Mimi's Cake Tour

Kineya Honten [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Kineya Honten
Address:

I actually stayed right across from this dessert shop, which is somewhat exciting. It's probably the closest proximity I've ever been to a bakery in terms of lodging. Nevertheless, unlike a great many stops along my Japanese World Tour, Kineya Honten isn't a bakery, but a patisserie where you can grab a slice of cake with tea or buy full-size gift boxes featuring biscuits, rice cakes and their "signature" item (at the time, it seemed to be the signature item in every fancier bakery): baumkuchen; their unique version is chestnut-flavoured.

Outwardly, I'll admit it looked a bit more elegant than it did up-close. Stepping inside, I found it pretty cluttered, lacking in customers and teeming with staff, and the decor a bit... tired; I can't help but think it had seen better days. They also don't have that many individual items; the majority of the store space is dedicated to that pre-packed gift boxes and many of those individual items are repeated to make it look like they have more variety than they do. Regardless, their layered cream torts and French-inspired sweets are pretty, certainly look like they taste good, and are modestly priced.

Donut Monster

Bakery: Donut Monster
Address: 246 Locke St, Hamilton ON
Website: https://www.donutmonster.ca/
Style: Doughnuts
Price: $$$

Donut Monster is, without a doubt, the gourmet doughnut destination in Hamilton, and seeing as it's always hard to resist doughnuts, I just had to give this newer place a try. With its rows of doughnut trays and more than a dozen labels at one time, they probably have the most selection in terms of flavour that I've ever seen in a gourmet doughnut shop. Many times, it's limited to three or four, at the most six at one time, so that is definitely fresh and exciting; of course, what's not exciting is to see most of those rows of doughnut trays and more than a dozen labels... empty. I always seem to have that kind of luck. However, another thing that Monster Donuts has going for it in addition to some classic items (apple fritter and cinnamon sugar) is its selection of inventive, unexpected flavour combinations: roasted beetroot or sriracha lime, anyone? That being said, as with most doughnut shops of this type, the difference in flavour is contained solely in the glaze on top, with the exception of the fritters and a few with some sort of filling (would have loved to try the milk tea one). I hope to one day find a place that changes it up and does something fun to the dough as well!

Nevertheless, back to the review: as mentioned before, Donut Monster seems to be quite the popular place, since the two times I've been there, it's never heaping with doughnuts or the doughnuts I want aren't available. It's gets pretty frustrating, but I did manage to come out with some promising picks.

I tried the lemon Earl Grey, a sangria (rear) and an apple fritter. Firstly, the Earl Grey with floral garnish had a unique thick and creamy icing more than a glaze or dip; with its tartness and spreadable texture, it almost reminded me of a cream cheese icing, though it's not. An interesting, flavour-packed concept, but I had a hard time picking out the Earl Grey.

The sangria doughnut with strawberry slices atop a deep pink glaze was certainly the worst for wear. This and the lemon simply could not survive a summer day in the car... It was my least favourite. The glaze had run away a bit and I would have liked to taste a little more of the wine. Of course. :P Finally, the apple fritter looked and tasted like the star attraction. Crunchy fried outside, glaze getting into all those grooves... oh yeah!

On a return trip and not pictured, I grabbed a cardamom glaze/honey dip, which was by far the simplest of the bunch, but probably my favourite in terms of flavour and the texture of the dough combined with the all-around glaze. However, in general, the doughnut is all about the dough and while the glazes and different flavours are really good, I think the dough itself could be slightly chewier and denser. Still, these are some tasty doughnuts and a doughnut shop is always a great addition to the neighbourhood!

Rating: ***

Bluesberry Bakery [International Correspondent]

Bakery: Bluesberry Bakery
Address: 2436 Main St, Lake Placid NY
Website: facebook
Style: German, American
Price: $$$

I went to this bakery in the summer during my tour of the Adirondacks and only realized afterwards that I only took a picture of one of the items I tried. Still, Bluesberry Bakery is the only bakery I found in Lake Placid. It's located in an old brick building, alongside the movie theatre, I believe, and is a mostly European bakery (some items, however, you will find in any standard "neighbourhood" bakery like the pecan tarts, scones and turnovers) with a surprising, though small assortment of traditional German baked goods. These were simple and classic; however, I thought the bakery was a little expensive, especially their tarts.

I took one Linzer "tart" ($5.50). Good tart shell with a bit of crunch. I thought the amount of jam in the middle was also good. Sometimes, a Linzer has too much dough and feels like a dry cookie, but this one was just right.

I would consider myself a granola bar connoisseur so whenever I see homemade granola bars, I have to try it. Bluesberry Bakery's version had a good "shell" with crunchy nuts, juicy pieces of fruit and some honey. Neither item was too sweet, just the way I like it. Overall, good baked goods and a good place to stop while in Lake Placid for breakfast or afternoon snack.

Rating: ***

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: ***

Quality Greens

Bakery: Quality Greens
Address: 1889 Spall Rd, Kelowna BC
Website: https://qualitygreens.com/
Style: Canadian
Price: $$

While not a dedicated bakery by any means, I was holding on to my review of this small Okanagan produce and local grocery chain until I got a bit more desperate and had no other bakeries on my pending list; however, it being pumpkin and pie season, I thought I couldn't hold back for much longer. ;)

As mentioned, Quality Greens is a local farm market with a few locations scattered throughout the Okanagan; in addition to produce, dairy and deli, they have a small bakery section with bread and buns from local bakeries along with a small selection of in-store home-style baked goods that encompasses cookies, pies, and loaf cakes. All are available in full-size, family portions or in highly appreciated petite sizes.

Sure, the choices are limited, but just picking up and being able to smell it through the plastic wrap made me decide on getting the pumpkin loaf cake ($3.49 for small). It's so simple, the sort of treat that is seldom found in bakeries and more often baked at home, but sometimes you have a craving for the latter. Super moist spice cake is full of flavour and full of pumpkin as well. Not too sweet, great texture -- I was actually surprised at how much I ended up enjoying this. It's really only a shame that their bakery department isn't a bit bigger!

Rating: **1/2

Pompadour [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Pompadour
Address: Minamimachi 1, Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture (in Sanyo Dept. Store)
Website: https://www.pompadour.co.jp/
Style: Japanese
Price: $$

Spending only one night in Himeji, I wanted to get in as many bakeries as possible. The only extra free time I had was in the evening, around 8pm to really look around the city and see if I could find something. Of course, as anyone will tell you, finding a bakery at 8pm is a pretty impossible task. Thinking my best bet was to explore the depths of the department stores and underground commercial passageways around Himeji station, I stumbled across the gourmet area of the Sanyo Department Store and while many stalls were in the process of closing and the few bakeries were pretty much sold out, I found that the largest of these bakeries, Pompadour, still had baked goods to choose from. Yes! Another bakery for Mimi!

Unfortunately for me, Pompadour happens to be a massive bakery chain with hundreds of locations throughout Japan, but I could tell that just from looking at their design and large selection. I say unfortunately, because I always like reviewing small, independent businesses, but if the opportunity presents itself, I suppose I can't turn it down. In addition to all the classic sweet buns you'll find in many bakeries on these shores, ranging from red bean doughnuts and cream buns to melon pan, Pompadour, perhaps in reference to its name, tries to infuse their selection with some flaky French pastries and more elaborate -- mostly aesthetically -- treats. Granted, not much was available in the evening, but think pains au chocolat, croissants, something that looked like tart slices.

Of course, as with many Japanese bakeries, Pompadour has seasonal specials and it happened to be strawberry season. Me, I could not resist this absolutely lovely Amaou strawberry bun just for its look. Isn't it so pretty? ^^ With its stem in dusted matcha and the seeds dabbed on with chocolate, it was almost a shame to actually eat it. Maybe it even looked better than it tasted, since the soft and somewhat airy texture reminded me of generic danish dough, though the delicate hint of strawberry, not too strong or artificially flavourful, was nice. Maybe something a bit more flaky or with real fruit inside would have been better, but pretty good. And awww, it is so very pretty and pink....

Rating: ***