Friday 3 April 2009

A Sheffield Foodie Find – Creamy Coffee Chinese Bakery

At the weekend I suddenly got the urge to eat a sweet Chinese bun and decided to try and see if there were any Chinese bakeries in Sheffield. I found out there was one a few miles away, out the other side of the city from where I live. As it was a nice day I decided to go for an investigative walk and see what I could find. I managed to find quite easily and it’s amazing! It is run by a very friendly group of Chinese people and it only sells Chinese buns and pastries, of which they had a fantastic selection. I got there around 11am in the morning and they were just bringing fresh buns out from the back and the whole shop smelt amazing. I wanted to try them all, but managed to restrict myself to three!!

I got a cocktail bun: A long soft sweet bun filled with a creamy sweetened desiccated coconut mixture and sprinkled with sesame seeds. The flavour of this one was wonderful and very fresh tasting. It was warm when I got there and I could hardly wait to get it home and have a taster. I’ll be getting this one again.

Next I tried a sesame red bean ball: A glutinous rice ball with a filling of red bean paste, rolled in sesame seeds and lightly fried. This was tasty, especially the red bean filling but I found it was a bit sticky and dense for my liking. But this was the first time I had tried glutinous rice, so I’m not used to the texture, but I’m glad I tried it.

Finally I chose a custard and almond bun – A round sweet bun encasing a generous amount of crème patisserie and topped with flaked almonds. Wow this one was divine!!! The bun was soft and tender and the filling so creamy and luscious. I ate it and even thought I was full I wanted another one straight away. No, I didn’t eat all three at once, I just had tasters of each. I’m just so annoyed I had never found the bakery before. I have lived in Sheffield on and off for uni for 4 years and never knew of its existence. I only have two months left until I finish uni for good and than I'll be moving away. I’m going to be going back on a weekly basis at this rate! I love exploring and finding new foodie places. Address below if anyone else is in the area and fancies a few sweet treats. Anyone got any other Chinese pastries they recommend I try?

Creamy Coffee Chinese Bakery
151 London Road
Sheffield
South Yorkshire
S2 4LH

9 comments:

Angela @ A Spoonful of Sugar said...

Mmm... the custard and almond bun looks great. I once tried to make my own--lack of Chinese bakeries in Bristol---and it... well, it didn't go well :P

Sam said...

I've never tried Chinese buns before but they look delicious, especially the custard bun.

Elyse said...

I'm so jealous! These buns look completely fabulous. Hope you enjoyed these sweet treats!

Gigi said...

What a wonderful find! The buns look and sound amazing.

The Caked Crusader said...

the custard one and the coconut one look divine! I'm glad that I don't have such a bakery near me as I can see that I might over indulge!

♥Rosie♥ said...

This is such a wonderful find Katie! Gosh those flavours have me drooling I haven't been lucky enough to come across a Chinese bakery !

Rosie x

Simones Kitchen said...

Those buns look delicious! Especially the last one I have to say. I don't think we have any chinese bakeries here, or maybe I should take a walk too and investigate...:)

Nic said...

Not had Chinese buns before, they look rather good!!

Anonymous said...

Hello. I am Chinese-Canadian and I'm ashamed to admit I've eaten hundreds of those sesame-seed balls in my lifetime. The one in your picture looks really dense... the glutinous rice layer isn't supposed to be thick and touching the filling like that. It should be thin & crispy and, if made properly, puff up around the filling so that the inside is "airy" (if that makes sense. I'm sure it was still good but, like I said, it doesn't look like the ones I've ever had.