Matterhorn Bakery [RIP]

Bakery: Matterhorn Bakery
Address: 3640 Gosset Rd, West Kelowna BC
Website: facebook 
Style: Canadian
Price: $$

 There are only two dedicated bakeries in West Kelowna: Bliss and Matterhorn. Tucked into one obscure corner of an otherwise not too exciting plaza, the name and mountain cabin vibes of their interior (though I was a bit disenchanted when I found it's really just one wall) screamed Swiss bakery, and me, always fond of European baked goods, was really excited to give it a try. Stepping in, I did find it a little... lacking in selection and not quite as Swiss as I would have liked it to be. Rather, there was nothing Swiss about what they had for sale, this being limited to cinnamon buns, muffins, cookies, and one cheesecake. I didn't come so late either! Perhaps it's more of a lunch place or everyone snatches everything up early? I'm not quite sure.

 However way you look at it, I decided to try their mammoth cinnamon buns ($3.49 each). More in terms of height than width, but still a pretty hefty piece of dough. This dough was airy and fluffy, interspersed with cinnamon deposits and rising up with snow-capped peaks of delicious icing (ha ha ha, hopefully you see where I'm going with this :P). A bit pricey for what it is, but still good.

I also scored a 6-pack of day-old cookies priced at half off (50% off 6/$6, so $3 for the pack). Being cookies, they weren't worse for wear and I could enjoy some melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookies with jam and chocolate chip. Yummy! It's so hard to find shortbread that's actually light and delicate in both texture and taste. Personally, I think I liked the cookies more than the cinnamon bun.

Despite the lack of selection, Matterhorn is my favourite of the two (though Kekuli's bannock "doughnuts" are still the best ^^) on the west bank.

Rating: ***

Tripke Bakery

Bakery: Tripke Bakery 
Address: 538 Yates Rd, Kelowna BC
Website: http://tripkebakery.com/
Style: German, European 
Price: $$

While spending a few weeks in Kelowna, I managed to do some fairly extensive bakery research and sampling (all for the sake of the Cake Tour, of course), and came to the conclusion that Tripke Bakery is the best bakery in Kelowna. Yes, I start with that. Tripke was actually the first bakery I did and so it really turned into no one managing to beat it. Some came close, but this long-running family business still came out on top. For one, it's their ample selection of classic German and European cakes and baked goods. Then it's the fact those baked goods are delicious... and, well yes, they make fantastic poppy seed buns. :P

 Of course you know what I was taking. As a matter of fact, I did the fairly rare thing of just looking at the baked good, the price, and went ahead and ordered two before even trying it. Two poppy seed buns ($1.70/each; this is one in the photo!) it was. Big buns with a nice fluffy dough that freezes well and lots of delicious German-style poppy seed mass: a little grainy, but too much -- just the kind I like. Top that off with plenty of icing. Mmmm... so good!

Along with this, I tried their apple strudel ($2.25). Personally, I would have liked it a little more authentic with thinner, flakier dough instead of more of a turnover/standard strudel dough, but it was still tasty with yummy apple and raisin filling, as it should be.

I know of one bakery I still need to try in Kelowna (possibly two just to play it safe) but I think dethroning Tripke is next to impossible!

Rating: ***1/2

Nancy's Shoppe

Bakery: Nancy's Shoppe 
Address: @ Farmer's Market, Gyro Park, Grand Forks BC
Website: market facebook
Style: Canadian 
Price: $$ 

So, after passing through a few towns when it was still too early for the bakery to be open, I arrived in Grand Forks a little bit after nine. No excuse for the bakery in town to be closed. Except that it opened at 11. What bakery opens at 11!? As a last-ditch effort, I went back to the busy farmer's market, recalling that one of the flags advertised baking.

The Farmer's Market was certainly a happening place, though it would be revealed that the "baking" flag essentially applied to only one vendor, and that was Nancy's Shoppe. Nancy's main focus is art and the baking seems to be a bit of a side project, but there was nonetheless a table of three or four different items, all freshly baked (so she assured me) and ready packed.

I was set on the big, fluffy cinnamon bun when I decided to just make the market detour more worthwhile by getting the butter tarts as well. The cinnamon bun ($2.50) was the kind that's baked in a pan and then cut into big, hearty squares. However, many buns in this style are simply too gooey and sweet, but this was nice, with a glaze on top and rip-apart, soft and airy dough with cinnamon throughout.

The butter tarts ($2.50 for a pack of two), if I recall correctly, came in two varieties: nut and raisin. Is that it? All these Cake Tours are getting me confused.. Anyways, I did take the one with chunks of walnuts mixed in with the buttery filling, all inside a hand-folded, flaky shell. Great texture, good taste. So, Grand Forks wasn't a bust after all!

Rating: ***

Copper Eagle Bakery

Bakery: Copper Eagle Bakery
Address: 325 S Copper, Greenwood BC 
Website: facebook
Style: Canadian 
Price: $$ 

On my road trip from Toronto to Kelowna, I actually spent one night in Nelson. A bit of a detour, and a detour that would have looked great on my Cake Tour map if it hadn't been for the fact that we needed to arrive in Kelowna by noon and all the bakeries were still closed when leaving Nelson and were closed when we arrived the previous evening. Nooo! To somewhat make up for it, I did get some bakeries along the route from Nelson to Kelowna. Would have liked more, since Castlegar was also still closed, but I snagged some uncharted ones. And that includes Copper Eagle!

Copper Eagle is along the main street of historic Greenwood. I loved the atmosphere of this little town; it's like stepping into a mountain Western. It was the first place I've seen where I thought: this would be the perfect place for my little teahouse! Located right next to the saloon (yes), however, is Copper Eagle. Gorgeous building, friendly staff, and a selection of slightly homey, slightly artisan baked goods that looked delicious. Would I go for the pie? Or the cinnamon buns? All labelled and priced, with taxes included, and featuring a little bit for everyone (including some items for those with diet restrictions). I was even considering getting the Detroit (was it Detroit?) pizza... it looked so good!

Finally, though, I couldn't resist the puffed wheat square ($2.25). It was the first puffed wheat square I'd seen (not including Petro Canada convenience stores) in the longest, longest of times! Maybe puffed wheat squares are a Western thing? I don't know. I had, saw, and enjoyed them regularly when I was kid and never spotted them again after we moved. I don't know why they're not universally loved; I love puffed wheat squares and these looked so good!

Instead of a syrupy cocoa topping, this was made using real milk chocolate, and plenty of it, so that the puffed wheat is more coated and glazed in a rich, creamy mass. Oh yeah! What a great idea and it was so nice to have some puffed wheat squares again! :)

Rating: ***

Creston Valley Bakery

Bakery: Creston Valley Bakery
Address: 113 10 Ave, Creston BC
Website: n/a
Style: Canadian, Eastern European
Price: $$ 

The other bakery in Creston, Creston Valley is located in a pretty vast space spanning one street corner. While most of that space is dedicated to seating, they do feature a lengthy counter with European breads, and then a whole bunch of good stuff: doughnuts, cakes, squares, baked goods. Coming in around half an hour before closing, I was a little stunned at just how fully stocked it was. Will they sell all of that? O.O I was left even more stunned when I spotted a shelf of poppy seed buns -- so much so that I really don't remember what else they had! They're not the most common sight, I can certainly say that and a bakery with poppy seed baked goods must always be celebrated for that point alone.

Yes, I took the poppy seed bun ($2.62). Naturally. This was rolled up like a cinnamon bun and featured a similar fluffy, somewhat airy dough that was filled with a black, finely ground mass of poppy seed. "Russian" style, as I like to call it, and my personal favourite. Yum! Lots of poppy seeds here and then it was generously glazed too -- what a perfect combination!

In addition to this, I decided to take a nice, big apple fritter ($2.62) Again, a nice dose of delicious, more runny glaze on top of a fluffy, perfectly fried dough with a nice amount of apples throughout. Wow, Creston, you're lucky -- two recommended bakeries! ;)

Rating: ***1/2

The Golden Flour Bakery

Bakery: The Golden Flour Bakery
Address: 1025 Canyon St, Creston BC
Website: http://www.thegoldenflourbakery.com/
Style: Canadian
Price: $

Given how long ago I made the announcement below, this review is a bit overdue, though, to be fair, I have been going in order. So, here it is:

Golden Flour is one of two bakeries in walking distance to each other. Did I mention they both have poppy seed baked goods? Yes, I noticed the poppy ring too late, but it was nonetheless there. Besides that, they had a large, downright overwhelming selection of yummy items. Apple fritters, muffins, cakes, pastries, etc. Pair that up with the other one in town and you could have a different treat for a whole month!

 With so much selection, a variety had to be tried. Three items, to be exact. The first was a bag of doughnut holes ($2.50). Soft sponge-like cake doughnuts with no sugar or glaze, nor is it really needed to appreciate the moist, sponge-like, bite-size dough. While cake doughnuts aren't my favourite and one sampler called them too boring, I liked these simple treats and they seem perfect after you've kind of... overindulged; they're almost good for you. ;D

Speaking of almost good for you: the sticky carrot muffin ($0.95). For a muffin this cheap, the first thing you'd expect is just run-of-the-mill batter poured into muffin tins. These were, however, amazing muffins. Loaded, literally overstuffed with carrots and coated in this sticky glaze that kept the inside moist and still didn't manage to veer towards being too sweet and cake-like. One of the best muffins ever tested!

Last but not least, there was the rum roll ($1.85), a thin nutty pastry roll stuffed with a rum-infused cream and drizzled with chocolate. Now, there was nothing healthy about this one, ha ha ha! Delicious cream, nice crunchy pastry -- a tasty combination.

Rating: ***