Elite Bakery, and an Apology.

First off, I'd like to apologize for being MIA as of late. A close friend was in a car accident a couple weeks ago, and was in a drug-induced coma for a week. It was a trying time, but all his family and friends pulled together, comforted each other, and sent a lot of prayers and positive thoughts his way. He just got out of the hospital a couple days ago and is recovering at home.

I took so many photos of food in my absence that I exceeded my 4 gig SD card, so I *do* have some posts for this next while! I'm aiming to post all of the 2009 eats within 2009...so I hope we're snowed in for a little bit, because there is a fair share of things to write about! ;)



Elite bakery is situated in South Burnaby on Rumble Street, just east of Royal Oak Avenue. On the outside, it looks dingey and old school, but apparently they do catering and do wholesale pastries and other baked goods for other food establishments!

After a harrowing commute from Richmond back home, I spied Elite bakery out of the corner of my eye, and decided to pay them a visit. It was a nice treat and from the moment you walk in the door, you're tempted by the wafts of sweet pastry and buttery goodness. I picked up three items: copenhagens, a mocha boat, and a Kranse Kage.



First up was the copenhagen. I devoured one on my way home happily, as it was made from two layers of puff pastry sandwiched together by an almond paste / butter mixture. The puff pastry was shatteringly crisp, while the almond paste / butter mixture was rich and decadant. Although I bought two and ate one on the way home, I wished that I'd paced myself, as I totally spoiled my appetite. It was very delicious, however, and if the crispness of the pastry was any indication of their other products, I'm sure that I now have to make another stop soon to pick up one of their magnificent looking apple strudels, or their Kringle!



The Kranse Kage is a pastry filled with an almond-meal mixture and drizzled with icing. Do not let its' appearance fool you, the Kranse Kage was actually the least sweet of the three items I picked up that day. There was a strong almond extract flavour, and although I am not a huge fan of almond extract, it would make a nice snack - not too sweet, good chewy texture, and if anything, as a former co-worker used to say, "Nuts are good for you, it contains nuts, so it cancels all the bad stuff out." heehee! Somethings just stick in your memory.



The mocha boat was a tart shell filled with a "light" coffee buttercream and a small strip of fruit (berry?) jelly and coated with chocolate. I say "light" buttercream as it is full-fat buttercream - silky, creamy, and rich, but light on the coffee flavour. It was my second favourite. I could only have a small portion at a time though, as I could almost feel my arteries harden a little. On the plus side, it reminded me of one of the pastries at Notte's Bon Ton. I'm sure I'll visit Elite Bakery again in the near future as I am not too fond of driving all the way out to the west side for a European pastry craving!

Elite Bakery
5238 Rumble Street
Burnaby BC
P: (604) 437-4121