Eatery - Cream Pan (CA)
Cream Pan - 602 El Camino Real, Tustin, CA 92780
Pricing - $ | Dining - Casual, To-Go | Cuisine - Bakery
At the ungodly time of 9:45am, I received a text from my friend telling me I needed to be ready in 10 minutes to go get the strawberry croissants that she and another mutual friend had claimed I had to have. The previous night we had planned to get these at 10am but when I awoke still feeling exhausted, I had absolutely no desire to go. Nevertheless, they both showed up at my doorstep shortly after so I had no choice but to lug myself over to the car and join them for a dessert-y adventure. They were lucky the visit was worth it.
The first thing I had there was the Curry Pan. It was a donut-like pastry with curried chicken inside. I was disappointed that it was soft and cold instead of hot and crispy but luckily it was still pretty good. I liked how the bread part was not too sweet, which could detract from the curry inside. The curry itself was quite delicious and a good way to start off my tired morning. I definitely wish that I had had this when it was fresh out of the oven though.
Melon pan is always pretty great. It's basically a round bun with that shortbread-like topping on it (I will find out what that is sometime soon...) that was also topped with beautiful crystals of sugar. That portion was sweet and the dough itself fluffy. I liked how it was not overly sweet though. The entire thing made me feel about as happy as it looked.
The star of the show: the strawberry croissant! When my friends first told me about liking croissants, I thought that they meant the entree-type ones or just plain croissants that are overly buttery and thick. They showed me a picture of these last night and convinced me to want to try them since they were dessert-y croissants. I'm fine with that! So I snapped this picture of the three that my friend got (she took 2 home) before we all devoured our own pieces. The croissant was perfectly flaky with just the right amount of butter and layering; basically, the areas that were necessarily condensed were just so. The powdered sugar on top added to the delightful eating experience as we crunched our way into bliss. The custard inside was cold and smooth, complementing the condensed parts of the croissant, and the strawberries were just there for small bursts of fresh tartness. I thoroughly enjoyed these and felt like the trip was worth it after all. My only complaint about these was that they were smaller than I expected...especially since they were $2.30 each. Oh well - I'd still go back and try their other foodstuffs.
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