Tag: sweet

Delicious Butter Tarts at Abbey’s Bakehouse

Published on by Michael NusairLeave a comment

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.

Tasty (and Unusual) Doughnuts at Flipside Donuts

Published on by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Flipside DonutsLocation: 12 Case Goods Lane, Toronto
Website: https://flipsidedonuts.com/

Though I’ve had many, many sweet doughnuts in my lifetime (and so have you, I’m guessing, unless you’re living out some kind of Encino Man scenario and have just emerged from the ice), but I can’t say I’ve ever had a savoury one.

There’s a first time for everything, of course, and if what Flipside Donuts is serving up is any indication, savoury doughnuts are way better than you’d think they’d be.

Flipside Donuts

Flipside serves mini doughnuts a la Tiny Tom, and if you order one of their savoury concoctions, you get eight little doughnuts with various toppings.

I ordered the Spadina Streetcar: “8 mini donuts covered in hoisin, braised duck, pickled vegetables, sesame aioli, cilantro.”

Flipside Donuts

The doughnuts themselves are great — they’re freshly fried, just as you’d hope they’d be, with a mild sweetness that works quite well with the savoury toppings.

The texture is a bit more dense and cakey than Tiny Tom, with a lightly crispy exterior that’s incredibly satisfying.

Flipside Donuts

And the toppings are delicious.  Hoisin and duck is obviously a boffo combination, not to mention the extra punch of creaminess that you get from the aioli.  And the freshness of the cilantro and the vinegary punch of the slaw helps to cut the richness from the other elements.  The duck itself is a bit dry, but mostly, the dish works way better than you’d think.

Flipside Donuts

I also tried a few of the sweet doughnuts.  I tried Bellwoods Bonfire (“toasted spiced walnuts & hickory smoked maple syrup”), South Coast Sour (“lemon curd, toasted poppy seed”), Danforth Drizzle (“pistachio butter, Toronto honey, puff pastry”), and Viva YRT (“sweet mango puree & toasted coconut”).

Flipside Donuts

There wasn’t a dud in the bunch, though the Danforth Drizzle, with its rich pistachio flavour, was my favourite.

Tasty Cookies at Cookie Scoop

Published on by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Cookie ScoopLocation: 1115 Castlefield Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://cookiescoop.ca/

I recently mentioned that there aren’t nearly enough cookie shops in the city.  I mean, you can never have enough cookies, but the handful of shops we have in the GTA definitely isn’t enough.

Well, here’s one more, though the location is in an industrial area that’s a bit out of the way (they offer delivery on their website, and I suspect that’s where they do most of their business).

Cookie Scoop

It’s a tiny shop, but they offer a dizzying array of cookies; I decided to get six, and it was exceptionally difficult to pick from the many, many delicious looking choices.

I ultimately went with pistachio milk chocolate, peanut butter Nutella, Mars Bar cookie, Italian milk chocolate gianduja, hazelnut praline (Ferrero Rocher), and milk chocolate brownie.  All the flavours looked so good, though.  I wanted all of them, but that wouldn’t have ended well for anybody.

Cookie Scoop

 

They’re solid cookies, but they have a cakey texture that you only get from cookies that have been engineered to be perpetually chewy.  I’m guessing this is due to their delivery-heavy business, which means the cookies probably won’t be consumed until a day or two after they’re baked, if not longer.

Cookie Scoop

Don’t get me wrong — they’re quite tasty, but I prefer the classic dense and buttery cookies that they serve at a place like Craig’s.  There’s nothing wrong with the cakier variety they serve here, but the crispy/chewy texture of a more traditional chocolate chip cookie can’t be beat.

Cookie Scoop

Still, the flavours were all top notch (I particularly enjoyed the peanut butter Nutella), and despite my minor quibbles with the texture, they’re tasty cookies.

Tasty Frozen Custard at Woodfire Sandwich Co.

Published on by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Woodfire Sandwich Co.Location: 3797 Lake Shore Boulevard West, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.woodfiresandwich.com/

I’ve mentioned before that frozen custard is almost impossible to find in the city.  Which is completely baffling, because we have about a million ice cream shops.  There’s no reason we shouldn’t have a bunch of places serving delicious frozen custard.

As far as I know, we have two: Rita’s, an outpost of an American chain near Kensington Market, and now Woodfire Sandwich Co.

Woodfire Sandwich Co.

If you’re not familiar with frozen custard (and if you’re living in Toronto, you’d be forgiven for not knowing what it is), it’s basically like regular ice cream, but made more luxurious and creamy with the addition of egg yolks.

Woodfire serves chocolate, vanilla, and a rotating feature flavour.  You can also add a variety of optional toppings.  I just got plain vanilla so I could bask in the sweet, sweet, custardy glory without anything getting in the way.

Woodfire Sandwich Co.

It’s good.  It’s not quite as tasty as basically any frozen custard I’ve had in the States, but it’s legit.  It’s got a pronounced custardy flavour and a satisfyingly silky texture.  It could be creamier, and eating it gets a bit one-note sweet after a while, but all things considered, I enjoyed it.

Hey, beggars can’t be choosers.  It’s frozen custard and it doesn’t require that I drive hundreds of kilometres to the States.  I’ll take it.

Solid Ice Cream at Put A Cone On It

Published on by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Put A Cone On ItLocation: 633 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.putaconeonit.com/

Ice cream is the best.  And while what they’re serving at Put A Cone On It probably isn’t going to knock anyone’s socks off, it’s above average ice cream.  Which means that, yes: it’s the best.

Put A Cone On It

Plus, they make their own ice cream, which is always nice.  There’s nothing more disheartening than going to an ice cream shop only to realize that they’re serving commercial stuff like Kawartha or Nestle.  I can buy that at the supermarket.  Get out of here with that.

They have a handful of dairy and non-dairy flavours available; I tried the roasted banana, which is one of the dairy options.

Put A Cone On It

It’s quite tasty.  True to its name, it has a very pronounced banana flavour that almost reminded me of banana bread, only with a more amplified fruity flavour.

The texture was ever-so-slightly icy, and it could have been richer, but it was quite good.  Like I said: it probably won’t be your favourite ice cream in the city, but you’re definitely going to enjoy eating it.