Canela Bakery

Didn’t even get a chance to try anything. Standing there wanting to get a variety of things since I love bakeries. Instead I am stuck behind 3 girls who ordered one cake. 10 minutes later still standing there.
You’d think the guy behind the counter would do more than play on his phone while the other employee worked.

We were on the search for churros and found them here after a quick Unilocal search (they let you try one for freeeeeee!). We’ve now been back a few times… including today. And today we not only bought churros, but also empanadas, tamales, and a flaky caramel puff pastry that I can’t remember the name of. We ALSO sampled the mango mousse cake. Everything was great! One star off because the churros aren’t always fresh, which is a bummer, and the empanadas and tamales need something with them. Like some type of sauce. But this place is definitely great and we’ll be back!

Just wandered in because I had time to blow while waiting for an appointment in the area. A treat for the eyes, free treats to sample (I was offered caramel sauce to top off the churro I tried), and the small assortment of desserts I purchased were exquisitely worth the cost and the calories! Those gelatinas are visually stunning. I plan to be back for those, for the cakes, and the pies for future celebrations. And gotta try the breads given former rave reviews.

I bought a bunch of empanadas, tamales, churros and pastries for my family and me. The general consensus was that the food was stale. Which is especially disappointing because up until now I have always been open to trying different Latino bakeries around the area. I appreciate authenticity. Regardless of how a café looks or what country they are based from the hole in the wall joints usually taste better because the food speaks for itself. Well this food has spoken and I consider my lucky streak officially over. :/

Mango mousse cake — that’s all you need to know.
Came here after work to try to find a last minute cake for my mom’s birthday, hoping I didn’t have to get a bland cake from the grocery store, and lucked out with the mango mousse cake. It was SO GOOD. My whole family was raving about it after eating a piece. The cake itself was super moist, and the creamy but still very light/​fluffy mango mousse topping had the perfect amount of mango flavor to it. It didn’t feel like you were eating a straight up mango, but there was definitely a nice sweetness to it. I saw a chocolate mousse cake in the display as well that I was eyeing up, but refrained since it wasn’t my birthday. But I did tell my family I want the chocolate one in 11 months for mine.
FYI: There are two sizes to this cake, the larger one for $ 30 and the smaller one $ 20.

I usually go to a bakery for fresh yeast bread, not cakes or sweets (though I could easily be persuaded to get a fruit pastry, which have been very good as well), and this place makes a nice loaf. Have been there several times over the years, and the sesame semolina is my favorite. The last one was so good just toasted with butter, for breakfast or midnight snacks, that I couldn’t stop eating it and it was gone in 2 days (not what my waist needs!) I think the prices are a little high, but maybe that’s just because the price of food everywhere is absurdly out of sight generally. However, the quality seems to be there, as I have never had anything bad here. The only disappointment is sometimes what I want is gone when I get there late in the day, but that’s better than having it get stale because its not sold, right? There’s always baguettes or rolls or croissants or Mexican/​Central American pan to satisfy my craving…

I was wandering around this new shopping center and this bakery caught my eye. I opened the door and the smell of fresh baked bread and pastries hypnotically drew me closer in to see what baked treasures lie ahead. Loaves and loaves of freshly baked bread were sitting on shelves behind the counter. Then, I turned and saw cases and cases of pastries filled with tempting cheese pastries, fruit flavored pastries, and my favorite cookies all within reach. The lady behind the counter offered me a cookie to taste and I was hooked. It was love at first bite. So, if you have a giant sweet tooth, like me, head over to Canela Bakery and savor to your hearts content.

This review is for their Gelatinas, which I learned about from this Washington Post article back in 2011:
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I loved them so much that my fiancé, now hubby, used to get them for me all the time! He always got a huge assortment of the prettiest ones for Valentine’s day! Since Valentine’s day is tomorrow, I thought I’d post this for those of you looking for something more unusual than just the requisite chocolates and flowers deal…

I would give it less than a star if I could. I once bought some SUGAR donuts and churros from them and they had salt on them! I also noticed they had some Scientology books on sale. Scared me to death. Never returning again.

At 8pm on a weekday, an hour before closing, Canela’s display cases were filled with a variety of Mexican sweet breads, cakes (whole and slices), and other pastries. The lady working the counter was friendly and waited patiently while I decided what to purchase. You could smell items being baked while you’re in the store, so you’d think food being sold were relatively fresh. That wasn’t the case for the two churros I purchased (plain and caramel) or the sweet bread I sampled on the counter. The churros were rock hard and tasted stale. The sweet bread was dry and pretty much crumbled when I tore off a piece (could have been sitting out too long). Since pricing for baked goods in Canela were pretty cheap and some pastries/​cakes looked really good, I would probably go back to give them another try. I’m hoping it was just an off day!

I moved to Gaithersburg several years ago from Minneapolis and was immediately struck by the lack of high quality bakeries in the local suburban area. Having been spoiled with access to a plethora of grocery stores and specialty food shops in Minnesota I was saddened to walk back my expectations for good quality food in my new home. Then a few years ago I found Canela and I can honestly say that it is by far the best bakery that I’ve found in Montgomery County and the surrounding communities (and I’ve looked!). I now only buy bread at their store, going out of my way weekly to pick up a couple of loaves, making sure to try the ever expanding variety of their offerings. By far, their baguette is the best I’ve found in this region; crispy crust with a soft white middle, just as a proper baguette should be. If I had one criticism of Canela is that I’m not a fan of their non-​bread offerings, but that might just be that because I’m not much of a dessert eater and the items I’ve tried in this category at Canela are a bit too sweet for my taste. But, the bread… oh my gosh, the bread!

First time visitor to the bakery for some snacks. The cannoli was disappointing in taste and texture. There wasn’t even filling in the middle! They just squirted some in at the ends. The ricotta filling looked and tasted ricotta less and had a dry-​sticky texture. I didn’t even feel like trying the other goodies in my bag. Two stars only because I want to be fair — I’ll have to try the other deserts I bought later and stop by in the morning for fresh baked bread. The service was just meh, even if it was later in the day.

We had the almond croissant fresh from the oven. Delicious! That day, they also had butter croissants and chocolate croissants. They report that their best seller is the apple pastry. No savory goodies. But they do have fresh breads and muffins.
Tres leches cake was excellent. I liked that it wasn’t too sweet; however, I do like tres leches a bit more soaked with condensed milk. This cake was pretty and frosted, good for presentation but the condensed milk in the cake was barely detectable. Still a crowd pleaser and delicious! We were able to get the cake when we walked in on a Saturday. It was big enough to serve 10.
Service was very friendly.

This place is authentic, fresh and not expensive! I am from Mexico and web it comes to Mexican bakeries I have very high expectations and this place exceeds them! I love it love it love it! Churros, puerquitos, bolillos, pastel de tres leches! They have it all!

Wow! What a great selection. The place is so new that they still have spackle on the walls! I got a mini canoli there and was simply divine.
They seem to have a daily pastry special as well as a $ 1 for a slice of the cake of the day.
Prices are what got me. VERY good prices for great pastries. They have a coupon on their website that if you are new, you get 10% off.
Check them out!