It’s not uncommon for people to ask, are these Hot Cross Buns homemade? In fact, that always makes us feel proud at Kytons Bakery.
Actually, it is a great question to ask because much of what makes our Hot Cross Buns so delicious are the tips and tricks that many of our grandmas used to apply in their own kitchens.
You see, our “commercial” kitchen at Kytons is just like a bigger version of your “domestic” kitchen at home. In fact, many of our “appliances” just look like larger versions of the ones you have at home, like our big mixer and our large ovens.
And just like when you’re cooking at home, our bakers keep a keen eye on proceedings and are ready to make modifications and apply some extra tender loving care whenever it is needed.
From grandma to the CWA cookbook
The Country Women’s Association of Australia is famous for nurturing and promoting the art of home cooking. In fact, its famous cookbooks boast tried-and-true recipes from CWA branch members from all around Australia.
Whether or not grandma ever used a CWA cookbook, it would be a fair assumption that she would have used simple ingredients and made dishes that she knew everyone would love.
The glimpse this gives us into what our bakers do is contained in the classic CWA phrase, tried-and-true. Kytons’ Hot Cross Bun recipe has barely changed in 40 years. Furthermore, just like that plate of scones made from a CWA cookbook, our packs of buns are served up (delivered) fresh to each
store throughout the season. This is why we are increasingly becoming part of many families’ Easter traditions.
Are Kytons Hot Cross Buns homemade? It all depends on perspective
You see, the secret to great home cooking is that you learn what works and stick to it.
From there, of course, you can make alterations by adding different featured products just like we have added Menz Fruchocs to our Hot Cross Buns to create an iconic, South Australian favourite.
And you can also step in when you need to correct the way a batch is going. For example, our bakers keep a close eye on our buns because they know where the cooler and warmer spots in the oven are and they know how to rotate and guide the goodies through the cooking process.
A further challenge that our bakers rise to (pun intended) is creating and handling our dough, which can be a difficult beast when Adelaide turns on a heat wave in the lead up to Easter. But our bakers are mesmerising to watch as they use decades of experience to yield our amazing products from
their dough, time after time, batch after batch.
It’s this hovering and hands-on approach by our bakers that help us maintain our standards, resulting in that special X-factor that only a human touch can yield.
Homemade cooking is about love and ingredients
The art and science that blends in Kytons Bakery Hot Cross Buns is partly due to the love and care our baking team possesses. Every year, in the lead up to Easter, it is all hands on deck as we bake Hot Cross Buns to order for South Australia.
Late night shifts, early morning starts, urgent calls from our retailers, and shared snacks and surprises to keep up the spirits (and the blood sugar) is what we call the “art” or “passion” of Kytons Bakery.
But the science cannot be ignored. And all home cooks know this.
To succeed at cooking you MUST choose quality ingredients.
You know how disappointing cooking can be when you’ve skimped on some key item; CWA members do too.
Poor products in leads to poor products out which is why we have been unrelenting in choosing top products from trusted suppliers.
For example, our flour is milled by South Australia’s own Laucke Flour Mills. The Laucke millers (another family enterprise) are fifth generation flour millers, where they never compromise and always take a keen interest in how our bakers are finding their flour.
Another area of pure science is our decision to demand that we only put top grade Australian dried fruit into our traditional Hot Cross Buns. The big, plump, juicy currants and raisins are what you expect and it’s whey you can always SEE and TASTE the difference. There’s no “manufacturing
grade” dried fruit here, only higher grade fruit that delivers on moistness and taste every time.
And it would be impossible to list our quality ingredients without singling out the Menz Fruchocs that go into our Kytons Menz FruChocs Hot Cross Buns.
Just like with our dried fruit principles, we only use whole Fruchocs (that’s chocolate coating and all) in our special buns, to honour the hard work and reputation that has been built up by the South Aussie family behind Menz.
