5 May 2022

Put your taste buds to the test for Canberra's best hot cross buns

| Michael Weaver
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Six hot cross buns.

What are your favourite hot cross buns in Canberra? Photo: File.

As we head into Easter, it’s time to put your taste buds to the test to find the most delicious hot cross buns in Canberra.

How does your local bakery stack up against the big supermarkets that have been diligently tempting us with all things chocolate since they took down their Christmas decorations in late December?

The hot cross bun purists may also be getting hot under the collar with some recipes even putting chocolate in their buns.

But now with Easter less than a week away, it is appropriate to wake up to the smell of hot cross buns toasting in the oven.

We have put our noses on the trail and found some of the best hot cross buns in Canberra.

Katie Collins from Danny's Bakery holding hot cross buns.

Follow the Facebook page of Danny’s Bakery, in Narrabundah, to find out when their hot cross buns are freshly baked so you can pick them up from Katie Collins while they are still warm. Photo: Supplied.

Three Mills Bakery at Majura Business Park has kept to the traditional hot cross bun that is not short on juicy fruit and is topped with traditional choux crosses. They are a delicacy worth every cent of their $17 per six-pack price tag.

Three Mills also does an equally delectable chocolate-cherry version that you can store in the freezer and bake-at-home, although we suspect they may not make it to the freezer. And for the purist, they have the traditional variety to bake at home, just in case you want to get that fresh-bread smell filling your home.

At Danny’s Bakery, in Narrabundah, you’ll find Canberra’s biggest, best-value hot cross buns, and the family who has been baking them since 1988. For sourdough lovers, you’ll enjoy their full sourdough hot cross bun.

The bakery’s namesake, Danny Collins, started as an apprentice baker more than 55 years ago in Batemans Bay, where he learned to make hand-moulded timed sourdoughs, using traditional baking methods. After moving to Canberra, he honed his craft and business skills in various bakeries before opening the city’s first sourdough bakery with his wife.

READ ALSO Hot in the City: Canberra’s biggest hot cross buns at family-run Danny’s Bakery

The Spence Family Bakery is another family-owned bakehouse operated by Dean and Catherine Elliott. They make all products in-store daily, including traditional hot cross buns and a very chocolatey choc-chip hot cross bun.

In Fyshwick, you’ll find gold medal-worthy gluten and grain-free hot cross buns at Deeks Health Foods.

Manager Theresa de Castella says they have kept all the taste intact while producing vegan morsels free of gluten, grains and dairy with no artificial preservatives, colours or flavours.

Gluten and grain-free hot cross buns from Deeks Health Foods in Fyshwick.

Tasty gluten and grain-free hot cross buns from Deeks Health Foods in Fyshwick. Photo: Supplied.

“We didn’t want people with very restricted diets to miss out on important traditions such as Easter,” she says. “It gives them something to look forward to that they can share and experience with kids and loved ones.”

Made from quinoa, tapioca and soy flour, with the taste and essence of traditional spice, sultanas and currants, Deeks’ hot cross buns are just one of the healthy products available at the world’s first 100 per cent grain and gluten-free bakery.

READ ALSO Hot in the City: Gold medal-worthy gluten and grain-free hot cross buns by Deeks

It is a wonderful feeling waking up to a lightly toasted hot cross bun, straight from the oven and smothered in butter. Buns can come in all shapes, sizes and flavours, including choc chip, double choc, white chocolate with raspberries, apple-cinnamon, spiced chai, and, of course, the good old traditional fruit hot cross bun.

No matter what your favourite flavour is, where do you get your hot cross buns from?

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majuraworker0016:11 pm 01 Apr 21

I’ll throw a name in the ring , I just got a six pack of hot cross buns from Ngunnawal bakery… very tasty.

I hope the Bakery in Narrabundah has better hot cross buns than their apple turnovers I bought recently. They were so bad we threw them out. Seriously, we couldn’t initially find the apple in them. We did finally with enough dissection find a smear in a tiny area in the middle of the thick dough. Basically just dough. No one would eat them, but the birds appreciated them.

Katie Humphrys7:48 pm 01 Apr 21

I’m so sorry you felt that way and apologies. Our cream apple turnovers are very popular bur maybe you got a bad one! Please come in. See me for a free loaf of your choice and any cake you like at Dannys. So sorry there was little apple. Let us make that up with a loaf of choice and a new pastry or cake of choice – ask foe katie before 10:30. Qr would like you to have a replacement and a nice loaf too as compensation!

backinthecan4:15 pm 26 Mar 15

Bakery Culture in Jamieson Centre, Macquarie make excellent hot crossed buns. Delightful texture and spicing with generous portions of fruit. (In fact, I think I feel a short drive coming on…)

I randomly found myself outside Erindale Bakery today, hungrily in need of breakfast. Their traditional hot x bun was delicious…just the right amount of spice…they definitely have my vote.
Also, Dream Cuisine…I recommend giving them a go!

A.Baker -Coles and woolies have mass produced stuff.Its freshly made every day and with good ingrrdients

The kids fruit free TipTop HXB used to be the best, they came in a pink foil lined tray ready for oven baking to warm up.

Someone please tell me where I can find these White Choc and Raspberry or Chai HXB ! Getting bored of fruit-free HXB (don’t mock me…. blame allergies !)

Sophia Carlini11:06 am 25 Mar 15

A.Baker has deliciously, fresh out of the oven hot cross buns! If you get in early enough they are still warm!!

Can’t go past Dream Cuisine’s hot cross buns for indulgent, special-occasion eating. For everyday scoffing, Baker’s Delight do a good job.

I tend to divide them into categories…. toasted and not toasted. Always surprised I quite like the Woolies buns for non toasted but they come behind Bakers Delight and the lovely little bakery in Rivett. For toasted… Baker’s Delight again works well for me – a decent all rounder.

Coles and Woolworths chocolate hot cross buns are decent. Usually stick with the Coles though.. chocolate bread, with a decent amount of choc chips.

However, I think the best ones are probably the Choc chip ones from Bakers Delight.

That being said, Brumby’s did a chocolate hot cross bun with nutella inside it last year and that was pretty delicious, not sure whether they’re selling them this year or not though.

You have to try the hot cross buns at the epic farmers markets, not sure who they were, all I know is they had raisin and walnuts and were amazing! It was from the guys who do pies and Tharwa eggs outside. As an alternative my wife gets cinnamon scrolls from them too (she’s not a fan of raisins)

Dame Canberra2:54 pm 24 Mar 15

It’s a close call between Dream Cuisine, Erindale Bakery and A. Baker for me.

I’d be disappointed to see a supermarket hot cross bun take out this week’s taste off! Surely Canberra can do better than that!

Croissant D’Or at the city interchange

Alexandra Craig1:51 pm 24 Mar 15

I had a choc chip one from Bakers Delight as a dessert treat to myself the other day. It was pretty delicious!

Antagonist said :

Coles/Woolies are as good as any – served hot out of the microwave with a big slab of soft butter. The person responsible for adding fruit to hot-cross buns should have been burned at the stake. For shaaaame!

Pillow soft, no real crumb, little to no spice, small amount of fruit, no mixed peel… supermarket cheapies don’t really cut it as hot cross buns for me. Grilling/toasting better than microwaving, too.

Coles/Woolies are as good as any – served hot out of the microwave with a big slab of soft butter. The person responsible for adding fruit to hot-cross buns should have been burned at the stake. For shaaaame!

Ha. So I do this every year to test out where the best hot cross buns are. In my opinion, it is easy to go to ’boutique’ with HXB’s. We have had the Silo buns and found them to be too full of fruit – it was almost like a christmas cake. Then on the other end of the scale, coles traditional are sparsely filled with fruit.

There are also other little factors, how much spices they use and wether the glaze is a sticky mess or barely there.

I have found a happy medium with Bakers Delights buns. They have won our HxB taste off for the last five years. This year we are going to do a bake off and see if we can better their recipe.

SILO. I will be lining up, early, on Thursday next week to get some fresh ones for the Easter weekend.

Try the “Hot Cross Bun” chocolates from Haighs Chocolates.

They taste amazing, exactly what like what they say.

Its appropriate to wake up to the smell of hot cross buns all year round IMO!

The Coles traditional fruit ones are pretty nice and good value!

And must have mixed peel in them.

Milly Withers9:04 am 24 Mar 15

A. Baker!!

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