Beaches Bakeshop & Cafe [RIP]

Bakery: Beaches Bakeshop & Cafe
Address: 900 Kingston Rd, Toronto ON
Website: http://www.beachesbakeshop.com
Style: Swedish 
Price: $$-$$$ 

No... no.... why? One of the best bakeries in the city gone....

Eeeeeeekkk! Finally! After years of saying I'd make it here, I finally braved the nearly 2-hour drive/ride and visited the Beaches Bakeshop, the city's only Swedish bakery. ^____^ First of all, thank you very much to Ea, who called my attention to the existence of this little cafe a long while back!

Ahem, anyways, nestled in the Upper Beaches, this little cafe is really neither bakeshop nor cafe. With only two small tables in the window and not that many baked goods to choose from, it's more like stepping into the cozy nook and bright kitchen (you can see all the ladies baking in the back of the store) littered with all things from Swedish, from candies to clogs and crisp bread. It's just amazing! The only one minus is that they don't actually that much in terms of baked goods; upon arrival, there were a few jars of cookies (ginger snaps was what caught the eye) and only.. two (two?) items in the glass case which were Swedish (and which had their little Sweden flag on the label) were the Mazarin tart ($3.75), an open-faced slice of dough topped with almond paste (the Finnish equivalent was reviewed here) and Sara Bernhard "cookies" ($3.25) which is... I'm actually not sure what they are, but I found both quite expensive for what you got. Having come for Swedish baked goods, I was so upset to find nothing matching the description that I just asked for the cinnamon buns. Good thing I did: they were still in the oven and I was asked to return in a few minutes.

/time lapse/ So I returned and I received a bag of still *warm* kanelbullar ($2.50/each or $13.50/half-dozen) and, lo and behold! the semlor advertised in the window (pretty much the Swedish equivalent of a doughnut/cream puff-cross) were sitting on a tray next to the cash. How could I resist a semla ($3.75) for myself?!?! And it was hot! Seriously, when was the last time the baked goods you bought were still warm? Ah, so so amazing and the aroma (remember, there was still 2-hours remaining of holding the bag in my lap) wafting from both was almost unbearable -- how can you sit and not just eat it all? O_O;;; I swear, the entire streetcar smelled of cinnamon, butter and cardamom!

With the smell and just looking at my goods, I could tell they could only be yummy. The kanelbulle was so incredibly aromatic (especially after having heated it up again to get the 'from the oven' feel) and biting into the soft, cinnamony dough made me just want to cry: it was beautiful.

And speaking of swooning: the semla. I don't think I realized how big this was when I bought it; when I took it home and was ready to have it with a cup of tea, I suddenly saw that... I should not be eating this thing in one sitting. :D A super soft sweet bun cut open and stuffed with a mountain (or maybe 'volcano' is more appropriate, since you bite in and this just erupts in cream) of real, freshly whipped cream with a hint of cardamom; add onto that the centre: a mass of butter and cinnamon. I said I'd give half for my brothers to try... and they ended up getting just a fourth. .___.;;; I couldn't resist.... it was just so good. I still can't believe it.

Beaches Bakeshop... should open a second location in the West End. Or deliver.. to me. Enough said. :P

Rating: ****