London’s Best Hot Cross Buns: Easter 2022 (Episode 9)

London’s Best Hot Cross Buns – Episode 9 Next Delicious Thing

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

flavour, hot cross bun, hot cross buns, classic, nice, dried fruit, smells, bread, spicing, flor, spices, dough, bun, delicious, people, chocolate, candied, traditional, cardamom, toasted

SPEAKERS

Jennifer Earle, Edd Kimber

Hi, and welcome to Episode Nine of The Next Delicious Thing. 

I’m Jennifer Earle and I am a Food Guide and someone who eats a lot of food, basically. 

Thanks for joining me again. And this week if you’re listening on audio, it is also a video recording. Very exciting.  

This is a special episode this week because I decided to test London’s best hot cross buns with my friend Edd, Edd Kimber, who you might know as The Boy Who Bakes.  

This is unfortunately going to be released too late for you to get most of the hot cross buns, except one of our favourites: Popham’s, which is on until the end of the month.  This has been released just after Easter, so I hope you all had a lovely break and had some delicious chocolate. 

I had the most amazing egg that I bought from Gabriella Cugno. I will link to that at thenextdeliciousthing.com So you can see it in all its glory if you haven’t already seen it on my social media channels.  Although this is too late for you to enjoy the hot cross buns, I hope you’ll enjoy some of the history that we share about hot cross buns and then, at the end, I asked Edd for some tips about how he makes Hot Cross Buns. Next week, we’ll be back to normal, talking about what I’ve eaten and some random historical facts. So I hope you enjoy this episode. It’s slightly longer, but let me know what you think. And please like and subscribe!

Jennifer Earle  01:43

Welcome, everybody to Episode Nine of the next delicious thing. I am joined by Edd Kimber, which is very exciting. Our first video podcast. And today, Ed and I are going to be tasting a hot corresponds, which is probably too late for any of you to actually get to eat them. But we’re well prepared and well prepared for next year. I’m sure you know it already, but if not, he is a food writer and stylist and Baker and the author of five and soon to be six. Just cookbooks. Yes. I’m sure you’ve got at least one on your shelf. One Tin Bakes was the runaway success of the pandemic. Yeah, one good thing to come out of it!  It was an awesome book, which got people baking at home. I think people were already. 

Edd Kimber  01:99

Banana bread and sourdough, yeah. 

Jennifer Earle 

Did you have a banana bread in One Tin Bakes?

Edd Kimber  

Good question. There is a banana upside down cake in the first one with buckwheat and like a caramel upside down cake. It’s really nice. And then I think … did I do one in lockdown? I probably did a recipe for it in lockdown. But I was definitely on the sourdough train

Jennifer Earle  

You were. Your videos. I used your method to make a starter. 

Edd Kimber 

Yeah, nothing to do during early lockdown. 

Jennifer Earle  

Uh, I had plenty to do. I have a child, remember? But I still l managed to make sourdough and the bread was epic. The videos if you’re interested, if you haven’t already made somehow decide now would be the time, then check out his videos online. They’re amazing. I’ll include a link on the webpage for this at thenextdeliciousthing.com.  So this is a selection of Hot Cross Buns, which are based on the answers that Edd got for his stories – from his Instagram stories when he asked his community and then we couldn’t get one of them. But I just got some extras as well. We have seven Hot Cross Buns!

Edd Kimber  03:50

Seems like a good cross section of like the London bakery scene, some more traditional, some more inventive. Yeah, cross section cross it like we did there was a cut them in half. So they are a cross section.

Jennifer Earle  

Yes, in every way. So I don’t I don’t know if you know, but the crosses. So people think that the cross is connected to the fact that Jesus was supposedly, maybe I shouldn’t say supposedly, but was crucified on the cross. And that is why they’re served at Easter. And that’s the theory. However, you’re shaking your head. Yeah, you know, it’s not true. 

Edd Kimber  

Well, it’s funny just because a lot of Christian imagery is co-opted from paganism, or from other religious things at the time to kind of make Christianity fit into existing lives. Yes. And yeah, this is another example of it.

Jennifer Earle  04:48

This so this it’s interesting because it became so associated with Catholicism that Queen Elizabeth Yeah, the first one. Not our current one, she banned the sale of hot cross buns or buns with any kind of bread or bun with the cross on it except at funerals, Good Friday and for Christmas as well, because they were considered, yeah, “popery”, which is meaning “too Catholic”. Protestants were rising and the Puritan movement meant that we didn’t want any Catholic symbolism in England.

Edd Kimber 

That’s was probably why they’re still mainly only sold at Easter. Because if you think of like a lot of other things, they get sold for a much longer period every year. Hot Cross Buns, I mean obviously, the period is extended beyond just that week, but it’s still a very seasonal thing, you know, flavours of things appear for them every year. But the actual product is on shelves for a defined period, which is quite nice. I think.

Jennifer Earle 

A very short period. Yeah, it’s nice until you’re craving one. Yes. Fine. Yeah, that’s fine. If you’re a baker, I’ll just come to your house. Edd, I’d like some Hot Cross Buns, please. The interesting thing Yes, so what you’re saying about why because Queen Elizabeth banned them except around Christmas, Easter and funerals, it makes sense that that’s why we only see crosses on baked goods now [at Easter], but it used to be that bakers would almost always put across on their bread or their buns because that was warding off the evil spirits, apparently. People buying bread would look out for the cross in order to know that their bread was safe and less likely to go stale and mouldy.

Edd Kimber  

Interesting. I wonder if that’s why certain classic British breads like cobb loaf or that kind of thing. A lot of them would have the scoring as a cross. Yeah. And that could also be I guess it’s some of the reason, especially with comes from such a historical place, that you could easily have lost that information to history but yeah, could easily be.

Jennifer Earle  06:50

It makes sense. It’s also kind of practical as well, because you can break it more easily. It’s something like soda bread and then tear it and share it. The original tear and share bread.  So, the first hot cross bun was supposedly or it harks back to what was known as an Alban Bun based on the St Alban’s Abbey. So a monk called Brother Thomas Radcliffe, in 1361 gave out sweet yeasted buttons, so they had eggs in them as well with currants and they also had grains of paradise and cardamom. Interestingly, not spices tha, that you wouldn’t necessarily say now, but he gave them up to the poor and supposedly they’ll mark the cross which sounds like it was done quite frequently. This is some this story say that went back 1000s of years Yeah, but what’s interesting is that the… my theory when I first read that was like, Well, that makes sense. He’s kind of branding them, isn’t he? He’s like, this came from the church. So there’s your cross on the top of the bun. So when I give it to the poor, you know who’s looking after you; it’s the Brothers in the Abbey who have fed you on Good Friday.  Should we eat some? 

Edd Kimber  

Yes, let’s try some. 

Jennifer Earle  

Okay, so shall we talk let’s talk about

Edd Kimber  08:10

Let’s talk about what we’ve got. Yes. So we’ve got Bread Ahead, which will be more classic. Flor which I’m expecting to be classic ish, but with different grains and flavourings, probably 

Jennifer Earle  

They’re quite specific about their flour, aren’t they? 

Edd Kimber  

Yes, then there is Gail’s which I’m expecting to be across the road classic because they’re serving a very broad spectrum of people. And Popham’s, which is made with croissant dough scraps, so I’m intrigued by the flavour of that. And then we have this one, which is from …where’s that one from?

Jennifer Earle  

That is from Quality Chophouse. Yes. Was one of the ones recommended.

Edd Kimber  

One recommended, Yeah. And then …

Jennifer Earle  

This one has a lot of dried fruit in it.

Edd Kimber  

Yeah, there’s two in particular that are very loaded with fruit: Quality Chophouse and then Bread Ahead are the most absolutely jam packed. Some of the others are a little bit sparse, maybe. And then there is this from Toklas. 

Jennifer Earle  

Yes. 

Edd Kimber  

And that has a very strong candied peel. A very citrusy smell when you give it a little whiff. And then the most unusual is from Layla, which is not traditional in any way. It’s chocolate and candied peel. I think in there, maybe some ginger, but it’s very chocolatey smelling actually really smells like Christmas to me.

Jennifer Earle  

There’s cocoa in the dough as well. Yeah, I ate that one yesterday. Actually. Not this one. Obviously

Edd Kimber  

Not the one we’re gonna try. Yeah,

Jennifer Earle  

I got an extra one. I got an extra one. So I ate that one already and really enjoyed it so yeah, I wasn’t sure about putting chocolate in a hot cross bun. Obviously I think chocolate in everything is great. 

Edd Kimber  09:45

I think I’ve done it before but I…. from memory… It’s been a long time. I don’t often like breads flavoured with cocoa. Because the flavour is never quite strong enough. And it does have like a slightly raw cocoa powder taste. So I’m intrigued to see what it’s like. But we should butter our last…

Jennifer Earle  

Yeah, we’re gonna butter on the screen and then I’ve just realised it’s probably not ideal… I’ll hold it like this. Is that useful if I hold it like that? 

Edd Kimber  

I was gonna put it right by that mic so you could hear 

Jennifer Earle  

Oh, that’s good.

Edd Kimber  

 ASMR for you. 

Jennifer Earle  

And then for anyone watching online. So that was the Toklas bun. I’m just gonna quickly do a little show and tell to the camera. So I that was Toklas. This is Quality Chophouse nice and brown…  the cross is always flour and water, right? I haven’t made them since school.

Edd Kimber  10:53

Floor and water, or milk. Some people put a little bit of fat in there. But yeah, but generally it is always … in the UK.

Jennifer Earle  

This is the croissant topping one with made with croissant scraps from Popham’s. This is the Gail’s which was hot when I picked it up which was exciting. And this is the this is the Flor one. And that’s FL O R. And then the final one to just show again in reverse order to what we talked about before is Bread Ahead. So yeah, I thought was interesting with prices as well. So they range from Bread Ahead was £1.50 to Popham’s was £3.50 and it does have like a laminated cross on it. 

Edd Kimber  

It’s interesting because I think because so many people associate hot cross buns with supermarket packs, six for a pound kind of thing. Yeah, I think it’s probably very hard to price them at a point where they actually like, especially like Bread Ahead’s is packed full of fruit. And it’s surprising that that is the cheapest. Considering some of the other ones have much lower percentages of fruit. But you know, dried fruit, candied peel, like these things, if you’re buying good quality, not cheap. 

Jennifer Earle  

No. I couldn’t believe the Brunswick East Bakehouse stolen at Christmas was £5, and it was full of amazing almonds.

Edd Kimber  

That’s very cheap.

Jennifer Earle  

 Yeah, I think they didn’t price it correctly. I’m not sure what to tell him that because I want to buy it again next year. And the one from Toklas was 20 pounds. Yeah. And they were a similar size. And so yeah, that was interesting. Because you say like the good quality fruits… 

Edd Kimber  

And Toklas probably have a focus on that as well. Because they’re all about, you know, importing, like amazing citrus and, you know, good quality ingredients. So it wouldn’t surprise me if they’re using like, the Ferrari of dried fruit. 

Jennifer Earle  12:50

Oh, my goodness, they are I’m pretty sure they’re getting it from Daniele. I forget the name of his company, Sourdough Sophia uses his stuff as well. So and that would have been a really great I would have….

Edd Kimber  

Yeah, I just saw Sophia posting about them today.

Jennifer Earle  

Sorry Sophia. Well, next time yeah, we’ll do a review of babka or something and make sure you’re included in that.

Edd Kimber  

So interestingly, in the UK, and I think probably most Commonwealth countries, the cross is done with the flour paste. But and I don’t know if this is because they’re non traditional in this country, but in the US. I see people making it with everything but a traditional cross. 

Jennifer Earle  

Really?

Edd Kimber  

People make them with I’ve seen there’s a food blogger who makes them with pastry cream, so perhaps a pastry cream cross on. The one I see quite commonly in the ice is like a royal icing, like an icing sugar. 

Jennifer Earle  

Oh no?

Edd Kimber  

And I just yeah, I’m not 100% sure. I quite like the chew of the flour paste one. I know it’s a bit of a strange chew, but I quite like it. Yeah, no, I wouldn’t want that intense hit of sweetness from icing sugar.

Jennifer Earle  

No, I definitely wouldn’t. Yeah, I mean, that’s there’s enough from the dried fruit.

Edd Kimber  13:54

There’s someone in Australia who paints it on. I think it’s like an actually sugar paste and it kind of like paint across and it looks really pretty. But I don’t know how much extra sweetness I’ll find them. I think it might be of someone like Flour and Stone or somewhere in Melbourne. I think.

Jennifer Earle  

You know, I grew up in Australia. 

Edd Kimber  

Yes. 

Jennifer Earle  

And it was very common to have iced buns at school. So that was a very similar dough. And then with white sugar icing on top. So I quite like those too. 

Edd Kimber  

Yeah, we had those at school. 

Jennifer Earle  14:30

Yeah, finger buns they are here. I feel like maybe it’s the same thing. And there’s a lot of crossover between British and Australian  things. No lamingtons, No Cherry Ripes though…. Okay, so what should we start with? I think we should start with something traditional so maybe Bread Ahead because they’re a great bakery and they don’t they are quite classic I think and a lot of things like this because they are you know, one of their main locations is in Borough Market. I think we probably get a lot of tourists so they kind of tend to stick to classic for classics like this. We have toasted half of them by the way, so we might try them both toasted and toasted because it does change flavour. Toasted and buttered.

Edd Kimber  

So not too spiced. Quite low on the spices, but very jam packed full of fruit. Which I like. Chewier than I was expecting.

Jennifer Earle  

I kind of … I kind of expect … I don’t know why maybe it’s just the baking that I’ve experienced or because most of the ones I’ve bought have been from … I don’t know I just I associate that chewiness with with hot cross buns. But maybe I’ve been buying the wrong ones.

Edd Kimber  15:50

No, I do think there should be some chew. I mean, I’m the you know, they can often be quite dense so it’s not unusual.  I just somehow from the look of it I thought it’s gonna be… because you can kind of get those ones that are a little softer. But I this has a quite classic flavour to me. It’s very dried fruit heavy.

Jennifer Earle  

It’s much more dried fruit than spices. 

Edd Kimber  

Yeah, you can also like tell from the dough at the colour. It’s not dark. But yeah, if you’re a dried fruit fan, which I am, this is delicious. I would make a nice kind of hearty breakfast.

Jennifer Earle  

yeah, definitely. I’m less keen on the citrus. I prefer currents to citrus but that’s my preference. Pithy?

Edd Kimber  

yeah, it can be a bit bitter and a little bit almost like orange extract flavour I love candied peel kind of citrus. Gives me holiday baking, because you know you think of Christmas cake and all those things. So I like citrus but sometimes it can feel a little depends on …

Jennifer Earle  

This is actually really good I think. I think that’s why I don’t like it [citrus] because if you want to have really good quality peel it’s fantastic but so often it tastes a bit almost detergent like. 

Edd Kimber  

yeah totally 

Jennifer Earle  

I really into toasted with butter.

Edd Kimber  

Let’s try Gail’s. 

Jennifer Earle  

Ooh, there’s cranberries in this.

Edd Kimber  

Sour cherries or cranberries probably cranberries yeah

Jennifer Earle  

I’d say cranberries just based on the price. It was £2. I forgot to smell it first. 

Edd Kimber  17:25

So this is the one that I thought before we started I thought this one smelt like cheese. And I’m getting a slight cheesy flavour. 

Jennifer Earle  

Mmm! That kind of lactic …

Edd Kimber  

Yeah, I’m not a massive fan. I think might be made with cultured butter.

Jennifer Earle  

Yeah, it’s more like a like a soured milk and not in … the cranberries … maybe, it’s just the bite that I took, but the cranberries are quite dominant in this for me. 

Edd Kimber  

Yeah, I’m not getting the kind of… even though it looks very classic I’m not getting classic flavour from it. Not getting really much spice…

Jennifer Earle  

It’s a bit sweeter than the …

Edd Kimber  

Yeah, the dough is definitely softer. So if you’d like a soft dough this is, you know, slightly more tender kind of texture. But I’m personally slightly missing the classic like dried fruit flavour of a hot cross bun. It’s very pleasant. It’s just not quite giving me the same….

Jennifer Earle  18:00

It’s really smells very cheesy. I’d be so curious. I just said it was hot when I got it in freshly baked into the ovens and there’s nothing stale about it. It’s really cheesy smelling. I wonder if I mean… I feel like I’ve heard of people folding in just a tiny bit of cheese into a sweet bun butt maybe I’m making that up.

Edd Kimber  

I’d be shocked if Gail’s would do that …

Jennifer Earle  

Yeah, especiall not without telling you. 

Edd Kimber  

Yeah, but also slightly more high street, which is not criticism. They just, you know, they’re serving a lot more people they can’t be necessarily as risk taking because they have to sell a lot more of them. So they’re selling to a wider audience but I think I would be touch disappointed with that one only because they’re not giving me the flavour I wanted to. I think the texture is lovely. 

Jennifer Earle  

it’s really nice. It’s just a It’s too sweet for me for what I want from a hot cross bun.

Edd 

It’s too sweet, but also not backing it up with the other flavours. So I think sweetness is fine if you’ve got the spicing to balance all out but it’s a little bit yeah,

Jennifer Earle  

and that lacticy … I’m not vibing with that

Edd Kimber  

No. So next up is Flor. Flor’s has got a much darker colour you can tell they probably use some sort of whole wheat flour or different grains

Jennifer Earle  

They’re really soft. It feels really kind of crumby.

Edd Kimber  19:40

Yeah but soft, but also kind of with heft. 

Jennifer Earle  

Yes.

Edd Kimber  

It doesn’t feel like a you know a demure hot cross bun.

Jennifer Earle  

no, it doesn’t. It feels much more crumbly than the other two which kind of sliced in didn’t really, this look much more terrible. This smells like the ones I used to make at school. Probably like mixed spice.

Edd Kimber  

But also, it’s giving me malt. I think there’s malt in the dough. Because given me like that malt tea loaf, kind of vibe. It really has because it’s got probably got whole wheat flour on it. It’s backing up all the servers the spacing still gentle, but it’s there in this one.

Jennifer Earle  

Oh, this is so good. Yeah, it’s like beer in the bread.

Edd Kimber  

Yeah, there’s probably some malt syrup in that one.

Jennifer Earle  

This is much less chewy it’s much more soft and tear apart. 

Edd Kimber  

This is the texture that I like. 

Jennifer Earle  

It feels like you can taste like more egg in it

18:55

Yes, but you can tell it’s got … the the top of this is very dark it’s not burnt way, it’s just dark and it’s probably because it has got some sort of barley malt extract or malt syrup.

Jennifer Earle  

Malted flour maybe?

Edd Kimber  

Definitely probably malted flour. But that one’s very nice. Again, I would probably prefer a little bit more fruit. But I think it’s a very nice hot cross bun.

Jennifer Earle  

Yeah, I could I could definitely have more fruit but I don’t mind and I really enjoy the taste. This is, I think this is a sourdough. Yeah. I’m getting that sourdough tang. Not in a San Francisco sourdough kind of way, just a bit. I want to try it untoasted.

Edd Kimber  

For me, I prefer this one toasted. I mean I always almost prefer them toasted.  I think hot cross buns are just better toasted. When I was a kid I hated them toasted. Don’t why I didn’t like that

Jennifer Earle  21:09

I didn’t like them much at all as a kid.

Edd Kimber  

Really? I’ve always loved hot cross buns. I’m quite a big dried fruit fan.

Jennifer Earle  

The spicing is really good.

Edd Kimber  

I could do with more spices. I quite like a very. Yeah, 

Jennifer Earle  21:50

Maybe just compared to the other two. 

Edd Kimber  

Yeah, definitely. This one has the most spicing so far, but I still think it’s quite subtle.

Jennifer Earle  

I can taste the egg wash. I’m not a fan of egg wash, but it’s on all of them so what are you doing to do? I have also tried the Pump Street [Bakery] one this year as well. I didn’t take notes. Sorry, guys. Um, So this is the one I was excited about – this is Popham’s. So, I don’t quite know if it’s fully made with croissant scraps or there’s some actual dough in there. But the outside makes it seem like it is probably a little bit more heavy on the croissant scraps.

Edd Kimber  

So this one actually … this one smells much more like a classic … dried fruit. I can smell the spicing straight off.

Jennifer Earle  22:40

Smells buttery and eggy. Like smells like Eggy, like french toast, like cinnamon. And …we have spread butter on it. That’s gonna make it smell buttery!

Edd Kimber  

Yes, me too. This is the most spiced.  So this is the softest so far, it’s almost like not got a chew. Very, very tender. I think the flavour of that is really classic. This is what I think of…  If I was to describe the flavour of hot cross buns it would be this. Yeah, most spiced. The fruit on this one is very plump, which I like.

Jennifer Earle  

Yeah. This is lovely. 

Edd Kimber  

Oh, it’s lovely. Lovely. 

Jennifer Earle  

Most Expensive, but Yeah. If you eat it in they give you the butter. Cultured butter.

Edd Kimber  

Yeah, this is yeah, I think this is great. Oh, God, this is my favourite so far.

Jennifer Earle  

I mean, it will have the most butter in it as a dough as well. So

Edd Kimber  

It’s almost ridiculously tender. It’s kind of like it doesn’t have the chew of bread in the same way. It’s you know more along with brioche kind of super, super tender. But that is delicious. Yeah. Big fan of that one.

Jennifer Earle  

It’s really good. I mean, it’s Yeah, I think I liked the first one because I had that chew that I…

Edd Kimber  

I liked the chew in that one for sure. Yeah, I wish it had more spicing. 

Jennifer Earle  

Yeah, so this is feels texturally less like what I expect. 

Edd Kimber  

Yeah, less classic. Yeah, 

Jennifer Earle  25:03

But flavour-wise much more the plump fruit is really premium and the spicing is… 

Edd Kimber  

There’s quite a nice bit of All Spice. Yeah, it’s got a slight back kick of it. 

Jennifer Earle  

It was more cinnamonny than the Flor one.

Edd Kimber  

I think that spicing’s great. 

Jennifer Earle  

That was really good.

Edd Kimber  

So next is Quality Chop House. This was one of the ones that came recommended.

Jennifer Earle  24:21

I almost had to fight somebody for the last one. I was in the queue and I got distracted. I ran into a friend and started talking and then lost my place in the queue and then someone’s like, “Is that all you’ve got?” And I was like, “can you please save me one?” I mean, she didn’t take them all so it was fine, but I might have gotten to a scrap. I wouldn’t really. I’m a pacifist. 

Edd Kimber  

This one’s quite citrussy. I think there’s a lot more… I don’t think there are raisins in this. I think it’s all sultanas so it’s less kind of that intense sweetness or you get from raisins.

Jennifer Earle  

Feels like raisins in mine. It does become hard to identify the spices once you’ve had a few….

Edd Kimber  

This one’s a little bit more neutral. I don’t think there’s much spicing in this one really.

Jennifer Earle  

Got a great colour to it. This is buttered and this is the top, unbuttered. This is one of the ones we said had quite of fruit.

Edd Kimber  

A lot. This is packed. You know what this reminds me… reminds me more of a fruit tea cake. 

Jennifer Earle  

Yes! 

Edd Kimber  

because I don’t really get spicing from it.

Jennifer Earle  

No, I couldn’t tell if it was just because I had so much in the last one, whether that like I couldn’t tell…

Edd Kimber  25:42

There is spicing in it, but it’s on the subtle side. But this one… yeah if you’re a fan of like a really fruity iced bun or tea cake this is definitely the one because it has that classic kind of very fruity bite to it.

Jennifer Earle  

Oooh and it’s got traditional sugar syrup on top. I’d forgotten that was a thing. Because it’s sticky. It’s very nice and smells nice and like dried fruit.  Heavy. Smell of spicing. Try the top, untoasted.

Edd Kimber  

Yeah.  Yeah, this is very….

Jennifer Earle  

This is very hot cross bun-like to me. This is my favourite untoasted, I think.

Edd Kimber  

This is the first one I thought was better untoasted. You get a much better …. somehow is better untoasted.

Jennifer Earle  27:45

Yeah, that’s really bizarre. Yeah, that is this one’s really nice untoasted.

Edd Kimber  

That’s great untoasted. 

Jennifer Earle  

How interesting. 

Edd Kimber  

But I want mine toasted. So then I can have the right amount of butter

Jennifer Earle  

Yeah, with butter is better when it’s toasted.  Good if you are walking and you need to eat it without… before you get home. Eating on the road. Oh we didn’t try this one untoasted. It’s so rich and spicy. 

Edd Kimber  

yeah that’s great. I sometimes think the tradition of toasting comes from fact that often they’re a little bit dry and can be a little bit stale. this one is not stale or dry. This one that you could very happily eat toasted and get a really nice…

Jennifer Earle  

This is very briochey though. Like it’s very … I can really taste the egg.

Edd Kimber  

I like it. All though it’s a lot of butter.

Jennifer Earle  27:40

Yeah it’s less like… spicing-wise it’s very hot cross bun.

Edd Kimber 

The dough is definitely slightly richer than traditional but I’m not mad at that.

Jennifer Earle  

No. * singing hot cross buns *  Two more to go

Edd Kimber  

yes. And sugar is getting to Jen. 

Jennifer Earle  

As always. I haven’t thought of that song in so long.

Edd Kimber  

So this one is from Toklas. Yes. So Toklas: I’m expecting very citrusy just because of their obsession…

Jennifer Earle  

 I can just see currants. 

Edd Kimber  

There’s dried fruit in the bottom. I’m seeing…

Jennifer Earle  

oh yeah okay, there’s a few less than others. It doesn’t smell very strongly spiced.

Edd Kimber  

So… the texture is on point. And, unsurprisingly to me, The dried fruit is… 

Jennifer Earle  

Ooh the lemon, Wow! 

Edd Kimber  28:20

very real. It tastes… got a slight bitterness to it. It’s got a very genuine, real citrus flavour. If you like candied lemon or candied orange, this is a winner because it is very strong. If you’re not a fan of citrus in hot cross buns or candied peel, you won’t like it because it’s very very strong with delicious

Jennifer Earle  

they are the importers of the fancy Sicilian lemons, I think it is? Oh that’s really delicious. Different like I’d say that’s more like a lemon hot cross bun for me, at least.

Edd Kimber  

This feels more expensive because I can tell that like…

Jennifer Earle  

£2.50

Edd Kimber  

 Is like they’re not buying kind of candied peel in big vats, they’re making it.

Jennifer Earle  

really moist and buttery, too That is delicious. 

Edd Kimber  

Yeah. I like that one a lot. I’m big citrus person. So Jen’s admitted she hasn’t eaten as much of the others, but I have.

Jennifer Earle  29:31

I’m going back to them. I was planning … I saved a bit in case I needed to review them. That was my that was my logic. I’m definitely going to eat more.

Edd Kimber  

I mean these smell really nice. They kind of remind me of …

Jennifer Earle  

I had a strecci from Toklas. It was a very small lunch. For the amount of walking I did

Edd Kimber  

These are a little bit pannetone-esque, like a classic, very citrusy pannettone. Just in smell, not in taste. 

Jennifer Earle  

A little bit texturally as well. 

Edd Kimber  

I think these are pretty classic texture wise. They have a slight density to them; slight heft to them, but they’re tender. Also I imagine if you go into Toklas as they’re pulling these out of the oven, the smell would be incredible. Because the citrus flavour I think would just permeate the whole space.

Jennifer Earle  

Yeah, I didn’t notice that when I was in there today though. I like lots of currants. Yeah, I’m really, really really into this.

Edd Kimber  30:20

Yeah, I think that’s like almost like a special occasion one because it does feel quite different in some ways, because it’s so citrusy but it’s delicious. Yeah, big, big, big fan of that one.

Jennifer Earle  

There’s a reason this is called The Next Delicious Thing. You can’t help yourself but say that word around the things that I tell you about basically.   So now it’s just chocolate time.  I thought it was going to be a chocolate orange, but I’m kind of glad that it’s not. Though as I was saying on the radio yesterday, it’s very on trend. Awww… this smells so good. It smells like chocolate cake.

Edd Kimber  

I was saying before this one reminds me of… like, for some reason it gives me very Christmassy vibes because the chocolate, the spicing… I keep getting whiffs of ginger from it as well.

Jennifer Earle  

I like this. I mean it’s not very traditional but….

Edd Kimber  

Do you know, this would be really nice dunked in coffee?

Jennifer Earle  

It would. It does have candied orange peel in it and the raisins are soaked in Earl Grey and then the spices are cardamom, ginger and cinnamon. I was hoping to find out what chocolate but the press release doesn’t tell me.

Edd Kimber  

The one thing… 

Jennifer Earle  

I did buy all of these except this one.

Edd Kimber  30:28

I will say it’s a touch dry.

Jennifer Earle  

It was yesterday’s. Sorry, I should have said that. This is the only one I got that was made yesterday so…

Edd Kimber  

I think that’s a nice flavour, it’s definitely untraditional. I like the spicing in this one. It’s it’s probably the most aggressive, but also the most untraditional spicing, very very heavy on ginger, cardamom because normally it’s much more of that kind of rich warming spicing like mixed spice is the dominant flavour in it and most of these feel like they’re using a blend which is quite harmonious. This one feels like… I think that’s why I get the Christmas vibe from it, is it tastes, smells to me like candied ginger and chocolate. 

Jennifer Earle  

Yeah, that makes sense. 

Edd Kimber  

I think it is much more kind of like in your face spicing, which I approve of.

Jennifer Earle  

Oops. Getting crumbs on my computer. Not the first time. This is… Brother Rodcliffe though he used cardamom so maybe they…

Edd Kimber  

Fair. I like cardamom in everything so … Ask my boyfriend, he can tell you I put cardamom in everything, in way too many things.

Jennifer Earle  

It’s um… whenever you put cocoa in anything it always soaks up the moisture. So it is…

Edd Kimber  

It’s much cakier. It’s less bready and much cakier.

Jennifer Earle  33:20

Yeah, I was just going to say it does definitely have a different texture. It’s not just because it’s from yesterday.  I don’t think that’s less bready… Let’s see. I don’t know. No, it’s good though. I’m enjoying it.

Edd Kimber  

It’s nice. I think for me I want something slightly more classic. Oh yeah, I think it’s because it’s nostalgic and I grew up eating them so I would very happily eat that but it would probably not be the one I would go back and buy but that’s only because if I’m going to buy hot cross buns I’m buying because I want some sense of nostalgia.

Jennifer Earle  

Mmm… I might buy this one first just because chocolate. 

Edd Kimber  

yes, of course. 

Jennifer Earle  

but I kind of like chocolate 

Edd Kimber  

Shocker

Jennifer Earle  

Yeah, I really enjoyed this one. It’s a lot better than I expected. I wasn’t… I don’t … I like that they’ve twisted it enough. Versus just adding … I don’t think I’d enjoy just chocolate chips added to one of these other ones particularly I…

Edd Kimber  

You know they’ve thought about how to put chocolate into it and they’ve changed the flavour profile to match it.

Jennifer Earle  

Yes! Like switching up the spices for cardamom and ginger which pairs much better than allspice, I think, with chocolate.

Edd Kimber  

Yeah, allspice, mixed spice, both definitely gives you kind of more old fashioned mediaeval dried fruits, but I like that.

Jennifer Earle  35:00

Also more bitter spicing as well. So adding chocolate to that can make the whole thing just a bit earthy. I think.

Edd Kimber  

I’m going back to the one from Popham’s because I really like it.

Jennifer Earle  

Yeah, I actually really like them all. I like them all for different reasons like

Edd Kimber  

they all give a different reason for buying them

Jennifer Earle  

yeah I think the Toklas one is probably the most kind of… overall…. oh, it’s lemony. So I was going to say it’s the most kind of overall like like a traditional hot cross bun but it’s lemony so it’s not… 

Edd Kimber  

I think the one from 

Jennifer Earle  

Quality Chop House? that probably is.

Edd Kimber  

That was quite classic. The one from Bread Ahead was quite classic, although missing the spices a little bit. I think flavour-wise most classic is Popham’s. Although the dough is very non-traditional. 

Jennifer Earle  

Bread Ahead had the most, like, the dough had the chewiness that I expect.

Edd Kimber  

Also the Gail’s textures quite classic but the flavour is not quite there for me.

Jennifer Earle  

No I didn’t enjoy the cranberries in it either.

Edd Kimber  

Cranberries are difficult because they don’t have the same like depth of flavour when they’re dried. They kind of have like a slight generic sweetness.

Jennifer Earle  

Yes. And then with the dough being sweet as well yes, that was not the one for me.

Edd Kimber  

Yeah, if you like malty flavours, I would say go for the one from Flor because it has that really nice warm maltiness.

Jennifer Earle  

That was much more like toasted teacake kind of malt loaf.

Edd Kimber  

It’s Soreen. 

Jennifer Earle  

Soreen, yeah.

Edd Kimber  

It’s giving that… It’s like if Soreen wasn’t like 3000 times denser, and it’s like very light, but it gives you that same kind of warm, malty flavour. I think that would be delicious, quite aggressively toasted, because I do quite like toasting. Quite aggressively toasted with lots of butter. And this one, I think, also if you’re one of those people that like… I love a hot cross bun as a bacon sandwich and that I think …

Jennifer Earle  

Oh that would be so good. 

Edd Kimber  

I’m not a brown sauce person but that kind of tangy flavour, I think would also go really well with that.

Jennifer Earle  

Yeah the spicing and this would really lend well to savoury and the sourdough. Yeah, that’s what would make it a good sandwich as well. The fact that you can taste the sourdoughness of it.   That was only £1.80 which I was surprised, I generally find Flor quite pricey. And, you know, relative to other London bakeries. Their mince pies were one of the more expensive ones. It’s very good. 

Edd Kimber  

I also expect a lot from Flor, because I like what they do a lot. And I like their approach to things. So I have always had high expectations

Jennifer Earle  

Except giving credit to their chefs…. I think they came back from that. 

Edd Kimber  

yeah. 

Jennifer Earle  

Well, that was delicious. If you did try one of these, or one that we missed, then feel free to let us know, even though it will be too late for this year, we’d love to know. And if you’d like me to do more of these reviews, then also let me know. There’s a lot of delicious things in London and it’d be fun to compare.  If Edd won’t come back I have other friends. Or I can do it on my own. That would be fine, too. But it was definitely nice to share this because I always want to try things at the same time but it always just feels too wasteful.

Edd Kimber  

Seven hot cross buns.

Jennifer Earle  

Yeah, Felicity and I did Semlor Buns earlier in the year but then didn’t didn’t record it or didn’t do anything with it. I took notes, but that was prior to the podcast launching. So yeah, happy to do these again.  How would you make your Hot Cross Buns?

Edd Kimber  38:04

So mine are pretty classic Their a yeasted dough with eggs and butter. Not super enriched, it’s not to the level of briochey style. It has a chew. I go pretty classic. I lean heavily on mixed spice because I think to most people it gives that classic flavour and then I go heavy on inclusions. So lots and lots of dried fruit. And I kind of flip between using no peel and using peel. It kind of also depends on who I’m making them for. But over the years, I’ve done lots and lots of different ones. I just did some that had crisp bacon and dried fig. Fig and bacon, Date and bacon, one of them. And they were delicious. They have the classic flavour and texture. But then they also have the bacon and they kind of gave you that slight like fig roll slight vibes.

Jennifer Earle  

Did you consider using any bacon fat, like subbed out?

Edd Kimber  

So there was no bacon fat subbed out. But once I cooked off the bacon, everything went into the mix. So there is some bacon fat in there.  I’ve done them with chocolate, I’ve done them with whipped maple butter as a serving, which was delicious. But the ones I make for me not for work, not for writing, generally a pretty classic because it gives me the comfort and that’s nostalgia that I want. Assembling a Christmas cake, I find it really hard to write restaurant Christmas cake because I make the same one every year. Because it’s what I like. So

Jennifer Earle  

I love it, that you bake the same things over and over.

Edd Kimber  

Rarely. But there’s a few like, seasonal thing given

Jennifer Earle  

Given how much time you spend baking, to bake new things, like to rebake things, it’s quite a commitment to baking.

Edd Kimber  

But it’s also, for me, it’s those things for occasions. So, Christmas cake, mince pies, like there are certain, like, almost like family things that we make all the time. Whereas day to day. Yeah, there are some things I remake, but there’s less of those on a regular basis. I’m normally just like trying something new. But yeah, classic is the way to go for me for hot cross buns.

Jennifer Earle  

And do you soak the dried fruit first?

Edd Kimber  

Depends on where I’ve got them from. Some producers at the supermarket level are incredibly dry, and will be just bad if you don’t soak them. There are a couple of producers that make nice, plump, moist and don’t need it. So it really just depends on what’s available. But it’s always a good idea if you’re not sure. If you’re not, you know, the most confident with baking and you don’t know if they feel plump enough then soak them in hot water soaking, in some hot water and rum, some tea, whatever you want, really. 

Jennifer Earle  

Yeah,with rum. That sounds good. 

Edd Kimber  

It doesn’t need very long either. Some places soak them overnight. But generally you won’t need that long. 10-20 minutes with a hot liquid is fine. You just want them to lose that real intense dryness. Also because they tend to burn. If they’re on the outside of the bun, and they’re very dry, they will become burnt and bitter whereas if you soak them, that moisture helps protect them from burning. 

Jennifer Earle  

That makes sense. Good tip everybody. Amazing. That’s been really interesting. Thank you very much 

Edd Kimber  

my pleasure 

Jennifer Earle  

for sharing in the breaking of bread. 

Edd Kimber  

many breads 

Jennifer Earle  

many brands this Easter. Do you have plans for Easter?

Edd Kimber  

We’re going to take the dog to the beach for a day. And then we’re gonna go, we’re gonna see my brother. And just take the dog for walks. Are you making anything? No, we’re making pizza.

Jennifer Earle  

Are you making the dough? That’s still counts.

Edd Kimber  

Easter is one of the things where I know there are traditional things to eat, but I just wasn’t in the mood for it. 

Jennifer Earle  

Chocolate eggs!

Edd Kimber  

Yeah, I mean, I’ll make those but the like, the savoury side of it, like I’m not, I love lamb, but I very rarely cook at home. So it’s just something I’m not that fussed about. And we both have very busy lives. So sometimes, like something easy. I can make a pizza dough in the evening, and use it the day after, and it’s nice and low key. So we may do that. We’ll see.

Jennifer Earle  

I haven’t stopped eating. So now I’m finished. 

Edd Kimber  

Your pile of scraps have gone. 

Jennifer Earle  

Yeah. My pile of scraps have gone. I was just wanting to review. It was interesting trying them again. Yeah. Yeah, they’re also different but like, so similar. And yet they’ve all got unique bits about them. 

Edd Kimber  

More different than I was expecting to be honest. 

Jennifer Earle  

Yeah, same. Yeah. I was surprised to be able to like actually have something to talk about. No, it’s a bit like hot cross buns are often much of a muchness, but yeah, the lemon and the butteriness and the maltiness and the chewiness. They all had something that was that was in their favour, or at least distinguishable. Yeah, cool.  Thank you for joining us, and I can’t wait to talk to you again next week. By the time this comes out. You will have already had Easter. So I hope you had a good one. And yeah, maybe you’ll be able to find one of these ones, if not, I’m sure there will be more exciting bakes in our futures. Thank Thanks, guys. 

Edd Kimber  

Thanks very much.

Jennifer Earle  

Bye.