Revisit: Italia Bakery (Hastings, Vancouver, BC)

"Another post on Italia Bakery?" Some of you may remember that I posted about Italia Bakery when I was on my quest to find a superb canoli bakery in Vancouver. While that quest was never fulfilled, I have to say, still that Italia Bakery ranks high on my list for mouth-watering canolis.

What led me to Italia Bakery was a post done by Phyllis of Me Hungry!. Phyllis is a Vancouverite who currently lives in New York. The pastries that she featured in her Cake Boss Carlos post made me wish for a bakery like that in Vancouver!

I'd heard about NYCs famous "lobster tail" pastries (named so for their appearance, and not their flavour!) when I saw a segment on the Cake Boss on foodtv. The lobster tails, similar to a pastry known as sfogliatella, are flakey and crunchy like the sfogliatella, but unlike the latter, is filled with creamy French custard, whereas the sfogliatella is filled with a ricotta-based filling.

Watching that segment already made me wish I could eat some NYC pastries, but Phyllis' post made me want it even more! I found out that Italia bakery made some amazing lobster tails, so I dropped by one day to pick some up. Unfortunately, I arrived to late and all that were left were two mini versions.

"I'll take them both!" I said to the lady behind the counter. "And a copenhagen, please."



And then I left, to be shunned by all the Hastings traffic since Olympic-dedicated lane forced regular traffic to be limited to two lanes.

The verdict? While the mini lobster tails were cute and compact (about two square inches), and very crisp and yummy - M says that after taking the photos I hovered over the pastries, coveting them like Gollum coveted his ring. I didn't notice that he had crept up beside me, I was so focused on the pastry! The mini lobster tails, while representative of what I imagine Cake Boss to make, was only common in the pastry. The filling of the pastry purchased from Italia Bakery was a more solid almond paste-based filling, similar to the layer on the copenhagen pastry that I purchased. It was not the creamy filling I was expecting.

While both were good (and I would purchase either of them again!), I'm going to either arrive earlier or reserve some regular-sized lobster tails for next time. Perhaps the larger version has the creamy filling I'm looking for?

Amen to Italia Bakery though! Lord knows they excel at what they do, and parking is easy to find! With the copenhagens and the canolis, I know where to get pastries for future dinner parties!

Italia Bakery
2828 East Hastings Street
Vancouver BC
Phone: 604-251-6800

The Quest: Are you my Cannoli? Italia Bakery (Hastings, Vancouver, BC)

This is a fun little project!

I continue my quest for the perfect cannoli, or a cannoli that compares to the light, crisp, slightly sweet concoction I had a couple weeks ago at La Piazza Dario Ristorante.

My search directed me towards Italia Bakery, located on East Hastings street, between Renfrew and Kaslo streets (half a block away from the PNE grounds).



I was delighted to find that Italia Bakery had three offerings in the cannoli category, by way of a Ricotta Cannoli, one that seemed to be a combination of light and dark custard fillings, and a Hazelnut Chocolate Cannoli (I was so excited when I read the label that I nearly jumped up and down and started clapping.)

But. I restrained myself.




I will not lie. I *loved* these cannoli. I will definately go back for more. My favourite? The Hazelnut Chocolate Cannoli (no contest).

But, was this the cannoli I had at Dario's? Are you my canoli?

The verdict: It was close! The cannoli shell was fresher than the one from Fratelli Bakery and closer to the one at Darios in terms of texture and size. Mind you, I visited both Italia and Fratelli bakeries close to their closing times, so I can't complain.

I actually ate Italia Bakerys' Ricotta Cannoli first, thinking that since there was only one left on display at the store, it was the least fresh - I was wrong! It was the most crisp out of the three that I bought. This was a more traditional cannoli, with mini chocolate chips folded into the smooth ricotta filling.

I could have easily had the three cannoli for dinner last night, but I paced myself. (I saved one for breakfast! haha!)



These were deliciously creamy and the hazelnut chocolate one made me sigh in content. (Yes, that is a bite missing out it in the smaller photos above! I couldn't help myself!)

If you're a cannoli fan, please do visit Italia Bakery for a gorge-worthy treat!

Italia Bakery

2828 East Hastings Street [map]
Vancouver BC
Phone: 604-251-6800