Bali Bakery

Since 1994, Bali Bakery has filled the island's air with their freshly baked bread, contemporary pastries, steaming hot beverages, and breakfast through dinner menu. The fancy schmansy, no photo's allowed bakery was filled with mouthwatering treats that made it hard to pick out a couple to try. 

The bread that lined the shelves in the first part of the bakery looked absolutely fantastic (plus the first place we could find in Bali that had whole grain bread!!!) We got a Corn Bread Roll that was soft and airy, and with every bite you got a mouth full of warm corn. 

Of course, I had to get a cake ball, which was about 3 times the size of most cake balls you can find in the states. The larger size of the cake ball was a VERY good thing- you got to taste the cake center a lot more and the chocolate shell was not as thick and not overpowering unlike the cake balls I have stumbled across in US bakeries. 

Pat dove in at the chance to have a traditional chocolate chip cookie. This cookie was extremely hard and crunchy, which is one thing i cannot stand. It was like biting into a stale cracker, and with the surprise nuts inside, it only made it more crunchy! I love me some slightly undercooked warm ooey-gooey cookies, and this was completely opposite. And who knows how long the cookies were sitting in the jar before i bit into it... not recommened! 

Lastly, we got a ever so rich, Chocolate Praline Pastry. This dessert was like a rainbow of flavors and textures exploded into this little pastry-there was chocolate, white chocolate, praline, gelatin things (yuck!), cake, mousse, chocolate bits, etc. All in all, it was pretty good, until i bit and felt a piece of gelatin slip into my mouth, because switching from mousse to having to chew something that wont break down is just not my thing. 

Bali Bakery is definitely a bakery inspired by European and American bakeries, in what they offer, style of shop and in prices. And with four locations on the island, you will have no excuse not to try Bali Bakery. 

Indonesia's Purimas 3 Cake & Bakery

On our second day in Indonesia, we scootered down the busy jammed packed roads of Southern Bali, and stumbled across Purimas 3 Cake & Bakery. This bakery was packed with rainbow colored bite sized pastries and cakes that looked like they came straight from a 1980's grocery store (oddly, in a very lovely way).

 We got a bunch of different baked goods to try out ranging from chocolate glazed doughnuts to bright green Angel Food Cake. 

The doughnuts were extremely soft and fluffy, and with the crazy humid heat the chocolate glaze was melting a bit, which made them even better. There were many pastries that were a buttery flaky dough, almost like a croissant, filled with different things such as chocolate and some weird custard-like filling that I could not even begin to describe. 

They were good, but nothing spectacular. This bakery was pretty  hyped on the gelatin jell-o like squares, which I cannot even stand the idea of eating, but people were buying them like Charlie Sheen buys crack. 

Purimas 3 Bakery was a fun place to try out, but nothing keeps you running back for more. Well, the fact the adorable girls looked like people that work at the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland and that each pastry was around $1,700 Rupiah, only $0.17 USD, kept me a bit intrigued. 

Katherine's French Bakery

            Katherine’s French Bakery is a European style bakery/café with two Denver locations (one in Bonnie Brae and the other in Aurora) that both serve traditional French pastries, quiche, crepes, coffee and much more. The atmosphere of the bakery and what the pastry cases contained didn’t do much for me sight wise, but I decided to give them a chance anyways.I got a traditional Napoleon and aTogolais (I think this was what it was called) pastry that the sales girl recommended, which honestly, I have never heard of in my life.

The napoleon cream was pretty darn tasty, it tasted how a real French napoleon should taste, as many places think whipped cream will do just fine (note to self: IT DOESN’T!).The cream was not too sweet, while not being bland at all. But, the pastry puff pastry was soft and soggy, definitely not a crispy pastry dough like it should be.

The Togolais (I think) was a cookie like base topped with a thick chocolate cream dipped in ganache with coconut patted on the sides. The cookie tasted like a marzipan-based cookie covered with way too much chocolate. It was so rich I only took ONE BITE! I couldn’t take another without feeling sick, and let me tell you, I can handle my sugar extremely well, but this was just too much.

This bakery just didn’t do it for me, in looks or in taste. I would rather of spent the extra the money to fly to France and have a real French pastry then waste the time and calories on this place.