National Donut Day is this Friday, June 4th. In honour of that, we thought we’d highlight where we can find some great donuts in East Van. Specifically independent shops as we all know Tim Hortons and where you can find one. Outside of that, there are some obvious choices like Lucky’s Doughnuts, Cartems Donuts and long standing Duffin’s Donuts which has sealed a place in Vancouver’s collective history. New on the scene for us is Mello located near Chinatown which we have yet to try, but are looking forward to stopping in soon.
What we wanted to find were some spots in East Van that didn’t automatically come to mind when you think of donuts. One of those for us is Breka Bakery which has an apple fritter that is hefty in size and easily sharable between two, or not. Breka has a changing variety of donuts on hand, but the filled ones with apricot or raspberry filling are pretty delish. The added bonus of Breka is that no matter what time of the day or night you get a craving for a donut, they are open 24/7.
Next up is Swiss Bakery which we hear posted some fun flavours the other day like Maple Bacon bits with Custard, Walnut and Rose Petals with Chocolate Ganache, London Fog and Lavender with Custard, Chocolate Long John, Lemon Glazed, Chocolate Pearls and Peanut Butter and Jam. Low and behold they sold out quickly, but you are in luck, they will be available this week until Friday, June 4th. Don’t want to miss out on some of these great flavours and if you want to be sure you don’t, you can place in order online. Visit them at Swiss Bakery.
If Cartems is your go to spot, we learnt that they are offering a unique flavour this week, Sour Apple. It’s being billed as the ‘perfect mix of sweet and tart’. It’s a cake donut with green apple glaze topped with green apple chip. If this speaks to you, Sour Apple is only available till this Sunday, June 6th.
Did we miss your favourite spot? Drop us a line anytime.
With Christmas coming we thought it was time to update our Our Favourite East Van Bakeries. Although in theory, you may have some time to bake, but will you? If you haven’t mastered the art, or some say science of baking, good news, you have lots of great options to pick up baked goods in East Van. Whether you are craving an Italian pannetone, a German stollen, cheesecake or Christmas cookies, you will be sure to find it locally. We’d like to add we’ve lost a few bakeries in recent years, so we encourage you to support the ones still here and the new ones that have popped up. Now get ready, we’ve set out a long list. Enjoy!
Is a unique spot with a focus on using 100% traceable grains, beans, and freshly milled flours that support Canadian farmers. All their delish items can be delivered to your door including their flours should you wish to try your hand at baking. Added bonus, they feature quite a few recipes on their website. If you want them to bake, oh you are in for a treat. Many options to choose from including Pumpkin Pie Galette, Butter Tart Bar, Pear Custard Buns, Cinnamon Raisin Bread and so much more.
On The Drive, but tucked away every so slight in the Il Mercato building at 1st and Commercial is the Bench Bakehouse. They have a great selection of naturally leavened breads and French inspired pastries. For the holiday season, you can expect to find gingerbread men, shortbread, macaroons, biscotti, ginger almond crisp, Pfeffernusse along with Stollen and fruit cake.
This Italian bakery makes one of our favourite things, St. Honore cakes. Others may try and imitate, but personally we think theirs is hands down the best. Why accept imitation, as they say. They also carry an amazing selection of dessert items.
This sweet shop, literally and figuratively is run by the lovely Fanny Bay, who is a self taught baker and cookbook author. The shop came to the Drive in June 2019 and her loyal followers have shown lots of love over the years. Fanny is known for her signature cheesecakes, shortbread cookies and modern buttercream cakes. If you are looking for a delish gift, she is also offering Holiday Cookie Gift Boxes (as pictured above).
Livia on The Drive has a loyal following. They offer an array of delish artisan breads and other sweet treats. A definite stop if you are wandering on Commercial Drive.
This spot is just one block West of Commercial Drive and is most certainly a favourite go to spot for two things. One is Ginger Snaps and the second is pie. They generally have small and large pies on hand and on Fridays pie is 25% off which means, get their early or they will be all gone. They do have a wide range of sweet and savoury items including delish scones. This East Van staple has been a part of the community for over 40 years.
This is a favourite spot not only for their amazing bread, but something I’ve come to love financiers made from mostly almond flour. They have some amazing individual decadent desserts for taking away or having in, but their seasonal treat that has us excited is a German stollen passed down from Oma’s recipe (translation grandmother for those not up on their German) and yes for the diehard fans, with marzipan.
I grew up on just about everything from this bakery when it was called Fraser Bakery. It has many German favourites including a variety of strudels, Black Forest Cake, Christmas cookies and a Bee Sting cake or Bienenstich in German which is a white sponge cake with pastry cream in the middle and topped with honey glazed shaved almonds. Delish if you’ve never tried it. One unique thing about Breka, is that they are open 24/7 seven days a week. Don’t let that fool you though, it’s generally a busy spot so be prepared to wait a bit. In latest news, Breka Bakery is opening a new location in Hastings Sunrise at 2434 Hastings Street. It won’t be ready this year, but it will be next. Stay tuned.
Located in Mount Pleasant at the intersection of Kingsway & Fraser with great neighbours Like Matchstick Coffee and Les Faux Bourgeois. Everything here is made in house and is a 100% gluten free for celiacs and those that are gluten sensitive. They have an amazing selection of sweet and savoury ready made and frozen. Be sure to check out this quaint little spot.
Holy cannoli, this spot has a great selection of Italian sweet treats. You won’t be disappointed. They also have a great selection of cakes at the ready.
Tanya Muller is the owner and pastry chef of Le Gateau Bakeshop and we think the creator of some of the most beautiful wedding cakes we’ve ever seen. Outside of wedding cakes, they carry an array of seasonal sweets cupcakes, tarts and cookies all decadent and beautiful.
This one is recommended by our followers as a must try. They have a great selection of artisan breads, celebration cake, pastries and a whole lot more including pizza.
Tall Shadow Bakery is a new craft sourdough bakery located between Nanaimo and Kamloops Street. They have evolved from farmer markets to this new permanent location. Outside of great bread, they offer Holiday Sugar Cookie Decorating and Gingerbread House Kits and Cookie Boxes in small and large.
This sweet shop specializes in Latin desserts, cakes, pastries, empanadas and breads. If it’s cake you are looking for, the Mango Cake and Dulce De Leche Cakes are recommended.
If you’ve attended any farmer markets and craft fairs over the years, you will have found Sweet Thea Bakery with a whole lot of delish goodness. They offer decadent cookies, German stollen, plum pudding and a whole lot more. They no longer do farmer markets or craft fairs, but instead have been doing a Pop Up Shop at Main & 27th Avenue the last few years. In even better news, they are currently working on a permanent location on Main Street. If you can’t make their Pop Up Shop, you can visit them online.
Swiss Bakery, 143 East 3rd Avenue (just off Main Street)
We’ve been hearing so many great things about the Swiss Bakery and readers reached out to say, they need to be on this list. They offer an array of goodies including frissants, carmelized puff tart, stollen, Christmas cookies and Gingerbread House Kits.
Trafiq is a chic little café and has so many delish offerings it is so hard to choose. They have a Lemon Lavendar cake that’s caught our eye and is on our list to try. Their Instagram feed is drool worthy honestly. Give them a follow and do stop by if you haven’t already.
To Live For Bakery is a vegan bakery, but as one that has test tasted a number of delish options, you wouldn’t know the difference. They have an amazing selection of cakes and for Christmas, you can find Turtle cookies, rum balls, gingersnap cookies peppermint chocolate cookies, gingerbread loaf with maple glaze and Nog croissants. Of course, it’s a great spot to stop and take a break for coffee.
We hope you’ll support some of these great local businesses this holiday season.
ILiveInEastVan.com 