Hideaway Bakery

Bakery: Hideaway Bakery 
Address: 93 Winnipeg St, Penticton BC
Website: facebook 
Style: North American, European
Price: $$ 

Hideaway Bakery, located on the ground floor of a newer condo development near the waterfront, wouldn't perhaps be called this if they actually had a sign. Going on foot, it would have to you as an unexpected, but wholly welcome surprise: hey, it's a bakery! Of course, I'd done my bakery research beforehand, knew the approximate location and was frustrated that there was no indication of this being the spot when coming by car (unless, naturally, you're in the know). A couple of U-turns later, I was here!

At first glance, Hideaway, with its white walls and open-concept counter area, seems like a fresh new addition to the modest bakery scene in Penticton. The choices are pretty impressive with a rack of baked goods off to the right and a case of cake slices, squares and tarts. This selection includes Canadian classics like cinnamon buns along with fancier "European-style" pastries like croissants. Taking a better look at the goodies, however, I suddenly had a sense of... deja vu. Perhaps it helped that I'd done all my Penticton bakeries on one single afternoon, but I immediately identified all baked goods on the shelves as coming from nearby Wouda's. The prices were the same and so... is this simply a second Wouda's location? Is that the "secret" of this bakery? Or do they simply carry goods from Wouda's to fill up the space, since many of those fancier items weren't spotted at the other bakery? At least, I don't think so.

It's a bit disappointing to find it's not an entirely unique bakery, but as I said, I was almost certain  some cake slices (basically anything located in the more sparsely filled refrigerated case) didn't belong to Wouda and I went with one of these.

Nothing gets me excited like a foreign name at a bakery and I instantly ran for the kaesesahne ($3.95). For those who may not know, that's pretty much German for cheesecake. I'm always a little wary of cheesecakes from a bakery that's not overtly Eastern European, because they usually tend to be very thick, sticky and cheesy, New York style. It's one of the few desserts I really don't like. The name here was promising; I was expecting a German-style cheesecake and I got it! Deliciously soft and fluffy cheese layer with a sponge cake top and bottom, this was so airy it collapsed a little in transport. Just the right texture, nice cake and simple powdered sugar sprinkled on top -- yummy despite the confusion!

Rating: ***