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. 

Living the Not So Sweet Life...

I would blame it on a taste bud malfunction or an over happy gag reflex, but I cant lie to myself, let alone all of you out there. I have found yet another, horrible bakery in the Denver Metro area. Pat came home with 3 paper bags, yes another place making you take home your desserts in a freaking paper bag,  from the  Lower Highlands bakery, Living The Sweet Life, located at 1535 Central Street. I hoped I was going to find at least something in the bags filled with $17.00 worth of sugar that didn't taste like sawdust, but I was wrong. 

We first tried the cookies, the sugar cookie in the shape of Michael Jackson's lips, was just extremely blah and this  disaster of a cookie tasted like plaster. The traditional chocolate chip cookie was better than the lips, but it tasted very similar to Otis Spunkmeyer cookies. If it was fresh out of the oven, and cooked by blind grandma, then i would say it was good, but I'm sad to say she didn't bake it. There was also a Mexican Wedding cookie, and growing up surrounded by Mexican bakeries in Carpinteria CA, i know what the best of the best taste like, but this cookie had me choking on the powdered sugar and foulness. 

Next was the Chocolate croissant, which again was a major Oops! The chocolate seemed to only be in one spot of the croissant so half of it had absolutely no chocolate and when you finally got some chocolate you almost passed out from chocolate overload. It tasted as if it had been sitting in the bakery since the morning, as it was crunchy and did have the fluffy airy texture as many croissants do and should have. 

The Cherry Brownie was up next, and seriously, how hard is it to screw up a brownie? The frosting was piled so high and tasted so artificial i almost vomited at first bite. (Oh, and please let me know where they grow hot pink cherries, thanks!)

Now was time for what they are "popular" for, according to the "space cadet" (quoted from Pat) sales girl, a Pecan Caramel Bar. And if this is what they are famous for, they must be related to the Octo-Mom, because this thing was wack! I think i might of lost two of my teeth trying to bite into this thing. 

Finally, and thank god, the last two things; Cake Balls. Frosting, cake and chocolate, where can you go wrong? Well, this bakery surely did these wrong! The Red Velvet was the worst, I don't know how they did it, but it tasted like corn bread!?!? The all chocolate one was just...well I don't know what to say, two of us didn't even come close to finishing these balls, and I'm leaving it at that!

One last thing, what cupcake shop doesn't have any freaking cupcakes to sell?!? Im done, DENIED!