Overview
These days, Easter promises a whole lot more than just generic choccy eggs and old-school hot cross buns. Bakeries, chocolate brands and dessert shops across the city are getting more inventive with each passing year, whipping up all sorts of creative treats worthy of a spot in your own personal Easter hunt.
Here, we've rounded up some of the coolest grown-up goodies to seek out, from beer-infused Easter eggs to hot cross bun rum and even decadent chocolate cocktails. Which of these creations will the Easter bunny be bringing you this year?
Peter Dillon
HOT CROSS CRUFFINS FROM LUNE CROISSANTERIE
The croissant masters at Lune have brought back their legendary hybrid Easter treat, to the delight of anyone with a penchant for buttery glazed pastry. The Hot Cross Cruffin is the limited-edition love-child of the croissant, the muffin and the hot cross bun, and features a spiced fruit creme encased within a flaky golden shell. With a cross on top, of course. They're always hot property, so you'll need to be on the ball if you want them in your life. A limited number are available in-store at Lune's Fitzroy, Armadale and CBD sites, though if you get in quick, you can wrangle a pre-order.
BEER EASTER EGGS FROM MOLLY ROSE AND PLANET COCOA
If you like beer as much as you like chocolate, you're going to love the Easter goodies these two local favourites have dreamed up. Collingwood brewery Molly Rose has joined forces with ethical chocolate shop Planet Cocoa to create a couple of spiked choccy eggs for your Easter wish-list. First, there's the dark s'mores-inspired version, made using Molly Rose's stout, and loaded with vanilla marshmallow, crunchy biscuit bits and a beer caramel. Or, you can try the white chocolate egg, filled with a sour jelly made from the brewery's Summer Holidays apricot sour ale, then finished with honeycomb pieces. Each flavour comes in a six-pack, with a limited number of boxes available to buy from Molly Rose up until Sunday, April 9.
BOOZY BUNS FROM ROCHFORD WINES
The classic hot cross bun is already pretty darn close to perfection, but this Yarra Valley winery has found a way to make it even better. Rochford Wines has developed a limited-edition Easter bun with a fun, boozy twist, tweaking the usual recipe by soaking the raisins in its signature chardonnay and finishing each bun with a glaze made from its legendary moscato. They're being baked fresh daily onsite at Isabella's Restaurant right through Easter weekend, available to buy from the winery's gift shop. The buns will set you back $22 for a six-pack — you can pre-order online to avoid any disappointment.
Julian Lallo
EASTER HIGH TEA AT THE TERRACE CAFE
Why stop at just one Easter treat when you can sit down to a whole table of them? That's the scene that awaits you at this one-off high tea at The Terrace Cafe on Sunday, April 9. Against the leafy backdrop of the Royal Botanic Gardens, it's serving up a generous Easter spread of sweet and savoury goodies for $95 per person. Expect to tuck into the likes of lemon myrtle cheesecakes, fresh scones, and mini bagels with smoked salmon and horseradish cream. Your ticket also includes a glass of Pommery champagne to sip elegantly while looking out over the lake.
SAKURA HOT CROSS BUNS FROM TOKYO LAMGINGTON
The masters of inventive sweet treats at Tokyo Lamington are doing something a little bit different for Easter this year. They've taken inspiration from the cherry blossom season that's currently blooming over in Japan and created sakura-infused hot cross buns. This version of the classic features juicy sultanas and yuzu through the dough, with a sakura cross on top and more sakura incorporated into the sticky salted glaze. You can pick them up for $5 a pop, or $27 for a six-pack, online or from the Carlton store. Or, try the team's other Easter invention — a hot cross lamington starring cinnamon sponge, spiced cream and a coating of crumbled hot cross bun.
CACAO HUSK LIQUEUR FROM MÖRK AND THE GOSPEL
A grown-up Easter offering with a sustainable edge, this innovative cacao husk liqueur is a joint effort from two Melbourne-based makers — award-winning Brunswick distillery The Gospel and artisan chocolate label Mork. The limited-edition drop is crafted using Mörk's leftover single-origin cacao husks, which would normally be thrown out. Here, instead, they're macerated in a blend of the distillery's Straight Rye and Solera Rye Whiskeys to create a complex sip with rich fruit notes. The drink isn't overly sweet, as the husks carry a savoury profile that complements the whisky's aromatics, leaving flavours of roast hazelnut, dried orange and cranberry. There's a limited number of bottles available — grab yours from The Gospel's website.
BOOZY BUNNY ESPRESSO MARTINIS FROM QT MELBOURNE
This Easter sees QT Melbourne teaming up with local artisan chocolate brand CACAO to deliver a hotel-wide takeover your sweet tooth's gonna love. The chocolate-based festivities are happening from Friday, April 7–Sunday, April 9, kicking off each morning with fresh choc-chip hot cross buns served at Pascale Bar & Grill. But for something extra special, head on up to the 11th floor, where the Rooftop at QT is shaking up limited-edition Boozy Bunny Espresso Martinis right through the weekend. This exclusive Easter concoction features a rich blend of coffee, Diplomatico rum, Chambord and CACAO dark chocolate, coming in at $25 a pop.
HOT CROSS RUM FROM THE GROVE DISTILLERY
Off the back of a popular 2022 debut, family-run Margaret River distillery The Grove has gone and whipped up a new edition of its beloved Hot Cross Rum. Once again, the small-batch sip has been hand-crafted using The Grove's four-year barrel-aged dark rum, then housed in a former bourbon barrel made of American oak. Raisins, oranges and a bunch of warm spices are left to steep, before the rum is given a final infusion of classic hot cross bun flavours including cinnamon, cloves and vanilla. At the end, you've got a warm, rich, festive-tasting spirit, packed with notes of caramelised raisin, vanilla and cinnamon, with a lingering fruity finish and a hit of molasses to round it all out. A 40-percent ABV hot cross bun in a glass, if you like. The Grove team recommends you sip their new creation neat — with a hot-buttered Easter bun on the side for full effect, of course. Grab yours from the website.
HOT CROSS BAO FROM DIN TAI FUNG
Dumpling house Din Tai Fung is celebrating Easter with a multicultural mash-up that's sure to delight any sweet-toothed folk — these rather charming hot cross bun-inspired bao. A nod to the traditional Easter bun, the pillowy little beauties are made with steamed bread that's infused with cocoa and filled with oozing molten chocolate, each one finished with a chocolatey cross. Available for a limited time on the menu at Din Tai Fung's Emporium restaurant, they'll set you back $8.90 for a serve of two. Otherwise, you can extend the Easter vibes well into May by stocking up on a bag of three frozen hot cross bao ($12) delivered to your door.
CHOCOLATE HOT CROSS BUNS FROM BLACK STAR AND KOKO BLACK
Easter is a time for gorging on sweet things — so it's only fitting that two of Australia's best-loved dessert spots team up to release something special in honour of the occasion. The pastry masters at Black Star have come together with chocolatier Koko Black and launched their own dreamy take on the traditional hot cross bun. These beauties are spiked with Koko Black's 60-percent dark chocolate, topped with a lightly spiced glaze and finished with that all-important cross — reimagined with more chocolate, of course. They're available by the single serve, in a six-pack or by the dozen, to pick up from any of Black Star's Melbourne stores up until Monday, April 10. You can also order a box online.
DIY COCKTAILS IN EASTER EGGS FROM COCKTAIL PORTER
What's way more fun than eating your Easter egg haul the regular way? Filling those chocolate shells with booze and enjoying a grown-up sweet-tooth fix, of course. This DIY kit from Cocktail Porter lets you do just that, stocked with all the ingredients you'll need to whip up your own decadent salted caramel Easter cocktails at home. Each pack features some of Gelato Messina's cult-favourite dulce de leche salted caramel, cold-drip coffee, Mr Black Coffee Liqueur and Baileys. You'll also get chocolate Easter eggs to serve your boozy creations out of, plus salted caramel popcorn to use as a garnish. A small pack contains all the fixings to make five drinks for $80, while the large version comes in at $145 for 12 cocktails.
Top image: Rochford Wines