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Saturday, February 13, 2016

Cream Puffs From Afghan Bakery in Hendon, London

I visited a family living in Hendon and was offered a variety of cakes of which the one which stood out was the cream puffs. They have a spiral outside and a surprising soft creamy centre. Delightful. I tried several other cakes from the same source (the lady I visited) and they seemed dry and tasteless but these were absolutely wonderful.

I later looked at the outside of the box and photographed it. When I got home, to my disappointment, the name was partly missing and so was the address. I expanded the photo to full screen. I got out a magnifying glass. The end of the name was ghan. Afghan!

Using the bakery's name, address street name, postcode, and phone number, I found the baker's picture on Yell. It seems to be a normal size small shop on a corner with a clear name sign, easy to find when driving or walking past and to identify.

First, I guessed it had to be near Hendon and tried searching. No luck. Then I tried the postcode. I looked at the name ending han, and guessed it must be Afghan. I had the street name. Progress. I knew I was nearly there. Another search and I found it.



If you are in the area, take a look at the bakery. I can;t vouch for any other products. But I do recommend the cream puffs.

The lady who offered me the cakes spoke Urdu, Pashtu, Hindi and a little English. She told me, 'I make - home made.' It was pretty obvious to me that the cream puffs were a uniform size and shape and neatly stacked so I assumed must be from a commercial bakery.

 I'm trying to learn Spanish, Italian and German, after that some Japanese, Chinese, Russian. Now I'll have to add Urdu, Hindi and Pashto to my wish list of languages.

I believe the cakes came from the bakery. She didn't make them. Unless she makes them at home and sells them to the bakery. Or works in the bakery?

Anyway, next time you or I get a chance to go to the bakery, look for these cream puffs. If you are visiting a home in the area, or know anybody who is Afghan anywhere in the world, look for cream puffs.

My next investigations will be to visit the bakery, and/or another Afghan bakery and ask for cream puffs. Meanwhile I shall look up the recipe online and try reproducing it at home to see whether I can make something similar, or not as good, or even better.

Ingredients listed are: Flour, water, butter, ...g sugar (icing sugar?), puff pastry.

No calorie count. If concerned about your daily calorie intake, divide one pastry between two of you. Eat a morsel with your tea or coffee or milk or lemon tea or water for elevenses, or after lunch or at tea time.

Enjoy -
the photo! Oops - they are not called cream puffs but cream roll.

(Incidentally, if you are visiting London, you will find the high streets have many halal food shops and restaurants and sections in supermarkets as well as kosher and vegetarian. You can see Polish, Afghan and many other ethnic places providing new or familiar foods for you to try, new brands and home made food, bagels and bakeries and supermarkets such as Morrisons selling freshly made bread and cakes cooked up daily in their big ovens in the kitchens at the back.)

More Information / Visits
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/15869/cream-puffs/

Afghan Bakery, 187 Church Road, NW10 9LF
Tel: 020 8451 1212.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, researcher, author, speaker.

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