Chow Lists

• 1. John Campbell's Irish Bakery

  5625 Geary Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94121

  (2009) $2 They are the Irish version which has rye in it. It is a soft yeasty bun with raisins and there is rye flavor but no seeds. It is almost like a fragrant spice The thick, flat cross is made of bread and it is nicely placed covering the bun.

• 2. Caffe BaoNecci

  516 Green St, San Francisco, CA

  (2009) If this had a white icing rather than custard cross, this would be my ideal hot cross bun. It has a nice sweet glaze. The bun itself is classic There are enough black raisins and the candied fruit is finely chopped. There’s not too much so it adds little bits of flavor and color without being overwhelming. The spicing is nice in that it doesn't call attention to itself. As much as I like cardamom, I don't want to be overly aware of it.

• 3. Sweet Adeline

  3350 Adeline St, Berkeley, CA

  (2009) $2.00 It was pretty much perfect, dense and yeasty with white icing cross. The orange peel was finely chopped, but there wasn’t much of it this year My only nit was that the white and dark raisins were also finely chopped where I like bigger pieces.

• 4. Crixa Cakes

  2748 Adeline St, Berkeley, CA 94703

  $1.95 <BR><BR> No Cross Bun - Before Easter Crixa makes a no cross bun but very similar to the bulocki. Cross or no cross, I liked this very much. It is lightly dusted with some sort of flour that has a faint sweetness to it. The bun itself is perfect in texture, not too chewy, bready or airy. It is light yet yeasty and the perfect touch of dark and light raisins with tiny citron accents. Lovely, lovely, lovely. The soul of a hot cross bun though not classic <BR><BR> Hot Cross Bun - Artistically crafted with care. The lightest whisper of glaze on top, so sheer I didn’t notice it at first. Nice buttery white icing cross. Unfortunately they put it in a bag and most of the cross stayed on the bag. Ask them to put it in a small box. Nice yeasty bun with a touch of citron and raisins. It might have been that particular roll, but it could have used a little more of the fruit. Oddly enough, I liked the not crossed bun a little better <BR><BR> I missed it this year, but here’s a 2009 update from another poster. There seems to be a little change- $2.35 ea. Tennis ball sized. Light glaze and a very fine custard cross. Dinner roll texture and nice flavor. They say currants, cherries, citron, and orange rind, but there's not a lot of fruit in these, so you may not find all four in a single bun.

• 5. Bennett Valley Bread & Pastry

  3336 Industrial Dr, Santa Rosa, CA

  (BERKELY SATURDAY FARMERS MARKET): For people who don’t like citron in their HCB, this totally organic bun is an excellent choice. The cross is delicious cream cheese white icing. It is lovingly, perfectly flavored with cardamom and the raisin to bun ratio is nice. The texture is what those awful supermarket buns fail at and should aspire to. It is soft yet yeasty

• 6. Hopkins Street Bakery

  1584 Hopkins St, Berkeley, CA

  (2009) 2 for $1.50 or 85 cents each. The new owners changed it and it loses its number one ranking though it is still a fine bun. However it is bordering on a good raisin bun. The assertive cardamom spicing saves it from that though. <BR><BR>There are just whole raisins, golden and black. The amount of raisin is just right though. No citron or candied fruit. The soft texture is nice and it is pleasantly yeasty.

• 7. Fat Apple's

  7525 Fairmount Ave, El Cerrito, CA 94530

  (EL CERRITO and BERKELEY) $1.80 Light glaze, cross is thick white icing with a butter cream taste. Nice texture and yeasty taste. Not enough currants or raisins though. A touch of citron would be nice.

• 8. Bear Claw Bakery

  2340 San Pablo Ave, Pinole, CA

  Hot from the oven, the fluffy biscuit-like bun had a thin spread of white icing, A thick piping of still-warm custard formed the cross. There was a restrained use of fruit. The texture that reminds me of the Pillsbury refrigerated cinnamon rolls, but they are made from scratch. An excellent bun though

• 9. Virginia Bakery

  1690 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA 94709

  (2009) $1 Better than 2008 but not as good as a few years back. <BR><BR>Two types of crosses - lemon and custard. Light white sugar glaze. <BR><BR>The bun was more like a soft Danish There was less citron and candied fruit and it was finely chopped which is a great improvement. . <BR><BR>The custard cross while tasty, had A LOT of egg yolk in it turning it an alarming color like the blocks of medium cheddar cheese at supermarkets.. Lemon was fine.

• 10. Le Gateau Elegant

  712 Main St, Martinez, CA

  There was generous and good custard cross. The bun had just enough chopped raisins for flavor and touches of chopped candied fruit that were not obnoxious and gave it color. The only thing it could have done without was the glaze which made it a bit sticky. It was a nice soft bun

• 11. Schubert's Bakery

  521 Clement St, San Francisco, CA 94118

  (2009) $1.35. It has a sticky topping and a cross is custard. While it could use more citron, I like that it was finely chopped so it gave some color and not call attention to the citron like in a bad fruitcake. The bun was good and yeasty.

• 12. Great Harvest Bread

  5800 College Ave, Oakland, CA

  (2009) White cross, but it was more like butter cream, sort of messy. This is one of those variations I like, cross aside. Excellent soft yeasty bun. I didn't realize until I got home that they make both a honey wheat and honey white. I'm guessing I got the honey white version. What elevated this bun is the fruit in it. Real pieces of orange peel, dried cranberries, chopped white raisins, whole black raisins. The fruit was just about right, not too much or too little. Not traditional, but good.

• 13. Emporio Rulli

  464 Magnolia Ave, Larkspur, CA

  (2009) (SF, LARKSPUR, SFO) Not a bad bun for what it is. It is a lemon-flavored bun. The cross is lemon and the only citron in it are little bits of lemon here and there. There are a few black and golden raisins and no other spicing. The bun itself is an unusual texture almost a mix of coffee cake and bun. It moves up in the list to just below Bread Garden.

• 14. The Chestnut Bakery

  2359 Chestnut St, San Francisco, CA

  $2.25 Large bun, not enough custard cross … more for decoration. No glaze. Nice spice and one of the yeastiest. Generous whole black and white raisins, but no citrus.

• 15. Fat Angel Bakery

  71 Broadway Blvd, Fairfax, CA 94930

  (2009) A pleasant bun but only specks of raisins and no other fruit. The white Icing cross looked thin, but was tasty and was one of the best. No spice but I think there was a faint background taste of rye.

• 16. Destination Baking Co

  598 Chenery St, San Francisco, CA 94131

  (2009) The bun seems to have an orange theme. The thick white icing cross seems to have a little orange flavoring. There are tiny bits of orange peel. Lots of raisins. It is more raisin roll than hot cross bun. It gets right to the line but doesn't cross over it. I'd put it just

• 17. Bread Garden

  2912 Domingo Ave, Berkeley, CA 94705

  Nice generous white icing cross with a touch of lemon. While it was a good bun, it was more of a raisin roll. No citrus for those who prefer their HCB without it. Lovely cardamom aroma I think it was cardamom. Whatever spice it was it warmed the bun with spiciness. That part was lovely.

• 18. Liberty Cafe and Bakery

  410 Cortland Ave, San Francisco, CA 94110

  It was just ok. The bun was a little dry. They do a non traditional thick custard type topping which was very good

• 19. Masse's Pastries

  1469 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA 94709

  If the white icing cross was any thinner, it would be invisible. I didn't like the sticky glaze. The bun itself had a nice mix of citron and raisins, but was a little dry. <br><br> Need to retry as this was a 2009 report from a poster. . It was delicious- citrus flavor in the generous cross over the glaze.. A little on the hefty side, but this made it less of a bread roll and more of a breakfast pastry. The raisins were moist; the candied orange peel was fresh and not too big. Nice flavor in the whole thing, not too sweet, not too much like a scone, and well-balanced

• 20. Bay Bread

  2325 Pine St, San Francisco, CA 94115

  (2009) $2.25 (aka La Boulange, Various locations) If anything looked like the perfect hcb, this was it. White and black raisins with chopped dried apricots and dried cranberries rather than citron. It would have been nicer with a bit more. Someone mentioned it was made from brioche, but I don’t think so. It was much denser. It was on the dry side though. Lovely shiny brown exterior and the white icing cross was tasty and just the right amount.

• 21. Victoria Pastry Co

  1362 Stockton St, San Francisco, CA 94133

  (SF and MARIN): These were yeasty with nice cardamom flavor and citron (not too heavy). Custard cross. It was a little too big and dry. The top is glazed which I didn’t like in this particular bun.

• 22. La Farine

  1820 Solano Ave, Berkeley, CA 94707

  (BERKELEY / OAKLAND): Nice white icing cross. It was a delicious raisin roll, yeasty and full of raisin, but it was not a hot cross bun. There was some sort of odd spice for a hot cross bun. Although there was no visible citron, it was almost like it had the essence of candied fruit ... or mild cloves. Just couldn't identify it.

• 23. The Cheese Board Collective

  1504 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA 94709

  $1.85 This was one fine yeasty raisin but with a white icing cross ... sometimes ... someone missed the point of hot CROSS buns and swirled the icing in a spiral on most of them. Enjoyed this very much, but it was not a hot cross bun. No citron and only raisins and ... just too raisin bun ... but a very fine raisin bun ... I may have detected a bit of cardamom, but not sure

• 24. Acme Bread

  1601 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley, CA 94702

  (SF and BERKELEY): Called ‘sorta cross bun’ … well, truth in advertising … the cross is just cut into the bread. I would have been sorta cross if it had been called anything else. More of a chewy raisin roll with a few pieces of citrus and not enough golden and black raisins

• 25. Neldam's Danish Bakery

  3401 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA 94609

  Too much like the supermarket version

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