Strait-laced tastes, however, are quickly forgotten when a Devil Dog shake (shakes are $2.50 small, $3.15, $4.50 large) -- not really a shake, but a tribute to the Drake's Cake made from two chocolate "buns" with a creamy filling -- or a cup of raspberry cappuccino ice cream ($2.50) are discovered.
A caramelized chocolate lava bun — a "flaky, croissant-like pastry with a center of creamy hazelnut-flavored chocolate"?
A small wedge of velvety, creamy American cheesecake ($6), with strawberry coulis, could not have been more sinful or better, but a homemade brownie tower ($8) was a hodgepodge of slightly hard cake, vanilla and cappuccino ice cream, whipped cream, hot chocolate fudge, sticky bun pecans and who knows what.
The sticky, heavy buttery dough is the perfect marriage of a sticky bun and chocolate babka, stopped with a housemade chocolate spread that melts with each bite!
Ling was inspired by the fruit-shaped desserts she encountered in her Europe travels, and Di Virgilio took the idea a step further to create other desserts disguised as something else – a steamed bun, a chocolate eclair and (most notably) a rose.
Chelsea buns, sticky cinnamon swirls, dough wrapped in toasted pecans and chocolate chips … sweet buns are as good as baking gets, but they're not ideal if you've got an impatient sweet tooth.
Other delicious offerings include the sticky apple-caramel buns, white chocolate brioche and coffee from the local roaster Saint Henri (sainthenri.ca).
The heady rewards this week are chocolate and pistachio whirligig buns, soft dinner rolls and rich blueberry kuchen.
And which other less-celebrated Easter foodstuffs deserve to steal some of the limelight from the chocolate eggs and fruity buns?
