With Easter just a week away, supermarket shelves are stocked with an assortment of hot cross buns, traditionally eaten on Good Friday.
As is the case every year, we assembled a panel to judge a selection of the buns from major supermarket groups. They rated them on appearance, amount of fruit and spice present, texture and value for money.
This was a blind tasting and the judges were unaware of the origin of each sample.
The buns were served slightly heated and served with no butter so the true flavour could be evaluated.
The all-woman panel consisted of:
* Chef Nancy Kinyua, pastry lecturer for HTA School of Culinary Art;
* Mogau Seshoene, founder of The Lazy Makoti blog (she teaches young brides how to cook);
* Mummy Mthembu-Fawkes, a natural hair care products entrepreneur;
* Nokuthula Ledwaba, an actress who plays Dumile on the drama series Umlilo that airs on e.tv on Mondays at 9pm.
The women took to their task with enthusiasm.
In general, the panel found most buns lacked the traditional spiciness you would expect from a hot cross bun and most were lacking in fruit.
The winning bun from Woolworths had just the right mix of spice and was the most generous with the fruit.
Mummy didn’t particularly like dried fruit so she was thrilled to come across a chocolate chip bun in the mix, while the rest thought it just not right to leave out the fruit.
WINNER
Woolworth’s traditional buns, R19.95 for 6.
Nancy: A very neat bun with a good aroma and flavour with a generous amount of fruit.
Mogau: Although there is no glaze, it has the perfect balance of spice and sweetness.
Mummy: It tastes good, with more than enough fruit
Noks: This is my kind of bun, perfect in every way. I love it.
2ND PLACE
Checkers hot cross buns, R13.95 for 6.
Nancy: A very attractive neat bun with lovely glaze, but the taste is disappointing.
Mogau: A perfectly shaped bun with neat crosses but the taste does not live up to expectations.
Mummy: Looks good, but doesn’t taste good at all.
Noks: A total let-down in taste, not enough spice or fruit, very disappointing.
3RD PLACE
Pick n Pay chocolate hot cross buns, R13.95 for 6.
Nancy: The bun has a good texture but not enough chocolate to warrant calling it a chocolate bun.
Mogau: The bun has a good spicy flavour but not enough chocolate chips.
Mummy: I love the bun and for someone who doesn’t like raisins this is just perfect.
Noks: This combination just doesn’t work for me.
ALSO TESTED
Pick n Pay traditional hot cross buns, R12.95 for 6
Nancy: They looked dry, although they were well risen.
Mogau: Not sweet enough and contained very little fruit.
Mummy: Not enough fruit or spice, but a nice texture
Noks: Not enough glaze on the bun. Not enough spice or fruit.
Spar hot cross buns, R16.99 for 6
Nancy: They have an uneven shape and size and a heavy texture.
Mogau: They have a dense texture and no spicy taste at all.
Mummy: Not tasty at all. It is like eating a bread roll.
Noks: It looks like they skimped on ingredients when they made this bun.
Woolworth’s extra spicy hot cross buns, R19.95 for 6
Nancy: The texture is very heavy and the amount of fruit inconsistent.
Mogau: Good spicy flavour, but the texture is dense.
Mummy: A bit dry in texture, but the flavour is not too bad.
Noks: It has a funny aftertaste and it’s not pleasant to eat.
MAKE YOUR OWN: BAKE THESE CRANBERRY BUNS
Hot cross buns are not difficult to make and nothing beats the aroma of freshly baked bread in the house. If you don’t like cranberries replace them with the more traditional mixed dried cake fruit.
Makes 16 buns
4 x 250ml (4 cups) flour
60ml sugar
10ml salt
10g sachet of instant yeast
15ml ground cinnamon
grated rind of 1 orange
250ml buttermilk, warmed
60g butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
150g dried cranberries, roughly chopped
extra beaten egg
Crosses
125ml flour
15ml oil
warm water to mix
Glaze
50ml water
30ml sugar
a pinch of ground cinnamon
Put flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a mixing bowl. Add the cinnamon and orange rind.
Combine the buttermilk, butter and egg and mix well. Add to the flour mixture and mix to make a dough that is soft but not sticky. Use extra warm water if necessary.
Knead well until smooth and elastic. Knead in the fruit.
Put the dough in an oiled plastic bag and leave to rise in a warm place for 30-40 minutes.
Once risen, remove from bag, knead gently and divide the dough into 16 equal balls. Place side by side on a baking tray, cover with the plastic bag and leave to rise until double in size, 30-40 minutes.
Brush with beaten egg and pipe a cross over each bun. Bake at 180°C for 30-40 minutes until golden brown.
Remove from oven and brush with glaze.
Crosses: Mix flour, oil and enough warm water to make a stiff paste. Place in a piping bag fitted with a small plain, narrow nozzle.
Glaze: Boil the ingredients in a saucepan for 2-3 minutes.
The Star