The hot cross bun challenge 2026
Your most discerning taste-tester hunts down London’s best hot cross buns
Honey, I ate all the buns. Well, not quite all… but an awful lot, 21 to be precise, all in a bid to find London’s finest hot cross bun.
Taste-testing for the best hot cross bun: a strict methodology
A recap for new readers on my approach to each bun. All buns are tasted “raw” and toasted, both with and without butter. Each one is rated out of 10, with points awarded based on the level of spice and fruit, as well as the quality of each, crumb texture and cross styling, their toastability, their melding with butter and general sexiness.
Although the odd regional bun is included below, my focus is on independent London bakeries. I also do not believe in including non-traditional flavours: I am a purist when it comes to the hot cross bun.
The field for 2026
It was tough out there this year. Prices continue to creep (although some held stable, and one went down, most puzzlingly). Yet, in what I can only assume is a cost-cutting measure (and I acknowledge it is a tough scene for all hospitality businesses), there was a drought of fruit – many otherwise good buns suffered from this lack. Spicing, also, seemed to be underdone. Several new entries made it into the ranking this year (Birley, Claridge’s and Don’t Tell Dad of particular note) – and there was a lot of movement from last year, keeping things interesting for this taste-tester.
Read last year’s rankings and reviews, as well as a brief history of the hot cross bun here.
London’s best hot cross buns: the 2026 ranking
Quince: £4. This is a golden beauty that basked in the sun. The glaze rubbed off on its travels, but it looks appealingly squishy and smashable. Very trad cross – respect. The cut-through looks a little light on fruit which Is deceptive – as it’s got real jumbo sultanas and chonks of peel that make it deliciously juicy. It’s light and fluffy and inviting – but with pithy bitterness running through it, alongside the heavy spicing. An intensely flavoured bun that is not for the faint of heart. One important note: this bun’s proportions are primed for the toaster – perfectly slicing into slim but not too slim slices Bravo – much appreciated by this taster. The nutmeg (I believe?) in particular emerges with toasting, really shining through. It toasts impeccably, and gives under butter, but doesn’t disintegrate. The fruit seems to melt into the dough. It’s a very grown-up bun – the flavours serious and smart, not especially sweet. Classy but also delicious and earns 9.5/10.
Eric’s: £3.50. A cuboid beauty, gleaming in the sun, its crust lightly blistered and hinting at a perfect bake Symmetrically piped crosses – nothing slapdash here. And look at that height! I also greatly appreciate that it’s easy to slice this into equal halves – not all top as is a risk with taller offerings. Fluffy, soft, consistent. Deeply scented with even fruit spread, with sultanas and raisins that look plump and juicy. The team here goes a bit maverick with their spice mix, adding in cumin – something I love. It gives savoury depth and je ne sais quoi – while not betraying its tradition. The light crust provides just enough chew, and this works beautifully with butter – but doesn’t need it. A snug fit in the toaster, but doable – and with enough depth to get contrast between the grilled outer and still-soft inner. Spice balance stays strong and with butter it’s genuinely irresistible. A really top bun. I don’t think the cumin would be to everyone’s tastes, but it is to mine. I love that it is substantial yet soft, carefully piped and oh-so-fluffy, with a near-flawless fruiting level. It’s not op value but is far from the most premium on the market too. 9/10
Fortitude: £4.25. Love the look here: striking contrast between the cross and bun itself, with a reassuringly rich and deep shade. Not enormous, mid-range in size. This offers the level of fruiting we have been missing. Five stars for the fruit. A relatively close crumb and slightly heavier bun. The first bite reveals a nice bounce to the dough though, with sweet fruit and a warm, malty, treacly depth here. Exceptional with butter – but it is light on spice. It’s a slow toaster, but holds its structure well, and that solidity works well under the grill – and butter knife. If it weren’t’ for the almost negligible spice, this would be a top-tier bun. It’s still delicious (and the glaze is brown sugar BTW) btu I can’t award something that doesn’t fulfil on every element. Nevertheless, worth seeking out at 8.5/10
Bayon*: £2.25 (very reasonably priced). A rogue regional entry, spied and seized on a visit to Hove. Classic in every way, with a standard cross – not over-styled in the least – and a light gleam of a glaze. Decent in size. Promising cut-through revealed fluffy and light innards, with a good fruit level. There’s a pleasing pappiness here that is redolent of a supermarket bun in a really good way. Spicing is gentle but present – reassuringly familiar. It toasts very well – the glaze doesn’t catch too quickly and the bun holds structurally. It gives under pressure, condenses rather than springs, that pappy deliciousness that here is very appealing. A very good bun. Not over-thought or over-done, familiar and classic. A very good opening gambit for the season and hard to beat at the price. A solid 8.5/10
Birley: £2.50. NEW ENTRY. These buns looked dinky and cute – and surprisingly cheap for Chelsea (!), but it is definitely on the smaller size. It’s unassuming in appearance, a light sheen and the glaze slightly crackles under touch. Slicing reveals a pillowy crumb – airy and open, clearly a white-flour-only bun. The fruiting is verging on sparse but just about passable. Untoasted, this is really rather lovely. It gives under butter, but doesn’t totally submit, the spice feels classically balanced, the bun not overly savoury or sweet. Without butter, you could argue it’s a touch dry. The glaze handles toasting well, and the bun holds it’s structure too. The candied peel seems to shine post-toasting, although just a touch more fruit would definitely be welcome. Honestly, with the lightness and size, I could have snaffled a baker’s dozen of these babies. Given Birley is a transatlantic operation, I doubted their ability to nail this English staple: how wrong I was. I admire the understated simplicity and classicism here, even if it is a little small for someone as greedy as me. A very strong 8/10, marked down slightly for fruit level and minor dryness unadorned.
Claridge’s Bakery: £3. NEW ENTRY. Given this is Mayfair and a five-star hotel, £3 seems a bargain. The bun is, alas, not a looker – as a friend suggested, a little like someone’s child had been at them. Nevertheless, in I went. It looks like mild under-mixing led to a slight zebra effect. There’s a decent spread of fruit, although not generous. It is a surprisingly soft crumb, and the spice is balanced – reassuringly familiar in style, pleasing with butter but flavoursome enough to stand alone. It toasted beautifully and with heat the spice and fruit seemed to grow. In all honesty it’s a classic. A benchmark bun, despite its unassuming appearance, and with that price… an 8/10 from me.
Populations (at Cornershop): £4. Appealingly on the wonk, a darker and heavier bun, bulging with fruit. Cut-through revealed a dalmatian effect (one-off mixing issues, and baker George did offer a replacement which I couldn’t take advantage of), but it smells glorious – deeply spiced. The dough has an appealingly savoury base, with a grounding earthy spice. It excels with butter. Fruit content is respectable, but I would like a touch more. The spice wafts from the toaster, and this bun holds its structure well under the heat, and is – quite frankly – dreamy with butter. I’d like a little more fruit and a little more spice in an ideal world, but it’s a strong contender. 7.75/10
August: £2.50. Don’t mess with the cross, people. August actually switched to true crosses later in the HXB season last year, but points are being deducted for this affront to tradition (which if nothing else means an uneven spread of said cross across the bun). Nevertheless, you can’t deny it’s a looker. They’ve gone with a ginger glaze again – some real punch of sweet and fiery flavour just licking my fingers after removing it from the bag. It’s a bulbous big boi of a bun – admirable stature, although my instant concern was over toastability. Lovely fruit distribution, quite currant-heavy but with stem ginger chopped through (as last year), giving something a bit different. The crumb is a little tighter than I’d like, making for some heft. Wholegrain deliciousness (a guess, I confess) giving a deep shade and bags of flavour, with an intense spice level – heavy on clove and nutmeg. It needs butter to balance the spice, a thick slab to complement it. My concerns about its towering height and toastability were justified. The fiery glaze – although delicious – does catch a little, an issue I also had last year with this bun. The spice works well toasted, although again does need generous buttering – especially with the stature, enough to really ooze through the density here. It’s a solid bun – and I do like the ginger take, but it is also literally a little solid. There was a crackle to the glaze that charmed me last year and the spice a little more subdued from memory. That said, it’s very good value in London at £2.50. A light downgrade on last year’s rating to a still respectable 7.5/10
Maya’s Bakehouse: £3.75. A totally different beast to Toad’s tasted on the same day. A touch bigger in size, and definitely a more orthodox offering, with more classic contrast between cross and crust. It’s got the fluff factor: drifts of mie revealed within, practically calorie-less in their lightness. Modest fruiting but with really plum golden sultanas in particular that are a divine bite. The spice is delicate and it’s almost overwhelmed by butter. So light it compressed under tooth – and I instantly worried for its toast- and butter-ability. The glaze caught very quickly (higher sugar here perhaps? I believe it’s a blood orange syrup used for the glaze), but it managed to retain structure under pressure – bouncing back from its buttering. Slipped down terrifyingly quickly given its lightness, although the spice was more subdued post toasting. Not necessarily hitting great heights in any area, yet offering a solid performance across the board, this earns a respectable 7/10
Kora*: €2.70. A rogue Athens entry, flown in overnight by a friend. A big bun, bulbous and broad, but very light, it’s stylish in appearance for sure. The cut-through does not reveal as much fruit as I’d like, although is airy and light in texture. Very citrus-led with a nice pithy edge to it, mild spice and definitely low on fruit for the volume of dough. Toasted better than anticipated but really compressed – disappearing to nothing under the butter knife. Butter also didn’t seem to quite work here – not melding with the flavours (it’s not particularly Greek, I suppose). Best unadorned. Nevertheless, a lovely exotic addition the line-up, just not quite a classic. 7/10
Toad: £3.20. It’s a real looker. The blistering bubbly crust beneath a mirror-esque glaze, deep in shade with a tonal skinny cross. I’m very into it. It’s definitely on the heavier side in weight, and you can see the crumb is a little tighter – but still with plenty of air. Most importantly, what a bloody haven for fruit: stuffed to the gunnels with deliciousness. Untoasted, this is a sturdy, reassuringly textured bun, the crust and glaze cracking deliciously, the spicing heavy but balanced – and butter only elevates things. That glaze caught real quick in the toaster though: grillers beware. It’s a good price, at £3.20 – not outrageous, lower-middle of the field from what I’ve seen so far. A quandary here indeed, but I think this has to sit at a 6.75/10. Untoasted it’s a banger (8?), but the case of the vanishing spice means it’s toasted counterpart lacks star-factor, even if really very nice as a teacake.
Pophams: £3.90. I have – I confess – been a bit of a Pophams hater. Not a hater, but I do feel they’re going for style over substant and it’s been a middle of the pack runner to date. It’s so iconic, however, it feels like I can’t retaste it, so I went again for 2026. It’s obviously a real babe of a bun – the trademark croissant cross does look great and it’s all neat and tidy. Quite small, though. Upon cut-through, the major factor in my 2025 rating was revealed: a serious lack of fruit. That said, it does smell fantastic. It’s on the sweeter side, but not sickly, with a really strong spice mix. But that fricking croissant cross breaks away into spindly shards that attack your mouth. More fruit is revealed when biting in, but it’s still on the low side, and the candied peel is almost grated and flecked through the dough, which just doesn’t work for me. It does toast better than expected, although the spice fades and the sweetness seems to level up. It does develop a new delicacy toasted, not fragile, but texturally elegant all of a sudden. Much nicer than I recalled, but I do believe a proper bun should work fresh and untoasted, and it definitely needs more fruit than is on show here. 6/10 for this looker.
Tarn: £4. A rustic-looking bun and a top-scorer from last year. It’s dark and broody, casual but a very decent size. It’s on the heavier side, more bready, but with a modest distribution of fruit and an even crumb. You can really taste the quality of the flour here (assuming a heft dose of wholegrain?) – but it isvery light on spice. Toasting doesn’t feel optional. It toasts very well – no real glaze to catch, no girth to get stuck, but it’s hard to get past the rather plain flavour here – as good as the flour here is. I want my spice. And more fruit. But it gets some points for texture. Sadly disappointing (but do go there for all the goods – they really are excellent, and lovely). 6/10
Jolene: £3.40. Gorgeous in appearance. Admirable in size and a glorious-looking bun. The cross is a little chunky for my tastes, but I avoided pre-judgement. The price had shifted significantly from last year – weirdly down from £4.20 to £3.40. The crumb is cloud-like in texture – a springy pillow of deliciousness. Hint of cherry in the fruit mix as last year, a little twist, but the fruit is a bit sparse – as is the spicing, so gentle it is barely there. This, sadly, detracts from that amazing texture – making it a little meek and mild. Toasting did not go well. It was strange as it went from warm and soft to utterly charred in seconds – yet the underside barely offered a crisped edge. Toasting is firmly not advised here. Although I clearly ruined this with my efforts, I can confirm that no spice emerged under grilling. Such high hopes, such disappointment. It’s a looker and that texture is so seductive but without the spice and fruit – this just doesn’t deliver. 6/10
Chalk Hills Bakery*: £6.40 for four (£1.60/bun). A regional entry snaffled at the Kingfisher Farm Shop in Abinger Hammer (Surrey). Not necessarily a looker – with a fairly sorry cross, but plump in size. Light and airy crumb with very strong fruit level – heavy on the berries over candied peel. Untoasted this has a lovely scent of spice, although rather a sweet dough, very much driven by the fruit. It’s an accessible, very kid-friendly style – although the cross is a chunky, chewy mouthful. The high sugar level means it toasts incredibly quickly – beware. Oddly it feels more bready grilled, the spice fading into the background, and the structure doesn’t hold under buttering. A so-so bun, although £1.60 a pop does make the value here worthy of note. Nevertheless a 6/10 from me.
Don’t Tell Dad: £3.80. NEW ENTRY. This bun is little, a fraction cheaper than some, admittedly. Very pretty and a lovely gentle sheen to the glaze. Cut-through reveals another bun forlorn of fruit. I get it’s an expensive ingredient, but honestly this is a problem. Maybe sultanas and raisins also flow through the Strait of Hormuz? It’s a heavier bun and again, it is sticky – almost claggy – of crumb. Suspected underbake. It compresses, giving totally, with no bounce back. There’s a decent dose of spice and well balanced mix here. A fair toaster but it then almost entirely disintegrates when buttered. A stray golden sultana offers a glimmer of succulent sweetness, but doesn’t make up for the lack of fruit. Better spice balance versus some, but only a 5.5/10
Fink’s: £4. It’s a big boi – a bun of notable girth. Generous and fluffy in appearance, with a classic colour scheme on show. There are promising honks of fruit and peel peeking out the side. It’s light with an even, open crumb, and a decent level of fruit. But it is on the bready side – not too sweet, earthy even, with a kick of spice that comes through on the finish, but more bread than bun. It requires butter raw. The girth is an issue for the toaster, but if you can handle that depth, it has a delicious crisp outside, then fluffy within. There’s a strong marmalade note that runs through the bun, pithy peel and the glaze, that carries through toasted. It’s a nice, modestly fruited fruit loaf (something that I’d argue demands toasting and butter), but not a great hot cross bun. 5.5/10
Toklas: £4. I was delighted to waltz in at lunchtime and swipe a bun stress-free. It’s undeniably attractive. The glaze held impressively after several hours wrapped in its paper bag and lugged around town. The cross is broad-stroke, solid, somewhat at odds with the exotically scented bun. A lovely cut-through. They blend their own chai tea to infuse the dough – and that sophisticated spice mix really does come through. The crumb looks airy and light, with an enticing spread of fruit in the mix. That cross, however, is pesky. It cracks under the knife – firm and thick. Although the dough looks beautiful, I found it a little dry. The spicing is serious – pungent and powerful, but needs softening with a touch more sweetness in my view. The candied peel (Todolî, of course) is elite – bringing a really appealing pithy bitterness to the bun, but I feel like the Corinthian raisins (yes, origin specified – and rather annoyingly also misspelt on their Instagram) are too intense, not plump and juicy enough, particularly when the bun itself is lacking in moisture. It toasts significantly better than expected and a slathering of butter provides essential lubrication. That cross, however, hardens under the heat – an unpleasant solid bite to deal with. The spice remains haughty. It’s a good bun, a fine and smart bun, a bun that comes in a twinset and pearls. But unfortunately it’s not much fun. Trying a bit hard, I’m afraid. And with the aridity on show, shame on them at this price. 5.5/10
Miel: £4. A real contrast in appearance to Fortitude’s bun, which was tasted on the same day – almost anaemic by comparison, but really just a pale golden offering. Very toastable in its proportions which does appeal to me. But, as with last year, where the heck is the fruit? Some finely chopped peel but few raisins/currants/alt-berries in sight. Intensely aromatic – cardamom dominating. Supposedly soaked in hojicha, although hard to tell on taste. A few more berries are revealed, but it just isn’t enough fruit. Biting in, it’s very soft and a little doughy – sticky, really, suggesting an underbake perhaps? Or maybe the soaking is an issue? The spice is really intense – too much so, Id’ argue, and there’s a dominant citrus profile here. It toasts ok, but struggles to withhold buttering. I was very excited to retaste this year, after they said they’d be working on the recipe. It’s up from a 2/10 but only to a 5/10. (Stick to the classic French bakes here which are unbelievable)
Layla: Given to me for free as it was the runt of the dozen, so not judged on looks. Cut-through feels a little dry with scant fruit. Tasting it, this is a very sad specimen. Bready. Sickly sweet. Sorely under-spiced. Forlorn of fruit. With a chewy cross to boot. Toasting didn’t help the matter. In fact, the stale bread sort of warmed and became almost… soggy, rather than all grilled and delicious. No spice to be seen. No amount of butter saved it. Even ignoring looks, this is really sub-par – not worth the pedal to West London. A measly 4/10
Bunhead Bakery: “Hot cross bun” is a misnomer for these goods. Not rated, illegitimate trussed-up cinnamon buns do not qualify.
Missed buns
I make it to as many bakeries as I can, but alas, my bike only pedals me so far and work does take over, meaning several buns didn’t get secured this year.
Aries Bakehouse: Thrice I tried, thrice I failed. A previous top-scorer, too (8/10 last year).
E5 Bakehouse: I tried, I promise. 7/10 last year.
Little Bread Pedlar: Just didn’t make it, I’m afraid.
Mahali: I tried, but hot cross buns were not being offered this year.
Previously tasted but deemed not worthy of re-tasting this year: Ayres, Gail’s, Blackbird, Bread Ahead, The Dusty Knuckle (these used to be excellent, I fear the fact they are now vegan has been their downfall), Hearth, Irene, Kossoffs, Luminary, St John.
Bakeries I aspire to adding next year, several due to demand from you, dear readers:
Astrid (so far north. So far.)
Gaya (out late)
Raab’s the Bakers (this old-school establishment holds promise, I think)
Stepney’s (at Stepney City Farm)
Regional entries I hope to sample:
Coombeshead Farm (having a bake sale this weekend – if only I could make it)
Landrace (a near-miss this year)
Lannan (a fantastic offering last year – 8.5/10)
Pump Street Bakery
Sugardough
Until next year: your hot-cross-hun is signing off for now.
If there’s a bun you think I missed, please let me know.
*NBRegional entries included here but not part of the official ranking
