Bakery18
Atrium on Bay, 20 Dundas Street West, lower level
416-979-7168

In the land populated by doughnuts, coffee, or the ubiquitous bagel, a young player rises up to open minds and stomachs with new possibilities. Bakery18 is a two-year old business run by the granddaughter of the creator of Jin Cheng Bakery Ltd. (3636 Steeles Ave E Unit 138) that originated in Taiwan nearly 60 years ago. At its helm is the youthful and bubbly co-owner/store manager, Vivian Chen, who has helped to open three stores in the family business empire.

Continue reading The Smell of Sweet Success »

Being raised in a town devoid of much Chinese food outside of the family restaurant, it was always a joy when my parents made the trip to Toronto to bring back a bunch of goodies, especially if it was from a Chinese bakery. I would be eagerly anticipating the rice flour steamed cakes and coconut buns from Kim Moon Bakery (442 Dundas Street West), a longstanding soldier that continues to thrive in the Spadina/Dundas Chinatown.

Continue reading Egg Tarts and Beyond »

Messa Bites
681 Mount Pleasant Road
416-485-5832

Every occasion calls for a cookie. That’s certainly the going train of thought in the Costa household, where wife Vera and husband Michael bake biscuits for any and all times of year. Want 200 cookies with wedding dresses or clover leaves on them? Maybe Canadian flags? Cupid? Frogs? Company logo?

The new Costa creation, Messa Bites, would likely welcome the challenge. They add personal flare and imaginative design to a batch of cookies or other sweets, made with all-natural ingredients. “Our motto is to ‘give them something to talk about,’” says Vera Costa. “That’s exactly what we want guests to do at a party. Imagine taking home an edible place card or matching your child’s invitation with a cookie favour.

Continue reading Using Cookies as Canvasses »

The Bake Shop
195 Harbord Street
416-850-8039

The first time I walked into the Bake Shop I did a double take. For a brief moment I wondered if by accident I had walked into someone’s home kitchen. The set up of this quaint bakery is not typical of a shop. There is no store front, no back of house, and no divide between customer and shop keeper. Indeed, it does look like a home.

Continue reading Baked With Love at the Bake Shop »

Valentine’s Day is:

a) a day to celebrate love and passion
b) just another exploitive commercial event
c) a reminder of singledom
d) extra pressure on relationships
e) my birthday

I don’t know if anyone really looks forward to Valentine’s Day. Even though people always coo, “Oh you’re a Valentine’s baby that’s nice,” I can’t really believe that they mean it. Typically, what it does mean is that my coupled friends have plans, and I get pushed to the week before or after. If I do try celebrate punctually, restaurants and any other establishments that can cash in on the red and pink are usually too overpriced or fully booked. Over the years, instead of feeding any acrimony, a solution arose: the “birthday week”, during which I treated myself to a little something each day.

Forget waiting for candy and cards from Cupid. That’s why every year I gift myself with some I “Choo-choo choose” me, indulgences. The following are my treats for 2008. Sometimes bitterness, like in dark chocolate, can turn out to be something nice.

Continue reading Sweet Eats for Valentine Week »

Tasty Exposuer: Jewel-like crystal dumplings from Chiu Chow Boy Restaurant (3261 Kennedy Road, Scarborough) allows diners a glimpse of the sweet treasures hidden inside before breaking though its chewy steamed skins.

Snacking is a favourite pastime of mine, and like many fellow snackers, I’m always on the lookout for new things to eat. The GTA hosts a number of great establishments dedicated to the art of snacking - a fact that both my tongue and tummy appreciate. This is the second part of a series dedicated to freshly made snacks from East Asia. Part 1 focused on grilled and fried munchies that you could really sink your teeth into, while this post places focus on sweet endings. Dedicated to entice Torontonians with a sweet tooth, the following highlights features an alternative to the standard meal-enders of coffee and pastries. It’s time to ready those taste buds for more tempting treats, from dessert soups to fruity bubble tea, the options seem endless.

Continue reading Snack Time Feature: the Search for Fresh East Asian Treats (Part 2 of 2) »

Dufflet Pastries
1917 Queen Street East (Beach location)
416-699-4900
Dessert and a glass of wine for two with all taxes: $30

Luscious dessert by the “Queen of Cake” paired with a carefully chosen tipple? What a sweet idea. Dufflet’s Beaches retail cafe location is licensed and has extended hours until 11pm from Thursdays to Saturdays, offering dessert and wine pairings “inspired from the cafes of France and Italy”.

It’s not the first time that a sweet-centric spot with a license to imbibe came on the scene - most of my highschool days were spent at various joints of the defunct Just Desserts chain - but it is one of the few places that promises thoughtful pairings of double decadence. As someone who has maybe gone so far as eating a brownie with coffee and Bailey’s, I was intrigued by the notion of drinking wine with the final course.

Continue reading Wine and Dessert Pairings at Dufflet’s »

Dessert Lady
20 Cumberland Street
416-924-3223

Here is a spell of winter magic: Trudging through the slush and tumbling over snowbanks in suddenly-white Toronto, cold, nose running, face wind-burnt and opening the door to the Dessert Lady. The powerful scent of shortbread slams into me like a wave. The wind turns to warmth. And winter is long gone two steps into this cozy Yorkville shop.

For three years, a sibling team has been creating artful goodies that run the gamut of everything sweet. Chef Mandy Kan, whose studies began at Manhattan’s renowned French Culinary Institute, has honed her skills in Florida (Ritz Carlton) and Toronto (Superior Restaurant, Summerhill Market). Now she’s got her own shop of innovative desserts.

Continue reading An Inspired Sweet Tooth »

Around this festive time, I usually whip up a batch of cookies, squares etc., for my friends and family to indulge in, as it is the season to be munching on rich food and sipping egg nog. This year, I see the probability of pulling out my baking supplies as slim to none, since my schedule has been packed to the rim… and I can attribute it to my procrastination too.

Therefore, I needed help to make up for my lack of sweet treats in gifts this year. So I investigated who the cream of the crop of shortbread suppliers are in the Toronto area. As is the trend for my articles, I ventured around the city (and beyond) to do my research. There was a common theme that ran across several of the vendors I came across, which was developing a business out of the love of baking, and taking a family recipe and perfecting it to share the end results with the public.

Continue reading Buttery Love During the Holidays = Shortbread »

Harbord Bakery
115 Harbord Street
416-922-5767

We are standing around my kitchen table with an assorted selection of baked goods in front of us. I have just returned home from Harbord Bakery and we are about to start an enviable taste test.

“There’s so much here, I don’t know where to begin,” says Thea in amazement. Thea and Rich, friends who share my love of food, have been visiting for the week from Edmonton. They are more than willing to voice their opinions on all things edible.

Earlier in the morning I got up while they were still sleeping and walked over to the bakery. The warm smell of fresh baked goods was an inviting change from the cold wind outside that has now taken over Toronto. Customers bustled around the counters deciding what they wanted to bring home for Saturday brunch. With so many people around I was able to ask some of those waiting in line for suggestions. Locals were willing to share their Harbord favourites. Top picks were wide-ranging and included fruit flan, carrot cake and tuna salad.

Harbord Bakery, officially named Harbord Bakery and Calandria, is not just a bakery. Rather, it is a well organized and stocked one-stop-shop.

Continue reading Harbord Bakery Treats »

(A Trio of squares, from front to back: chocolate dipped cardamom pistachio cookies, Pierre Hermé’s sablés à la noix de coco (aka coconut biscuits), and chocolate dipped candied ginger cookies.)

Baking is a great way to share that warm fuzzy feeling of giving from the heart. As the holiday season fast approaches, those of us who are slaves to the kitchen can feel the clock ticking on our holiday baking projects. Brainstorms, plans and checklists are made for the treats that will fill our homes with delicious scents and end up filling many happy tummies. Every year I venture to package a number of special goodies to spread a little Christmas spirit. This year is no exception, but instead of ruining the surprise to my dear family and friends, I’ll share the scrumptious offerings I’ve made in the past.

Continue reading A Taste of Holiday Cheer: Sugar and Spice Is Definitely Nice »

I am astounded, on an annual basis, at the vehemence at which people denounce the poor, much-maligned fruitcake. I guess the 12 months in between always makes me forget, but once October rolls around and the topic of fruitcake comes up, people get downright ugly.

There’s a theory that anger is the result of fear, and if that’s the case, I know an awful lot of people who are irrationally fearful of pecans and glace cherries. To the point where the mere mention of this traditional holiday treat makes their eyes bulge, their blood pressure soar, and their faces get all red and scary. When I recently mentioned in my Facebook status that I was planning on making fruitcake, I thought my message wall was going to need disinfecting. One person wanted me to know, in no uncertain terms that he did not want to be on my fruitcake gift list. Another asked, “Does anyone eat that shit? I have three frozen in my freezer.”

Continue reading Nutty As a Fruitcake »

“You must try the burek.”

I was in Budapest, at a soiree, chatting with charming locals about things to do and see.

“It is wonderful. One piece will sustain you for a day.”

Of all the must-try recommendations, I did not expect a pastry born in Serbia, with Turkish roots. But it was indeed, lovely, and the perfect comfort food for the day after, having survived a night of many glasses of Hungarian reds, pints of Czech pilsner, and shots of rakia, with newfound friends.

Continue reading Big On Burek »

A couple months back I had great fun writing a piece on cupcakes in Toronto, comparing a variety of the pretty little cakes from different bakeries and shops across the city. The result of that taste test determined that the vanilla cupcake from Circles and Squares bakery topped our list, winning as both our favourite vanilla cupcake and our favourite overall.

It turns out that the bakery is just a few minutes from my house and when owner David Baxter invited me to stop by, I certainly wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity.

Continue reading Creating a Delicious Thing »

It is almost time to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, and this year, it falls on September 25th. This celebration of the end of the harvest season also honours abundance and togetherness. Falling on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, the mid-autumn festival often parallels the autumn equinox of the lunar calendar. Most festivities have traditional foods that are associated with them, and for this celebration of fall, the moon cake takes centre stage.

Traditionally, moon cakes are made with lotus seed paste and a salted duck’s egg yolk (or two, three or four) encased in the paste. This dense mixture is then encased by pastry ingrained with a symbol of ‘mid-autumn festival’ on the top, or the name of the company who manufactured them - my mom deems Wing Wah as the moon cake gold standard. Nowadays, with consumers being more demanding about variety, there are different flavours and fillings available, as well as healthier options such as low sugar.

Continue reading It’s Moon Cake Time! »