sweet – Page 20 – Michael Eats

Mediocre Doughnuts at Donut Monster

Published on October 10, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 28 Bathurst Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.donutmonster.ca/

Donut Monster is a really acclaimed doughnut joint from Hamilton that recently opened a location in Toronto’s Stackt Market. I’ve been hearing nothing but good things about their doughnuts for a while now — if they hadn’t opened an outpost in Toronto, taking a long drive to Hamilton might have been in order.

I’m so glad I didn’t drive all the way to Hamilton for this.

I tried the Cherry Cheesecake Bullseye, which features sour cherry pie filling, cream cheese icing, and a graham cracker crumble.

I know a lot of people are more concerned about a doughnut’s fillings/toppings than anything else, and on that level this was pretty decent — the balance between the tart cherries and the sweet frosting was actually quite good.

But the doughnut itself was seriously disappointing; it was dense and dry and boring. It was like Wonder Bread. There’s nothing to it. I’m pretty sure the prepacked doughnuts you can get at the supermarket aren’t much worse.

It certainly wasn’t unpleasant, but from a high-end doughnut place it’s a huge let-down.

Sweet Greek Doughnuts at Lukumum

Published on October 4, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 484 Danforth Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.lukumum.com/

The Greek doughnuts (a.k.a. loukoumades) they serve at Lukumum are intensely sweet. They’re also extremely delicious.

I tried loukoumades at Loukoumania Cafe in Vaughan last year; the ones at Lukumum are twice as sweet. Three times as sweet? They’re way sweeter.

I tried a couple of varieties. I went with the classic, which is soaked through with syrup and topped with honey and cinnamon, and the hazelnut, which is soaked with syrup and topped with Nutella and hazelnuts.

Both were delicious, though I preferred the classic. Despite being soaked through with syrup, the exterior remains pleasantly crunchy. The inside is completely suffused with syrup, but it’s not mushy. It’s great. The honey adds even more sweetness, and a nice floral note that goes very well with the cinnamon.

The Nutella variety is tasty as well — Nutella makes anything delicious — but the original is more unique.

An Interesting Cinnamon Bun at Fika Cafe

Published on September 27, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 28 Kensington Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.fika.ca/

I’ve tried to get the cinnamon bun from Fika Cafe a few times, and it’s been sold out every time.

I finally got one. It was worth the wait.

Fika Cafe is a Swedish bakery and coffee shop in Kensington Market; they sell a Swedish-style cinnamon bun, and it’s fantastic.

It’s basically like a cross between a Swedish cardamom bun and a more traditional cinnamon roll, and it’s so damn good. It tastes more strongly of cinnamon than cardamom, but that slightly floral cardamom taste is definitely there; it’s a delightful balance.

Everything else about it is pretty much perfect — it has the perfect amount of sweetness, with a light sugary glaze and additional pops of sweetness and texture from the pearl sugar on top. It’s pretty restrained, however, so if you’re expecting a Cinnabon-esque sugar-bomb, look elsewhere.

The pastry itself is dense but not too dense, with a nice chewy texture and just the right amount of fluffiness. And of course, the aforementioned cinnamon/cardamom balance is just right. It’s one of the best pastries I’ve had in a while.

Perfectly Crispy Cannoli at Holy Cannoli

Published on September 20, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: Follow them on Instagram to see where they’ll be
Website: https://www.holy-cannoli.com/

There’s nothing sadder than biting into a cannoli only to find that its would-be crispy exterior has been rendered soft and chewy by the ravages of time.

Holy Cannoli, which had a booth at the recent OssFest street festival, avoids this problem quite definitively by filling their cannoli shells to order. This is clearly the way to do it. I don’t know why every bakery doesn’t do it this way.

So of course, the shell was nice and crispy, just as it should be. It’s crispy but not overly crunchy — it’s basically the perfect cannoli shell.

You can choose from either chocolate chip or vanilla filling; I went with the latter, and it was creamy, sweet, and tasty. Nothing about it particularly jumped out as being amazing, but it was a solid cannoli.

Chocolate Cream Pie at Bakerbots Baking

Published on August 19, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 205 Delaware Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://bakerbotsbaking.com/

Chocolate cream pie is one of those desserts that’s incredibly simple (it’s basically just chocolate pudding in a pie crust), but incredibly satisfying.

There’s not much to say about this; it’s exactly what you’re hoping it’ll be.

The filling is dense and rich, with a very pronounced bittersweet chocolate flavour that’s nice and intense without being overpowering.

The cream helps to cut the richness from the chocolate filling, and the little bits of chocolate on top add additional texture and flavour.

The crust is nothing to write home about, though the pie was in the “day old” section of the bakery at a discount, so it’s possible it might have been better when it was just baked. There certainly wasn’t anything wrong with it, but nothing about it jumped out at me. The balance between the chocolate and the cream was so tasty, however, that it really didn’t matter.