“Blueberry buns”, I said.
“What?”
“You asked — what’s my favourite childhood summer treat. It’s a blueberry bun”.
“Never heard of it!”
“Oh right, I forgot, you’re not from Toronto”.
I’ve had that conversation a half-dozen times this summer.
Never had one? (Yes, that’s a picture of a blueberry bun at the top of this post!)
Oooh — then you just don’t know what you’re missing! It’s got a sweet, yeasty dough, an egg-wash glaze and that chunky sugar that doesn’t melt in the oven sprinkled on top. And a sweet, runny filling, with just enough chunks of blueberries for that oh-so-wonderful burst of flavour. And the dough’s gotta be not too thick and not too thick — it’s gotta be “just right”.
And when I was a kid, they were only available for those few short summer weeks when fresh blueberries were available in Southern Ontario. (And they’re OH SO GOOD with a nice cup of coffee for a snack. Mom used to keep them in the fridge so they were so cool in the summer heat).
It’s one of Toronto’s secret treats. Well, more like a double-supersecret one. You have to live in one of this city’s Jewish neighbourhoods.
In Toronto Blueberry Buns: History, Community, Memory, Jilian Gould calls them “the ultimate insider food”, brought to Toronto by Mrs Kaplansky of the Health Bread Bakery downtown Toronto in the late 1920s. It spread through the community and their number one competitor Open Window started selling them too. (You can read all about it in Gould’s article — along with a recipe for the intrepid baker!)
My family, ever the iconoclastic trouble-makers, bought ours at the Deluxe Bakery at the corner of Sheppard and Wilmington. Oh I used to love going there with my Dad!
The Spousal Overunit (Gail) tried the recipe a few years ago but couldn’t quite get the dough right. But there’s a pint of blueberries sitting in the fridge right now awaiting their fate as filling. I can’t wait. Yum Yum.
So, other than making you hungry — why am I telling you this?
Do you have something in your business that’s a secret? Something that people rave about (like I do with my sweet summer blueberry buns) — but that you don’t tell anyone about?
Mine are the quarterly review sessions I do with my clients. I don’t just email a package of reports and say “That’s all folks!” We do a Zoom call and go over the financials so we can discuss what’s going on, what’s working and what’s not, and talk strategy and plans for the next quarter. Waiting until the end of the year is like driving your car in reverse all the time, navigating by looking in the rearview mirror.
So tell me, what’s your blueberry bun?
PS All the em dashes in this email were inserted by me. No AI. But that’s a conversation for another day.
PPS Yes, I have a secret summer love. It’s a blueberry bun. My wife knows. No, I’m not going to make a Coldplay joke
