you aren’t a fan of raisins but still want in on the Easter tradition.

M&S Golden Blond Chocolate & Salted Caramel Hot Cross Buns (Ocado) By @Cinabar

The toaster just about survived these M&S Golden Blond Chocolate & Salted Caramel Hot Cross Buns. We have one of those toasters which is wide enough to take things like bagels and it even has a lift lever to cope with smaller items etc. Basically, I like toasting bread-based products. I regularly toast normal hot cross buns, despite the risk from rogue raisins dropping into the bottom of the toaster. It works pretty well, that is why I didn’t think twice about cooking these new ones in there too. I should have thought twice. It sounds obvious now, but Golden Blond Chocolate melts in the toaster, it drips and then it burns. It makes the hot cross bun impossible to pick up as the chocolate bubbles and burns your fingers. I had to wait for the toaster to cool to get them out, and then they were stuck as the caramel and chocolate had re-set. I know this is on me, but yeah it wasn’t the best start.

So let's pretend that I put them under a grill and they toasted up lovely, no hassle, and I’ll just move on. Lesson learned. They smelled amazing while they were cooking lots of rich caramel tones. I added some butter for the ultimate indulgence. The flavour of these buns is sweet. I was pleased that they still had all the spice of a hot cross bun, but the chocolate and caramel added a lovely sweet layer to the taste. These M&S Golden Blond Chocolate & Salted Caramel Hot Cross Buns are indulgent and lovely, and I’d buy them again. They keep enough of the proper seasonal hot cross bun flavour but manage to lightly wrap around it the blonde chocolate and sweetness.

No toasters were harmed during the making of this blog post (well after some substantial cleaning).

Carrot Cake Hot Cross Buns (Co-Op) By @Cinabar

What an interesting sounding hybrid, mixing the seasonal treat of the Hot Cross bun with the Carrot Cake. There are quite a few interesting Hot Cross buns out at the minute, many just slight twists on the original (ie using blueberries), others going all out with non-traditional ingredients like white chocolate and caramel. Of all the varieties I have spotted, the ones I most wanted to try are these Co-Op Carrot Cake Hot Cross Buns. I do love a nice piece of carrot cake.

 

I split the Carrot Cake Hot Cross Buns open and could see the bits of orange carrot blended in, exciting. At some point it dawned on me while the toaster was cooking away that carrot cake is all about the spice (specifically mixed spice), as are regular hot cross buns (again mixed spice). I think what I bought are hot cross bun flavoured hot cross buns, with a small amount of carrot mixed in for good measure.

I finished toasting them and buttered them and gave them a try. They taste nice, sweet, and spicy. I loved the cinnamon from the mixed spice. I’m not going to lie I couldn’t pick up on the carrot. Perhaps I should have filled them with a cream cheese frosting for authenticity? They did taste good, genuinely maybe a tiny bit more spicy than some Hot Cross Buns but unless you see the carrot there isn’t much to tell really.

Random thought, I also add mixed spice to Anzac biscuits, so you know, in many respects, these are Anzac biscuit flavoured Hot Cross Buns too.

Rhubarb and Custard Hot Cross Buns (Aldi) By @Cinabar

Following on from yesterdays look at alternative Easter treats, I found raisin free Rhubarb and Custard Hot Cross Buns in Aldi. I wasn’t particularly looking from Hot Cross Buns without raisins, I spotted an interesting flavour for review, but I’m aware some people have an aversion to the fruit, for example NLi10 who wrote yesterday’s blog post.
These Rhubarb and Custard Hot Cross Buns do have some fruit in them though, as they have pieces of rhubarb baked in.

The insides are also quite yellow, presumably from the custard. The flavour though is milder than I expected, and the hot cross bun spices gives these a similar flavour to regular hot cross buns. I guess this is both good and bad, they keep there classical taste, but stayed cautious on the new variant. The rhubarb is probably the more dominant of the new flavours adding a pleasing hint of sharpness, the custard just comes across as buttery and sweet, which is fine in the context. These were purchased with novelty in mind and they are delicate enough not to offend, but I would have preferred some sharper acidic rhubarb flavours. As a side effect I also now have the theme tune from the classic cartoon Rhubarb and Custard stuck in my head… this wouldn’t have happened if I’d bought the Salted Caramel ones!

Not Cross Buns (no fruit! just chocolate) M&S (By @NLi10)

As long-time readers will be aware - I'm not a fan of raisins and sultanas.  My partner is aware of this too so picked up some Salted Caramel & Chocolate Hot Cross Buns.  To share.

These are fruit free (yay!) and still contain the usual bits you'd expect so they taste like hot cross buns, and even look like them.  Just with yummy chocolate sweetness instead of odd bitter fruit.

See - they look like the real thing.

You can even see the bits inside!

You can slice and butter them too - is this what people do with them normally - i've no idea!

It says not to toast them though as I think they may melt and go wrong.

So yes - they are basically festive Brioche - but I can eat them and join in the stodgy goodness.  And I know it's not Easter for a bit yet, but I figured if I share it now a few more people who don't like the original configuration may be able to seek them out in time.

I really enjoyed them!

Heston - Ginger & Acacia Honey Hot Cross Buns (@Waitrose) [By @Cinabar]

I was actually in Waitrose looking for some new Saffron Buns, which I’d seen advertised recently, when a new creation from Heston caught my eye. The easter goodies get earlier and earlier as I’m sure I say every year, but I can’t resist Hot Cross Buns, and a new flavour too meant I just had to pick them up. Last year we had Earl Grey and Mandarin Hot Cross Buns from the culinary creative man, but this year’s special from him is ginger and acacia honey.
As per last years Hot Cross Buns, you can’t help but notice the size of these. When split they barely fit in the toaster, a toaster which was specially purchased for its extra wide setting and ability to toast bagels etc. I love that the buns are so substantial, it makes them feel like a proper treat.
When they were cooking away there was a lovely pleasant smell from the toaster, Spectre likened it to incense, as they had a fragrant warming air to them. They didn’t burn, honest, the aroma was just from heating them up!
I chose to have mine plain with just a little butter, so I could fully appreciate the taste of the bun. The first thing to note was that it did taste very much like a Hot Cross Bun, and the strong incense smell had disappeared. There were the usual background seasonal spices, and plenty of fruit packed in their too. What came with it was an extra edge from the ginger, mellowed by a lovely sweetness from the honey. The flavours mingled together well and left us with a nice hint of zingy candied ginger brining out the rest of the Hot Cross Buns flavours. They were yummy, and I’ll certainly being buying them again.
For the record I did also find the Saffron Buns I had been looking for, but somehow this took preference when it came to deciding what to have first from the Foodstuff Finds cupboard.

By Cinabar

Heston: Earl Grey And Mandarin Hot Cross Buns (Waitrose) [By @Cinabar]

Oh Heston, I do love your creativity. I know we don’t always agree about the end results, but your sense of foodie adventure always makes me smile. His new twist is on the seasonal Hot Cross Bun, where he has jazzed it up by adding mandarin and earl grey tea. This isn’t as weird as you might think. In Japan green tea is used to flavour all sorts of foods, and if you ever get the chance to try Green Tea Matcha Chiffon cake, for goodness sake do – it’s one of the greatest cakes known to man!
Anyway when the packaging came off these buns, the aroma of early grey lingered around them like there was a freshly brewed pot of tea lurking. Although you can’t tell from the picture the hot cross buns are almost twice as thick as any I’ve seen before and even when split our (bagel safe) toaster only just managed to squeeze them in. I only very lightly toast hot cross buns, but do like the flavour of them gently grilled. I added lashings of butter and tucked in. The flavour was quite different to what I had been expecting. The earl grey had died down and left a slight lemony bergamot flavour. The mandarin shone through really enhancing the other citrus tastes, and made these absolutely divine. It’s such a clever fragrant flavour, and it is so well balanced. The usual spices and raisins are still present and it complements them perfectly. If you have a sweet tooth you might be a little disappointed as these buns are more on the mature zesty side, but I still loved them. To say they are quite thick, they felt firm then melted in the mouth and tasted remarkable light. These buns are pure heaven, and I think they are some of the best hot cross buns I’ve ever tasted. Heston has tinkered with the regular hot cross bun flavour very mildly but the results are pure magic.

By Cinabar