Bake Code - New Taiwanese Bakery (& Chatime!)

The Yonge/Sheppard area is definitely getting a little more exciting! Bake Code is a new bakery/cafe that opened nearby and it features Taiwanese breads/pastries made by a mix of European and Asian bread making techniques.  A week ago they had a soft opening but I figured I'd wait till their grand opening week (Sept 17-23) to try their products.  Products (except beverages) are buy 3 get 1 free (lowest priced item) during this period, so go now! 

There are Chinese buns but also European like buns that have some Asian flavours to it (like taro or matcha).  Most if not all the breads I saw were the soft fluffy kind you'd find in Asian bakeries.  Their website lists baguettes but they didn't have them in the morning yet.  There are also flaky croissant items and a selection of desserts that you won't find at your typical Chinese bakery (like a Mille Crepe cake).  Samples of the breads are available and I pretty much tried all that were on offer this morning and wanted to buy a lot more loaves than I did. 

Here are the items I tried I my first visit:



Clockwise from Top L: Matcha red bean bun, Swiss Chocolate Boule, Japanese Cheesecake, Chocolate Croissant

Matcha red bean bun - filled with beans but it's not a paste, actual whole beans (that were also differing colours) which give it a different texture; nice against the soft fluffy bread.  The top, surprisingly is topped with a very thin layer of pastry crust or something of that nature that is buttery and sweet.  It's a very thin layer but does it's job, quite impressed actually.  The only thing about this bread is that the matcha flavour is not really there.  Despite this, I still really liked this bun.

Swiss Chocolate Boule - looks like a hearty and dense dark rye bread buts it's actually very soft and chewy. A hint of chocolate in the dough, little bits of walnuts (be sure to check out their website for the ingredients which is really helpful!), and little nibs of chocolate so you get an extra kick of chocolate.  It's a big bread and I could have eaten it all sitting at my desk!

Japanese Cheesecake - was just average.  It was light but too light for me, would have liked a little more cream cheese flavour so my least favourite of the day.

The chocolate croissant I have to say has pretty good dark chocolate filling inside and a good amount.  The croissant itself has a very flaky top but is not as rich in butter as I'd like.  However, I devoured it at breakfast because of the chocolate filling!

One thing to note: I believe they are baking their buns throughout the day so when I went, there were certain breads that I had read about but did not see, like the earl grey tea bread. 

On my second visit late in the afternoon, I got the red wine longan bread which I actually first heard about (this combination) from a post on the blog TravellingFoodies, where they detailed a visit to one of the Taiwanese "master boulanger Wu Pao Chun's" bakeries in Taiwan.  In 2010, Wu Pao Chun won the master baker title for bread at the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie, an international invitational artisan baking competition in France. The recipe is published for this bread in his book so I wonder if they are using it or have made their own version?

For the red wine longan bread, it's a nice bread and I think the longan is soaked in the red wine before baking.  Stronger longan taste than red wine but definitely good.  Not sure how often I'd buy this one as it's one of the pricier breads, but it is quite big.  When I had the sample, it seemed like the crust was crisper but when I got home and let it sit for a bit, it was soft.  I can see myself eating it as is or slicing thin slices, toasting lightly, and topping with a little cheese.

Red Wine Longan Bread

I picked up 3 other items as well.

Lemon Boule - has chocolate and cranberry in it which was a bit of a surprise.  Didn't taste much lemon though...so was slightly disappointed.  It was light and chewy and a good amount of the cranberry and chocolate, so I can definitely eat a lot of it.  Just would have been better if there was more lemon flavour since it is called lemon boule.

Cream Puff - Mmmm, delicious!  Pastry cream was yummy and the cream puff was crispy.  Slightly different from French ones in that the top is cut off and it is topped with the pastry cream (which means less in the puff) rather than filled from the bottom.

Mr. Chocolate Bean - Got the bag of 5 which is cheaper than buying individually.  This is essentially the Swiss Chocolate Boule but in mini bun form and the mini chocolate chips are added like a filling rather than dispersed throughout the bread.



Small seating area but modern, warm, and very comfortable feeling.  Even the trays that you put your bread on are very nice. 

Chatime beverages are featured but currently they offer a fraction of the usual menu: coffees, teapressos and a choice selection of milk teas and other teas. You gotta love that you can get Chatime at 8 in the morning!  (But, 10am on weekends.)

Overall, I like this bakery.  It may be a little pricier than some other places, but I think there are some unique breads and it's very convenient for me.  Definitely looking forward to trying more and I gotta find out the baking schedule because there are some on the website that I'd love to try!

Bake Code

4910 Yonge St

Toronto, ON M2N 5N5 

http://bakecode.com/