E&G Pastry

 Bakery: E & G Pastry Bakery and Fine Cakes
Address: 133 Metcalfe St, Elora ON
Website: n/a
Style: North American, European
Price: $$

Well, the brother went off to some sort of antique fair last week to Elora and, what do you know, he ended up finding a bakery for my tour. :) E&G, in the heart of the small town, is in fact Elora's only real bakery with the exception of one place that just sells bread and another that calls itself a 'bakery bistro' and is more a cafe than a bakery; at any rate it's the only place to get your baked goodies. And speaking of those baked goodies, this small bakery that's almost hard to miss has a little bit of everything and would probably best be described as a baker's hodgepodge, with pies to danishes to more elaborate cakes and personal pastries to baklava. It's quite difficult, actually, to attribute this place to one specific style.

Of course, they seem not only to make a special emphasis on the cake portion of their business, but people online also happen to say great things about these cakes, so it was very nice that the brother decided to spoil us with a quite ample taste test. ;) Personally, it would have been nice to try some actual baked goods (which is always my favourite as opposed to fancier, creamier cakes) but well, what can you do?

E&G has a nice, though not overly large selection of individual cakes, quite similar in terms of style and just varying in their flavours. There are no descriptions or prices and the brother ended up paying $3.50 for each item, taxes included. Not too bad.

Both the white and pink cakes are pretty much the same thing and are composed of a light, mousse-like top layer with a chocolate cake and nutty centre on the bottom. One brother said they were very good; he liked the mousse as well the chocolate and nut cake while the other called it "a glorified cupcake" and preferred the blueberry cheesecake, which he thought pretty good. Me, I have to say I'm not exactly fond of this mousse-cake style, but these were pretty good; they had good flavour and the proportion of cake to mousse was good, with there not being too much of the latter, as is usually the case.

My special treat was what I believe to be their rendition of the mille-feuille (Napoleon, in English), although it was what I'd call a simplified version, with the puff pastry on the top and bottom, with a layer of raspberry jam and sponge cake on the bottom and a very generous mountain of whipped cream in the middle. Trying to find out what sort of baked goods they offered prior to coming, I noticed that a few people commented about the cakes not being overly sweet, as is often the case. I agree on both points; this wasn't too sweet, but at the same time, I found the cream filling lacking in complexity. It was, in a word, pure whipped cream -- and, in comparison to the amount of dough, there was a lot of it -- and there is a limit to how much whipped cream one can eat without any sort of accompaniment. The jam gave it a nice touch, but there was simply too much cream; more dough would definitely be appreciated.

Overall, E &G is a fairly good bakery, a very tasty option in the area, with a variety of cakes and sweets, although I wouldn't put it at the same level as a few of the bakeries I've tried lately.When in Elora, though... ;)

Rating: **1/2