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: ***
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