Coffee Matters

Bakery: Coffee Matters 
Address: 1 Military Rd, St. John's NL
Website: http://www.coffeematters.ca/
Style: Canadian
Price: $$ 

A cold Sunday morning was the setting for my last day of cake touring (and my last day in St. John's) and it proved to be unsuccessful one, at least at first. One bakery showing up on Google no longer existed, another was considered a bakery on Google and was a restaurant, and yet another was closed that day. Dejected and depressed, but not wanting to ruin the rest of my plans by going off in some other directions, I walked past this coffee place and thought that I could pop in for some coffee and to sit down/warm up before the rest of my long walk Upon entering, I noticed that the sign also said that they have pastries. All was not in vain!!! ^o^ Now, Coffee Matters is a coffee place, serving  well-sized, tasty mugs of the stuff, but they have a pretty impressive selection for what they are of cake slices, squares, and scones. And I might be forgetting something even then.

And a partridgeberry in a pear tree~! :D (excuse me...)

Thus, in addition to the coffee, I grabbed myself a partridgeberry square (around $2-2.50; prices for baked goods are not listed), since I knew I wouldn't be able to find this anywhere else. In fact, I was very happy to get a chance to try some baked goods using local and unique ingredients. I learned from the liquor store label for lingonberry liquor that partridgeberry is the name for this small, tart red berry that I can only get here frozen and imported from Europe. That being said, I love baking with lingonberries: Finnish spice cake, Swedish "queen" cake with vanilla sauce, or lingonberry squares that look just like these ones. I couldn't wait to try this wholly Canadian version and it was a winner. :) Personally, I would have liked to have it slightly more sour (i.e. with less sugar in the fruit filling) so as to bring out more of the distinct flavour of the berry, but it was still delicious as it was: a nice amount of fruit filling and a great oat crumble reminiscent of date squares. Mmm... what a find, and just when I had given up hope on a final Cake Tour in St. John's/Newfoundland! :)

Rating: ***1/2