Delightful Mochi Doughnuts at Marry Me Mochi

Marry Me Mochi
Location
: 100 City Centre Drive, Mississauga (inside Square One)
Website: https://www.marrymemochi.ca/

Mochi doughnuts are one of those things that were basically impossible to find in the city just a few years ago, and I wouldn’t say they’re everywhere now, but they’re certainly available.  It may be basically impossible to live affordably in the GTA, but on the other hand… mochi doughnuts?  You win some, you lose some.

Marry Me Mochi

Marry Me Mochi features an assortment of permanent flavours, as well as a rotating menu of specials; I went with one of the permanent varieties, creme brulee, which the menu says is their most popular.

The doughnut gets all its flavour from the frosting on top — there’s no custard filling here — but still manages to do a pretty impressive job of replicating the taste of creme brulee.  It actually does have a custardy flavour, and while it’s not crispy on top, it is torched, which helps it to land that flavour.

Marry Me Mochi

It’s also delightfully restrained in its sweetness.  A lot of doughnuts like this are both glazed and then frosted, which makes them a bit of a sugar bomb.  The sweetness here is just in the frosting, which lets you taste the doughnut itself and doesn’t overwhelm.

And, of course, it’s a mochi doughnut, so it has that pleasant springiness (but without being overly chewy).  It’s a great doughnut.

A Tasty Cardamom Bun at French Corner Bakery Patisserie

French Corner Bakery Patisserie
Location
: 1224 Dundas Street West, Mississauga
Website: https://www.instagram.com/frenchcornerpatisserie/

French Corner Bakery Patisserie (the word “bakery” is a bit odd there, isn’t it?  Patisserie is basically just a French word for bakery, so it’s the French Corner Bakery Bakery) has a whole bunch of very tasty looking pastries.

French Corner Bakery Patisserie

I was actually planning on ordering the almond croissant, but then I saw the cardamom bun and couldn’t resist.  I have a hard time saying no to a good cardamom bun, especially since they’re not exactly super common in the GTA.

French Corner Bakery Patisserie

And yeah, it’s a good one.  The bready pastry is dense without being overly tough, the cardamom flavour is unmistakable, and the level of sweetness is delightfully restrained.  It’s has a decent amount of sticky syrup on its exterior (not to mention the pearl sugar on top, which adds a great crunch that contrasts nicely with the toothsome pastry), but is otherwise not particularly sweet.

French Corner Bakery Patisserie

Clearly, I’m going to have to go back to try the almond croissant (and more!) because they know what they’re doing.

Delicious Cakes at Tokyo Cheesecake Cafe

Tokyo Cheesecake Cafe
Location
: 257 Dundas Street East, Mississauga
Website: https://www.instagram.com/tokyocheesecakecafe.ca/

Tokyo Cheesecake Cafe was actually a really delightful surprise.  I went in thinking I’d just check the place out, and wasn’t necessarily planning on buying anything.  Nothing really caught my eye (I was hoping they’d have a Japanese-style strawberry shortcake; they did not), but the store was empty and I felt bad leaving without buying anything, so I got a slice of the original cheesecake.

Tokyo Cheesecake Cafe

I figured this would be a fluffy, eggy, soufflé-style cheesecake like you can get at Uncle Tetsu’s.  I like that style of cheesecake, but it’s not my favourite.

This actually turned out to be completely different from that, with two layers on a chocolatey crust.  The top layer is light and super creamy, and the bottom layer is much more dense, with more of a traditional cheesecake flavour and texture.  There’s also a bit of a lemony flavour (lemon zest, maybe?) that complements it quite well.  And the chocolate crust has a mild bitterness that does a great job of offsetting the sweetness of the cheesecake.

Tokyo Cheesecake Cafe

It’s a seriously delicious dessert.  The silky top layer, the rich bottom layer, and the chocolate crust are a boffo combination.  They also had a bunch of other flavours of cheesecake, and I (and you!) need to try them all ASAP.

Tokyo Cheesecake Cafe

Also: as it happened, I went back a couple of weeks later, and they actually had the Japanese strawberry shortcake I was craving on my first visit.  I tried it, of course, and it was just as delicious as the cheesecake, with the cake itself being maybe the lightest, fluffiest cake I’ve ever had.

Quality Cinnamon Buns at Sweet Trolley Bakery

Sweet Trolley Bakery
Location
: 3056 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/sweettrolleybakery/

Sweet Trolley Bakery was featured in the Toronto Star, with the article specifically calling out the deliciousness of their cinnamon buns.  I have a hard time saying no to a delicious cinnamon bun, so yeah, I checked it out.

Sweet Trolley Bakery

I’ll admit that I’ve passed by this place several times, but — to my great shame — never bothered to go in until now.  Well, better late than never.

Sweet Trolley Bakery

The cinnamon bun is indeed extremely tasty.  I’m not sure if it’s the best in the city, but it’s very good; it’s got a nice tender/fluffy texture, a good amount of sweet icing on top, and a nice hit of cinnamon flavour.

I should note that this place is cash only, however, so come prepared.

Delicious Chocolate Chunk Cookies at Courage Cookies

Courage Cookies
Location
: 1561 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.couragecookies.ca/

It’s hard to go wrong with a good chocolate chip (or chocolate chunk in this case) cookie.  Done well, it’s one of the greatest things ever.  Done badly, it’s still pretty damn good.

Courage Cookies

Seriously: think about all of the chocolate chip cookies you’ve eaten in your lifetime.  Have you ever had one that wasn’t, at the very least, pretty good?  I’ll bet you haven’t!  It’s so simple, and it’s very hard to outright mess up.

Courage Cookies

I know this all kind of sounds like a preamble to me saying “well they’ve finally messed it up!” but no, that is absolutely, positively not the case.  The chocolate chunk cookie at Courage Cookies?  Delicious.

Courage Cookies

I mean, it’s got great quality chocolate, a nice crispy/chewy balance, and a satisfying brown sugary flavour to round it all out.  How can you go wrong there?  It’s also topped with a good amount flaky salt; I know not everyone is crazy about this, but I like the balance of sweet and salty that this brings, and the way that it helps cut the sugariness of the cookie.  It’s very good.