DUFFLET PASTRIES
787 Queen St W
Toronto, ON 
M6J 1G1 Canada
Cafe – Pastries
$
Even after walking up and down Queen Street countless times over the past seven months, I still do not have the whole place written down. There would be those off moments when somebody mentions an eatery which they favour located Queen Street West and I would have no clue what they’re talking about. Dufflet Pastries was one of them. There are two Dufflet Pastries locations on Queen Street, one on the West end, and the other on the East. My mate is a regular at the East end but decided to make our after-school bite on the West end since he’s never been.
A dandy Wednesday afternoon, a few classes, an hour of work, and onwards to Dufflet! I was intrigued by the chalkboard drawing upon sight, and completely forgetting about the 2 for 1 slice deal of the day once I got in. I was pretty overwhelmed by the (semi-stale) choices in pastries. My biggest pet peeve is when a store does not have name tags and prices up. It straight up makes me want to leave – in which most cases, I do, but I had to suck it up this time around for the sake of my mate. Also, the cashier wasn’t very enthusiastic either, which made the experience even more dull for me. When anybody is any less enthusiastic than I am about the goods, that is not a good thing. By this point, I was totally up for making a mini trek up to Nadege.
1. Dacquoise Minis ($4.50)
Caramel Discs of hazelnut meringue layered with rich caramel buttercream; finished with a white chocolate glaze and a caramel swirl. (made without wheat or gluten, contains nuts). 
A regular at Dufflet, the Dacquoise Minis had absolutely no hints of white chocolate; the discs in this treat were a tough bite with a powerful taste of butter with each crunch.
2. Raspberry Chocolate Mousse Heart Mini ($4.50)
Layers of raspberry and chocolate mousse nestled around chocolate biscuit; finished with a red mirror glaze and a dark chocolate heart. (made without wheat or gluten, available January-February).
Just. Mousse. The Raspberry Chocolate Mousse Heart Mini – only available around Valentine’s Day held no party in my mouth, really.
 3. Milk Chocolate Salted Caramel Euro Tart ($3.50)
Salted caramel and creamy milk chocolate ganache inside a dark chocolate crust; garnished with whipped cream
Everything sounded just right with this name, huh? Wrong. The Milk Choc Salted Caramel Euro Tart (that was a mouthful) was pretty rich in chocolate, with a nice treat of (not-even salted) caramel filling, with an incredibly tough tart. I will not get any of their tarts in the future, ever.
I really did find the plates that they came on to be quite dandy, though:
I did not enjoy the feel of this cafe very much. It felt way too open, especially with no music, and even with it being incredibly open – there were absolutely no check-ups (or smiles) by the one server a few metres away. I most likely won’t be coming to this location again. My mate fancied the East-end location much, much more. I wasn’t happy with any of their pastries, they were all way too tough and did not live up to it’s description. With much regret, I left the place wishing that I ordered a slice of cake instead – I’ll need to give the East-end location a go before I can leave a final verdict.
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