Bake Code

Bakery: Bake Code
Address: 4910 Yonge St, Toronto ON
Website: http://bakecode.com/
Style: Taiwanese, Chinese
Price: $$-$$$ 

For those wanting to try something other than a cookie-cutter clone of a Chinese bakery, there's Bake Code, a newish, Taiwanese bakery chain that one could call an upscale take on Westernized Chinese baking. As far as I know, there's no place in the GTA like it and worth a visit for that point alone. I myself was really intrigued when looking for a bakery in North York that I haven't tried yet (as with other areas, this is getting more and more difficult! ^^) and found out about this place.

However, those fond of more traditional fare such as bean-filled pastries and classic egg tarts will find such items replaced with flaky, European-style danishes and rustic Asian variations of  breads (like taro, red bean, etc.); add to that mix slices of cheesecake, cream rolls, and other cakes. Their website calls it European fusion... and while I'm a little more skeptical of the claim (there was actually very little "fusing" going on; items tend to be either purely European like said danishes or simply more rustic Chinese baking), both sweet and savoury products look good and are of a quality you wouldn't expect to find at your standard Chinatown bakery. The one drawback is the price: Bake Code doesn't only qualify as "not cheap", I would consider many products expensive. Expect $3+ for single buns and $4+ for anything behind the counter. In many cases, this is pricier than Japanese bakeries, which are the universally the most costly of the bunch and... I will always take Japanese baked goods over anything else Asian. .__.;;

Uh, with that being said, one amazing thing is that Bake Code does offer samples of nearly everything in store, which is appreciated. ;) For my first pick, I took one of their sweet buns: a matcha red bean bun ($2.90) that perhaps seems sweeter than it was in reality. Bread-like dough with a nice amount of green tea powder throughout and whole red beans mixed right in. Certainly different than the red bean paste you'd expect inside; in some ways, it was almost savoury in feel. I thought it would be more exciting, but it certainly looked and tasted better than run-of-the-mill Chinese bakeries.

Of course, I couldn't resist a slice of their Japanese cheesecake ($3.90)! If one has not yet figured it out, I am a sucker for cheesecake in general and especially fond of the Japanese variety; rather, fond of good Japanese cheesecake and angered by lousy imitations. This belonged to the former: a nice glaze on top and a fluffy, light-as-air dough. It was a small one though, and tasted more like a "milk cake", condensed milk to be exact, than a cheesecake. Add to that the fact that for twice the price (with taxes), you can get a whole cheesecake at Uncle Tetsu's and yes, no one can beat Uncle Tetsu. *-* Bake Code, however, comes in second. It's a good one.

Overall, I was hoping Bake Code would wow me more than it did. It certainly takes Western-style Chinese baking to a whole new level, but at the same time, I was envisioning something more... creative/thrilling/innovative? And then I suppose you do have to keep in mind it is still a franchise.

Rating: ***

Trader Joe's

Bakery: Trader Joe's 
Address: 1565 Niagara Falls Blvd, Buffalo NY (& across US)
Website: http://www.traderjoes.com/
Style: North American
Price: $$ 

I've been putting off this review for a while now (supermarkets never quench the urge to tour like real bakeries do!), but being in a bakery dry spell, I thought I'd go ahead with this one after all. Trader Joe's is well, a large supermarket chain known for its unique items with locations throughout the US and apparently, it's coming up here to Canada in the future. In some ways, it's big enough to not even need an introduction, and so I won't trouble myself with it. ;) Like other products in-store, the bakery section is made up of either products from other larger-scale bakeries or items that are exclusively made for Trader Joe's and then branded as such. Prepackaged, not fresh and baked off-site, it's really not the most ideal conditions for bakery connoisseurs, and even that's putting it gently, but there are some notable items worth trying.

One highlight is the chocolate babka, which is made expressly for the supermarket chain and hails from Brooklyn (if memory serves me correctly..); lacking the preservatives and questionable additives of what you'd assume anything pre-packaged contains, this babka has instead rather intriguing ingredients like chocolate liquor and... tofu? Well, even I was a little skeptical, but it actually worked, creating a moist, multi-layered loaf cake with a rich, downright overwhelming amount of chocolate between each thin of layer of dough as well chocolate chips sprinkled on the top. Indeed, the downside was its sweetness and "chocolatey-ness"; even chocolate lovers agreed this time.

Trader Joe's, as mentioned above, also features products from other bakeries which are then shipped nationwide; one of those "finds" were Danish kringles from O&H Danish Bakery in Wisconsin, because any day is an exciting day when kringles are involved. ;) And since I'm not in the mood to work today, lol, here is an excerpt from my post on the bakery itself: Packaged in wax paper sleeves, the one major minus going into it is the freshness; you know these must have been sitting on the shelves for at the very least several days (the list of preservatives and additives isn't very appetizing either :/). This resulted in a dough that wasn't as flaky as it should have been; instead, it lacked the texture it looked like it was supposed to have. A few samplers (myself included) thought it was a little too sweet, but all of us seemed to wonder why the purchaser chose the pumpkin kringle over the more traditional varieties. The kringle on the whole was alright, but I can't say I liked the flavour choice, even if I do like my pumpkin baked goods; it would have been nice to sample the almond one, which is the classic variety.

Overall, Joe's is better than your average supermarket; it still doesn't beat getting your baked goods fresh, but the selection allows you nonetheless to get something a little 'different'.

Rating: ***

Hodo Kwaja

Bakery: Hodo Kwaja
Address: 656 Bloor St W, Toronto ON
Website: http://hodokwaja.ca/
Style: Korean
Price: $

A very belated post, given that I've been regularly going (and eating :D) to Koreatown for years now and have taken these before, but here it is!

A tasty compromise between typical, "Westernized" (think cream buns and sugar cookies) and traditional, exclusively rice cake Korean bakeries, Hodo Kwaja is like a little factory, dishing out these small eponymous treats as well as a few other Korean sweets. Selection is limited and there is probably more variety in fillings than products, but nonetheless, it's hard to resist the little walnut cakes and stuffed sweet pancakes, both of which are very well priced (total purchase price: $3.75) and bursting with flavour.

Without a doubt, the main attraction is those walnut cakes ($2.25 for 6): a dense, spongy dough filled with a spoonful of either red bean or sweet potato and nut filling. The not-too sweet red bean with chunks of walnut is definitely the one I go for, but the potato was also pretty good.

This time, instead of grabbing a pancake, I went for the three-pack of what is known as Madeleines ($1.50). Well, perhaps the name is a little deceiving, since you won't be getting large buttery shells (Madeleines... *-*), but dense sticks baked with powdered almond that are neither chewy, soft, nor hard, but somewhere in between. It was definitely a unique texture and excellent as a "tea snack", particularly for those who love their cookies with very little sweetness. I'm not exactly sure if I would call them Madeleines, because I have a soft spot for the originals (and the green tea variety sold at Uncle Tetsu's ^^), and they don't come close to the other items up for sale, but still quite good.  

Overall, tasty sweets that make me wonder why on earth it took me so long to get this post up here! :P

Rating: ***