Staff writer
Herald Sun
April 08, 2014
Traditionally baked (click here) — and eaten — on Good Friday, the spiced, sweet
bun marked with a cross has been progressively shorn of its religious
meaning by our secular society, though arguably hot cross buns have
never been more popular.
Whether enjoyed hot straight from the bakery or toasted and slathered in butter; warmed in the oven at home or straight from the pack, a hot cross bun remains a special treat.
To help decide which bun is best for you, we gathered a small panel to blind taste a baker’s dozen made up of supermarket favourites and those from artisan bakeries.
The panel comprised William Angliss Institute bakery teacher Brendan Carter, Herald Sun food writerDan Stock, director of The Food Purveyor Nicole Newman, and her daughter Charlotte, aged 10.
The panel judged each bun on appearance (including its presentation, crust colour, spring, general character and texture) aroma and flavour and marked it from A to F.
“A winning hot cross bun must have a good amount of volume, but not be too dense, have a good amount of fruit and a prominent cross that won’t fall off when you cut into the bun,” Brendan says.
Whether enjoyed hot straight from the bakery or toasted and slathered in butter; warmed in the oven at home or straight from the pack, a hot cross bun remains a special treat.
To help decide which bun is best for you, we gathered a small panel to blind taste a baker’s dozen made up of supermarket favourites and those from artisan bakeries.
The panel comprised William Angliss Institute bakery teacher Brendan Carter, Herald Sun food writerDan Stock, director of The Food Purveyor Nicole Newman, and her daughter Charlotte, aged 10.
The panel judged each bun on appearance (including its presentation, crust colour, spring, general character and texture) aroma and flavour and marked it from A to F.
“A winning hot cross bun must have a good amount of volume, but not be too dense, have a good amount of fruit and a prominent cross that won’t fall off when you cut into the bun,” Brendan says.
