The Daily Telegraph - Saturday
Hot and cross aficionados in bunfight over Easter treat
Critics berate supermarket giants in recommending cream and jam for new range of hot cross buns
ROWS over how to eat the perfect scone are almost as old as time, but few would expect hot cross buns to join the fray.
Two of Britain’s leading supermarkets have been accused of “playing fast and loose with culinary tradition” by serving the Easter favourite with clotted cream and jam.
Advertisements placed in newspapers by Tesco and Asda picture the buns alongside jam – an unusual choice of topping for a treat usually served only with butter.
Critics have accused the grocers of trying to wade into the debate on scones, which have long stoked controversy in Devon and Cornwall over whether the jam should be spread before the cream.
In an Easter advertisement this week, the new “Tesco Finest Strawberries &
Clotted Cream Hot Cross Buns” with pink crosses were shown being plastered in clotted cream and jam – in that order.
Meanwhile, Asda promoted its hot cross buns by showing them being slathered in butter with jam on the side.
It could well be an advertising ploy to avoid the somewhat mundane look of melted butter, but some scone lovers are not impressed.
“Some might say these supermarkets are playing fast and loose with culinary tradition, attempting to slap a scone label on hot cross buns,” Michelle Milton, of the High Tea Society, told
“Cream and jam on hot cross buns? It’s enough to make a purist’s scone crumble.”
Sarah Merker, 50, who completed a challenge last year to taste scones in all 244 National Trust cafes in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, accused hot cross buns of trying to “get in on the act”.
“This is shocking news – you have to take it as a bit of a compliment to the scone and the cream tea that the hot cross bun is trying to get in on the act a little bit,” she said.
“The scone is untouchable, but if the hot cross bun wants to get in on that act I can’t blame them. Without a doubt, there can only be one cream tea and that’s the scone, the cream and the jam – hot cross buns are a bit Johnny-comelately in that regard.”
Ms Merker, from west London, questioned the “odd” combination of strawberry jam and the spices found in hot cross buns, but said she was “all for innovation” and would need to try it.
She stumbled across a similar idea on her scone tour, with several tearooms offering “hot cross scones” which she ate only with butter, as she felt strawberry and cream would just not fit.
Supermarkets have stoked controversy in recent years for wacky hot cross bun flavours such as Sainsbury’s cheddar and caramelised onion chutney recipe, Asda’s tomato and red Leicester version and Waitrose’s Earl Grey tea and orange zest flavour.