Frank's Sicilia Bakery

Bakery: Frank's Sicilia Bakery
Address: 669 Barton St, Hamilton ON
Website: n/a
Style: Italian
Price: $-$$

Green, red, and white -- seems familiar ;)

A few days before going a-travelling, I was brought back a box of cream-filled treats from this long-time Italian (or rather: Sicilian) bakery on Barton. For $11 (I believe items weren't individually priced in store), we got five items from a selection of classic Italian pastries as well as variants involving choux or puff pastry and cream. I have to say that Frank's seems to love its cream as there were plenty of items, more than usual, filled with the stuff. There was the classic pastry cream, chocolate cream, and the classic cheese filling in the cannoli -- and the former was particularly tasty, especially as there was a certain, very delectable kick to it. :)

My personal favourite: the modest cream puff

But let's just get started, shall we? There were several items filled with cream: two of these were nearly identical large choux puffs, one stuffed with a rich chocolate cream and drizzled with white and chocolate icing and the other stuffed with the standard white cream and sprinkled with icing sugar. I certainly preferred the latter, purely for the taste of the cream. And there was a lot of it, nearly too much for the amount of dough.

Also available in chocolate...

Then there was the classic cannolo, Italian-flag style with red and green candied fruit embedded in the cheese-based cream. This was okay, not the best, not the worst; it could have done without the candied fruit, in my opinion.

Now we're getting nutty (I already am, but yeah..)

After that, another creamy confection, this time coated in nuts and featuring a thinner, cannoli-like dough.One sampler was reminded of a Purdy's ice cream cone. This one was a little too rich for me, especially given there was more cream than dough in it. Somewhat overwhelming.

Looks intriguing, but... wasn't.

The one item that didn't impress was the chocolate ring (for lack of a better name), layered puff pastry with a bit of chocolate mixed in with the dough and then baked on top. This felt dry and, it pretty much being plain dough, was thought of as a bit boring. Personally, I'd take the cream instead. ;)

Rating: **1/2