Oh yes, this picture of mouthwatering chocolate cookie and cream sandwiches is real and no, you are not dreaming. And if you’re wondering, oh yes, they taste as heavenly as they look. I hope you all enjoyed the pictures and teaser post from yesterday! There was no way I could fit all my photos in one post so I split it up into two…it’s not like you all mind though. Two guaranteed days of sweet treats? Sold 😀 Bunner’s Bake Shop on Dundas St. West in the Junction neighbourhood was my first Veggielicious pitstop and I am SO happy that I went. I’m really happy that they’re participating in the food fest and getting more business and exposure because of it because they really deserve it. Had it not been for this fest, I never would have known about it. I know I explore the city a lot, but Toronto is BIG and I suppose I would have stumbled upon it at a later time, but sooner is always better than later 😉
What I love about Bunner’s is their commitment to quality and the execution of their craft. Bunner’s is a bakery that is committed to creating and serving desserts that are fair trade, vegan and cruelty-free, and dairy-free and gluten-free with an emphasis on also catering to those who also have soy allergies. I really appreciate this, not because I’m allergic to soy per se (I’m allergic to soy milk but no other soy products, go figure), but because I have friends who are allergic to soy and nuts and this allergy makes it very difficult for them to enjoy a lot of vegetarian and vegan food that is made with soy or nuts. It’s a bake shop with a conscious.
They have a clear vision of what their craft means to them and what they want to achieve through their offering of delicious desserts, namely, accessibility. It’s not easy catering to different diets, intolerances, beliefs, and lifestyles without alienating your clientele or ending up with subpar product. But they do this beautifully and you can tell when you look at their treats and when you eat them. You can taste the quality, the passion, and the innovativeness through their baked goods.
The Veggielicious deal, as a mentioned yesterday, is comprised of one cupcake of your choice, a creamie (the cookie sandwich), and a supersonic gypsy cookie for $7.50. Well worth it in my opinion because holy mother of pearl these babies are big! The creamie is so thick and mondo huge, the cookie is like a rocky mountain, and the cupcakes are the perfect size (not small but not steroid-like) with a delightful heaping of frosting on top.
Now, when I talk about their commitment quality, there’s a reason why. Take the gypsy cookie, for example. This is what they refer to as a “power” cookie, the kind of cookie that is healthy and good for you, and will get you up and raring to go in the morning or give you that kick in the ass you need to get through the middle of the day. I think they have several different kinds with oats and dried fruits and chocolate. Mine was generously stuffed with chocolate chips (the good cocoa chocolate, not the sickly sweet milk chocolate), raisins (Correction: I have been informed that they were in fact not raisins but apple-sweetened dried cranberries, d’oh! My bad!), oats, and pumpkin seeds.
Now, as I was discussing with my friend Sally yesterday, this might not be everyone’s cup of tea based on what’s in it. Her vegetarian friend loved it, but she wasn’t too fussy about it. My verdict? I actually really enjoyed it. I like raisins in my cookies (think oatmeal raisin), (Correction: I love dried cranberries!), so it works for me, and I loooove the crunch the pumpkin seeds gave to this cookie and the chocolate sweetened the whole cookie up so that it balanced out the nutty flavour of the oats and seeds and the tartness of the raisins. For those who enjoy texture and a mixture of savoury and sweet, this is for you and it’s one of Bunner’s best sellers.
And the creamie and the cupcake? Oh heaven. Pure heaven. As my friend Sally said, “I could eat a whole tub of the lemon frosting”. I agree, so could I. The cupcake I chose was a vanilla cake with lemon frosting. I can honestly say that this is a cupcake unlike anything I have ever tasted. And in a good way! To put things in perspective, let me just remind everyone what makes a bad cupcake: too dry, too sweet, too crumbly. As well, cupcakes that don’t support the weight of the frosting and fall apart half way through eating, and those are saturated with extract (vanilla, almond, you get the picture).
Now, the most common complaints I hear about cupcake frosting, specifically, are that some frostings are too greasy and “butter” like in consistency to the point where they leave a film on your mouth, ones that are too sweet and grainy (the kind of sugary that makes you grimace), and ones that are artificial in taste (think mint frosting that ends up tasting like Listerine).
Bunner’s cupcakes are NONE of these things. Their cake, although not the moistest I’ve ever had (that award goes to the Black Velvet at Sweet Escape), was soft and subtle in flavour. The lemony frosting? Oh man. So different from anything I’ve tasted. It was thick and full-bodied in its volume, texture, and flavour. It’s the kind of frosting that doesn’t dissipate as soon as it hits your tongue. It envelopes your taste buds and does a little waltz around your mouth. It has the volume of marshmallow fluff and the thickness of reeeeally good frosting. The cupcake is so satisfying.
But you wanna know what’s even MORE satisfying? The creamie cookie sandwich. No, scratch that. Satisfying is not the right word. Gratifying is the right word. Although I chose the double chocolate chip creamie for my boyfriend because he’s a chocolate fanatic (and because I love him, aww), I demanded a bite when he was eating it. The phrase “oh my god” doesn’t even cut it. Hands down, pure awesomeness. Anyone who goes to Bunner’s (and you know you will) MUST get a creamie. If I’m going to recommend anything to you, it’s that. And trust that when I eat a whole one myself, I will give you the lowdown in all its glory. But I’ll let you salivate and let your imagination run wild in the meantime.
An amazing fun Veggielicious and hopefully, more wonderful experiences and good eats to come in the next little while! I’m going to work on getting more detailed descriptions of vegan ingredients used in the desserts as time goes on when I profile items on their own, so I’ll make sure to make those available to you all. Veggielicious runs until April 24th, so enjoy!
*****
Bunner’s is located in The Junction at 3054 Dundas Street West, 3 blocks from the intersection of Keele and Dundas West. Bunner’s is just west of High Park Ave. They are open from Monday to Saturday from 10am-7pm, and 12pm-5pm on Sundays.
Ate by Ate 