The Ultimate Hot Cross Bun?

[Krys]

It is time for the annual hot cross bun hunt.

I may have had the ultimate hot cross bun today, but it had a real edge because it was hot from the oven. It in no way matched anything I want out of a hot cross bun so I may need to rethink what the perfect bun is.

I have tried this year …

Bear Claw Bakery

Hot from the oven, the fluffy biscuit like bun had a thin spread of white icing, A thick piping of custard formed the cross. The custard was warm too. There was a restrained use of fruit, a good thing.

Palo Alto Baking Company

Glaze on top and pineapple cross (points off). Nice bun. It was a dense bun filled with regular raisins, golden raisins, and finely chopped orange rind and citron which added flavor without being obnoxious. I enjoyed it very much despite the pineapple.

My requirements:

Yeasty bun. MUST have white icing cross. I like raisins, I’m not crazy about candied fruit.

Location:
Anywhere from Sonoma to Santa Cruz. Have hot cross bun, will travel.

I have not tried the following yet. Has anyone tried these? Do you have other suggestions?

Masa’s, Acme, Delange, Arizmendi, Emporio Rulli, Fierelli’s, Gayle's Bakery.

Does Bouchon have hot cross buns?

There was a mention that June Taylor made them one year at Ferry Plaza as well as Downtown Bakery. Has anyone spotted them this year?

Last year someone mentioned:

”The Village Bakery in Sebastopol in Sonoma County bakes them nicely with a yeast dough and a hint of cardamom, raisins, and a light white confectioner's icing cross on top for $2.25 each.”

My favorites so far:

Boudin made the perfect hot cross bun. Last year they fooled with it and wrapped them individually in plastic. They were still good, but not AS good.

I like Virginia Bakery’s version.

Rejected hot cross buns include:

The supermarket types that usually have a tasteless bun, too much cnndied fruit and not enough raisins and … shudder … a pineapple topping. So that covers Creighton's, Shuberts, Eppler's, and Neldham's. I don’t know about Creighten’s since the ownership change.

Whole Foods - Don’t remember why. Just didn’t like them.

Liberty Cafe's version and it was just ok. The bun was a little dry. They do a non traditional custard type topping which was very good

Miette

The worst I have ever had. As often is the case with Miette, looks 10 taste zero. The were golden and plump with a deep cross cut in the top and filled with, my favorite, white icing. Dry, stale tasting and they used rye flour. The less than generous currents were tasteless. The icing was ok. Had to buy 4 at a stiff $6.Took a few bites and threw the rest away.

I’m not sure about Pinole’s Bear Claw Bakery. I think anything hot from the oven just has too much of an advantage. Will need to try it cold. Bear Claw has this odd thing about their pastry, it is very tasty, but it has a texture that reminds me of the Pillsbury refrigerated cinnamon rolls.

Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions.

[Gary Soup]

Victoria Bakery in North Beach makes them seasonally, and has fans who make sure some are reserved for them. Not being a HCB fan or a fan of sweets in general, I have no idea how good they are.

Link: http://eatingchinese.org

[Krys]

Thanks Gary. The owner of Fiorini in Sonoma was a part owner of Victoria Pastry for over 20 years. I was wondering if Victoria Pastry also carried hot cross buns.

Victoria Bakery imports this wonderful pannetoni-like Easter Bread called Columba. Fiorini will be baking it fresh this year as well as another Easter bread I've never tried called Buccalatto.

[debby]

Dianda's on Mission between 24th & 25th Strrets (closer to 25th) in San Francisco has a sign in the window saying they have fresh hot cross buns. I haven't tried them so can't report. Probably not worth a trip but if you are in the area...

I do have a question. I have not had many hot cross buns (I'm usually eating Matzah around that time of year) but pineapple??? I've never heard of such a thing. Is it common? or regional? Just sounds strange and rather icky.

Good luck with your search.

[Krys]

Well, if you like pannetone, it is basically the same thing in a bun size ... a sweet bread with some raisins and candied fruit.

This bun has origins dating back to the ancient Greeks. I posted the history of it on the General board with a link below.

I'll bet few people know that the pretzel got it's start as a Lenten bread. Info on that is in the link on the general board.

The only thing icky about hot cross buns is if you buy them from safeway. Here's a link to the recipe. Nothing scary in it. It's just a sweet bun with fruit, hopefully not candied fruit and only raisins.

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/easter/hotcrossbuns.htm

Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...

[Krys]

I forgot. Thanks for the tip on Dianda's. Link below has picture of hot cross buns.

Link: http://www.deweys.com/Product.aspx?Ca...

[debby]

I'm sorry. I wasn't being clear. It's the pineapple part I found strange, not the buns themselves. I know what they are and have had some I just never heard of them having pineapple on top and found it odd. As I said, I'm not an expert by any means so this could just be a common variation of which I'm not aware.

[Krys]

No, you were clear. I gotta stop reading the boards late at night. Whew, I went through all that. LOL.

When I moved here from the East Coast, it seemed that all the hot cross buns had a pineapple cross rather than the white icing. You'll see a lot of that in supermarkets like Safeway. I don't know why that is ... closer proximity to Hawaii?

Anyway, I think the white icing tastes better with the bun.

Eh, I wanted to talk about pretels anyway. I seem to be going to a chowish church where there is some food info every week. I always thought of pretzels as being a Jewish food so it surprised me.

The food thing at this church is quite funny to me. We have a new priest and at the bottom of his bio, he listed his food and wine preferences ...
Favorite Cuisine: Indian, Italian and French
Favorite Drink: Good Red Wine (especially Merlot)

Well, the church is around the corner from Swish, that wine shop I posted about, so he should be pleased.

[debby]

Thanks for your efforts. The posts are interesting & informative. I think I knew about the pretzel shape but I always thought they had German religious origins. The Hot Cross Bun origin info was entirely new to me.

I'm going to try to get a HCB at Dianda's and report back. It is the least I can do after your hard work.

Sounds like you could have some interesting sermons at your Church.

[debby]

Tried a HCB at Dianda's. It was similar to panettone but moister. It contained raisins & candied fruit with a custard cross. The top of the custard was dried out. I thought it was fine (although as I've said, I'm no expert) but not worth a trip.

I noticed at the Ferry Plaza this past Saturday that Downtown Bakery had HCBs with icing crosses and Noe Valley Bakery had them also but I'm not sure what was on top. They looked more like scones to me.

[Krys]

Thanks for reporting the taste test and the heads up about the Ferry Plaza. It's time I made it down there.

[christinet]

Hey Krys,
Was in Schuberts Bakery on Clement (happened upon parking space in front---first time there in many years) and had some of their hot cross buns (I too spend too much time in search each year)--which were very good and very reasonable in price. Also tried their "coffee roll" which was way too dry. They were out of many other items, like ham and cheese croissant which is rumored to be good, but I understand they make about six a day only. Anyway, will work my way across bay area (usually enjoy the ones from Sweet Things/think that's the name of the Bakery in Calmart; and hate the lauded ones from Liberty Cafe on Cortland with the "filling") and compare/comment vs. your notes. THANKS!!

[Krys]

Here's what Roberto and I have shared so far ...

La Farine

My first visit there. The hot cross bun had a nice white icing cross and it was a delicous raisin roll, yeasty and full of raisin, but it was not a hot cross bun. There was some sort of odd spice for a hot cross bun. Although there was no visible citron, it was almost like it had the essense of candied fruit ... or mild cloves. Just couldn't identify it.

Finally had a piece of the famous morning bun and yes that WAS very nice. Nice seeded baguette, but I think Arizmundi is still my favorite. Didn't think the croissant was so special. Not crisp enough. A little too airy inside. Nice butter though. Roberto finished this off. Just wasn't worth the calories for me.

Masse's

If the white icing cross was any thinner, it would be invisible. I didn't like the sticky glaze. The bun itself had a nice mix of citron and raisins, but was a little dry. Would not buy it again.

This was another first for me. My goodness, Masse's croissant was spectacular. Roberto did not get one crumb. Wonderful crisp outer layers, each layer a buttery wonder. The inside, dense and buttery. So good, so good. All that satisfying fat, it was the only thing I ate today besides the piece of hot cross bun and I am full and happy. Definately worth the calories. They also had spectacular looking individual caramel tarts.

Virginia Bakery

Two types of crosses - lemon and custard. Light white sugar glaze. Despite my prejudice against crosses other than white icing, Virgina Bakery is still my second favorite hot cross bun ... hot cross bun classic almost. The lemon worked with the bun. I'm growing fond of custard crosses. It was hard to only have a taste of both of these. I glanced in Roberto's direction in envy as he polished off the two buns.

[Caitlin McGrath]

House of Bread in Fremont will have hot cross buns Easter weekend (Fri-Sun). I'm not sure they're what you want, given the description from their web site: Challah dough with dried apricots, raisins, and cranberries. Looks like a white icing cross.

I've never had anything from this bakery, just stumbled across the mention and thought I'd give you a heads up.

If you do get there, I'd be curious to know how their goods are. The web site is very complete.

Link: http://www.houseofbreadcbi.com/index....

[Krys]

Ok, Boudin just ruined the perfect hot cross bun. They tried last year. This year they suceeded.

They turned what was the hot cross bun classic ... perfect in every way, to a bun I now rate below Safeway and barely above Miette.

Again this year they put it in a a paper cupcake holder. Then they replaced the white icing cross with custard ... I still have hope ... I'm getting fond of that custard cross.

But it is awful custard. The texture of the bun is like raw bread dough (although it is cooked). The candied fruit is a horror, unaturally culored and having all the horrible flavor that is bad about candied fruit. The red ... I don't know what it is, has the color of some of of those types of Chinese pork ... that intense red. The green candied fruit dyed the bun dough all around it. Too much fruit to raisin ... and the raisins were chopped. NO. NO. NO.

[Charlie]

Try Victoria Bakery in the shopping center off Sir Francis Drake in Corte Madera (next to Mollie Stone). Yeast buns, nice cardamom flavor, citron (not too heavy). You may not like the cross which is custardy (but I like it and prefer it to the common confectioners sugar). Buns are $2.25 this year.

[Krys]

Charlie,

Thanks so much for your post. You are dead on describing that hot cross bun. I liked it very much and have grown quite fond the the custard cross this year.

However, it is still not the bun of my dreams ... the departed Boudin bun (they changed it) ... it is a little large and I like an unglazed top. It is high on my list though, so thanks.

Also, didn't know that Victoria Pastry had an outpost in this area which outshines the San Francisco location ... and there's parking ... tons of parking.

Found a special once a year St. Josephs Day pastry this morning there (see link below) and all their house made Easter eggs were lined up on the shelves. AND ... thier house coffee is Grafeo, could this get any better.

They will also be baking a special Easter Bread next week - La Columba. I tried the one they imported from Italy a few years ago and loved it. I wonder what the house baked one will taste like. It is like an Easter Pannetone.

Nice to know there is a Mollie Stones near me and it looks WONDERFUL ... and, uh, again better than SF ... although this is just speculation as I didn't have time to stop.

Any thoughts on Fifi's Diner next to Victoria Pastry? Any good breakfast? There was a mention when I googled that they made good burgers.

How about these other two places in the Bon Air plaza

Café Z Epicerie (Freshly prepared European-style café food for breakfast, lunch & dinner)

RoadRunner Burrito (Nutritious, delicious Southwestern flavors for people who want to stay fit)

Need healty and fit after today's donut from Victoria Pastry.

But everything was great. I found all the stores I travel all over the Bay to to get to like Nordstrom and Restoration Hardware and David Braun, etc, etc ... I see no reason to visit Walnut Creek again ... AND there's parking.

Well, if it hadn't been for your hot cross bun post, would never have found all of this. You never know. Thanks again.

Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...

[Krys]

I guess I’m not such a traditionalist after all. This bun is fragrant with spice and yeastiness.

Wonderful texture and taste with mainly white chopped raisins and restrained use of Rulli’s candied fruit ... the only candied fruit I have ever liked. I like it so much, they could have loaded the bun with it. It had a glaze of white icing, which I am also starting to grow fond of. Unidentifiable cross. Could be custard added prior to baking. Doesn’t matter. Love this bun. You know, perhaps better than hot cross bun classic.

Given next week is Easter, this will be my Easter bun unless I visually see one in the next week that looks what I was originally was looking for.

[Melanie Wong]

Saturday night I had dinner at the restaurant next door to The Chestnut Bakery in SF. I had some time beforehand to browse the bakery case and saw hot cross buns there. Didn't try 'em - these have a custard cross and a glazed top.

A couple weeks ago I tried Delanghe's. This has an icing cross, lots of citron fruit, no pineapple, and seems to be made with a high proportion of dark flour (rye, whole wheat?). The bun was very moist, almost chewy in texture, with a heft to it. This was the first HCB I've had in years!

[christinet]

Krys,
Believe you are single-handedly (with a tad bit of help from some of the rest of us) re-invigorating the HCB throughout the Bay Area! Will check out ER tomorrow ---also agree with Melanie that Delange has a very good version and he makes his own citron, similar to ER , which is one of the keys. Also, did you get to try the ones (esp. good fresh in early am) from Cal mart's Sweet Things Bakery on California? Have a wonderful Easter holiday and eat up before they disappear for another year!
Christine

[JOHNFAGUNDES]

Try Schubert's on Clement @6th--the very best. The baker is from Fantasia, for those who remember what is irreplaceable. These are light, fragrant and unbelievably good