When it comes to supermarket hot cross buns, it’s best to stick to tradition, a blind taste test organised by consumer group Choice has found.
Overall, traditionally flavoured hot cross buns scored far more favourably than the upstart chocolate chip variety, while gluten-free options left judges with a bad taste in their mouths.
Three experts with combined experience in baking and judging culinary competitions – Adam Moore, Brigid Treloar and Anneka Manning – chewed their way through 21 hot cross buns sourced from Coles, Woolworths, Aldi, Costco, IGA and Bakers Delight.
In the blind taste test, each bun was assessed for flavour, appearance, aroma and texture, plus its nutritional content, then given a score out of 100. “Taste testing is 90% of the score and 10% is nutrition,” Shadia Djakovic of Choice said. “[Nutrition] isn’t that important when it comes to hot cross buns; consumers don’t really care.”
The race to first place was “a battle of the brands”, Djakovic said. Woolworths earned top marks with a 75% score for its Traditional Fruit Hot Cross Buns, while Coles came a close second at 72% – also for its Traditional Fruit Hot Cross Buns.
Djakovic said the results are good news for budget-minded customers. At 67c per bun, the top scorers had a clear advantage over the third-placed Woolworths Luxurious Richly Fruited Hot Cross Buns, which are almost twice the price at $1.25 per bun and received a score of 61%.
Though Easter buns remain affordable, prices have increased from last year, according to Djakovic. Buns have gone up by an average of 10c per bun, while packs have increased by 50c.
Overall the chocolate chip varieties failed to impress the judges, who found them drier and more artificially flavoured, Djakovic said. The top-rated batch was Aldi’s Bakers Life Chocolate Hot Cross Buns, with a score of 57% and a price of 58c per bun.
Manning, the founder of baking school BakeClub, who participated in the judging process said: “We had high hopes for the chocolate ones and they just didn’t deliver. They were just mediocre really.”
Worse still were the gluten-free options, where the highest score was a paltry 35%. Manning was particularly disheartened by those scores. “Gluten-free eating is hard enough, and if you can’t enjoy something as simple as a hot cross bun at Easter, it’s sad,” she said.
Overall, Manning said she was not thrilled by the quality. However, the top-scoring options, “were good supermarket-quality hot cross buns. They were pleasant to eat.”
“For the price they are … it’s not bad value really. You’re not going to be able to make them at home at that price.”
Choice conducts its hot cross bun taste test annually, but this year there was a change to the format, with judges trying the buns toasted as well as fresh for the first time.
Buns were sliced in half and placed under the grill in a hot oven so they could brown without being squashed – the “best way” to toast hot cross buns, said Djakovic.
For Manning, the toasting was decisive: “Some buns that were quite stale really were revived with the toasting.” The judges ate the toasted buns without butter so they could gauge each bun’s moisture level, with some ending up very dry, she said.
“In some cases it brought out the good, better flavour … [and] texture. But in others, if there were artificial flavours, it made them even more so. It brought out the bad characteristics too.”
Djakovic said one bun, curiously, did not take on any colour during toasting. Manning was puzzled by the bun’s refusal to brown. “I asked if it had been in the oven for the same amount of time as the others.” It had.
She said factors such as shelf life, yeast type and economy of ingredients mean no supermarket hot cross bun is likely to match a homemade equivalent in terms of flavour. When making buns at home, fruits might be lovingly presoaked then drained; a home cook might use more and better quality spices.
But with proving and kneading the dough, then shaping , buns are labour intensive. “They’re not like a cake, where you just pour in the batter,” Manning said. “And [when making them at home] you’re not going to be able to eat them as quickly either.
“With a hot cross bun, you’re going to get that warming spice, a bun that’s not too sweet and great with butter if you prefer it that way.”
In the taste test, “the ones that came out on top were good examples”, she said. Especially when they’re toasted.
