Sweetness Up North: 50 Most Excellent Moments from a Vancouver, BC Weekend

Friday, November 5, 2010
Cakespy in Cakewalk, bakeries, bakeries, vancouver

O, Canada. How buttery and sweet are thee? 

Delightfully, deliciously so, as Mr. Spy and I found on a recent weekend trip to Vancouver (which is part of what I would call Nanaimo Bar Country). And now, you can share our delicious adventures, photographically at least, with a rundown of our 50 sweetest moments in Vancouver, BC:

1. First Nanaimo Bar of the trip! It was from a chain coffee shop (shame!) but it tasted like heaven.
2. Slight savory interlude: OMG Eggs Benedict from Seb's Market Cafe. Happiness: they have three types of Hollandaise.
3. Banana French Toast from Seb's. Yes!
4. Peanut cake from Anna's Cake House.
5. Danny, the happiest boy to ever eat Peanut Cake at Anna's Cake House.
6. Have I mentioned that I'd love to live in a Cake House?
7. Fresh Gooey Cinnamon Rolls.
8. The gorgeous pastry spread at Liberty Bakery, which looks like it's been there forever.
9. In particular, the Eccles cakes...
10. and the Butter Tarts, which is what we went for.
11. The World Peace Cookie, a Dorie Greenspan shout-out, at Coco et Olive, an adorable little cafe.
12. This sign, which kind of describes my life.
13. Lovely cream-filled chocolates from Rogers' Chocolates. Hazelnut Swirl for Mr. Spy...
14. ...and Maple for me.
15. OMG LOVE: The Granville Island Public Market, which is kind of like a mashup between Pike Place Market and the Reading Market in PA.
16. Intriguing: Orange Nanaimo Bars, Stuart's Bakery, Granville Public Market.
17. ...Eccles cake and more--including Nieman Marcus Cookies!--at Stuart's Bakery.
18. ...sweet jams: Cinnamon Pastry Records, Stuart's.
19. What exactly is a scrumpet? A cross between a scone and a crumpet, found at Muffin Granny, Granville Public Market.
20. Another Canadian specialty: the Date Square, also spied at Muffin Granny.
21. Lychee gelato, anyone? From Pizza Pzazz (I know, terrible name), Granville Island Public Market.
22. Another savory break! Pizza from Pizza Pzazz.
23. Ooh, rainbow roses! Buy me some, Mr. Spy!
24. A gorgeous spread at ChocolaTas, Granville Island Public Market.
25. Tarts!
26. Slabs of decadent caramel from Olde World Fudge.
27. Also, a sweet spread of handmade lollipops with Halloween themes at Olde World Fudge.
28. Poppyseed rolls (Canadian rugelach?) from Siegel's Bagels.
29. Fruit filled bagels, Siegel's Bagels.
30. A view of my new favorite place ever, Lee's Donuts.
31. Wisdom from Lee's Donuts.
32. ...and a cream puff from Lee's, which is what we chose to eat.
33. Chocolate swirl cheesecake from Luella's Fine Foods.
34. Bubblegum ice cream from The Milk Man.
35. Black. Forest. Cake.
36. Tarts and pies galore! At A la Mode.
37. Blueberry bread from Terra Breads (I saw this all around town at grocery shops and coffee shops too).
38. Pause for a sweet self-photo. Fact: we cannot stop looking good.
    
39. Turtle cheesecake!
40. Halloween-hued macarons from La Baguette Bakery.
41. Croissants from La Baguette. Le Yum.
42. Spying Butter's marshmallows at Whole Foods! Sweet!
43. Vanilla salt cookies by Kreation, as spied at Whole Foods.
44. New Hat! Doesn't cover the dopey expression, though!
45. NRG Orbs: what are they? They're very heavy, whatever they are.
46. Question: Does Mona Lisa like sushi? The answer is yes.
47. What we chose from Butter: the Maple Snickerdoodle sandwich.
48. It gets another number to show you the innards. Like, whoa!
49. The raspberry-rhubarb pie from Savary Island Pie Co., not beautiful but very delicious.
50. The peanut butter crispy Nanaimo bar from Savary Island Pie Co. - I will be dreaming of this.

Oh, and there's a bonus! The week after my Vancouver trip, I had a surprise visitor in the shop -- Miss Kickpleat herself! And she brought me a muffin. Totally sweet!

Thanks, Canada, for the memories! For more photos, visit my Flickr page! 

Article originally appeared on Seeking Sweetness in Everyday Life (http://cakespy.squarespace.com/).