Sweetheart Bakery - Chinese Bakery

Sweetheart Bakery
8111 160 avenue
Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. (Closed Tuesday)
Saturday 9 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Sunday and Holidays 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
780 457 2238

To my friend Corey. Who didn't believe in me.

Welcome to Sweetheart Bakery, a typical chinese Bakery in Edmonton. Walking in, there are small plastic showcases on both sides of the bakery where you can grab a tray and tongs, walk from showcase to showcase and pick out your goodies. Most of these goodies are buns; they have fillings such as shredded coconut, pineapple, taro, or sweet plain. Other buns have meat fillings: beef, BBQ pork, chicken curry, pizza... They also have cookies, biscuits, tarts, red bean snowballs and rice cakes, puffs, and long doughnuts; quite the selection.

In the larger showcases they sell tortes, slices of cheesecake, and a variety of pastries. Their cream puffs are unbelievably tall and very tempting, they stand about 4 inches high! They have what in my world and the french world are called petit fours, small confectionary or savoury appetizers. It is pretty much a very small version of a cake; of which there was vanilla, chocolate and coffee flavours. The cheesecake slices I mentioned don't look like they are made in house but bought from someplace like Wow Factor desserts in Sherwood Park (they sell large cheesecakes there mostly to restaurants).

No bread or plain buns are sold here.

The pastries and buns I bought today put on a good show; they all looked almost perfect. My purchases: cream puffs, chocolate and coffee petit four, mini coffee roll, ham bun and a coconut bun.

The buns were great, especially since I only paid a buck a piece for them! The coconut bun was slightly sweet with the perfect amount of coconut inside and the ham bun was a great lunchtime snack.

I have no complaints about the pastries since again, the price was right and they were tasty. Don't get me wrong, this bakery is not one of my favourites, but the place was clean and well organized, staff were friendly, prices were good, and the goodies they sell don't lack in the temptation field. I like it.

Breadland - Organic whole Grain Bakery

Breadland Organic Whole Grain Bakery
11642 104 Avenue
Monday to Saturday 8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
780 454 5556 

This was only my second time at Breadland, my first shopping experience here was a few years ago and things seemed to have changed quite a bit and for the better.

Although this Bakery is small, it has many breads to choose from: white, whole wheat, multigrain, 100% rye, spelt, gluten free and sourdough, to name a few. They had multigrain, white and gluten free buns as well as bagels. For sweets there was: poppyseed danish, cookies, turnovers, pizza type pastries, and cinnamon buns, to name a few. All the products at Breadland are made from 100% organic ingredients. Most bakeries have more products available on weekends, but not these guys, apparently the selection is pretty much the same.

I decided to purchase a 100% rye bread and a tomato, cheese, and basil pastry.

Their rye bread was very, very good. The crust was crunchy and medium thick, the inside was soft and unlike many heavy ryes I have had, not dry. Although Breadland does not make a light or medium rye this did not taste like a typical heavy rye, it tasted better. It comes with a warning though, it contains caraway seeds. There isn't a bold caraway flavour, but it is definitely there and over the years experience has taught me that people either love caraway seeds or hate them.

The pastry was like the bread, marvellous. There was a lot of flavour and the crust was soft and made using spelt flour. The small amount of oil ontop of it was perfect, the basil was fresh and the cheese was salty.... excellent.

Obviously I think this bakery is great. Although I find myself wondering how in the name of sweet poppyseed danish I have not been here more often. The place smelled of cleanliness, hard work, and good food. Watch out people, this place has become one of my top 10 in Edmonton!

Bonjour Bakery

Bonjour Bakery
8612 99 Street
Tuesday to Friday 8:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Saturday 7:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
780 433 5924

Bonjour!!

This was only my second experience at Bonjour Bakery and it was a rather pleasant one seeing that the first time I decided to shop here the place was almost sold out. These guys have been around for a few years, albeit changing owners and names, it was previously Tree Stone Bakery. They make a wide variety of breads; country rye, whole grain, landbrot, and french baguettes to name a few. They also have croissants, bagels, and brioche. Other than that all I saw was chocolate oatmeal cookies and bran muffins.

On this visit I had decided to purchase an oatmeal cookie and a baguette. The oatmeal cookie was warm, moist, chewy and absolutely delicious. The baguette, which was made using organic whole what flour, organic rye flour and Alberta white flour was absolutely fantastic. My husband and I used it to make sandwiches using cheese and meat from a nearby deli shop and tomatoes and salad from my garden; we were in a food comma from it. We were also proud that almost everything we ate came from a local source, go us!

There's not much else to say about this bakery. It has a very small front shop, occupies a commercial space on 99 st and off whyte avenue, and parking is great (it is behind the shop). The store clerk that helped me was very friendly and informative, she let me know if I wanted to speak to the owner I could give him a call or send him an e-mail. I definitely recommend this place since the goods were great and they use local and organic flour.

Buns & Roses - Organic Wholegrain Bakery

Buns and Roses
6519 111 Street
780 438 0098

Buns & Roses - Organic Wholegrain Bakery

When my sister mentioned that I should check out this bakery I thought I had never been to it before, until I pulled up and remembered that a few years ago, I had. Though my memory of it was not uber pleasant, it was not unpleasant. I remember walking in and walking out empty handed, a rarity for me. The shelves were bare and uncleaned and there was not a single customer in there.

I decided to start with a clean slate, pretending I had never been inside before. For starters the shelves were not bare and instead were filled with cookies, croissants, cinnamon buns, buns, breads, samosas, and other goodies. There was a couple sitting on some rustic leather chairs and another couple purchasing goodies. I noticed signs of "gluten free," dairy and nut free," and "baked not fried." This looked promising. There were bags of cookies on the shelves and the front of house helper seemed very informative, I eavesdropped on the conversation he was having with the customers being served.


When my turn came along to be served I decided to purchase a whole wheat cinnamon bun and a
baked samosa. The cinnamon bun, although a little dry, was packed with cinnamon and was unsweet, which I love. The samosa was mildly spicy and lacked a variety of fillings; inside were peas and potatoes. Although fresh I have to admit I was a little disappointed.

Buns and Roses caters to people with certain dietary issues; vegans, gluten free, egg and dairy free, sugar free; and they use a variety of flours. Aesthetically it could use some work and although my experience was not superb, my shopping bag was only filled with two treats and a trip to try more is a definite must.

A little explanation...

Why Bakeries?

MY LOVE FOR BAKERIES IS NOT ABNORMAL, NOT WITHIN MY STANDARDS ANYWAY. IT IS NOT AN OBSESSION, IT IS A LOVE, A CALLING; A WORLD OF SWEET BUTTER CROISSANTS AND POPPYSEED CAKES, RYE BREAD AND PLUM JAM DOUGHNUTS. THEY ARE MARVELLOUS.

Where ever in the world I travel to, I go and visit the local Bakeries. I have lists of them (those and chocolate shops....and farmers markets, but those will be different blogs!!) and I check them off as I travel through places. The things that are created there are art pieces; each one shaped differently. Deformities don't exist in bakeries because flavours co-exist with one another and mistakes create new treats. The way a baguette is shaped, its flavour with some butter or jam. The way an eclair starts to melt on your lips when you bite into it. For me, that first smell when you walk into a bakery is pure bliss.

Although I am somewhat picky when it comes to choosing pastries, the adventurous side of me tries
things that my eyes don't drool over. There are also things I loath: store bought canned fruit to make tarts or pies; fillings that come in buckets (like for lemon meringue pie); just add water brownies; these should not be sold at local bakeries.

There will be very few negative reviews as my pallet is different from everyone else's. As well, if a disgruntled employee is being rude to me it does not reflect the pastries and breads that are sold at the bakery...usually. I have been to some bakeries hundreds, literally, of times and each experience is a little different. That Kaiser bun may be a little burnt, lopsided, more or less fluffy than the last time, bigger or smaller; overall though I love that Kaiser bun and it plus other things about the Bakery have made me come back over and over again. I don't judge a Bakeries mishaps, unless it truly deserves a poor review for some awful reasons.

I thought I have been to every single Bakery in Edmonton, but please prove me wrong. My sister did today and it excited me to the outer regions of the universe. A new Bakery!

Positive or negative feedback is always welcome and appreciated. Just make sure it's always positive. Just kidding. Please enjoy my blog, I have decided to start it as a hobby and for leisure.

Jolanta Andrews