Casse-Croûte Bakery

Introducing “Kellie’s Sweet Spots!”

As much as I love baking and whipping up some yummy treats in my very own kitchen, venturing out to try others’ delicious desserts is a must! Not only does it give me major inspiration, but it lets my taste buds go nuts!

And that’s where “Kellie’s Sweet Spots” comes into play. This blog is where I’ll be featuring some of my favorite bakeries.  Think of it as a “show and tell” but it’ll be more like a “try to keep my camera clean to capture the truly beautiful creation that is this delicacy but it’s nearly impossible with my messy fingers from stuffing my face” and “take note of my every heartwarming emotion I had while nomnom-ing.” It’s basically an emotional rollercoaster and I’m thoroughly enjoying the ride. HELLO, BAKERIES AND SWEET TREATS? I’m SO there!

First up:  Casse-Croûte Bakery in my hometown of Livermore, California.

Hands down, bakery is one of the best bakeries I’ve ever been to for two reasons: the baked goods (I’ll get to that in a second) and the environment within the store.

I was truly impressed.  Long story short, everyone felt like family. And that’s exactly where the idea of the store came from.

Meet Richard and Lenore. Richard is of French descent and he’s the baker of the family. All of his recipes come from his French mother and the desserts are made with the highest quality ingredients. Lenore is one of the kindest ladies on the planet, always willing to go the extra mile for her customers. She’s of Italian-American descent, so just imagine the fabulous homemade Sunday dinners at her house!

Lenore told me she and her husband have no formal training in baking or cooking, they just share a passion of creating delicious foods and desserts. And their natural skills help, too. WOW!

What an inspiration. These two have one of the most successful bakeries in the Tri-Valley, rated Best of the East Bay in 2015. If you know anything about Livermore, you’ll know it’s extremely difficult to maintain a business, yet Richard and Lenore prove it’s entirely possible! They’ve got themselves a real winner with Casse-Croûte Bakery!

Now to the desserts. There were so many to choose from, but I limited myself to three.

The beignets. Trust me, the beignets are
THE BEST I’VE EVER HAD. Lenore told me they stick to the highest quality of ingredients, using European butter, no corn syrup, and no artificial sugars. You can truly taste it in their desserts.
The beignets are baked to the perfect consistency and topped with a light dusting of powdered sugar. Luckily, the powdered sugar doesn’t overpower the taste of the lightly sweet pastry. Plus they have a great deal, four for $6 and, yes, I ate all four.

Another dessert I tried was a chocolate chip cookie cup with a dollop of chocolate ganache in the center. Oh. My. Goodness. The cookie had a great balance of chocolate chips and cookie dough, and the rich taste of the European butter
was clearly evident. It was extremely dense on the inside and was firm enough on the outside to withhold the shape of a cup. And then there was the ganache. I DIED AND WENT TO HEAVEN. It was the perfect amount, too!

The last dessert I tried (all of which I ate BEFORE lunch, by the way #professionaleater) was a chocolate/pecan/coconut bar. Now I’m not a fan of coconut but I love me some pecans (check out my candied pecans video) and the fact that there was chocolate AND a crust, I found my little slice of happiness. The chocolate had a frosting-like consistency and the pecans added that perfect crunch to the sweet dessert.

Surprisingly, I loved the addition of coconut on top. I would definitely go back and order 10 more of these.

Casse-Croûte Bakery, you have exceeded my expectations and have inspired me beyond belief. If you have a passion, PURSUE IT! Richard and Lenore are a prime example of “If you can dream it, do it!”