Address: 26 Main St, Huntsville ON
Website: http://www.schatbakery.ca/
Style: Dutch
Price: $$
Note: As I'm writing this, Schat Bakery is gone. The owners retired and the bakery switched hands a few days ago, thus changing the name but hopefully, as the original owner trained the new ones coming in, a lot of the products will remain the same. Let's hope they do! I mean, I can't stand the idea of writing a review for a bakery that no longer exists, especially when it was this good. Edit: I checked out the website of the new bakery and it's overwhelmingly... cupcake. This one is being listed as a goner. ;__;
Schat Bakery is a Dutch bakery in Huntsville that offers a selection of classic Canadian goodies (butter tarts, pies, cookies) along with some traditional Dutch treats. The one thing that made this an absolute must-visit bakery while in the area was the fact that their website advertised oliebollen. Now, I have yet to encounter a Dutch bakery that sells these little balls of fried dough that just so happen to be the precursor to... the doughnut. Yup, the Dutch got there first. And I absolutely had to try them.
Apple beignets are flakier than the standard doughnut and are filled with a mass of small cubes cooked in a creamy mixture, similar to some types of Dutch apple cake. This is then fried and coated with cinnamon sugar. On the outside, they may not look like anything special, but one bite is enough to wow you. Layers of fried flaky dough that was a bit greasy at times, but there has to be a reason for the word "olie" (oil), after all. :P Delicious apple filling and an amazing, great find of a fried treat. Here's hoping the new guys will keep some of the fantastic products I have yet to find somewhere else!
Rating: ***1/2
i worked there years ago. good people, think about them on occaision, i make olliebollen here and there from a recipe they gave me. wonder how they are doing. his family made one third of the bread in holland before all of the automation. Pete was a child of the sixties, a dreamer, too good for the town really, shame they never got accepted by the locals, a small town with an affinity to old ways youd think it would have caught on being a traditional bakery and dutch at that, huntville actually has a pretty rich dutch background, the items had none of the preservatives of prepakaged baked goods and items you just cant get in that quality if at all. Tragic really from a first generation canadian perspective, this sink or swim attitude as a supposed "multicultural" nation only results in the death of cultures here on our soil, that or seggregated groups like asians or middle eastern communities that mangage to retain tradition and culture only thru that very seggregation. c'est la vie..
ReplyDeleteHi Tyson,
DeleteThank you very much for visiting my little blog and for your comments. I agree. It's always sad and frustrating to a bakery close because people didn't support it, especially when these "classic" bakeries just couldn't be beat in terms of quality, selection, freshness and taste.
Also, it really is disappointing to find that there's no real interest in these old-school "ethnic" businesses and the newer ones are only really supported by the one ethnic community they serve. Dutch, German, Scandinavian bakeries were all an integral part of Canadian baking culture and it really is tragic that we're gradually seeing that culture die, with nothing - and no public interest - to preserve or continue it. Thank you again for your insights.