Leslieville Cakes, Pies and Cookies
Published by Staff The month of january 9, 2011
Bobbette & Belle, an artisan patisserie that started like a studio that focused on couples searching for wedding cakes and wedding party favours, moved right into a retail location in Leslieville late this past year, and already they've regulars. After checking the gallery wall of cakes and it is counter variety of tarts and scones, after communicating with proprietors Sarah Bell and Allyson Meredith, I saw why. Bobbette & Belle offers sugar, art and community - always an irresistible combination.
Bobbette & Belle has made its name within the wedding industry, with Allyson's cakes featured in wedding magazines and Allyson winning the Canadian Wedding Industry Award for Cake Designer of the season. Sarah's French macaron favours also have made their mark, building on Sarah's background as executive pastry chef at Canoe. However, when customers started asking about the potential of individual orders, Sarah and Allyson made the decision the time had come to grow into retail.
Some people consider pastry shops as take-away places, Sarah notes that "people now are curious about experience." I discovered the style of the store a fascinating mixture of gallery and family room, where baked merchandise is art to become respected, but the purpose of visiting would be to relax and relax with buddies.
Stark white-colored walls are offset with a comfy sofa set, an imposing gallery-style wall of tiered cakes faces shelves of packages to consider home ($8.50 for any package of 8 hand crafted caramels, $10.95 for 8 packaged cookies), along with a glass counter display of tarts ($3.50 each, flavours include lemon meringue and chocolate ganache) and cupcakes ($2.75 each, assorted flavours) is created welcoming through the lengthy tables that invite you to definitely sit for some time. These lengthy tables usually become "community tables," Sarah states, where groups of people that did not are available in together finish up sitting in the same table and chatting. "It is extremely European," Allyson states, adding it reminds her of cafes in Paris.
Bobbette and Belle's business design is extremely customer-driven: Sarah and Allyson create items that customers want. For instance, their hand crafted marshmallows started as garnish, however when customers started requesting it, Sarah and Allyson managed to get another food selection. Produced in-house with real fruit puree, these marshmallows are available in flavours like passion fruit and chocolate chocolate nick ($4.95 for any package of 8).
Additionally they serve hot cocoa (mix produced in-house) with homemade vanilla marshmallows they toast right in the counter having a torch. "It's area of the whole experience," Sarah states. She remembers how growing up, she loved getting hot cocoa with marshmallows like a treat, and she or he desired to share that have using their customers.
Their cupcakes ($2.75 each) will also be extremely popular. Bigger than most competitors' cupcakes and moist with Swiss meringue buttercream frosting, their cupcakes come in a number of flavours including chocolate with Lindt chocolate buttercream, chocolate with Gianduja buttercream (milk chocolate and hazelnut), vanilla with mango passionfruit buttercream and apple spice with walnut buttercream. Allyson describes buttercream frosting as "light and wealthy without having to be excessively sweet," which sets it aside from traditional cupcake frosting.
Discussing the house-baked experience is essential at Bobbette & Belle, so that all their products are freshly baked. While their baked merchandise is veritable pieces of art, beautiful pieces which will certainly impress at any wedding or function (for smaller sized parties, a 7-inch cake with buttercream flowers costs $34.75, 9-inch cake is $44.75), Sarah and Allyson concentrate on supplying tastes that provide customers the comforting, home meal experience.
On weekends, Bobbette & Belle serves French baguette sandwiches for supper ($8, assorted meats and cheeses, vegetarian option). Bobbette & Belle's scones are produced from Allyson's grandmother's recipe. Allyson remembers how when she would be a child, her grandmother, who had been herself in the dessert business, would bake these scones in your own home. Nana's scones outperform other contenders inside a blind taste make sure are actually offered with fresh Devonshire cream ($3.25).
"My philosophy on flavours is they ought to be approachable and classic, having a twist," Sarah states. This, Allyson states, is the reason why many of their macarons ($2 each) have chocolate-based fillings. Flavours include classic (wealthy and creamy ganache with semi sweet chocolate), caramel (wealthy butter caramel with fleur de sel) and gianduja (chocolates ganache with praline and roasted hazelnuts).
Their flavours "aren't available,Inch Sarah states. Although some places serve such exotic macaron flavours as lavender, Sarah notes that very couple of people, or no whatsoever, would list lavender his or her favourite flavour, whereas chocolate is usually well-loved. Still, these "classic" flavours are in no way ordinary. Sarah and Allyson spent several weeks in Paris doing research to build up their French macaron recipe. What sets their macarons apart? Allyson states that it is the method they will use. Sarah adds, "This is a secret."
