Is it time? Is it time yet for the fluffy, sticky, cheerful and disgustingly nice hot cross buns? Is three weeks ahead indecently early, like Christmas decorations in September?
Who cares! Supermarkets certainly think it’s not too early, stacked to the rafters with squashy hot cross buns packets and newly launched bakes called ‘bunettone’ that THEY CLEARLY RIPPED OFF ME! NB my invention, bunettone, panettone style hot cross buns or hot and crossed panettone cakes were first published in 2018! I so should have trademarked it and Waitrose would now pay me royalties!
Bunettone are delightful but quite a challenge, just like panettone, but a batch of gorgeous hot cross buns? Not much effort at all, and infinitely better than anything you buy in the shops (especially Waitrose). Buying cakes, bakes and sweets is nutritionally inadvisable, to say the least, those foods belonging with the worst ultra processed culprits like fizzy drinks and breakfast cereals. And though you might snort at dieticians telling you to nibble fruit instead of cakes (you have to have some pleasures in life, right?), the next best thing is homemade cakes and pastries.
So let’s get baking this week, a classic dozen of properly crossed buns, or perhaps a batch of those glossy chocolate ones? And if yeast dough baking is totally scary to you (though it really isn’t), at least make some Sedgemoor Easter biscuits.
We can’t live on hot cross buns alone (sadly), so what else to cook this week? I think the fennel and spinach lasagne rolls are worth attention, as well as quite fancy, but surprisingly easy fish with mushroom gratin.
For a weekly meal prep, you could try pork and red bean chilli. It can be served with rice, tortillas, pita bread or baked potatoes. Or a similar riff on beans, which we should all eat more of: butter beans and ham hock. Cheap as chips and as delicious, only in a different way, haha.
Ricotta and oregano meatballs is a saving on meat but not on flavour. And if you can get hold of black rice, try black rice risotto with pears.
Tahini salmon and sweet potato bake is a quick weeknight meal and so is gochujang chicken stir fry. And if you’re looking for inspiration on sides, you can do worse than glazed carrots. Happy cooking!