to have frozen Hot Cross Buns to be enjoyed later this year?

[DrowningEveryDay]

And what's the shelf life of the frozen bread? I froze both the fruit and the chocolate ones.

a genius after my own heart...I reckon you'd get a good three months out of them....and another three if you don't think about it too much!

I keep a gluten free loaf in the freezer for my coeliac mum and it is good for 3-6 months..

YADBNU! :) Good thinking :) although I thought you could buy hot cross buns all year round, but I could be wrong. Does anyone know if you can?

RumerGodden

Thank you! I discovered chocolate HCB a bit late -- just last week, and one bite in, and I was plotting my strategy. :D

WellAlwaysHaveParis

Not sure -- here in Australia, I don't think we have it all year round. Maybe some fancy bakeshops do. I actually really like just the inexpensive, supermarket variety. :D

Excellent idea! I got up on Tuesday planning a trip to a certain town just because the bakery there makes The Best HCBs ever. Felt so ripped off when I realised there wouldn't be any.

Here in NZ they went on sale in some supermarkets in January ("because our customers ask for them") but they're rubbish quality, and this particular bakery only makes them for the month before Easter. Next year I will be buying them in bulk and stashing in the freezer; I need a bigger freezer

surely you can make your own hot cross buns whenever you like?

YANBU. I have done the same! I got into a habit of making French toast with hot cross buns and it's so good I'm not ready to stop just cause Easter is over.

You know you can buy hot crossbuns all year-round right? Asda and Tesco’s definitely sell them all year round.

I buy an extra Xmas pudding every year so we can have some in the summer.

Geekmama

I'm in Australia.

French toast with hot cross buns

How?! Just usual? Milk and egg, but using HCBs?

I buy an extra Xmas pudding every year

We think alike!

Genius

I read somewhere recently that the ones sold in UK supermarkets are likely to be up to three months old, and have been frozen to keep them fresh until Easter. Apparently it should be obvious that there wouldn't be the oven capacity to make them all precisely at Easter.

Yanbu. I do it all the time. I eat hot cross buns at Xmas, I've eaten Xmas pudding in the summer!

Oh they do have the oven capacity. A close friend worked in a bakery and they pulled 12 hour shifts for three weeks 7 days a week to get them made. And they had a counterpart 12 hour shift too.

You could also make a bread and butter pudding with them if they get a little stale in the freezer.

Drowning, I'm in Australia too! Aussie squatting on Mumsnet after being kicked off Essential Baby!

I love Betty's Fat Rascals and go up to Ilkley to buy them. A dozen is quite expensive but will keep very well in the freezer to nibble on for a couple of months.

YANBU, we’ve got loads left over, they’re absolutely fine frozen and defrosted to eat when you want.

@firesuit they're sold all year round in UK they don't freeze then to keep more stock for Easter, they just make more.

RumerGodden

I get bored in EssentialBaby so I mostly hang out here! Btw I hoarded the Coles ones -- last few until next year (it said so in the shelf).

they're sold all year round in UK they don't freeze then to keep more stock for Easter, they just make more.

The fact they are sold year-round (which I know because we buy them year around) doesn't change the fact that demand is higher at Easter.

It was the boss of a supermarket chain who mentioned that his major competitors make theirs months in advance and freeze them. (I don't remember which chain, but thinking he was walking around a Waitrose branch when he commented to journalist, if you care enough to try searching for this.)

I have in the past bought fresh branded bread from Waitrose which was ice-cold in the middle, clearly recently defrosted. If Waitrose freezes ordinary bread, demand for which is constant 365 days a year, then I'd imagine they have no reservation about freezing hot cross buns, where demand is much more variable.

make a bread and butter pudding

How?

Drowning did you try the brioche style HCBs this year? Aldi and woolies both had them! Yum. Would have been even better as french toast!

Yanbu at all. I've got 2 packets of the Aldi ones in the freezer.