I love going to visit my family in Charleston (well, the 'rents stay in Summerville) because it gives me an opportunity to try new and different things. Ever So Sweet Bakery is right down from where they live and finally, they were open on one of my visits. Now that is not to say they were not open before, it's just either I was too late or too early to catch them open.
I was totally excited when I went in. The front showcase does over a wide variety of choice from bagels to cookies. Therefore I decided since this was my first visit and I had a 4 hour trip ahead of me, I would not only get a breakfast choice but several others to accompany my daughter, son and I on the trip.
I bought:
A popover w/ strawberry butter
a lime-coconut cupcake
a Carmel chocolate cupcake
a butter toffee cookie
a pecan cinnamon roll pull apart thing
lime curd tart
As you can see I pretty much went the gammet, especially since I had heard mixed reviews. Ok 2- one good and one not. I wanted to decide for myself.
To begin:
the popover -while it was excellent in appearance and looked exactly as a popover should, I don't think they meant for it to be that hard and crusty on the outside, maybe, but tobesure not. The inside was nice and moist which is par for a popover. I was just disappointed with the outside, it was nearly inedible. I am still very much on the fence with the strawberry butter. One taste I really like it, the next taste- I am not sure. Would I buy this again? The popover? probably not, the butter yes- maybe with some sort of toast though and not this.
lime-coconut cupcake and the Carmel chocolate cupcake- I am going to talk about these together because my just turned 6 year old loved the icing on both but said "why is the cake part so thick". Agreed. The lime coconut icing was very enticing to look at, it was very pretty as was the 2nd one. Well actually all the cupcakes were just beautiful, but what good is that if they aren't so good.
The problem here was the cake part. It was extremely dense. To the point there was really no crumbs and I was begging for water. I don't know that it was an isolated recipe error because both cakes, one yellow and one chocolate had the same density to them. Would I buy anymore cupcakes here? Definitely not.
The pecan roll- Definitely delish! It was huge and for $2.50 I would say definitely worth it. The topping was Divine and the pecan taste was prevalent which is what I love. It was more like a swirled giant muffin than a roll. I would more than buy it again.
Butter toffee cookie- the flavor was there, the cookie itself was ok but the stickiness of it made it difficult to eat. The gentleman working the front said it was one of his favorite cookies. I could see that if you get it right out of the oven, but the next day it is just a chore to eat. I should have tried the peanut butter one that he also recommended.
Let me say, I have saved the best for last. The Lime Curd Tart. There are just no words, but I will try. It was eye catching, appealing and enticing. At $5 I wasn't sure it wasn't going to be worth it, but I was wrong. It was definitely worth that and made up for the cupcakes!!
The lime curd tart had a marshmellowish meringue on top that my daughter couldn't get enough of it! The crust was buttery and an awesome base for the tart. The filling, was key-limish but not like the pie. I love lemon curd, had never had lime curd, but I definitely want some more. I think the tartness of the curd with the over the top sweetness of the topping worked more than I could have hoped for. After the disappointing cupcake, I was about to be pee oed that I had spent all that money on not so good bakery stuff. But the lime curd tart was definitely redeeming for this bakery. Would I buy it again? Ya damn skippy I will.
Pricewise, I would say the cost was pretty decent. The popover was $2.50, the cupcakes $2 apiece, the cookie $1, the pecan roll $2.50 and the tart $5.
Overall I would visit this bakery again- for the lime curd tart alone, but also probably for some of the bagels. Definitely don't think the cupcakes would be worth another try just because as stated, they were 2 different types but the density issue exits in both of them. They make cakes here too, I have to wonder if they are the same- hopefully I will get a chance to try those at a later date.
I will also mention 2 other things: I was disappointed that they didn't make their own tea. They did have a bottled Italian sweet tea that was doable. Also, there were a few customers there that were definitely regulars as they said everything there was fantastic. I would argue with that kind sir, but I wouldn't push it too far because there are few things there that I thought were over the top delish!!
Ever So Sweet Bakery- Yeah. I'd go there again, especially because they are less than half a mile from my parents.
