sweet – Page 12 – Michael Eats

Tasty Pastries at Ba Noi

Published on November 7, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 806 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: https://ba-noi.myshopify.com/

Ba Noi is a delightful bakery on Bloor that specializes in sourdough, along with a handful of tasty treats.

They’re also very, very popular. When I showed up on a Saturday afternoon, they were sold out of everything outside of chocolate chip cookies and butter tarts. That was unfortunate, but certainly, there are worse things to be forced to order at a bakery. I tried both, and they were each extremely tasty. I’ll definitely have to come back to try the sourdough.

The cookie was the highlight. It helped that it was extremely fresh (arguably too fresh, but who can say no to a warm, gooey chocolate chip cookie?), but this was a superlative cookie, with great quality chocolate and a nice depth of flavour. I find a lot of chocolate chip cookies can be one-note sweet, but that definitely wasn’t the case here.

The butter tart was interesting; it was kind of like a hybrid between a standard butter tart and a Portuguese custard tart, with a flaky crust and a filling that was less sweet and more custardy than the norm. It was absolutely delicious, though the crust was a bit soggy despite it still being warm from the oven when it was served to me (the woman behind the counter advised that it might be too fresh to sample immediately; I waited about an hour to eat it. It’s possible it steamed in the bag?).

Delicious Soft Serve at Butter Baker

Published on October 16, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 140 Amber Street, Markham
Website: https://butter-baker.com/

The last time I tried Butter Baker, I had a croissant that I wasn’t particularly crazy about. I figured I’d try the soft serve this time, and it was thoroughly delicious. So clearly, that’s the thing to order.

I think the flavours rotate, but when I visited, they were serving a swirl consisting of plain frozen yogurt and a sorbet with passionfruit and… some other stuff. The guy described the flavour to me, and I immediately forgot. I know, I know — great blogging, very helpful. You’re welcome.

Whatever it is, it’s quite good, with the slightly tart sorbet balancing quite nicely with the sweet yogurt. That sweetness is maybe a bit too amped up, but that’s a minor complaint.

A Great Cake at Oompa Bakery

Published on September 29, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 71 Underhill Drive, North York
Website: https://oompabakery.com/

Oompa Bakery is a delightful little bakery in North York; they were mostly cleared out when I visited on a Saturday afternoon (they clearly do well!), but they did have dacquoise cakes in a variety of flavours.

The one I tried featured pistachio- and raspberry-flavoured buttercream sandwiched between two little cakes. I really enjoyed it.

The buttercream was perfect; super creamy, not overly buttery, and with a great contrast between the pistachio and raspberry flavours.

The cake in a dacquoise is kinda like a macaron, but with the addition of ground almonds, which gives it a more substantial texture and a slightly nutty flavour. It was quite tasty, with a delicately crispy exterior and a chewy interior that complemented the smooth buttercream perfectly. It’s a great dessert.

Tasty Buns at Saint Germain Bakery

Published on September 1, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 100 City Centre Drive, Mississauga (inside Square One)
Website: https://www.saintgermainbakery.com/

Saint Germain Bakery is an Asian bakery chain that started in Vancouver, and that’s been expanding around the GTA for the last few years. Their most recent location is in Square One in Mississauga, and it features a tempting assortment of sweet and savoury pastries (mostly cakes, croissants, and Asian-style buns).

It’s set up in a typical Asian bakery style, with everything (outside of the cakes) in self-serve displays, and trays for you to load up and take to the register.

My go-to at a bakery like this is typically something with red bean in it (I have a very hard time saying no to a red bean dessert), but I noticed they had something called a “Germain bun.” I had no idea what to expect with this, but I feel like it’s always a safe bet to order whatever pastry has the name of the bakery in it.

It’s not the most photogenic dessert in the world, but it’s very tasty. It basically tastes like a custard bun, but with the custard interspersed throughout — like a cinnamon roll, but with custard instead of cinnamon. It also has a crispy, sugary topping that does a great job of adding some texture to the soft, chewy bun. The topping might have amped up the sweetness level a bit too much, but the rest of the bun is more restrained, so it’s just right.

I liked it quite a lot, though I will say that it’s a deceptively hefty bun, so it’s probably a good idea to either share it, or eat half and save the rest for later. I ate it after having a heavy meal, and let me tell you: my stomach did not appreciate it. I think the term “food coma” applies.

Also: I came back another day and tried the red bean bun, and yeah, that’s good stuff. The red bean is maybe slightly too sweet and not quite as chunky as I’d like, but it’s still quite tasty and the bun is fluffy and fresh.

Tasty Cake Doughnuts at Maverick’s Donut Company

Published on August 28, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1618 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://mavericksdonuts.com/

Maverick’s is an Ottawa-based doughnut chain that opened their first location in Toronto last year. You might be thinking that we have enough doughnut joints in the city, but you’re wrong and here’s why: Maverick’s specializes in cake-based doughnuts. Most doughnut places will have a cake doughnut or two on the menu, but here it’s pretty much all of them.

I tried six: cherry glazed, pecan pie, maple bacon, double chocolate, lemon ricotta, and chocolate coconut.

They were all quite delightful. The cake is dense but not too dense, they’re not overly sweet (aside from maybe the maple bacon, which I still quite enjoyed), and they have a light crispiness on their exterior. They’re top quality doughnuts.

And the flavours were all great, though if I had to pick a favourite, it might be the nutty pecan pie. Or the double chocolate, which had a really satisfying chocolate flavour. Or the cherry glazed, which tasted like a doughnut and a maraschino cherry had a baby. Or the lemon ricotta, which had a nice tartness and a satisfying creaminess. Or the maple bacon, which had satisfying pops of saltiness from the bacon to offset the sweetness of the maple. Or the chocolate coconut, which is always a tasty combo.

Oh, I just named all the doughnuts, didn’t I. Well you know what? I liked all of them. They’re all my favourite. Deal with it.