Country Bakery

Bakery: Country Bakery 
Address: 3305 Smith Dr, Armstrong BC (inside Askews) 
Website: https://www.countrybakery.ca/
Style: Canadian, Dutch 
Price: $$ 

Well, it only took me two tries to realize that this bakery is inside Askews supermarket and not in the plaza, but all's well that ends well. And in this case, it ended really well. Quite deliciously, too.

Country Bakery is, without a doubt, the bakery in Armstrong, especially given the sheer amount of baked goods as well as the number of people flocking to this place. Perhaps being inside the supermarket helps, but regardless of that fact, I was surprised at the extensive selection, even on a late Saturday afternoon, of classic Canadian sweets in addition to quite a few Dutch and German pastries and other treats, all at reasonable prices. It's always fun going to a bakery where you're debating between more than one item.

At the same time, the poppy seed square ($2.25) was mine. It had to be. Freshly made with a generous black poppy seed mass and topped with a lattice of glazed dough, this was moist and flavourful, the price was amazing for the quality, and the proportions of poppy seed mass vs. dough were excellent. Maybe the glaze on top was a little too thick in places, but other than that... great stuff, indeed.

On a similar note, there was the Dutch almond roll ($3.25), a decadent confection featuring nuts, chocolate, marzipan and moist, sponge cake dough essentially rolled round each other. This was probably the best executed of the bunch: a sort of miniature torte with high-quality components and a variety of tastes and textures. Incredibly rich, yes, but tasty.

Last but not least, I grabbed a mini sour cream glazed doughnut ($0.75??). This was a fairly standard cake doughnut: the dough was soft and it had a nice coating of glaze all around. The thing that really made it work was that it was nice and fresh, just like doughnuts should be.

In the end, Country Bakery impressed and delighted and is a worthwhile North Okanagan stop.

Rating: ***1/2