Saturday, November 21, 2009

Great Cleveland Bakery Hop- Tommy's Pastries





My goodness- where does the time go?! I have been trying to behave myself in the sweet dept, so haven't baked much, since it's only me and husband. I have made this wonderful Apple Cake from the Culinate site quite a few times for different functions, it definitely a keeper.

Anyhoo, one thing we have been doing is visiting bakeries in the Cleveland (mostly west) area. My MIL bought me Laura Taxel's great Cleveland-centric book Ethnic Eats, and we are working our way through town looking for great places to snag some goodies. We have been to a few, but I realized I am never gonna keep these straight, so I better post!
First up, Tommy's Pastries 14205 Madison Ave., Cleveland, OH. The outside is nothing special; we park around the corner, cuz there was no space in front, and as soon as we rounded te corner, the smell we could smell the fresh baked bread. Inside there was one customer, conversing in Hungarian to the young counter clerk, who left with a giant bag full. While we waited for her to pick her items. we had time to choose.
I picked the cheese danish, DH the raspberry. They looked like they would be hard and somewhat heavy, but happily, they were very light, soft yet flaky. We bought some of the Hungarian white bread that was baking. It was so fresh from the oven, that it kept me warm on the ride home! I opened the bag so the steam wouldn't affect the crusty bread, and when we got home, I let it sit on the counter until it cooled.
We also picked a cheese biscuit and some cheese sticks- plain and with caraway. The biscuit we quickly shared in the car, light, flaky and soon gone. These would be great with a dinner, slightly warmed. The cheese sticks were excellent, especially the ones with caraway. These also would be great with soup or stew or a dinner. Or on their own as a snack.