Best hot cross buns for Easter 2015
Easter wouldn't be the same without a hot cross bun – but which ones are worth your money?
Easter is almost upon us, and for many of us food will be at the heart of our celebrations. While the holiday is now synonymous with chocolate eggs, the hot cross bun is a far older Easter treat, dating back to the 1500s. With Marks & Spencer alone set to shift 40 million buns over the Easter period, the nation still clearly has an appetite for the spiced fruit delicacy – so which hot cross buns should you be looking out for this year?
For many newspapers, Easter means one thing – taste tests – and the Mirror is no exception. For its tester, the Co-op's hot cross buns offered the best price/quality ratio on the market, while Asda's freshly baked version came in second.
The Daily Mail went down a similar route, and most of their winners were distinctly non-traditional choices. Tesco's and Marks & Spencer's fudge and chocolate buns both ended up with top marks, with Morrisons' chocolate buns voted best for kids. The only traditional offerings to get the coveted five out of five were Waitrose and Marks & Spencer, both complimented on their rich fruit flavours.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
If raisins and allspice are your idea of food hell, never fear - there is no shortage of eccentric variations on the traditional hot cross bun available in stores this Easter. Heston Blumenthal 's Easter contribution to his Waitrose range is an Acacia honey and ginger bun, which seems quite restrained by his standards. For the more adventurous, Duck and Waffle chef Tom Cenci has shared his recipe for moreish Nutella and peanut butter buns with Metro for you to try at home.
The Telegraph didn't assign scores to the hot cross buns it tested this year, but their reviewer had high praise for Tesco's apple and cinnamon buns, ideal if you fancy a fresh, fruity break from sultanas. Also singled out for special mention were Waitrose's date and cranberry offerings, which testers lauded as 'pleasingly squidgy'.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The Spanish cop, 20 million euros and 13 tonnes of cocaine
In the Spotlight Óscar Sánchez Gil, Chief Inspector of Spain's Economic and Tax Crimes Unit, has been arrested for drug trafficking
By The Week UK Published
-
5 hilarious cartoons about the rise and fall of Matt Gaetz
Cartoons Artists take on age brackets, backbiting, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The future of X
Talking Point Trump's ascendancy is reviving the platform's coffers, whether or not a merger is on the cards
By The Week UK Published
-
The Count of Monte Cristo review: 'indecently spectacular' adaptation
The Week Recommends Dumas's classic 19th-century novel is once again given new life in this 'fast-moving' film
By The Week UK Published
-
Death of England: Closing Time review – 'bold, brash reflection on racism'
The Week Recommends The final part of this trilogy deftly explores rising political tensions across the country
By The Week UK Published
-
Sing Sing review: prison drama bursts with 'charm, energy and optimism'
The Week Recommends Colman Domingo plays a real-life prisoner in a performance likely to be an Oscars shoo-in
By The Week UK Published
-
Kaos review: comic retelling of Greek mythology starring Jeff Goldblum
The Week Recommends The new series captures audiences as it 'never takes itself too seriously'
By The Week UK Published
-
Blink Twice review: a 'stylish and savage' black comedy thriller
The Week Recommends Channing Tatum and Naomi Ackie stun in this film on the hedonistic rich directed by Zoë Kravitz
By The Week UK Published
-
Shifters review: 'beautiful' new romantic comedy offers 'bittersweet tenderness'
The Week Recommends The 'inventive, emotionally astute writing' leaves audiences gripped throughout
By The Week UK Published
-
How to do F1: British Grand Prix 2025
The Week Recommends One of the biggest events of the motorsports calendar is back and better than ever
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published
-
Twisters review: 'warm-blooded' film explores dangerous weather
The Week Recommends The film, focusing on 'tornado wranglers', stars Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell
By The Week UK Published