Nine To Try: Easter Treats for When You’ve Had Enough Hot Crossies

Listen, we all love hot cross buns. They’re available in so many iterations across the city that you’re sure to find one you jam with. But there are other limited-time Easter treats that are worth your time, too. Here are nine hot contenders if you’ve overdone it on the hot crossies.

Easter eggs from The Charles , CBD

Rhiann Mead – who trained under Peter Gilmore at Quay – is pastry captain at the opulent CBD dining room. For Easter, she’s created a too-cute clutch of pastel-hued chocky eggs, each filled with crunchy, Malteser-like Valrhona pearls and delivered in an egg carton as a half-dozen. There’s also a six-part set of dark chocolate eggs stuffed with salted caramel and jazzed up with gold leaf. They’re luxe and limited edition – available to order online and pick up on King Street between March 25 and 30. Egg carton, $37 for six; caramel eggs, $21 for six.

Hot cross bao from Din Tai Fung , Sydney-wide

It’s a Taiwanese spin on holiday breakfasting with these pillowy, choc-filled buns. The steamed treats utilise Din Tai Fung’s bao dough, with raisins and choc-chips to sweeten and an X on top. Available in all Din Tai Fung restaurants until Easter. $8.90 for two.

Hot cross cruffin from Bar Mammoni , CBD

This hefty hybrid brings a croissant, muffin and hot cross bun to the mix. It’s spicy (flavoured with house-roasted speculoos), tangy (with goji berries spotted throughout), crispy (courtesy of the spiralled croissant dough) and full of a delicately spiced namelaka chocolate cream. $9.50 each.

The Big Bun from Tuga, Clovelly and Alexandria

Home to some of Sydney’s favourite pasteis de nata, Tuga bakery is big on buns too – specifically, big buns. The glistening, supersized holiday treat is filled with a thick spread of whipped honey-butter, and topped with eggs in a white-chocolate nest. There’s also a show-stopping Nutella babka: braided brioche layered with chocolate and hazelnuts, piped with Nutella, and topped with Easter eggs. Pre-order from March 25 to April 1. Big bun, $35; babka, $35.

Gelato Easter egg from Messina , Sydney-wide

Turbocharge your hunt this year with a mega chocolate egg from one of our city’s best gelaterias. It’s a babushka doll of sugar in a handpainted milk-chocolate egg. First you’ll find Milo mousse, then Oreo crumble and hazelnut praline, fluffy vanilla-malt Chantilly and Milo gelato, before you get to the core: a rich yolk of hazelnut caramel. $75 per egg

Hot cross bom from Kafe Kooks , Ultimo

Golden, crisp, buttery layers of roti layered with chocolate, sultanas and cinnamon? Sign us up. The hot cross bom is the roti house’s answer to Easter buns, and the twist is a winner. Available until April 18. $8 each

Hot cross scrolls from Bobo Bakery , markets around Sydney

Rowan Attwell sells her baked goods at a variety of Sydney markets – Paddington, Bondi, Cronulla, The Cannery – and sends brownies via post on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. For Easter, she’s made a fruit-laden twist: hot cross scrolls. Brioche dough is spread with tea-soaked fruit and spiced butter before being folded over, sliced, topped with a cross and then baked. It’s sticky with orange glaze and hot competition for the classic bun. They’re available for pre-order, too. $8 each or six for $30.

Choc X scrolls from Shadow Baking , Darlinghurst

A haven for laminated goods – think Vegemite-and-avo scrolls and nutmeg-topped, custard-filled danishes – is turning it on for its first Easter in permanent digs. The many-layered, chocolate-heavy rounds are for those with the “ palate of a toddler ” – no dried fruit in sight, just laminated hot-cross-bun dough heaving with vanilla custard and chocolate. Available until Easter. $7 each.

Hot cross lamington from Tokyo Lamington , Newtown

Tokyo Lamington – known for its playful twists on Aussie cakes – is offering three creations for Easter : hot cross lamingtons, lamington hot cross buns and yuzu hot cross buns. For the hot cross lamington, the team takes two slices of spiced sponge cake, sandwiches them together with a filling of cinnamon-vanilla cream and mixed fruit, dips the whole thing in a white-chocolate sauce, rolls it in spiced cookie crumbs and tops it off with a white-chocolate cross. $5 each, six for $27, 12 for $50 or a six-part mixed box for $35.

More of a traditionalist? Check out our guide to the city’s best hot cross buns.

Additional reporting by Audrey Payne.