Sunday, January 31, 2021

Craftsman and Wolves--San Francisco, CA

We got a variety of baked items from Craftsman and Wolves, who made a recent appearance at a farmers market in Palo Alto. And, I can say they do everything well. The main event, however, is "The Rebel Within". How do they do it? They're able to bake a sausage and asagio cheese muffin and prepare (what would you call it--"poach", "boil", "bake"?) egg deliciously runny inside.


Of course, like I mentioned earlier, CAW does the regular stuff, too. Look at how airy their chocolate croissant can be!



The Japanese milk bread (below) wasn't bad and I appreciate the differentiation of the crust and crumb.



Photo below: The Rebel Within before going under the knife. Know what you're getting into before taking a bite into this one!





Sunday, January 24, 2021

Backhaus--San Mateo, CA


In terms of baking several different items well, Backhaus is hard to beat. Each of us had our own favorite: The kids liked the croissants most (chocolate croissant pictured above), for me it was the Country Loaf and my wife most enjoyed the apple and oat crosctock. 

Although you can order Backhaus online for pickup--and this is recommended--you can also order at their location in downtown San Mateo. If you do the latter, prepare to wait in line and items do run out. Backhaus also often appears at the San Mateo Farmers Market.

The pastries shown below range in price from $4.50 to $5.50. The Country Loaf, at $8.00, is the basis for all other breads at Backhaus, so it's a good one to start with.

Pictured below: The Country Loaf. Be careful with this one--the crust is hard and can be sharp enough to cut through live tissue, but the crumb makes it all worth it once you get to it.



Pictured below, clockwise from upper right: morning bun, apple and oat crostock, ham and cheese croissant


Pictured below, from upper left: pistachio raspberry croissant (my favorite of all the Backhaus pastries), chocolate croissant and almond croissant