They’re sold out at Waitrose, but SARAH RAINEY reveals how to make the popular ‘bunettone’ – a cross bun and panettone

From cheddar to black pepper to red velvet, the humble cross bun comes in many forms these days. And this year’s must-have reinvention has flown off the shelves at Waitrose.

Introducing hot cross bunettone – a cross between the Easter classic and a festive panettone.

It’s ten times the size of a regular bun, serves eight people and will set you back £8. However, when I tried to get one in store, I was told – repeatedly – ​​that it was sold out. So I decided to make one instead.

Waitrose won’t provide its top-secret bunettone recipe, but I call on Will Torrent, the supermarket’s senior development chef, who recommends adapting a classic panettone.

“Just add a few extra cross bun-type flavors to the mix: lots of cinnamon, a mix of spices and cloves,” he says.

You will need to allow enough time. Waitrose’s bunettone is lovingly made over 24 hours in a family bakery in Piedmont, Italy – and they’re professionals, so us amateurs need at least half that amount to get it right.

Pastry chef Juliet Sear (@julietsear) suggests making a regular cake pan “extra tall” by lining it 5cm above the edge with foil and baking paper for extra strength. I try, grease and line my innermost cake pan with butter and start making the batter.

I mix four tablespoons of lukewarm milk with a teaspoon of caster sugar and a 7g sachet of dry yeast. I set this aside and, in a separate bowl, beat 150g of sugar with 250g of butter (a whole block – the less said about it, the better) and a dash of vanilla extract. Once creamy, I crack five eggs and add the zest of an orange and a lemon.

Into a third bowl, I sift 550g of white bread flour with a pinch of salt and plenty of spices, before making a well in the middle and pouring in the yeast mixture, followed by the egg mixture.

At this point the dough is so sticky that I’m sure I’ve done something wrong, but I decide to go ahead, roll up my sleeves and try to knead it for ten minutes.

There’s goo everywhere – on my hands and my apron, even in my hair – and it takes strength to get it off the counter and into an oiled bowl for the first stage of rising.

This is important, says Will, “otherwise you’ll get a tight, dense, sticky dough in the middle – it takes time to form those lovely bubbles.”

My recipe suggests leaving it in the refrigerator for 24 hours, which gives the yeast enzymes plenty of time to work and release the complex flavors of the wheat.

I come back the next evening, quickly knead the cold dough again and mix in 160g of raisins (soaked in rum to make them plump) and 100g of chopped candied citrus peel.

Then it is placed in the greased mold, covered with cling film and left to rise again, this time for up to 12 hours, until it doubles in volume.

Finally – and this really was the longest cooking I’ve ever undertaken – it’s time to cook the bunettone. I mark a cross on the top using a serrated knife, brush with beaten egg white and sugar and cook it at 180c/160c fan/gas 4.

Fifty minutes later, it’s done. A golden-domed triumph with a shiny, hollow crust and a soft, buttery, fruit-filled sponge cake inside.

It’s so big – 8 inches in diameter – that there’s no way a slice will fit in my toaster, so I indulge in putting a piece under the grill and eating it lightly charred and coated in butter.

My verdict? This is definitely not a hot cross bun. There’s nothing heavy and satisfying about it, and it’s so light it almost melts in my mouth.

But those delicious seasonal flavors are there in spades, along with copious amounts of juicy raisins and sweet fruit. As far as I’m concerned, a bigger bun is a better bun. Don’t ask me to share it.