Bakery Adventure: 85C Bakery

85C Bakery
Diamond Jamboree Shopping Center
2700 Alton Parkway, Suit #123
Irvine, CA 92606

I have a confession to make: I'm in love. With a bakery!! I've been going to Asian bakeries since as far as I can remember but NEVER have I ever LOVED a bakery's bread this much!! The bread is so fresh and moist and everything I wish my own baking could be. I've never had anything like it! The bar has been set and it is HIGH, my friends!

85C Bakery Bread

Check out my haul! I don't live near Irvine nor go there regularly so I went a bit overboard. I really wish I could've tried everything they sold, but it wasn't in my budget and my waistline wouldn't have been too happy. But here is what I did try...

85C COFFEE BREAD: This is the bread that's on the bottom right corner of my haul pic. It was soooo moist with a crisp top coating that's similar to the tops of Chinese pineapple buns or Japanese melon pan. Inside, there was sweet red bean paste and soft mochi. It seemed like a strange combo - I mean, who would think to combine coffee, anko, and mochi? - but it tasted delicious together! I ate this right outside the bakery while it was still warm. Yum....

BRIOCHE: I must thank my friend, Deanna, for recommending this gem! This bread came out fresh right as we were paying at the cashier so we asked the cashier to grab some for us. It is so moist and fluffy! Not overly sweet... There's a slight sweet coating on the top and it was soooo good. My friend ate this as we sat outside and gave me a piece. It is too. die. for. when it is fresh! It's still extremely good the next day. Still very moist and fluffy! My family literally devoured it as I slept! *sneaky sneaky!* I would definitely buy this again! :)

85C Bakery - Brioche

COFFEE RAISIN BREAD: Strong coffee flavor with the sweetness of raisins and a bit of cheese flavor. Moist and chewy. It was good, but not my favorite.

85C Bakery - Coffee Raisin Bread

COCONUT TWIST: This is one of the most common buns one can find in Asian bakeries and somehow, 85C Bakery does it better! There's loads of coconut so this was made for you coconut lovers out there!

Coconut Twist

85C ROSE CHEESE BREAD: Deanna told me that this was one of 85C's most popular breads and I can see why! I couldn't really taste the rose, but I did notice that there were small bits of dried cranberries and I love those! There's also a sweet cream cheese filling. This turned out to be one of my brother's favorites.

85C Rose Cheese Bread

85C Rose Cheese Bread (cross section)

WALNUT MILK BREAD: This bread was moist like all the others, but I didn't find anything memorable or spectacular about it. Compared to the other buns and breads, we felt that this was a bit on the "eh" side. Don't get me wrong, it's still very good, but we liked the other pastries more.

Walnut Milk Bread

CHOCOLATE CHIP BOWL: Another moist bread, but with chocolate chips. I thought I would really like this because I like chocolate, but I found that this was my least favorite item out of the bunch. There was something about the chocolate chips that I didn't really like, but I can't put my finger on what it was.

Chocolate Chip Bowl

HONEY CAKE: I love honey cake! 85C's has a strong honey flavor and is moist and soft.

Honey Cake

HONEY CHOCOLATE CAKE: I can't say anyting about this cake because I didn't get to try it! I'm so sad! I did get a picture of it. (Though, that's small consolation. :T ) This is on my list of things to buy the next time I visit.

Honey Chocolate Cake

I ate these buns/breads/cakes over the course of a week and miraculously, not one of them dried out or became stale! It really blows my mind! I know I kept describing everything as "moist" but it really was! And I honestly don't know how they make their pastries that way! It is now one of my life goals to bake bread as moist and tasty as 85C's. My life has been changed and no bread is ever going to taste the same! I look forward to many more adventures to 85C Bakery.