My Market Bakery [RIP]

Bakery: My Market Bakery
Address: 184 Baldwin St, Toronto ON 
Website: n/a
Style: Canadian, European
Price: $ 

[What happened!? This busy, tasty bakery just closed down following an inexplicable, lengthy renovation; stepping in post-renovation, I will admit that I was not impressed or too pleased; all my favourite goodies were gone and nothing there to replace them. If it ain't broken, don't fix it. Please? :(]

I can't believe it took me so many trips to Kensington Market to actually step into this place and buy something. A long while back, I remember popping in to find a huge line and not much left (= late in the afternoon yet again), so I just left, not too impressed with what I could see from the doorway (i.e. two cases of cookies). I realize now I judged too quickly, way too quickly, and am actually really glad that I came back to this place, since I now have a good bakery to visit (when one can't afford that still-delayed trip to Wanda's Pie in the Sky ;P) when in the area!

In terms of goods, My Market is what I like to call an example of a "Canadian" bakery, featuring a hodgepodge of baked goods, breads and cakes, both of the typical North American kind (brownies, cookies, banana bread, nanaimo bars, etc.) and a smattering of Portuguese (nada tarts caught the eye), baklava, and some unique creations in the form of what I can only describe as 'granola bar cakes': a series of squares with various fruit, nut and honey combinations. At any rate, they're worth checking out, even if not everything (mostly breads, however) is baked by them. Not sure why when the home-baked stuff is already pretty darn good. O.o

Anyways, I came out with three squares (among quite an impressive variety) available behind the counter; at $1.50 per slice, these are very well priced and look much more exciting than their few articles of baked goods (unless they were all gone by the time I showed up). First on the list was a "bee sting" square, which didn't seem to photograph that well, but it was pretty much dough soaked in honey and a thick mass of slivered almonds on top mixed with some sort of marzipan, perhaps? At any rate, the sampler, a self-named nut and honey fan was thoroughly impressed. The verdict: really good.

Second on the list was the cranberry hazelnut square, one of those aforementioned 'granola cakes' with a shortbread dough on the bottom and a thick layer of cranberries, nuts in a hazelnutty dough on top. The texture was nice and chewy and was quite good. 

My personal pick was the apple cinnamon square (there is also a rhubarb version) with two thick pieces of delicious shortbread dough pretty much stuffed with a homemade apple filling of fresh apples, a sort of thick sauce (I originally put 'gloop' but lol, that doesn't sound so good, does it?) cinnamon and a nice layer of some sort of jam on the bottom (strawberry or rhubarb, most likely?)  This was really tasty! The dough was hard without being crumbly; that with the filling.. mmm!

So: a great, more than affordable place to check out while in the neighbourhood; with a little bit of everything, it's not too hard to find something for you~~ (forgive the very cheesy conclusion :D)!

Rating: ***

Bamboo Bubble Tea [RIP]

Bakery: Bamboo Bubble Tea 
Address: 1100 Burnhamthorpe Rd E, Mississauga ON
Website: n/a 
Style: Vietnamese 
Price: $

Okay, this isn't exactly a bakery, by a long shot, but the last time my mom went there to pick up some banh mi (Vietamese subs) for the youngest brother, she also came back with two pieces of home-baked cake, which this little take-out place that sells mostly bubble tea, subs and a few Vietnamese dishes makes! Yes, I did get pretty excited, since I have yet to find a place selling Vietnamese baked anything...

Unlike Chinese bakeries, which pretty much sell an assortment of buns stuffed with different fillings/toppings, these two treats were actually both entirely unique of each other and you could call them  cakes. The first was a cassava cake ($2/slice or $12/whole tin) which might have fooled anyone into thinking it's Portuguese. It had somewhat the texture of custard, just a lot more stiff and doughy and smelled/tasted of coconut.. and just the appearance made me think of this right away, though I couldn't say why. The owner recommended heating both, and warmed up, this became more soft and fragrant; weird thing is, you wouldn't say it was cassava, or any kind of tuber for that matter. O.O It was pretty tasty; the second was better, but this one was good too.

For the second slice, we ended up with a honeycomb cake ($2/slice or $8/whole), a super moist and airy green spongecake with this flaky shell (unless that's just browned green dough ^^) around it. According to the name, it has these intricately shaped bubbles running through the dough which, especially when heated, gives it this dense, near-chewiness. This was so good! I think this is supposed to be green tea... not sure Thanks to a visitor, I learned that this is pandan (an Oriental equivalent of vanilla) flavoured (thank you!!! ^-^v), but it was yummy nonetheless. I really can't say I expected much, both coming from a bubble tea place, but man, what an enjoyable surprise! :)

Rating: ***

Coach House Shortbread Company

Bakery: Coach House Shortbread Company
Address: 235 Carlaw Ave, Toronto ON
Website: http://www.shortbread.ca
Style: Shortbread
Price: $$$

In the basement of a building of an old factory-turned-lofts, there's the Coach House Shortbread Company, which, as the name gives away, makes shortbread. And lots of it. ^^; Going into this thing or poking your head through the windows, you get the impression you're in the high end boutique of cookie stores and I just couldn't help but be reminded -- especially with the gold ribbon and pretty packaging -- of Ladurée in Paris. You feel like you're not buying cookies, you're uh, making a real purchase. ;DDDD The difference being that at Ladurée, you're not greeted with a smile and invited to the free samples by the owner/baker upon your entrance! I was impressed. I was special! (lol, please don't mind me~~~)

The pretty large space consists of a series of tables, stacked with differently coloured rolls (resembling Christmas crackers) filled with shortbread, both sweet and savoury, in a whole bunch of interesting and original flavours. Of course, I wasn't too interested in the savoury, but the sweet were pretty neat like rose, cranberry, candied almond, orange and cardamom, etc.

Taste aside, I found the pricing a little confusing (especially since there are two sizes) and didn't quite get the multiples; it almost seemed a little too corporate with entire baskets being priced, so much so that I felt a little... wrong buying just one thing, like it's not done or something? Many, many thanks for the clarification: the small "crackers" cost $9.95, whereas the larger rolls are priced at $12.95. The latter gets cheaper when bought in multiples (hence the list of deals -- not sure why it eluded me -.-)... therefore, one can conclude: it is best to buy the most you can. ;DD But at $10 as a minimum purchase, they weren't necessarily cheap. My little roll had 7 cookies in it, so roughly $1.40 per cookie, though there was a jar with lemon shortbread for $0.65.

Also, I was a little disappointed that there weren't any variety packs! For a first timer, I would have loved being able to try a few flavours/pick out some that appealed to me without needing to buy multiple packs.

Anyways, to the most important part: the taste. There not being cardamom (for that Scandinavian baking taste I love), I picked out sugar plum, because it sounded tasty. I like plums. ^^ Seriously, all I needed to do was read the ingredients to know these were going to be good cookies! First on the list: butter. :P And then it only got better: bits of plums, slivered almonds, raisins soaked in rum and spiced with cardamom, caraway and was cinnamon in there too? I don't even know how all of this can fit into one wee cookie! But wow, this was impressive. For one, these are just waiting to melt on your tongue. The texture is great and, in fact, letting them melt is the best way to enjoy them, since the dough kind of disappears and you're just left with this punch of flavour: spices and butter and candied fruit. Mmmm... these are definitely amazing shortbread!! Enough said. O___O ((I wouldn't have minded a little more either~~))

In the end, I like cookies, I like shortbread, but I can't really go crazy for them, so I guess I'll always prefer other baked goods, but still... Coach House knows *good* shortbread. :)

Rating: ***

Phoenix Bakery

Bakery: Phoenix Bakery 
Address: 613-5 Gerrard Street E, Toronto ON
Website: n/a
Style: Chinese
Price: $ 

While visiting Leslieville/Chinatown East for the very first time on Saturday, I decided to pop into one Chinese bakery for Cake Tour purposes and well, the first one I walked by was Phoenix, so that was that. :P This is, in the Chinese bakery tradition, another ridiculously cheap place to grab your baked goods, with most items priced at 3/$1. Although, I must admit that I'm usually a bit wary with these dirt cheap places, since they tend to be either skimpy with fillings or size or just simply not very tasty (still remembering that sugar bun from Chinese Bakery :/), but this place surprised and I think it's turned into one of my favourite Chinese bakeries out of all the ones I've tried! It's nothing special or unique, not by a long shot, but it still makes a difference when your stuff is made with dough, albeit even plain, that actually tastes good! *nods*

So, this time around, I got three items: for the first, I picked out "Fujian hometown cake" (3/$1) which was a flat 'bread' topped with sesame seeds. Despite the name, I can't say it tasted Chinese at all, but reminded me of freshly baked (preferably still warm from the oven) Montreal bagels. O.o This, however, is supposed to be a good thing! The overload of sesame seeds, the denser though fluffy and soft dough -- this was tasty... well, for what it was: fresh white bread, but I've had a lot worse, so really enjoyed this.

Then, the doughnuts (3/$1) lured me. .__. These golden brown dough balls deep-fried and rubbed in sugar were also good. Slightly crunchy on the outside and super moist on the inside; despite there not being anything but plain dough on the inside, I quite liked it and it definitely stands out in the doughnut category... and at $0.33 each! Seriously, this was a find. :)

Lastly, the almond cookie challenge (though some places, like this one, calls it "walnut cookie" when there's clearly almond on it, but yeah... 2/$1): these were pretty irregularly shaped, with some huge and others smaller. Also, some had bits of glaze pooled in areas, while others had no glaze at all, so it's one of those things you kind of need to pick through to get one that's uh, just right for you. ^^; In terms of taste, these ones were pretty good, though could not oust the current champion (according to the almond cookie fanatic): Akko Cake House.

The verdict is pretty good! Simple, well-priced but tasty Chinese staples at this place and yup, that's it for today. :)

Rating: ***

Irene's Celebrity Cakes

Bakery: Irene's Celebrity Cakes
Address: 1258 Eglinton Ave E, Mississauga ON
Website: http://www.irenescelebritycakes.ca/
Style: Italian, European
Price: $$ 

The Great Zeppola Challenge!!!: chapter 4 

Since we don't have a bronze medal yet. ;) Actually, this came as an unexpected purchase several days following the original challenge, and otherwise, Longo's would have received the last prize, but seeing as we had four, there was some selection.

Although I've had Irene's on my list for some time, I was hesitant about visiting, mostly because the name gave me ideas of a more commercial place just doing wedding cakes. So, in some ways, I was wrong, but in the end they're more caterers than anything else, making those icing-heavy cakes that I've never been fond of, though they also make Italian pastries and other goodies. Anyways, it was the brother that popped in here before some sort of soccer tournament and brought back zeppole ($2.99, I believe) and macarons($1-something?) for the trying!

In terms of authenticity, these guys did a pretty poor job. In place of cherries, they put dabs of cherry jam on top; the sourness and taste at least proved they got the right amarena cherries... on the outside. The inside, on the other hand, was slathered with sweet, bright red cherry marmalade in addition to the not-too overwhelming amount of cream. The dough wasn't the greatest either and didn't have that "puff" feel to it. The outside was too soft/soggy and one brother likened the experience to eating a honey cruller jam sandwich. O.o Um, yeah. Me, I was skeptical, I'll say that, but in taste it was good and managed to beat Longo's towering ring of whip-fix by a pretty long shot. In the end, taste will beat authenticity (and pasticcerie will always beat supermarkets) any day! ;)

Surprisingly enough for an Italian pastry shop, their French macarons were probably better than the zeppole! I guess I didn't expect that, but they were really tasty, not to mention super fresh. A little too airy, perhaps, but they had great texture: hard on the outside and soft and chewy on the outside with lighter, not too overbearing fillings. I can't exactly figure out what the flavour was supposed to be (mine was the peach/pink-coloured one), but it tasted good!

So, in the end, Irene's did manage to impress and prove to the Cake Tour that they're... not just cakes. ;D

And with that, the Great Zeppola Challenge draws to an end... at least for this year, since, to be quite honest with you, I'm a little zeppole'd out!! x__x 

The Bronze Zeppola 
-3rd place! The Great Zeppola Challenge 2013-






Rating: **1/2

La Novita

Bakery: La Novita Bakery and Delicatessen
Address: 25 John St, Mississauga ON
Website: n/a
Style: Portuguese, Italian
Price: $$

The Great Zeppola Challenge!!!: chapter 3 

I was always under the impression that these guys were an Italian bakery (this was my first trip), so when thinking of my Great Zeppola Challenge and where on earth I can buy all these zeppole, I thought of this place and, seeing as my mom was somewhat/not really in the area (;D), I sent her. And, according to her at least, they were mostly a Portuguese bakery with the usual baked good staples (custard tarts, coconut goodies, etc.), so not sure if it was always like this or it had passed into other hands; however, they had some Italian sweets as well and, most importantly, they had zeppole!

Actually two varies of zeppole. ($2.69) One was a total imitation with strawberries and whipped cream while the other was... well, semi-authentic. Unfortunately, the worker had no clue what these were and said they were blueberry. Everyone was kind of concerned that the zeppola challenge would be a total flop, but it turns out these were the right cherries! Just with Portuguese custard. :/ Taste-wise, though, they ended up being pretty good. The cream in the centre ruined the element of surprise (the mom arranged the challenge so that no one knew except her knew where they came from) with these guys.. well, and so did the custard, but the dough was nice and right, the cherries could be tasted in the filling and the custard -- quite tasty and not gloopy/instant pudding like some places do it -- made this a tad lighter, so it didn't have that incredible heaviness that Longo's, for example, did. So, although the location of this one didn't surprise, the great taste and texture did. Not bad indeed!

And actually, even with the custard cream, this place earned its spot on the podium. Congratulations! ;)

The Silver Zeppola
-2nd place! The Great Zeppola Challenge 2013-






Rating: **1/2

Longo's [Updated]

Bakery: Longo's
Address: 3163 Winston Churchill Blvd, Mississauga ON
Website: http://www.longos.com/Home/Home.aspx
Style: Italian, North American
Price: $$-$$$

The Great Zeppola Challenge!!!: chapter 2

*pseudo-commentator voice* And the challenge continues with this entry from Longo's. Longo's is a fairly major supermarket chain with locations throughout the GTA. As with Michael-Angelo's, Longo's is also supposed to be Italian-focused, although I've found the former to be more authentic. Going to the bakery, Longo's bakery is fairly large -- and all locations pretty much maintain the standard -- though walking through it, you kind of come to realize that the vast majority is just stacked with cakes and pre-packed cookies, mostly their own and some from other bakeries such as La Rocca.

As a supermarket, though, they do actually have the majority of items made by them, which isn't always the case. A long while back, we used to buy any birthday cakes from Longo's, mostly their real-cream tiramisu, which was by far the best. Anything else, namely any sort of fruit and "mousse" combination, all tasted pretty much the same. :P Anyways, at my usual location, their few baked goods (cinnamon buns, danishes) used to be better and it's kind of gone downhill from there. They had these flaky raspberry twists that were quite yummy, and I'm not sure what happened to them. Actually, I don't even know if they still have that tiramisu I mentioned above either. :/ Out of all their signature items, their Frutta di bosca tart (berry) looks the most promising, though I've never had it myself.

To the challenge, Longo's actually advertised their zeppole ($2.99/each or 6/$14) in their flyer for a few weeks. It's not a constant thing, and therefore, seen as a special treat; unfortunately, despite the appetizing description promising cheese cream and those imported Amarena cherries, the actual product really disappointed and was the worst out of the other zeppole in the challenge. For one, both the pastry rings and the cream itself were just too white. With the former, that means they were baked instead of fried (the "real" way ^^); with the latter, it means... not sure what. The dough itself was the best part, since the towering mountain of cream was really unpleasant. For one, there was no hint of cherries or sauce on the inside (despite what promised); if it was there, there was way too little in comparison to the cream. Secondly, I'm not a fan of those sandwiches were you bite down and everything just oozes out from the other end and this had the same problem. Worst of all was that the cream just was *way* too stiff to be natural and tasted neither like cheese nor like whipping cream. There were hints of the latter, so you can taste they did use real cream, but whip fix? gelatin? I can't account for the semi-solid texture and it was just... ugh, this made you feel *nasty*. D: One brother explained: it tastes supermarket-made. Maybe that's it? Not sure...

Overall,  I always get this idea that Longo's bakery *should* be better than the big names like Loblaws and Sobeys. Given these are almost beyond hope, Longo's is better, but still retains that commercial feeling. So, no podium standing for you! :(

 [NEW!] Well, well, well. I have yet to determine whether this is a constant throughout all stores or just a stand-alone surprise (such as poppy seed buns in the Oakville Sobeys), but I have found -- without a doubt -- the best doughnut in Mississauga and it came from Longo's, the Longo's on Winston Churchill (near Dundas) to be exact. I haven't been to the bakery section in my last, rare visits to the supermarket, but I chanced upon their version of "paczki" (Polish doughnuts). The last time I saw their doughnuts, they were different, so I'm not sure where these came from. I need to find out the next time I'm there, because these babies better stay. In an incredible turn of events, I nabbed a pricier poppy seed (!?!) stuffed doughnut ($1.69). Just looking at it, I knew. Generously coated in a clear, orange-infused glaze, stuffed with Polish poppy seed filling, and fried until golden brown: crunchy exterior and soft on the inside -- if they were fresher, it would be phenomenal. One word: Granowska's, back from the dead!! O_____O Either I went to heaven or heaven came down to me, because there is no doubt in my mind that there's some Granowskas connection: a former baker makes them, they get them from a bakery with former bakers? I'd love to solve the mystery, but in the meantime, Longo's has risen in my esteem and I have to grab as much of these as I can before they inevitably disappear, which seems to happen with all great things. Doughnut rating: ***1/2

Rating: **

Michael-Angelo's [RIP]

 Bakery: Michael-Angelo's 
Address: 4099 Erin Mills Parkway, Mississauga ON (another in Markham)
Website: http://michaelangelos.ca/
Style: Italian, North American 
Price: $$

The Great Zeppola Challenge!!!: chapter 1 

I'm not a huge fan of Italian baking in general, but I like zeppole, those deep-fried dough rings supposed to be stuffed with cheese (or pastry) cream and Italian amarena cherries. And, seeing as it was a few days past the feast day of St. Joseph (when you eat these rich pastries in Italy -- here, they seem to be available throughout Lent.. other places throughout the year), I thought up the Great Zeppola Challenge!!! Four zeppole... well, three at once and another a few days later to sample in order to try and determine that ever elusive question: just who has the best zeppole? Of course, this out of the ones I tried (two places were already put under the test 1-2 years back), since there are more zeppole to be tried!

Nonetheless, just to describe the procedure here: four zeppole were purchased relatively close to each other to preserve their freshness (there were supposed to be five but it turns out Molisana Bakery is in fact *not* an Italian bakery, but sells a few loaves of bread, a tray of Portuguese custard tarts and pizza :/):
Entrant #1: Michael-Angelo's
Entrant #2: Longo's
Entrant #3: La Novita Bakery
Entrant #4: Irene's Celebrity Cakes and Pasticceria
 These were then divided into four pieces and then sampled by (including myself) four people. Surprisingly enough, the ranking was unanimous from first to last, but you'll have to wait for the exciting conclusion (okay, not really) ;P

*** 

For the first entrant, Michael-Angelo's is a relatively low-key, slightly fancier supermarket (one in Mississauga and another in Markham) that I've been going to for years. It specializes in Italian food and fresher than usual produce. In terms of their bakery, they go the popular route and import a vast majority of their cakes and sweets from other bakeries, mainly from Dufflet (which I heartily enjoy ^.^) and La Rocca as well as a few others, though their items aren't so numerous. Although all breads and similar items are baked in-store, the "home-baked" sweets aren't as good. Some are products they've simply defrosted (they're actually available in the frozen food section) and baked, like their commercial-grade pies. I've had their cheesecake slices once and was far from impressed. Behind the cake counter, they also have a few, not a lot, baked goods, namely muffins, sugar cookies, and danishes. Years ago, they used to have these good Copenhagen danishes with apple, nice flaky dough, but if I remember, now they just have some sort of cheese variety. I don't remember if they still have the little danish pockets either.

At any rate, considering my previous experience with Michael-Angelo's bakery, I'd call it a pretty average supermarket bakery. They do put an effort with both in-store and things from various bakeries, but the signature stuff almost has this "I could bake it better at home" feel to it. Therefore, I was not expecting much from their zeppole. ($2.99 each or 6/$14) To tell the truth, they were the least photogenic with that homemade look to them: simple, "rustic" golden brown dough rings with lopsided, discoloured towers of cream holding up the cherries. However, only one bite was needed to discover that there were not only so good, but the best. The dough had great texture: slightly harder on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside. And speak of the inside: the best filling by a long shot! You can taste the sourness of the cheese, the cream is not too heavy and the slightly runny texture, resembling good tiramisu or even custard, was perfect. Most importantly, you could actually taste the cherry (it should be this sort of thick cherry sauce that comes with these special cherries) everywhere, both from bit of fruit as well as the sauce-syrup. Mmmm... I can't even say I was this blown away when I first discovered zeppole!

So, despite my hesitation, I've come to learn that, when you want Italian (though they don't have a lot of selection), this is where you go. At the very least, they've rightly earned:

 
The Golden Zeppola 
- Winner! The Great Zeppola Challenge 2013-





Rating: ***