Sydney Eat Street: Sydney’s best hot cross buns and where to find them
Don’t buy any old hot cross bun this Easter. Find the best of the best across Sydney with Sydney Eat Street’s guide to the city’s greatest hot cross buns on offer.
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While hot cross buns seem to be everywhere this time of year, few if any are made the same. Here’s some of the most scrumptious to get you in the Easter mood.
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Miss Sina
In a matter of minutes, the neat rows of freshly-baked hot cross buns in the glass display cabinet dwindle as customers queue for this traditional Easter treat. Sina Klug, co-owner of this artisanal vegan bakery, says, “Our hot cross buns are really packed with fillings; nothing gets skimped on. Our fruit buns have apricot instead of orange peel, as peel seems to be a very divisive item for customers. And our chocolate hot cross buns are made with Callebaut NXT, a premium vegan milk chocolate from Belgium”.
Sina is keen to give credit where credit is due, saying that the buns are “made from scratch by our amazingly skilled bakers”. Overseeing the production is award-winning baker Paul Finbar, who Sina explains “has been perfecting his hot cross buns for over 20 years”.
To Paul, the perfect buns are “soft with plenty of fruit, plump from prior soaking, and a balanced amount of mixed spices. And of course, apricots”.
– 132 Illawarra Rd, Marrickville; – 44 Holt St, Surry Hills; misssina.com.au
HEARTHE
It’s been just over a decade since Christopher Thé, master pastry chef and founder of Black Star Pastry, created the insta-famous strawberry watermelon cake, and while he’s quite proud of those accomplishments, he’s already starting the next chapter of his culinary journey with HEARTHE (Heart, Art, Earth, and his surname, Thé). A cafe and cake shop, HEARTHE champions local and native Australian ingredients, an ethos that is exhibited beautifully with his vegan hot cross buns.
Thé says, “We rehydrates dried quandongs in orange juice with chopped Bunya nuts — these go in with the usual sultanas and currants. The cross contains Anise Myrtle. The glaze is Marmalade with Cinnamon Myrtle sprinkled over the bun for flavour and garnish”. ($25 for six buns, $45 for 12 buns).
You can order them through their website for pick-up or stop by the cafe to try the rest of the menu before grabbing a box for the road.
– 16 Douglas St, Stanmore; hearthe.com.au
Bake Bar
Opening the doors in 2012 as a neighbourhood bakery in Randwick, Bake Bar’s Director, and Head Baker, Gili Gold, set out to provide the community with superior baked goods made from locally-sourced organic ingredients such as sultanas, currants, and lemons used in their annual Hot Cross Buns.
It turns out that “community” was much bigger than she thought, and Gili has gone on to open four more outlets. But despite the success and multiple awards – including a young entrepreneur award – Gili’s not ready to rest on her laurels as she continues refining recipes to achieve the taste and texture that meets her own high standards.
Keeping with tradition, Bake Bar is serving up trays and trays of traditional, chocolate, and gluten-free hot cross buns, but as they sell out daily, best to order online for pick-up, or if you’re in the mood for some local atmosphere, swing by for a cuppa and a toasted bun slathered in melting butter. Yum.
(Traditional Hot Cross Buns $4.80 each, $24 for six; Chocolate Hot Cross Buns $5 each, $18 for four; Gluten-Free Buns $5.50 each, $30 for six).
-Paddington, Darlinghurst, Double Bay, Rose Bay, and Randwick; bakebar.com.au
Crumpets by Merna
Butter … especially melting butter and how it fills the iconic holes of a crumpet, is one of the greatest gifts the humble toaster offers. Combine that with Crumpets by Merna’s Hot Cross Bunny Crumpets and a generous spread of Pepe Saya cultured butter, and wow … it can get better.
This novel product is the creation of artisan producer and Carriageworks Market regular Merna Taouk. Based on her popular fermented buttermilk crumpet, Merna adds a twist of orange peel, raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, mixed spice, and a touch of brown sugar.
These cuties come in a pack of four ($15), but for the whole experience, opt for the Bunnies and Butter Easter Pack ($24), which includes 200g of Pepe Saya cultured butter.
You can pick some up at Carriageworks Farmers Market (where Merna started selling her crumpets alongside Pierre “Pepe” Issa, who was selling small batches of his Pepe Saya cultured butter). If you can’t make it out on Saturday, check the website for retail outlets, or order online for Sydney metro and Australia-wide deliveries. (Easter order cut-off, Sunday, April 10, 2023)
– Crumpetsbymerna.com.au
Koko Black
Try as you may, it’s hard to resist the cinnamon and spices of freshly-baked hot cross buns, so Koko Black has channelled those flavours into their Hot Cross Bites, juicy sultanas covered with artisanal handcrafted white chocolate ($19.90).
-Various locations; kokoblack.com.au
Black Star Pastry
If you’re going to do something, do it right so when the team at Black Star Pastry looked to create a chocolate Hot Cross Bun alongside their traditional version with marinated orange peel and frankincense glaze, they chose to collaborate with pre-eminent chocolatier, Koko Black.
Black Star Pastry’s Group Head Pastry Chef, Arnaud Vodounou, says, “We have created some wonderful chocolate delights over the past few years together with Koko Black and these buns are no different.
Our traditional hot cross buns continue to be rated some of the best in Melbourne and Sydney, so naturally, when exploring the concept for our second iteration, we looked no further than Koko Black”.
Both versions are available for instore pick-up through April 10, 2023. Orders require two-day’s notice. (Six for $25, 12 for $45).
– Various locations; blackstarpastry.com.au
Tokyo Lamington
As the cold winter days give way to warmer spring weather, Japan welcomes the arrival of cherry blossom (Sakura) season.
At Tokyo Lamington in Newtown, co-owners Eddie Stewart and Min Chai are also embracing the delicate blooms, not just for their beauty but also in a way that is specific to pastries.
Made with Yuzu and sultanas, these buns have a Sakura cross and a sakkuray glaze. There is also a Hot Cross Lamington, Tokyo Lamington’s take on the traditional bun, but made with cinnamon sponge, spiced cream, mixed fruit and spiced white chocolate with shortbread crumb topping.
The limited-edition Hot Cross Lamingtons ($7.50 each), Sakura Hot Cross Buns ($5 each), and the Easter Packs with three of each ($35) sell out fast so phone ahead to avoid disappointment.
-277 Australia St, Newtown; tokyolamington.com
The Grumpy Baker
Inspiration comes in many forms, so when Michael Cthurmer, The Grumpy Baker’s founder, looked to add hot cross buns to their line-up of baked goods back in 2002, he channelled his Israeli heritage and pinpointed the dough used for the braided Jewish challah bread.
With its spongy texture and rich flavour, he thought that challah dough would be an ideal foundation to create featherlight buns.
The second part of his recipe is to include a generous amount of raisins, chocolate chips, and “lots of love”. Freshly-baked Hot cross buns are available everyday through April 10, 2023.
-Various locations; thegrumpybaker.com.au
Sweet Belem
From the co-owner chef behind the arguable best Portuguese tarts in town, Jose Silva set out to create a Hot Cross Bun that combined traditional elements and, richness of Sweet Belem’s renowned tarts.
With Jose’s signature culinary finesse, the result is a light and fluffy brioche-based version filled with currants then topped with a crème patisserie cross. (Available in store while supplies last).
-35 New Canterbury Rd, Petersham; sweetbelem.com.au
Sonoma Bakery
You know a musician has reached icon status when they can drop their surname and only use the one, they were given. Think Elvis, Madonna, Beyonce, and Adele. But that’s nothing compared to the single letter “S” that denotes Sonoma Bakery’s famous “Not Cross Buns”.
Made with aromatic spices, candied orange, raisins, cranberries and apricot, the buns are then brushed with a Sonoma coffee and spice-based glaze before being crowned with a piped “S”. (Available instore and for delivery through to April 10, 2023. ($20 for six).
-Various locations and pop-up shops; Sonoma.com.au
Bourke Street Bakery
When co-owners David McGuiness and Paul Allam first opened their small neighbourhood bakery in 2004, they started off with a used oven and a sourdough starter.
They sold out of sourdough bread on the first day and have been going strong ever since, opening additional shops, and expanding their menu to include seasonal baked goods like their annual Hot Cross Buns noted for its sweet notes of orange peel. They’ll be available for pick-up and delivery through April 10, 2023. ($20 for six).
-Multiple locations; bourkestreetbakery.com.au
Croquembouche Patisserie
Coming from a long line of French pastry chefs, Frederic Caillon, has been filling the glass cabinets of this cafe and patisserie with sweet and savoury delights (including the intimidating croquembouche) since 2000.
He has since added traditional Hot Cross Buns to menu and will be baking them fresh daily through to April 10, 2023. ($3 each, $30 for 12).
-1635 Botany Rd, Banksmeadow; croquembouche.com.au
Tuga Pastries
When Tuga Pastries opened their small boutique bakery in Clovelly, little did they know that their Portuguese pastries would garner them a huge following, enough to warrant a second outlet in Alexandria as well as wholesale orders to places such as A Fresh Tart in Petersham.
In addition to their regular rotation of goodies, be sure to pick up some of their traditional Hot Cross Buns made with dried fruits, mixed spice, cinnamon, lemon, and orange peel and finished with spiced aniseed glaze. They’re available in packs of 6, 12, 18, 24, and 30 ($27- $135) or go with the novel Tuga Hot Cross Bun Wheel which has five interconnected buns ($22.50). They’re also baking a chocolate version in packs of 6, 12, and 18 ($27-$81).
-10/112 McEvoy St, Alexandria; 6/321 Clovelly Rd, Clovelly; tugapastries.com.au
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