Michael U.
Yelp
Items Selected:
Pelayo
Rosquillas
Pastel Valesco
Fruit Ring
Cream Bun
Persian
Celebrating a temporary break in the rain by visiting Mount Igueldo and the San Sebastian Aquarium it was with weather again turning stormy that shelter was sought at Hogar Dulce Hogar and with the small dining room packed as the heavens once again burst forth the experience was mostly a good one, a half dozen pastries selected to enjoy at a table with free WiFi with only the dried out fruit ring found to lack.
Loosely translated as "Home Sweet Home," the interior cozy with service capable of understanding English though somewhat limited in their ability to explain the goods, it was just prior to 18h00 that I arrived to the bustling cafe and although only a fraction of items were listed in terms of names or prices it was largely a matter of experience that guided my order, a few items plated for now with the rest photographed and rebagged for later.
Obviously no longer warm given the time of arrival, most of the items likely sitting on shelves since the bakery opened midday, it was first in bites of an item labeled as "Pelayo" that my palate was entrusted, the almond-crusted cake something like a Pastel Crema fortified with frangipane while the more traditional Pastel Valesco was itself topped in nuts, the interior just short of 'set' and eggy with restrained sweetness.
Already mentioning the fruit ring, a laminated 'donut' that may have been good when fresh but clearly here suffering from time left uncovered behind glass, a far better flavor was found in the cinnamon-sugar dusted Rosquillas, the texture not unlike that of a churro with a light crunch to the outside giving way to a wispy open crumb.
Relatively straight forward with the cream bun, the dough itself light while insides were more "custard" than the those found elsewhere in Spain, it was finally with a crispy Persian that the tasting concluded and with a similar vanilla texture sandwiched between flaky layers of puff pastry the results were by far the best version of the item found throughout my Basque visit - potentially the best pastry sampled in all of San Sebastian.
