Schroedter's Farm Market

 Bakery: Schroedter's Farm Market and Bakery
Address: 1492 Hwy 62, Bloomfield ON
Website: n/a
Style: Canadian
Price: $$

A few weeks ago, I went on a small road trip to Kingston, more or less 2.5 hours away, for three days. What the road trip lacked in distance, it made up in bakeries -- and most was entirely uncharted territory. Imagine: 9 bakeries in the course of little more than three days! There is something so exhilarating about it!

Taking the scenic route to Kingston via the Glenora ferry and Prince Edward County, I found that this little island is full of bakeries, so much so that I had to start turning some down at the end. I know, it's a heartbreaking decision that needs to be made. :( Nonetheless, Schroedter's was the first stop of the trip, a mix between small-scale bakery, German deli, and a lunchtime restaurant. The former is, as I have said, quite limited in terms of its selection, especially when most items are "bulk-packed": six tarts, pies, and pound cakes. And how can one eat nine bakeries in three days when there's a whole pie to be eaten? ;)

Anyways, despite the name and the array of imported German products in the most unlikely of places, which seemed to excite me, the baked goods are the classic, homestyle Canadian kind. Think squares, pies, and pound cakes. Spice things up with these taffy tarts and old-fashioned doughnuts I just had to try. ^^

The first of which ($1.75) were a take on the classic butter tart: thick tart shells with a caramel filling and even that thin crust that appears on runny tarts and which is just so darn good. The one thing was that it wasn't a butter tart and the caramel filling that poured out onto the Styrofoam plate was a little too sweet for me.

The second item were these lovely old-fashioned cake doughnuts ($2.50 for a pack of four... or was it six? how many of these did I eat? O.o) No glaze. No sugar coating. Just small fried doughnuts, fresh and so fragrant straight from the bag. Mmm.. these were so simple, so rudimentary, and yet tasty nonetheless -- and perhaps this can be said of Schroedter's on the whole. :)

Rating: ***

Bruno's Bakery and Deli

Bakery: Bruno's Bakery and Deli
Address: 808 Innisfil Beach Rd, Innisfil ON
Website: n/a
Style: North American, Jewish
Price: $$ 

It's not often that a bakery just surprises me outright in a good way, but Bruno's did just that. Simply by picking out the name from a map search, I have to say I was expecting something along the lines of cannoli and perhaps some other cream-filled pastries, and while Bruno's doesn't exactly disappoint in this sense, I never really thought I would come across something a little more exciting. And there's nothing more exciting than... *cue the drum roll* poppy seed buns! Yes, poppy seed buns in an otherwise typical deli in small town Ontario. Wow!

 Granted, this take on semi-classic poppy seed buns and chocolate buffaloes seemed a more Canadianized one. Outwardly, they looked tantalizing, but the airy, somewhat stiff dough was more typical of your run-of-the-mill danishes and cinnamon buns and so the taste was a little unexpected and mismatched. Perhaps saying texture is more appropriate, since in taste, both buns were good: generous on the poppy seeds but lacking a traditional mass, the poppy seed bun was like a hybrid between the Eastern European bun and a German one (with whole, instead of ground seeds made into a coherent, flavourful mass), and thus a bit too grainy. The chocolate buffalo retained more of its traditional characteristics with plenty of chocolate, but simply not the greatest dough.

The least favourite, however, was the cream-filled choux puff, a large pastry stuffed with cream and topped with a drizzle of chocolate. A bit like a zeppola without the delectable addition of cherry. Cream was alright, but in the end, nothing did seem to beat that poppy seed bun. What a find -- and, looking back on the photo, what an absolute beauty of a bun! ^^;;

Rating: ***