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Why Traditional and Chocolate Hot Cross Buns Pair So Well with Cheese?

Both traditional hot cross buns and chocolate hot cross buns offer a delightful combination of flavours and textures that work beautifully with cheese. Whether you're enjoying the spiced sweetness of a classic bun or the indulgent richness of a chocolate-filled one, cheese provides a perfect balance to elevate the experience. Here’s why these pairings work so well:

1. Sweet and Savoury Contrast

• Traditional Hot Cross Buns: These buns are sweet and spiced, with flavours like currants, raisins, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pairing them with cheeses, especially those with a savoury or tangy profile, creates a wonderful contrast. The saltiness and richness of cheese balance the sweetness of the buns, making each bite more dynamic and satisfying.

• Chocolate Hot Cross Buns: The rich, slightly bitter chocolate in these buns pairs especially well with both creamy and tangy cheeses. The sweetness of the chocolate combined with the savoury cheese creates a unique balance of flavours—both indulgent and refreshing.

2. Textural Harmony

Hot cross buns—whether traditional or chocolate—have a soft, fluffy texture that contrasts nicely with the creaminess or firmness of the cheese. The richness of the cheese enhances the bun’s softness, while the firmness of aged cheeses like cheddar or blue cheese provides an exciting texture contrast.

3. Cheese Enhances the Spices & Chocolate

• Traditional Hot Cross Buns: The warming spices in these buns, like cinnamon, clove, and allspice, pair wonderfully with cheeses that have creamy or tangy notes. The richness of the cheese highlights the spice, creating a flavour balance.

• Chocolate Hot Cross Buns: The richness of dark or milk chocolate in the buns enhances the smooth, creamy textures of cheeses like Brie or Mascarpone. For a more adventurous pairing, blue cheeses or tangy goat cheeses contrast the sweet chocolate, creating a complex and indulgent flavour experience.

4. Fat Content & Flavour

Cheeses, with their higher fat content, enhance the flavours of both types of hot cross buns. The fat in cheese helps to mellow out the sweetness in traditional buns, while in chocolate buns, the fat amplifies the rich cocoa flavours, creating a luxurious mouthfeel that works beautifully with both sweet and savoury elements.

5. Diverse Cheese Options

The versatility of cheese makes both traditional and chocolate hot cross buns great pairing partners:

• Traditional Hot Cross Buns: Mild cheeses like Brie, Camembert, or Goat Cheese bring a creamy, tangy contrast to the sweetness and spice of the buns. Sharp cheeses like aged cheddar or Gruyère also pair beautifully, creating a savoury contrast that complements the spices.

• Chocolate Hot Cross Buns: For the chocolate variety, consider pairing with soft cheeses like Mascarpone or Crèmeux de Bourgogne for a smooth, creamy contrast. If you're feeling adventurous, try a blue cheese like Roquefort or Stilton with dark chocolate buns for an exciting contrast between the chocolate’s sweetness and the cheese’s sharpness.

6. Cultural Tradition

The combination of bread and cheese is rooted in many European culinary traditions, and pairing cheeses with both traditional hot cross buns and chocolate hot cross buns is a fun way to celebrate these long-standing customs. Raisin bread is a very popular pairing with certain cheeses in France too! Another link to its crossed cousin.

Why not try some of the following combinations? Maybe you'll find a new favourite!

? Traditional Hot Cross Buns + Cheese Pairings

• Camembert Fermier – Soft, creamy, and earthy, Camembert pairs perfectly with the spiced sweetness of hot cross buns.
• Epoisses – Bold, creamy, and pungent, this cheese contrasts beautifully with the currants and spices of the bun.
• Gooey Crottin – A fresh and tangy goat cheese that complements the sweet and savoury notes of the traditional hot cross bun.
• Riverine Blue – A rich, creamy blue cheese that brings out the warmth of the hot cross bun's spices.
• L’etivaz – Nutty and alpine, this cheese adds a smooth, rich layer to your traditional buns, balancing their sweetness.

? Chocolate Hot Cross Buns + Cheese Pairings

• Comté – A firm, nutty cheese that beautifully balances the richness of chocolate.
• Crèmeux de Bourgogne – Soft and creamy, this cheese perfectly complements the smoothness of the chocolate buns.
• Fromage de Meaux – A luscious, creamy Brie-style cheese that pairs beautifully with the richness of chocolate.
• Shropshire – Tangy and crumbly, this cheese contrasts wonderfully with the chocolate’s sweetness, creating a bold and unexpected pairing.
• Saint Nectaire - This creamy, slightly pungent French cheese has a fruity, tangy profile that pairs beautifully with the sweetness of chocolate buns, making for a wonderfully rich and indulgent pairing.
• Ossau Iraty - The mild, nutty flavour of Ossau-Iraty pairs beautifully with the smooth sweetness of milk chocolate. The cheese's slightly sweet and buttery undertones complement the milk chocolate’s creamy richness, creating a well-rounded pairing.