"Sweets And The City"

[Daddy-A]

Whilst reading the fall issue of "Eat" I find there's a new place to endulge in baked goods, "Coco et Olive."  Has anyone tried this place yet?  I did a search here and found nothing.

The address reads, 3476 West Broadway, 604-736-7080

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Its right next door to the Transylvanian Bread Place. Good coffee and a chance to speak French if you need it. Can't speak to anything other than a couple biscuits, which were good ... worth at least a second visit.

A.

[Zucchini Mama]

After hiking around UBC campus on a wild goose chase, I ended at The Museum of Anthropology up angry as a hornet and hungry as an eGulleter miles from a decent lunch. Found little green signs that read "Matcha Tea Festival". Followed them, thinking of Alice in Wonderland. Ended up near the Nitobe Gardens sampling a cornucopia of green delights.

From a woman (Sachiko Hill) who is the "Matcha Sweets Factory" I tasted a green tea scone, cookie (with white chocolate and macadamia nuts, shortbread cookies, cream cheese brownies, and almond madelines. My favorite were the madelines, flavorful and moist with lots of ground almonds-they would have been good with plain green tea. I also had a green tea lattea from Infuse, which was good, but a tad too sweet for my taste. I found some salmon sushi and umebushi plum sushi. I forgot how much I love the saltiness of those plums. I also spent some time at the edge of the pond at the Nitobe garden, watching the Koi paint living pictures under the water. I don't know anything about haiku, I know you'll all take the piss, but indulge me ;-).

Black and orange koi

swim side by side,

almost yin and yang.

Green and brown leaves

blown from the same tree.

One falls in water, the other

on moss.

Under the big oak,

I eat two madelines,

one for hunger,

another for memory.

Zuke

[Ling]

especially like the last one, zucchini mama

[Ling]

The Portuguese cream tarts from Michele's are indeed very tasty! I like how the custard is browned on the edges.

[fud]

I tried the gingerbread dessert at HSG and it was pretty good but....

1. The Godiva chocolate cake at Mortons - Molten chocolate in a beautiful not-too-sweet cake. Man alive - I dont usually like chocolate too much but damn...

2. I had this wonderful dessert involving a pear stuffed with blue cheese and then baked in phyllo pastry and drizzled with honey at La Gavroche. Manny, you're the man! Good stuff! How do you know I love cheese? (I actually rather the cheese/grape platters for dessert usually The crepe suzette was divine too mmm

Anyone remember Benny's bagels from like say 15 years ago? I swore they had the BEST cheesecake but since then I havn't been able to find it

[Ling]

1. The Godiva chocolate cake at Mortons - Molten chocolate in a beautiful not-too-sweet cake.  Man alive - I dont usually like chocolate too much but damn...

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The guy I'm dating also really loves the Godiva chocolate cake. I think it's good, but not excellent. I taught him how to make a molten chocolate cake and we used Scharffen Berger chocolate instead. He agreed that it was much better than the Godiva cake. Better chocolate = deeper flavour. I just chose a standard recipe from Epicurious...they are all about the same.

[canucklehead]

Anyone remember Benny's bagels from like say 15 years ago?  I swore they had the BEST cheesecake but since then I havn't been able to find it

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I worked at Benny's Broadway location back then - and I think that the cheesecakes were made on site. The owner was an uber-jerk and I quit after about 2 weeks.

[Mooshmouse]

Dessert wasn't one of the menu items we prepared at last night's first Serious Foodie cooking class, so Daddy_A and I trekked back over to Stella's on The Drive for something sweet. Quaffed a couple of cleansing pints (Hoegaarden for Arne, Strongbow for me) and shared a slice of their warm chocolate cake. Damn, did that hit the spot. A generously sized portion. Remarkably moist, almost pudding-like in consistency. Deep chocolate flavour nicely accented by the sour-cherry Bellevue Kriek sauce and a dollop of fresh whipped cream. Nary a crumb left on the plate... surprise, surprise.

A perfect autumn dessert. I'll definitely be back for more.

[fud]

Dessert wasn't one of the menu items we prepared at last night's first Serious Foodie cooking class, so Daddy_A and I trekked back over to Stella's on The Drive for something sweet.  Quaffed a couple of cleansing pints (Hoegaarden for Arne, Strongbow for me) and shared a slice of their warm chocolate cake.  Damn, did that hit the spot.  A generously sized portion.  Remarkably moist, almost pudding-like in consistency.  Deep chocolate flavour nicely accented by the sour-cherry Bellevue Kriek sauce and a dollop of fresh whipped cream.  Nary a crumb left on the plate... surprise, surprise. 

A perfect autumn dessert.  I'll definitely be back for more.

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I'm taking that class with another friend too. I think I can guess who Daddy_A is ;p No dessert That's what my fiancee said too! ("what? no dessert? - what a jip!") But I'm sure next week we might get into some of that.

Personally I can keep myself amused just re-learning how to cut cellery ;p

Wes

[fud]

Anyone remember Benny's bagels from like say 15 years ago?  I swore they had the BEST cheesecake but since then I havn't been able to find it

←

I worked at Benny's Broadway location back then - and I think that the cheesecakes were made on site. The owner was an uber-jerk and I quit after about 2 weeks.

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Sigh. Good cheesecake/bastard owner? Such a sad state of affairs...

[Daddy-A]

Dessert wasn't one of the menu items we prepared at last night's first Serious Foodie cooking class, so Daddy_A and I trekked back over to Stella's on The Drive for something sweet.  Quaffed a couple of cleansing pints (Hoegaarden for Arne, Strongbow for me) and shared a slice of their warm chocolate cake.  Damn, did that hit the spot.  A generously sized portion.  Remarkably moist, almost pudding-like in consistency.  Deep chocolate flavour nicely accented by the sour-cherry Bellevue Kriek sauce and a dollop of fresh whipped cream.  Nary a crumb left on the plate... surprise, surprise. 

I think you enjoyed the cake more than I did. Then again, you had cider & I beer. Something kinda off-putting about beer & chocolate for me, even really good Belgian beer.

I'm taking that class with another friend too.  I think I can guess who Daddy_A is ;p  No dessert   That's what my fiancee said too!  ("what? no dessert? - what a jip!")  But I'm sure next week we might get into some of that.

Personally I can keep myself amused just re-learning how to cut cellery ;p

Make sure you introduce yourself next time!

A.

[Mooshmouse]

I think you enjoyed the cake more than I did.  Then again, you had cider & I beer.  Something kinda off-putting about beer & chocolate for me, even really good Belgian beer.

I'm taking that class with another friend too.  I think I can guess who Daddy_A is ;p  No dessert   That's what my fiancee said too!  ("what? no dessert? - what a jip!")  But I'm sure next week we might get into some of that.

Personally I can keep myself amused just re-learning how to cut cellery ;p

Make sure you introduce yourself next time!

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Arne, I think I just really needed a chocolate fix.

And Wes was the one seated at the end of our table with a query as to the salmon's provenance.

[*Deborah*]

I think you enjoyed the cake more than I did.  Then again, you had cider & I beer.  Something kinda off-putting about beer & chocolate for me, even really good Belgian beer.

...

A.

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Suggest you try eating it with a glass of the Bellevue Kriek.

Edited for smiley insertion

Edited September 20, 2005 by *Deborah* (log)

[Ling]

Zucchini Mama's post about "Sprouts" and their fair trade brownies down at the SUB at UBC sparked my interest, so that's what I grabbed on my break today. The fair trade brownies are much better than the pale brown, frosted squares you see elsewhere on campus. The brownies are quite chocolatey (though not as intensely chocolatey as I like...but then again, I like my brownies to be almost like fudge) and they have an interesting sticky consistency--maybe they are made with honey? They're soft and quite good! I would definitely buy them again. Contains walnuts, and are selling for $1.75 for a sizable square.

(BTW--they will be offering sandwiches and wraps in a few weeks time.)

(I also bought a 100g bar of fair trade Cocoa Camino dark chocolate with almonds for $3.50. More complex than your average chocolate bar, with interesting lingering notes of red fruit.)

Edited September 21, 2005 by Ling (log)

[Vancouver Lee]

I think you enjoyed the cake more than I did.  Then again, you had cider & I beer.  Something kinda off-putting about beer & chocolate for me, even really good Belgian beer.

...

A.

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Suggest you try eating it with a glass of the Bellevue Kriek.

Edited for smiley insertion

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I'll second that. The marketing people from whichever company brews Kriek here (I seem to be having memory problems tonight) introduced me to this pairing at the Food and Wine Show in Calgary last winter. The chocolate really brings the cherry flavour out in the beer and they make an awesome dessert combination.

[Ling]

Here's a link to what I ate in Seattle yesterday.

I'll save you all the trouble with the "Ling-ing" jokes. I out-Linged myself yesterday...haha

Is there a bakery in Vancouver that does fantastic lemon tarts? I am sadly missing the one I had at Dahlia already.

[*Deborah*]

I like the ones at Ganache.

Well, I like everything at Ganache.

[Zucchini Mama]

Here's a link to what I ate in Seattle yesterday.

I'll save you all the trouble with the "Ling-ing" jokes. I out-Linged myself yesterday...haha

Is there a bakery in Vancouver that does fantastic lemon tarts? I am sadly missing the one I had at Dahlia already. 

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Wow, you are the DIVA of sweets in the city. I was going to post this anyway, but inspired by your post- try the fresh fruit tarts at Sweet Obsession right now. I had one at Trafalger's and it had golden raspberries on top. It also had strawberries and a regular raspberry and was served with chocolate whipped cream and reg whipped cream and chocolate sauce-maybe with a hint of orange liqeur in it. The crust is shortbread, and then there's a chocolate mouse and a touch of vanilla pudding under the berries. It was garnished with a strawberry dipped in white and dark chocolate. I think at the dessert café they might not add all those extras, but grab those golden raspberry-topped tarts while you can. They also have a lemon berry tart with the raspberries on top. I would stay away from the ones with blackberries in the mix, because I feel they would overwhelm the golden raspberries. The lemon tarts look more creamy than tart, but I bet they're really good.

Zuke

[canucklehead]

Is there a bakery in Vancouver that does fantastic lemon tarts? I am sadly missing the one I had at Dahlia already. 

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Check out the ones at Patissire Labeau - the filling is excellent.

[kurtisk]

Is there a bakery in Vancouver that does fantastic lemon tarts? I am sadly missing the one I had at Dahlia already. 

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I've always like JF's lemon tarts at Provence (either one)...

k.

[Ling]

^Yes, the lemon tarts at Provence are pretty good. Will have to try the ones at Patisserie LeBeau and Ganache soon!

(BTW: pastry pics from Seattle are uploaded.)

Edited September 25, 2005 by Ling (log)

[kontemporary]

I had quite a yummy caramel-chocolat crème cake at Ganache Patisserie today.. But the box of macaroons were not too good.

[Ling]

^I'm guessing this is the Caramel-Chocolat (chocolate mousse covered in caramel?) If so, this is my favourite item from Ganache.

[kontemporary]

Yes.. it was quite good! But surpsingly it was.. on the verge of melting when I dug into it.. I shall return some day to try more of their great sweet goods

[Ling]

So I decided to hit up a bunch of bakeries today in search for lemon tarts...first up was Patisserie LeBeau. I think they are closed on Mondays--or have they closed their W. 2nd location for good? I scanned the notice on the door--I thought they said that their pastries could be bought from Caper's and Stong's, but I must have misunderstood--I think they only supply their waffles to those grocery stores.

Anyway, I could not find Ganache Patisserie, no matter how many times I looped around downtown. Yes, I know I've been there before. I will have to print up a map and try again.

So I went to Sen5es and they had lovely lemon tarts in their pastry case. I like the look of these tarts--they are smaller in diameter, and a bit taller than the ones I usually see. The curd is brushed with a glaze, and the tarts are garnished with edible flowers. (I will upload pictures later.)

The quality of the lemon tarts at Sen5es reflect the price (just over 6 bucks with tax). The curd is sharp and tangy, and softer than the (imo, less refined) curds that are thickened with too much butter. The crust is not very crisp (something I find common with the tarts at Sen5es), but it had a good flavour and I believe their recipe for pate sucre may contain ground almonds. This tart crust is much sweeter than the one at Caper's, but it matches well with the tangier lemon curd.

I also went to La Petite France in search of lemon tarts, but they are closed on Mondays.

Last stop was Caper's, since I thought they might have the Patisserie LeBeau lemon tarts. No luck--all of Caper's baked goods are baked in-store. The tart crust here is crisp, and lighter in colour than the tarts at Sen5es. There is, however, much less complexity in flavour, and the curd (though tangy), contains too much egg and whipping cream for me. Price is about $2 with tax.

Edited October 4, 2005 by Ling (log)