" Patisserie Fleur , Markham " - French pastries ranging from Fabulous to Fair to Flawed!
The Mango mousse cake was superb and highly commendable! Light, fluffy, delicate, very perfumy and not overly sweet.
The Hazelnut and Caramel Mousse cake was fairly tasty and enjoyable except lacking in textural contrast. The pieces of hazelnut scattered on the surface should have done the job but sadly, the pastry chef did not roast and crisp them up. The resulting chewy effect created an unattractive mouth feel instead.
I had high hopes looking at the visually attractive Apple dessert. Initial bite exude a nice, aromatic apple-cinnamon taste profile. Sadly, it quickly transformed into an overly sweet and cloying aftertaste inside the mouth. What a pity!
IMHO, Duo still stands head and shoulder above all patisseries north of the 401.
" Flor Cake Studio, King’s Square, Woodbine/16th Ave., Markham " - Trying out a new product from a newly found ‘Mille-crepe’ specialist
Dark Chocolate, Hazelnut Mille-Crepe. A pleasant and enjoyable, not overly sweet dessert. Creamy, smooth Chocolate and Hazelnut Praline filling paired with a delightful, slightly chewy texture, originates from the multi-layered thin crepe.
Nadege had promo today and got lucky as they ran out of my selection so ended up getting your Fraisier. Will report back after I have tried it with friends
OK reporting back on the Fraisier. Decent but I wouldn’t order again. The crumb (I think its marzipan) on top gives it a bit of texture and elevates it over the mundane offerings elsewhere. I think someone on this forum is a fan so by all means give this a try.
I have only tried Thobors’ Fraisier which has no almond or marzipan.
Roselle has Fraisiers and some other strawberry specials right now. I’ve
never ordered any strawberry desserts from Roselle. I’m rarely on King E these days.
Well I used to be a Roselle fan but I can’t recommend much there except their cakes and some collaboration cookie sets (which have gone up in price exponentially) Their strawberry soft serve is OK just because the strawberries are decent main soft serve is mundane IMO. Pavlova for dine in is just a variation of what’s in season somewhat, add that with very inaccessible hours my trips there have become few and far between.
To be honest, I never go east of Yonge unless I’m meeting friends on a patio in East York or Leslieville. The main place I revisit on that side of the Don River is Le Conciliabule.
There are enough good bakery options west of Yonge Street for me.
After seeing laduree’ has opened up their bakery I intend to make full use of their delivery options.
Only few items have shown up so far.
Anyways here is the first delivery
Millefeuille good but I think fresh one from patisserie 27 is better
Pistachio Macaron good
Croissant à la Rose haven’t tried yet
Looking forward to trying something from Coco’s. I went there just once and there wasn’t a cake or cookie in sight. Maybe arrived too late? Must try again. Is there a good time of day?
For you and @Phoenikia - I really miss the almond croissant from Clafouti (and their plain one was as good as or almost as good as in Paris). Does Roselle still sell them or is Conciabulle a good bet?
Roselle does not regularly do croissants that I know of. Conci has great ones - aside from the standard, try the triple cheese, the raspberry, and the pistacchio. We also like the croissants at Bonjour Brioche.
Le Conciliabule is excellent!
It’s my favourite spot for French pastries on the east side!
I haven’t been to Roselle in 5 years, so no comment there.
I have to confess, I don’t eat croissants. I buy the almond croissants for my relatives who like them a lot. They let me know which ones they like more than others. I do buy other goods for myself at these bakeries, when I buy their almond croissants.
West Side
For French stuff on the west side, these are places where I buy almond croissants the most frequently:
Emmer ($7ish)
Annex Espresso Bar on Bathurst ($4 for almond, $4.25 for almond pain au choc/chocalatine)
Nadège in the Annex (kitty corner to Pauper’s Pub.
Bakery Pompette on College St
I didn’t try the croissants at La Boulangerie at Dundas just east of Ossington. For French bread, it’s excellent. I want to try the sandwiches. They sell some French imports. Definitely a nice posh shop to check out when you want a little splurge. They’re open Mondays, when places like Emmer, Bricolage and BarberShoppe are only open 3 or 4 days a week!
