X has marked the spot for the country’s best hot cross buns and they happen to be at a Hamilton bakery.
Ed Hemming and Ryan Simmons have recently won the 2016 Great NZ Hot Cross Bun Competition.
The national competition was run by the Baking Industry Association of New Zealand (BIANZ) and results were announced on Monday.
Hemming and Simmons own Volare, a bakery located on Kahikatea Dr, and said the win was “pretty amazing”.
This is the first time they’ve entered a national competition and winners receive a pallet of flour, a feature in Slice magazine, as well as bragging rights, according to BIANZ.
They will also receive a trophy, handed over in person by BIANZ president Michael Gray.
“For us being younger business owners it’s a bit of national recognition against some of the bigger bakeries in New Zealand,” Hemming said.
He and Simmons established Volare in May 2009. They specialise in baking quality handcrafted sourdough breads – and now it seems, hot cross buns.
“We’ve always had a good customer following with our hot cross buns, but we didn’t really know how good they would be until we put them into the competition.” Hemming said.
The combination of fruits and spice is a recipe for success, but Hemming said there was no secret behind their buns.
“Our recipe just sticks with our philosophy of everything we do,” he said. “It’s just good ingredients that are fresh and handmade. It’s as simple as that.”
“There’s no real secret, it’s just fresh ingredients.”
Hemming said he and Simmons found out about the competition two weeks ago and decided to “give it a go”.
They are now gearing up for a busy Easter season, and Hemming said he and Simmons will make thousands of hot cross buns for the six weeks surrounding Easter.
“In an ordinary season we’d make about 15,000,” he said. “This is our life for the next month now.”
He said previous winners of the award have baked around 30-40,000 hot cross buns, and although Hemming said he gets sick of making them, he never tires from tasting them.
“How do I eat mine? Toasted, lots of butter and jam,” he said. “No better way.”
Credit to Stuff.co.nz
https://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/76911950/hamilton-hot-cross-buns-countrys-best
