Three of the Best Sydney Finger Buns, for When You Need a Classic Sweet Treat

My first job was at Gosford Baker’s Delight. I’d walk down after school and do the three-hour close shift for $7.30 an hour (one shift meant I had just enough for a movie ticket on the weekend). Good old Baker’s Delight has many hits – hello to those custard scrolls – but perhaps what they’re most known for is skyrocketing the classic finger bun to its current standing.

We all know the simple treats: a length of soft, fluffy bread, its top sticky with glaze and, traditionally, pink icing and coconut. They’ve been in Australia for close to a century but, thanks to hitting the opening menu at Baker’s Delight, have been a staple since the ’80s – sometimes with white icing or sprinkles, sometimes with bread studded with sultanas.

While a Baker’s Delight number will do the trick (my pick is the one topped with fluffy white Boston bun icing and coconut), some independent bakers around Sydney have versions worth seeking out. Here are three to try.

Pantry Story, Stanmore

Tiara Sucipto is known for her delight-inducing baked goods: pastries topped with wobbling capybaras, kimchi-fuelled focaccia. The finger bun is no different. Japanese salt bread – popularised in Korea, a craze reported on recently by Broadsheet’s Lucy Bell Bird – is stuffed with sweet, coconutty frangipane, then topped with a swirl of strawberry buttercream and rainbow sprinkles for good measure. $7.50 each, available until Sunday May 3.

@pantrystory_sydney

Humble, Surry Hills, Circular Quay and CBD

Humble Bakery is known (and adored) for its pink-topped, butter-stuffed finger buns. These serves, from the team behind Porteno and Bastardo, are anything but humble – they’re so special, journalist David Matthews once sat down with the team to find out all about them. A thick slab of butter is sandwiched within the softly sweet milk dough, and rose-scented icing crowns it. $8.50 each. 

@humble_sydney

Poles, Penrith

This western Sydney bakery is for you if you’re looking for a classic finger bun. The family team has been servicing locals for four decades. Its buns are made using a sweet yeast dough, with plenty of sultanas. They’re then topped in either white icing (with sprinkles or dessicated coconut) or a fudgier strawberry icing and coconut. Nothing fancy, all charm. $5 each.

@polespatisseriepenrith