Old Post 21: Priory Fine Pastries on the North Shore, not so fine

Priory Fine Pastries is located in a historical sweets manufacturing site.  The building they operate out of is the original manufacturing site for the Clark Candy Company, producer of Clark Bars.  Sadly, the history of that building isn't bolstering the quality of the pastry. 

The shop itself is inviting and friendly and the staff is attentive.  You also have a great selection to work from- breakfast danishes, doughnuts, biscotti, cakes, cupcakes, cobbler, mini-pies, whole pies, breads, etc.  The Priory also has a decent web presence for a small business.  They write a blog, have a facebook page, a twitter account, a you tube channel, and maintain a nice, informative website. 

They manage to do so many things right, but miss one key element of a pastry shop- consistent taste!  Sugar Love ordered a mini-cheesecake, a peach raspberry cobbler, a cookies and cream cupcake, a carrot cake cupcake, an orange scone, a mini coconut cream pie, and a white chocolate lemon biscotti,  After just one bite of each item, all but the scone, biscotti and cobbler were thrown away. 

The cheesecake was beautiful, but very sour tasting for cheesecake.  There seemed to be a disproportionate amount of sour cream to cream cheese in this recipe.  The carrot cupcake was ok, just unremarkable.  It didn't seem to have either raisins or pineapple, which is customary for most carrot cakes, so it lacked that little extra bit of fruity sweetness.  The cookies and cream cupcake was decorated as a sunflower with a cute little lady bug on top, but had no cream in it!  It was just chocolate filled chocolate cake with chocolate icing and a cookie.  Cookies and cream should have a vanilla cream filling, right?  The worst was the mini coconut cream pie.  They used neither a meringue or a whipped cream topping.  It seemed to be a flavorless buttercream atop the custard, which was also lacking flavor.  Overall, the coconut cream pie was the most disappointing.

The light at the end of the tunnel was that the biscotti was very tasty.  White chocolate and lemon permeated the dry, crumbly cookie and would have been extra delicious with a coffee.  The scone was also very good, although it definitely ranged on the sweet side of the scone spectrum.  The peach raspberry cobbler was good, but the raspberry was almost an afterthought.  Heavy on peach, light on raspberry. 

That said, none of the pastries were tasty enough to keep around.  While the Breton Cake from Jean Marcs is still be snacked upon, the Priory Pastries sat for a few days untouched after the first few bites.

With a little bit of recipe tweaking, the Priory could be a really great little shop.  For now, you'll just need to be careful about what you order to satisfy that Sugar Loving craving you might have.  

Priory Fine Pastries Peach Raspberry Cobbler on the Sugar Love Scale

Taste ♥♥♥
Texture ♥♥.5
Appearance ♥♥.5
Overall ♥♥♥

Old Post 17: Big Dog Coffee, not just for Java

As we all know, coffee shops are rarely serving just coffee these days.  To truly be a cafe, you've got to offer at the very least some sort of pastry or bread or snack to go along with the coffee, a comfy chair to sit in and a newspaper to kick back with. 

Big Dog Coffee at 27th and Sarah St. in the South Side is doing so much more.  If you are a dog lover, you must, must come to Big Dog Coffee where you and your pooch are more than welcome to relax in the cool and quaint cafe or on the sunny deck.  Aside from offering delicious coffee and friendly baristas, the little shop also has an oatmeal bar, a selection of daily fresh soups, and a variety of pastries. 

They get their pastries from a variety of local bakers- from full shops with store fronts to home bakers with businesses to friends who know how to make a killer cranberry bread.  You can also easily recognize the best coconut macaroons in town- no, not Sweet Tammy's, Enrico's!

Months and months ago, they had a chocolate gob which was out of this world delicious, but during this particular visit with Pete and Coop (my dogs), there were none.  Faced with indecision- the oatmeal bar with two dogs in hand or a granola bar - convenience landed on the granola bar.  This homemade granola bar was stuffed to the gills with peanut butter flavor and smooth, delicious texture.  It was a real treat with oats, raisins, peanut butter and nuts packed into one delicious bar. 

The raspberry-filled scone was somewhat of an afterthought.  It hadn't been part of the decision set, but it was intriguing because it was a filled scone.  Upon tasting it, it was almost like have a sweet, lemon-y biscuit filled with raspberry jam and flattened.  It was tasty, but a little unexpected. 

Each treat was complemented with a delicious cup o' latte and a wonderfully friendly set of customers who obligingly paid attention to Pete and Coop who wanted oh so badly to eat some of those treats behind the counter.

Stop by Big Dog Coffee and try the oatmeal bar and send your comments! It's on my list of things to try if I ever make it down that way sans dogs. 

Big Dog Coffee's Granola Bar on the Sugar Love Scale

Taste ♥♥♥.5
Texture ♥♥♥.5
Appearance ♥♥♥
Overall ♥♥♥.5