The Box Donut

Bakery: The Box Donut
Address: 100 City Centre Dr FM12, Mississauga ON (in Square One)
Website: https://theboxdonut.com
Style: Doughnuts
Price: $$$$ 

I've always had mixed feelings about gourmet doughnut shops and The Box, home to the revolutionary? square doughnut, brings a lot of these issues to light. Located in the new food district of Square One mall, this stall features several rows of their signature doughnuts at varying grades, i.e. price points. The idea is fundamentally not a bad one; after all, gourmet doughnuts get quite pricey and it's not really fair to pay the same for a plain glazed doughnut as a maple bacon one; however, the prices in this case start at pricey ($3.49 for a basic) and go up to downright exorbitant ($5.99 - yes! - for an exclusive). Now, I love doughnuts. Nothing satisfies like a doughnut on the baked good front, but even this doughnut fan will admit that a doughnut is a doughnut. It's not supposed to be fancy; it's supposed to be good and comforting. A fried piece of dough dipped in glaze should not cost the same as quality cake or pastries, partially owing to the simple fact that the time, effort and skill is incomparable.

 Going back to the price levels, it is a little frustrating that if you want a unique and/or interesting flavour, it starts at fancy. There's also more selection among the more expensive varieties; I don't even remember what there was in the basic category. Cinnamon sugar is labelled "classic" - level 2 which came as a bit of a surprise.

Anyways, I took two fancy doughnuts ($4.49 each): the creme brulee and the matcha. Taking my first bite, I was disappointed with how thick, glutinous and flavourless the dough was. On its own, it had no taste. Luckily, there was the cream filling on both doughnuts, although the creme brulee was all sugar and the matcha could have needed some more matcha. Nonetheless, all you really got from these doughnuts was the glaze and cream. It's a bit like going to an ice cream shop and the cone is better than the ice cream itself - the star of the show was the cream filling when it shouldn't be.

Rating: ** 

L'airbon [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: L'airbon (レフボン)
Address: 14 Chome-5 Kitaodori, Kushiro, Hokkaido
Website: http://www.h-saint-germain.co.jp/shop/_jrkushiro/index.shtml
Style: Japanese
Price: $$ 

I'm still upset that I was originally supposed to return to Kushiro and continue my Cake Touring then, but plans changed. I never did come back, so I was in a sense lucky that I did think of popping into L'airbon, located inside the Kushiro JR station, while waiting for my bus connection. Unfortunately, I later discovered that L'airbon isn't exactly an independent bakery, but is an offshoot of Saint Germain, a Hokkaido bakery chain. Well, at the very least, it is Hokkaido only....

Nonetheless, L'airbon is a well-stocked train station bakery serving a little bit of everything, both sweet and savoury. They don't really delve too deeply into the realm of pastries and instead focus on classic "pan" with a variety of fillings. A signature feature appears to be their uniquely shaped bread like the chocolate steam train and "marshland bun" in the shape of Hokkaido.

I took a simple twist doughnut (84 yen). Perhaps it wasn't exactly "oven fresh" like all their labels advertise, but it still tasted relatively fresh for the evening with its moist, pull-apart dough and dusting of finely granulated sugar. The texture could have been less dense and the outside would have been better had there been a nice, perfectly fried 'crunch' on the outside, but I was really hungry at this point (and still had that bus ride to deal with before dinner) and everything tastes better when you're hungry. ;)

Rating: ***

Haus von Frau Kurosawa [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Haus von Frau Kurosawa 
Address: 5-5-2 Hinodemachi, Furano, Hokkaido
Website: https://www.hausvonfraukurosawa.com/ 
Style: Japanese
Price: $$

Somehow, Haus von Frau Kurosawa sounds more like a sappy, inspirational Japanese movie about an elderly matron than it does a bakery, but it's nevertheless probably the most prolific bakery/confectionery based out of Furano with a dedicated boutique across from Furano Marche and a small takeaway stall/tiny shop across from the train station. The store focuses more on gift boxes and larger pieces of Frau Kurosawa's famous baumkuchen while the stall sells items for immediate perusal such as pudding glasses, soft ice cream and the signature item: "cheese in baumkuchen".

 This "cheese in baumkuchen" had to be tried. In some ways, the name wasn't entirely appetizing. Especially when the photos of baumkuchen rings stuffed with indistinct golden yellow filling weren't the most flattering (in my opinion). I mean, with the exception of classic cheesecake, there are a few cheese sweets I've encountered that are not very good. Baked cheese tarts or cheese foam anyone? Still, it had to be done. I grabbed the "cheese in pumpkin baumkuchen" (330 yen). Actually, it should be 'pumpkin cheese in baumkuchen', but I'll let it slide. In this case, that golden yellow filling was orange. The cheese was a more dense cheesecake while the baumkuchen was perfectly chewy, one of the best I've had in Japan - wow, this was so good! The taste and texture of the two components complimented each other nicely. my only complaint? It was so small, especially for the price!! I would have loved twice as much....

Rating: ***1/2

Bake Island

Bakery: Bake Island
Address: 372 Yonge St, Toronto, ON
Website: https://www.bakeisland.com/
Style: Chinese 
Price: $$ 

This area really has exploded with baked good destinations and, more specifically, "better" Chinese bakeries in the past few years - "better" as opposed to the old-school, no-frills bakeries you'll still find in Chinatown. Bake Island is one of them. Perhaps not aiming to be as fancy or different as other spots nearby, Bake Island has snazzy graphics and the space is new... but it really is just another Chinese bakery, except for the fact that it can get pretty expensive. More traditional/classic pastries are still decent at around $1.50, but there were some buns that were almost $4 and the brightly coloured cakes are pricey. In my opinion, it's not worth it, especially when it appears like you're paying for location/convenience, not quality.

I took the "island" doughnut ($1.50). After all, I do like judging Chinese bakeries on how they tackle the simple Chinese doughnut. This one, however, was so soft that it didn't really feel like a doughnut at all, but a sugar bun. Where was that amazing golden brown deep-fried outside and moist inside?

The chocolate waltz bread ($2.80) was probably the better of the two. Though it looked more flaky than it really was, this wasn't bad. Sure, it needed more chocolate to be able to complete with other chocolate buns/bread in the city, but it had a nice level of sweetness and it was flavourful; kind of like a soft chocolate rugelach. Personally, despite the more up-to-date and innovative baked goods, this wasn't any better than a Chinatown bakery. Just more expensive.

Rating: **1/2

Cazeres [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Cazeres (カゼール)
Address: 13-2 Saiwaicho, Furano, Hokkaido
Website: n/a
Style: Japanese
Price: $$ 

This small bakery (the space is mostly taken up by the cafe portion of the business) is located within one of the buildings that make up the Furano Marche. From the outside, I have to admit it looked more impressive than it really was - I was speaking of the bakery, but I guess that does apply to the market as a whole; inside, there aren't that many baked goods at all, with most being savoury or plain bread. Despite the fact that their top 4 products appear to all be sweet. *shrugs*

 Feeling a little hard pressed as to what to pick from the limited assortment (I'm wondering if I maybe came too early in the day and they weren't entirely ready?), I went with the classic melon pan (180 yen). Well, in this case, maybe it wasn't so classic. It lacked the usual crisscross pattern on top, making it not look like a melon pan at all... However, this was one amazing melon pan! That crust, minus the crisscross, was delicious and I liked how it covered the entire top of the bun and even pooled along the bottom. The crust was like a sugar cookie, slightly chewy and sweet, while the inside was soft and airy. What a great example of a melon pan!

Rating: ***1/2

Furano Patisserie Tronc [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Furano Patisserie Tronc
Address: 1-23 Saiwaicho, Furano, Hokkaido
Website: http://furano-tronc.com/shop/
Style: Japanese
Price: $$$ 

A few streets away from Furano's major retail areas, there's the small, discreet Tronc, a chic patisserie with a decidedly wooden theme going on. Appropriately enough, their signature item is their woodcut cookies, though I don't actually remember seeing them in store. Nonetheless, the selection is small and the majority of products are small creamy cake slices and puddings. There are also some individually packaged treats like adorable, cookie-sized soft cakes and similarly packaged doughnuts - which seemed to be the products of the moment in more than just this bakery. Prices are above average.

I decided to see what this plastic-wrapped mini baked doughnut hype was all about. I grabbed the green tea (189 yen). Really, these are doughnuts in shape only, since the dough is that of a coffee/pound cake. However, I made my own Japanese baked doughnuts and I really enjoyed them, so this alone isn't a bad thing. But... I think the one amazing thing people like about a doughnut - at least a good doughnut - is its freshness. The whole sealed bag and silica pouch instantly gives it a different feel. There's no slightly crusty outside, the kind you get on a freshly baked cake, so it's soft, homogeneous. The lack of a glaze or any sort of topping further accentuated this. While the taste was fairly good (more pronounced matcha flavour would have been nice though), the end result was rather... boring.

Rating: **1/2

Boulangerie Pâtisserie La Cannoise

Bakery: Boulangerie Pâtisserie La Cannoise
Address: 1301 Ontario St E, Montreal QC
Website: n/a
Style: French, Canadian
Price: $$ 

Amid the rustic, more trendy patisseries on Ontario itself and dotting the Latin Quarter here and there, there's the simpler, more humble La Cannoise. The decor and atmosphere are definitely nothing to write home about, but I'm never there for the vibe - I'm there for the goods! And that selection of goods isn't the largest, with one glass case devoted to cake slices and tarts and the other to baked goods, muffins and cookies. There was a lot of empty space; whether that's common here or not is to be determined. Nonetheless, there was the classic array of traditional French baked goods at reasonable prices, especially for the neighbourhood.

I grabbed the last abricotine/oranais (around $2.50 - there are no prices listed on anything and I wasn't paying attention at the cash). It was as classic as it gets with two slices of glaze-covered apricot atop a bed of pastry cream and wrapped in soft dough. In my opinion the dough was a little too soft and lacked the flaky texture and taste of puff pastry that's needed here. Not the greatest I've had, but pretty good overall. Definitely worth the price.

Rating: **1/2

Pain de Campagne/Tsuboya [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Tsuboya/Pain de Campagne (壺屋総本店)
Address: 1 Chome-2-7 Sakaemachi, Biei, Kamikawa District, Hokkaido
Website: http://www.tsuboya.net/
Style: Japanese
Price: $$ 

While listed online exclusively as an offshoot location of Tsuboya, an Asahikawa confectionery that makes classic Hokkaido cookie and cake gift boxes that you may encounter at airports and gift shops throughout the island, it's actually shares the space with Pain de Campagne, a local bakery that operates from the back of the building (towards the train station). All the real excitement is back there: a small display of creamy cakes by the cash and rows of buns, mostly sweet, featuring some English labels (on select items) and a few more unique treats like pumpkin loaves, several chocolate buns and a surprisingly wide variety of doughnuts. And who doesn't love doughnuts?

 I certainly do. That's why I grabbed a cream doughnut (140 yen). They're not the most common, after all. This humble, eye-shaped doughnut with a simple dusting of finely granulated sugar on top was soft and moist. It could have been a little more fried on the outside, in my opinion, but the texture was good. The custard cream on the inside was thick and quite generous, a bit overwhelming in place, especially towards the middle, but I liked the taste: not too sweet and not too decadent either. My pick for (my very unlucky trip to otherwise lacklustre) Biei.

Rating: ***

Biei Komugi Kobo Bakery [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Biei Komugi Kobo Bakery (美瑛小麦工房)
Address: 2 Chome-6-26 Omachi, Biei, Kamikawa District, Hokkaido
Website: n/a 
Style: Japanese 
Price: $$ 

Biei's Komugi Kobo Bakery was perhaps the one big miss of the trip. Yes, this may be partly my fault as I made an ill-informed decision; however, the bakery really does not have anything sweet, so it's difficult to say whether it even deserves a review of its own. I paid for it though, so away we go!

Actually, the latter is not entirely true! I stayed at the guesthouse down the street and for breakfast each guest was given a bag of these butter rolls (2 pack, 230 yen in store) along with some coffee or tea served with Biei milk - of course! The butter rolls resembled croissants in shape, but they were soft, resembling more hot dog buns in texture. Just very buttery. These were quite good and, for me, they have to be the highlight of this bakery. The one thing that did bug me (as with some Japanese baked goods I've encountered throughout my travels) was that they used salted butter and, especially in the case of the butter brushed on top of the bun, it was really salty and it didn't quite match the type of baked good.

Checking out the bakery itself, I was a little disappointed that they have four items for sale, none of which is really sweet: loaves of bread, those aforementioned butter rolls, red bean buns that looked more like manju, and... this. (230 yen) Now, the one big mistake I made was going to the local product store next door and seeing all these local berries (blueberries and haskap berries) for sale. It got me all excited, so much so that I saw this and thought: local blueberries! No, I didn't even think of reading the sign, where to my current dismay, I see the character for "bean" right there.... *weeps* I mean, you can get sweet treats with beans. This was not sweet at all. Zero. And the beans weren't prepared in the least. They were just beans, not only on the top but embedded into the completely bland dough as well, so picking them out was almost impossible. Even if I did happen to love my black beans, this was so flavourless. Should have taken the red bean bun...

Rating: *1/2

Boulangerie Pain à Tartine

Bakery: Boulangerie Pain à Tartine
Address: 1271 Ontario St E, Montreal, QC
Website: http://painatartine.com/
Style: French, Canadian
Price: $$

I sometimes like to scour "best of" lists for bakeries that I may have missed or otherwise not been interested in. Pain à Tartine appeared on a couple, so I decided to check it out. This bakery is very local ingredient oriented and uses all organic flour, natural homegrown yeast - stuff that I wholeheartedly support. Despite that, they are indeed a boulangerie, with the focus by far being on rustic, artisan breads. Perhaps coming later in the afternoon was the big mistake, since people rave about pastries that weren't there. The place was so lacking in sweets - whether that be cakes or pastries - that I was seriously contemplating walking about. There was nothing there!

Finally, I did settle on the blueberry cranberry muffin ($3.25) just to make the walk here on a blistering cold day worth it. I usually don't rate bakeries based on muffins, so whenever that's the case, you know I was desperate. I will admit, though, that the blueness of these muffins intrigued me - these looked fruit-loaded! With that much fruit, I figured they couldn't be too bad. However, biting into it, I discovered a recurring problem with "healthy" baking. Healthy baking doesn't need to be sugar loaded to be good; rather, healthy baking with high-quality ingredients is not synonymous with flavourless. These muffins had no taste. Some honey, some more cranberries for tartness.... the dough was so dense and dry that it didn't even stick together. It just crumbled and the chia on top were too small and grainy, leaving an unpleasant crunch like you'd just eaten a seed mix, not a baked good. This, sorry to say, wasn't a muffin at all.... :/

Rating: **

Delifrance [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Delifrance
Address: 7 Chome-2-5 Miyashitadori, Asahikawa, Hokkaido 
Website: https://www.viedefrance.co.jp/delifrance/#shop
Style: Japanese
Price: $$ 

In Japan, there are what I term "train station bakeries". They may not necessarily be the same company; they may not even be located in train stations themselves, but they're almost all identical. Their purpose is to stock a large, fully stocked and mass-produced selection of decent baked goods, both sweet and savoury, that caters to the high-traffic masses. It's not exactly quality, but it gets the job done. In truth, I was hoping I'd gotten all these train station bakeries out of the way on my first trip to Japan, but when I was stuck in Asahikawa train station after a 2 hour (!?) train delay with nothing to eat before my connecting train came in, I spotted Delifrance on the other side of the gates and made a run for it. Thanks, Hokkaido pass. ;)

To my disappointment, I discovered now that Delifrance is an offshoot of Vie de France, one of the more lacklustre of train station bakery franchises. However, looking at the baked goods, I can't say I would have been able to make that connection on my own. Delifrance is aiming to be slightly more... rustic. More French perhaps than its more generic counterpart. More expensive as well. At least that was the impression from the baskets of overly browned croissants, chaussons aux pommes, croquettes.... it was only one of the very few bakeries during my Hokkaido trip with English labels. It almost felt weird at this point!

I tried the cinnamon apple bun (200 yen). Japanese bakeries don't seem to use much fruit in their baked goods, so it was a welcome change. There weren't that many apples, though, and the ones that were there were soft and gloopy like pie filling. This, combined with the icing and sweet and sticky cinnamon mass, made the bun very wet. Had the dough not been on the dry side, it would have turned into a soggy mess. Taste wasn't bad, but the texture really needed work, so I'm not even sure if it "got the job done" in this case.

Rating: **

Okada Bakery [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Okada Bakery (おかだ菓子店)
Address: Honcho-35 Oshidomari, Rishirifuji, Rishiri District, Hokkaido
Website: facebook
Style: Japanese
Price: $$ 

A 1.5 hour ferry ride away from Wakkanai, the island of Rishiri is sparsely populated and the town that's home to the ferry terminal, Oshidomari, is surprisingly lacking in any sort of food-related amenities. There's barely a restaurant (at least not one that was open in the daytime), so it truly came as the biggest surprise that in the middle of this rather dull town there was a bakery. I don't know why; I don't know how - but was I ever happy to spot it! And here I was thinking it would be impossible to plop this small island on the Cake Tour map~

 Okada Bakery is a small bakery with just a few varieties of buns, mostly sweet. Not only are the selections limited, but there was literally one or two of each bun; some trays were empty. Whether this is due to some sort of morning rush on the first outgoing ferry (I don't know!) or they simply don't have the demand, there wasn't much there. The highlight definitely has to be their adorable character buns: Anpan man, Doraemon and Hello Kitty (present as tray label only). Anpan man was, of course, red bean and I didn't notice until examining photos now that the filling is listed under the name. Looking at the little splurt of custard coming out of Doraemon's (130 yen) nose, I assumed it was custard. The face decoration was already in dark chocolate, so it was a bit of disappointment to find a thick wad of rich dark chocolate "cream" (the sign says choco cream but it wasn't very creamy). There was a lot of it and the texture was too dense and decadent compared to the airy softness of the bun. Not quite what I was expecting, not bad yet not great - but I've got Rishiri Island!

Rating: **1/2

Willow Cafe Bakery

Bakery: Willow Cafe Bakery
Address: 797 W 16th Ave, Vancouver BC
Website: https://willow-cafe-bakery.business.site/
Style: Canadian 
Price: $$$

I always ask myself the question: should a cafe baking their own pastries, pretty much exclusively for the purpose of having it with a drink on site, be considered a bakery? Of course it is commendable that a cafe bakes their own goodies - at the same time that's simply how it should be - but... sometimes you want a real bakery treat and not a coffee accompaniment like a cookie or scone! To be fair, Willow Cafe Bakery is a little of both; their baked goods are without a doubt of the accompaniment kind, though they have (rather "had"... they must have been cleaned out during some sort of morning rush) slightly more than the average cafe: croissants, a few squares, biscotti, small tarts along with larger, take-home items like homemade pie and bagged cookies. They even sell bread, though it almost seems out of place on a side shelf of a cafe. I only really wished they had more "fresh baked daily" selection.

Thinking it was one of the latter, I grabbed their almond twist ($3.29; also available in cinnamon). I personally would have preferred the cinnamon, but even there and then it looked more brittle than the almond. Outwardly, it looked like a nice flaky, slightly chewy pastry; actually it looked pretty good! I was, however, disappointed at how hard it is. This was a cookie, not a pastry. The icing chipped off upon contact and the still somewhat chewy almond filling completely crumbled once you bit into it. I did like the taste; still, I don't know if it was over-baked or supposed to be like this, but either way it would have been much better if it had been fresher.

Rating: **1/2

H. Rustica [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: H. Rustica (パティスリー・ヒルンド・ルスティカ)
Address: 5 Chome-12-10 Hagimi, Wakkanai, Hokkaido
Website: http://www.hirundo.jp/
Style: Japanese, European 
Price: $$-$$$ 

No longer in the location I visited (I'm not sure if they closed that location or simply moved), H. Rustica is a small patisserie with an equally small selection of dainty pastries and baggies of French and Italian-style cookies; there are more options for eating in, including ice cream desserts and a la mode cakes and pancakes. A bit on the pricier side, even compared to other patisseries, the items available are elegant yet simple.

One of the cheaper and less fragile (I didn't want it to be ruined during transport) cakes was their cheesecake (356 yen). Unlike a great many Japanese cheesecakes, which are either a fluffy souffle style or no-bake, this was denser and cheesier than expected. It didn't have that featherweight texture to it and, during that first bite, I'll admit I was a little disappointed. However, all was regained in that second bite. The slightly crumbly texture, that unusually cheesy mass... and then it hit me: I would almost call this a Russian-style cheesecake. Whether it's due to the close proximity to Sakhalin and Wakkanai being Japan's gateway to Russia or not, this should be considered quite the compliment - Eastern European, Russian in particular, is the best style of cheesecake! An unexpected yet delicious surprise.

Rating: ***1/2

Mennonite Baking @ McBride Farmer's Market

Bakery: Mennonite Baking @ McBride Farmer's Market
Address: Steve Kolida Village Park, McBride BC
Website: n/a 
Style: Canadian 
Price: $-$$

So the small town of McBride doesn't have any bakeries, perhaps with the sole exception of a very intriguing sign in front of the Petro Canada advertising freshly baked goods and doughnuts. Maybe the cafe has something homemade as well. I would have gone to check it out had it not been for the fact that it happened to be Friday morning when I was in town and Fridays in the summer mean the local farmer's market is on. Located across from the train station, this small market has two(!) bakery stalls: one was selling slightly more gourmet fare like French-style pastries while the other had trays of freshly baked doughnuts (and people lining up for them) among other things. I had to choose one and, for lack of a better description, I had to go with some good, old-fashioned Mennonite baking!

 Their most popular feature being doughnuts, they have two varieties: little doughnut holes and classic ring doughnuts. The ring doughnuts ($1) were soft, super fresh and nicely glazed with a hint of lemon in the icing. In my opinion, the lemon was a little too overpowering, especially in terms of the smell, but the texture was perfect and the doughnuts themselves were very good. Definitely the star of the show.

I also grabbed a ginger snap ($0.75). Nice and fragrant, this was also freshly baked and thus slightly soft, just like I wanted it. Personally, I love my ginger snaps nice and chewy and this one could have been chewier, but both were still a great treat - and it's so exciting to find Cake Tours in unexpected (rather, unplanned for) places!

Rating: ***

Koshika [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Koshika (小鹿)
Address: 1 Chome-3-35 Central, Wakkanai, Hokkaido
Website: n/a 
Style: Japanese
Price: $$ 

One of the northernmost bakeries in Japan (it would have taken top honours had it not been for another pastry shop on the very end of town), Koshika is a confectionery that specializes in "northernmost" and Hokkaido milk-themed gift boxes - mochi seems to be the focus there - along with individual treats such as milk pudding and cream puffs. In addition to all the thematic gimmicks, Koshika also has an amply stocked display of cakes, available as full-sized cakes and individual slices. Seeing as they don't really sell baked goods, just cake, they really need to invest in little cardboard boxes... I don't think I've been had a slice of cake just thrown into a paper bag, definitely not in cute packaging-crazy Japan.

With quite the ample selection of creamy tortes, fruit-laden tarts and mousse desserts , I decided to keep things simple and go with the souffle cheesecake (324 yen). After all, I'd been in the mood since having had quite a few really good ones! This simple unadorned version was fresh and pretty fluffy, with a good balance between cheesy and lightweight. Texture-wise, it didn't have that exceptional "soft as a cloud" feeling when slicing through it that I'd experienced elsewhere, but on the whole it was a very good cake. Would have just preferred not having to do reconstructive surgery on the tip due to transport issues....

Rating: ***