Superior Home Bakery

Bakery: Superior Home Bakery
Address: 438 Great Northern Rd, Sault Ste. Marie ON
Website: facebook
Style: Canadian, European 
Price: $$ 

At the beginning of August, I embarked on a road trip from Toronto to Kelowna. Five provinces. Six days. Sure, the main purpose wasn't to go cake touring, but it was certainly a top priority, especially considering that I am still aiming for 150 bakeries from all over the country! Here are the results.

My first overnight stop was in Sault Ste. Marie. Unfortunately, I came in pretty late at night and the following day was Sunday, which isn't the greatest day to be embarking on morning bakery hunting. Fortunately, Superior Home Bakery was open! Although these guys were already on my prepared list of bakeries, driving by their sign the previous evening advertising "the best apple fritters in Canada" would have been more than enough to have me charging in the next morning. ;)

Yes, that's right. The best apple fritters in Canada -- it is quite a lofty claim and one that needed to be tested. Of course, they also had a wide and interesting array of not only baked goods, but of imported products from several European countries (they even sell Finnish stuff... stocking up on Finntoast was a necessity!! ^^). Without a doubt, their specialty is their doughnuts and they have a lot of them: from twists to jelly doughnuts with local jam to the main attraction, apple fritters. They do also sell other goodies, like squares and turnovers and tarts and something on the other end that looked like Finnish pulla bread (!). It was amazing how much I could have picked out.

Sadly, I can't just settle for one bakery during a road trip and a compromise had to be made. That compromise was the apple fritter ($2.15), a massive piece of fried dough the size of your face. Yes, it was huge! Browned on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside; add onto that a delicious glaze and slices of apples on top. This was very fresh and the highlight was biting into that slightly crunchy, glazed skin... wow. Naturally, I had to go further and test their claim. Was this the best apple fritter in the country? Well, it came close to perfection and had they said nothing, I would be more lenient. ;) As it is, this scrumptious fritter could have used a bit more apple and I think if it were less fluffy so that you could really enjoy that fried outside... oh boy, fritter ecstasy!

Nonetheless, Superior Home Bakery was indeed one of the highlights of the trip.

Rating: ***1/2

Wildflour Baking Co. [RIP]

Bakery: Wildflour Baking Co. 
Address: 36 James St, Parry Sound ON
Website: facebook 
Style: Canadian
Price: $$$  

At the beginning of August, I embarked on a road trip from Toronto to Kelowna. Five provinces. Six days. Sure, the main purpose wasn't to go cake touring, but it was certainly a top priority, especially considering that I am still aiming for 150 bakeries from all over the country!

And so we begin~ Given the fact that I've already covered a lot of ground from Toronto to Muskoka, Wildflour was the official first stop of this road trip. Actually, it almost didn't happen, since I made a note of all bakery hours and was devastated that we arrived in Parry Sound at around 3:30 -- my notes stated the bakery closed at 3. Realizing that nothing else was slotted for that day, I decided to risk and -- lo and behold! -- the bakery's summer hours extended it by one hour. Wildflour was open!

Unfortunately, there was not that much celebrating to be had, since the one thing I never like to happen did happen: the place was cleaned out. Two loaves of bread on the shelf and a whole lot of empty baskets and spaces. At first glance, there was just the date square and gluten-free mango slice, and not being in the mood for a date square that day, I inquired if they had anything else that was sweet and was shown this particular pastry that is known as the pinwheel ($4.25 with tax). Truth be told, it looked more like a savoury pastry with bacon bits and creamy sauce or egg... and with nothing priced and very little labelled, the $4.25 came as a surprise.

Well, those bacon bits (lol) did turn out to be pieces of walnuts and the creamy sauce a custard that was rolled round with the flaky dough. My initial impression of it looking like a savoury pastry stuck, however; the dough itself wasn't sweet at all and would be more suited to the sausage rolls they also sold. As a matter of fact, I found the whole thing strangely bland, flavourless. The dough had no distinctive flavour (though a nice flaky dough should) and the custard didn't help matters much. All in all, I came away feeling a bit disappointed with my purchase; I should have taken the date square after all!

Rating: **

The Olde Bakery Cafe

Bakery: The Olde Bakery Cafe
Address: 120 Thames St, Ingersoll ON 
Website: http://www.theoldebakerycafe.com/
Style: Canadian 
Price: $$ 

Another unexpected bakery came in the form of The Olde Bakery, a bakery with classic, homestyle baked goods like pies (they seem particularly proud of their key lime), cookies, and sweet buns. If their storefront is any indication, they also offer an array of gluten-free products baked independently of their other products if that's of any interest to you. I don't fit into that category and, fortunately, there are plenty of options for those who do love gluten, too. ;)

This time around, I decided to try the carrot cake. A big slab of moist spice cake that was just the right thickness and nicely dotted with shredded carrots; this was then slathered with a generous layer of cream cheese icing that had a sprinkling of cake crumbs (I think) on top. As far as carrot cakes go, it was a pretty good one. A good amount of carrots in every bite (it can even be seen on the photo ^^) and complimented with the right thickness of icing; perhaps it didn't land in the top 10, but it was still a good, classic carrot cake: not too sweet, not too excessive -- just right.

Rating: ***

Blue Bridge Bakeshop [RIP]

Bakery: Blue Bridge Bakeshop
Address: 944 Lake Drive E, Jackson's Point ON 
Website: http://www.bluebridgebakeshop.ca/
Style: Canadian
Price: $$ 

It's always nice to find a bakery that didn't show up on any search results and seems to just pop up and surprise you. That's exactly what happened with Blue Bridge; just when I thought there would only be one cake tour on this particular day, here came another. Yay!

Blue Bridge Bakeshop sells a variety of classic baked goods ranging from pies, tarts and cookies. One of the more interesting offerings this little bakeshop has is their selection of "spiked" goodies made with wine and better -- now that's what I'm talking about! That's right, I couldn't resist the whisky butter tart. In terms of style, this was a typical runny tart with good consistency and a nice crispy topping, just as it should be. Very good. The only thing was -- where was the whisky? I would have liked for there to be a hint of something extra... something special.

Rating: ***

Molly's Bistro Bakery

Bakery: Molly's Bistro Bakery
Address: 170 Bobcaygeon Rd, Minden ON
Website: http://www.mollysbistrobakery.ca/
Style: Canadian
Price: $$  

Sometimes, bakeries try to be a little more inventive; rather, they aim to be more than just a bakery and, more often than not, that extra addition onto their title turns into the main attraction. Molly's isn't the first bistro bakery/bakery bistro I've encountered, though I'm still a little unsure of what the difference is between a bakery bistro and bakery cafe... anyways, yes! Selling hot breakfasts, lunches, and frozen/ready-made meals like quiche and meat pies, the bistro does indeed come first at Molly's. Of course, everything mentioned above is made from scratch, which is always a good thing and certainly commendable -- and so are their baked goods. Perhaps they take a back seat to the extensive dine-in menu, but Molly's still does offer a smaller selection of homemade baked goods like pies, cookies, squares and tarts. At the very least, that's why I'm there. ;)

Giving Molly's a try, I picked out the raspberry square. The square featured a nice raspberry filling that was more fresh puree than jam or pie filling, which was appreciated, and was coated with a chewy shredded coconut top -- I wouldn't have thought it beforehand, but it was a tasty combination. Pretty good.

Though it may be more of a breakfast restaurant than an actual bakery, it's still a tasty option when in the area... well, okay, it's the only option in the area, but still~

Rating: **1/2

Das Schmeckt Bakery [RIP]

Bakery: Das Schmeckt Bakery 
Address: 12 Manitoba St, Bracebridge ON 
Website: n/a
Style: Canadian, European 
Price: $$ 

Another trip to Muskoka means some more goodies brought back for review. :) Das Schmeckt is a relatively new European-inspired bakery in town that features a hodgepodge of delicious-looking baked goods; their main attraction seem to be butter tarts, at least judging from other customers, and while they looked pretty good, this time I was in the mood for something else.

That something else turned into this sticky bun. At first, it didn't look like anything particularly out of the ordinary. Rolled around in a spiral with each layer rubbed with cinnamon, the amazing part of this bun was the sugary glaze that was poured over the top and then pooled at the bottom to form a caramelized crust of sorts. In the end, this turned this treat into kind of like a hybrid between a cinnamon bun and a kouign amann: a buttery, yet fluffy yeast dough with a slight flaky crust on the outside and just the right amount of cinnamon. Then, add onto that the most delicious topping and you get a baked good as close to perfection as possible -- this was so good! It's been awhile since I've reached the top. *-*

Rating: ****

Lakeshore Farms Market

Bakery: Lakeshore Farms Market
Address: 467 Main St, Wellington ON
Website: http://www.lakeshorefarms.ca/
Style: Doughnuts, Canadian
Price: $$ 

So there are a few surefire ways for someone to get me into their bakery; it really doesn't even need to be a bakery, as is the case with this Cake Tour. As long as the right bait has been set out, you can count me in. Lakeshore Farms used a pretty effective one. This farm market selling local produce and products along with a decent selection of bakery items like pies and tarts pulled a rather sneaky one on me with their big sign along the road: Donuts. Homemade, made fresh daily. Now, I probably would have popped in to see their bakery anyways, but now I knew what I wanted to try. There was no doubt about it.

Lakeshore Farms' doughnuts are reminiscent of the mini-doughnut factory ones you most often see at amusement parks and fairs, just bigger and plumper. True to their sign, they do come fresh. In fact, they ran out and I had to wait for the fresh batch to get sugared -- it doesn't get fresher than that! *-* Soft, spongy old-fashioned cake doughnuts that can only be properly enjoyed fresh or up to a few hours after being made, generously rolled in sugar. The hardened sugar that settled in the hole needed, in my opinion, to be removed, but another than that, a yummy treat that rounded out a stellar trip to Prince Edward County. :)

Rating: ***1/2

The Pastry House

Bakery: The Pastry House
Address: 125 Main St, Picton ON
Website: http://www.pastryhouse.ca
Style: Canadian 
Price: $$ 

Yes! Can you believe it? The small town of Picton has yet another bakery needing to be reviewed and here it is. The Pastry House, despite its name, seems to focus more on their selection of breads than sweet baked goods or more elaborate pastries, but they do have a nice selection of classic baked goods along with a few more European-inspired goodies. Items that stood out included date squares, strudels, fresh fruit tarts, and almond florentines. Perhaps they weren't the pastries I had been envisioning, but it was still a good selection to choose from and one which left me room for deliberation.

At last, I decided on the cherry strudel. A nice, less gloopy filling featuring whole cherries wrapped in a thicker flaky dough, open on top. Quite good in terms of taste. The dough wasn't mushy, which is sometimes the case with fruit fillings, but I would have liked it to be more flaky as opposed to soft and almost danish-like.

Rating: ***

The Wellington Bakery

Bakery: The Wellington Bakery
Address: 460 Wellington Main St, Wellington ON
Website: http://www.thewellingtonbakery.com/
Style: European, German
Price: $$ 

I'm returning after a week of cross-country travels (with new bakeries to review, of course!) with some more from the Prince Edward County trip.

The Wellington Bakery is one of two? bakeries in the small town of Wellington and they specialize in German/European breads and baked goods in addition to a few classic bakery staples such as cinnamon buns, cookies, turnovers, etc. That's a pretty exciting, unique find -- though naturally, some poppy seed baked goods would have been appreciated. ;) Instead, they had a few German-inspired cakes along with strudels; probably the most "out-there" was the bienenstich.

Wanting something easier to handle and in the mood for some pastry, I decided to give the cherry danish a try ($2-something). The danish dough was soft on the inside with a delicious flaky exterior; the cherry filling was also tasty and the dollops of icing a nice touch. Not too doughy, not too gloopy: a perfect compromise between the two and, yet again, another yummy treat. :)

Rating: ***1/2

Agrarian Market

Bakery: Agrarian Market
Address: 4 Lake St, Picton ON
Website: http://agrarianmarket.com/
Style: Canadian
Price: $$ 

Agrarian Market is Prince Edward County's local market, selling locally sourced produce, meat, dairy -- and baked goods. Of course. What else could one expect? The bakery is located in the corner of the store and they make everything themselves, which is a nice change for a "market-style" bakery. It features classic, rustic-style baked goods like cinnamon buns, danishes and brownies, etc.

I had the cinnamon bun. It looked nice with the dough wound up tightly and coated in a good glaze. Taking that initial bite, I found it wasn't my preferred style of cinnamon and was more of the denser, "dry" style, as opposed to the soft and doughy kind. Though, simply owing to the type of bun it was, it wasn't super moist, it was fresh with lots of cinnamon, a good amount of glaze, and tasty dough. Yet again, another yummy treat from Prince Edward County!

Rating: ***

Hof Kelsten

Bakery: Boulangerie Hof Kelsten
Address: 4524 St Laurent, Montreal QC
Website: http://hofkelsten.com/
Style: Jewish, French
Price: $$ 

Yet another bakery from the bakery-packed Plateau! For awhile now, this artisanal Jewish/French bakery has been eluding me and I was never quite sure if they had anything for those with a sweet tooth. For one, it always seemed to pop up when I searched for bakeries in the area, but I could never quite remember walking past it, even when I knew I had -- not to mention that previously I'd already gone to so many bakeries, I couldn't possibly handle any more in the same day. In some ways, with its obscure (almost nonexistent) signage and large, window-side counter detracting from the goodies inside, it's a bit of a "blink and you'll miss it" kind of place. Of course, then there was the dubious menu on their website, listing breads, sandwiches and coffee, and nothing really well, sweet.

 Now, on location, it did end up working in my favour. While it is indeed a bread-first bakery serving lunch, there are some baked goods as well. Actually, there were more than anticipated, with a greater part of the two... sushi fridges? dedicated to sweet treats. The vibe is artisanal, a sort of mishmash of French and Jewish flavours and styles. There are cookies, slices of homestyle slab cake, and the usual culprits at many Montreal bakeries: chaussons aux pommes, croissants, and chocolatines. Add to that mix a few unique offerings like babkas, strudels and danishes in interesting flavours like chocolate, nut and raisin, and cherrry. Not bad, not bad. And the same can be said of the prices as well, with individual items ranging from $2-3.

I took the chocolate danish. As mentioned earlier, this was a nice, interesting hybrid between a more doughy chocolate buffalo that I've encountered at other Jewish bakeries and the both flaky and soft dough that French bakeries do best. Not bad, indeed! ;)

Rating: ***