French Made Baking [RIP]

Bakery: French Made Baking
Address: 81 Kingsway, Vancouver BC
Website: http://frenchmadebaking.com/
Style: French 
Price: $$-$$$

[This is/was one of -- if not THE -- best bakeries in Vancouver and I'm heartbroken they've closed. Your double-baked almond croissants will be missed... thank you for your delicious work!]

Of the French bakeries/patisseries I found in Vancouver (there were more that I just didn't have the chance to review... next time, perhaps), I admit that at first I wasn't so enthusiastic about French Made. They always say that you should never judge a book by its cover, and in French Made's case, I judged it by its name and macaron-centred website, which didn't appeal to me like other places did. After all, I do like macarons, but I feel they're pretty over-hyped and I wanted something more filling; however, I had to transfer buses at Broadway and Kingsway and thought it the perfect opportunity on my way out to Squamish and Whistler (don't worry, there are still some Vancouver bakeries coming up :)), so why not? Little did I know that French Made would not only beat out all other French patisseries, but turn out to be one of Vancouver's best!

French Made is a fairly small French ("from France") bakery and cafe in Mount Pleasant with perhaps not the largest selection I've encountered. Like a great many previous tours, quite a bit of  baked goods were already sold out (though there were still many flavours of macarons and fancier tortes and pastries available) -- there was a sign and an empty spot on the shelf, though the spaces seem to be able to fit four or five of each item regardless, so it doesn't seem to be heaping at any time. While doing bakery research, I came across something being said about their double-baked almond croissants and, loving the way it sounded, I was happy to find one last one was there, waiting for me! ^^

 At $4.00 (taxes included), it was a bit pricier than the competition, but one bite transported me to French baked good heaven! This was the first time I had tried a double-baked almond croissant, which consisted of a croissant cut in half, stuffed with almond cream and topped with even more cream and slivered almonds, then baked again, and I don't think I ever imagined it to blow my mind the way it did. Whoa. This was one buttery, melt-in-your-mouth bite after another. I didn't want this delicious treat to stop.... The best French dough I had encountered in such a long time. Flaky, almost chewy on the outside; soft on the inside with all that swoon-worthy cream. Absolute perfection. *-*

Rating: ****