Le Beau

Pastry Chef Olga Spivak changed the croissant game in the GTA when she opened up Le Beau in 2020.

Fun fact: Beau means beautiful in French. The name “Le Beau” was born during Chef’s Olga’s time in Paris while she was soaking in all the beauty that Paris has to offer.

With a clean, bright and minimalist interior design, it’s the perfect little spot to relax and enjoy a nice treat. There’s no shame in a little self love. What better way to do that than with some amazing food made from quality ingredients.

Even just the plain butter croissant here is enough to make you come back for more. This year alone they came up with over 200 croissant flavours! In addition to the impressive repertoire of croissants and laminated dough, Le Beau also offers a variety of chocolates, cakes, tarts and beverages.

I like to try a new item each time I visit Le Beau. So far, everything’s been spot on!

The Calamansi is essentially a lemon tart. The filling is tart and refreshing. The shell is a pate sable that is crispy and cookie-like. It’s topped with a fresh and creamy vanilla truffle.

Anytime I hear “limited quantities” I feel the need to stock up. If only I can stock up on these amazing ice kouign sandwiches. Kouign is pronounced as “queen”.

Kouign Amann is similar to a croissant but sweeter! It’s baked in a special mold and the caramelized sugar coating gives it a nice crunchy texture.

For the ice kouign sandwich, the kouign amann is still warm, and the gelato is made in house. This is only available on weekends and the gelato flavours may vary. The one in the picture is with strawberry gelato.

Le Beau may be famous for their croissants and the Kouign Amann, but every time I visit Le Beau, I have to get a mini citrus travel cake. To me, it feels like a combination of a madeleine and pound cake. I love how you can really taste the refreshing citrus flavour. The texture of the poppy seeds also add a nice contrast to the moist and buttery cake.

With such a large selection of amazing pastries, multiple visits are definitely required to try them all!

Roselle

Definitely one of my favourite bakeries in Toronto since it opened in 2015. Whenever I have friends visiting from out of town, this is always one of the spots I take them to as a must try.

Roselle offers a variety of cakes, eclairs, cookies, chocolates, pavlova and so much more! They work with fresh and quality ingredients, this includes working with fruits from our Ontario farms. They often have rotational treats depending on the seasonal fruits. Strawberry season is my favourite!

It was love at first bite with their earl grey “shorties”. The smooth and silky ganache with pieces of candied orange is sandwiched between earl grey shortbread cookies. Who knew the secret to making shortbread cookies even better is to turn it into a shortbread sandwich!

I never leave Roselle without at least a few madeleines. These buttery cakes are the perfect little treats. There are a few flavours to pick from:

• Lemon glazed

• Earl grey peach glazed

• Strawberry lemonade (seasonal)

The earl grey soft serve is definitely a must try for all earl grey lovers out there. This creamy and fragrant soft serve is so light and refreshing.

The “next level” soft serve includes: white chocolate crispy pearls, injected with house made lemon cream and a mini earl grey shortie.

Location: 362 King St. E, Toronto, ON, M5A 1K9

My top 5 doughnut places in the GTA

I’m no doughnut expert but I’ve had my fair share of doughnuts!  Having worked at a doughnut eatery means I’ve had days where I had doughnuts for breakfast, lunch AND dinner. I like to think that I’ve become quite the doughnut connoisseur.

My doughnut criteria: 

1. Dough - I prefer yeast doughnuts over cake doughnuts and I like them light and fluffy.  

2. Glaze/filling - There’s nothing more disappointing than a “filled” doughnut with only a small dollop of filling or an overly sweet glaze to overpower the doughnut. 

3. “Wow” factor - I know “taste is king” but I love a good looking doughnut!  

Toronto has no shortage of doughnut eateries but the list below are my top 5 favourite places. Trust me, they donut disappoint! 

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1. Isabella’s Mochi Donuts  

📍2066 Queen St E, Toronto, ON M4E 1C9

📍4 St Patrick St, Toronto, ON M5V 1Z1

I am absolutely obsessed with mochi doughnuts. The mochi makes the doughnuts extra chewy, but in a good way. Isabella’s has such unique rotational flavours including, but not limited to: hojicha crunch, cinnamon roll, pandan, black sesame and many many more!

I don’t know what kind of magic goes into making these mochi doughnuts but they are done so perfectly that it doesn’t feel oily or greasy. Even after eating 2 in a row I still got room for more.

There’s also a fun factor involved with these. The OCD part of me loves that it’s shaped in little tiny bubbles so I can eat them in a organized way. Everything about these mochi doughnuts are just pure perfection.

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2. Glory Hole Doughnuts

 📍1596 Queen St W, Toronto, ON M6R 1A8

📍1505 Gerrard St E, Toronto, ON M4L 2A4

I cannot gush about these doughnuts enough. I commute a good hour to get myself here when I’m craving a nice pillowy doughnut. They never disappoint. They are perfectly glazed and not overly sweet that I feel the need to chug a bottle of water after eating them. 

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3. Dipped Donut 

 📍161 Baldwin St #1, Toronto, ON M5T 1L9

These doughnuts are humongo and the perfect sharing size (if you’re not a greedy porky like me that just ate everything by myself). In my defence, the dough here is so light and fluffy you can easily polish one off without feeling the weight and silent judgement of food baby. 

Dipped donuts are always coming out with new flavours! They offer some unique flavours such as, black sesame matcha, lemon lavender, pistachio rose water, etc. My personal favourite here is the London Fog. I love a good Earl Grey flavored treat!

Here we have the cookies & cream and my personal favourite, london fog. I do love how the cookies and cream one is actually a cream cheese glaze though. Yum!

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4. Cops  

📍445 Adelaide St W, Toronto, ON M5V 1T1

Good things come in small packages is definitely an accurate depiction here. These little guys are amazing! The doughnuts here are made fresh to order and there’s nothing like a fresh out of the fryer doughnut. The signature flavour is the cinnamon sugar and they offer rotational glazed flavours. I love the matcha coconut one! 

For such mini doughnuts they sure leave a big impression!  

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5. Von Doughnuts

📍713 Danforth Ave, Toronto, ON M4J 1L2

Von Doughnut offers “grown up” doughnuts with a nice little kick to it. The “One Night Stand” has a tequila glaze, and the “Sangria” uses a red/white wine sangria glaze.

My personal favourite(s) are their filled doughnuts. The creme brûlée doughnut is filled with an amazing vanilla bean pastry cream. The “Pucker Up Sucker” is basically a lemon meringue doughnut with a yummy lemon custard. The doughnut to filling ratio is perfect and even with the filling, it’s still not overly sweet.

Check out their doughnut chart online to make sure your flavour is available that day because they rotate their doughnut flavours daily.

Hattendo

I have always been a fan of Japanese desserts. Needless to say, I’m always on the lookout for authentic Japanese bakeries that really transport me back to the days of me eating my way through Japan. Hattendo did just that.

They recently opened up a new location in Markham so there’s now another location to satisfy my cravings! Especially with the savory sandwiches available now, this really is a one-stop shop for a quick lunch or a light dinner.

Locations (some locations are temporarily closed so make sure to check with the store before heading over):

• 13 Baldwin Street, Toronto

• 50 Bloor Street West, Unit 9, Toronto

• 100 City Centre Drive, Mississauga (Square One)

• 3401 Dufferin Street, Toronto (Yorkdale Mall)

• 7357 Woodbine Avenue, Markham (NEW location!)

Hattendo’s menu does not disappoint. There’s lots to pick from, depending on your cravings! From cream buns to melon buns, savory sandos to fruit sandos and of course, the perfect little jars of pudding. Definitely something for everyone!

The menu includes some of my favourite things and captures everything I love about Japanese desserts. Light, not too sweet and the perfect portions. I had a chance to try pretty much every item on the menu and these are the 3 items that stood out for me.

Puddings

Hattendo may be known for their cream buns, but these puddings stole the show! I cannot get enough of these little pudding jars.

The pudding is so creamy and smooth. There are a few pudding flavours to choose from. I definitely recommend trying them all, but the classic caramel pudding is my favourite. It’s made with natural ingredients, no preservative or artificial flavours. Because the pudding itself is not too sweet, that extra caramel sauce balance it out perfectly.

Pudding flavours:

• Caramel pudding

• Almond tofu

• Matcha annin tofu (a combination of almond tofu and matcha. They’re a real matcha made in heaven!)

Also, can we just take a moment to appreciate these super cute and sustainable packaging? These reusable jars are such a fun little bonus!

Cream Buns

These light and airy buns hold a generous amount of cream in the middle. There’s nothing more disappointing than biting into a filled bun, only to find a little dollop of filling. Hattendo has the perfect cream to bun ratio for their cream buns. You can taste the cream in each bite. These little buns are bursting with flavour!

These individually packaged buns are perfect to take on the go and for sharing.

Classic cream bun flavours:

• Custard

• Whipping cream

• Matcha

• Chocolate

• Red bean

In addition to the classic flavours, there are always interesting seasonal flavours too. I personally love citrus flavoured things so the seasonal Yuzu cream bun is my favourite. It’s not tart but the citrus is so refreshing. There are real chunks of yuzu in the buns too!

Sando

Now, let’s talk sandwiches (aka Sando). Hattendo offers a unique selection of sandwiches.

Sando flavours:

• Tamago burger

• Egg salad sando

• Fruit sando (strawberry, grape or mango)

To me, an egg salad sandwich is classic because this was something that my parents used to make for me when I was little. There was something nostalgic about eating this sando. Making the perfect egg salad sandwich is practically an art. This made the top 3 list because the egg is soft boiled so the yolk is not too dry. The mayo to egg ratio is just right so I’m not just eating mushy goo. Lastly, the sando was made with sweet milk bread. I absolutely love milk bread and can just eat plain slices of milk bread on its own. This Japanese milk bread has a slight sweetness to it and it’s so soft and airy. All of these things together equals a perfect egg salad sando!

Cheese Garden

Location: Unit G120, 3250 Midland Avenue, Scarborough, ON, M1V 4W9

Website:  http://www.cheesegarden.ca/

There are currently 3 locations you can go to pick up some of their amazing treats. My go-to is the Midland location in Scarborough since it’s closest to my place and the service is always great.

I love Japanese desserts and Cheese Garden never disappoints when I’m craving a good Japanese cheesecake. They use quality ingredients and it shows in their beautifully crafted treats.

Cheese Garden’s Japanese cheesecakes are baked fresh daily. They are light, airy and full of flavour. I like to describe it as a hybrid of mousse cake and sponge cake - exactly how a Japanese Cheesecake should be. 

I love my matcha so when Cheese Garden came out with this matcha tiramisu I just had to get my hands on it. You can never have too MATCHA tiramisu and trust me, I’ve had my fair share. This matcha tiramisu is made with premium Uji matcha powder. The cream is rich and fluffy. The “lady fingers” is actually a Hokkaido chiffon cake and it’s light, not overly sweet and balances out the creamy filling.

The 5 inch baked cheese tart is basically a tart filled with ooey gooey molten cheese in a perfectly baked tart shell that is buttery and flakey. This is one of my many favourite treats at the Cheese Garden, I guess you can say that it stole my tart. Okay, that was the last pun I swear! The cheese tarts are best consumed when they’re fresh out the oven. However, for the people out there with more self control than me and won’t stuff their faces with this beautiful tart in a single sitting, Cheese Garden does provide a little pamphlet with instructions on how to store and re-heat this tart.

I saved the best for last, the double fromage cheesecake! It comes in 2 flavours, original and matcha. It’s literally 2 layers of cheesecake (one frozen and one baked) sitting on a layer of sponge cake. I can’t get enough of this double fromage cheesecake! It’s the best of both worlds, a combination of a cheesecake and an ice cream cake. The size is perfect for sharing but once you get a bite of this you’re gonna want to keep it all to yourself.

Cheese Garden’s decor is simple and elegant (much like their baked goods). They also have lots of windows and natural light which makes this the perfect spot for a foodtography session.

Keep an eye on their website and social media - they release seasonal products for limited time only!

Sponsored tasting - while the cakes were complimentary, opinions are my own.