Sugar high! Dreamy cream puffs, pumpkin pastries and more at North Canton's Stuffed Pastry

Ed Balint, Canton Repository
Updated ·6 min read
Stuffed Pastry, 1310 S. Main St. in North Canton, features seasonal baked goods and a variety of cookies and other items.
Stuffed Pastry, 1310 S. Main St. in North Canton, features seasonal baked goods and a variety of cookies and other items.

NORTH CANTON − Comforting aromas and a bright smile greeted me during a recent visit to Stuffed Pastry.

Filling a showcase was an assortment of cream puffs, cookies, miniature cakes, whoopie pies, brownies, crème brulée and other confections.

Behind the counter, Tiffany Williams was instant sunshine, her upbeat disposition making a hectic weekday morning suddenly feel more joyful.

Back in the kitchen was shop owner and head baker Elisabeth Park, who opened Stuffed Pastry earlier this year at 1310 S. Main St. after previously working as a baker at a Las Vegas resort.

A pumpkin Danish pastry is among the standout items at Stuffed Pastry, a bakery on South Main Street in North Canton next to Whole Latte Love Cafe.
A pumpkin Danish pastry is among the standout items at Stuffed Pastry, a bakery on South Main Street in North Canton next to Whole Latte Love Cafe.

Overwhelmed by the selection of goodies, I quizzed Williams about what to order. She lit up when I asked about the cream puffs, a shop specialty and top-selling item.

Park said cream puffs are partially what inspired her to open the bakery. At one point she had even considered making French-style cream puffs her primary attraction.

"I don't know that Canton, Ohio wants just a cream puff place, so we have branched out quite a bit into a little more of an upscale bakery with stuff that you can't find everywhere else," she said.

A few hours after opening, two pumpkin and two apple butter cream puffs remained. So I opted for pumpkin, a tower of orange-tinted filling squeezed between two choux pastry halves.

Completing the order were a ginger molasses cookie sandwich, whoopie pie, pumpkin spice cookie, red velvet cupcake, pumpkin Danish and fudge brownie.

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Rice Krispies pops are among the sweet treats featured at Stuffed Pastry, a newer bakery on South Main Street in North Canton near Variety's Restaurant.
Rice Krispies pops are among the sweet treats featured at Stuffed Pastry, a newer bakery on South Main Street in North Canton near Variety's Restaurant.

Pumpkin Danish is heaven, cream puff is dreamy

Tasting as good as it looked was the cream puff ($4.25). The combination of cream and pumpkin mousse was satisfyingly light without being overly sweet. Eating it was messy due to the large volume of filling that overwhelmed the pastry top and bottom. But it also was a fun and totally taste bud pleasing experience.

Just as delightful was the pumpkin Danish ($4). Moist, soft and packed with pumpkin flavor, it was melt-in-your-mouth delicious.

Cream cheese and pumpkin filling gave the Danish an especially moist and soft interior, more so than other Danish pastries I've eaten.

Stuffed Pastry, 1310 S. Main St. in North Canton, features a variety of baked goods, including seasonal items, cookies, cake jars, Danish pastries, miniature cakes and cupcakes.
Stuffed Pastry, 1310 S. Main St. in North Canton, features a variety of baked goods, including seasonal items, cookies, cake jars, Danish pastries, miniature cakes and cupcakes.

Ginger molasses cookie, brownie get high marks

From the first bite of the ginger molasses treat I swooned, the cookies as moist and soft as ones just pulled from an oven. A thin layer of cream cheese filling provided just enough sweetness. My wife, Traci, ranked the cookie sandwich ($4) as the top item in the box, although I cheated her out of a bite of the cream puff because I hogged the whole thing.

The pumpkin-themed Danish and cream puff are seasonal items. So is the pumpkin spice cookie ($2.75), which was not as memorable as the other baked goods; Traci thought it was a bit dry.

Another prized temptation was the chocolate whoopie pie ($2), distinguished by the salted marshmallow filling, a smart variation on a classic dessert. My teen daughter's favorite was the brownie ($4).

Stuffed Pastry, 1310 S. Main St. in North Canton, features a variety of baked goods, including cream puffs, seasonal items, cookies, cake jars and whoopie pies.
Stuffed Pastry, 1310 S. Main St. in North Canton, features a variety of baked goods, including cream puffs, seasonal items, cookies, cake jars and whoopie pies.

Maple praline cream puffs coming to the menu

Park, a former baker at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, said she keeps about eight core items on the menu, including vanilla cream puffs, sugar cookies topped with butter cream, cupcakes, Rice Krispies pops and typically chocolate chip cookies, while adding seasonal items and rotating in new ones.

Also in the sweet treat arsenal are earthquake cake (flourless, gluten-free chocolate cake), gluten-free almond cake, Mexican hot cocoa cookies, pumpkin baby loaf, chocolate mousse shooter, apple shortcake, eclairs, cannoli and cake jars. Breakfast items include ham and swiss quiche and French toast bread pudding.

Experimentation is a constant at Stuffed Pastry. Maple praline cream puffs, sprinkled with candied pecans, are forthcoming on the menu, Park said. Apple cider doughnuts also could be added this fall.

"We don't really put anything in the showcase that I don't love," she said with a laugh. "If we don't want to eat 10 of these, we don't put them in."

Cream puff flavors also have included Oreo, Nutella, lemon berry cream, and s'mores with torched marshmallow.

"Really the sky is the limit on those," Park said, explaining that a combination of French pastry cream and whipped cream typically comprise the filling.

Cream puffs are a popular item and specialty at Stuffed Pastry, 1310 S. Main St. in North Canton, including a pumpkin variety featured in the fall.
Cream puffs are a popular item and specialty at Stuffed Pastry, 1310 S. Main St. in North Canton, including a pumpkin variety featured in the fall.

Crème brulée ($6.50) is also a specialty.

"Most times you usually can't get that anywhere but a restaurant," Park said. "If you order one, we torch it right in front of you, which is something fun and different."

Assistant bakers help Park in the kitchen. "They're just amazing," she said of her staff.

Red velvet cupcakes are among the assorted sweet treats featured at Stuffed Pastry, 1310 S. Main St. in North Canton.
Red velvet cupcakes are among the assorted sweet treats featured at Stuffed Pastry, 1310 S. Main St. in North Canton.

From Las Vegas to North Canton: A baker's story

Crafting desserts at a Vegas resort and owning a bakery were both longshots for Park. An interest in baking was merely happenstance, the result of taking a cake decorating class for fun.

Cake making led to enrolling at a community college in Southern Nevada. Then she was offered a baking gig at ARIA Resort & Casino, where world-renowned pastry chef Jean-Philippe Maury oversaw the kitchen.

"I was like, 'This is a dream,'" she recalled. "It was crazy and so much fun."

Ginger molasses cookie sandwiches are a standout item at Stuffed Pastry, 1310 S Main St. in North Canton.
Ginger molasses cookie sandwiches are a standout item at Stuffed Pastry, 1310 S Main St. in North Canton.

Frequently meeting celebrity chefs at ARIA Resort, Park has incorporated some Vegas pizazz into her Stark County bake shop, but not too much.

"If you make it too over the top or fancy, it gets too lost in translation," she said of transitioning from Vegas to the Canton area, where she moved with her husband because of his job. "You have to give them something they recognize."

Her motto is this: "We're stuffed but not stuffy."

Whoopie pies filled with salted marshmallow cream are among the unique sweet treats made at Stuffed Pastry, a new bakery in North Canton owned and operated by former Las Vegas resort baker Elisabeth Park.
Whoopie pies filled with salted marshmallow cream are among the unique sweet treats made at Stuffed Pastry, a new bakery in North Canton owned and operated by former Las Vegas resort baker Elisabeth Park.

Whole pies can be ordered for Thanksgiving

Whole pies can be ordered at Stuffed Pastry for Thanksgiving, including pumpkin, apple and pecan, as well as sweet potato pie, which doubles both as a dessert and side dish, Park said. Homemade cranberry relish also will be available. Cookie trays will be offered at Christmastime.

Specialty cakes are available for preorder for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, baby showers and other events.

Stuffed Pastry is in the Servus Centers at North Canton plaza, next to Whole Latte Love Cafe and near Variety's Restaurant. Current hours are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Stuffed Pastry is closed Sunday and Monday.

Pre-ordered specialty cakes are among the many offerings at Stuffed Pastry in North Canton, opened earlier this year by former Las Vegas resort baker Elisabeth Park.
Pre-ordered specialty cakes are among the many offerings at Stuffed Pastry in North Canton, opened earlier this year by former Las Vegas resort baker Elisabeth Park.

DoorDash is available for delivery. Curbside pick up is an option in the colder months.

For a full menu and to order online, as well as to find out what's available, go to https://www.stuffedpastry.com/ or call 330-526-6500.

Updates are also posted at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089337287264.

Reach Ed at ebalint@gannett.com and on X (formerly Twitter) @ebalintREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Cream puffs and baked goods galore at Stuffed Pastry in North Canton