Overview
This year, Easter hunts are not just for kids. Inventive bakeries, restaurants and other businesses around Sydney are getting busy creating sweet treats and other Easter-themed goodies for an audience that may have outgrown the Easter bunny.
From ultra-cute pastel chocolate eggs to all kinds of wild hot cross bun creations, here's a curated list of Easter goods worthy of a spot in every grown-up Sydneysider's Easter hunt.
Not-Cross Buns at Sonoma Bakery
If you're craving a different take on a traditional hot cross bun this Easter, Sonoma bakery has put its own twist on the dessert. Instead of the traditional cross you'll find at most bakeries, Sonoma adorns its treats with an "S", giving them the name of Not-Cross Buns. Before they're piped with the signature "S", however, each bun is baked with Sonoma's special blend of raisins, sultanas, candied orange, cranberries and apricot.
They are then brushed with a coffee- and spice-steeped sugar glaze for the perfect finish. The buns are available in-store individually for $3.50 or in a box set of six for $20. You can also have a box delivered to you if you order online.
Yuzu Hot Cross Buns, Lamington Hot Cross Buns and Hot Cross Lamingtons at Tokyo Lamington
The lamington wizards and collaboration kings at the Inner West's Tokyo Lamington have a trio of limited-time Easter treats, all of which are playing on the hot cross bun. The first is a zesty citrus-forward twist on the Easter: a yuzu hot cross bun. Sultanas have been macerated for three months before being added to a Japanese yuzu-unfused spiced dough.
Treats two and three from Tokyo Lamington are hot cross lamingtons and lamington hot cross buns. This might be a little hard to get your head around — the words lamington, hot and cross are used a lot. One is a classic hot cross bun, with the addition of chocolate and coconut, while the other is a lamington infused with all the flavours of a hot cross bun. Obviously, the best way to wrap your brain around them is to head into your closest store. They're available for $5 each or in an Easter pack for $35.
Nutella Babka and The B.I.G Bun at Tuga Pastries
Now boasting a revamped Clovelly home alongside its Alexandria outpost, Tuga Pastries has gone all out for Easter. While known for its Portuguese tarts, the beloved bakery has unveiled a stacked Easter menu of limited-time treats. To start, there's hot cross buns, both traditional and chocolate. And there's The B.I.G. Bun, a hefty seven-inch hot cross bun made with whipped honey butter, a spice glaze and a nest of chocolate eggs.
There's also Nutella babka, made with sweet braided brioche coated in chocolate and hazelnuts, and piped full of plenty of Nutella. All of these creations are available at both stores or via the Tuga website until Monday, April 1.
Hot Cross Cubes at Banksia Bakehouse
Known for its multi-layered cream-filled croissant cubes, Banksia Bakehouse has gotten in on the Easter spirit with a hot cross variety. These buttery blocks are made from the bakery's famous croissant cube pastry, then filled with a cinnamon créme patisserie centre, as well as Australian Sunmuscat sultanas.
They're available in-store throughout March. You can pre-order from the Banksia Bakehouse website.
Chocolate Eggs at The Charles
Luxurious inner-city brasserie The Charles has unveiled a couple of adorable Easter treats to go with its usual next-level dessert trolley. The restaurant's head of desserts and in-house chocolatier Rhiann Mead has concocted the pair of sweets, available online to be picked up at the venue.
The first is a six-pack of intricate handmade pastel eggs, which you'll pick up in a pink The Charles-branded egg carton. The pink, green and brown desserts are each filled with a different chocolate (white, milk and dark), as well as Valrhona crispy pearls. There's also a smaller set of salted caramel, dark chocolate and edible gold eggs, available for $21 compared to the $36 for the pastel variety.
Hot Cross Bao at Din Tai Fung
To celebrate the Year of the Dragon, Din Tai Fung created adorable dragon-shaped bao (as with the Year of the Rabbit, the Tiger and the Ox). But creative dishes aren't just a once-a-year thing here. Now that Easter is almost upon us, the chain is serving up something else to tempt your tastebuds: hot cross bao.
The pillowy bao are designed to look like traditional hot cross buns, and are filled with a mix of raisins and chunky chocolate chips. If you want to get your hands on them, you can head into any of Din Tai Fung's Australian outposts from Monday, March 18 until Easter.
Bruléed Hot Cross Buns and Hot X Gelato Sandwiches at Madame & Yves
Clovelly's Madame & Yves' Easter lineup is full of hot cross bun hybrids. The star of the bunch is the hot cross brulée bun, which comes filled with spiced custard and coated in a crunchy caramel toffee. There's also the hot crois-sant, a mix of the bakery's beloved croissants and the classic easter treat, and an ice cream sandwich where a scoop of gelato is placed between two halves of a cut-open hot cross bun.
If you're a traditionalist, there are classic and chocolate varieties of the autumn mainstay. And there's a hot cross pudding, with buns soaked in custard and baked to create a caramelised crust, then topped mascarpone whipped cream. All of these wild and whacky inventions are available in-store on Clovelly Road.
Koko Black Chocolate Hot Cross Buns at Black Star
Easter is a fitting occasion for two of Australia's best-loved dessert spots to team up and release something special for the chocolate fiends among us. The pastry masters at Black Star have come together with chocolatier Koko Black to launch a 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 Sydney stores up until Monday, April 1.
For Easter, Koko Black is also doing a special 'Critters' collection of chocolates starring characters like 'Koko Koala' and 'Percy Penguin' and come packaged with beautiful illustrations of animals, Australiana references and Easter motifs that should prove a hit with kids and are available now in stores and online.
Caroline McCredie
Dulce De Leche Custard-Filled Hot Cross Buns and Hot Cross Reu-Buns at Humble Bakery
There's something for the sweet tooths and also something for the savoury lovers on Humble's Easter menu. If you're more of a sugar addict, turn your attention towards the light, fluffy hot cross bun filled with dulce de leche custard. Or, for those adventurous enough to try it, the team has created a top-tier reuben with a twist.
The Hot Cross Reu-Bun is exactly what it sounds like, featuring Porteño pastrami, sauerkraut, pickles, dijon mustard and horseradish cream placed between two halves of a hot cross bun. The full Easter range is available at both Surry Hills and Circular Quay until Monday, April 1.