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Favorite Seattle bakery

Ling

By Ling
in Pacific Northwest & Alaska: Dining

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Eden

Eden

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:rolleyes: You can open a Pain au Chocolate bakery here in Seattle any time now Ling!

Heck I'd even drive to Vancouver for that!

Do you suffer from Acute Culinary Syndrome? Maybe it's time to get help...

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Ling

Ling

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I went to Sweets and Savoury yesterday but we were too late to get the croissants! They were sold out by around 10:30a.m. We shared a lemon bar, a slice of coffeecake, and a sandwich (they're made at 11a.m.), juice, and coffee.

The lemon bar and the coffeecake were both good, but not something I think I would go out of the way for again because--and I hope I don't sound like I'm bragging here--these are things I can easily make at home. There wasn't really anything that set them apart from good quality, home-baked goods.

The other offerings of the morning included a banana cupcake with cream cheese frosting and caramelized bananas, a strawberry mousse tart with sweet pastry crust, slices of bread pudding, and a type of muffin.

The sandwich had asparagus, blue cheese, and roasted red pepper. The bread is baked in-house, and was comparable in quality to something I imagine a competent home baker could make with a decent recipe. I thought the bread was OK, but nowhere close to the stuff at the the good bread bakeries in Seattle. It was pretty spongy and dense, and the flavour was a bit bland.

I hope my post doesn't come across as too negative--I do love the homey feel of the place. It is a quiet and friendly space, and I enjoyed flipping through the cookbooks while sharing breakfast. It's a wonderful little neighbourhood nook. :smile:

Edited by Ling (log)

Lorna Yee

the cool kids at belltown lofts

The Cookbook Chronicles

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Eden

Eden

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No, we only had the strawberry danish, ginger biscuit, and regular croissant. I'll get the pain au chocolat next time, if you think it's good! (And a strawberry danish too...can't leave without one of those!!  :smile: )

Based on Ling's raves I deviated from my usual order and tried Cafe Besalu's strawberry danish Friday morning. It was VERY good, but I think their pain au chocolat edges it out in my book. Maybe it was just mine, but I would have liked just a little more berry on it. beautiful flavors though.

Next time I'll have to go when I'm more hungry & do a side by side to be sure :biggrin:

edited to specify which bakery...

Edited by Eden (log)

Do you suffer from Acute Culinary Syndrome? Maybe it's time to get help...

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kiliki

kiliki

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Ling, have you tried the pastries at Little Prague? I had my weekly apricot pastry from her booth at the Ballard Farmer's Market and as always it was first rate-one of my favorite baked goods in town. I'm ashamed to say I never try the other flavors.

Edited by kiliki (log)
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Ling

Ling

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Have you all been to "Hiroyuki" in Green Lake? It's across the street from Eva. I heard about Hiroyuki from the pastry chef at Eva, and we had breakfast there this morning. We chose the matcha tiramisu, which is his signature item. It's two thin layers of very buttery, very soft cake and layers of creamy matcha...for me, it had a bit more sugar than necessary, but hhlodesign thought it was nice because it wasn't very sweet compared to typical American desserts (which is true.) The sweetness level is probably what you'd expect from a typical French bakery. The other desserts Hiroyuki had this morning were what looked like raspberry mousse cups, pots de creme with coffee gelee, different coffee cakes with various fruits, and a few cookies. What I enjoyed most about the matcha tiramisu was that there wasn't too much gelatin in the mousse. I thought the quality was very good, and Hiroyuki is a really nice guy. :smile:

Lorna Yee

the cool kids at belltown lofts

The Cookbook Chronicles

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Eden

Eden

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I had the nectarine danish at Besalu this morning, fresh out of the oven :wub::wub::wub: now THAT actually edges out the pain au chocolate for me. Nectarines are among my favorite fruit & fresh from the oven these are not to be beat. Tons of warm fruit not overly sweetened on that oh so perfect pastry...

Do you suffer from Acute Culinary Syndrome? Maybe it's time to get help...

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tsquare

tsquare

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Finally had a waffle at Arosa (Madison, across from Swedish.) Better than what they are selling on the street. Seriously, these are good - and mochas are made with shaved swiss chocolate. (Sandwiches are very good as well.)

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rooberu

rooberu

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I am a creature of habit, and have thusfar been unable to break away from Le Panier for a breakfast pastry while in Seattle. We had the Jambon Mornay and the chocalatine along with a latte this weekend....maybe it is because we live in Olympia where nothing similar exists, but I love the pastries at Le Panier.

Someday I will try something different...perhaps when Ling decides to open her pasteleria. That pan au chocolat looks insanely good!

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Ling

Ling

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^Thanks for the compliment! :smile: Have you had the almond croissant from Le Panier? I heard they are really good, and they look really good too. I'll get one next time I walk by. I confess though, that the other pastries in the case don't really appeal to me...some of the items look a little sloppy. I don't remember seeing the chocolatine though, but I'll keep an eye out for it.

BTW, I have been referring to Hiroki's (the bakery across from Eva) incorrectly...it's not Hiroyuki's. Oops.

Lorna Yee

the cool kids at belltown lofts

The Cookbook Chronicles

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Terrasanct

Terrasanct

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I visited Dahlia and Macrina today after reading everyone's recommendations. I'm not usually much of a sweets person, but I don't get to Seattle very often, either. (Salumi was, unfortunately, closed today, or I might have gone there instead.) I'm already having a hard time remembering what I got where, but I tried the coconut cream pie from Dahlia, I think. We all liked it. Wherever I got the pear tart with caramel sauce, that was the best thing I got today. There was also a brownie that tasted fine but not really worth the two dollars, a big rolled-up thing with apple butter in it that looks good, a lemon tart, and some ciabatta I haven't tried yet.

I was tired so I'm not remembering much, but I figured it's better to at least try it even if I don't recall it later. We had a big day in Seattle, with dim sum, pastries, Pike Place, and a trip to the airport to pick up my husband. Early in the morning we leave for Billings, where there is no good food to be had. Fortunately, I'll have my car packed with groceries from Central Market and Trader Joe's, plus a gallon of blackberries we picked this morning.

Ever notice how some areas of the country are disproportionately blessed when it comes to food?

Delicious Books
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forkit

forkit

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^Thanks for the compliment!  :smile: Have you had the almond croissant from Le Panier? I heard they are really good, and they look really good too. I'll get one next time I walk by. I confess though, that the other pastries in the case don't really appeal to me...some of the items look a little sloppy. I don't remember seeing the chocolatine though, but I'll keep an eye out for it.

BTW, I have been referring to Hiroki's (the bakery across from Eva) incorrectly...it's not Hiroyuki's. Oops.

I really like the little cakes called friands which taste like lemony madellines at Le Panier.

On the topic of Seattle bakeries, why does the bread from Panzanella no longer taste nearly as good as it did before the bakery sold recently? Forkit.

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pupcart

pupcart

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Okay, so it's November in Seattle. The basement is flooding again, the splendid summer garden produce is way over, and it seems to get dark before it gets light these days, but wait - there's compensation, there's hope, there's a reason to be happy - PECAN PIE IS BACK AT ESSENTIAL BAKERY! I had lunch with my daughter at the location in Madison Valley on Saturday, and lo and behold, I about jumped up and down for joy to see one little pecan tartlet sitting in the glass case. Of course, I wanted a whole regular sized pie, but they didn't have a big pie available (I'll be ordering one or two or three soon), so I happily settled for the pecan tart.

It was even more delicious than I remember from last year, and believe me, I have fond memories. Last year Essential only offered pecan pie at their bakeries between Thanksgiving and New Year's, but I wish they had it on their menu all year round. Of course, I would probably gain a pound a month if they did....so maybe it is a good thing I'm restricted to six weeks out of the year.

I don't normally buy pie from bakeries, because if I am going to eat pie, I want it to be right-out-of-the-oven delicious. After years of practice, I've found that if I set aside the time, I can make excellent pie. So yes, even though I'm old (and getting older) and have been baking pies for years, no pecan pie recipe I've ever made has even come close to Essential's version.

Essential's pecan pie just may be the best reason for putting up with November in Seattle I can think of...

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