Creamy Japanese Pancakes at Fuwa Fuwa

Fuwa FuwaLocation: 408 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.fuwafuwapancakes.com/

Like Hanabusa Cafe in Kensington Market, Fuwa Fuwa specializes in Japanese souffle pancakes, which are basically like a cross between a pancake and a custardy souffle.

I’ve already talked about Hanabusa Cafe; you can probably just read that post to get a sense of what Fuwa Fuwa is like.  They’re very, very similar.

Fuwa Fuwa

I ordered the cookies and cream, which comes with two pancakes topped with Oreo-cookie-infused cream, a whole Oreo cookie, and a scoop of ice cream on the side.

It’s quite good — the pancakes are light, fluffy, custardy, mildly sweet, and very creamy.  The only noticeable difference between this place and Hanabusa Cafe are that the pancakes here are slightly creamier.  I couldn’t tell if they were slightly underbaked, or if that was intentional.  Either way, they were very tasty.

Fuwa Fuwa

The cookie-laden cream compliments them well, though the ice cream was overly sweet, with an odd flavour I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

Tarte au Citron at Bang Bang

Tarte au citron - Bang BangLocation93a Ossington Avenue, Toronto
Websitehttp://bangbangicecream.com/

I think this is going to be the shortest post I’ve ever written.  The tarte au citron flavour at Bang Bang is basically like the best lemon meringue pie you’ve ever had, but as an ice cream.

Lemon meringue pie?  Delicious.  Bang Bang?  Delicious.  Cram those two things together?  Yeah, it’s delicious.  Of course it’s delicious.  That’s just math.

The ice cream is creamy and pleasantly tart, with a great lemony flavour.  It’s got silky meringue swirled in for some additional creaminess and to help cut the tartness of the ice cream.  And then there are buttery, delicious chunks of pie crust.

It’s all just as good as you’d hope it would be.

Burnt Marshmallow at Ed’s Real Scoop

Ed's Real ScoopLocation: 189 Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.edsrealscoop.com/

I’ve mentioned before that the ice cream at Ed’s Real Scoop can be a bit hit and miss.  One of their more consistent flavours, however, is the burnt marshmallow.  It’s pretty much always delicious.

Ed's Real Scoop

I mean, how could it not be delicious?  It’s basically sweet cream, which is clearly the best flavour at Ed’s, with a rich, deeply flavourful caramel sauce swirled in.  It only just barely tastes like burnt marshmallow (it tastes more like creme caramel to me), but more importantly, it tastes delicious.

Ed's Real Scoop

And the ice cream itself is nice and creamy, though like all of the ice cream at Ed’s in the last few years, it has a slightly gummy texture that I find marginally off-putting.  It’s not a huge deal, but it’s there and it’s unfortunate (I will concede that in this particular case, the gumminess could be attributed to the fact that this is a marshmallow flavour.  But it’s there in all of their flavours, sadly).

Carrot Cake Doughnut at Dipped Donuts

Dipped DonutsLocation: 161 Baldwin Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.dippeddonuts.ca/

Dipped Donuts: still great.  I tried the blueberry basil doughnut from this place last year, and it was seriously tasty.

The one I just had — the carrot cake — might have been even better.  It’s outstanding.

Dipped Donuts

It’s a raised doughnut topped with cream cheese frosting, carrot cake chunks, candied walnuts and ginger, and a caramel drizzle.

It’s definitely sweeter than the last doughnut I tried, but it was just right.  The frosting was gooey and satisfying, and the chunks of cake were seriously tasty.  The nuts and the ginger amps up the flavour, and the caramel?  Come on.  It’s indulgent and amazing.

Dipped Donuts

And of course, the doughnut itself was just as good as I remembered, with a nicely substantial texture and a great flavour.  It’s a top-shelf doughnut.

Delicious Butter Tarts at Abbey’s Bakehouse

Abbey's Bakehouse by RedsLocation: 100 City Centre Drive, Mississauga (inside Square One)
Website: http://www.sircorp.com/abbeys-bakehouse/

I love butter tarts, but they’re one of those things that I’m sometimes wary to order; when they’re tasty they’re very tasty, but they can easily be throat-burningly sweet.

But I had specifically heard that the tarts at Abbey’s are quite good, so it seemed like a safe enough bet.

Abbey's Bakehouse by Reds

They’re not just good.  They’re great.  I’m not sure if they’re quite on the level of the Maids’ Cottage in Newmarket, which serves my favourite butter tarts in the GTA, but they’re clearly way above average.

The filling is sweet but not too sweet, with a rich caramelized flavour and a nice gooey consistency.  The crust is great too — it’s buttery and shortbready, and compliments the sweet filling perfectly.

Abbey's Bakehouse by Reds

The crust-to-filling ratio is also on point.  This can easily trip up a lesser butter tart, but here the balance is just right — there’s enough crust to offset the sweet filling, but not so much that it dominates.  It’s delicious.