The battle cries this holiday season have been to buy local and support small businesses. Sites have sprung up showcase alternatives to Amazon’s marketplace and hashtag surfing through Instagram reveals a plethora of options. Not surprisingly, for me, the food accounts are prominently featured, with so many options that narrowing down where my gift giving would come from became difficult.

As luck would have it, a fellow food lover posted about Scoops n’ Bite’s luscious cheesecake, a favourite sweet for a group of my friends. This is how the Basque cheesecake ($20) soon made its way into the gifting rotation. But, not without purchasing an extra one for my household … to make sure what we were giving was good, of course.  

The Basque-style is so delightful: a cross between the fluffy Japanese cheesecake and the richer dense New York style. It’s a towering creation that has a moist and delicate centre that breaks into crumbs of smooth creamy cheese. For such an innocent looking bite, it’s surprisingly cheesy (still lighter than the New York) and the caramelized top creates a buttery bite, not unlike a graham cracker crust.

We had slices of the cake plain, but it would work just as well with some berries.

Scoops n’ Bite’s menu has a host of other baked goods: cookies, stuffed cookies, and brownies. Yet, it was the empanadas ($13 for four) that intrigued, stuffed with a choice of chicken and vegetables or ham and cheese. We went with the former and were presented with glossy stuffed pastries the size of our palms.

If only the company called out they considered raisins a “vegetable” … it is not. The sole ingredient that knocked these down a peg. For some, they may like the light sweetness and moisture it adds to the filling; I say give me peas any day.

Raisins aside, we still enjoyed the empanadas, with the juicy slivers of chicken mixed with small cubes of carrots and potatoes. There was a lovely earthy spice mixture added to everything and each were well-seasoned – perfect for me but could be slightly too salty for those who like to season lightly. The buttery crust surely stole the show, giving off a lovely aroma and flavour, yet still not greasy to the touch.

It’s nice to have a season to remind us about all the great local talent that’s out there. Still, after the holidays calm down, it’s important not to forget about these wonderful businesses. After all, a Basque cheesecake can be enjoyed on any occasion: New Years, Valentine’s, or even just for a lovely weekend treat.