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WHAT do Pina Colada, bubble-gum, Nutella, Turkish Delight and hot cross buns have in common?
There are among the 14 hot cross bun flavour variations the innovate bakers at Old Fernvale Bakery have created in the lead up to Easter, each with a distinctive taste and a good cause.
Aptly labelled the Battle of the Buns, the funky flavours hit the shelves last week and the bakers aim to use funds generated by their sale to raise $20,000 for Lady Cilento Children's Hospital by Easter.
Bakery manager Matt Brown has been baking through the night for weeks to perfect the flavour combinations.
Close to 1000 buns have been snapped up in three days but Mr Brown expects to bake up to 30,000 more before the Easter Bunny arrives.
"The funky hot cross buns started last year, we had a bit of a dabble with colours and flavours and then we decided that we could expand on that and we also really wanted to raise money for the Lady Cilento Children's Hospital,” he said.
"It was all trial and error, some of the best bakery products come out from a mistake.
"Some of them are selling quite well and they all have their own niche. Coffee and date and Turkish Delight sales are a bit sluggish.”
Owner Bill Rose said while the buns kept the bakers on their toes, the main aim of the venture was to raise $20,000 for the Lady Cilento Children's Hospital.
"There is no children's hospital in Ipswich so all our children are fed to the Lady Cilento Children's Hospital and we wanted to contribute to that because it's our kids that are going there,” Mr Rose said.
"As bakers it's a challenge to us because we wanted to do something that is exciting.
"Matthew is a great baker and he loves playing and coming up with new and exotic ideas, we all get a buzz out of it.”
The hot cross bun baking experts might be buzzing on Jaffa, strawberry and blueberry concoctions but they managed to settle an age old debate.
Which is the better traditional hot cross bun: fruit or no fruit?
"Absolutely fruit, fruit and spices are part of the deal,” Mr Rose said.
"There is no exception to that, it's always fruit and fruit,” Mr Brown said.
Matt's top tips to baking the perfect hot cross bun
- Make sue the dough is well developed
- Don't over-mix the fruit
- Keep crosses and consistent and straight
Why eat hot cross buns at Easter?
A traditional hot cross bun is a yeasted sweet bun lightly spiced with raisins or currants, then marked on top with a cross.
The buns mark the end of Lent and different parts of the hot cross bun have a certain meaning, including the cross representing the crucifixion of Jesus, and the spices inside signifying the spices used to embalm him at his burial.
