Address: 6 Francis St E, Fenelon Falls ON
Website: http://www.littlepieshack.com/home.html
Style: Canadian
Price: $$
Final verdict: adorable exterior and delicious baked goods, these guys know their pie shells!
Rating: ***
The Little Pie Shack [Mimi's Cake Tour X Butter Tart Tour]
Address: 6 Francis St E, Fenelon Falls ON
Website: http://www.littlepieshack.com/home.html
Style: Canadian
Price: $$
Final verdict: adorable exterior and delicious baked goods, these guys know their pie shells!
Rating: ***
Pastry Peddler [Mimi's Cake Tour x Butter Tart Tour]
Bakery: Pastry Peddler
Address: 17 King St E, Millbrook ON
Website: http://thepastrypeddler.blogspot.ca/
Style: Canadian, North American
Price: $$
[Location shots pending... need to transfer them from the phone ^^;] So, some absolute genius at Kawarthas/Northumberland Tourism created the Butter Tart Tour: a "tour" (rather, several smaller tours) of 40+ local bakeries, cafes, markets, and other businesses making and baking their own butter tarts. The instant I spotted this last year, the idea blew my mind. You'd think I made the whole thing up! :D I would have started instantly had it not been for the fact that the drive is a fairly long one to get there and to go around to all the towns. Participating locations are spread out all over the county, from farms, to small towns, to Peterborough itself, and are marked with a Butter Tart Tour logo (left) in their window and, surprisingly, no butter tart is alike. It's brilliant! I could probably write a whole post about what a great idea this is, but I have a whole bunch of baked goods waiting. ^^;
On the most recent "tour", I tried five bakeries in five towns and butter tarts (with some extras along the way) were purchased for the big challenge: five butter tarts in a row. Luckily, there were three of us since even with a third of each tart, I felt afterwards like I had eaten two blocks of butter probably two days' worth of calories in one sitting. Of course, it was worth it. :P
Let's start with the least favourite. Fifth place: Pastry Peddler is more a cafe/lunch spot than a bakery, despite their name. They do have quite a bit of classic, homestyle baked goods (cakes, cookies, pies), both for eating there or taking home with you. In addition to the butter tart, we also tried a chocolate square, which looked unique, but tasted like a giant Oh Henry bar (or the one with peanuts... I can't say I eat chocolate bars, so I don't really remember from my trick-or-treating days). It was really sweet and quite rich; I'm not sure how you could eat half in one go.
The butter tart. Well, I like to say that the key to a successful and tasty butter tart is the perfect combination of two components: the filling and the shell. The shell was too thick and dense; it was more of a shortbread shell and, although it did taste good, I didn't think it matched a butter tart. The filling was, in everyone's opinion, too dry. Perhaps it wasn't necessarily that it was dry, but that the shell was so thick that it overpowered what was on the inside and it was hard distinguishing anything. The topping with the pecan pieces on top was interesting, but again, all I really tasted was the shell.
Verdict: good, but the competition was just too fierce.
Rating: **
Address: 17 King St E, Millbrook ON
Website: http://thepastrypeddler.blogspot.ca/
Style: Canadian, North American
Price: $$
On the most recent "tour", I tried five bakeries in five towns and butter tarts (with some extras along the way) were purchased for the big challenge: five butter tarts in a row. Luckily, there were three of us since even with a third of each tart, I felt afterwards like I had eaten two blocks of butter probably two days' worth of calories in one sitting. Of course, it was worth it. :P
The butter tart. Well, I like to say that the key to a successful and tasty butter tart is the perfect combination of two components: the filling and the shell. The shell was too thick and dense; it was more of a shortbread shell and, although it did taste good, I didn't think it matched a butter tart. The filling was, in everyone's opinion, too dry. Perhaps it wasn't necessarily that it was dry, but that the shell was so thick that it overpowered what was on the inside and it was hard distinguishing anything. The topping with the pecan pieces on top was interesting, but again, all I really tasted was the shell.Verdict: good, but the competition was just too fierce.
Rating: **
Niemi Family Farm
Bakery: Niemi Family Farm
Address: 18463 Highway 48, Mount Albert ON
Website: http://niemifarm.vpweb.ca/
Style: Finnish
Price: $-$$
When on the subject of Finnish baked goods in the GTA, two places regularly pop up: Milbree-Viking in Newmarket and Hillside Cafe on Mount Pleasant Rd; however, there is a third destination for your Finnish musts: cinnamon buns, traditional rye breads, and other baked goodies and that is Niemi Family Farm, about 10 minutes east of Newmarket. Yes, this may not strike you as a go-to destination for Finnish treats. After all, they're a nursery and grow trees and flowers. But at their market, they also have baked goods! :) I actually bought my specimen at FinnFest and found them the most reasonably priced of the three Finnish bakeries, so I have yet to visit them on their home turf.
At first glance, they look notably different from other bakeries with their rustic look. Really, with everything laid out together, the goodies almost look like they came out of a stone or wood-burning oven! I was especially drawn to this large cinnamon loaf ($7), which was like a mix between a pulla (cardamom bread) and a
classic Finnish cinnamon bun. Mmm... this was so good!!! A nice amount
of cinnamon, a hint of crumble on top -- the only minus I could find was
that some of the cardamom was a little too coarsely ground and kind of
gave an unpleasant sensation when you bit down on a piece (reminiscent of catching an egg shell). I froze it and enjoyed delicious cinnamon
bread for days. *-*
In terms of GTA residents, this may be a little out of the way, but add a nice country drive into the mix and head on over to just south of Mount Albert. I know I will one day.. and will, naturally, come away fully stocked. ;)
Rating: ***1/2
Address: 18463 Highway 48, Mount Albert ON
Website: http://niemifarm.vpweb.ca/
Style: Finnish
Price: $-$$
When on the subject of Finnish baked goods in the GTA, two places regularly pop up: Milbree-Viking in Newmarket and Hillside Cafe on Mount Pleasant Rd; however, there is a third destination for your Finnish musts: cinnamon buns, traditional rye breads, and other baked goodies and that is Niemi Family Farm, about 10 minutes east of Newmarket. Yes, this may not strike you as a go-to destination for Finnish treats. After all, they're a nursery and grow trees and flowers. But at their market, they also have baked goods! :) I actually bought my specimen at FinnFest and found them the most reasonably priced of the three Finnish bakeries, so I have yet to visit them on their home turf.
In terms of GTA residents, this may be a little out of the way, but add a nice country drive into the mix and head on over to just south of Mount Albert. I know I will one day.. and will, naturally, come away fully stocked. ;)
Rating: ***1/2
FinnFest/Nordic Fair 2015
Bakery?: FinnFest/Nordic Fair
Address: Mel Lastman Square (5100 Yonge St), North York ON
Website: http://finnfestival2015.com/
Style: Scandinavian, Finnish
Price: $$
Well, well, well, this was quite the baked goods find! And especially for a Scandinavian baked good fanatic like me. :) I first heard about this from a poster in Viking Bakery; considering that I'm usually travelling in June, I little thought of it then, but luck hasn't been on my side so far (especially with my international food basket delivery service that has yet to get any interested viewers... perhaps you'd like to check out my flop of a business and spread the word?) so I did manage to check it out, although the outdoor festival at Mel Lastman Square had its own bout of bad luck: it took place on the worst weekend, weather-wise, with constant heavy rain keeping even the booths from staying open....
Nonetheless: FinnFest is an annual celebration of Finnish arts and culture... and baked goods held, I believe, every June. I'm not quite sure when or how Nordic Fair got attached to this. In reality, this *was* FinnFest, with only three stalls representing the other parts of Scandinavia: one Swedish housewares and church booth and the Danish food booth. However, it seems that whenever there is a gathering of Finns, there will be baked goods, which was the main reason why I was so happy. ;) Three bakeries showed up -- in fact, it was the convergence of all local Finnish bakeries: Viking-Milbree from Newmarket, Niemi Family Farms from Mt Albert, and Hillside Cafe on Mount Pleasant Rd (Toronto)! This was your chance to get stocked up on as many cardamom-spiced baked goods as you wanted. And prices weren't too ridiculous for a festival (Niemi Family Farms, in particular, was very affordable). There were also entries from the less popular (given almost everyone buying seemed to be of Finnish descent) Danish and Swedish booth! Wow! *-*
In addition to absolutely delicious jelly doughnuts ($2/each) from the tried and true Viking-Milbree, I also jumped on the chance to try baked goods from Niemi Family Farms, a nursery that also sells -- you guessed it -- Finnish baked goods. :) Unlike the other stalls, there was something so rustic about their treats that I had to try them. They almost look like they came from a stone oven or something. Think flat rye breads, cinnamon buns, and various unique baked goods. I had to go for the cinnamon bread ($7), which was like a mix between a pulla (cardamom bread) and a classic Finnish cinnamon bun. Mmm... this was so good!!! A nice amount of cinnamon, a hint of crumble on top -- the only minus I could find was that some of the cardamom was a little too coarsely ground and kind of gave an unpleasant sensation. I froze it and enjoyed delicious cinnamon bread for days. *-*
Of course, I also couldn't pass up the chance to try Danish pancake balls (aebleskiver; 4/$2) which I have yet to see elsewhere. I never even spotted them on my trip to Denmark! It came mildly heated, sprinkled with icing sugar (or "snow" as the lady selling them said; she also gave me one more for free given the weather conditions ^^) and served with a dollop of strawberry jam. I'm not sure who was in charge of the Danish food tent, which likewise sold "danishes" and open-faced sandwiches, but it looks like it wasn't linked to any existing store/business. All the more to snatch up these delectable moist dough balls that seem a cross between doughnuts and your classic pancakes. Simple, but tasty. I could easily have a few more. ._.
Last but not least, the Swedish church was selling coffee and home-baked Swedish cinnamon buns at $1.50/each -- can you see why I was on cloud nine!? :D These were rather petite and with the exception of the rock sugar sprinkled on top, they didn't really seem *that* Swedish to me, but they were good. And I do love my Swedish cinnamon buns. I can't see they beat the cinnamon bread, which was stunning, but they were in their own right quite tasty. Too small, but tasty.
Overall, I would have liked a little more in terms of things going on (it was pretty much dead once the rain hit hard), but I was happy to have gotten there before the rain and snatched up a whole sack of Scandinavian baked goods -- what a fantastic opportunity!!
Rating: ***1/2
Address: Mel Lastman Square (5100 Yonge St), North York ON
Website: http://finnfestival2015.com/
Style: Scandinavian, Finnish
Price: $$
Well, well, well, this was quite the baked goods find! And especially for a Scandinavian baked good fanatic like me. :) I first heard about this from a poster in Viking Bakery; considering that I'm usually travelling in June, I little thought of it then, but luck hasn't been on my side so far (especially with my international food basket delivery service that has yet to get any interested viewers... perhaps you'd like to check out my flop of a business and spread the word?) so I did manage to check it out, although the outdoor festival at Mel Lastman Square had its own bout of bad luck: it took place on the worst weekend, weather-wise, with constant heavy rain keeping even the booths from staying open....
Nonetheless: FinnFest is an annual celebration of Finnish arts and culture... and baked goods held, I believe, every June. I'm not quite sure when or how Nordic Fair got attached to this. In reality, this *was* FinnFest, with only three stalls representing the other parts of Scandinavia: one Swedish housewares and church booth and the Danish food booth. However, it seems that whenever there is a gathering of Finns, there will be baked goods, which was the main reason why I was so happy. ;) Three bakeries showed up -- in fact, it was the convergence of all local Finnish bakeries: Viking-Milbree from Newmarket, Niemi Family Farms from Mt Albert, and Hillside Cafe on Mount Pleasant Rd (Toronto)! This was your chance to get stocked up on as many cardamom-spiced baked goods as you wanted. And prices weren't too ridiculous for a festival (Niemi Family Farms, in particular, was very affordable). There were also entries from the less popular (given almost everyone buying seemed to be of Finnish descent) Danish and Swedish booth! Wow! *-*
Of course, I also couldn't pass up the chance to try Danish pancake balls (aebleskiver; 4/$2) which I have yet to see elsewhere. I never even spotted them on my trip to Denmark! It came mildly heated, sprinkled with icing sugar (or "snow" as the lady selling them said; she also gave me one more for free given the weather conditions ^^) and served with a dollop of strawberry jam. I'm not sure who was in charge of the Danish food tent, which likewise sold "danishes" and open-faced sandwiches, but it looks like it wasn't linked to any existing store/business. All the more to snatch up these delectable moist dough balls that seem a cross between doughnuts and your classic pancakes. Simple, but tasty. I could easily have a few more. ._.
Overall, I would have liked a little more in terms of things going on (it was pretty much dead once the rain hit hard), but I was happy to have gotten there before the rain and snatched up a whole sack of Scandinavian baked goods -- what a fantastic opportunity!!
Rating: ***1/2
Fox's Bakery and Deli
Address: 96 Victoria St, Barrie ON
Website: http://www.foxsbarrie.ca/
Style: North American
Price: $
A semi-recent trip to Barrie gave me one more bakery for the trying! :)
At the same time, the items that were bought didn't have that small bakery feel to them. I really had a hard time believing that they were baked by them as the website states, since they just seem so... commercial in feel but I can't seem to pinpoint why I say so. Perhaps they're also a wholesale baker? Or it's simply the pretty darn huge building in the industrial sector? Not sure. Nonetheless, prices are pretty cheap, with individual items costing anywhere from the cents to under $2.
For sampling, I got three mini danishes ($0.70/each) in a variety of fillings. One was apple, another strawberry and I forgot what the third was. All had a little swirl of what tasted like cream cheese icing on top. The danishes were very soft and, mostly likely given their size, had just a minute dollop of filling. I would have liked to taste something other than the dough, since as they were, the three danishes didn't taste that different from each other.
For that real richness, there's always the Nanaimo bar. ($1-something) ;) I was strangely fond of these things when I was younger and recall constantly being denied them by my mom, who said they were the most unhealthy thing in the bakery, ha ha! This was a fairly standard bar that didn't really stand out in any way. It would have been better had the chocolate not melted (stupid hot weather -_-), but that can't be helped, and if perhaps the bottom layer wasn't so thick and, especially, so... compact. Out of the three items, this was still my favourite... though I can't quite say this is my favourite stop for baked goods in Barrie.
Rating: **
Gloucester Bakery
Bakery: Gloucester Bakery
Address: 398 Ferrier St, Markham ON
Website: n/a
Style: Chinese
Price: $
Gloucester is, as I just recently learned, apparently a semi-chain of Chinese bakeries, with three locations in the north GTA. One location is inside the fairly obscure mall behind Metro Square Mall (the mini mall at Steeles and Ferrier)and that's where I was a couple weeks ago, wandering aimlessly around after discovering that the amazing Hunan Garden is no more ;___;.
This Gloucester is rather tiny and quite insignificant; even a bakery hound like me walked past it and had to backtrack. It certainly doesn't have the same turnaround as other Chinese bakeries and the lady behind the counter was so amazed by my arrival that I doubt whether they've ever had a white customer. ;D However, the items were freshly baked (some just came out of the oven, as the lady excitedly pointed out) and looked typical of a smaller-production Chinese place. Selection was limited, due most likely to lack of space. A couple of meat buns, some sweet buns (pineapple, coconut, cream -- all the usuals), and prepacked egg tarts was well, pretty much it. There were also two cakes behind the glass. As with all Chinese bakeries, everything was labelled and priced; I found prices to be more than usual. Actually, I was under the impression that the prices were marked up for the purpose of selling the deals: buy three buns, and get no tax (except most bakeries don't charge tax) and 10% off. And having a third bun dropped onto my tray without my consent got a little on my nerves. It's not like it was buy two, get one free. :/
So I did get suckered into the buy three "deal" and came out with one pastry and, due to lack of choice, with two run-of-the-mill buns. In total, I paid $3.30. The first of the latter was a "sweet bun" ($1.30). I picked it simply because I didn't feel like eating a stuffed bun and it looked like something lighter. It was a plain bun with a sort of crumble spread across the top. It tasted too strongly of peanut (oil or butter) and, seeing as I'm not in any way a peanut butter fan, I didn't really like that. The bun's texture wasn't as soft and airy as usual; it was slightly oily and the density made this a little overwhelming for a plain bun. Similarly, the coconut twist ($1.30) had a better, less dense texture, but it lacked the coconut that other places seem to dole a little more generously and so it seemed more like another plain bun. In short, I haven't really bought Chinese buns lately, but these two somewhat disappointed.
Conversely, there was the wife pastry ($1.30): smaller, flaky pastries filled with an almost chewy wintermelon filling. Recently, my occasional samplers and I have been trying more of these little pastries and this one was by far the best we've seen. Great, flaky and flavourful dough with a delicate, slightly sweet filling that didn't give you the impression you're choking on gum like it did elsewhere. I'm a little curious about that $6 freshly-baked cake the worker tried to sell us, but other than that, I'd definitely only stick to the pastries.
Rating: **1/2
Address: 398 Ferrier St, Markham ON
Website: n/a
Style: Chinese
Price: $
Gloucester is, as I just recently learned, apparently a semi-chain of Chinese bakeries, with three locations in the north GTA. One location is inside the fairly obscure mall behind Metro Square Mall (the mini mall at Steeles and Ferrier)and that's where I was a couple weeks ago, wandering aimlessly around after discovering that the amazing Hunan Garden is no more ;___;.
This Gloucester is rather tiny and quite insignificant; even a bakery hound like me walked past it and had to backtrack. It certainly doesn't have the same turnaround as other Chinese bakeries and the lady behind the counter was so amazed by my arrival that I doubt whether they've ever had a white customer. ;D However, the items were freshly baked (some just came out of the oven, as the lady excitedly pointed out) and looked typical of a smaller-production Chinese place. Selection was limited, due most likely to lack of space. A couple of meat buns, some sweet buns (pineapple, coconut, cream -- all the usuals), and prepacked egg tarts was well, pretty much it. There were also two cakes behind the glass. As with all Chinese bakeries, everything was labelled and priced; I found prices to be more than usual. Actually, I was under the impression that the prices were marked up for the purpose of selling the deals: buy three buns, and get no tax (except most bakeries don't charge tax) and 10% off. And having a third bun dropped onto my tray without my consent got a little on my nerves. It's not like it was buy two, get one free. :/
So I did get suckered into the buy three "deal" and came out with one pastry and, due to lack of choice, with two run-of-the-mill buns. In total, I paid $3.30. The first of the latter was a "sweet bun" ($1.30). I picked it simply because I didn't feel like eating a stuffed bun and it looked like something lighter. It was a plain bun with a sort of crumble spread across the top. It tasted too strongly of peanut (oil or butter) and, seeing as I'm not in any way a peanut butter fan, I didn't really like that. The bun's texture wasn't as soft and airy as usual; it was slightly oily and the density made this a little overwhelming for a plain bun. Similarly, the coconut twist ($1.30) had a better, less dense texture, but it lacked the coconut that other places seem to dole a little more generously and so it seemed more like another plain bun. In short, I haven't really bought Chinese buns lately, but these two somewhat disappointed.
Rating: **1/2
Super Kolbasa [RIP]
Address: 131 Roncesvalles Ave, Toronto ON
Website: n/a
Style: Polish
Price: $$-$$$
[Another Polish casualty on the no-longer-so-Polish Roncesvalles, Super Kolbasa closed its doors earlier this year so quietly that I had to walk past it twice to notice it was no longer there. I wonder what will take its place. Hopefully not another Tim Hortons!]
While Super Kolbasa may not seem at first a destination for baked goods, I arrived on Roncesvalles to find that my go-to Polish baked good destination (Benna's) was closed for renovation -- in fact, I was thoroughly relieved to find it so; the last time I had gone, I found it looking strangely empty and was fearing they were closing down completely. Stuck in Roncesvalles without baked goods? Unthinkable! I had to think up an alternative, though that's hard given that more and more Polish businesses are closing shop. So, I popped into Super Kolbasa, a couple (literally) doors down from Benna's, where business seems to be particularly booming. Please note also that Google does give you the wrong address for Super Kolbasa -- they moved a few years ago and the previous location is boarded up.
Super Kolbasa is, of course, a meat shop first. They make their own sausages and maybe cold cuts as well as ready food such as pierogies and countless salads, but they do have a case behind the counter of slab cakes you won't find anywhere else as well as a few basic baked goods (doughnuts) in a small case along the opposing wall. It's the cakes that really stand out, most of which are either your standard varieties of cheesecake or creamy tortes. Prices are, as always when it comes to Polish bakeries/delis, unmarked and cake slices are sold by weight. Unlike Benna's (although they have gone up and aren't as well-priced as they used to be), the prices were a little staggering at Super Kolbasa. A woman in front of me wanted to know the price of a cheesecake with poppy seed; a small square (equal to 1.5 or 2 portions) was weighed in at $9 -- the lady declined. The piece I got was also quite pricey: $10 for a piece that usually sets me back $6-7. For a cake with no cheese (the most expensive and heavy ingredient), I found this a little much. I don't even want to know how much a heavier cake would end up costing. O.O
Overall, I'd probably stick to the meat products, but it's a good option, whether you want to change things up or you're waiting for Benna's to reopen. ;)
Rating: **1/2
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