Baked goods in Victoria you have to try at least once

August 25, 2022

The aromas of cheesy chive breads and freshly baked cinnamon buns tease your nostrils as you pass by the lineup trailing out of the small store full of risen yeasts and queues of people ready to feast. Victoria is home to many bakeries inspired by international travellers and passionate bakers who turn out rows of doughy delicacies. It’s hard to know which to taste first, so we’ve made a list of the top baked goods around Victoria.

PS: The first 3 were voted Best Bakeries in the 2022 Tasting Victoria Best Restaurant Awards, presented by Portofino Bakery. Check out the top 3 showcased in the best bakery category, sponsored by Level Ground, here.

1. The fruity signature pastries at Crust Bakery – Voted #1 Bakery in the 2022 Best Restaurant Awards

Crust Bakery’s home is in Victoria at their two locations serving stylish yet simple daily baking. Through the glass, you’ll see their croissant kingdom, colourful inventions, and Australian-inspired flavour combinations. Doing their best to bake with fresh seasonal ingredients, among the most popular baked items are their mesmerizing signature fruit pastries. Flavours change often, on a rotating basis – but raspberry, lychee and rosewater, apple and salted almond, and blueberry and vanilla custard are taste sensations! The sweet, buttery, unmatched flavoured pastries await your pleasure every morning!

Crustbakery.ca@crustbakeryatfort730 Fort St. Hours: daily from 8am to 4:30pm3535 Uptown Blvd. Hours: daily from 8:30am to 5pm

2. The kouign-amann from Fol Epi – Voted #2 Bakery in the 2022 Best Restaurant Awards

This organic bakery lures customers in with beautiful baked goods, coffee, handmade sandwiches, charcuterie, and some of the best baked bread in Victoria! This warm and funky sit-down atmosphere includes a patio. It’s ready to serve at two locations. Fol Epi bakes with Canadian-grown ingredients, including organic wheat from Saskatchewan and the Cowichan Valley. The shop features bread made in their wood-fired oven, charcuterie meats, French-inspired pastries, coffee, and housemade gelato. From popular pain au chocolat to fluffy croissants -their golden star dessert that originated from Brittany, France, is the kouign-amann.

Photo by Annika Olson

Airy and buttery, this french pastry uses the extra croissant dough to form a new pastry that appears as a shining, sugar squishy saucer. The crisp caramelized sugar tops the dense but fluffy crowd-pleasing pillow is a true french pastry experience. Side note: On my search for the best baked items, this was the only bakery I found that serves kouign-amanns!

folepi.ca@fol.epi732 Yates St.Hours: daily from 8:30 to 5pm 398 Harbour Rd. Hours: weekdays from 8am to 3pm, weekends from 8am to 4pm

3. The cinnamon bun from Pâtisserie Daniel – Voted #3 Bakery in the 2022 Best Restaurant Awards

Since 1992, Pâtisserie Daniel has been baking specialty cakes, pies, quiches, pastries, breads and savoury satisfiers influenced by French baking, hence its rooster logo representing the national symbol of France. Customers may line up to order a celebratory cake, their daily fresh bread, a sweet dessert, or a savoury quiche or baked lunch item. The outside reveals wooden decorations featuring tools of the trade—like rolling pins dangling in the front window, cutting boards on the walls, and the rooster decor. After walking in, customers are enchanted by the baker’s dream: The wooden decorations that adorn the walls are donated by customers, while every colour of the rainbow attracts the eye with edible artworks inside 4 glass display cases. Aside from the savoury stars like the show stopper quiches, their star product is undeniably fluffy brioche, sticky cinnamon buns going with cinnamon and brown sugar.

This was by far the fluffiest, most moist cinnamon bun I’ve ever tasted. The textures were perfect from the thick, soft brioche bread to the sweet and crunchy bottom. The icing didn’t overpower the cinnamon but added to the sticky sweetness so you’ll definitely need a napkin! Its massive size, coming from brioche dough, can be shared or indulged in by one cinnamon lover, making it well worth the price!

@patisserie_daniel 1729 Cook St. Hours: Tuesday to Friday from 7:30am to 5pm, Saturday from 9am to 5pm

4. The pretzels at Working Culture

Working Culture sells vegan sourdough bread, sandwiches, coffee, and baked goods in Rock Bay, Victoria. Known for their organic sourdough that uses no commercial yeasts and stone milled Canadian flour, Working Culture isn’t shy about shining a spotlight on other baked goods including their popular pretzels. The shell is a crispy introduction into a soft middle and a ‘wish to have another’ ending for one of the pretzel experiences in Victoria.

Hours: Sunday from 9am to 3pm, Thursday and Friday from 8am to 4pm, Saturday from 9am to 4pm.

5. The sweet and savoury croissants from Mosi Bakery

Stop by Mosi Bakery for breakfast, lunch, pizza, and baked goods on your way to the Butchart Gardens or a Victoria mountain hike. This cafe, bakery, and gelato must-try sits on a countryside road serving handcrafted, traditional Italian gelato, fresh baked goods including croissants, brioche, breads, cinnamon buns, and other to-die-for pastries—and yes, they do have vegan and gluten-free options. Their butter-layered croissants include sweet and savoury favourites like mascarpone and berry and the very popular ham and fontina!

Mosibakery.ca@mosibakery5303 West Saanich Rd. Hours: Monday to Saturday from 8am to 2pm

6. The vanilla slice from The Dutch Bakery

Dutch Bakery has been a third generation, family-owned bakery since 1956. Inside this storefront bakery, you’ll find queues coming to buy chocolates, cakes, pies, pastries, and baked goods, fresh out of the oven. The sit down diner is nestled behind. All during opening hours customers gather to enjoy breakfast, lunch or afternoon tea. Specialties include croquettes, speculaas cookies, and almond baked goods along with Victoria-inspired desserts like the “Parliament”. The vanilla slice takes top pastry for many customers. This is no ordinary vanilla cake–this is two crispy pastry wafers hugging thick vanilla custard and topped with vanilla fondant and buttercream for a mouthwatering vanilla adventure.

7. Any Cream puff from GoodSide Baking

GoodSide Baking is a pre-order bakery that mixes French techniques with local West Coast inspired flavours and ingredients. This bakery’s creativity keeps the customers coming back. Their most mouth-watering pastries include eccentric éclairs, chocolate mousse domes, and beautifully decorated tarts, while their signature cream puffs make their ‘Frankenstein’ creations really shine. Their weekly-changing cream puffs include classic collaborations from classic cookies and cream and lemon blueberry. Any foodie has to try their unexpected pairings like pear and popcorn, and sweet corn and hickory smoked caramel.

8. The Paris Brest at La Roux Patisserie

La Roux Patisserie is a local patisserie located in Chinatown serving french favourites like delicious macaroons, croissants, creme brulee, tiramisu, and much more! Along with vegan-friendly options, it’s almost impossible to say no to their extraordinarily colourful creations displayed with a rotating menu based on locally-sourced ingredients available ready for you to take home. Serving a variety of cakes, coffee, and sweet and savoury french specialties, their beautiful Paris Brest takes the must-try! This perfect french dessert is choux pastry filled with hazelnut mousseline, fresh whipped cream, and topped with homemade candied nuts.

9. The hand pies from Victoria Pie Co.

Victoria Pie Co. is Victoria’s oldest pie shop serving pies with local ingredients that you can pronounce. Opened in X, in Victoria’s Public Market, their fruit, cream, and savoury pies are ready to enjoy baked in a melt-in-your-mouth, flaky crust. They serve select flavours as hand pies for single-serve satisfaction, and over 24 flavours that can be ordered in small, or family sizes. They even have a “pie flight” option that includes two pot pies and 2 hand pies! Ready to serve dietary restrictions, they have gluten-free and vegan-friendly options. Grab a frozen pie for supper or a one-meal masterpiece that you can hold! Their hand pies come in apple, Italian vegetarian, and mild Italian sausage fillings.

10. Poptarts from Hey Happy Coffee

Hey Happy Coffee opened its doors to Victoria’s downtown in 2015, but only after a major expansion in 2020, did it start serving house-baked goods and breakfast and lunch items. While you’re waiting, you’ll spot their baked goods displayed in a glass cube offering tempting signature flavours. Their popular poptarts are a great pairing with the coffee. Sweet or savoury, Hey Happy is ready to serve this childhood favourite incorporating fresh, in-season ingredients. The poptarts include one savoury and one sweet that rotate with the season, like the broccoli cheddar and caramel apple or spanakopita and pumpkin spice.