How to use up your spare hot cross buns

It always feels criminal to throw away hot cross buns. Hot cross buns are marked by their scarcity in my house: no sooner do they cross the threshold than they are pounced upon and demolished.

Assuming that you are capable of more restraint than me, this recipe deals with the unlikely scenario of how to use up those leftover buns. The ravenous will be relieved to hear that only two buns are required. And if you have more willpower than I do, you can even hold back a couple more hot cross buns and serve the ice cream between two halves of a bun, as a particularly Eastery ice cream sandwich.

This is a bit of a cross between traditional brown bread ice cream and my a spice-infused ice cream. It has a custard base, infused with cinnamon and nutmeg. The buns are torn and toasted until crunchy and caramelised with demerara sugar. They are then folded through the ice cream with extra sultanas and zest. It’s one of my favourite ice cream recipes, surprisingly sophisticated, but also encompassing all the best bits of hot cross buns.

If you would like to make your own buns, this is my failsafe recipe, which I love. It’ll make you a handsome dozen, which is just enough to allow you to reserve 2 for this recipe.