Have you got Leftover Hot Cross Buns Lurking about the Place? ~ then see here ...

I hope you had a great Easter!

Here are a few ideas to make the most of any stale Hot Cross Buns you might have.

Hot Cross Bun French Toast 

For a custardy middle cut the buns a little on the thick side and soak for 10 minutes or so before cooking. For a bready interior briefly dip the slices of bun in the mixture and fry immediately.

1 egg
½ tbsp sugar
50ml milk or cream or a mixture
a drop of vanilla extract
pinch of salt
2 hot cross buns – cut crosswise into 3 slices each

~   Whisk together all the ingredients except the buns.
~   Soak the bun slices in the mixture.
~   Fry in butter till crisp and golden on both sides.

I normally have maple syrup on French toast, as is only natural, but in this case I wasn’t too sure so I asked myself “What would Jesus do?” Turns out he’d go for honey and I think he’s right – it worked perfectly.

A Rather Splendid Brown Betty can be made with hot cross buns ...

Please pin to help others in thie
tricky situation!

60g butter plus a little for greasing the pan
200g hot cross bun crumbs
1kg cooking apples
120g soft light brown sugar

~   Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/180ºC fan/gas 6

~   Melt the butter in a frying pan, add the crumbs and stir together over medium heat till they are a little crisp. Decant the crumbs from the pan so that they don’t go on cooking and set aside whilst you prepare the apples.
~   Peel and thinly slice the apples and toss with the sugar.
~   Lightly butter an ovenproof dish.
~   Divide the crumbs into three portions.
~   Put a third of the crumbs into the dish and press lightly to the bottom and sides.
~   Add half the apples and sprinkle with a second third of the crumbs.
~   Add the rest of the apples, level the top as much as you can and then sprinkle with the remaining crumbs.
~   Cover with foil and bake for about 20 minutes.
~   Remover the foil and continue to cook till the apple are cooked through and the top golden.

Serve hot or cool with custard, cream, ice cream or clotted cream.

Hot Cross Bun Croutons

Sweet croutons are a much neglected realm, but not by me. I often use a little bit of buttery fried leftover cake to top creamy desserts and ice cream. Hot cross bun croutons are particularly good with fruit. Similar to this ...

Hot Cross Buns also make excellent Apple Cribbly 

Hot Cross Bun Pudding

150g ish of stale hot cross buns
75g of dried fruit - possibly alcohol infused (see below)

200ml milk
100ml double cream
2 eggs
80g sugar plus a little for sprinkling
½ tsp vanilla essence

~   Slice the hot cross bit off the top of the buns and set aside. Tear the rest of the buns into chunks.
~   Put the bun chunks into a lightly greased ovenproof dish.
~   Add the dried fruit and toss together.
~   Whisk together all the other ingredients (except the sprinkling sugar) and pour over pushing the buns under the surface to soak it.
~   Lay the bun tops, cross upwards, attractively on top of the pudding and press lightly to submerge.
~   Set aside for 30 minutes or more – even overnight will do.
~   Preheat oven to 350˚F/180˚C/160˚C Fan/gas 4.
~   Sprinkle the pudding with the extra sugar and bake for about 40 minutes till risen, golden and slightly wobbly when nudged.

Serve hot, warm or cold but warm is best with clotted cream! Or make a more manly Bread Pudding like this one here, replacing the bread with hot cross buns.

I saved the best for last ...

Crunchy Hot Cross Bun Ice Cream 

Serves 3 - 4

1 stale hot cross bun, grated to crumbs
70g soft light brown sugar
250ml double cream
1½ tbsp brandy or rum or other spirit
(I used the alcohol from my soaked fruit ***)
100g condensed milk

~   Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350°F/160ºC fan/gas 4.
~   Mix together the bun crumbs and sugar and spread out onto a baking tray.
~   When the oven is hot bake the crumbs watching carefully and stirring occasionally till crisp and a little darker – about 10 minutes.
~   Cool completely.
~   Whisk together the cream and spirit till thick then fold in the condensed milk and then the crumbs (keeping back a few for later sprinkling).
~   Freeze.

As this is such a genius recipe there is no need for stirring or faffing about – the end result will be rich and smooth.

Although, of course, ice cream keeps very well in the freezer this is one I would recommend eating sooner rather than later because after a time the little crispy bits soften and you lose the fabulous texture. It will still taste good, of course.

This is a variation on my Brown Bread Ice Cream which is, in itself, a variation of the classic. It is based on my “genius” no churn ice cream recipe about which I have written an entire book of no churn ice creams based on one simple method ~ Luscious Ice Cream without a Machine

Alcohol Macerated Fruit

As I have mentioned this twice I thought I’d better go into detail. This is something I always keep to hand. It is simply a matter of putting some dried fruit into a clean jar, pouring in enough spirit (I use rum or brandy) to cover completely, putting on the lid and storing in a dark place. The fruit is wonderful in all sorts of deserts and so is the alcohol. Just remember to always make sure the fruit is completely and utterly under the surface of the booze – top up fruit and spirit as you go through life.

Incidentally ...

If you have leftover Easter eggs and are absolutely stymied as to what to do with then see my ideas here. 

If you make a Simnel cake (I did and am delighted with it – the layer of marzipan in the middle is soft and sticky and caramelised and chewy around the edge, I might not be able to wait till next Easter to do it again!) and have leftover marzipan then go here for some good ideas. 

How to Use Up Any Leftover ~ Delicously 

I so love cooking with leftovers I have written a whole book onthe matter; Creative Ways to Use Up Leftovers. 

In it I give all the information, ideas, recipes, handy hints, cook’s treats, storage info, ideas of what goes with what that I can think of for over 450 possible leftovers. 

Read More Here