Farmhouse Pottery & Bakery

Bakery: Farmhouse Pottery & Bakery
Address: 307114 Hockley Rd, Mono ON 
Website: http://www.pacepottery.com/site/Farmhouse.aspx
Style: Canadian
Price: $$$$ 

Well, this is a rather unusual one. One brother was going hiking in the area and drove past this pottery studio that also happened to be a bakery (!). Given the off-the-beaten-path location, he thought it would make a good cake tour. Naturally, I always appreciate such effort. :)

Strange, I don't see any gold  leaf or saffron in it...

Besides the pottery, the bakery doesn't have that much selection and if it isn't classic butter tarts, they sell pies (both are not priced). Not wanting to take back an entire pie, my brother opted for the butter tarts.... and, if you want to set any records, this might just be the world's most expensive butter tart. At $4 each, it's a rather jaw-dropping record. I remember once seeing a butter tart for around $3 and thought it was needlessly overpriced. In such cases, there were only really two ways this can go: the butter tart can be good or awful. You either feel confused, somewhat disappointed, or completely ripped off. Fortunately, Farmhouse did redeem itself; this butter tart was good. It was thick-shelled like typical Ontario butter tarts, but even given the thickness of the shell, it was somewhat soft and easy to crack into and not doughy like they can be elsewhere. The filling was a wonderful compromise between runny and thicker butter tarts. You had a little bit of buttery oozing, but also some "meat" to it (so that the whole filling doesn't run away on you like it once -_-) . The filling was so good! It's kind of a shame it doesn't qualify, geographically-speaking, for the butter tart tour, since it would certainly rank pretty high. Excellent butter tart, but still not worth the price.

Rating: ***

NLPita

Bakery: NLPita
Address: 82 O'Leary Ave., St. John's NL (@ St John's Farmers Market)
Website: n/a
Style: Middle Eastern
Price: $$

While in St. John's, I decided to make a visit to the Farmers Market, having heard there was some good food worth picking up. Naturally, I was hoping that "good food" involved baked goods. And it did. :P In fact, I told myself I would buy one item and that would be that. I grabbed two and was forced to give up on a third. One of the items I did try were the sweets from the NL Pita table outside. In addition to your usual pita bread, they had a few sweeter selections, such as date croissants (which I would have so taken had I had a bigger budget; the attestation from the seller that they were very good didn't help -_-) and slices of basbousa ($3), the Egyptian variation of semolina cake. The woman in front of me was asking what they were and the seller was explaining what went into them -- though I have to say likening it to baklava may be somewhat misleading for someone who has no idea what semolina cake is.

I'll have another piece, please! ^^;;

Made chunks of almonds, and drenched in a sugar syrup, these guys also added Greek yogourt instead of the usual milk or condensed milk. The result was a denser, creamier dough that stayed together as one mass and almost had the feeling of a cheesecake, often difficult with semolina cakes, which crumble and are more sandy. This was then soaked in sugar syrup, but not too much for it to be soggy and then generously topped with chunks of nuts. Having had no breakfast, I ate it on the spot and enjoyed it so much I would have probably run to buy more if my budget allowed it (it didn't -- I had already spent too much at the market .__.) and if I hadn't bought the last piece. ;)

I'm generally not the biggest fan of Middle Eastern sweets, so even I was amazed at how delicious this was! Another high ranker from St. John's.

Rating: ***1/2

Bear's Paw Bakery [International Correspondent]

Bakery: Bear's Paw Bakery 
Address: 4 Pyramid Rd, Jasper AB 
Website: http://bearspawbakery.com/
Style: Canadian 
Price: $$ 

I read in more than place about the "famous" Bear's Paw Bakery, although I almost wonder if it's famous because it's the only bakery in Jasper, and because it's in Jasper it'll be famous no matter what. We went to Bear's Paw bakery for breakfast and, although they have some baked goods (the overstuffed photos on their website weren't very accurate, by the way), they look more coffee-oriented, but I can't say that their coffee was the best I had in Jasper either, but maybe I shouldn't say that.

Scone (bottom right) and bear paws

We got two things, the first was a scone. You can tell what the selection is if I end up taking a scone, which aren't generally my favourite. I think it was wild blueberry or some sort of dark berry. Maybe just plain blueberry? Anyways, it tasted okay: nothing too impressive or special.

I'd probably say the same for the signature bear paws. Going in, I was thinking of bear claws (the pastry that's dipped in chocolate on one end or something like that??), which I wouldn't mind trying. Turns out bear paws are yeast buns, sold with or without raisins. They're like a cinnamon bun, but without the cinnamon. Or a Chelsea bun without the extras. So I guess it was pretty much a raisin roll. It wasn't very moist and as dry as it looks, so I have to say I wasn't impressed.

Actually, I was kind of disappointed with Bear's Paw. I was hoping it would be better or at least more exciting.

Rating: **1/2

Cafe Haiti [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Cafe Haiti 
Address: Geirsgata 7c, Reykjavik
Website: http://www.cafehaiti.is/
Style: Icelandic
Price: $$$

Right in the heart of the old harbour is the colourful, somewhat eclectic Cafe Haiti, which I had known about since my first trip to Iceland but which I had never visited until now. I came here with an Icelandic friend at her suggestion and thought that hey, I might as well make a cake tour of it. :P In fact, having covered all the bakeries-proper in Reykjavik, and certainly in the 101, I thought it about time to delve into the plethora of cafes offering their homemade baked goods and cakes located throughout the city. And do note that I'm not normally a coffee drinker, so well, we can just take out that part of the review, though I will admit that after coming back from my trip of coffee and cakes, I was offered a cup back home and bleh! was it ever disgusting compared to the stuff on my tour.

Nevertheless, while the coffee may come from Haiti, the origin of the Mrs. of the business, the  cakes are what you'll find in most Icelandic cafes (perhaps I would have appreciated some Haitian baked goods too .__.;;;). [Edit: Please make sure that the cake says it's homemade! While there a few years ago now, there were three varieties, two of which explicitly said were theirs; doing research for my Iceland bakeries tour guide, I went back on their website and the cover picture for their cakes showed cakes that were very clearly NOT theirs (I now have insider information) I have yet to return to verify if anything has changed/they still have homemade goodies]  However, I am a fan of Scandinavian apple cakes and Cafe Haiti does a mean version of it, though at 1040kr per slice, it seemed painfully expensive to me... a couple hundred kronur more and I'd have dinner. I'm not yet sure how much other cafes charge, not to mention the fact that Iceland is very quickly becoming very expensive, but with a generous cup of coffee thrown into the mix, it hurt. x__x

There is, however, a cake to be reviewed: homemade apple cake with a generous portion of spiced whipped cream on the side... oh yeah! Delicious dough with slivered almonds and a tasty apple filling at just the right consistency, neither too chunky nor too mushy. Really good! Not sure if my pocket can afford such an extravagance on future returns and we'll have to see how it fares with other cafes in Reykjavik, but as it was, I was impressed.

Rating: ***1/2

Uncle Tetsu's Japanese Cheesecake

Bakery: Uncle Tetsu's Japanese Cheesecake
Address: 598 Bay St, Toronto ON 
Website: http://uncletetsu-ca.com/
Style: Japanese
Price: $$ 

Well, I finally did it! I finally got my hands on an Uncle Tetsu cheesecake. And it required very little waiting on top of that (but more on that later). Ever since I was given the chance to try a little piece of Uncle Tetsu, I have oh-so eagerly been awaiting my opportunity to try those famous cheesecakes. I was determined to wait it out this time, especially since the line-up wasn't *that* bad as it had been in the past -- there were perhaps 7-8 people in front of me outside. Meanwhile, my partner in bakery crime that day stood by and, noticing that the Matcha Cafe next door was completely abandoned despite the fact that they advertised they now sold green tea and green tea & red bean cheesecakes, I told her to check if they actually sold the green tea varieties in the matcha cafe or you had to buy it in the cheesecake shop. She hesitantly went in and several seconds later, I got my cheesecake. ^-^ (Apparently I lucked out since when I came back to the streetcar stop more than an hour later, there were lines out the door to both stores) And hey, if I have the choice of getting matcha, I will so take it!

Horrible lighting... phenomenal taste!

Both regular and matcha/red bean varieties are the same price at $8.85 (an even $10 with tax), but the regular is larger, obviously to account for the high amount of matcha they use in baking it and matcha is not cheap. Of course, I didn't mind at all. I happily, eagerly made my way home with my little box in its smiling bag (ignoring the fact that some guy started taking pictures of it on the streetcar -_-) and lovingly unwrapped the towel to reveal a petite, bright green cheesecake. Oh boy!

Oh yeah, keep the slices of  cheesecake coming!

I've tried "Japanese" cheesecake at Chinese bakeries as well as imported-from-Taiwan ones from the Chinese supermarket and I thought them pretty good, but I had never really tried Japanese cheesecake... and I am never going back to the mediocre imitations. I'm not sure if anyone in that line up is there because the cheesecake is actually good and they appreciate it, but Uncle Tetsu's matcha cheesecake blew my mind. Holy-moly! I honestly did not think there would be such a difference. This wasn't any old cheesecake, this was light-as-air, matcha (with a high-quality Japanese matcha, not the somewhat bitter, standard sencha-tasting stuff they put in pseudo-Japanese baked goods) mousse. Heavenly is as close a word as I can find. Uncle Tetsu, I'm in love! *-*

[UPDATE] I knew the day would come... I chanced upon the original cheesecake shop with just one person inside and finally had my chance to try the classic Japanese cheesecake ($10). I thought the fad had finally waned (the wave simply moved down the street to Tsujiri), but then after lunch, the line had returned... anyways, the original cheesecake is just as heavenly as its green tea cousin. With Bake Code's take fresh in my mind, I experienced the pinnacle of cheesecake at Uncle Tetsu's: light and fluffy, it's like biting into a cheesy cloud. At first I was thinking that I would have to love the matcha version more, but after my slice, I'm not so sure anymore. Either way, the rating abides!

Rating: ****

Georgestown Bakery

Bakery: Georgestown Bakery
Address: 60 Hayward Ave., St. John's NL 
Website: n/a 
Style: Canadian 
Price: $ 

On a very rainy, very cold, absolutely miserable day in October, I decided to brave the elements and make the walk to Georgestown (also written Georgetown online; their store sign is with an -s??) Bakery, located in the historic neighbourhood of the same name. Stepping in on a weekday afternoon, I was pretty surprised to find the line to the door. Of course, the wooden interior worthy of a pioneer village is quite small, with most items laid out on wooden shelves behind the counter, but I hate to say that long lines at the bakery aren't (alas!) the most common of sights. At first glance, I was worried that my trip had been in vain: the bakery has a lot of rustic breads, but I couldn't see any see any sweets. Getting closer, I espied a tray of squares (date and some sort of nut and chocolate? ones), already wrapped individually in saran wrap and neither priced or labelled. The woman in front of me got the date squares and, turns out that at $0.75, they're a total steal! Ready to grab some for myself, I then spotted several spice cakes, wrapped, labelled, priced, and even including a list of enticing ingredients like real vanilla extract, unbleached flour, and some other good stuff.

Holy-moly... if only I could get these shipped!

Now, I love spice cakes and I was jumping at the super moist gingerbread when I spotted it: the date and rum cake ($4.30, taxes included). And oh yeah, there was real rum in it. How could I not take it? Too cold and wet to go any further, I soon returned to my room and instantly cut myself a slice. A-maz-ing! Fragrant and moist spice cake, some of the best I've ever had. My mom makes this fantastic date cake with date paste (actually, her baking beats most bakeries), so I already felt that I would love this one, but I especially liked how Georgestown threw in whole chunks of chewy dates right into the dough. The picture and modest loaf cake shape doesn't give this thing justice: I was sighing in pleasure after every bite. Insanely good.

Perhaps I had other places to visit that day and had to postpone them due to the fact my shoes were saturated and I was freezing, but nonetheless, I will say that the rainy trip to George(s)town was well worth it!

Rating: ****