How to hack your hot cross buns and where to find Canberra's best Easter treats

No longer are they a special treat reserved for this extra long weekend that actually marks a religious occasion; really, they've become nothing but an everyday baked treat.

But there's nothing everyday about these hacks I tried. Desserts, chocolate-loaded sugar hits, even a savoury take that surprised us all.

Don't waste the truly excellent buns on these experiments. (But read on to find out where to buy some of Canberra's best buns.) For now, grab a pack of your supermarket's finest, two packets for $6, the last time I looked, and try these.

What I did: Cut your hot cross bun in half and spread with chocolate spread. I used The No Nasties Choc Hazelnut Spread (with 50 per cent less sugar, because maybe you can have too much sugar this time of year). Place four marshmallows on the bun and smoosh it closed. I used the sandwich press for this one and toasted until the bun was golden and the marshmallows were oozy.

How it tasted: Like I was camping at Easter and settled in around a campfire. Delicious and the pick of the quick sweet hacks. Mmm, marshmallow.

Next time: Might wait til the marshmallow cools a bit. Nothing like burning your chin with gooey marshmallow drips. Might use a plain bun too. The chocolate chip one was an overkill.

Score: 7.5/10

What I did: Like a jam-filled doughnut, only chocolatey. Poke a hole in the side of the bun and pipe in melted chocolate. (Again I used the No Nasties spread, in a zip-lock bag with the corner cut out, who could be bothered melting chocolate?) Try to hide the hole for the full surprise.

How it tasted: A bit meh. Was better after I microwaved it and the chocolate inside was a bit warm.

Next time: Might try them with jam instead.

Score: 6/10

What I did: This idea came from Arnotts. I'm partial to a Tim Tam so I was hoping these would be a success. Cut the bun in half, place two biscuits on top and pop the top back on. Heated them in the oven for something different - maybe an air fryer would work? - for about 10 minutes at 160C.

How it tasted: The buns got a nice golden crisp, but the Tim Tams ended up a little burnt around the edge. To be fair, they tasted better than they looked, but even still they weren't great. A waste of a good Tim Tam.

Next time: Just eat the bun with some butter and hide the Tim Tams for later on. Maybe a different biscuit would have been better.

Score: 4/10

What I did: Was keen to cook Jamie Oliver's hot cross bun custard pudding but there was a bit too much phaffing about. So I found this simple recipe from 4 Ingredients.

Ingredients

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160C. Halve the hot-cross buns and set tops aside. Roughly chop bun bases. Set aside.

2. Whisk the eggs, sugar and cream in a large bowl until well combined. Add chopped bun bases. Stand for five minutes. Using a slotted spoon, arrange soaked bun bases in a large greased (about 4-5cm deep) baking dish. Dip the cut-side of the hot-cross bun tops into the egg mixture and arrange cross-side up in the dish. Pour the remaining egg mixture around the bun tops.

3. Loosely cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake for a further 10-15 minutes or until custard has set.

4. Decorate with small Easter Eggs, dust with icing sugar and serve.

Serves 6.

How it tasted: For a simple pudding it was rather scrumptious. The custard came together pretty well. I was a bit surprised. It looked nice in the dish too if you're out to impress.

Next time: Probably would have given it a bit more time in the oven for the custard to fully set in the middle. But didn't really matter too much because it was all soaked up by the buns.

Score: 8.5/10

What I did: I was hoping to find those cheese and Vegemite hot cross buns from Coles so I could pimp it with some egg and bacon but they were out. Saw these Special Burger Sauce ones - with pieces of pickle and cheese topping - and thought why not go the whole burger? Fried up a decent quality patty, added some lettuce, cheese and tomato, a little squirt of aioli. And voila! A bunnish burger.

How it tasted: Can an unnamed fast food chain get these on the menu? The best burger I've had in a while.

Next time: Might try it with one of those fancy brioche hot cross buns. Maybe some fried onions? With a side of fries. And extra cheese.

Score: 9.5/10

Ingredients

Method

1. Pour your milk and cream into a saucepan and bring it up to a simmer. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot.

2. Place brown sugar into a mixing bowl. Add eggs, pinch of salt, lemon zest and whisk to combine.

3. Roughly chop hot cross buns into about 3cm chunks and place into baking dish.

4. Once your cream mixture is simmering, pull off the stove and slowly whisk into your egg mixture.

5. Pour over hot cross buns chunks.

6. Leave to soak overnight in the fridge or for at least a couple of hours.

7. Preheat oven to 160 degrees, take hot cross bun dish out of fridge to return to room temperature.

8. Boil one litre of water and fill your larger ovenproof dish to create a water bath. It should be three-quarters of the way up the side of your pudding dish.

9. Tightly cover both dishes with aluminium foil to trap in steam.

10. Carefully place in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, until the pudding has just set and has a jello-like jiggle.

11. Allow to cool a little, scoop out and enjoy with your favourite ice cream.

Ingredients

Chocolate ganache:

Candied pecans:

Method

Chocolate ganache:

Place cream into saucepan and bring to a simmer. Pour over Chocolate buttons. Whisk until mixed thoroughly. Set in the fridge and allow to cool down while preparing the rest.

Candied Pecans:

Bring water, sugar and salt to the boil stirring constantly. Add pecans and coat with sugar mixture over high heat. As the water evaporates stir vigorously and with a wooden spoon, while shaking the pan gently back and forth.

The pecans will start to develop a powdery coating and dry out. Remove from heat and place in a tray or bowl to cool down. Once cool, the candied pecans can be kept at room temperature in an airtight container for weeks.

Hot cross buns:

Slice the top off of your hot cross buns to create a flat top. Slice them evenly in half again and square off the edges or use a ring cutter to create little disks. Freeze on a tray for 30 minutes.

Smear on a "healthy" amount of ganache on one side of each slice. Take care to spread evenly across the bun. Refreeze for 30 more minutes to set chocolate.

Assembly:

Quickly spoon on your ice cream on one half and sandwich on your other piece. Use the back side of the spoon to smooth out the edges so they are mostly inline with the buns. Freeze for a few hours to set.

Over medium heat-high, melt the butter until it foams and all of the water dissipates.

Place your hot cross bun sandwich into the butter and toast until the edge is brown or you can start to see the ganache loosen (too much will result in a chocolatey mess!)

Flip over and do the same to the other side.

Roll the edges in candied pecans, serve and demolish immediately.

Just in case you want to make your own, in this updated version of the traditional Easter hot cross bun from BakeClub's Anneka Manning, chunks of dark chocolate and tart dried cherries make these even more irresistible!

Ingredients

Flour paste:

Glaze:

Method

1. Put the bread flour, sugar, yeast, mixed spice, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl and mix to combine. Stir through the dried cherries and currants.

2. Heat the milk and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until the butter has just melted and the milk is lukewarm. Whisk one of the eggs with the vanilla and add to the milk mixture. Whisk to combine. Add to the dry ingredients and use a wooden spoon and then your hands to mix to a soft dough.

3. Turn onto a lightly floured bench top. Knead for eight to 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Lightly grease a clean large bowl with a little butter, add the dough and turn to coat the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, draught-free place for one hour or until doubled in size.

4. Line a large baking tray with baking paper. Punch the centre of the dough down with your fist. Turn onto a lightly floured bench top. Knead for two to three minutes or until smooth. Knead in the chocolate. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Roll each portion into a ball and place on the tray, allowing room for spreading. Cover with a damp tea towel and set aside in a warm, draught-free place for 30 minutes or until almost doubled in size.

5. Preheat the oven to 180C or 160C fan-forced. Meanwhile, make the flour paste. Combine the flour and water in a bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth. Spoon into a small plastic bag.

6. Whisk the remaining egg and brush the tops of the buns with it. Snip a small hole in the corner of the plastic bag containing the flour paste and pipe crosses on the buns.

7. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until the buns are cooked and sound hollow when tapped on the base.

8. Meanwhile, make the glaze. Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and simmer for one minute. Transfer the hot cross buns to a wire rack and brush the tops with the glaze. Serve warm, spread with butter.

Makes 12.

Baker's tips:

Dried cherries are available at selected supermarkets, delicatessens, grocery shops and specialty food stores. You can replace them with good-quality dried cranberries.

These hot cross buns are best eaten the day they are made. To freeze for up to three months, wrap in plastic wrap and seal in an airtight container. Thaw at room temperature.

Extra tip:

If your dough is sticky, it is really tempting to dust your bench top generously and to add large amounts of flour to your dough during kneading. But it is really important not to add too much extra flour as this excess will make your dough stiff and hard to knead, and your final buns heavy and dense. Make sure you only lightly dust your bench top and hands and use as little additional flour as you can while kneading. The protein in the flour will absorb much of the excess moisture during kneading anyway (it needs it to create and develop a strong gluten network) and you will find that it becomes naturally easier to handle and less sticky just through the kneading process. A softer dough at the end of kneading will mean lighter, more palatable hot cross buns.

Available in two flavours this year, traditional and chocolate rum. The rum one is loaded with dark chocolate chips and dates, finished off with a splash of rum. $5 each or $19.50 for a six-pack. Check out their topping suggestions on the website too.

The Braddon bakery's traditional "not cross buns" - there's an S, not an X piped on top - sell out fast so make sure you get into Lonsdale Street ASAP. Keep an eye out for the pop-up too. And whatever different flavours they have available this time around.

Canberra's favourite vegan baker Emily Brindley is turning her popular cinnabons into cinna-hot cross buns this year, loading them up with cranberries and orange zest. And she's going to put her traditional hot cross bun recipe up on social media too.

You've only got to take one look at Danny's Instagram feed to know they're thinking about buns. For 30 years the team has been making their huge sourdough based buns and they are vegan friendly too. Check out the "athiest bun", without the cross. Love it.

The store in Braddon is brimming with treats. Try the egg carton with four eggs with a solid chocolate quail egg rolled inside different flavourings. Think dulcey blond with biscoff crumb; caramelia milk with caramel pieces; single-origin Dominican Republic milk with hazelnut nougatine; and single-origin Grenadian dark with coconut and sour cherry.

Get out to Dairy Road and visit the workshop. For $9 grab an Easter bunny lollipop pack; three little whimsical chocolate bunnies in dark, milk and white chocolate. Perfect as a gift for the little (and not so little) ones. Limited release for the season.

A mix of milk, white and dark chocolate solid bunnies and mini eggs with natural sprinkles in a cute little box. What more could you ask for? Locally made.

sweetpeapoppy.com.au

DIY your own filled eggs with this kit expressed from down the Hume. Simply choose your chocolate base and finish products then get ready for delicious fun in the comfort of your own home.

juneelicoriceandchocolate.com

What's Easter without seafood? Try this chocolate prawn from this Sydney-based company. Available in dark, milk or rocky road. $12.

artisanalechocolate.com.au

Rush into Aldi for this limited-edition Manchester Drinks Co's Hot Cross Bun Gin Liqueur ($24.99) to spice up your Easter festivities. Infused with nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and ginger flavours, Manchester Drinks Co's Hot Cross Bun Gin Liqueur gives the rich, fruity taste of hot cross buns in a liquid form. Enjoy it over ice, with a dash of soda or with ginger ale and a slice of orange.