Oyama Sunblush

Bakery: Oyama Sunblush 
Address: 14439 Oyama Rd, Lake Country BC 
Website: http://www.oyamasunblush.com/
Style: Canadian 
Price: $$ 

Located in the heart of Lake Country is Oyama Sunblush, a bakery and homemade jam shop operating from a farmhouse; coming fairly late on a Sunday afternoon, I did expect it to be closed, but decided to test my luck anyways and found it open -- way to go, guys!

Nevertheless, after driving up the hill and getting out of the car, I was greeted by a very unenthusiastic dog and the smell of fresh, hot jam. Or maybe homemade pie filling? It smelled good.  Inside, it's a bit like stepping into someone's personal kitchen; past the jars of jam, it turned into one of those typical "farm" bakeries with either packaged sets of six or more on styrofoam trays or a list featuring the different types of pie available. It's a system that I'm not entirely fond of, since it makes trying different things impossible and it also makes me feel a bit obligated to buy the whole tray even if I'm just buying something for myself. I mean, I'm always happy to buy a lot of something... as long as I know it's good in the first place. ;) Fortunately, I asked the lady in charge and she gladly made the package a bit smaller for me, which I appreciated.

So, in the end, I grabbed one of the more divisible-friendly items: some butter tarts ($1 each). I really do like my butter tarts, after all. The shells on these were airier and not as firm and flaky as I would have wanted them. The bottoms, in particular, no longer had that fresh crispiness, but the main attraction is always the buttery filling and this one had been baked too long, perhaps? The filling was dried out and there just wasn't enough of it, making the shell overpower everything else. Given how eclectic and inviting the bakery was, I was a little disappointed with the end result.

Rating: **