Gino’s Italian Bakery

Ordered the Cassata Cupcakes for my Sicilian mother-in-law’s 91^st birthday. Pretty and delicious! The cupcakes were so moist and the filling was authentic and tasty. Am definitely going back. So happy to have a go-​to italian bakery now, have driven by it thousands of times and just never went in. Go in! Parking in rear! Can’t wait to try her bread next. And the italian cookies!

GET THE ALMOND RING. You won’t be sorry! The first time I tasted it, I ended up eating a quarter of it in one sitting. I smartened up the next time and split a third with my friend, immediately gave a third to my neighbor, and wrapped up the last third to give to my mom. I’ve had other pastries like the raspberry twist and cannolis (which both are delicious), but I always go back to the almond ring. The filling to pastry ratio is much higher than a typical almond ring and tastes delicious. It’s addicting. An added bonus is that you’ll find them at the North Tonawanda Farmers Market on Saturday Mornings.

My rating is based strictly on cannolis. WORST IVE EVER HAD! I can’t speak for the rest of the pastries but I had them at the Italian festival 2015 and after one bite I threw them in the trash

Whoa. The best Italian pastries I’ve had the pleasure of consuming in a lonnng time. The almond ring is perfect — not too sweet, comprised of a wonderful, moist almond paste sandwiched between soft danish pastry. The ricotta roll is something else. It’s essentially a cannoli but with soft buttery pasty instead of crisp shells. The ricotta itself is smooth and only slightly sweetened; it’s pretty addictive. I haven’t been to the shop itself, only tried some of its specialties at family parties — but I highly recommend picking up some of the desserts here to share at your next gathering. And grab extra, because it’ll be gone in a flash!

I stopped in here to pick something up for a wine and cheese party that I was attending that evening. The place smelled delicious! Not knowing exactly what I looking for, I asked the baker for a suggestion. She pointed out some items in the display cases but nothing seemed appropriate for my need. THEN she told me about some of the pastries that were on the cooling racks. She showed me what she referred as a Ricotta Log. Fresh out of the oven. It was a light pastry about 14 inches long, 5 inches across and filled with a ricotta filling just like that of a cannoli. Sounds like cheese to me – a little different, but perfect for the wine and cheese party I was attending. Since it was still warm out of the oven, we decided that it would be best if I stopped by a little later so that the glazed frosting could be applied. When I came back a couple hours later she had it set aside for me (see photo). Since I was there, I decided to try one of their best selling Italian cookies also — a glazed fig cookie. It was great.
The Ricotta Log was a HUGE success at the party I attended. It was absolutely delicious and far lighter that it looked. Everyone was raving about it.
If you are looking for a different dessert I highly recommended this one! AND it was only $ 8! I suggest calling first because I believe that they only make a couple of them a day.
This afternoon I stopped by Gino’s again to let the very kind and helpful baker know how happy I was with the Ricotta Log. (I wish that I got her name — she is so pleasant.) Naturally I took the opportunity to sample a couple more baked goods — four bite sized Italian cookies for $ 2 (they are priced by weight, but I’m not sure of the price per pound). Again, I was very pleased.

Their pasticotti is the best thing I’ve ever tasted. I drive all the way from Indianapolis in order to buy it. It’s a sweet, creamy ricotta/​cannoli filling inside a delicate, flaky, melt-​in-​your-​mouth pie shell. Everyone needs to experience this!!!