North Shore Pie Co. [RIP]

Bakery: North Shore Pie Co.
Address: 43 Roncesvalles Ave, Toronto ON
Website: http://northshorepies.com
Style: New Zealand
Price: $$ 

[EDIT: So Wisey's quickly changed names or hands and became North Shore Pie Co? At any rate, it's the exactly same locale, with the exact same goodies available for purchase. I'm a little confused, but here it is...]

I'm back after a slight delay. I've been feeling a little uninspired lately and dreaming of something somewhat grander (ha ha the Great Canadian Cake Tour does need expanding; perhaps a cross-country tour would do it? ;D), but I can't seem to stay away for too long. Not only that, but I have something exciting for today! ^-^

I'm in the Roncesvalles area about once a month so I pretty much know the street and all that's going on as if I actually lived somewhere nearby. For instance, there's a cake place opening up on Queen. It's not open yet, but peeking through the window, it looks gorgeous! On the lookout for that one, I didn't expect to turn the corner and encounter not only a brand new bakeshop, but one with New Zealand-style (writing this post made me realize that there is no adjective version.... fascinating) pies and baked goods. New Zealand!?! My jaw must have dropped to the sidewalk -- you know how much I love discovering baked goods from different and lesser known countries and New Zealand is like... the southern hemisphere's equivalent of Iceland and *that* is thrilling! :)

At first glance, it seems to be a meat pie place and little else. Poking your head into the door, you're greeted by rows of golden pies occasionally topped with mashed potatoes. Their varieties are listed on a sheet next to the cash and there are quite a bit of them -- I believe they also have some sweet pies as well, but clearly, the meat is where it's at; however, off to the side of the small establishment, there's a couple unique sweet treats. Names and prices are scribbled clearly on the glass, although for kiwi-newbies such as myself, it doesn't help all that much. ;) When I was there, there were a couple cookies, and three or four squares, including Afghan Cakes (resembling carrot cakes... I think :P) and Lamingtons (available in raspberry or chocolate), the latter of which I had to take.

So the Lamington ($2.90) it was. The sign read "raspberry/ chocolate", so I assumed it was chocolate on the inside; I only realized afterwards that there were actually two varieties: one wrapped in a raspberry coating and the other in the more traditional chocolate. These are more or less little sponge cakes fully coated (on all four sides) in a raspberry coating and then smothered in shredded coconut. Simple, but remarkably tasty. Great texture and especially for those who are fans of coconut. I, for one, came out satisfied. ^^;

Wisey's is such a convenient treat for me and it's one of these things that you'll have trouble finding anywhere else; add to that Down Under friendly service and that assortment of pies and you can count on me returning.

Rating: ***

Glen Drummond Farm

 Bakery: Glen Drummond Farm
Address: 416 Fallsview Rd E, Dundas ON
Website: http://www.dyments.com/market/
Style: Canadian
Price: $$$ 

My Cake Touring has been really slow lately; I just haven't stumbled across any bakeries lately along the way, but I hope to follow up this post with many more. :) Actually, this one is thanks to my brother, who went hiking near Dundas, drove past this farm market/bakery, and brought back a few goodies for me to try.

This is more a market than a bakery, with farm products (veggies, jams, dairy, etc.) up for sale; it being the beginning of April, the produce was nonexistent, but a fairly large selection of homestyle baked goods certainly made up for it, this including all the classics from pies to loaf cakes to squares. Nothing was labelled or priced, but it was pretty self-explanatory, although, given the more out-of-way location and style, the price did come as a bit of a surprise, for me (having to pay my brother back for his shopping) as well for my brother at the time of purchase; it came out to $16.60 for three cinnamon buns, one butter tart and a square. In all honesty, I found it too expensive: $3 (+tax) for a single butter tart or the same price for a cinnamon bun gave me the (not too satisfying) impression of getting grandma's baking at a French patisserie price. :/

However, disregarding the price, the baked goods were really tasty and so my complaints end here. Lol. I am -- or like to consider myself -- a cinnamon bun connoisseur; I love cinnamon buns done right and these cinnamon buns ($3) were done right: fantastic soft dough with a slightly flaky exterior (the worker mentioned that they were baked that day; um, shouldn't they be? O.o) in a loose roll with cinnamon and sugar folded inside and pooling underneath; top that off with a drizzle of icing. Mmm... it could have used a little more cinnamon (it might have dripped down with the butter upon baking), but just the way I like it!

Next up was the butter tart ($3.. unless it was $2.49 and the square was $3.49): a flower-shaped crusty pie shell with your butter nut filling inside. Perhaps a little doughy along the petals, but in taste it was tasty. Nice and rich, it was certainly one of the better butter tarts I've tried.

The last item was the maple pecan square (I hope ;D; $3 or, well, see above), another rich and flavourful offering with a generous layer nuts and maple syrup atop dough. In the end, the taste buds always seem to gain the upper hand; maybe the brother should have waited until I was letting the butter, cinnamon, and flaky dough melt in my mouth before bringing up the price? XD

Rating: ***

Ohlson's Bakery

Bakery: Ohlson's Bakery 
Address: 8500 Sheridan Drive, Williamsville NY 
Website: http://www.ohlsonsbakery.com/
Style: Danish, North American 
Price: $$ 

Everyone should already know what another trip to Buffalo means: another Cake Tour! Finding myself quite disappointed with the bakery selections on best-of lists (then again, this would probably to most cities; I'm a unique one ;)) I thought of doing a little of my own picking and choosing. One of the bakery options I came across was Ohlsons. Looking past the pictures of custom cakes and cupcakes (I would really wish bakeries highlighted their signature items instead; other customers, clearly regulars, were all going for the danishes...) I spotted danishes and kringles, took note of the name, and made this my first choice. I am, after all, exceptionally fond of Danish baked goods!

The one thing Ohlson's really has going for them is selection; their selection is impressive, bordering almost on huge. Several glass cases are filled with products. There are those with cakes, cupcakes and cookies; beyond that, and this is where it gets a little more exciting, there are individual cakes, an entire case devoted to danishes (available in a variety of traditional (fruit, nut) and not so traditional (sweet cheese) fillings) and large 'Wisconsin kringles', likewise in several varieties. And certainly the baked goods looked promising: no fruit-free gloop like in other bakeries!

So, for the trying there were three varieties of danishes (blueberry, cherry and sweet cheese, and a bear claw; $2.25/each). Let's start with the first: the blueberry didn't look too bad; there were whole blueberries in the fruit filling and resembled a bit of a compote. Perhaps a little too much; the same could certainly be said for the near-solid layer of icing, which was quite overwhelming. This was especially true with the bear claw... which is somewhere in there. :P And the cherry and sweet cheese was just so Eastern European! Not that that is a bad thing, of course; it's just an observation. Not being a fan of sweet cheese, I have no idea why my envoy chose this over everything else... including the kringle, which I particularly stressed. :/ The bear claw was the best from the bunch, with a filling of cinnamon and nuts. I really, really don't think it needed all that icing since it made it difficult to taste the filling, which was the best part.

The dough looked like it would be great and stand out from your run-of-the-mill bakery and well, a danish must be judged by its dough. It had a slightly flaky exterior, browned a little and soft on the inside, but in the end, all samplers agreed that a bakery should have been better; it had this commercial feeling to it which was kind of disappointing, especially judging by the fact that they must have made it from scratch.

Additionally, there was the Swedish Lace Cake ($5), a decadent chocolate cake which um, seemed to have nothing to do with being Swedish? (Perhaps it's a heavier variant on kladdkaka, a sticky chocolate cake, which the discs of dough seemed to resemble??) Well, it beats me. In truth, it was a black forest cake: two layers of dark chocolate cake with a layer of cream and cherry in the middle and topped with nice and drizzled chocolate. Insanely rich, but if that's your thing, then go for it. ;) For what it was, it was pretty good.

Overall, Ohlson's proved to be one of the better bakeries Buffalo has to offer and especially one of the best from the ones already reviewed, beating out previous European-inspired spots. The dough still didn't manage to impress, but it wasn't bad.

Rating: ***

Viking Bakery [RIP]

Bakery: Viking Bakery
Address: 2207 Danforth Ave, Toronto ON 
Website: n/a 
Style: Icelandic (!) 
Price: $-$$ 

[This one was one of the greatest bakery upsets I've had: Viking Bakery -- the only ICELANDIC bakery in this part of the country -- quietly shut its doors and the owner went to work at the DANISH Pastry House instead. x.x I'm all for bakery variety and it was nice to have an Icelandic bakery around, though not much really reminded me of Iceland... oh, and I'm very concerned about the quality of the baked goods at Danish Pastry House with their expansion plans I've heard about here and there; to be quite frank, it simply isn't close to how amazing it was in the earlier days and just turned quite unexceptional. I guess I'll have to return to St. John's, Newfoundland and review the country's only remaining Icelandic bakery... disappointing.]

If anyone knows of my love affair with Iceland, which is my favourite and most beloved place on earth, (not to mention that I've probably reviewed 75% of the small country's bakeries ;)), you can imagine my utter amazement when I heard that an Icelandic bakery had opened in Toronto. Yes, an Icelandic bakery. In driving distance from my house (i.e. it's not in Manitoba). Holy. Cow. My jaw hit the floor. I probably stopped breathing for a couple minutes. I knew of Icelandic happenings in the area (I'm a lurker on the Icelandic-Canadian Community of Toronto site ^^), but never in a million years did I think I'd be doing a review of an Icelandic bakery outside of Iceland. Whoaaaa!!! *cue the fangirl squeals*

I've actually hardly ever ventured east of Greektown for Cake Tour purposes, mainly because it's such an absolute pain to get to, whether I brave the one hour/one way transit ride across the whole TTC or drive the whole way. Knowing the latter option would be quicker, I endured the constant traffic jam and pretty much ran one day after having heard about the existence of Viking Bakery. I was both excited and disappointed to find a big Icelandic flag outside and well, an equally large line-up out the door; the disappointment involves the fact that the bakery looked pretty much cleaned out, despite the fact that the owner seemed to be trying to catch up with freshly baked goodies coming in. The bakery smelled of cinnamon and mulled wine spices; it was delicious! At any rate, the kleinur on the picture were gone and I'm not sure whether they even make the danishes, "wedded bliss" cake, and other goodies I've enjoyed on my Icelandic Cake Tour; the bakery is tight and I'm not exactly sure where they would be able to house it. Everything is clearly labelled and priced. On that very hectic day, only a couple varieties of cookies and one vinarterta (which looked very different from the other place I've been meaning to order from?) remained. Unfortunately for the people behind me, I grabbed all the remaining cinnamon buns. ;P

So, yes, I did take the "Icelandic cinnamon buns" ($1.99), available in either white or chocolate icing. Personally, I wouldn't say offhand that these were Icelandic. I've had a few varieties, from very gooey cinnamon with pink and choco icing or more of a Danish dough. Though the former is more prevalent and recognizable, I'm not really a big fan of them, so this was, actually, much better than what I consider Icelandic cinnamon buns. This one had a slightly fluffier dough and sprinkled more than drenched in cinnamon with a nice amount of icing. I heat this up before eating.. mmmm, so good! I'm not exactly getting the Iceland-vibes, but I was happy nonetheless. This is the kind of cinnamon bun I love! *-*

I also bought a pack of four ammas ($3.99 for the bag): cinnamon cookies that are very flavourful and had a great texture, not soft, but not hard either. Tear it apart like a cinnamon bun, but it's a cookie. I loved these as well. :P

Although the goodies are rather simple, almost home-made in feeling and it's not necessarily the equivalent of walking into a bakery in Iceland (*sighs* I miss you, Iceland!), Viking can nonetheless satisfy your need for an Iceland fix. That is, if you have that need. If not, you can still sample some pretty tasty goodies. I was going to give it a ***1/2 for the treats alone, but then... it's Icelandic! *gets all melty*

Rating: ****

Hurst Bakery

Bakery: Hurst Bakery
Address: 15543 Yonge St, Aurora ON
Website: http://www.hurstbakery.com/
Style: North American
Price: $-$$

Having a sudden, inexplicable urge to go to Newmarket for some Finnish baked goods (and finding it pretty much empty besides a frozen pulla from the back -- it was still worth it though *-*), I took the somewhat scenic route down Yonge through Aurora back onto the 400 and stumbled across Hurst along the way -- and very happy to have done so. Hurst is a very cozy bakery specializing in homestyle baked goods, from pies in half a dozen flavours, squares, buns, and cookies, along with a couple fancier pastries and tarts. All labelled and very reasonably priced, there were quite a few goodies that I could have taken home with me. Having plenty of baked goods in the trunk already, I decided to limit myself. This time.

One of the first items that caught my attention where the cinnamon goodies, both the buns and the bread behind the counter. They looked so delicious and then I noticed that there was a sticker saying that both the muffins and buns were half price. Half price of an already reasonable $1.50 (i.e. $0.75/each) -- what a total steal! I took half dozen. :P And very happy I did! I love cinnamon buns and this was one of the more unique interpretations I've seen, where the sweet egg dough was rolled in cinnamon and then twisted into a bun so that there was none of the usual cinnamon paste filling. Then, they were drizzled with just enough icing. This was so good! I loved the fluffy egg dough and it's a less sweet option than your typical gooey cinnamon bun -- definitely worth trying... regardless of the price. ;)

Rating: ***1/2

Menelon Bakery

Bakery: Menelon Bakery
Address: 811 St. Clair Ave. W, Toronto ON 
Website: http://www.menalonbakery.com/
Style: Greek 
Price: $$ 

The third in my St Clair W Cake Tour Extravaganza (three bakeries in one day; more to come on a future visit ^^;), Menelon Bakery was the only bakery whose success and existence I was assured of prior to my coming. Always a fan of Greek baking and likewise it's not the easiest baking style to find outside of Greektown, I jumped at the chance to pop into this well-established bakery/deli. As with a majority of Greek bakeries, you do need to be somewhat aware of what you're getting, because nothing is named or priced. However, Greek baklava is certainly the most bang-for-your-buck (or should that read 'bang for your buklava'? ;D) out there and Menelon is no exception. At $2.50 a piece for what seems to be all the large pieces, you won't be wondering where all your money went. Lol.

While the bakery is pretty much limited to the front window of the store, selection is small, but covers all the essentials: a couple varieties of baklava (triangles, rolls), bougatsa (custard cake), semolina cake (sorry, my knowledge of Greek pastries is not, on the other hand very comprehensive), cookies sold presumably by weight, and Greek whoopie pies (they have a Greek name, that I know) of various sizes. The only thing that was really missing from the roster were loukoumades (honey-drenched doughnuts), but they had diples! So I'm not complaining! *-*

I've actually only seen these thin rolls of fried dough once and assumed that no one else would have them. I've come to discover that I really like them, so I just couldn't resist more diples ($2.50)! :) Delicately scented fried dough brushed with a hint of honey and sprinkled on top with cinnamon and chopped walnuts, this was very good. I'd say I liked my first one better, as this was a little more brittle, but the nuts were a nice touch and I still loved unrolling my dough. ^^;; Mmm... diples.

The second item was a classic triangle-baklava ($2.50) loaded with nuts and weighing a lot. One sampler said it could have been more drenched in honey syrup, but everyone agreed it was a great piece of baklava.

However, what got more rave reviews than the baklava was the bougatsa ($2.50) -- generously swimming in honey syrup and filled with tasty custard. This was rich and moist and very good.

In general, Menelon was really good, but not the best Greek bakery I've been to; however, it's a great alternative for those west of the Danforth. And you can have your diples too. :3

Rating: ***