While they can usually be found all year round, nothing screams “Easter is fast approaching” like an abundance of hot cross buns in all the retail stores!
That sweetly spiced baked dough smell is so reminiscent of Easter, and so is that characteristically spicy fruited taste we all love so much when it comes to hot cross buns. But how high do we hold our favourite store-bought hot cross buns?
We put five traditional hot cross buns from different retailers to the Food24 Taste Test to see which brands brought that perfectly fruited spice and which left us wanting more.
The hot cross buns were served straight out of the package with butter and were all judged according to the same criteria – spice, the amount of fruit (in some cases, the obvious lack thereof), freshness and, of course, the overall enjoyment that accompanies each bite!
With three brands tying for the first spot, the results were extremely close, and the tasting panel was sadly left wanting more as the highest score obtained was an average 3 out of 5. It is safe to say the tasters were noticeably underwhelmed by the selection of hot cross buns available in stores today.
Results:
SPAR hot cross buns 3/5
While tasters enjoyed the amount of fruit in this sample, it lacked spice. A theme that seemed to be evident throughout this taste test, it was the main factor that impacted each sample’s overall score.
Here is what tasters had to say: “This sample had the perfect balance of fruit and bun, however, I need more spice, people!!” and “This sample was pretty average. Spice was subtle and there was an adequate amount of fruit.”
Cost: R19.99 (Purchased from the Spar in Sea Point, Cape Town)
Checkers traditional hot cross buns 3/5
This sample was praised for the generous amount of fruit it had in each hot cross bun. It was the only sample with a noticeable amount of candied citrus peel, but it too lacked spice!
Tasters left comments like this: “This was like bread with some raisins,” and “You can see both the raisins and candied citrus peel – delish. Only negative, it was a tiny bit dry and subtle on the spice front.”
Food Lover’s Market traditional hot cross buns 3/5
While this sample had a good amount of raisins, something the tasters marked favourably, it too lacked spice and some tasters found the sample dry.
Here is what tasters had to say: “I feel cheated! Where is the spice? This tastes like the last slice from a dry raisin loaf,” and “Another dry sample. I couldn’t taste much spice in this one and it didn’t make me want to have another bite.”
Cost: R18.99 (Purchased from the Food Lovers Market in Roeland Street, Cape Town)
Pick n Pay traditional hot cross buns 2.5/5
This sample lost points because tasters felt it lacked spice and was also more on the dry side.
Tasters left comments like this: “It just tasted like bread, there was no spice really, only a slightly spiced aftertaste at the end,” and “Has a stale smell to it, not too bad on the taste and texture, but… NEEDS SPICE!”
Cost: R33.99
Woolworths traditional hot cross buns 2/5
Tasters felt this sample too lacked on the spice front, noting it was more reminiscent of a regular bread, leaving tasters feeling a little underwhelmed overall.
Here is what tasters had to say: “It’s a bread roll in disguise. Nothing hot cross bunny about this,” and “Tastes like bread,” and “Soft in texture and more than enough raisins, however I repeat…WHERE IS THE SPICE, PEOPLE!?”
Cost: R35.99
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The rules of Food24 Taste Tests:
– All tasters tasted and scored all samples. Each individual taster’s preference impacts the score they give.
– The samples were tested without packaging and were not easily identifiable.
– The samples were not labelled and were tasted in random order.
– This article is not sponsored in any way, and Food24 was not paid to come to any particular result.
Our taste tests are always unbiased and intended for your information. You may, however, have come to this article through various paid-for advertising.