Valvona and Crolla's bakery shelf on Elm Row in Edinburgh, baking within the city's longest-running Italian deli opened 1934, with focaccia and Sicilian pastries.
Tip: Panettone preorder list opens 1 October each year; the boxes sell out by mid-December.
Address: 19 Elm Row, Edinburgh EH7 4AA
Machina Espresso's pastry counter on Brougham Place in Tollcross Edinburgh, opened 2015, an espresso bar with a small daily-changing pastry rack from local.
Tip: The pastries are bought-in rather than house-baked; quality is high but stock runs out by 12:00.
Worth the queue: Cardamom bun
Fortitude Coffee's pastry rack on York Place in Edinburgh New Town, opened 2014, an espresso bar with a small daily pastry list from Edinburgh and UK bakeries.
Tip: Pastry stock turns daily; ask at the counter what is on. Their South Bridge sibling has a deeper bakery list.
Worth the queue: Hazelnut and chocolate babka
Bross Bagels on Portobello High Street in Edinburgh, opened 2017, a Montreal-style bagel bakery hand-rolling and wood-firing its bagels daily, with NYC-deli.
Tip: The Portobello flagship is the original; queues form by 10:00 on weekends. Leith Walk branch is quieter on Saturday mornings.
Worth the queue: Smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel
Rachel Morgan and Emily Cuddeford's Brunswick Street bakery in Edinburgh, opened 2014, the city's reference sourdough kitchen and the most-loved doughnut.
Tip: Doughnuts sell out by 11:00 on Saturdays. Order via Square Online by Friday lunchtime for next-day collection.
Worth the queue: Brown butter and salted caramel doughnut
The Company Bakery on Easter Road in Edinburgh, opened 2018, a Leith sourdough kitchen and cafe with fresh-from-the-oven pastries and a small lunchtime.
Tip: Cinnamon buns sell out by 11:00. Online preorder for collection is the only reliable way on weekends.
Worth the queue: Cinnamon morning bun
Lovecrumbs cake shop on West Port in Edinburgh, opened 2010, a tea-and-cake counter in a Grassmarket-adjacent townhouse with a daily-changing slice counter.
Tip: Walk in only; the upstairs nook holds four for a quieter window. Cake stock is the day's bake, no holds.
Worth the queue: Salted caramel cake
