Sweet Trolley Bakery

Bakery: Sweet Trolley Bakery
Address: 3056 Dundas St W, Toronto ON
Website: n/a 
Style: North American, European 
Price: $$ 

One weekend, I decided to take a trip down to the Junction, mainly to just walk around but I couldn't leave without some baked goods either. :P I was looking forward to some delectable poppy seed buns from Solero and found the bakery empty (what's going on, guys? This is the second time I've come and there aren't any baked goods to buy!?!, so decided to walk around a little more and chanced upon -- well, not really since I'd known of this bakery since my first trip and it was only just across the street -- Sweet Trolley. I swear they weren't open that day when I poked my head the first time, so I was fortunate to have it up and running this time. :)

Nevertheless, Sweet Trolley is a fairly small bakery with more or less your North American staples: pies, cookies, a few varieties of muffins and danishes with a few Italian (cannoli) and Greek (see below) items up for grabs. Oh, and if you haven't noticed -- it *is* mentioned five times on the signs outside alone -- they seem to be famous for their cinnamon buns. Truth be told, I found it pretty gimmicky (yes, this coming from the cheesiest gal around), especially when these self-proclaimed "the best ___" places usually don't live up to their reputation. However, I felt like I had to try a cinnamon bun (I was likewise led that way by the very friendly lady behind the counter); you just can't go to a place and not try the signature item! Looking back, I have to say that, indeed, not buying a cinnamon bun when visiting these guys is a crime. :P Items are clearly labelled and priced. It's not the cheapest place, but taxes are included; I'll be the first to admit that $3.75 for a cinnamon bun is a little steep... but it was worth it after all. 

So, I took away two items: the first were half a dozen kourampiedes (a.k.a. "ouzo cookies"; 6/$3.00 -- we got one free ^^). Trying to recall what the name of these were, some research was needed, which was when these are traditionally eaten during the Christmas season. Nice. Actually, I was just going for the "ouzo" part.... ;D These were quite good; a little dry, but that's simply the nature of the cookies, which are supposed to be quite sandy and fall apart in your mouth with the first bite. Melt in your mouth, with that hint of anise; strangely enough, despite the copious amounts of icing sugar that went all over the bag, they weren't overly sweet. I'm not too big a fan of cookies normally, but these were good! Not nearly as good as the cinnamon bun, but well, perhaps that's a given.

Secondly, there were those much lauded cinnamon buns ($3.75). Now, I love cinnamon buns -- and I hate badly done ones -- and I think that no one can dethrone the Swedes and Finns at the art of cinnamon buns, and so I was skeptical. These have the look of standard cinnamon buns, rolled up and coated in a sugar icing. I followed the instructions and heated it before eating it and... holy cow! These were good. I was stunned. XD I loved the cinnamon filling; no paste, no sickly sweet or super cinnamony gloop -- just enough for the yummy taste of cinnamon to appear in every bite. The dough was fantastic; it was soft and moist and buttery. And then just smothered with some delicious icing. My mouth is watering just describing it. *-* Amazing. I'm not sure if they could be the best of all time, but it'd come pretty close. Go for a cinnamon bun and come out happy. :)

Rating: ****