Location Review:
16655 Yonge Street
Newmarket, Ontario
I'm sure most people will probably never stumble upon this little bakery due to its far proximity from the heart of Ontario, and for that I think is a shame. The other day my parents were in the Newmarket area after coming back down from some hiking trails up north, and decided to stop by this new bakery after receiving positive feed back from their friends. After grabbing some deli sandwiches, they brought back some breads and other treats in which I had the opportunity to try.
As a bit of a background, Kneadings Bread & Cafe is a bakery cafe that makes a whole range of baked goodies with stone-ground wheat flours, in-store fresh everyday. What makes this place very different, is that nothing in their store is made with additives or preservatives. I find you can actually tell the difference in the taste, texture, and smell. More on this later. While most people would just drop by to grab a loaf of bread, muffins, or some cookies, there is also the option of having some soup, salad, or deli / breakfast sandwiches on your choice of bread or bagel.
Scones ($2 each) -Cheddar (Top Left), Chocolate Chip (Top Right), Raisin (Bottom Left), Cranberry Orange (Bottom Right)
Without even taking into consideration that these scones have all natural ingredients, these were absolutely delicious. I toasted mine to a point where it had a mild crunchy exterior, and soft warm interior. On thing I do notice though, is that each scone was not the same. Some rose more during baking than others, and as a result tasted better because they were less dense.. My favourite one was the cranberry and orange. Very buttery, and had a subtle hint of sweetness from the honey (not sugar) and the cranberries.
"Honey Whole Wheat", and "Muesli" bread loaves"
Since my parents were the ones that picked these up, I have to say that these bread flavours are actually quite (for lack of a better word) boring compared to the ones that they offer. On a menu that they brought back, I saw that they have some pretty interesting loaves like "Strawberry and Pecan", "Spinach Feta", "Jalapeno Cheddar" and even "Irish Soda Bread" (A Saint Patrick's Day specialty made with buttermilk, eggs, currants, and coriander).
The loaves themselves were very heavy. I'd say the weight of one loaf is equivalent to two commercial loaves of bread. The texture of the bread is more dense and less uniformly risen. Because there are no additives, you can really taste the yeast in the bread. Or actually, being the Bio-nerd that I am, I should correct myself and say it is the alcohol by-product of the yeast fermentation process which you can taste. I wasn't used to it at first, but after a couple more bites I couldn't even notice it. Personally I think I prefer the texture of fluffy commercialized breads, but the fact that it was all natural definitely made me feel good about eating it.
