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Hot X buns

RogerS

RogerS

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And off to pastures new
It's that time of the year again and I'm partial to these. For though, sadly, all the ones that I have tried have been pretty duff. Many haven't heard of fruit or spices. Today the Telegraph have reviewed a wide range including the abominations (which nearly all got zero stars).

The only one to get a 5* rating was M&S Collection 2 Fruited Hot Cross Buns. Not cheap but then, like in all things, YGWYPF Unfortunately our local M&S closed some months ago.
 
To be fair Asda got 4 stars and was 42p per 100g rather than M&S £1.07 / 100g. That's a big premium for a star....

Cinnamon. Belongs in curry. Maybe. :cool:

When you get down south Rog you will be back in M&S country. We have 4 very good M&S food halls within 10 miles of us. Two of them also have a great cafe as well. Packed on Friday lunch times with pensioners all having fish and chips.
 
AJB Temple said:
To be fair Asda got 4 stars and was 42p per 100g rather than M&S £1.07 / 100g. That's a big premium for a star....

Cinnamon. Belongs in curry. Maybe. :cool:

When you get down south Rog you will be back in M&S country. We have 4 very good M&S food halls within 10 miles of us. Two of them also have a great cafe as well. Packed on Friday lunch times with pensioners all having fish and chips.
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Oh we do have them up here. Just few and far between.
 
I love a hot cross bun, to be honest anything with cinnamon and spices and dried fruit is a winner. Bread pudding anyone?

I think of the reasons M&S is often much more expensive is their food doesn't have as many UPFs in it. We've tried a couple of recipes but not found a great one, anyone got one they'd recommend?
 
And when you pop over the border into Tiverton, Roger, take the X22 bus which terminates at Tiverton Bus Station opposite the M&S Foodhall where we get out HXBs. :)


And I've never come across bread pudding better than my Nanna made.
 
MattS said:
.......Bread pudding anyone?.....
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Love it! My wife doesn't, and makes bread and butter pudding with any stale bread. Luckily, I know all the cafes within about 40 miles which do their own home-made bread pudding, so my summer rides are taken care of!
 
I bought some from Lidl this morning, so what score did they get?(edit 3 star)
2x4=£2.20 I tend to eat them as they come but her majesty toasts them.
A bit chewy out of the packet but perfectly reasonable to my unrefined taste.


Footnote: weighed the full packet =290g / £1.10
Note that they were cheaper than the report by 29p!
 
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Lurker said:
I bought some from Lidl this morning, so what score did they get?(edit 3 star)
2x4=£2.20 I tend to eat them as they come but her majesty toasts them.
A bit chewy out of the packet but perfectly reasonable to my unrefined taste.


Footnote: weighed the full packet =290g / £1.10
Note that they were cheaper than the report by 29p!
Click to expand...
Not sure they reviewed your exact ones

Lidl Deluxe Luxury 4 Hot Cross Buns 3*
£1.39g for 299g (48p per 100g
 
Normally I curse this type of thread which creates a craving for something I can’t get my hands on locally.
But… just had to book a flying visit back to Blighty. Leave tomorrow back Monday so I will hunt some down.
 
AJB Temple said:
When you get down south Rog you will be back in M&S country.
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My No.1 daughter who lives in Carlisle has mentioned that there's a local supermarket (Hexham maybe?) which is lot more exclusive and consequently far more expensive than M&S - Rob
 
John Brown said:
I find Mirabel plums lose their wonderful fragrant taste when cooked or made into jam. I eat them fresh off the tree...
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Occasionally we get a bumper crop if the wood pigeons leave the flowers and fruit alone so jam is the best way of preserving them, the orange really lifts the taste.


Pete
 
Mike G said:
They're actually rather easy to make yourself. Don't forget to apply Mike's Rule of Cinnamon.......(multiply the recipe quantity by 4).
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That is a typo it should say divide and the number should be at least 4 if not 8
 
Although I am going to Canada next week where they think cinnamon on porridge is ok!
 
Tesco do a new range of buns, wife is partial to the st clements orange ones. she says they have plenty of fruit in. They also do rhubarb and a chocolate version :sick:
 
Stale bread for bread pudding?
An late friend, a baker and a very kind, generous man used to sell day old baked products at half price. One afternoon an old lady asked him if he had a loaf of yesterday's bread. He replied he was sorry but all the day old stuff was gone. Oh, she said, that's a pity, could you save me a loaf of today's until tomorrow? He did.
 
Hot X buns? I'm looking forward to baking saffron cakes again ............. when I get a new oven door. I ran the wheelchair into it.
 

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I made a batch of 15 this weekend. The flour here in France is not the same stuff as we use on the UK. It is defined by its T(ype) value, which in turn is a measure of its mineral content (and is a different sytem to the Italian T system...). So T45 is plain four with a mineral content of <0.45%, T55 has around 0.55% minerals and so on. T65 is meant to be suitable for bread. The problem is that there is no direct correlation between the mineral vaue and the gluten content. Some bags of flour will list the gluten content on the bag, others don't.

Getting stuff to rise is very difficult. I was discussing it with Lesley who works in my local Intermarche. She is Franco-American, so speaks a form of English. She said that she's never had much luck with rising since she got here. I'd gone late yesterday to buy some fresh yeast. I'd tried to use a sachet and opened a brand new tub, still in date, and neither of then would froth up. The new stuff did, but it was still very slow rising. I ended up leaving them overight, which was actually a bit too long.

They stuck to the sheet a bit, which wasn't what I wanted, of course, but now everyone in the village has a taste of English Easter and I get some Brownie points.

I have to say, that although they look a bit wonkey, they taste excellent (I have one-and-a-half left...).

S
 
When you did the overnight prove Steve, did you put the dough in the fridge to retard it? French flour in my (limited) experience is unpredictable.

I'm making 48 tomorrow for a garden group visit on wednesday. Not that keen on them personally unless heavily buttered.
 
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