5 Toronto Desserts That Redefine “Sweet”
If you met me while traveling, you’d think I was an adventurous person, when in fact I am one of the laziest people you will ever meet. It’s a trick of the road; when on it, my adventurous side reveals herself (and by side, I mean this tiny little corner deep down inside me). At home, I seem to be just another cushion on my couch, but outside of NYC, I find myself accepting invitations to do things like zip-lining and scuba diving. I hear myself say yes, and I turn around wondering who said that. Oh yeah, it was Adventurous Maggie. Sometimes I’ll be walking up a small hill in flip flops and three hours later, I find myself at the top of a mountain just because Adventurous Maggie kept saying, “A few steps further, I bet the view with be amazing.” If I had been faced with that hill at home, I would have walked miles out of the way just to avoid it.
This column will follow my accidental adventures on the road, whether it is participating in a sport I never thought I’d play or eating food I never thought I’d try. My first stop is in Toronto, Ontario.
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The metropolitan city of Toronto makes a mean pastry. But not literally. In fact, these five desserts that I stumbled upon during recent my visit to Ontario are so sweet in appearance, it’s almost difficult to devour them and ruin the spectacle. Okay… not that difficult. Clearly, incredible taste isn’t enough for the pastry chefs of Toronto – they have to look just as sweet as they taste.
Café Boulud’s Grapefruit Givré: The first thing I thought when presented with this dessert at the Four Seasons’ Café Boulud was, “OMG, my dessert has hair!” This “hair” is fluffy halvah, kind of like cotton candy. If it had cheeks under that hair, I’d have pinched them. But instead, I just ate it. In one spoonful you get tangy grapefruit, crunchy sweetness and silky sorbet.
Milk Bar’s Bday Truffles: While they might look like donut holes, these cute and colorful cake bites are even more addictive. They are also just so presh, I don’t care if it’s not my birthday, I’m celebrating.
Jelly Modern Doughnuts’ Mumbai Fog: Um…did you say gold glitter…that is edible? I’ll have a dozen. And if the glitter isn’t enough for you, the pink flowers on top are edible as well. The chai flavored glaze adds a taste of sophistication to this fun and glam looking pastry, just in case you felt a little silly eating this bad boy…just yell out “it’s chai, okay! I swear I’m an adult!”
Park Hyatt’s Spring Inspired Sweets: To bring on spring, the Park Hyatt’s restaurant is serving up gardens. Well not exactly, this pot is filled with brown sugar to represent dirt, which sprouts cake pops and cookies. Spring looks even tastier in Toronto.
Nadège Patisserie’s Marie Antoinette Cake: Adorned with classic macarons, this dessert screams chic. Seriously, I hate to ruin something so beautiful, but I had to. Fresh vanilla panna cotta? I barely had the discipline to snap a quick pic before diving into this beauty.
