Ettore's (Sierra Oaks): Bakery Edition
food: 5/5
experience: 4/5
overall: 5/5
But first, pastries.
Butter cookie w/ raspberry jam: 3.5/5
Somehow this simple butter shortbread cookie tastes like a doughnut. It's not bad. I mean it tastes like a doughnut after all.
Fruit tart: 5/5
Delicious, tastes similar to the ones at the grocery store but more gourmet if that makes sense. Less crusty with a richer cream. Comes with a yummy little chocolate disc on top.
Cannoli: 3.5/5
This is decent but the best part is not the cream filling unfortunately. The pastry shell is nice and crisp with dark chocolate on the ends, and the filling has dark chocolate in it. But they also put little fruit cake pieces in it for some reason. Just... don't fuck with cannoli guys. Do it like you're supposed to, don't try to jazz it up. They add an artificially fruity flavor to the cream which was fine but those chunks are nasty. They also come in tiny thumb-sized versions which probably would've been the better choice.
Key lime tart: 5/5
Wow this is amazing. I was not expecting it to be this good. Imagine that Yoplait key lime yogurt, only as a richer, thick custard. And on top of a sweet pastry shell which tastes like it's infused with white chocolate. Plus it's got toasted coconut on top. Yes, you want to try this.
Lemon berry muffin: 5/5
Lemon is growing on me. The lemon in this adds a nice tang to the otherwise basic blueberry muffin. Bonus: it's got lemon cream filling, just like a doughnut.
Double chocolate muffin: 5/5
You want a brownie for breakfast? Bet. This is pretty rich but it's all chocolate, and littered with chocolate chunks. I had to slow down with this one - I could feel the diabetes setting in.
Rugelach: 3/5
These things are so tiny, they're just inconsequential. They taste like [insert any pastry]. Mom said she detected a hint of apple. I did not.
Apple cinnamon roll: 5/5
More like a croissant shaped into a cinnamon roll. This one's big, as you can see. I imagine it'd taste better warm. Cinnamon brown sugar and cinnamon apples inside with apple crumble on top. They don't put too much frosting on these. They also have plain cinnamon rolls and raisin ones but those aren't as interesting. And sticky buns but pecan allergy as you may remember from the brunch post (prolly not). We did try the raisin one later on (they were giving them out for free) and yeah it's boring. 4/5.
Almond crescent: 3.5/5
This looks crispy like biscotti but it's actually chewy. I like the chocolate on the ends but the actual cookie part is so sweet and in my opinion they used way too much almond extract. It is good but it will leave a taste in your mouth for sure.
Sugar-free blueberry muffin: 4/5
Pretty good for a sugar-free muffin but it's a little plain. I like the addition of lemon in the other berry muffin. This one just tastes like something you could make from a mix. Decent amount of berries in there though.
Pretzel: 5/5
I love almond. This is nice and crisp. The texture is reminiscent of those cinnamon twist sticks you get at the grocery store but obviously fresher and softer. The almond flavor isn't overwhelming like it is in the crescent, it's just more like a crisp croissant with almonds on top.
Bran muffin: 5/5
I love bran muffins and this one definitely satisfies the craving. It tastes like honey-tinged raisin bran and there's tiny pieces of apple throughout. Very wheaty and grainy in flavor which is a good thing.
Apricot scone: 4/5
It's decent. Not too sweet which is good. It's just dusted with sugar on top and underneath, the rest is a classic scone flavor with some pieces of apricot throughout. The apricot flavor isn't very present.
Vienna croissant: 4/5
I'm not a croissant lover in general. So this is fine I guess. It tastes as it should. Not too buttery at all. In fact that might've made it taste better. Weirdly enough this is basically a chocolate croissant: the interior is almond fudge. It's a surprise biting into that I'll tell you what. All the sudden you hit a roadblock.
Bear claw: 5/5
Wow, this is the best. They put the perfect amount of almond extract in there, not overwhelming like the cookie. It's covered with almonds and it's nice and crusty yet flaky. The interior is whatever. It's brown sugar cream with walnuts I believe. I can't have walnuts anymore so I didn't have that part as soon as I found out.
Cherry danish: 4.5/5
The actual danish part I could take or leave. But that custard? Those cherries? Divine. Okay maybe not that great but they're pretty great. I like custard and the cherries were slightly tart but also very sweet. The moist danish underneath the custard is great. The rest of the danish is just a croissant.
Biscotti: 3.5/5
Tastes typical of biscotti. They add cranberries and walnuts to theirs. I didn't have much of it, one because walnuts, and two because not interested in biscotti.
Bostok: 5/5
An underdog winner. This is a nice, sweet pastry that's not quite a croissant but not quite a danish. It's the perfect amount of sweetness with a hint of almond, with powdered sugar and almonds on top.
Alphorn: 4/5
Looks decadent but really it's just a flaky pastry shell with vanilla custard inside. The custard tastes like richer Jello vanilla pudding. It's not bad but kinda basic, especially given how popular is. Maybe that's why it's so popular.
Blueberry scone: 4.5/5
Very good but not 5/5 amazing. A decent distribution of blueberries, and it's nice and crisp but not too hard or stale. Granulated sugar on top adds to the flavor but it isn't too sweet.
Chocolate chip cookie: 3/5
Looks plain, is plain. The only good part of this is the actual chocolate chips, which I pretty much just picked out and avoided the rest. I've had better choco-chip cookies at Sprouts.
Cream puff: 3.5/5
Also pretty basic. A light, slightly flavorless outer shell with a cream filling and strawberry. The strawberry is a nice touch. This gets soggy later on so eat it now.
Beehive: 4.5/5
Like the alphorn but much better. The croissant has a richer, heartier flavor. Plus they put chocolate in this thing. Can't go wrong there. I think it's actually their version of Nutella. Mmmm.
Seasonal dipped shortbread cookie: 2/5
Nah, pass on this one. Overpriced and it just tastes super basic. Nothing to see here.
Butter cookie: 4/5
A light buttery crumbly cookie with almonds on top. No almond extract inside though. Not too buttery, just right.
Apple strudel: 4.5/5
Basically apple pie. It's got a flaky crust outside and an apple-raisin mixture inside.
Cheese croissant: 4.5/5
Sweet cream cheese filling that reminds me of Porto's cheese rolls in Los Angeles. Not too heavy on the cheese though.
Apple turnover: 4.5/5
Very similar to the strudel except the apple pieces are bigger. This one's actually closer to a pie than the strudel. The pastry isn't quite as flaky, it's a little more substantial. Definitely not as thick as pie crust though.
Chocolate orange scone: 4.5/5
I didn't detect any orange in here but the chocolate chips sure are good. I mean, it's chocolate, you can't complain. Other than that it's just your basic scone. Their scones are good though.
Chewy spice cookie: 4/5
Tastes like a ginger snap. I'm not a big fan of ginger cookies so this probably just boils down to taste. If you like ginger snaps you'll like this cookie. It's a bit crisp on the edges.
Doughnetto: 3.5/5
If you can get over the chewiness of this it's pretty good. It's like a sugar doughnut made with croissant dough. The croissant dough is day-old so yeah, it's a little tough.
Galette: 5/5
Yum. This is basically a small pie. This one has cherry and apple filling, topped with a cherry-apple reduction glaze. The crust is crisp and flaky like pie crust, and the fruit is nice and tender.
Raspberry scone: 5/5
I love raspberry and I love scones. Their scones are always crisp on the outside and moist on the inside, as they should be. This reminds me of La Bou's raspberry muffin top. Which is a very good thing.
White chocolate brownie: 5/5
This is a nice, dense, hearty chocolate. It's like a condensed version of chocolate cake. Plus they got the white chocolate chips thrown in there which make it even better.
And now, the cakes...
Strawberry white chocolate mousse: 1/5
Off to a bad start with cakes. I know this seems harsh but my mom and I both agreed this cake tastes like it was from a box. I'm already not a fan of white cakes and this just sealed the deal. The frosting tastes too sweet to me. I was expecting more of a white-chocolate flavoring what with the name and all, but we both agree it just tastes like whipped cream. There is no body to the flavor that would've come from pure white chocolate.
Kahlua: 5/5
Wow. I'm done. Nothing can top this. It's all downhill from here. Thick Kahlua-infused chocolate frosting. Chocolate mousse. Chocolate cake. Chocolate mousse. White cake. Chocolate mousse. Chocolate cake. Chocolate sprinkles on bottom. Dollop of custard and chocolate wafer on top. Boom.
Carrot: 4.5/5
Carrot cake is always good so this was bound to be a winner as long as they didn't abort it. The cream cheese frosting isn't too cheesy though and it could use a bit more spice. The almonds are a nice touch.
Truffle: 5/5
Another winner right here. This is pure chocolate decadence. It's like a cake-sized chocolate truffle essentially, with a bit of actual chocolate cake layered in there. Super dense and super delicious.
Chocolate mousse cake: 4.5/5
Pretty simple. It's chocolate cake layered with chocolate mousse with chocolate frosting and sprinkles on the side. It's just like a Kahlua cake without the Kahlua or white cake parts. Pretty good, it's just yeah, it's simple.
Mini Napoleon: 3/5
Pretty simple with a creamy vanilla mousse and pastry shell interior and a chocolate shaving on top with powdered sugar. The chocolate, as always, is the best part. Other than that I'd skip it, unless you like simplicity.
They also have a bunch of seasonal slices like black forest and German chocolate and stuff, plus seasonal cheesecakes with different toppings.
Ettore's is constantly busy it seems. Whenever we go the parking is a nightmare. So be prepared to potentially park down the street and walk. Hey, you're burning off some of the food ahead of time. That's what I always tell myself anyway.
Lastly, order bakery items ahead of time if you're going late just in case it sells out. They always have seasonal stuff which I generally avoid because by the time the review goes up it's probably not there anymore. The only by-the-slice you can't get is tiramisu. You gotta order the whole cake. Nah, I can make tiramisu at home. It's like the easiest thing ever.
Cannoli: 3.5/5
This is decent but the best part is not the cream filling unfortunately. The pastry shell is nice and crisp with dark chocolate on the ends, and the filling has dark chocolate in it. But they also put little fruit cake pieces in it for some reason. Just... don't fuck with cannoli guys. Do it like you're supposed to, don't try to jazz it up. They add an artificially fruity flavor to the cream which was fine but those chunks are nasty. They also come in tiny thumb-sized versions which probably would've been the better choice.
Key lime tart: 5/5
Wow this is amazing. I was not expecting it to be this good. Imagine that Yoplait key lime yogurt, only as a richer, thick custard. And on top of a sweet pastry shell which tastes like it's infused with white chocolate. Plus it's got toasted coconut on top. Yes, you want to try this.
Lemon berry muffin: 5/5
Lemon is growing on me. The lemon in this adds a nice tang to the otherwise basic blueberry muffin. Bonus: it's got lemon cream filling, just like a doughnut.
Double chocolate muffin: 5/5
You want a brownie for breakfast? Bet. This is pretty rich but it's all chocolate, and littered with chocolate chunks. I had to slow down with this one - I could feel the diabetes setting in.
Rugelach: 3/5
These things are so tiny, they're just inconsequential. They taste like [insert any pastry]. Mom said she detected a hint of apple. I did not.
Apple cinnamon roll: 5/5
More like a croissant shaped into a cinnamon roll. This one's big, as you can see. I imagine it'd taste better warm. Cinnamon brown sugar and cinnamon apples inside with apple crumble on top. They don't put too much frosting on these. They also have plain cinnamon rolls and raisin ones but those aren't as interesting. And sticky buns but pecan allergy as you may remember from the brunch post (prolly not). We did try the raisin one later on (they were giving them out for free) and yeah it's boring. 4/5.
Almond crescent: 3.5/5
This looks crispy like biscotti but it's actually chewy. I like the chocolate on the ends but the actual cookie part is so sweet and in my opinion they used way too much almond extract. It is good but it will leave a taste in your mouth for sure.
Sugar-free blueberry muffin: 4/5
Pretty good for a sugar-free muffin but it's a little plain. I like the addition of lemon in the other berry muffin. This one just tastes like something you could make from a mix. Decent amount of berries in there though.
Pretzel: 5/5
I love almond. This is nice and crisp. The texture is reminiscent of those cinnamon twist sticks you get at the grocery store but obviously fresher and softer. The almond flavor isn't overwhelming like it is in the crescent, it's just more like a crisp croissant with almonds on top.
Bran muffin: 5/5
I love bran muffins and this one definitely satisfies the craving. It tastes like honey-tinged raisin bran and there's tiny pieces of apple throughout. Very wheaty and grainy in flavor which is a good thing.
Apricot scone: 4/5
It's decent. Not too sweet which is good. It's just dusted with sugar on top and underneath, the rest is a classic scone flavor with some pieces of apricot throughout. The apricot flavor isn't very present.
Vienna croissant: 4/5
I'm not a croissant lover in general. So this is fine I guess. It tastes as it should. Not too buttery at all. In fact that might've made it taste better. Weirdly enough this is basically a chocolate croissant: the interior is almond fudge. It's a surprise biting into that I'll tell you what. All the sudden you hit a roadblock.
Bear claw: 5/5
Wow, this is the best. They put the perfect amount of almond extract in there, not overwhelming like the cookie. It's covered with almonds and it's nice and crusty yet flaky. The interior is whatever. It's brown sugar cream with walnuts I believe. I can't have walnuts anymore so I didn't have that part as soon as I found out.
Cherry danish: 4.5/5
The actual danish part I could take or leave. But that custard? Those cherries? Divine. Okay maybe not that great but they're pretty great. I like custard and the cherries were slightly tart but also very sweet. The moist danish underneath the custard is great. The rest of the danish is just a croissant.
Biscotti: 3.5/5
Tastes typical of biscotti. They add cranberries and walnuts to theirs. I didn't have much of it, one because walnuts, and two because not interested in biscotti.
Bostok: 5/5
An underdog winner. This is a nice, sweet pastry that's not quite a croissant but not quite a danish. It's the perfect amount of sweetness with a hint of almond, with powdered sugar and almonds on top.
Alphorn: 4/5
Looks decadent but really it's just a flaky pastry shell with vanilla custard inside. The custard tastes like richer Jello vanilla pudding. It's not bad but kinda basic, especially given how popular is. Maybe that's why it's so popular.
Blueberry scone: 4.5/5
Very good but not 5/5 amazing. A decent distribution of blueberries, and it's nice and crisp but not too hard or stale. Granulated sugar on top adds to the flavor but it isn't too sweet.
Chocolate chip cookie: 3/5
Looks plain, is plain. The only good part of this is the actual chocolate chips, which I pretty much just picked out and avoided the rest. I've had better choco-chip cookies at Sprouts.
Cream puff: 3.5/5
Also pretty basic. A light, slightly flavorless outer shell with a cream filling and strawberry. The strawberry is a nice touch. This gets soggy later on so eat it now.
Beehive: 4.5/5
Like the alphorn but much better. The croissant has a richer, heartier flavor. Plus they put chocolate in this thing. Can't go wrong there. I think it's actually their version of Nutella. Mmmm.
Seasonal dipped shortbread cookie: 2/5
Nah, pass on this one. Overpriced and it just tastes super basic. Nothing to see here.
Butter cookie: 4/5
A light buttery crumbly cookie with almonds on top. No almond extract inside though. Not too buttery, just right.
Apple strudel: 4.5/5
Basically apple pie. It's got a flaky crust outside and an apple-raisin mixture inside.
Cheese croissant: 4.5/5
Sweet cream cheese filling that reminds me of Porto's cheese rolls in Los Angeles. Not too heavy on the cheese though.
Apple turnover: 4.5/5
Very similar to the strudel except the apple pieces are bigger. This one's actually closer to a pie than the strudel. The pastry isn't quite as flaky, it's a little more substantial. Definitely not as thick as pie crust though.
Chocolate orange scone: 4.5/5
I didn't detect any orange in here but the chocolate chips sure are good. I mean, it's chocolate, you can't complain. Other than that it's just your basic scone. Their scones are good though.
Chewy spice cookie: 4/5
Tastes like a ginger snap. I'm not a big fan of ginger cookies so this probably just boils down to taste. If you like ginger snaps you'll like this cookie. It's a bit crisp on the edges.
Doughnetto: 3.5/5
If you can get over the chewiness of this it's pretty good. It's like a sugar doughnut made with croissant dough. The croissant dough is day-old so yeah, it's a little tough.
Galette: 5/5
Yum. This is basically a small pie. This one has cherry and apple filling, topped with a cherry-apple reduction glaze. The crust is crisp and flaky like pie crust, and the fruit is nice and tender.
Raspberry scone: 5/5
I love raspberry and I love scones. Their scones are always crisp on the outside and moist on the inside, as they should be. This reminds me of La Bou's raspberry muffin top. Which is a very good thing.
White chocolate brownie: 5/5
This is a nice, dense, hearty chocolate. It's like a condensed version of chocolate cake. Plus they got the white chocolate chips thrown in there which make it even better.
And now, the cakes...
Strawberry white chocolate mousse: 1/5
Off to a bad start with cakes. I know this seems harsh but my mom and I both agreed this cake tastes like it was from a box. I'm already not a fan of white cakes and this just sealed the deal. The frosting tastes too sweet to me. I was expecting more of a white-chocolate flavoring what with the name and all, but we both agree it just tastes like whipped cream. There is no body to the flavor that would've come from pure white chocolate.
Kahlua: 5/5
Wow. I'm done. Nothing can top this. It's all downhill from here. Thick Kahlua-infused chocolate frosting. Chocolate mousse. Chocolate cake. Chocolate mousse. White cake. Chocolate mousse. Chocolate cake. Chocolate sprinkles on bottom. Dollop of custard and chocolate wafer on top. Boom.
Carrot: 4.5/5
Carrot cake is always good so this was bound to be a winner as long as they didn't abort it. The cream cheese frosting isn't too cheesy though and it could use a bit more spice. The almonds are a nice touch.
Truffle: 5/5
Another winner right here. This is pure chocolate decadence. It's like a cake-sized chocolate truffle essentially, with a bit of actual chocolate cake layered in there. Super dense and super delicious.
Chocolate mousse cake: 4.5/5
Pretty simple. It's chocolate cake layered with chocolate mousse with chocolate frosting and sprinkles on the side. It's just like a Kahlua cake without the Kahlua or white cake parts. Pretty good, it's just yeah, it's simple.
Mini Napoleon: 3/5
Pretty simple with a creamy vanilla mousse and pastry shell interior and a chocolate shaving on top with powdered sugar. The chocolate, as always, is the best part. Other than that I'd skip it, unless you like simplicity.
They also have a bunch of seasonal slices like black forest and German chocolate and stuff, plus seasonal cheesecakes with different toppings.
Ettore's is constantly busy it seems. Whenever we go the parking is a nightmare. So be prepared to potentially park down the street and walk. Hey, you're burning off some of the food ahead of time. That's what I always tell myself anyway.
Lastly, order bakery items ahead of time if you're going late just in case it sells out. They always have seasonal stuff which I generally avoid because by the time the review goes up it's probably not there anymore. The only by-the-slice you can't get is tiramisu. You gotta order the whole cake. Nah, I can make tiramisu at home. It's like the easiest thing ever.
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