Les Chateaux Bakery: Egg Tart Binge
Les Chateaux Bakery, 8360 Kennedy Road, Markham, ON, L3R 5Y7
Les Chateaux Bakery
8360 Kennedy Road, Markham, ON, L3R 5Y7
We couldn’t trek it all the way out to Markham without picking up some Les Chateaux Bakery egg tarts. There’s something special about these little custard tarts: their delicate flaky crusts. All the egg tarts I’ve ever eaten in Vancouver are baked in a shortbread crust so these scrumptious little Les Chateaux Bakery tarts were unique little treats. I’ve even had trouble finding them elsewhere in Toronto. Markham is the only place I’ve seen them. So we stocked up!
Les Chateaux Bakery, 8360 Kennedy Road, Markham, ON, L3R 5Y7
We arrived right before the store was closing up for the day so all the sweet buns and breads were half price. Score! We quickly grabbed numerous plastic bags and began picking out all our favourite buns.
Les Chateaux Bakery, 8360 Kennedy Road, Markham, ON, L3R 5Y7
I am partial to the sweet pineapple buns, having grown up eating them. And no, there is no actual pineapple inside. The bun just resembles a pineapple with a gridded top made of flour and sugar. We also bought some Mexican buns and sweet buns covered in sugar. How can anything covered in sugar be bad?
Les Chateaux Bakery, 8360 Kennedy Road, Markham, ON, L3R 5Y7
There were also some savoury buns stuffed with ham and cheese that we couldn’t resist. And what makes better breakfast pastries than savoury buns?
Les Chateaux Bakery, 8360 Kennedy Road, Markham, ON, L3R 5Y7
Each bun was moist and buttery.
Egg tarts, Les Chateaux Bakery, 8360 Kennedy Road, Markham, ON, L3R 5Y7
Our prized egg tarts were polished off in less than a day though. Of course they tasted the best on the very first day when the crust was still flaky and crisp. The egg custard was smooth and rich; the creaminess only enhanced by the delicate, light crust. I’ve always been in love with the contrasting textures of this egg tart with the crisp crust against the gooey, runny custard. Each one of these little treasures is a definite indulgence.
Egg tart, Les Chateaux Bakery, 8360 Kennedy Road, Markham, ON, L3R 5Y7
Since there’s eggs in them, I qualify egg tarts as legitimate breakfast food and have gobbled more than one with my morning coffee. Someone once told me that whenever someone adds an egg to something, it’s categorized as breakfast food.
Egg tart, Les Chateaux Bakery, 8360 Kennedy Road, Markham, ON, L3R 5Y7
Egg tarts also make me think of one of my favourite desserts, creme brulee and I have always wondered whether the origin of egg tarts is Eastern or Western. Some bloggers and Wikipedia compare the similarities of egg tarts to British custard tarts and with the pastry’s prevalence in Hong Kong, it could be a likely story that egg tarts evolved from British custard tarts. Nonetheless, egg tarts still top my list of favourite sweets. I’m not alone, CNN has listed egg tarts on their list of World’s 50 most delicious foods in 2011.
Egg tarts, Les Chateaux Bakery, 8360 Kennedy Road, Markham, ON, L3R 5Y7