Gail’s warning

[Teacaketravesty]

My husband bought a tea and a hot cross bun in a Gail’s in central London yesterday, and they refused to toast it.

That’s it, that’s my PSA. Idk if it’s Gail-wide or if he was unlucky. I found some guff on their website about their HCBs being good enough not to toast but no actual confession. DH had no time to argue so just ate it: it was rubbish. I’d have asked for a swap for something that is meant to be eaten cold, but he is less good at sticking up for himself so had to live with the sadness.

Vipers, be warned.

I haven’t had a HCB in years but unless they are literally fresh out of the oven (and yes that is 6 hours of my life I am never getting it back and it was pre-Insta so can’t even blame competitive parenting) then toasted is the only acceptable way. With salted butter

I prefer “improvement” lol

The hot chocolate I had at Gail's the other day was hand down the worst hot chocolate I have had in my whole entire life, and I'm in my 50s, so there's been quite a few. I'd rather have machine hot chocolate than Gail's hot chocolate.

Traditionally a Welsh cake should also have a thick layer of (Welsh) salted butter on it.

Said nobody ever.

It is scary to think they walk among us...

Slightly off topic, but what is the cross in a hot cross bun made from as it never seems to brown when toasted?

Tesco in-store bakery ones and Sainsbury TTD richly fruited in a purple packet do not have peel. I have been doing research on this important matter.

@Shodan where are you living that you have almost 60 bakeries/coffee shops and no soda bread??!! Or is it just Gails that doesn't do it ? I hope you can decent potato farls where you are. I must admit I love Warburtons potato cakes.

Of course a Welsh cake is a kind of thin Welsh scone, a Welsh scone that has gone on a diet, if you like. I wouldn't imagine having a scone without a dab of salted butter.

Gail’s HCB are nothing like the ones sold in Tesco or Waitrose that you’d toast. They’re incredibly expensive, but absolutely delicious, sourdough and freshly baked. Every time I go back to the UK I treat myself to one (or 4).

I make my own, and the cross is a mix of flour and water.

A friend of my parents used to make a cake where the only fruit was peel "because everyone loves peel!"
Err no! Me and my sister (as teens) used to have competitions of how to appear like you had eaten and enjoyed said cake while finding ways to dispose of the offending peel!
I can just about cope with the level of peel in a standard HCB but am interested in your discoveries of peel-less ones!

You think that’s bad? I’ll tell you what’s bad, it’s when you spend a fortune on a latte and they serve it barely luke warm. WTF is with that? If I wanted a cold drink I’d buy fridge cold kombucha.

I have never been to Gail’s and now I hear that they don’t toast their hot cross buns, I never will.

Also, I only eat hot cross buns on Good Friday (and the following 3 or 4 days until we’ve got through them) as for my family they mark a religious tradition, so it’s not as if I’d ever eat one in Gail’s anyway!

Well they're not called cold crossed buns, are they. If I have to eat them, then they need to be toasted.
Controversially, I like a plain or cheese scone toasted, with lots of butter.
And I've never seen a Gail's.

M&S chilli and cheese hot cross buns. They were delicious! Toasted I might add!

I don't like sour dough. So that's another reason to avoid Gails HCB.

Ok I admit 59 was a slight exaggeration, but truthfully there are a staggeringly large number of coffee shops and bakeries and no- not one of the buggers has soda bread. I tried all of them. I'm fairly certain they wouldn't do potato farls either, but I'm not as bothered by that lack.

I honestly didn't know you were supposed to put butter on Welsh cakes. That would've been my mother skimping I suspect. Or perhaps her (Welsh) mother was an outlier too.

Some ready made, packaged, shop-bought Welsh cakes have sugar on them. That's a bit weird, but I bravely cope, because there isn't a big selection of Welsh cakes around here and I'm greedy a big fan.

Thanks 😁

Their hot cross buns are epic - no need to toast.

But surely they need a lot of butter?
That is the main offence imo

Is it not because of the tax differentiation between cold (VAT exempt) & hot ( VAT-able) or does that just apply to takeaway food?
(apologies, not rtft, v tired & want to go to sleep but HCB issues are fundamentally too important!)

I’m renowned for eating my hot cross buns ‘raw’. As in, untoasted and unbuttered. Not even cut in half. I’m so uncouth.

‘hot ‘ is an adjective qualifying the name ‘Cross Bun’. It originates from the hawkers cry ‘hot Cross Bun’, meaning that they were warm from the baker’s oven, not cold and so possibly stale. Yesterday’s baking could easily be stale or hard in the era before preservatives.

Ironically, it would be easier to toast a slightly stale bun….

Never heard of this Gail but won't be going round hers for a dry cold cross bun.