Friday, August 10, 2007

Beverly's Best Bakery

Tucked in among a non-descript little strip mall lies perhaps Fullerton’s best bakery. Known best for their wedding cakes, this bakery has expanded their repertoire of baked goods as years pass by. Owned by two sisters who struggled to make ends meat when first starting out the bakery has expanded into what is essentially a “locals” bakery. Almost like Cheers, where everybody knows your name.

The Chocolate Chip Scone is unlike any other I’ve had. Crusty and flaky on the outside, it is light and delicate on the inside, almost muffin like. The mini chocolate chips melt almost instantaneously and are very subtle in flavor. In fact, if you had your eyes closed, you probably wouldn’t even know they were there.

The Mini Tiramisu comes in its own self contained dark chocolate cup. On top of a round disc of sponge cake, brushed with espresso and alcohol, lies a creamy mix of tangy mascarpone cheese. Whipped cream dusted with cocoa powder finish the presentation. This is a nice little dessert and certainly lives up to its literal translation, “pick me up”. The only complaint I have about this decadent dessert is that the dark chocolate on the bottom of the cup is rather thick and dominates the palate if bitten into.

The Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake is a New York style cheesecake that is very dense, creamy and a little tangy. The crust is a nice thick graham cracker crust on the bottom and much thinner on the sides. What seemed odd about the dessert is that it had a gelatinous texture and taste on the top, like many Asian desserts, which distracted from the rest of the cheesecake.

The Mexican Wedding Cookie, or Russian Tea Cookie, looks like the Barry Bonds of this type of cookie, i.e., it looks likes it gone through a cycle of steroid. The thing is huge. It’s about the size of a Hostess Snowball. This classic cookie is akin to a shortbread cookie. It’s buttery and vanilla flavor explodes on the palate. There are also ground almonds, which are actually much larger than the cookies that I have had in the past. The larger sized almond pieces was a pleasant surprised because it gave the cookie a nuttier taste. The only thing that I did not like about this cookie was that it was heavily sprinkled with powdered sugar which made it a little too sweet.

The Brownie has a nice thick, crunchy crust. Underneath lies a rich chocolatey concoction that is both cakey and fudgy at the same time. The outer parts of the brownie are more cakey, while the center is nicely sticky and fudgy. The brownie is topped in what tastes like a light carmel glaze with walnuts and mini chocolate chips.

The Coconut Raspberry Crumble is a nice combination of flavors and textures. The bottom consists a crumbly pastry with oatmeal in it. The filling is a thick, raspberry jam that contains seeds for added texture. There is a crumble topping that is slightly sweet. Toasted coconut tops everything and gives it a nice nutty flavor. This is a nice light dessert that is not overly sweet.

The Lemon Bar has a flaky and buttery crust and is filled with a sweet, yet tangy lemon curd. The entire bar is dusted with powdered sugar. This sort of tastes like an enclosed Lemon Meringue Pie without the meringue. The tartness from the lemons is refreshing while not being overly sweet.

The Pumpkin Coffee Cake tastes like an ordinary coffee cake on the top, but underneath lies a thin layer of spiced pumpkin filling. The crumble topping is dusted with powdered sugar, but does not make the dessert overly sweet. This is a new take on the classic Pumpkin Pie.


Beverly’s Best Bakery
3020 N. Brea Blvd.
Fullerton, CA 92835
(714) 529-3989

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