HOT CROSS BONKERS

We test the wacky recipes being pushed by supermarkets for the humble Easter bun

SWEET, spiced and slathered in butter, nothing says Easter like a hot cross bun. But have you ever eaten yours topped with ice cream? Or how about bacon and ketchup? Or stuffed with slow-roasted lamb?

These quirky suggestions all come courtesy of British supermarkets, who are going to extreme lengths in a bid to win the annual bunfight and shift hot cross buns from their shelves.

In Easter week alone, we work our way through 120 million of the teatime treats. We’ve been eating them the same way — toasted and topped with butter or jam — since the 14th century, when they were invented by an Anglican monk who marked them with a flour cross in honour of Good Friday.

But this year tradition has been turned on its head. Recipes are springing up for all sorts of weird and wonderful ways to eat hot cross buns, including some surprising savoury concoctions — from turning them into toasties to wrapping the bun (yes, raisins and all) around a burger.

So which ones are worth a try — and which will leave you feeling hot and cross? We put the wackiest serving suggestions to the test.