Nougat ist wunderbar!

I had one of those gong show mornings that started with stubbing my toe when I got out of bed. You know one of those domino-effect-gone-bad scenarios? I'll spare you the details but yap, that was my morning. Know what made it all better? German pastries!

Nestled between St. Mary's Hospital and downtown Kitchener, you will find a pretty little Queen Street shop called Nougat Bakery and Delicatessen. It specializes in fresh, quality foods that offer European flavours, atmosphere, and aromatherapy the moment you walk through the door.

While many of Nougat's products come from afar, you'll also find some locavore-friendly gems by way of meats, dairy, prepared foods and can we just talk about the bakery for a moment? Um... exquisite! Artisanal breads baked around the clock using old-fashioned methods with lots of wholesome, all-natural ingredients, without artificial preservatives or flavours. One little loaf of bread can take in excess of eight hours to prepare - my slow-food friends would be positively delighted!

But back to the pastries.

Since I was in Kitchener, known as Berlin until 1916 for its many German settlers, I thought it was only fitting to try some delicious blytterteig (that's German for pastry! Oh Google, my friend...) from ze old country.

The first: Bienenstich, or "bee sting cake," which earned its name when the inventor was stung by a buzzy little critter who became quite territorial about its sweet, almond-crusted honey topping. I can't say I blame him. In the middle of this cake has to be about three inches of soft, creamy mousse-like custard - so airy you'd swear it only had double-digit calories. All this nestled atop a beautifully flaky crust. I mean, seriously. Is this stuff legal?

And then there are the almond ring danishes. It almost looked like it was shaped in the form of a heart - or perhaps that was my infatuation at first sight. Light. Flaky. Sweet. Gorgeous.

To round out my Bavarian blowout (as in, the seams of my clothes were blowing out at this point but in my defense, I did share), German apple strudel, or Apfelstrudel, which is way more fun to say, especially if you accent the 'f' and roll your r's a bit. Gemuetlichkeit! That's another fun one to say. But about the strudel: irresistible. Flaky crust, almond-soaked cake bottom (that always reminds me of cherries, yumm) and chunky, fresh apple slices like nobody's business throughout. I'm exhausted with emotion just reliving it. Ugh. Seven more hours on the elliptical machine. But SO worth it.

Prost! To Nougat. And German pastries that make you so happy, you want to throw on a pair of lederhosen and bust out the chicken dance! (See, more calories taken care of right there).