Elegant cakes and pastries at Duo Patisserie

Goodies @ Duo Patisserie

We were so excited to have discovered this nice patisserie in Richmond Hill. The place was packed on a Saturday and there was a fair amount of line up. That’s always a good sign for me that we were about to get some delicious goodies! We tried a few of their Viennoiserie (baked goodies/breads) as well as cakes. We got the Pistachio Brioche, Smoked Gouda and Cheddar Brioche and Gâteau basque (Matcha cream with Raspberry). The brioche were all so good and wonderfully flaky. The flavours were not overpowering. The Pistachio Brioche was on the sweet side but great to see actual, and a decent amount of, pistachios in the buttery brioche. I especially liked the Smoked Gouda and Cheddar Brioche. It had the right amount of saltiness and good amount of cheese. I wasn’t much of a fan of the Gâteau basque, but then again, am not too much of a fan of Matcha. I wished I got some Citrus brioche instead. I smell a next time coming :)

Mont Blanc and Forêt Noël @ Duo Patisserie

The cakes were an absolute delight. We tried some of the Mont Blanc (as it was something we saw on some tables, as well as ordered by the folks ahead of us). It was chestnut vermicelli with chestnuts in mascarpone on a shortbread crust. It was not too sweet and had just the right amount of chestnut flavour to cut through. Funny though that while they had some edible silver flakes on the cake, the Duo sign on the cake was not edible.

While Mont Blanc was good, we liked the Forêt Noël better! While that literally means Christmas Forest, this one is their version of a Black Forest cake. It looked like a luscious apple! This seasonal cake was delightful. The cherry compote gave the perfect balance to the light chocolate mousse. Delish.

The presentation of all the cakes was absolutely elegant. The served the cakes in small, black, round plastic trays with handles so they can be lifted carefully. They seemed too pretty to eat, though! But a wonderful reward follows in breaking into these beauties! Cannot wait to try the others!

Divine Doughnuts: Krispy Kreme Cafe in Spadina

Ghirardelli donuts at Krispy Kreme

We haven’t had Krispy Kreme in a while, especially in a store. We usually get the pre-packed Original Glaze over at Costco once in a while. There are also only about 4 stores in Toronto so we don’t always get the chance to go. So, when we were in Spadina one morning and saw the recently opened Krispy Kreme cafe, we stopped by to get some coffee and doughnuts.

The interiors were very warm and cozy--quite different from the diner feel I remember they had a Mississauga. There was a decent amount of seating and some lounge chairs. The décor was industrial chic with vintage photos of both the location and the company were displayed. They had other baked goodies and drinks, but we decided to just get some coffee and their featured Ghirardelli doughnuts. The coffee was pretty good and the doughnuts were DIVINE.

We got both the Sea Salt Caramel and Mint Chocolate doughnuts. We love Mint chocolate in anything so we truly enjoyed the Mint Chocolate doughnut. It was filled with mint crème filling (like a marshmallow base) and topped with chocolate icing, drizzled with green icing and sprinkled with mini Ghirardelli chocolate chips. So yummy!

The Sea Salt Caramel doughnut was filled with the decadent sea salted caramel and topped with chocolate icing, sugar and salt sprinkle, chocolate and caramel drizzle and of course, topped with mini Ghirardelli chocolate chips. This one was our favourite!

Dozen lovely doughnuts @Krispy Kreme

They were so delicious we brought home a dozen (and included Caramel Kreme Crunk, too!)! Delicious and reasonably-priced! Value was way better than Tim’s—hands down! Love it!