@ Gentle Giants Whale Watching [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery?: Gentle Giants Whale Watching (aboard Faldur) 
Address: Hafnarstétt (Harbour Side), Húsavík
Website: http://www.gentlegiants.is/home/
Style: Icelandic 
Price:  included in the price of ticket (9100kr ;___;)

Well, this is as big a stretch as it gets, but I say it still counts. At the very least, I need something in return for having spent all that money. -___- Sometime during my trip in North Iceland, I was talked into giving whale watching a try. It's as big a tourist trap as you can get in the region and while I did see whales and all that, I still came away from it thinking I did not need to get lured into that... Anyways, there are three whale watching companies operating from Husavik harbour and Gentle Giants is one in the middle in terms of price. It was, however, the only one advertising that hot chocolate and traditional Icelandic doughnuts (kleina) are included with each trip. Compare that to cookies from the cheap guys and cinnamon buns from the most expensive and I just had to go for the kleina. :) 

Granted, it's not the greatest place to try them, especially considering that the company doubtless got them from the supermarket or something, but it was my first time trying these fried dough twists and that deserves mention. And everything always tastes better after three hours of Arctic wind blasting in your face and freezing your fingers. ;) So, towards the end of the tour, our guide returned with cups of steaming hot chocolate. It was powdered and not mixed that well, but it warmed the hands... Then came the real goods: a cute dough twist that had well, seen better (and fresher) days and I'm sure that simply wasn't the cool air having got at it. The fried exterior had already gone soft and the dough was very dense. Well, I suppose they're supposed to be cake doughnuts, but some cake doughnuts are better than others and these were so dense they were hard; I'm surprised they weren't as dry as they looked and felt. 

Alright, so the kleina were a bit of a flop -- kind of like seeing those whales, but being granted the exciting privilege of seeing a fin or maybe some distant water jet: you tried it out, you technically succeeded, but a return trip is so not on your agenda. Next time, stick to the bakeries. At the very least, it'd save me some money. ;DD 

Rating: *1/2

Baltyk Bakery [International Correspondent]

Bakery: Baltyk Bakery
Address: 10557 Kingsway NW, Edmonton AB
Website: n/a 
Style: Polish
Price: $$ 

[I swear that I'll finish by taking over the whole country! XD Yes, I was most fortunate that one brother of mine went back -- I say back because I'm a Calgarian born and raised -- to Calgary and Edmonton this past summer and was charged with going to at least three bakeries in each city so as to fulfil tagging requirements, many of which were visited for pure nostalgia's sake -- these were the bakeries I went to as a kid. :) Sure, he ended up going to the bare minimum, but I now have several stops in Alberta and he did come back with two pages of notes and a few (pretty awful) photos! The Cake Tour will be cross-country and absolutely brilliant, mwa ha ha!!!!! *calms down* Anyways, what with there being no food restrictions, some were brought back for sampling, others were eaten on the spot. Nonetheless, I'll regularly be updating my site with some of these finds (or returns). ^^]

Baltyk Bakery was one of the two bakeries we regularly went to when we as a family drove up to Edmonton to visit my grandparents. This was *the* Polish bakery and deli in the city and probably still is; at least one of a few. I remember popping in here on weekends, though I can't quite remember what we ended up buying. O.o Still, when I saw this pop up on the list of bakeries, I knew it had to be revisited.

To the first set of notes: Baltyk Bakery serves typical Polish bakery fare: cakes, bread, pączki (doughnuts), etc. I took the piernik (gingerbread; pictured) and 'poppy brandy biscuit bar' [it looks like a makowiórek cake with a choco-cookie top to me: poppy seed with coconut on the bottom, cream in the middle and then chocolate coated biscuits on top]. I was warned that the doughnuts were day-old and were therefore passed up, but I found it disappointing that there weren't any fresh pączki on the premises -- and they call themselves a Polish bakery! At the very least they were honest about it and didn't trick me into taking stale doughnuts, which would have made me mad. The poppy bar was soft and nice with a good punch of brandy. The gingerbread, on the other hand, was dry, the chocolate was hard and the raisin mid-layer had an off-putting taste. A major disappointment for a gingerbread connoisseur (lol, what on earth is that? This is the first time I've heard he's a gingerbread connoisseur. XD) like me.

It was alright. I was expecting something a little better than the average GTA deli, but I'd probably put it at the same level. I can't say it was that good.

Rating: **1/2

Amadeus Fine Cakes

Bakery: Amadeus Fine Cakes
Address: 7380 Bathurst St, Thornhill ON
Website: http://www.amadeusfinecakes.com/
Style: European
Price: $$$

Not wanting to drive all the way to Richmond Hill for a cake, the brother decided to give this place a try after having driven past it once by chance (avoiding traffic on Yonge...). So, he returned and we broke up the years of going to What a Bagel in trying this place out. Was it worth the upsetting of a tradition? Well, not really. Ha ha I might as well state it outright: it certainly did not beat my favourite cakes.

Amadeus is, as the name suggests, a cake place first. Rows of shelves are dedicated to their fancily decorated and delicious-looking cakes; even what they call their pastries resemble miniature versions of their larger cakes, although they lack the more interesting flavours of the full-sized counterparts. The cakes (and pastries) all seem to be based on the same premise of a single layer of sponge cake smothered with mousse and then decorated on top. As far as cakes go, they're rather... short and quite expensive for the size -- an 8-inch? cake was $30.  Most are chocolate or a combination containing chocolate; while ordering, the most popular choice was their individual tiramisu.

Two people not being chocolate cake fans (myself included), we ended up with the vanilla cake with a jolt of red currant sauce on top. The dough inside was vanilla sponge cake and then the mousse was likewise vanilla. Seeing as all cakes are based on this same formula, I'd say that they lacked complexity, both in terms of texture and taste. If you were lucky enough to get some of that red currant, you got some yummy sourness in there, but otherwise it was pretty boring. The dough was nothing special and pretty run-of-the-mill sponge cake, but the thing that really set it apart from your usual supermarket mousse cake was the mousse with its pieces of vanilla beans which was really tasty, especially with that aforementioned red currant sauce. Mmm... that was some fantastic mousse! I personally think some sort of flavoured sponge cake would have made this more exciting. Yes, it was good. And yes, it mostly likely beats 80% of cakes out there, but it somehow didn't live up to my expectations of cake glory and everyone agreed that in the end the cake was just... meh.

Rating: **1/2

Jubi [Mimi's World Tour] [RIP]

Bakery: Jubi
Address: Laugavegur 70, Reykjavík
Website: n/a
Style: Polish
Price: $$-$$$

[Note: Jubi is no more and has most likely been replaced by a tourist shop (didn't bother checking; you just know at this point) However, there is the newish Euro Market just down the street at one of the intersecting streets at Hlemmur that sells Polish baked goods -- reivew to come!!)]

Well, this is certainly an exciting find! Actually, this is one of the first "ethnic" bakeries on the World Tour; more than that, it was my first time trying Polonia (i.e. Polish people living abroad) baking outside of North America and the need to know if they made better pączki (the signature Polish doughnut) overcame any sort of unease I had at walking into this place. I just couldn't resist. :P

Passing this little semi-basement deli on Reykjavik's main shopping street is inevitable, especially if you're making use of the Bónus across the street, but more likely than not you'll walk past it without remarking its presence. I noticed it on my first visit to Iceland, although it was only this year that their window display of loaves of bread and a plate of cheese danishes and those delectable doughnuts arrested my attention. They now had baked goods! (Unless, that is, they simply rearranged their products) I could hardly believe it and just could not wait for the opportunity to poke my head in and come out with a pączek!! :) Disregarding the small plate of baked goods, the deli really is pretty pathetic and features a few shelves and one fridge of a few Polish imports. It's probably the least welcoming and most daunting store on the shopping strip and service is well, with a frown and annoyed sigh, but if you're craving Polish baking while in Iceland....

Selection is, however, very limited. In fact, there are only two baked goods: cheese danishes (299kr) and pączki (189kr). I was secretly hoping for some poppy seed buns tucked in somewhere, but no. Given it's pretty no frills and not a bakery, I found the prices a little steep, especially as you'll get more elaborate pastries for the same price at nearby bakeries.You serve yourself, though I didn't quite like how the only option was a plastic bag, since 10-15 minutes later the bag had already got stuck to the glaze and there went my beautiful photo. The doughnut, however... was a wonderful thing. *-* The problem I always have with pączki here in the GTA is that they're, 9 times out of 10, stale. The dough is hard and the glaze is crackled and flaking. Big no-no. There's something so good about biting into a soft, fresh doughnut and such was the case here! Moist dough, yummy strawberry filling (I was pleasantly surprised since I was expected the traditional plum, which I don't like), and delicious glaze with what seemed like a little extra kick. Mmmm... I wasn't really expecting to find great pączki in Iceland, but life is full of surprises. :P

I'd like to say I recommend this place -- based on baked goods alone I would -- but scant, not cheap selection and a somewhat daunting 'what are you doing in here?' feeling makes this a hard sell for the casual passerby, local and tourist alike and will probably only appeal to Poles (and kids of Poles) craving a taste of home.

Rating: ***

Boulangerie Sibuet

Bakery: Boulangerie Sibuet 
Address: 306 Route de l'Eglise, St-Jean Port Joli QC
Website: n/a
Style: French Canadian 
Price: $$ 

The last day, rather last night, of my Maritime trip (and thus beginning of my Great Canadian Cake Tour ^^) was spent in the small town of St-Jean Port Joli, in Quebec. Not only did this prove to be a fantastic conclusion to the trip, but it offered me one more chance to try some baked goods.

 Naturally, I hadn't had enough already. ;) Driving in from the highway, this was one of the first businesses you encounter once in the town itself; well, if you choose to disregard the supermarket, restaurants.... Okay, it was the first business *I* noticed and you can guarantee I vowed to go first thing next morning to try it out. They also happened to be in the tourism booklet at our bed-and-breakfast room, advertising sandwiches, baked goods and what seemed to be their signature item: cream and maple sugar tarts. I have to say I was a little devastated to find they had neither.. or I certainly couldn't find them anywhere. I was really looking forward to it. :( Nevertheless, with the appellation of boulangerie, you can expect that the majority of items were breads (in addition to lunchtime meals) with only a few, artisan baked goods in the form of flaky viennoiseries and nothing in the way of more elaborate treats -- this, however, was not a problem for me. There were several empty spots in the display area, so I'm wondering whether everything was already sold or they didn't bake any that day? In addition to the two items I got, there had to be only one or two others. What I did take, though, was very tasty.

Both, essentially, were based on the same idea; perhaps they had different names and fillings, but they were more or less flaky, buttery turnovers generously stuffed with their respective fillings. ($2.75, if I remember correctly) One was pear and chocolate and the other was raspberry almond and both were wonderful. Delicious dough; flaky without going to pieces (which happens) and well, there's nothing like butter. *-* Top that off with fantastic stuffing; ground almond paste mixed with raspberry jam. Or how about the pear sauce (as in apple sauce) with chunks of dark chocolate? Pop it a little into the oven to get it warm and mmmm... you begin to understand why viennoiseries are such wonderful, wonderful things. Lol. A pleasant, fitting end to this leg of the Great Canadian Cake Tour. :)

Rating: ***1/2

Niagara Home Bakery

Bakery: Niagara Home Bakery 
Address: 66 Queen St, Niagara-on-the-Lake ON
Website: n/a 
Style: Canadian, English
Price: $$-$$$

I've officially surpassed 300 bakeries... and still going strong! :)

A little more than a month ago, the brother went to Niagara-on-the-Lake for some reason. Seeing as I don't go there very often, I commanded him to bring back some baked goods. And he delivered, for once. :) This is one of two stops that day.

Niagara Home Bakery is right in the heart of Niagara-of-the-Lake and is more or less your typical, run-of-the-mill English-Canadian bakery with a few more unique and noteworthy treats such as the ones the brother picked out. Think pies, squares and cookies; in a word, simple, old-fashioned baking that's pretty tasty, although it didn't manage to beat the guys across the street (look out for that one in a future post). Given the location, high prices seem almost a given; if he remembers correctly, he paid over $7 for two, not too elaborate items. Still, to the sampling we go~~

He picked out, as he said, the two most 'interesting' offerings: the first was the apple dumpling (which he can never resist taking whenever he gets sent out for baked goods), which could also be considered a baked apple: entire apple coated in a fairly thin layer of piece crust-like dough and topped with a smattering coarse sugar. The concept was a good one -- and sometimes it succeeds; in this case, we encountered a very common problem: the apple was uncooked in the middle. Too hard and crunchy in texture, this was very difficult to eat as the centre made cutting into the thing with a fork pretty much impossible. The dough flaked off and the apple was downright unmanageable. Good idea, faulty execution.

Better than that was, well, this thing. :P Yes, no one exactly knows what this is supposed to be, but I think cream-stuffed baklava can get the idea somewhat across. Folded filo dough wrapped into the shape of a cone and then stuffed with nut-encrusted pastry cream. Yup, it probably tastes as exciting as it sounds; it was certainly an interesting find; perhaps the filo was a bit dry in places, especially in the areas with no more filling, but it was a great concept. One brother likened it to a Purdy's ice cream bar -- in case you're wondering. ;) It was definitely the highlight from these guys; perhaps the bakery didn't necessarily blow anyone's mind, but it was still worth visiting. Of course, in my quest for bakery domination, it had to be done eventually. :D

Rating: **1/2