Todo Rico [RIP]

Bakery: Todo Rico
Address: 900 Rathburn W, Mississauga, ON
Website: n/a
Style: Colombian, South American
Price: $

[Bad news. Todo Rico is gone!? My fave Colombian bakery (granted, I wasn't as big a fan once they changed management) closed down and in its place is apparently a *shudder* pizza place. Lousy take-out pizza vs. tasty Colombian baked goods. Life isn't fair!]

Wanting to finally check out some new bakeries but not really having anywhere to go in the area, I remember seeing on this plaza some sort of European bakery a long time ago, so I thought we'd go there and take a peek. Well, the bakery was gone, but in it's place was Todo Rico, a Colombian bakery... I couldn't believe it! A Colombian bakery! Finally, I had something different not only to visit and review, but to potentially return to on a regular basis. Man, it was so exciting!! It's so hard to get something unique, one-of-a-kind in the suburbs. Wow. And I didn't even try it yet. XD

Anyways, as with the other Latino bakery I've visited, Pancho's Bakery, prices are amazingly low (taxes included) although most products are pretty alike, with just the fillings changing (I noticed the same with Pancho's, although there it was more like the shapes changed). The goodies are either sweet bread-based or flaky turnover dough stuffed with either caramel, cheese, guava or a combination of the three. They also have quite a bit of savoury goods like chorizo and dumpling-like empanadas and a flat corn and cheese bread ($2.00) which the worker recommended. We followed her instructions on topping it with cheese (monterey jack) and microwaving it. Omg, I never thought that corn bread could be so... good. O_O

Other than that, I picked out three things for a sampling: a turnover-like thing with guava filling ($1.25) which the youngest brother said he liked the best. And cookie-like alfajores ($1.25) made of two dense cookies, filled with caramel and then encircled with coconut. Very good.


For myself, now, I couldn't help but go for the bread pudding ($1.00) after trying the same thing at Pancho's. Super moist and dense dough with a nice chewy top and just filled with cinnamon and sugar. Mmmmm.... I can't explain why I like this, but I do. :)

But okay, I'd better not say anymore because I might embarrass myself: I don't want being recognized for this post (well, that's assuming someone actually reads these silly rants of mine ^^) because I *will* be returning to Todo Rico; as they're slogan says, it is that good. ;DD

Rating: ***

Karlik Pastry

Bakery: Karlik Bakery
Address: 762 Barton St E, Hamilton ON
Website: n/a
Style: Polish
Price: $$$

Karlik Pastry is a semi-commercial bakery running out of Hamilton and servicing the surrounding areas and parts of the GTA and while in Hamilton, I told the brothers to pick something for me to try, even though you can also get a lot of their cakes at Starsky, for example ($17.99/kg). In fact, the first time I tried Karlik was quite awhile ago; they're the (only) ones that bake the Mazurki for Starsky at Easter time. So, we got one ($9.99, I believe) then and yeah, though not really an amazing cake to begin with (I'm not a huge fan of crumbly dough), I still associate this marizpan-filled cake with Easter. ;) And it was the Mazurek that made me want to try something else from them...

Anyways, when the brothers went, they brought back four types of cake, most of which were okay, although nothing was really *amazing*. Out of the four cakes, the cheesecake was probably the best: a thin layer of jello on top, cheesy mass, a layer of strawberry jam at the bottom and soft dough. The cake was pretty fresh and tasty, but it was really hard to keep together. The cheese was quite crumbly. I mean, it was pretty good, but now, I think the ones to beat in terms of cheesecake are Jaswoj. And Karlik didn't beat them. ;)

Next up was a piece of makowiórek (a torte-like cake with a layer of poppy seed and coconuts sandwiched in the middle of two generous layers of cream and nilla-crackers topped with more coconut and chocolate drizzle. This is a favourite of my brother's, but again, he said that although it was good, Kraków Deli (courtesy of Double W) makes em' better.

We also got another torte-like cake with alternating chocolate and vanilla cakes with thin layers of cream and jam in the middle, poured over with chocolate glaze, and finally, an interesting slab cake with dough, raisins, dried fruit, plum jam and thick, hard layer of meringue (why is this photo so blurry? -_-). No one was really thrilled with either of these. The chocolate cake was... just that, and no one being a fan of meringue, everyone pretty much scraped off the top and ate the cake with just the dried fruit, raisins and jam. In taste, it was pretty good and, for some reason, strangely chewy, which was a highlight, but the whole meringue thing wasn't for me.

Overall, Karlik is... average. There aren't so many Polish baking options in Hamilton, so maybe it's a good option that's, in general, fairly tasty, but comparing it to other bakeries, it isn't so great. And seeing that they came back with four small-ish slices (the biggest could be divided into two) and paid over $20 for it, it came across for me as quite pricey, especially when a) they bought everything at their actual store versus other sellers, b) cheaper cakes can be found in other delis/bakeries. So, in a sense, I was a little disappointed, although at the same time, I can't say I disliked anything. It was good, but not the best. ^^;;;

Rating: **1/2

Helga's Bakery

Bakery: Helga's Bakery
Address: Available at Brandt's Factory Outlet: 1878 Mattawa Ave, Mississauga, ON Or at Denninger's locations
Website: http://www.broechelerinn.com/portal/helga.php
Style: German
Price: $$

We don't go often to the Brandt's Factory Store (mainly because I'm loyal to Food Depot in Etobicoke ;D), located at one end of their factory in east Mississauga, but I thought I'd make my way to the German food emporium for the express purpose of uh, retaking some tasty baked goods from their teeny-tiny cafe, especially because I liked everything I got there the first time I went, a while ago in pre-Cake Tour times. It was then that I realized that everything in the bakery actually came from Helga's Bakery, a commercial bakery making German goodies and connected to the Broecheler Inn in Cayuga, ON. So, to be fair, I thought I'd change this around and just review Helga's as a whole, which is also available in other German businesses like Denninger's. Polish supermarket Starsky also stocks one or two pound cakes from them, but nothing exciting. It's really at Brandt's and Denninger's that you get a chance to try everything from their pound cakes to yummy, individually sliced pieces of cakes (around $2.25/each at Brandt's), mostly German staples.

On my trip, I caved and just got the whole chunk of their apple strudel ($5.95; individual slices are also available), which, although it can't possibly beat the buttery flakiness at Sweet Gallery, is still pretty tasty and made more in the German style with a nice thin dough, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside and so overstuffed with chunks of crunchier apples and raisins that the first forkful makes the whole thing collapse. Not that that's a bad thing. ;D Personally, I would have liked for them to use butter in the dough, since you don't quite get that traditional taste without it, but other than that, a yummy alternative if you can't make it to Toronto for Sweet Gallery's version (sorry, I don't think anyone can beat them...). ^-^;;;

Rating: ***

Mashion Bakery

Bakery: Mashion Bakery
Address: 345 Spadina Ave, Toronto, ON
Website: n/a
Style: Chinese
Price: $ 

Damn it, the Torontonian in Montreal Chinatown was indeed right: there are bakeries in Toronto's Chinatown that do sell buns for 3/$1, though this is really the first place I actually saw that had it, at least being advertised on the street and not that hard to miss. That being said, not everything in Mashion Bakery is 3/$1, with deep-fried, savoury or larger buns going anywhere from 2/$1 to 3/$2. Of course, it's all amazing, price-wise (really, are there Chinese bakeries that aren't? ;DDD), and it seems the crowds flocking here seem to think so, although I can now understand why people tend to stick to the savoury products and, most specifically, the steamed pork buns (the awful photo) which are big and stuffed with pork and onions, which were deemed by the guinea pigs as being tasty, but nothing overwhelming "wow", though they did have to add it was pretty stuffed for a bun.

For the rest, you're paying super (super) cheap (btw, taxes are also included with your purchase ;)) and you're pretty much getting the same in return. Because of this, I personally think I'd be willing to pay more not necessarily for bigger buns (since, naturally, the cheaper the bun, the smaller it is), but with more actual stuff.

Nonetheless, taking full advantage of the 3/$1, I got three buns, two for the brothers and one for myself. The first up was the coconut twist for one brother, which ended up being a flop seeing as there was close to no coconut in it and you just got the sweet dough.

The other brother got the black bean bun, which was a sweet-ish dough (not as dessert-like as the others) stuffed with a bit of black bean filling and then topped with a few sesame seeds. This was "alright", but then again, isn't everything okay for brother #2? :/ How come no one can help me out with this~~~?!?! *sighs*

Mine was the "butter rough" which is always a favourite of mine, the good old sugar bun. Though everyone laughed at my saying so, since what's in it, I personally thought it the best and most worth the money, especially given that it was simply a smaller version of the same sugar bun purchased elsewhere, and it was pretty amazing and very tasty to find that the sugar had been stuck on with butter (the taste is unmistakable), something which I've only encountered one or two times. Sugar was generous and really, there was nothing more to expect. Perhaps it wasn't the absolute best, but I can say, without a doubt, it's in the top three. And yes, the list is pretty long. I love my sugar buns. ^^;;;;

Overall, the sweet buns, especially the cheapest ones, are a bit of a hit and miss. The price knocks your socks off, but at the same time, it may be better to pay a little more somewhere else and actually get some stuff (though, to be fair, there are some places where you pay more, but you don't get more...). With two out of three not-so-stellar reviews this time around and the savoury goods (we also bought 2/$1 green bean dumplings, deep-friend and filled with well, green bean paste, which were also pretty good) getting a lot better opinions in this household and getting a lot more business with the customers, I'd say it might be best to stick to the latter. Unless you like sugar buns. :P

Rating: **