Category Archives: Bakery

Egg custard tart – Golden Gate Bakery

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Egg custard tart Golden Gate Bakery

Buttery, flaky tart shell filled with warm, creamy egg custard.
Golden Gate Bakery, San Francisco

It took me 3+ months and four visits to finally get these! The first time I went, there was a festival going on and I waited in line but all they were selling (or I thought) were mooncakes! I got a pineapple mooncake and left but immediately saw that other people were ordering these from the back area. Argh! There was NO way I was going to wait in that long line again! The second couple of times the bakery was closed because they were on vacation. That’s all the sign said! It didn’t say when they were coming back either, lame! Finally, on the fourth trip I was able to snag a couple of these and there wasn’t even a line, score!

These egg custard tarts were worth it! They are probably the best egg tarts I’ve had! I’m not even a fan of these, but I really like Golden Gate Bakery’s version. The crust is super buttery and flaky, very different from others I’ve tried. And the egg custard filling is amazing! These tarts are larger than most so there’s a LOT of filling but I didn’t mind because it tasted so good.

Egg custard tart Golden Gate Bakery

7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013

Banana cream tart – Tartine Bakery

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Banana cream tart Tartine Bakery

Dark chocolate and caramel coated flaky pastry shell filled with sliced bananas and cream, topped with shaved chocolate and powdered sugar. 9″ tart $40
Tartine Bakery, San Francisco

Wow, this tart was amazing! Messy, but AMAZING! If you love bananas, you’ll absolutely love this tart. I’m not a huge banana fan, but I will eat this tart any day! I brought this to a Christmas party and it was a big hit. You can never go wrong with bringing a tart or cake from Tartine!

Banana cream tart Tartine Bakery

In the box just waiting to be eaten!

Banana cream tart Tartine Bakery

The pastry shell was pretty thick and because it was chocolate and caramel coated, it was fairly difficult to slice through. But after you did, you received a great surprise as the sliced bananas came pouring out. Amazing!

7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2013

Wheat bread loaf – Tartine Bakery

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Wheat bread loaf Tartine Bakery

Freshly baked loaf of bread. The kind of bread changes daily and they’re only available after 5pm Tuesday through Sunday . This was a wheat bread and it was VERY good. I slowly ate it over several days and it kept very well stored in a plastic storage bag. $8.75
Tartine Bakery, San Francisco

Wheat bread loaf Tartine Bakery

7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2010, 2011, 2012

Apricot bande aux fruits – La Boulange de Noe

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Project 365: Day 30

It’s Friday, Friday! (Sung a-la Rebecca Black)

Totally forgot that Codes was visiting this weekend so that should be fun. Don’t have to work as of now so it’ll be nice to relax and hang out with Silverfox and friends. I had a really good workout this morning and I like to think that people were checking me out, lol! Maybe I was just hallucinating cause I was starving again. Or maybe I just had booger hanging from my nose!

Apricot bande aux fruits La Boulange de Noe

Buttery pastry crust with almond cream (or vanilla cream?) and sweet apricots. $3
La Boulange Bakery, San Francisco

This place is gonna be the death of me! I’m always hungry after the gym and I walk by La Boulange and Noe Valley Bakery on the way home so I’m always tempted to grab something to snack on. This bande aux fruits was SO yummy and I loved the charred apricots on top.

Apricot bande aux fruits La Boulange de Noe

The crust was super soft!

Apricot bande aux fruits La Boulange de Noe

Pretty and nommy!

Pear and chocolate bread puddin’ – Arizmendi Bakery

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Project 365: Day 29

I think I drank too much last night, lol! I was hurting this morning, but thank god I didn’t have to work until noon.

Last night we went to the Foodspotting Ball Ball held at their San Francisco office near the ballpark. We arrived a little early so we ducked into District to relax and grab a quick glass of wine. Brooklyn who I know from Cheer SF was working and took great care of us! We were only there quickly but he sat us at a reserved table and gave us great service. Thanks, Brooklyn! I’ve always liked that guy!

The Ball was ok. We talked to a few people and everyone seemed nice and were having a good time. There was free wine and beer and a few food items. I thought there would be more food though. They encouraged people to bring food items in the shape of balls but I only noticed I person who brought chocolate rice krispy balls. There may have been more people who brought stuff but I didn’t see them. Everybody seemed to be gathered around the Beretta table because they were serving their delicious dungeness crab arancinis with a calabrese aioli. Noms! Every time they would bring out a freshly fried batch, the crowd with greedily swoop in and leave the table barren once again. I’ll admit I had a couple of them. They were the only thing substantial to eat anyway.

Afterward, under the influence of wine, I had the great idea of going to Badlands for another drink. Bad move! We followed that with another drink at The Edge, then headed home and crawled into bed. Ahhh…

Pear chocolate bread pudding Arizmendi Bakery

Bread pudding with pear, chocolate, bread flour, eggs, buttermilk, cream, sugar, cinnamon, brown sugar, butter, dried fruit, yeast, sea salt, and pecans. $2.75
Arizmendi Bakery, San Francisco

Noms! SO good, Arizmendi and getting back on my nommy list! I think there is coconut in this bread pudding too. I skipped the gym this morning because I wasn’t feeling so hot, and of course I ate crap all morning. On my way to Bart I went to Arizmendi and grabbed this bread pudding. Never had it before but it’s pretty darn tasty!

Pear chocolate bread pudding Arizmendi Bakery

Large chunks of chocolate and pear cover the top of the bread pudding.

Pear chocolate bread pudding Arizmendi Bakery

Probably not the healthiest thing for you, but it’s worth the calories (and fat, lol)!

Chocolate eclair – La Boulange de Noe

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Project 365: Day 27

Wow, it sure was cold this morning! My hands got frozen to and from the gym. It felt like I was back in Seattle. Maybe that’s my cue to move farther south, hehe!

Had a pretty good workout, but I feel like I’m not making it to the gym early enough so I’m rushing while I’m there. That’s not going to change because I hate getting out of bed. I was able to get a couple loads of laundry in while I was having coffee, though. Not mouch else happening today.

Chocolate eclair La Boulange de Noe

Choux pastry split lengthwise, filled with a chocolate cream and topped with chocolate frosting. $3.25
La Boulange Bakery, San Francisco

This was delicious! The consistency of the chocolate cream filling was just how I like it. I’m not a big fan of custardy fillings for eclairs. They remind me of Bismarck donuts, yuck! This filling was light and airy and nommy! There are SO many yummy pastries at La Boulange and it’s my goal to try all of them, lol!

Chocolate eclair La Boulange de Noe

I love that even if you’re buying just one eclair, La Boulange still takes the time to box it up and prevent the eclair from getting damaged in transit. Way to go, guys!

Chocolate eclair La Boulange de Noe

I prefer the first bite over the last bite, hehe!

Double pain au chocolat – Tartine Bakery

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Project 365: Day 24

It’s a beautiful day this morning! I little chilly but the sun is shining bright and the air is fresh.

Went to Tartine Bakery around 8:15am and there was already a line out the door. I purchased this chocolate croissant and a cake for the work party tonight. I’m always surprised how much the cakes are. I mean they’re really good but a 12″ chocolate souffle cake for $62 still a lot!

Gonna be busy today. I have to clean the entire house, do laundry, work on the computer, order Filipino food and pick it up, make a grocery store run and everything else before people start arriving tonight. It’ll be fun though. Someone is bringing a Magic Mic so it’ll be a karaoke battle up in here, lol!

Double pain au chocolat Tartine Bakery

Chocolate croissant with Valrhona chocolate. $4.50
Tartine Bakery, San Francisco

This is an expensive croissant, but I’ll admit that it’s totally worth it! It’s SO frickin’ flaky, buttery and delicious. Seriously, the flaky exterior falls apart just by looking at it. SO good!

Double pain au chocolat Tartine Bakery

Wish there was more chocolate inside, but I do think the ratio is appropriate. I’m just a chocolate whore, lol!

Double pain au chocolat Tartine Bakery

The pain au chocolat is also pretty large. It’s so rich that I can only eat half of it at a time.

Fresh fruit tartlet – Noe Valley Bakery

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Project 365: Day 21

After leaving the gym, I started thinking about the late birthday party on Saturday that I’m having over at my place for some friends at work. I really don’t have anything for it yet and my apartment is a MESS! I thought that this would be less stressful than having dinner at a restaurant since everyone hates splitting the bill and there’s still someone who keeps underpaying (argh!).

I stopped by Noe Valley Bakery again because I initially thought I was going to get a bunch of their amazing cupcakes for the party, but they’re kind of expensive and my wallet is feeling overused lately. I checked out their book of cakes and thought I wanted one of them, but I’ve since decided that maybe I’ll just swing by Tartine Bakery on Saturday morning and grab whatever looks good. You can’t really go wrong with something from Tartine and I think pre-ordering something would just cause more stress and I don’t have the time.

Papa Chang and Rapunzel said that I shouldn’t worry about and just provide simple things like chips and other random snacks, but I always have to have food for guests – it’s the Filipino in me! Maybe I’ll stick to my original plan and have some Filipino food (lumpia and pancit), but just not order too much. Maybe people will bring food too. I just can’t spend too much money since I’m saving for all those trip’s coming up. I’ve also decided that I’m visiting Codes in Ohio for his 30th bday so that’s another unforeseen expense. It’ll be fun though and it’s always great seeing him.

Just made plans to have brunch with B2 on Sunday. She wants to take me out for a late birthday meal and to hear all about my Benu dinner. She loves food as much as I do so we’ll have a great time.

Fresh fruit tartlet Noe Valley Bakery

Mini 2 inch sweet pastry shell filled with pastry cream and topped with strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry. $2.85
Noe Valley Bakery, San Francisco

This tartlet beckoned to me from the counter display. The berries looks so sweet and luscious, especially with the apricot(?) glaze on top. It was very tasty ! The pastry shell could have been a little thinner but I really can’t complain too much about this scrumptious tart.