Hersheys

[3 March] Vanilla ice cream, chocolate ice cream, Hershey’s hot cross bun. Brother-in-laws new bbq and dinner with family makes for a good time. Hot cross bun makes for good ice cream bowl cleanup. 6/5 would spend time with family again.

Volare

[5 March] Volare Hot Cross Buns, $9 for half dozen. During a work trip to Hamilton I found a bakery for lunch and had a wonderful date scone. They make their own bread locally. They also make very nice hot cross buns. There was a crash on the way home and we got diverted and then there was grass on fire in the median strip for some reason. 7/5 would travel for deliciousness again.

PaknSave

[10 March] Pak n Save generic. $3.89
Protocol: 15 seconds in a 1000W microwave, cut after heating, apply a liberal amount of non-dairy spread, eat immediately.
Alternative: ~5 minutes in a 150° oven, cut before heating, apply a liberal amount of non-dairy spread, eat immediately.
Sultanas only, 5/5 would test again.

Fruitless

[11 March] No.

M&Ms

[16 March] Hot Cross Bun M&Ms
Nick says: no good. They sux.
Mike: nice for a try, would not buy.
Steve: average.
They’re kinda just like m&ms with a bit of cinnamon. M&Ms are so well known and I’ve had so many in my life and my brain knows to expect something different, but they’re still a bit strange. 5/5 interesting at best

Wild Wheat

[23 March] Wild Wheat hot cross buns. $2 each or $10 for 6. Absolutely delicious. Their kumara sourdough is pretty good too. Well worth a drive on an early weekend morning. 8/5 would visit again if I didn’t have more places to try.

The French Bakery

[23 March] The French Bakery, $10 for 6. Smells amazing when you go in, and they take the buns right off the rack, still warm. They look a little like the ones I made last year, but are infinitely better. 8/5 yes my scoring is weird

Daily Bread

[30 March] My first stop today on a hot cross bun hunt. Daily Bread in Pt Chev, $3 each or 6 for $15. They bake them in trays and cut off however many you want. Amazing range of bread and treats. So very delicious. A little stodgy which I really like. Perfect spice and fruit. 9/5 better than I thought possible, would visit a bakery in an old bank every day if I could

Catroux

[30 March] Catroux, Westmere, $2.50 each. Not much of a cross on top, but doesn’t matter. Their buns are better than their stamping of bags. Their passionfruit meringue looked amazing with a crown of meringue. Excellent texture, some spice that I can’t figure out, lots of fruit. 8/5 build a cycleway on Garnet Rd

Bread and Butter

[30 March] Bread and Butter, Cox’s Bay, six pack for an expensive but fair price. Going to three bakeries in one morning is a sure sign of privilege. This one easily looked the best. They had giant pretzels and crusty crusty baguettes all standing in a row. When the server person got my baguette another one fell down, and when he went to put it back up they all fell down. The hot cross buns are delicious too. Look good, taste good, very light and airy. 8/5 fancy bakeries make great buns.

Ima

[10 April] Thanks to Evan who dropped off a couple of hot cross buns from Ima to my work this morning. They’ve been selling out so he hasn’t been able to pick any up before this. The buns are large and firm and dense, packed with spice and currants and peel, and the custard cross is just as good as promised. If you like your buns with some thickness, these are for you. 9/5 donations of hot cross buns welcome

Hot Cross Bagels

[10 April] These don’t deserve their own thread but I can’t put two photos in a comment on my other thread. They’re simply cinnamon and raisin bagels but someone spilt some flour and water mixture on them (in an organised way). Add a label on the bag tag and hey presto people message me about the hot cross bagels. They are nice though and only need a slathering of butter. 6/5 meh

Hot Cross Ice Cream

[10 April] Hot cross bun ice cream from countdown. It’s kinda like rum and raisin, or what I imagine rum and raisin to be, I don’t know the last time I had it. Cinnamon and raisiny bits. 7/5 variety is the spice of life

Dunnes Traditional

[16 April] Dunnes Stores Simply Better - Irish - All Butter Hot Cross Buns, 4 pack 2 for €4.

“I’ve had better” “not enough cinnamon” “kind of just a bread roll with raisins”

Family helping with reviews of Irish hot cross buns. They’re ok, disappointing for my first review in Ireland. Hoping the buns improve, same as I hope the weather improves while in Tralee. 5/5 minimum, look out for more foreign reviews soon

Unpurchased

[18 April] Unpurchased hot cross buns

Twomeys: anaemic looking, might have been good but probably not.

Your Bakery: squashed, €0.65 for 4pack. Can’t be that good.

Doing research so you don’t need to since ages ago

Dunnes Choc Orange

[19 April] Dunnes Stores
- Irish All Butter -
Belgian Chocolate and Seville Orange Hot Cross Buns
I don’t know what was up with the other Dunnes buns but these ones are really good. Nice mixture of raisins and chocolate chips, a little spice in the dough. 7/5 fancy name is not misplaced