Brauð & Co. [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Brauð & Co.
Address: 16 Frakkastígur, Reykjavík
Website: http://www.braudogco.is
Style: Icelandic
Price: $$$

There's a new bakery in town and this time it's huge news! New bakeries don't open every day in Reykjavik, after all. A friend of mine (who somehow seems to be involved in almost every review I have from this trip) brought my attention to this rustic artisan bakery that opened earlier this spring and I am thrilled she did. I mean, I can't remember the last time I went anywhere and the shelves were empty because everything had been sold. There were lines. There were baked goods cooling on trays and they were bagged and delivered in to my eager hands hot. Not fresh. Fresher than fresh: warm to the touch with hot filling. It's a beautiful thing. *-*

So awestruck was I that I'll confess I couldn't stop myself: I took two items instead of my usual one. And expect to pay more for all baked goods; at 490kr each, they are pricey. Any other place will set you back less, and very often this is a detractor for me. Except that in this case you take a bite and it's so worth it. It's also different from the clone-like treats found at most bakeries in Iceland.

There were, essentially, two items available that were sweet. I took them all. This included one rhubarb and chocolate bun and a cinnamon bun. Let's start with the first: I bit into this a few minutes after purchase and the filling was hot. This was absolutely delicious, but a total mess with chocolate oozing out at all sides. It was quality chocolate and it complimented the slight sourness of the rhubarb filling, which was also piping. Surrounded by soft dough topped with sliced almonds and a touch of sugar, this may have been difficult to eat, but it was delectable.

I think the same can be said of the cinnamon bun. I first saw a photo of this bun and assumed it was what is called "grandma's buns" (ömmusnúður) because the other variety is usually big, fluffy, and coated in icing (or rolled in mini buns and then coated in various types of icing if you're lucky). This I had to take purely for research; a travel writer did not know what to call this and I was to determine what it was: a classic kanilsnúður. Believe me, it was a hard task and I had to be a professional at it. ;) To my surprise, this was not the hard, cookie-like dough that "granny" makes, it was soft, and a little chewy, not like the white-bread icing buns (snúður) I'm not a fan of. Full of flavourful cinnamon, but not too much and not too sticky either, with an amazing sugar crust on top.

One-of-a-kind treats from a one-of-a-kind bakery I will definitely return to on every trip to Reykjavik -- takk fyrir mig! *-*

Rating: ****