Brand/Baker:  MacKenzie Highcountry Traditional Hot Cross Buns.
Bought from New World Supermarket, Halswell, Christchurch.

Price: $3.75 for a pack of 4 (0.9375 cents each)

Ingredients: Wheat flour, water, fruit (21%) (sultanas, currants, citrus peel), sugar, yeast, wheat gluten, canola oil, spices, salt, soy flour, emulsifiers (433, 471, 475, 481), wheat starch, vegetable gum (415), acidity regulator (263).

Sugar per 100g = 20.6g
Total Fat per 100g = 4.0g

Appearance:  Irregular rectangular shape. Each bun has a look of a small loaf of bread or muffin with an overhang (like the muffin of the jeans variety!)  They are not as neat looking as some of the others. Moist but still springy. No glazing. The cross was quite regular even if the bun shape wasn’t.
Our Ranking: 3/5

Smell: Subtle smell, slightly spicy and yeasty, not too over-powering, but nothing particularly special.
Our Ranking: 3/5

Amount of Fruit: Packet says 21% fruit. Big sultanas,  plus currants and a few bits of citrus peel. Fruit was a bit clumped together but you would still get some  in every bite. One of our taste testers said there didn’t seem to be much fruit on first look but on opening there were some good sized pieces and a good quantity.
Our Ranking: 3.5/5

Size: Large rectangular
Our Ranking: 4/5

Taste: One taste tester said “Definite flavour of spices that slightly overpower the flavours of the fruit, but the combination is still quite pleasant. Nice soft texture without being stodgy. Toasted up nicely but could have done with a bit more fruit.”
By comparison another taste tester said “nice tasting, plenty of fruit with subtle spice flavours. Very moist despite being from a supermarket.”
Either way the ranking was the same.
Our Ranking: 3.5/5

Value for Money: Represent great taste combined with great value for money.
Our Ranking: 4/5

> > > Our Overall Rating:  3.5 out of a possible 5  < < <

Posted on March 24th, 2009 by Wendy Riley-Biddle
Filed under: Total Trivia