Cafe Ekberg [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Cafe Ekberg
Address: Bulevardi 9, Helsinki
Website: http://www.cafeekberg.fi/
Style: Finnish
Price: $-$$

World Tour 2012! I've got 14 locations in 3 countries to review this year and this is the first one!! ^__^ Actually, I went to Helsinki three years ago, but, not having started the cake tour yet in full force (Fazer was, of course, a must-visit), I was ashamed at the fact that I had really gone nowhere. Although I was only four days in my one of my two favourite places in the world (Finland and Iceland have quickly become my sweethearts; I'm in love with both of them XDDDD), I had to take advantage and just run out and get as much done as possible, cake-wise, though again, I didn't accomplish nearly as much as I had hoped. Still, it was thrilling. Especially since I love, LOVE Finnish baking!

Cafe Ekberg, a small distance away from the tourist-trodden centre, is, I believe, the oldest cafe in Helsinki. They have two parts to their Ekberg empire, the cafe serving coffee and lunches to the left and then the bakery/pastry shop where you can have things to take away. I went to the latter, and found it to actually be very well priced in comparison to city centre cafes (especially on the Esplanade -_-), but the emphasis in this old-fashioned (line up, even though it's two people, is done by numbers and the number board is *ancient*) place is on bigger purchases such as breads and full cakes... and everything looks amazing. They still have the staples like korvapustit (Finnish cinnamon buns), but as I had two other people travelling with me, at least for two days, my mom suggested we buy one of the more interesting bigger loaves which I wouldn't hope to try elsewhere.

Hence we settled for this gorgeous thing (and yes, the icing is pink ^^) which began with "mazariini"... I could have sworn it was 'kakku' or something, but nothing is giving me image results. -__- Nonetheless, it was lovely loaf (7,70 euro) which ended up being for way more than three people and pretty much a pulla (Finnish sweet bread flavoured with ground cardamom seeds) with icing and stuffed with almonds. It was so soft and moist (the crumbs are due to us not having a knife, not because it was dry XD) with that fairly generous layer of icing on top. Heavenly. *-* It only sucks that I didn't have the time to keep coming back here, though my horrible Finnish would get me remembered by everyone. ;P I actually think, as blasphemous as it sounds, that Ekberg's variety and level of uh, temptation, in terms of the sweets, exceeded that of the Fazer cafe.

What's the overall opinion? I don't think I can wait for my NEXT trip (no, nothing's planned) to Helsinki so I can go back to Ekberg, but I loved what I tasted (and saw) the first time around. Wow. *-*

Rating: ****

The Cinni-Bun Shop

Bakery: The Cinni-Bun Shop @ St Jacob's Farmers Market
Address: 878 Weber St. N, Waterloo, ON
Website: http://www.stjacobs.com/farmers-market
Style: North American, Mennonite
Price: $$

[EDIT: The Cinni-Bun Shop is BACK! And I now have my amazing cinnamon bun fix! ^-^] 

I've had this pending for awhile (mostly due to the crappy photo), so here it is!

The Cinni-Bun Shop is a Mennonite-owned stand at the St Jacob's Farmers Market (open three days a week), a year-round market on the outskirts of Waterloo, ON that makes... cinnamon buns; I was never there myself, but the brothers went a few times and the first time, they said there was such a line to this place that they didn't want to stand and wait in it. After getting severely scolded and bopped on the head a few times by me (seriously!?!? don't they know that long line-ups is a GOOD thing!), they made a return trip and since then, they know they better bring back cinnamon buns and (and apple fritters from the other stand) or else... I won't let them in the house. XDD

Being a fan of the rustic, home-baked goodness of Mennonite (Amish) baking (mostly pies, cobblers, etc.), I got excited about these things even before I saw them and, for once, they did not disappoint! *-* Available in sugar, maple glazes or nothing (everyone here agrees the glaze is the best), these things are amazing, especially when you eat them as soon as possible. Heat them a little bit and mmmmmm.... ooey gooey cinnamon buns that aren't sickly sweet (like the mall variety), and are just sticky and soft and very, very good.

Combine that with those aforementioned apple fritters and well, I don't think you'll regret going. ;)

Rating: ****

Truscott Italian Bakery & Deli

Bakery: Truscott Italian Bakery & Deli
Address: 2425 Truscott Dr, Mississauga ON
Website: n/a
Style: Italian, North American
Price: $$$

This is another bakery I've been meaning to review for awhile, and have been hoping for more goods, but yeah... that'll come later.

Truscott is a bakery, which is not only more deli than anything else, but should be more accurately named "Bakery and Italian deli" since their imported products, cold cuts and antipasti qualify as Italian, whereas I can't say the same of the baked goods.

Months ago, the brother was driving by and proposed to stop and ended up with the item pictured, saying that there wasn't really anything to chose from. It being late Saturday afternoon, I wasn't surprised. So, a few weeks before my vacation, I went myself... and came empty-handed, which very rarely happens and which, naturally, is not a good sign. The thing my brother got wasn't anywhere to be seen; it was around 2pm and there were a few empty baking sheets, and two or three leftover items that didn't appeal to me, mainly because nothing was Italian. I remembered there was a fruit-and-cheese danish which was the exact thing sold at Longo's... I'm not sure whether they get it from the same supplier or Truscott bakes for Longo's, but it got me disappointed and confused. There were two chocolate chip muffins and that was it for the individual sweets section.

Besides this, they have a few larger items (pound cakes and, if I'm not confused, pies and one or two cakes in the otherwise empty case), although, for a neighbourhood bakery (and not some fancy coffee shop/cafe/etc), I found the prices quite high. At around $2, the muffins were the most affordable sweets purchase. The bakery also had a few racks of reduced as well as prepacked goods like pound cakes and one other thing; in either case, I found this fairly expensive given what it was, especially the day-old stuff. I recall two women were there at the same time I was, hunting through the sweets and day-old goods, contemplating one item and then another... and also left with nothing.

So, the purchase the brother did get were these giant, glazed doughnut-like cinnamon buns, which.. again, weren't Italian at all, but hey! they were quite good. Actually, in a doughnut-sense, they were really good, although I've had much better cinnamon buns (it's a very daunting task to try and beat Swedish ones, after all). ;)

Still, I was actually hoping that coming on a weekday afternoon would mean better variety and a chance to try something new. Judging from their larger selection of breads, this is a bakery better known for its breads. The weird thing is that just from googling the place to get the address, I found reviews of people loving the pastries and then people who aren't pleased *at all*, so I don't know, do these pastries disappear by 10am or something? Do people camp out at opening? Is the place going downhill (because it happens too often to even mention it nowadays..)? Or they didn't bake anything on the day I happened to be there? O_o I'm very confused. I'd be willing to go on a return trip, but not sure if it's worth the drive to come back with nothing...

Rating: **

Petit Gateau [RIP]

Bakery: Petit Gateau
Address: 2365-B Lakeshore Rd, Oakville, ON
Website: www.petitgateau.ca
Style: European, North American, French
Price: $$

[These photos have been in my pics folder for the longest time, so I thought it's about time to post them! Maybe I'll get to the World Tour 2012 after that, though I do have a few more local eats and treats to share ^^]

I really hope that I have the right place; my brother went out to get me stuff in Oakville and brought back these tarts from "the bakery across the street from Denninger's in Oakville". Seeing as there is nothing directly across the street, I figured it must be this place a few blocks east. Their website does say they have tarts, so correct me if I'm wrong. ;)

For some really strange reason, there is quite an amount of "French" bakeries in the area, none of which are terribly authentic.  Petit Gateau is one of these bakeries serving up a hodgepodge of non-country-specific, pan-European goodies in the form of croissants, cakes, tarts and cookies.

I can say that the tarts he did get  -- one pear, another apple, and a more traditional pecan tart for himself -- are really nothing in comparison with, Patisserie d'Or, another Oakville pastry shop not too far away from this place. While it was appreciated they did make their own tart shells, they didn't seem to be able to hold the filling and got crumbly on the sides and mushy on the bottom very easily. The shells were especially a tad too rustic in the pear tart with the sides falling apart completely; in the end, with the bottom having also somewhat vanished, it tasted just like eating plain, cooked pears. Quite disappointed with that.

In addition to this, we got one flambeed apple tart and a pecan tart drizzled with chocolate, which didn't seem as delicate as the pear, but which still had so little dough that you couldn't quite taste any of it, which, for me, isn't the point of a tart. Neither was exceptional; as mentioned, the apple tart from PdO (above) was much tastier and, as for the pecan tart, another Oakville bakery, The Black Forest Pastry Shop, did that better too. In the end, I'm really surprised that this place ended up winning some 'best bakery in Oakville' competition, but perhaps they're simply not good at tarts or... I DO have the wrong place after all. ;D

Rating: **

Starsky

Bakery: Starsky
Address: 3115 Dundas St W, Mississauga (2 other locations)
Website: http://www.starskycanada.com
Style: Polish, Eastern European
Price: $-$$

It is without a doubt that Starsky, a semi-recent "European" (mainly Polish) supermarket chain in GTA west, takes the gold for best supermarket bakery (silver (Adonis) and bronze (Whole Foods) medals in the supermarket category have already been reviewed). It isn't, however, from Starsky's own bakery, but just the collection of possibly every commercial Polish, Russian bakery in the area with a smattering of Ukrainian, Portuguese, some gluten-free and more uh, North American favourites (cupcakes... -_-) in the Dundas W location, in particular. In terms of selection and number, it's pretty amazing... and you can always see that look of awe on the faces of people seeing their glass cases filled with countless slab cakes for the first time. :D

In general, however, you really have to know what to purchase and what to avoid with so much selection. For one, the 'home-baked' goodies (barely there poppy seed buns, egg bread, and yeast danishes with fruit or cheese), though well-priced, are very cheaply done and skimpy on everything. I remember when Starsky first opened (the first, Dundas E location), their home-made poppy seed buns were *amazing*. Wow! Huge and stuffed with a traditional poppy seed mass (the same as in a makowiec -- a poppy seed roll cake, I suppose) -- they were always soft and moist and so good. At the time, they were my favourite poppy seed buns and people seemed to agree -- they very often ran out! Sadly, it went downhill pretty quickly and what's left is a plain, dry bun with hardly anything in it and not a lot of people interested, myself included.

I guess you can say that you really go to Starsky for the other bakeries. My chief draw was always Granowska's, but alas, they're no more (it's very sad to see that the original cafe was gutted and turned a fruit and veggie stand ;_____;), so, despite the gold medal, my enthusiasm has cooled a bit. One reason for this is the price; especially the slab cakes priced per weight, you'll pay quite a bit more per kilo for the same cake purchased either at the bakery or other delis and they are definitely not cheap. Not cheap. There is, after all, a reason why many people order something and then just set it aside somewhere!

Another thing to look out for is the freshness. Especially the stuff behind the counter, you really have to watch out, since a lot is regularly stale, even the stuff on top (I used to take the poppy seed danishes ($1.29) from here until I got rock-hard ones a few times and just gave up). Never done it myself, but I would also stay clear of their reduced cakes and baked goods which are very past their due; they really aren't fit to be eaten. Taking that all into account (it's a lot, isn't it? O_O), there is still plenty to choose from and sample, especially if you do love your Eastern European goodies like I do. ^^;;; Here are a few uh, highlights:

I take this 'homemade poppy seed cake' (courtesy of Anna's bakery, though I figured that out only once I went there; $3.99/piece and pictured above) the most often and it's probably my favourite, regular item which seems to be delivered weekly and usually nice and moist. Generous with the poppy seed and having a soft, moist dough that doesn't give it that makowiec taste to it (oddly enough, I've never liked them) topped off with some crumble and icing, this is really good and affordable! And you don't need to go to Toronto to get it. ;)

Another option is some Sweet Temptations goods, which is a commercial bakery from Mississauga making about 70% of everything in Polish delis (and also make most of the pączki -- Polish doughnuts -- at Starsky and everywhere else). -_- That doesn't really encourage selection and choice, but nonetheless, they have some of the most well-priced slab cakes per weight at Starsky and they seem to be fresher, at least when I risked it and ordered their plum cake ($14.99/kg), it was nice and fresh. Horrible lighting, but great in taste. I'd recommend this... and actually did recommend it already when I bought it from Euromax.

Lastly, seriously, I don't even know what this was. For one week, there appeared these poppy seed buns both in circle and braid form ($1.89) near the poppy seed strudels from the Russian bakeries. Packed in a simple plastic container with nothing but the price on it, I was pretty intrigued and excited given, well, that I love poppy seed buns. OMG! This was amazing!!! The best, BEST poppy seed bun in GTA west (I'd say everywhere, but What a Bagel! still reigns supreme XD): so loaded with poppy seeds with a dense, flaky dough and coated with clear glaze and a few drizzles of chocolate. Whoa, this is superb!!! The only problem is... they've never returned!!! Wah, where did these things come from? I need more, and I have no idea why Starsky had them for one week and then they vanished. Noooooo..... ;___;

Ahem, nonetheless, seeing as supermarket bakeries here in the area aren't very good at all, Starsky is definitely a cut above. While it's not always fresh or reasonably priced, it has amazing selection and serves as a great introduction to delicious Eastern European baking to people who might be a little intimidated by the smaller delis. And there's something for everyone, I suppose... and plenty of poppy seed options (I am SO shameless) XD

Rating: ***

B-S [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: B-S
Address: 16 Rue Ste Anne, Paris
Website: n/a
Style: Japanese, French
Price: $

This was the bakery I missed reviewing from my Parisian cake tour, so I thought there's no better time than the present. ^^

Anyways, nestled right in the heart of Paris' version of a J-town, which is along the Rue Ste Anne and a few of the intersecting streets and comprises tons of Japanese restaurants, a book store and supermarket, is Boulanger - Patissier B-S, a bakery that either caters to the Japanese passers by or does indeed have a Japanese baker... or both. ^^ Nonetheless, if I remember everything correctly, in addition to traditional French baked breads, a standard cafe featuring stuff for lunch and some pastries, the bakery also has quite a bit of Japanese baked goods, both of the savoury and sweet kind. Of the latter -- because that's really what matters ;D -- I remember seeing quite a bit with Japanese staples like red bean, etc. It certainly wasn't Sadaharu Aoki in terms of the goodies, but more simple and home-baked (and, as such, considerably cheaper), but I am NOT complaining: I love baked goods!!

So, yes, I purchased myself a super cheap "pain au citron" (lit. lemon bread), which was a plain, slightly sweetened bun with two strips of candied lemon on top. Very simple, nothing fancy. Actually, I only took it because of the 'chef's suggestion' and all the Japanese writing around it. ... It was good, so good that I came back a few days later and bought myself another. ;) Great stuff!

Rating: ***

Solbrød [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Solbrød
Address: Småstrandgaten 2, Bergen (in Xhibition shopping centre)
Website: http://www.solbrod.no
Style: Scandinavian, Norwegian
Price: $

I believe this is my last stop from well, last year's vacation. Yes, that's very sad and pathetic, but hey! at least I didn't take as long as I did with my Parisian ones. (and if I recall correctly, I forgot the Japanese bakery too -- utterly scandalous) Seeing as I didn't take a location shot (it was in a shopping mall -- this shot is courtesy of their website ^^;;), it took a bit of detective work to actually figure out what this place was called seeing as Google Maps didn't have a good street view of it. Nonetheless, I did it! :)

Solbrød is a bakery chain with around a dozen locations in and around Bergen. Like other bakery chains in Norway, they offer quite a few of the standard, Scandinavian favourites like cinnamon buns and other sweet goods with custard-y centres. In general, I can't quite say that I was lured in by Solbrød's offerings and, in fact, I had stepped into one the day before and hadn't found anything that I was really interested in trying. However, if you can't get me in by your selection, it'll be by the price. XD Doing the last of our shopping for our last night in Bergen at the Rema 1000 in the same shopping centre, I noticed a deal printed on the window of the bakery: these buns (they had some sort of name, I definitely don't remember now) for 110kr. Seriously, does *anything* cost 110kr in Norway? O_O It was unbelievable! How could I possibly resist the cheapest piece of food I'd come across? It was probably 50% off, which is indeed a deal.

Bringing it back to the uh, cabin (feel free to check out my travel blog for the details on that..) I kind of noticed for the first time how... not exciting this creation was, though the same bun can be found in bakeries across Norway and I came across them in Iceland and no doubt, they'll be there in Denmark and Sweden as well. Sweet yeast dough coated with an outer ring of coconut flakes and a generous dollop of custard cream in the centre, which somewhat hardened by the next morning. As to the taste, well, I can like coconut and custard in Portuguese baking, but this... I'm not quite sure who invented this, especially that squishy yellow centre and just way too much coconut with nothing really to eat it with... I guess it just wasn't my thing, so I can't say I was particularly satisfied with this place.

Perhaps, if I ever return to Bergen, I'll give it another try and certainly get something else next time. And next time, I'll try not to settle for just the great price. :/

Rating: **

Moisan [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Moisan
Address: 2 Rue de Bazeilles, Paris (3 other locations)
Website: http://painmoisan.fr
Style: French, Organic
Price: $$

[...and with this post, I officially *gasps* conclude my Paris Cake Tour. It's taken a good two years to get up here, but they're all up, though not nearly as much as I had hoped to find. Maybe next time I'll be able to get all the big names on here ^-^ And now I can focus on getting last summer's bakeries on here!]

Moisan is a certified organic bakery with a few locations throughout Paris; being a bakery more than a pastry shop, they don't have much in terms of sweets and baked goods as their specialty is more rustic and artisan breads with a few croissants and well, baked goods. ;) They do have a few tarts and one or two cakes, but these are fairly expensive and don't look too exciting in comparison to other pastry shops (though, to be honest, this was one of my very first bakery purchases in Paris *sighs* Oh, the memories!).

The clafoutis (cherry or black currant, I believe; I don't really remember after so long...) looked the most promising, but seeing as I'm not really a fan of clafoutis, I settled for the Kouign Amman, a fairly dense, super buttery yeast dough rolled like a cinnamon roll, but stuffed with... butter with a bit of citrus (at least, so says my travel post XD) and then topped off with an hard crust of... butter and sugar that, once broken into, was super tasty. Maybe it was a little too buttery, but it made the dough super moist (even on the next morning) and well, given the price of organic butter (at least here), it was probably worth the price! :P

The choice isn't too huge, but team up quality and tradition and it's pretty good! :)

Rating: ***