Legend has it that a 12th century Angilican monk put the sign of the cross on buns that were baked to honor Good Friday, and that’s when the first Hot Cross Buns entered the Easter celebration scene. Every year since, these soft, yeasty, spiced and fruited buns rise up during Lent, are glorified at Easter, then disappear for another year. In Hot Cross Bun vernacular, “they are risen” is a fitting declaration of the season!
As with many holiday recipes, Hot Cross Buns have a plethora of variations. We set about to find some favorites and here are this year's Santa Rosa/Healdsburg picks (listed alphabetically):
Cavaliere's Bakery ($2.25) Santa Rosa:
Appearance: Round with lemon gel cross. Lots of fruit visible on the surface.
Texture: Yeast raised dough, a little denser than Panettone. Not as light as other hot cross buns, but density has a nice mouthfeel.
Aroma: Slightly lemony.
Characteristics: No noticeable spices. Lots of raisins and candied fruit. Good lemony flavor.
Evaluation: Lemon note is a nice highlight. Very nice!
Costeaux Bakery ($2.50) Healdsburg:
Appearance: Almost round, but slightly squarish shape. Uniform medium toasty color with satiny crust. Sweet custard-like cross with additional thin zigzaggy drizzle of sugar glaze.
Texture: Medium texture, slightly chewier than a Panettone. It was served at room temp, but would have benefited from being warmed up - a little softer that way.
Aroma: Gently sweet and yeasty.
Characteristics: Mildly sweet yeasty flavor to match aroma. White dough, richer, sweeter than bread rolls. No pronounced spice. Sparse candied fruit and raisins throughout which gives a nice, every-now-and-then burst of fruity flavor. Nice with coffee. Good dunkability, but not too long or it gets too soggy.
Evaluation: Straight-ahead, mainstream good.
Downtown Bakery* ($2.00) Healdsburg:
Appearance: Smaller than others, more rectangular. Overall darker toasty color. Cross is thick white frosting, drawn like flat overlapping ribbons.
Texture: Yeasty dough, more raised; a light and airy poof.
Aroma: Mildly sweet & spicey
Characteristics: Simple and clean. Predominant flavor is cardamom, cinnamon & possibly nutmeg. Contains currants and small bits of orange peel. Not overly sweet with a slight salty finish. Frosting cross adds a nice sweetness.
Evaluation: * This bun was Ted’s favorite this year.
(Interesting because last year the Downtown version was waaay too salty and rated the lowest on our 2015 scale. Someone musta got the message — now they are wonderful!)
Michelle Marie's ($2.75) Santa Rosa:
Appearance: Rectangular with an eggy, lemony custard cross. Medium toasty color. Raisins peeking out of shiney top crust. Texture: Soft, beigy dough (color due to more whole wheat?) Flecks of spice.
Aroma: Spicy aroma
Characteristics: Reminiscent of Christmas spices - cinnamon, clove and orange. Raisins and orange peel throughout. Not overly sweet.
Evaluation: A tasty, conventional bun.
Village Bakery ($2.75) Santa Rosa:
Appearance: Round, shiney crust with white icing cross, flecked with citrus (orange?) peel. Fruit pokes through, and slightly crisps and caramelizes on the surface when baked. Nice medium toast color.
Texture: Yeast-risen, but firmer than some of the others. Specks of spice throughout dough. Similar dough to Michelle Marie’s, but chewier.
Aroma: Yeasty and spicy.
Characteristics: Most complex spice mix (Cardamom? Coriander? Mace? Nutmeg?) and most interesting fruit mix with dried apricot, raisins, and cranberries.
Evaluation: Nice variation on the fruit. Quite enjoyed this one!
There were other bakeries we wanted to try, but honestly, we kinda OD'd on sweet dough this year, so figured we'd just have to leave those others for next year. Lookin' forward to that!
