Out & About #971 | Hitotoki Bakery, Banana Bread Three Ways + Samsung S24 Pop-Up

My appearance at the office was no longer a surprise this time around.

Striding with confidence, I arrived at Nathan Phillips Square to find barriers erected along the perimeter of the skating rink. Preparations were underway for the NHL All-Stars weekend.

Amateur skaters could take advantage of railings for support and free skate rentals during off-peak (non-game) hours.

The treat supply was also restored with freezer cleanout Marbled Banana Bread - a necessary evil in preparation for my next round of experiments - and remaining Carrot Cake.

Lunchtime saw exploration of IKEA, wherein washrooms were discovered, splatter screens were found, and an oven mitt and dough cutter duo was procured.

​Proceeding northeast, I chanced across the peculiarly named Vietnamese eatery of Beyond Fusion+. The establishment had surfaced several times on Too Good To Go (before I had uninstalled the app), though didn't appear particularly appealing beyond its colourful logo and menu.

​Being situated at the ground level of a residential building and within close proximity to student housing, the storefront was not devoid of delivery drivers during the early afternoon hours.

​At the base of rather dilapidated structure at the northwest corner of Yonge and Church was a combined Loblaws-Starbucks-LCBO fixture. The inclusion was a strange one, yet nonetheless worth noting should the need for Loblaws arise.

Continuing westbound along the south side of College, I eventually arrived at the doors of Hitotoki Bakery. Across the street was Sanuki Udon, the supposed new occupant of Cuppa Tea (and formerly Jule).

​Beyond the acquisition of free Mini Palmiers with social media interactions, I hadn't initially intended on dwelling. The interior of the cafe was quite compact with limited seating, either a handful of street-facing stools or one booth served by two teensy tables. Just above the booth was small potted shrubs and a clock featuring bread rolls and pretzels instead of numbers.

​It was also exceptionally warm inside. Despite external conditions proving fairly mild and the bakery being no more than a twenty-minute trek from the office, my spectacles fogged up intensely upon entering. Exuding from the kitchen were potent wafts of bread-baking.

Hitotoki was a new addition to the Yonge/College and Church/College neighbourhood. Admitted, it was an odd choice of location given the demographic and local consumer profile. Prices were on par with other downtown cafes, and perhaps more budget-friendly than North York kiosks of similar caliber.

The French-Japanese pastry shop featured a limited selection of products:

• Nama Shokupan (Original)
• Sweet Potato Shokupan
• Custard Egg Tart
• Assorted Tarts, including Crème Brûlée with pudding, fruit-topped varieties, and their supposed signature of Mont Blanc

The LED menu above the counter informed of drinks on offer, which included tea lattes, sodas, espresso-based beverages, and specialties like Mont Blanc Latte and Matcha Espresso. As anticipated, most had been priced upwards of five dollars before tax.

​By the counter was a contraption exclusively used for squeezing trails of chestnut puree on the Mont Blanc Tart. Behind it, one could find De Mello beans, an espresso machine, and the bake shop's logo.

I received a trio of Mini Palmiers for following the bakery's Instagram account, posting a photo of the store and tagging the account. Larger Palmers were also retailed in the shop. Meanwhile, samples of Nama Shokupan were positioned adjacent.

At seeing the wispy layered tart shells, I couldn't resist but pluck a few of their most popular items to try. The Egg Tart, Crème Brûlée Almond Tart, and Mont Blanc Tart set me back just short of twenty dollars after tax. Complementing the purchase were a visually pleasing, wide-bottomed paper bag and partitioned box, both bearing Hitotoki's logo.

​Returning to the office, I reached for the bag of mini palmiers. The butterfly-shaped puff pastry creation was positively phenomenal! There were no greasy odours whatsoever, unlike those that had formed Issho Bakery's Lunar New Year Gift Box nearly three years ago. Hitotoki's rendition was remarkably crispy with intricate, beautifully crafted layers, a sugar-spinkled centre, and crunchy turbinado on along the outer edge of its defined coils. Two of three were downed in the blink of an eye.

Sampled later were the balance of the pastries. Priced at $6.50 each were the Crème Brûlée Almond Tart and Mont Blanc Tart. 
The former did not survive the commute, with the edge of the pudding toppling over before reaching home. That said, the pudding was absolutely divine: it feautred a delectable caramel surface and jiggly, silky interior. The lighter consistency contrasted splendidly with the beautiful ripples of the flaky tart shell.

​Decidedly less impressive was the Mont Blanc Tart. The composition embraced muted notes of chestnut, housed a mound of lacklustre whipped cream, and blurred the lines between crisp and soggy with osmosis-induced moisture seepage. It wasn't particularly memorable, yet nonetheless superior to Saint Germain's dismal mouthful of cake.

​The $4.50 Egg Tart had been allowed to rest in the fridge for at least 36 hours before sampling. Toasting reinstated a wonderful flakiness, though the custard was found too firm for my liking.

More banana bread accompanied me into the office later in the week. The slices disappeared just as quickly as the earlier batch, proving its staggering popularity over carrot cake.

More banana bread accompanied me into the office later in the week. The slices disappeared just as quickly as the earlier batch, proving its staggering popularity over carrot cake.

However, my priorities lay not with hockey, but rather exploration. As such, the planned mid-day saunter involved errands at Commerce Court, followed by a quick gander at the Samsung S24 pop-up at Union Station.

Its specified location of the Oak Room was confusing. Upon arrival at the West Wing though, I quickly learned that the space referred to the area before Metrolinx's 65 Front Street office, the TD respite area, and the York Street overpass leading towards the UP Express.

​The pop-up comprised four stations, each introducing a different feature of the new smartphone. Live Translate, which was powered by Samsung AI instead of Google Translate, was demonstrated at the first station. The feature enabled calls to be translated in real-time for seamless communication between entities of varying language proficiency. After experimenting with the language feature, one would be provided the opportunity to choose from one of the many branded treats.

​Overall fatigue led to the choice of grapefruit-flavoured caffeinated Wakewater, though one could choose from tote bags, chocolate, or gummies as well.

Other noted traits included more RAM, higher resolution on the front and back cameras (night photography with zoom), and Circle to Search (either from photo or live search from phone lens).

Meals of the week comprised of various combinations of Braised Pork, Steamed Egg with Minced Pork, Choy Sum, and blanched Chicken Breast cubes over rice, along with Dr. Oetker Pepperoni Pizza, over-microwaved frozen broccoli, and chopped (discounted "Naturally imperfect") peppers.

Albeit tedious, the inclusion of chicken breast was intended to improve muscle recovery and combat a high body fat percentage by increasing protein, consequently curbing snacking.

​Restoration of my pre-flu routine has been a slow, grueling process. First came the re-incorporation of regular exercise. After months of debate, a pilates ball was finally procured to challenge stability and prevent plateauing amidst my standard roster of Well+Good videos.

​Mid-afternoon snacking could also take place once appetite had been recovered. A pairing of Yuzu Jam and G7 Espresso would serve as a splendid pick-me-up.

Meanwhile, tolerance for various forms of alcohol was tested via bottled Izumi's Plum Sake, bottled Asahi, and Cave Spring's 2021 Dry Riesling - a phenomenal pick for both fragrance and flavour profile. 

The first half of the weekend constituted a medley of errands, chores, and cleaning - an act that truthfully seems endless.  ̶S̶u̶p̶p̶o̶r̶t̶e̶d̶ Supervised by none other than the sturdy existence whose recently made many appearances in my life, e-waste was sorted and disposed just before closing hours.

Browsing the mall evolved into a quest for more storage bins and general roaming of the retail grounds.

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Banana Bread Three Ways

Since receiving feedback that my go-to marbled formula was "too chocolatey" and "not enough banana", I was filled with a sense of indignance. How could my favourite banana bread receive such a review?! I had thought.

​So, prior to delving into a strictly no-chocolate banana bread venture, I proceeded with the aforementioned freezer cleanout. The office welcomed my incredulous quantity with open arms, with a few colleagues returning to the office for second helpings. I relayed these revelations to the originator of the remark, who clarified that the marbled edition was, in fact, "good", but merely overpowered by the presence of chocolate.

All opinions are subjective, but I couldn't help be irked. Consequently, I launched a three-part study on "classic" banana bread - as far as I could go without sneaking in modifications anyway.

The recipes under scrutiny were:

1. Sunday Baking's Best Ever Banana Bread
2. SK's Marbled Banana Bread (sans marble)
3. SK's Jacked-Up Banana Bread

1) Sunday Baking "Best Ever Banana Bread"

I recalled the very moment Sunday had released this recipe, including my initial wariness. Her usage of granulated sugar, oil, and heavy cream were an interesting take on classic banana bread. Moreover, her edition eliminated spices altogether - not even cinnamon was included! The surface would be topped with banana, sliced lengthwise, for additional moisture and brown sugar sprinkled on top.

​My reservations - and absence of available loaf pans - led to opting for mini loaf pans instead of the standard size. Lining the non-stick interior was near impossible, thus I settled for just a single sheet of parchment on the bottom. The batter would fill three mini loaf pans. Each would be topped with banana chunks (instead of whole segments) and brown sugar bits, then supplemented with turbinado for a crunchy finish. Finely chopped pecans leftover from making carrot cake were also tossed on top - since why not?

The brown sugar bubbled and burned, then hardened along the pan's lip after cooling. In hindsight, my budget mini loaf pans were not the ideal choice. That said, brown sugar contained more moisture than turbinado, making it less resilient at high temperatures.

​With few other elements constituting the foundation of the loaf, Sunday's recipe relied heavily on the quality of the banana used. My extremely ripe selection prompted a reduction in sugar from 175 g to 100 g, keeping the creation from veering into cloying territory.

The loaves emerged quite pale in hue and bore non-uniform air pockets that traversed across the slice in a U-shaped format. Interestingly, the recipe had specified baking soda in the absence of a strong acid. This, in turn, resulted in rather forced aeration and, beyond the banana chunks adorning the surface, a subdued presence of the tropical fruit.

While oil and heavy cream assisted in maintaining moisture, the loaf was generally not to my liking. Stripping the timeless bakery item of nutty, caramel notes and warm spices felt strange and off-putting. Tasty it was, yet succeed in filling the banana bread void it did not.

2) SK's Marbled Banana Bread

My go-to recipe would be revisited sans marble for this research endeavour, wherein cocoa powder was swapped for AP flour.​

The non-marbled loaf was equally as tasty as the marbled rendition, should you ask me. Regardless of its chocolate component, the outline served as a solid formula that required no tweaking whatsoever - it was simply a superb Banana Bread recipe.

3) SK's Jacked-Up Banana Bread

SK was consistent in her usage of brown sugar and melted butter for both loaves tested. In this trial, bourbon was swapped for gold rum and my usual Kirkland vanilla extract was substituted with my own speckled vodka infusion. (Truthfully, I had forgotten about the tinted bottles for quite some time, for they had been obscured behind tissue boxes and paper towel for far too long.)

​My coworker's heavily recommended Jacked-Up utilized salted butter for a unique savouriness that contrasted splendidly with the inclusion of rum. Off the record were additions of turbinado to top and finely chopped pecans.

Same-day sampling concluded:

• Jacked-Up being the most unique
• Marble being the most timeless and versatile
• Sunday's for serving alongside tea, as a snacking cake devoid of caramel tones and cozy spices