What’s better shop bought?

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I’ve had it in restaurants here and abroad, round at friends, made it myself. Still think supermarket own hummus is the best.utterly delicious. And no I don’t want to know a special recipe or how it’s supposed to be in the Middle East. I love a big tub of inauthentic beige gloop.

Also frozen puff pastry ( although my friend in this case does make better but not me).

Be a heathen and tell me your supermarket triumphs.

Frozen croissants that you leave overnight to prove.

I made “croissants” once. They were identifiable only by a faint crescent shape.

Frozen shortcrust pastry.

Chicken and ham pie from Cook.

McVitie’s Jamaica Ginger Cake - I’m a good baker, and can make a great ginger cake, but shop bought JGC is still better. 😆

Warburton's crumpets. Attempted making my own once, they were a lot of effort for a product no nicer than the supermarket variety.

Malt loaf. I have made my own but it's a lot more expensive and not noticably better.

Wine. My Dad used to ferment his own, but the cheapest bottle of supermarket plonk is less rough than that was.

Stuff like butter. Yes, I've done shaking cream for half an hour for a school experiment but day to day I'm going to buy Lurpack.

Pasta. Yes I could get a machine and roll my own but Italians buy dry pasta too and you know what, it's fine.

I only half believe this, but those little creme caramel pots where it’s 6 for £1 are so delicious. I do also love home made, but some of the fancier supermarket bought ones don’t quite hit the spot compared to the v v cheap ones!

Tiramisu. Proper mascarpone is never going to be moussey like the 2 for £1.50 ones.

I came on this thread to say hummus but see you beat me to it. I tried making it myself once and it was disappointing.

Definitely pastry. I'm far from a novice in the kitchen but cannot for the life of me make a decent pastry. Don't know anyone that can beat a shop bought pastry. I do make better fillings than shop bought pies/pasties/sweet pastries though.

Years ago my flat-mate was a bit handy in the kitchen. One day he made a big bowl of delicious hummus with loads of olive oil.
When I got in from the pub, I devoured a tonne of it, then fell asleep on the sofa. Then woke up & oily vomited all over myself, sofa, cushions, rug...
Dragged myself into bed & woke the next morning with olive oil hair stuck to my face. Took me a long time to eat hummus again. Supermarket stuff only!

All these people saying pastry frozen style....

So is frozen pastry as good as the fresh stuff you get in the butter aisle? Any particular brand?

Rarely bother to make shortcrust and even chefs recommend using shop bought puff pastry over making your own.

Garlic bread. It's nice made with good bread, real butter, fresh herbs etc etc, but I genuinely prefer the bog standard Tesco 2 pack.
Also hot cross buns, crumpets and similar - a lot of faff and they are never quite right. But perhaps I'm just not a good enough baker for them.

Bread.

I agree with the hummus
Taramasalata
Pastry
Fortune cookies- no idea what prompted me to try making them at home once

I was coming on to say houmous and Pesto. I know homemade Pesto is gorgeous but I love it from a jar. Frozen pastry too.