Boulangerie Folles Farines

Bakery: Boulangerie Folles Farines
Address: 113 Rue de Sainte-Cécile-du-Bic, Le Bic QC
Website: http://follesfarines.com/
Style: French, Canadian 
Price: $$ 

Yes, I'm crazy for baked goods too. ;) Folles Farines is a fully-stocked artisan bakery in the relatively small town of Bic; the day I went here, I had also gone to two other bakeries and without a doubt, this one smoked the others with its large, undeniably appetizing assortment of rustic breads, savoury items, and -- most importantly -- buttery baked goods. There are times, but they don't happen that often, when I'm unsure of what to pick because everything looks so good; this was one such instance. In fact, I did an unthinkable thing and got a cheese stick in addition to the sweets, because I thought it would beat any other lunch option... and it did. 

Of course, I'm not here to discuss cheese sticks. I'm here for the good stuff! :D And as simple as it is, I do have a soft spot for the chausson aux pommes (here called a futé aux pommes; $2.95), the buttery, flaky apple turnover found in bakeries throughout Quebec. Sometimes it's far from buttery; other times it's burnt or there's too much/little apple filling, but Folles Farines got it right. This deliciously fresh and flaky pastry had just the right amount of apple and the dough itself: so tasty. I could taste the butter and I loved it. This is what viennoiseries should taste like -- a real find and highlight of the day! 

Rating: ***1/2

Bis la boulange

Bakery: Bis la boulange
Address: 48 Rue Fraser, Rivière-du-Loup QC
Website: http://www.bislaboulange.com/
Style: French, Canadian 
Price: $$-$$$ 

The road trip was drawing to a close at this point, but that didn't mean there weren't more bakeries to be done. ^^ (Actually there are so many bakeries I had to miss on just the route between Quebec City and New Brunswick that I'll have to go back and do it thoroughly) There are actually quite a few bakeries in Rivière-du-Loup and I pretty much just picked this one due its easy access from the highway... this kind of backfired since I took the wrong highway exit and ended up going through the downtown, but during an attempt to turn around, I ended up right at the bakery, so it did work out! ^^

Bis la boulange is a quaint, open-concept bakery that have an L-shaped counter of sweet and savoury goods that are kind of all over the place, with some baked goods in the bread area, others on the opposite side. Just like some things were labelled and priced, others not (I always dislike that since I have no idea what to call these things in French...), but in either case, there weren't that many baked goods and the most interesting, the caramel roll ($2.95) ended up being the final purchase. 

 This was the first time I had seen something like this: braided down spun into a circle with the centre filled with a dulce de leche-like caramel sauce. This caramel sauce was pretty much only on top, with the dough being otherwise just a sweet, bready dough, not quite the flakier French dough I was expecting. Normally, perhaps, I would have been disappointed, but in this case, I... well, thought the outer rings were the best part. The caramel was too sweet, thick and concentrated; in the end, I scraped off most of it and just ate the bun. Not the best choice on my part. :/   

Rating: **1/2

Boulangerie des 3 Soeurs

Bakery: Boulangerie des 3 Soeurs 
Address: 1353 Boulevard Jacques-Cartier, Mont-Joli QC  
Website: n/a  
Style: Canadian
Price: $-$$ 

Boulangerie des 3 Soeurs is in every way what I would call an old-fashioned, small-town bakery. With items packed on styrofoam trays and in plastic bags tied with twist ties, you even get the impression that you're not even buying from a bakery, but from a bake sale. There's something very homey about their packs of dinner rolls and simple baked goods like pies and raisin buns. 

 Out of the relatively small selection of single-serve options (unfortunately, getting a pie on a planned day of multiple cake tours is never a smart idea), I went for the cinnamon bun ($1.50), which is... somewhere underneath all that icing. :P This was a cinnamon bun not often encountered: super soft and fluffy dough (somewhat reminiscent of a yeast-based doughnut) with an equally, and probably even more so, soft and fluffy icing on top. And lots of it. The dough was good, but absolutely had to be eaten fresh, which won't last long given the airiness of the dough, and needed more cinnamon. The inner part of the roll was good, but the outside was quite plain. Onto the icing: I have to say I wasn't a big fan. For one, there was simply too much of it. And even when it was clearly homemade, the whipped consistency and amount just gave it a very packaged Twinkie look and feel to it; I would have preferred a runny glaze or cream cheese icing -- anything that brought out the taste of the bun below instead of masking it. 

Rating: **

Grains de Folie [RIP]

Bakery: Boulangerie Grains de Folie 
Address: 140 Boulevard Saint-Benoit O, Amqui QC
Website: http://www.lacaptive.ca/ 
Style: French
Price: $-$$ 

Continuing with this mini-series on weird bakery combinations in Amqui, there is Grains de Folie, an artisan bakery that operates at the back of a microbrewery and bar. This back area is also part-gourmet shop with local cheeses and products. Yes. What is even more perplexing is that the microbrewery website above doesn't mention the bakery at all, but instead says that they now have bread from La Mie Véritable, in Carleton. So, does the bakery still exist? I'm not sure. Maybe it's not actually connected to the microbrewery, and yet the workers are the same and you pay at the bar.... I am so very confused!

Either way, this was the most disappointing cake tour on this road trip. It seems a little mean saying it outright, but for there to be top picks, some must fall to the bottom. :( For one, there was nothing here. The places reserved for breads and baked goods, all labelled and priced, were empty. While there, a woman came in asking if they had a particular kind of bread. They promptly answered her that they were out of all kinds of bread; they were closing in three or four hours. The baked goods, though the selection was quite small to begin with, were not faring any better. One croissant and the item I purchased was the only thing there. Both were wrapped and sealed in a plastic bag on the counter -- was this day-old stuff? Or was it just what was left from that day?

Nonetheless, I took the pastry with cream (I'm afraid I forgot the name) listed for $1.75. I paid $1.00, including taxes, so some discount was in effect. The pastry was quite small, and certainly indicative of the price. Ripping that bag open, it either wasn't from that day or had been put immediately in a bag so that any crispiness typical of French dough had turned soggy. It contained a very small amount of cream, pretty much limited to a thin layer spread on the bottom layer of dough. This would have still been alright if it weren't for one glaring fault: the bottom was burnt. Burnt as in black. :/ And even after peeling away layers of dough, the whole thing tasted burnt. I don't even remember if I ate the whole thing and that doesn't happen often (believe me ^^;). On a fairly strong tour, this was a super disappointing stop!

Rating: *

La Portion Magique

Bakery: La Portion Magique
Address: 236 Boulevard Saint-Benoit O, Amqui QC
Website: http://www.laportionmagique.com/
Style: French-Canadian, Quebecois
Price: $-$$ 

I don't know what it is, but Amqui is home to some of the most bizarre bakery combinations imaginable. Take today's post for example: La Portion Magique also happens to serve takeout sushi and Thai food; they have a gourmet food shop as well. Just the thought of all three together made me want to kind of... move along, but after having gone to the bakery/microbrewery/bar a few doors down, I thought it would be nice to just turn this into a whole novelty. So as downright silly as it sounds, I avoided the sushi counter and made it right away to the small counter of baked goods, which fall right into homestyle baking: muffins, brownies, loaf cakes with a few surprises. I mean, homemade Jos-Louis -- really? Besides simple, traditional goodies, they do have some fancier cakes in a variety of sizes.

And they have these babies: maple tarts. As quintessentially local as these are, it's sad to see not that many bakeries have them. La Portion Magique had a ton, in different sizes and flavours. The small ones ($1.65; seen here plain and local blueberry) are tart shells filled with liquid yum. If you didn't know how to describe melt-in-your-mouth, this is the definition. Delectably rich, buttery yet subtle in flavour, one forkful was enough to have me hooked. This might even have to be the best thing contained in a pie shell -- yes, even the butter tart (sorry little guy). So, so good! 

I can't say anything about their sushi or spring rolls, but La Portion Magique seems to know La Potion Magique... and it contains maple syrup. :P 

Rating: ****

Boulangerie des Halles

Bakery: Boulangerie des Halles
Address: 125 Rue Saint Germain O, Rimouski QC
Website: n/a
Style: Canadian
Price: $$-$$$

Well, technically this place doesn't exist online, but inside the little shopping centre in downtown Rimouski -- housing likewise a fish market, butcher, cheese shop, cafe, and sweets shop -- there is a bakery. Actually, I was lured in by the sign in the window: patisserie. I believe this referred to the sweets shop on the corner, which also sells candy and chocolate. Not quite in the pastry and cake mood, I ventured further into the shopping complex and found a true bakery, complete with breads, and squares and pies... in fact, I can almost say I was surprised to find the selection quite British, complete with Queen Elizabeth squares (whatever those may be? O.o) and Chelsea buns. Few items were priced, of which the pies, which looked really good and homemade and cost a fairly reasonable $9.

Not wanting to buy a whole pie, I caved and went for the tray of cinnamon buns, which smelled amazing and looked pretty scrumptious, too. Mmmm.... I am a sucker for cinnamon buns. I found the cost a little steep, however: $8.75 -- just a few cents short of a pie and I'm not quite sure it was worth that much. Nonetheless, tasty, gooey cinnamon buns that you just want to tear apart and devour. :D Good amount of icing, fragrant cinnamon filling, a classic dough and a good overall cinnamon bun -- sadly, it didn't stay on top for long. The best cinnamon bun (there were two, mind you) of the trip came a few days later, but this nameless bakery with no address is certainly a great stop for the area (and was a good idea for stocking up on baked goods before embarking on the tour de Gaspésie). ^^

Rating: ***