Eileen's Centerview Bakery

Bakery: Eileen's Centerview Bakery
Address: 465 Center Road, West Seneca, NY
Website: http://eileensbakery.com/
Style: North American, German
Price: $-$$

The male member's of my household go to Buffalo semi-regularly and since discovering Eileen's, one brother has been sure to include it on his trip. Actually, he promised to write the review himself, but I know that'll never happen and seeing as my photo folder for the Cake Tour is running on... empty, I thought I might as well do the honour myself. The first time the brother found it, he came running into the house raving about it, that it was one of the few bakeries where he didn't know what to take, simply because there was so much to choose from. Ironically, despite all the choice, he came back with everything looking pretty much the same. :/

Eileen's style seems to be a mix, like many businesses in the Buffalo area, of a bit of German recipes and North American stuff like cookies, doughnuts and whatnot. The small baked goods, at around $1 each are the best deal, though they weren't varied enough for me. The brother bought on this first trip: doughnut sticks (I have no idea what they're supposed to be called), sticky buns, elephant ears (the spiral bun) and fastnachts. The former two were the least interesting, though the brother loved the sticky buns, ooey gooey buns with nuts and sugar, so much he bought and ate another on his return trip. The fastnacht, a very thin piece of dough deep fried and then coated in sugar and cinnamon, were interesting, but ha ha mostly for the name. Reminiscent of Portuguese doughnuts or a brittle version of Mexican churros, I personally would have liked them more if they weren't so hard, but I guess that's the recipe, not the baker. :P By far, the best thing was the elephant ears, which were thin, though fluffier dough swirled with cinnamon and nuts and coated in sugar. It doesn't sound too complex, but the texture, the sweetness and flavour was just right and that was... pretty tasty. ^^

Being yelled at for not getting something different, the brother came back with a huge cherry crumble cake ($6.49) which was, to be quite honest, an amazing idea, but with the execution being off. I loove fruit crumble cakes, which are a staple in quite a few European countries and the more crumble you have the better you are. ((my mom just baked buttery lingonberry crumble cake... omg! amazing!! *-*)) The premise was the same here: yeast dough on the bottom, fruit and then crumble. What ruined this was the filling: pre-fab cherry pie filling, which was more red gloop than actual fruit. The dough and crumble were much too sweet as well, but maaaan, fresh fruit would have made all the difference here! There doesn't need to be so much in it, if costs are a problem ($6.49, btw, isn't sooo cheap for pie filling), but pie filling was a huge no-no in terms of presentation, texture, and taste. Huge disappointment.

The brother will probably be returning for more goodies, but I personally think that he can either count me out or try and convince me with some other goodies. The first batch was alright, though nothing spectacular. The second attempt had the potential, but, in the end, didn't make the grade.

Rating: **