Jana's Bakeshop

Bakery: Jana's Bakeshop 
Address: 315 Upper Ganges Rd, Ganges BC
Website: http://janasbakeshop.ca/ 
Style: Pies, Canadian
Price: $$

My final stop on Salt Spring Island was this cute, very small country-style bakery located on the outskirts of town, down at the bottom of an otherwise insignificant plaza. It's very open-concept, with a full view onto the kitchen and baking area; it's a bit like you're picking up some baked goods straight from a friend's kitchen.

Without a doubt, the focus is on full-scale pies and savoury quiches with several flavours of each either on the counter or in the fridge. The amount of individual sweets is a bit more limited and they're confined to a few plates behind a screen door cupboard: simple, homey squares in some unique flavours and varieties. 

From the three available (the other two were chocolate and something with coconut on top), I picked out the maple walnut square ($3). You've heard of the combination, but somehow I thought it slightly different than what you'd imagine a square to be (someting more gooey is what comes to mind, though I have no idea why). This unique take, however, was a winner, with its delicately spiced, chunky and textured dough and a thick layer of maple icing, no, almost a glaze on top. Fragrant and nutty, with the sweetness of maple syrup, it was simple, yet super flavourful. Classic baking done right.

Rating: ***