Get a cinnamon bun made by Lune’s expert pastry chefs for the month of January

It's been over a decade since Kate Reid sold her first fantastically flaky croissant from a tiny kitchen in Elwood, and Melburnians have been basking in the buttery goodness ever since. Every day is a special day at Lune, purveyor of what have been dubbed the world’s best croissants. Each month Lune also releases rotating specials, meaning that you always have a reason to go back for more. After all, a Lune croissant is always worth the wait. 

This Spotswood bakery countertop looks like a bake sale, with cakes, doughnuts, cookies, pastries and breads coming out of the kitchen daily. The Danishes are a particular highlight, made with seasonal fruits and glossy and puffy with a rich buttery flavour. And best of all, the vegan treats aren’t just a tokenistic addition – you won’t find a single bliss ball here, just plenty of whole cakes, cookies and spicy cinnamon rolls. 

Joining the raft of businesses such as Mali Bakes, Jaen Jumah and Al Dente Enoteca that popped up during Melbourne’s lockdowns, Tarts Anon was conceived when Gareth Whitton (former head pastry chef at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal) found himself without a job after the restaurant shuttered at the start of 2020. Drawing on his 15 years’ worth of experience and newfound free time, he established Tarts Anon with the encouragement of his life and business partner Catherine Way. With a customer base initially built off a flyer drop in the couple’s apartment building, Tarts Anon now has a kitchen and storefront in Cremorne, where tarts sell out within a matter of minutes. Weekly specials may include a carrot cake tart, a mango and macadamia tart or a rich chocolate and caramel tart. 

While Baker Bleu is well known for its bread, it's also producing some of the best croissants in Melbourne. The pastry here is pushed to the edge in terms of crispness, with the uninitiated often mistaking the dark colour for burntness. However, with one Earth-shattering bite of the flaky layers, you'll come to learn that it's precisely the dark golden crust, in contrast with the light and fluffy centre, that makes these croissants unlike any others in town. The rotating specials are worth an early wake-up call, particularly the cinnamon sugar scrolls.

This hot new bakehouse and all-day eatery from the Sunda and Aru crew is fast becoming known as one of the tastiest spots in Melbourne for a perfect patisserie treat. Yes, you can have a proper meal here (think saucy mussels, club steaks, rich salads and snacky plates), but if you're just passing through, don't leave without grabbing a morsel of flaky pastry goodness. We love the Lard Ass butter croissant, the Baker's Breakfast (escargot of organic bacon, caramelised onion, cheddar, fried egg and gentleman's relish) and the anchovy twist. Check out the revolving seasonal selection of sweet pastries on offer, too.

This bakery is best known for its sourdough loaves, but you’d be a fool not to sample the savoury pastries. The beef pies are chunky beasts with plenty of tomato-infused gravy and nicely crimped edges; and the spinach and cheese pastry parcels packed with salty feta, dill and pine nuts dipped in a tart housemade kasundi make for a great portable lunch. 

Black Star Pastry, home of the wildly popular (and extremely 'grammable) strawberry watermelon cake, has reopened its doors in St Kilda after undergoing a complete reconstruction. The renovation has brought in a modern new look: shiny silver countertops, a monumental mirror installation, minimalist interiors and sleek neon lights. You can also drop in at their CBD spot on Driver Lane to get a taste of their viral (and immaculately crafted) creations. 

If croissants are the benchmark of a patisserie, Agathe Kerr’s clears it with ease. The pastry professional leaves hers out for 24 hours to give the dough time to rest and the yeast to ferment, which also allows the butter to develop a flavour closer to cultured butter. Don’t go past the special edition croissants if they’re available, such as the fragrant green pandan-infused one. And you should probably also try a lemon meringue tart while you're at it. 

Locals are lucky to have Tivoli Road Bakery on their doorstep, and they're willing to line up for the outstanding patisseries most days of the week. When eventually making it to the front of the line, it's not unusual for customers to express sheer panic at what to choose, as it all looks so damn good. The almond croissant is a crowd favourite, as are the chunky muffins, while the signature canelés are small enough to add alongside any order. The sausage rolls and rotating sangas are the perfect savoury antidote to all the sweet delights.

Madeleine de Proust is a charming new bakery and patisserie on Lygon Street, completely and unabashedly devoted to the art of crafting fine madeleines. The traditional French sponge cake has long enamoured sweet tooths the world over, from author Marcel Proust's passage on the nostalgic powers of the dessert in his early 20th-century novel In Search of Lost Time to its newly revived presence on menus around Melbourne.At this cute new shop in Carlton, former Attica head pastry chef Hyoju Park and her partner Rong Yao Soh are taking things up a notch and spinning a modern riff on the madeleine.

Abbotsford locals rejoice – a tasty hidden gem has cemented itself in your neighbourhood. Jonathan Camilleri, a French-trained pastry chef has opened JC Patisserie Boulangerie, which excels in French pastries and baguettes. The products are all made in-house daily and served alongside a speciality coffee blend. Start with a flaky croissant, move on to a chicken sandwich and finish off with a signature Madeleine. Pop into the patisserie between Tuesday and Sunday for a taste of the French life without having to dust off the passport.

This artisan bakery specialises in pastries and wholewheat sourdough bread (resulting in a more complex and nutritious loaf). Q Le Baker uses locally milled rye, spelt and khorasan flours, while produce for the filled goods is sourced from other vendors in the Prahran Market. We refuse to pick a favourite pastry (they are all just too good), but our weekend box of goodies usually includes a twice-baked chocolate hazelnut croissant, a kouign-amann, the weekly bostock special and a cookie.  

In the cake world, Bibelot’s pastries and confectionery are couture. The gleaming chocolate bonbons look too pretty to eat, as do the individual-sized pastries. Bibelot combines high-quality ingredients with classic French patisserie techniques to produce polished and glamourous cakes, which reflect the shop they are housed in. Sample the likes of mango crémeux with almond sponge cake, macadamia praline crunch, honey and white chocolate mousse and vanilla sable or go for the flourless chocolate cake with a sour cherry compote, vanilla kirsch whipped ganache and dark chocolate mousse. Drool.

This sourdough micro-bakery in Ripponlea has garnered a loyal following since it opened, and those with the inside scoop know the pastries are worth queueing for. Zelda's is best known for its babka products, and its sourdough babka scrolls are almost too good to be true. Sweet and pillowy enriched dough is stuffed with a chocolate filling and covered in crunchy streusel, making for a magically moreish mouthful. 

On its window, Monarch Cakes claims to be “exquisite since 1934”, and it's not a lie. There’s an old-school charm to this St Kilda cake shop, the kind that no amount of climate-controlled, Parisian pastry precision can match. The bundt chocolate kugelhopf – a marble cake with stripes of melted chocolate throughout – is the kind of cake you want to take home to your grandmother. Get a slice of the Polish baked cheesecake while you’re there – it’s dense with creamy cottage cheese, and made from a century-old recipe. This place continues to hold its own against the brave new world of pastry specialists. 

You’d almost think you had wandered into a little patisserie in the Marais upon entering Cavallini – the feel is distinctly European. Creations by pastry chef Robert Coco include sourdough and olive bread, paninis, pizzette and a range of sweet and savoury viennoisserie including a spinach and bechamel-topped croissant guaranteed to make you weak at the knees. There is coffee, of course, and a cute courtyard if you feel like eating al fresco.

Born in 2020 by the team behind Lune, Moon might only make one type of pastry, but it certainly makes it well. Crullers are crispy rings of deep-fried choux pastry that are tossed in sugar or glazed with a flavour of choice. Each month, Moon releases its ‘wildcards’, a new selection of innovative and mouth-watering creations. Previous specials include a candy cane cruller, a black sesame and sour cherry cruller, a choc honeycomb cruller and a rose and lychee cruller.

With the rise of speciality pastry shops, we thought we had seen it all. However, until very recently, there was a gaping, lamington-shaped hole in the Melbourne foodie landscape. Enter Tokyo Lamington, the lamington specialists who set up shop in Carlton following sweet success in Sydney. Flavours available may include fairy bread and popcorn, yuzu curd and torched meringue, mango and sticky rice, and passionfruit and lemon myrtle.  

This humble suburban bakery, located on Centre Road in Bentleigh, is surprisingly slinging some of the best cinnamon rolls in Melbourne. Deceivingly simply, these scrolls strike the perfect balance of crunchy and flaky, chewy and delicately pillowy. The cheese sticks and garlic croissants go to show that savoury pastries are just as important as sweet ones, and regardless of what you order, the craftsmanship of the pastry chefs will be evident in each bite. 

Helmed by owner and baker Wilhem Isaac, this little hole-in-the-wall in a quaint Footscray shopping strip attracts queues of locals waiting to battle it out for the last almond croissant. And the almond croissant is worth raving about – its buttery, crisp shell is dotted with flaked almonds, dusted with icing sugar and generously filled with viscous almond paste. Originally from France, Isaac has experience working at small-batch baking specialist Woodfrog in St Kilda, and every baked good here is of the highest quality.

La Belle Miette (meaning "beautiful crumb" or, more generally, “beautiful small thing") is a French patisserie specialising in delicate, hand-held treats like macarons, bonbons and chocolate dragées. Macarons are made using pure fruit purées, premium vanilla beans and fleur de sel, and can be purchased individually or in complementary flavoured boxes like fruits and flowers; chocolates, nuts and caramels and pink and lilacs.  

There’s more to Middle Eastern pastries than baklava. Get a crash course in Lebanese treats at Balha’s Pastry, where you can buy date-filled ma’mouls, kadaif (pistachio bird’s nest) and namoura (semolina cake) by the kilo. Come during Ramadan or the week before the Eid celebrations for special festive treats. 

Brunetti has been around since 1985, and the café has grown into a sprawling ode to the Italian pasticceria, with cabinets of whole cakes, macarons and perfect, glossy domes of creaminess. The most delicious things, however, are still the traditional biscotti, cannoli, and amaretti, best enjoyed with a coffee on the side.