Collin Street Bakery

 

Freshly Baked Texas Pecan Cakes, Cheesecakes,
Cookies and Pies…… 

Delivered to your door!

I was invited to try some of the baked goods offered by the Collin Street Bakery.  I was a little reluctant at first because one of the items to try was fruitcake.  I have not been a fruitcake lover.  What lured me in was the cheesecake offering.  So having agreed to sample what they had to offer, I traveled to Worthington to meet up with a few friends to partake of cheesecake, fruitcake, and Collin Street Bakery’s proprietary coffee blend.  Collin Street Bakery had shipped the items to be tasted to the office of Bizresearch. 

THE BAKERY

A little research on their web site ahead of the tasting indicated this bakery has been around for over 100 years.  The bakery was established in 1896 by two fellows a baker and a businessperson named Tom McElwee. Gus Weidmann, the baker, brought his baking expertise and the Wiesbaken, Germany recipes to the endeavor.  Over the years they have expanded and now offer a wide variety of bake goods and even a special coffee blend using Costa Rican beans.  The pineapple, used in the baked goods, comes from their own plantation in Costa Rica.  They now have three locations in Texas and ship all over the world.

THE CHEESECAKE 

 

 

Blueberry Cheesecake

They sent two of their cheesecakes for us to try.  The blueberry has three layers of wonderful flavor.  On the bottom there is a buttery graham cracker crust.  The blueberries are sandwiched between two layers of New York style cheesecake.  I attempted to discover the origin of the blueberries with out success but I expect they come from Maine.  The tiny flavorful berries seem to be the same berries from Maine I have enjoyed before.  I found the New York style cheesecake to be very luscious and the blueberries give this cheesecake a real flavor pop.

 

 The second cheesecake I tried was the White Chocolate Macadamia Cheesecake.  …OMG… The crunchy macadamias amongst the creamy cheese made this my favorite.  Just a hint of salt in the nuts added so much to this creation.  The white chocolate pieces plus the shavings sent my ratings for this cheesecake over the top.

 THE FRUITCAKES 

 

 

Fruitcakes

Ok, I told you I was not a fruitcake lover.  Well I have never had fruitcake like this before.  When fruitcake was mentioned I envisioned the hard log with sometimes bitter dried candied fruit.  This is not the fruitcake Collin Street Bakery produces.

 

 I tasted three of their six kinds of fruitcake.  The first was the Apricot Pecan Cake.  It was moist and very tasty.  The apricots and pecans are generously incased in a rich clover-honey batter.  The second was the Pineapple Pecan Cake.  Again, the fruitcake was moist and the sweet pineapple was generously dispersed  along with  whole native pecan halves which are shelled right in Corsicana.  There is a pineapple marmalade added for a zesty and tangy flavor and make this fruitcake truly irresistible.  The last fruitcake was their Apple Cinnamon Pecan Cake.  This one reminded me of my mother’s apple pie.  This soft cake had huge apple pieces as well as almond slices with a toping of pecan halves sealed with a secret glaze.

THE COFFEE

The Cinchona Costa Rican Coffee is a rich gourmet coffee that comes from the mountains of Costa Rica.  The “rich coast” of Costa Rica, abundant with Tropical rainforest, white water rivers, and live volcanoes, has for centuries produced some of the world’s finest coffee.  My wife and I roast our own coffee from green beans which come from this very region.  We have roasted coffee for years to ensure we drink the freshest coffee.  With the new technology available today, you too can have fresh roasted coffee from the Collin Street Bakery.  Their coffee is bagged in nitrogen infused bags to keep the roasted beans fresh for months.  I found there blend to be very rich and slightly bold.

 

 

What great gifts these would make during this holiday season.

I want to thank the Collin Street Bakery, Lara from Bizresearch and Anna Harper Hess for showing me my dislike for fruitcake was unfounded.

 

 

Yosick’s Artisan Chocolates

 

 I traveled to historic German Village to attend the TasteCasting at Yosick’s Artisan Chocolates last night.  Located at 539 South Fifth Street Columbus, Ohio the establishment sits handsomely on the corner of Fifth Street and Jackson St. in German Village.    Just 2 blocks south of Livington and 5 blocks east I70 and I71 access makes for easy access.  This is a gorgeous area of Columbus.  The German Village area has small neighbor parks scattered around.  Houses are lit at night with gas lights which flicker as you walk down the street.  The yards are very nicely landscaped, and all round well kept.  You can just feel the sence of community this village has.

 

 

Yosick’s is chocolate but much more.

We lingered outside enjoying the mild summer evening while the owner finished serving the group ahead of us.  The dining area is small in comparison to most restaurants.  As you walk in, you can’t help but notice the display cases of their chocolate and pastries.  There are tables and chairs  in the cafe style which acomadate what looked to be about 20 to 30 patrons.  Space in German Village is at a premium as you notice by the narrow brick streets.  We had been told we were here to taste in addition to their chocolate delights some of the other menu items which are served for lunch and dinner.  We took our places at the long table which had been prepared for us. 

The Salad

We first were served a Israeli salad and a medium dry Tuna salad.  The tuna salad can be ordered as a sandwich or alone on a plate over lettuce.

The Quiche

 We were treated to one of Yosick’s quiches. The quiche was very tasty with suttle flavors of tomato and basil. We learned they have 3 different quiches on the menu every day.

Yosick’s Artisan Chocolates

Yosick's Artisan Chocolates

We next were delivered a plate with 3 of Yosick’s Artisan Chocolates. One had a design embeded on the top.  The one with the design embedded had a flavor of Chai, an popular Indian tea. My taste buds were treated to a new experence with the clove flavor in another of the chocolates.  Both flavor experiences linger long after the chocolate has left the mouth.  These treats are meant to be savored.  The outer chocolate is a blend of three chocolates.  There is sixty six percent dark chocolate in the blend but not a trace of bitter taste.  This blend is poured into molds and the center is then places over the blend.  The molds are then sealed with more of the blend.  It is troweled as you would plaster to a smooth finish.  When released from the mold the flavored center is entirely encased.

The Pizza

Yosick’s offer a variety of pizzas.  We tasted two.  They both had a thin crust which is hand tossed to the correct size and slightly pre-baked before toppings are applied.  This procedure produces a very crunchy thin crust.  I will let the pizza baker tell you about these two.

 

 The Cheese Cake

Yosick’s cheese cake is prepared in the New York style.  They are creamy and smooth.  They sell a lot of cheese cake and after tasting one I know why.

The Espresso

Yosick’s coffee supplier is Chief Cooker of Lancaster.  Coffee beans are roasted on Tuesday and delivered on Thursday.  That is fresh.  They use a state of the art espresso machine and produce a very good tasting espresso.

 

 

Yosick’s is Kosher

All food at Yosick’s is Kosher.  One of only two sit down restaurants in Columbus which is.

I want to thank the folks at Yosick’s for a very enjoyable evening. 

Untill the next tasting   Robb