Tiny bakery. It’s quite expensive. A condensed milk croissant and a Scallion Chinese Sausage bun came to close to $12.
(edit: I realize now, looking at the photos 8 hours after my purchase, that the clerk accidentally charged me $6.20 before tax for the Scallion Chinese Sausage Croissant Banh Mi, instead of $3.80 plus tax for the Scallion Chinese Sausage Bun, and my bill should have been around $9)
I enjoyed the Scallion Chinese Sausage bun. I haven’t tried the croissant , as I didn’t purchase it for myself.
I first went to this Vietnamese bakery when they opened at Bloor/Spadina and we were in lockdown. Very small place. They are unique, different than your average Chinese or French bakery with ingredients like pork floss, salted egg, pandan or durian on most items.
They opened a 2nd location at Midland/Finch and I understand there were long lineups. We went twice; overall it was good because of it’s uniqueness, but not cheap. The Roasted Seaweed Roll Cake stood out for us.
Also want to give a shout out to Soft Dough Co. They claim to have " best Basque Burnt Cheesecakes and Madeleines" and I believe it - both were fantastic and I’ve not had better in the GTA! They are online shop only for now and you can do pickup or delivery (for reasonable charge). We also tried their Chocolate Dream Tart. Also excellent!
Back before the pandemic and for larger home dinner gatherings, we sometimes like to order Scaramouche’s legendary coconut cream pie as a take away. Not sure if they’re still doing this post-pandemic.
We’ve taken out Scaramouche’s coconut cream pie and very much enjoyed it.
Another favourite is the sour cherry clafouti from Bonjour Brioche, which is my wife’s preferred birthday “cake”. My grandmother was also partial to their flourless chocolate cake.
" La Petite Colline aka Shan-Shan Cafe, Markham " …using only natural and organic ingredients, this artisan bakery is IMHO one of the best boulangerie in the GTA. Its selection of European/Oriental fusion creation are tasty, varied and in some cases, quite unique.
As an award winner in her own right, the pastry chef/owner also worked along side the winner of the ‘2018 International Master de la Boulangarie’ for years before venturing out on her own.
Everything above looks really yummy. We have really enjoyed Isabella’s. Still have to try Emmer. Never heard of La Petite Colline - I like the name Coffee UFO bun.
I’m parking this article here, since it involves a Jewish blueberry bun called shtritzlach that is a Toronto specialty. There’s a recipe at the end of the article. These blueberry buns can be found at Harbord Bakery, Hermes, United Bakers and Gryfe’s.
