Bella Cakes (Sapperton, New Westminster, BC)

Bella Cakes recently hit my radar as I was going to my little aunts (sai yee yee!) house for dinner and wanted to bring something. Dessert, maybe?

It ends up that there are two great bakeries in the Sapperton area of New Westminster, separated by just half a block or so. Since I was driving towards Coquitlam, I wound up picking up a cheesecake from Farm Cottage Bakery just up the street, which was great, albeit a little sweet (little yee yee asked me for the location and wanted to pick something up that weekend. :)

This time I got out of work a little early and took the long way home through New Westminster.

Surprisingly, it was actually faster than I thought! Next time there's an accident or traffic jam on the Knight Street, I'm cutting through New West and picking up some baked goods to console myself!

While I picked up a small box to sample Bella Cakes creations, I'm told that their real mastery lies in their specialty cakes. Browsing their website, it deems true. Unfortunately, it may be out of the way oftentimes, so I will have to see if I can work Bella Cakes into a special occasion or something. (Or I could be like my mother and buy birthday cakes [with bogus birthday names!] just because she wanted to have some cake! haha! Oh boy. Thunder gods are going to have my neck.)

Anyways, I ordered up a pistachio cream tart, a hazelnut cream tart, a peanut butter nanaimo bar, a pair of cookies, a cheesecake, as well as a nameless chocolate slab which I *really* wished I had taken note of.

Note well: I had high hopes for the pistachio and hazelnut cream tarts. But they were devoid of little (if any!) fragrant nut flavour. The pre-made tart shells were filled with a light buttercream, coated with a shell of chocolate, and sprinkled with some crushed respective nuts. They were, as far as I could tell, exactly the same except for the hazelnut or pistachio garnish. The cookies, while cheap, were quite average and forgettable.

On the other hand, the peanut butter nanaimo bar was delicious. Even M, who does not crave sweets, wished I had brought home another one! The peanut butter flavour was pronounced, and the smooth flavour was echoed in the texture of the PB layer. The "nanaimo" layer / crust of the bar was a nice complement, and was not too sweet - there was ample coconut and chocolate, but it did not overpower the peanut butter.




The "nameless" chocolate bar (all I can remember now is that was definitely *not* either of the brownies) pictured above was rich, decadant, and exactly what a chocolate treat should be. Should only be consumed with a tall glass of milk. :)

The cheesecake, although small in stature, was slightly denser that what I had experienced nearby at Farm Cottage Bakery. However, it was not overly sweet, so it was an appropriately portioned treat with some dark coffee.

Glad that I found the two "hidden gem" bakeries in Sapperton! I will be back for more sweet treats, and to discover more in the coming months.




Bella Cakes
459 East Columbia Street
New Westminster BC
P: 604-777-2524

Patisserie Lebeau (Vancouver, BC)

Remember how I was on the hunt for a good waffle a while ago? That search led me to Damien's Belgian Waffles in Richmond. For waffles closer to town, however, Patisserie Lebeau offers both sweet and savoury waffles, as well as waffle-wiches!! (How else was I going to drag M out to try sweet waffles, not once, but twice, since Patisserie Lebeau is closed on Sundays??)

Situated near Granville Island and just a few doors down from a great cookbook store, Barbara Jo's Books, Patisserie Lebeau makes loads of sweet Liege waffles, waffles with savoury add ins mixed into the batter, and waffle-wiches with goodies stuffed inside a pair of waffles.



With all the options, M chose a savoury (of course!) chicken and brie wafflewich. The crisp waffle was a nice, sturdy package holding in a beautifully melted brie with poached chicken filling. There was a nice contrast between the oozy cheese and the crunchy waffle. By the way, M found his wafflewich much too tempting and took a bite out of it before I could get my camera out and take a photo. Oy.



As I'm the sweeter one in the couple, I opted for a peach and custard wafflewich. It wasn't too sweet, which was nice, and again, the crisp yet tender waffle held its own against the soft silky filling.

We also had a ham and cheese waffle, where the ingredients were cooked into the waffle batter - while it was nice, our top pick would have been the brie and chicken. We ordered another chicken and brie wafflewich after taking photos and demolished it shortly after!

Unfortunately, I didn't get to try their authentic Belgian waffles, but I have to leave options to try next time!

If Patisserie Lebeau is still too far for you to visit, you can purchase their Belgium waffles frozen in your local Capers, Stong's, Whole Foods, Nesters, or IGA. They are also available at The Gourmet Warehouse (on Hastings at Clark), on The Drive at Drive Organics, or Meinhardt's on South Granville.

Patisserie Lebeau
1728 West 2nd Ave
Vancouver BC
P: 604-731-3528

Recipe: Mango Pudding!

Would you believe that we recently had not one, but TWO huge family / friend gatherings at our apartment this last while with HORDES of food and all I have for you in terms of recipes and photos is this mango pudding???!

I tell you - eating with Ms or my own family is like eating with a pack of hungry wolves. If you get to taste every dish, you could be said to be a) an extremely fast eater with asbestos lips (there have been occasions where my father has finished a bowl of soup and there is still STEAM coming off of the residual coating of soup in the bowl, or the server is still ladling soup for everyone) b) a stamina eater with lightning reflexes (perhaps a pavlovian-trained reflex), or c) you're sitting next to my dad or J (in either family. haha!)



So...the reason why these photos even exist is because this is, in fact, a "leftover" pudding from the Y familys' feast. Surprisingly, Ms family eats less than my family - even J disappointed me when he had to doggy bag the rest of his plate. Who would have thought that a seasoned athlete arriving for dinner after a long evening of volleyball would have a moderate sized appetite (vs the monstrous one I was expecting?) *shrug*.



Ingredients
2 envelopes Knox granulated gelatin
1/3 c granulated sugar
1 c boiling water
1 c cool water
~400g sweetened mango puree (about 15 oz) - I used Rellure brand of sweetened Kesar Mango Pulp, although you could experiment and find a brand or product that you prefer
1 c whipping cream
1/2 c diced fresh mango
Evaporated milk for serving

Method
In a large metal or ceramic bowl, stir gelatin and sugar together. Add boiling water and stir until dissolved.

Stir in cool water, mango puree, and cream until combined. Stir in diced mango.

Pour into small molds or a large jelly mold and refrigerate until firm.

Serve with a thin layer of evaporated milk.



I poured mine into individual molds and used teacups when I ran out - I thought it looked cute with the layer of bright yellow pudding and the thin layer of milk on top. This recipe made about 18 portions. Thank you to L for the beautiful roses and vase!