My Boston Bites: Bakeries in Beantown

Seems like I have a knack for sneaking in bakeries in between meals, especially on out of town trips.  The most recent visit to Boston was not different.

The first stop was on MIT campus at Flour Bakery.  Even though it was already well past lunch time, the crowd in the bakery was at least 20 people deep.

MD was a great table stalker and found us one right away.  While we waited for our sandwiches, we decided to start on the desserts first.  A butter breton cake for me and a dense brownie for MD.  The cake a doughier version of a kouign amann, slightly sweet and buttery.  At the bottom was a layer where the butter and sugar had settled, maybe it an incredible bite.

The brownie came highly recommended by the bakery and it was one dense and chocolatey brownie, almost as rich as a chocolate ganache.  We got a little creative and decided to combine the bites of the brownie and the butter cake – a perfect pairing.

Just as we finished our desserts, sandwiches were ready.  MD went with the curry tuna sandwich while I chose something meatier, a roast lamb and tomato chutney with goat cheese.  You have the option to have them press the sandwiches on the grill for a few seconds and trust me when I say that the extra charge was well worth it.  The bread was slightly crunchy and the heat had just warmed through the lamb and melted the goat cheese.  Who knew lamb and goat would pair so well in one sandwich.

The second bakery we found ourselves at was in the North End in Boston.  We were both starving and unfortunately, dinner at Trattoria Monica was still a good 30 minutes away.  We took a walk around the block to the famous Mike’s Pastry.  The block long line that was barely moving did not sit well with us.  A few more blocks later, we found ourselves back at the quieter corner where the restaurant was and Bova’s, a well lit family owned bakery caught our eyes.  The bakery was churning out fresh cookies and desserts on site, emitting an intoxicating sweet scent that drew us in.

A box of sweets to snack on while we waited for dinner.  Chocolate covered raspberry rainbow cookies, chocolate covered almond cookies and a flaky lobster tail were perfect for satiating our hunger.  We enjoyed the sweet finds right outside of the restaurant while others watched with jealousy.

The final bakery for the weekend was not quite in Boston.  On the way back into town after a beautiful wedding ceremony, TC led us to a suburban shopping center to find White’s Bakery.  She was on a mission to try their famous white cake while the rest of us perused the other selections at the enormous sunny space.

I settled on two little bites, an ugly and a mini chocolate whoopie pie.

And what is an ugly exactly?  This was perhaps one of the best desserts all weekend.  A piece of white cake was dipped in chocolate and rolled in coconut.  The result was incredibly light yet moist.  The second I finished, I regretted not getting a whole box of these to go.

And of course, a small white cake to share even though we just had cake at the wedding.  No knives or plates – just forks digging right in.  Shhh, no one else has to know about this little detour!

Flour Bakery | 190 Massachusetts Avenue  Cambridge, MA 02139 | http://www.flourbakery.com/

Bova’s Italian | 134 Salem Street  Boston, MA 02113 | http://www.bovasitalian.com/

White’s Bakery | 100 Derby Street  Hingham, MA 02043 | http://whitesbakeryandcafe.com/