ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Alice Clayton’s brand of rom-com has always clicked with me and it’s particularly true with the Hudson Valley series. It’s the sassy heroines, the laugh out loud moments, the whoo damn <fans self> moments. The Hudson Valley Series adds in the no-holds-barred friendship between Roxie, Natalie…
I'm known to bake hot cross buns any time of year, except maybe summer. Since Easter isn't a huge holiday for us, Good Friday usually sneaks up on me. This year, I'm ready.
Over the last few years, I've tweaked a Donna Hay recipe and finally settled on it as my go-to. You can do a lot…
Today we're unwrapping Alice Clayton's Buns (the cover, anyway!), the third book in her foodie rom-com Hudson Valley series, coming in May. Check out the synopsis below -- this one's Archie and Clara's story. While we wait, get your own hot cross buns in shape or check out the first two books in the series, Nuts and Cream…
Tradition is just something you do more than once, said some cynical person sometime somewhere. Well, if that's the case, this Not Cross Bun loaf is now tradition. I've made it three times, and damn if it isn't simpler than shaping individual hot cross buns. And without a direct connection to Good Friday, you can have…
My love for hot cross buns is well documented in the pages of this blog. But I only ever seem to think of them around Easter, when really, there’s no reason we shouldn’t be enjoying sweetened yeast buns with just a hint of spice, currants and candied fruit any ol’ time. Which is what made these Spice Cookies my first choice for this month’s baking theme for Tasting Jerusalem.
You get the flavors of hot cross buns, the spice, the currants, the citrus in cookie form. And while it may seem slightly odd to be making spice cookies in the spring, because the truth is they do taste like the holidays, I couldn’t resist.
When it comes to food and Easter, the thing I look forward to most isn’t a Cadbury egg (never liked ‘em) or the Reese’s eggs w/ twice the peanut butter you get in a regular peanut butter cup (stock up now!). The thing I wait all year (er, 3 or 4 months) for is a batch of Hot Cross Buns.
And what is it that makes a Hot Cross Bun so deliciously dunkable in your morning cup of joe? The candied and dried fruit. But have you noticed candied orange and lemon peel can cost an arm and a leg? Last year I bought tiny tubs of both for $8.50 a piece! Granted, you don’t use a huge amount in the buns, but there’s no reason to drop that kind of dough. Making candied citrus peel is dead simple.
