Torrance Bakery UPDATE - Torrance

I rarely go see someone without picking up some pastries from this neighborhood treasure first. 

They make understated baked goods, and my appreciation grows every time I go. Just a regular old Buttermilk Donut remains my go-to with a cup of coffee made hot, but I also appreciate a good Apple Fritter or their classic Croissant, chocolate or not. One is fluffy butter, the other is flaky sweet.

Newer discoveries include these surprisingly good muffins. I love the crumbly Sour Cream, and the seasonal Cranberry Orange is one I want all year round. Apple Turnovers are a good, gooey filling, but here's the best thing they have; the Bear Claw. So many little toes of cinnamon-sugar goodness. 

I rarely get their sweets. The Maple Bacon Cupcake is a sugar splurge, and I like the still-crunchy bacon bits with creamy maple frosting. It's heavy, though, probably better to share. 

A sweet, sweet-seller in old town Torrance, one of the places I'll sorely miss, now that I've moved away. 

Erick Schat’s Bakkery UPDATE - Bishop, CA

 

We took a toddler on a 9-hour roadtrip to Reno and it wasn’t as terrible an idea as we thought. 

She slept for most of the first leg, and we only made one stop for sandwiches at Schat’s. There’s a park with a playground across the street, perfect for a picnic of Roast Beef on white and multigrain with Turkey. The meats are freshly sliced, but let’s be real - it’s all about the bread at Schat’s. 

It’s all good here, and it’s all good to go. We got some Shepherder’s and some Dutch Crunch for the road, and I recommend their cinnamon pull-apart Monkey Bread if they have it. The Pound Cake can be part of a complete breakfast, and we completely ate it in a day. The bread is good, and the bakkery is solid. Just wear pants with an elastic waist.

85 Degrees - Torrance

Say what you will, you pastry snobs, but I like 85 Degrees. Butter replaces sugar, savory suffices for sweet, and less is more at this clearly successful Asian bakery chain.

Keep it simple with a fluffy, pull-apart Brioche if your morning coffee is looking lonely. 

Savory options like the Curry Bun are better warm, but what’s not to like about curried meat with corn?

The Potato Croquette can be greasy when cold but I’d still sort a deep-fried mashed potato ball into the “why not?” column. 

They made a Sweet Wreath for the holidays, and I love it. Fluffy sweetbread with a sugar-glaze, like an Asian Krispy Kreme but with more substance and character.

The Berrytale is a fan favorite. The cream cheese unsweetens the berry fruity filling, like a stuffed French toast without the fuss.

The chocolate fillings are a guilty pleasure, and I love the speckled Dino Egg Chocolate bun. The inside is a thin line of crunchy, cookie-sequence chocolate so it’s not too heavy to finish by yourself. 

I love the Custard Bun filling - it’s a happy medium between pudding and cream.

The Red Bean finds the right balance between sugar and bean. 

Everything is sweet, but everything is subtle. Even the Strawberry Chiffon Cake is airy and light. Fluffy cake layers, filled with vanilla cream and strawberry mousse, perfect for a first birthday or an 80th.

I know it's a chain, and I know there are many competitors, but I still really like 85 Degrees. Good selection, good variety, and you can’t go wrong with anything taro. 

Torrance Bakery - Torrance

Welcome to your neighborhood bakery. They're pretty well-known in Torrance and much of the South Bay, but that sweet blue awning helps keep the local feel. 

Across the street from a small green mini-park in an area built for walking, they have plenty of options to go with your morning coffee, whether you sit and sip or take it to work. My favorite is the Buttermilk Donut, prefer the plain to the glazed. It's simple, but this hearty loaf has a crisp outside and not much sugar so it highlights the flavor of the milk. The Apple Fritter has chunks of apple and cinnamon sugar encased in a glaze to keep it moist, and other options abound like a fluffy Glazed Donut, a long Chocolate Bar Donut, and a doughy Blueberry Scone.

We always get the buttermilk, but we try a few new things every time. Sugar Cookies keep it simple, and the malasada-like Filled Donuts have a nice gooey raspberry or custard pudding.

Despite being all about the sweets, they err on the side of less sugar. The Snickerdoodle is one such example, and I appreciate not being assaulted by sweetness.

They also make a large Black and White Cookie, a plain base with firm frosting. 

I don't have a favorite bakery yet because I just don't go to many, but I do appreciate the one I can walk to. But don't just judge by my opinion - judge by your own palate and the line out the door!

Snacks - South Africa

Forget the fancy stuff. My favorite thing to do in every country is to buy all the candy. It's amazing, the kind of fun you can only have at a gas station. 

Chocolate:

Cadbury with nuts: Been there, done that, but I always forget how creamy their milk chocolate is.

Red Velvet: Tiny little red strip covered in white chocolate. Much less exciting than it looks.

Bubbly: White chocolate over an regular chocolate. But with air holes. 

Trying to save money in the safari parks: Skippy and Jif make better peanut butter, but this fig jam is great.

Gummies: What I truly live for.

Strawberry puffs: Proof that my husband understands me.

Tangy Tops: They're not tangy. At least they're cute.

Sour Gummy Bears: Damn, they don't play! They get more and more sour with each bite, and they actually start to burn. Where do I get some of this good stuff in the States?

Sour Worms: Same sour stuff, just less of it. Love these. Must buy more.

Sweets From the Streets - Dalian & Jinzhou, China

The sweets don't stop at breakfast. 

The street stalls bream with freshly-baked pastries 24/7, and not a single pushcart peddler passes without making me stare and drool.

The Sticky Rice Cakes are sliced off a giant spit like a gyro, sprinkled with savory black sesame seeds. The occasional red date and a sprinkling of white sugar makes it sweet like a soft, Rice-cream bar.

I prefer my hawthorn berries in rock candy, but the sugared ones will do. The sweet casing counteracts the intense tartness, a fruity, all-natural, street-food that may have inspired both SweetTarts and Sour Patch Kids.

If hawthorn berries in rock candy ever get old, which I predict will be at quarter to never, Black Dates (or whatever they're really called) are an acceptable alternative, but the little brown nuts of San Yao (Chinese yam) are the best.

My favorite sweet was the not-so-sweet gigantor Egg Rolls, baked like waffles, rolled like a melt-in-your-mouth cannoli shell minus the cream.

It's funny, I've had all sorts of crazy-fancy seafood (more on that later) and eaten at several restaurants frequented by the scandlously rich, yet the simple street foods are the ones I remember the most. I do love the fine dining, but it's the snacking that I crave.

Coffee Tomo - Los Angeles

Sawtelle can get pretty heavy on a hot day, and sometimes all you want is coffee and a snack.

If you're hungry, kinda hungry, could be hungry, or just can't say no to food, a new-moon Sweet Potato Cheese Pretzel is a must. The dough is warm and soft, and a sweet syrupy sweet potato envelopes strings of chewy cheese. I have yet to find anything that goes better with iced coffee.

Wash that pretzel down with a heavy, dark Caramel Latte, or opt for the much lighter Vanilla Soy Latte if you're like me and have a slight side of lactose intolerance.

Good coffee shops are a dime a dozen in California, but Coffee Tomo does have something undeniably special. I don't have much experience with hand drip coffee, but I know it's not to be missed. Every sip is full-flavored with intense body and a head-on kick of caffeine, and sorry Starbucks, but your bitterly burnt beans are looking pretty miserable in comparison.