We’ve eaten our way through a lot of pastries in London – some have been bad, some have been good and some have been downright excellent. In our eyes you can’t beat these four – they just cry ‘eat me’. Try not to think about how bad they are for you, just go, enjoy, and run later.
Cronut – Dominique Ansel London
Do you remember when the whole world went crazy for the Cronut? In 2013, Chef Dominique Ansel came up with the croissant-doughnut hybrid and hasn’t looked back since. This legendary pastry looks like a doughnut, but is made from croissant-like dough, rolled in sugar, filled with a flavoured cream (that changes every month) and topped with a beautiful glaze. These pastries live up to all the hype and are worth making a special trip for.
IDEAL Tip: The cronut is always in high demand and sell out daily, so we advise pre-ordering them to avoid disappointment.
Address: 17-21 Elizabeth St, Belgravia, London SW1W 9RP, UK
Website: http://dominiqueansellondon.com/
Cinnamon Buns – Nordic Bakery
As far as we’re concerned, these are the most delicious cinnamon buns in town. Originating from a rustic home-style Finnish recipe, these buns are the real deal. Think layer-after-layer of buttery, perfectly spiced rolls with a sticky sweet golden glaze that gives them a slightly crunchy bite. So what makes these cinnamon buns the best? Nordic Bakery’s trick is to bake them on their sides, so the sweet cinnamon and butter filling stays enclosed inside.
IDEAL Tip: Nordic Bakery celebrates Cinnamon Bun Week each year on 28th – 4th October – every year they do something special like limited edition flavours -as seen in the above pic!
Address: 14a Golden Square, Soho, London, W1F 9JG
Website: nordicbakery.com
Custard Doughnut – St John’s
St John’s is THE place to go when you’re in the mood for a delicious doughnut – it’s owned by Fergus Henderson, who is like a god to chefs around the world and his vanilla bean custard doughnuts have a cult following. Every Saturday and Sunday, doughnut disciples descend on St. John Druid streey bakery to sample them.
IDEAL Tip: Their doughnuts are also available every day from other St John outlets: Bread & Wine, Monday to Friday from St. John Smithfield and Wednesday to Sunday from St. John Maltby.
Address: 72 Druid Street London SE1 2HQ
Website: https://www.stjohngroup.uk.com/bakery/
Biskie – Cutter and Squidge
Another hybrid that we love, the biskie is a biscuit /cookie/cake creation filled with buttercream. The texture may sound a bit weird, but it totally works – it’s crisp, soft, chewy and melty all at the same time. And for the health conscious, they have created a special buttercream that only uses half the amount of butter and sugar than most recipes, it’s packed full of real fruit, premium chocolate and over delicious things instead doe maximum flavour.
IDEAL Tip: Apparently the best way to eat a biskie is to leave it in the fridge for a day or so until it is softer, then take it out, leave it to warm up a bit and then to devour it – cookie monster style.
Address: 20 Brewer street, Soho, London, W1F 0SJ
Website: cutterandsquidge.com