Easter is nearly upon us and those who have not already gorged themselves on hot cross buns will be looking forward to the treat this weekend. Rebecca Fox took a look at the offerings around Dunedin.
There is no doubt about it: making your own Easter hot cross buns is a thing of pleasure.
But for many, time and the impending holiday do not allow that luxury. Luckily bakeries and supermarket bakeries have stepped into the gap.
The Otago Daily Times decided to put their local bakeries and supermarkets to the test in an unscientific taste test.
Tasters showed an appreciation for the crafted bakery-made buns over the supermarket-produced ones, although the Countdown version ranked high for two tasters.
To hot cross bun purists out there, having the buns available since just after Christmas is just plain wrong and adding chocolate - well we will not go there.
Easter buns are a spiced sweet bun made with currants and marked with a cross on top.
Historically made in Christian countries, they were plain buns, made without dairy products, traditionally eaten hot or toasted during Lent, beginning with the evening of Shrove Tuesday to midday Good Friday.
Independent bakers show more restraint than supermarkets and bakery chains, only baking the Easter treats closer to the date.
Spelt in Roslyn bakes them only for the 28 days leading up to Easter, while Mornington's Bakers Dozen sticks to the traditional day before Good Friday and Gilberts, in Otaki St, in the two weeks preceding.
Ask any one of these bakers what makes their hot cross buns so special and none will give away their secret, saying its their special mix of fruits and spices.
All James Musk at Spelt would admit to was that it was a ''brioche''-style bun, while Kevin Gilbert at Gilberts said his were individually moulded and crossed with choux pastry, rather than a sugary icing.
Peter McCutcheon at Bakers Dozen gets out the same recipe he has used for 27 years and believes, like people's preference for pies, everyone has their favourite type.
All bake through the nights before Easter to ensure people have their supplies. Mr Musk said there was often a queue from 6am tomorrow for his buns.
The prices ranged from $3.99 for six from the supermarkets to $2.50 a bun at Gilberts (who also have a gluten-free option).
• For those wondering what happened to Goodman Fielder hot cross buns, a spokeswoman said the company was not producing them this year.
''Hot cross buns are obviously a seasonal product and the short-term production runs added a lot of complexity to our operations. We looked hard at the numbers and they didn't stack up.''
Tip Top bakery has not produced hot cross buns since 2010.
