Jelly Craft Bakery

Bakery: Jelly Craft Bakery
Address: 120 Main St., Shelburne ON 
Website: http://www.jellycraft.com/
Style: Canadian
Price: $-$$

Yet another bakery stop in small(er) town Ontario to add to the series, Jelly Craft (name origin unknown ;)) seems to be the bakery in Shelburne and surrounding area, although it also seems to be more a cafe/light lunch spot than anything else, with homemade sandwiches, soups, and breads to go along with them. However, they likewise have a modest, though ample selection of baked goodies and cakes that cover most of the basics of Canadian bakery fare: cinnamon buns, danishes, cheesecakes, carrot cakes with a few more original treats (such as my Eccles cake below). At around $2-$2.50 per item, prices are reasonable as well.

Since one of their signature items is the carrot cake (served with cream cheese icing; around $2.50), it was, of course, taken. Not to mention the person bringing me back the goodies this time was the self-professed carrot cake connoisseur. :P And according to that carrot cake connoisseur, it was a good one. Perhaps there wasn't very much to set it apart from others. The cream cheese icing was of a good consistency and not solid and overbearing like it sometimes is. Good cake with nice amount of carrots, though I can't say it was remarkable. Then again, one must remember I'm not a carrot cake connoisseur. ;)

At the same time, I couldn't resist grabbing the Eccles cake for myself (I believe it was $2.40), seeing as I am quite fond of them. Flaky pastry pocket pie filled with a filling of raisins, orange peel, fruit and currants (though I had a hard time finding them here) and topped with a little sugar. Unlike other places, I had a very hard time distinguishing anything in the filling, with the exception of two raisins. I had this impression that it was more like the mincemeat you buy in stores, which resembles more a jam (with no meat, of course) that a hearty, fruity filling. Suffice to say, I would have liked a little more texture on the inside, but it tasted good and I liked the texture of the "shell": flaky and neither too hard nor too soggy.

Essentially, Jelly Craft has a bit of a monopoly going on, so you have no choice but to go here for your bakery fix, but that's not a problem. Tasty treats and reliable classics make this a worthy stop.

Rating: ***