Toronto's beloved neighbourhood pie bakery — Wanda's Pie in the Sky has been making hand-crafted fruit pies, cream pies, tarts, and squares in Kensington Market since the 1990s. The butter crust is made from scratch daily, the fillings are seasonal and real, and the price is the kind of honest that bakeries used to be before the gourmet boom.
Neighbourhood: Kensington Market · Address: 287 Augusta Ave, Toronto, ON · Hours: Mon–Fri 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM | Sat 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM | Sun 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM · Price Range: $ · Phone: (416) 236-7585 · Editorial status: Not yet verified
Wanda's Pie in the Sky is where you can score a seriously good slice of fruit or cream pie without emptying your wallet, right in the heart of Kensington Market. It's perfect for anyone craving homemade desserts that haven't gone 'gourmet' in price or attitude.
Few bakeries in Toronto still make their own butter crusts daily and actually use real, seasonal fruit for fillings—Wanda's does both. The old-school pricing is a rarity anywhere downtown, and you can grab a slice, a whole pie, or a square to go, without any fuss. Plus, it's one of the few spots where you can actually watch pies being assembled out in the open kitchen.
Toronto's old-school bakeries — the shops that have been making butter tarts and fruit pies the same way for three or four decades, in some cases longer — represent a baking tradition that doesn't require trend-chasing because it was built on fundamentals. The seasonal fruit pie (apple in fall, strawberry-rhubarb in late spring, sour cherry in August) is made correctly only when the fruit is at its peak: the pie filling should have the brightness of fresh seasonal fruit, not the flat sweetness of year-round processed fruit.
The butter tart is Ontario's most distinctive baked good — a small, open-faced tart with a pastry shell filled with a mixture of butter, brown sugar, eggs, and corn syrup (or maple syrup in the premium version), baked until the filling is set on the edges but slightly runny in the center. The filling consistency is the defining quality factor: too firm and the characteristic gooeyness is lost; too runny and the tart becomes structurally challenging. Raisins or pecans are optional additions; a properly made plain butter tart needs neither.
The daily specialty square (date square, lemon square, Nanaimo bar, almond square) rotates based on what the baker is making that day and represents the bakery's relationship with its own production rhythm. A bakery that knows its specialty squares is baking what it bakes well, not what's fashionable. The date square (oatmeal base, date filling, oatmeal top) is the Canadian standard that has never required trendiness to justify itself.
Old-school bakery culture is also communal — these shops serve their neighbourhoods' morning routines, church fundraisers, and family celebration orders. The regulars who've been coming for 20 years are the quality testimonial.
A butter tart is a small open-faced pastry tart with a filling of butter, brown sugar, eggs, and syrup — baked until the edges are set and the center is slightly gooey. It's one of Canada's most iconic baked goods, with roots in Ontario's baking tradition. Variations include raisins, pecans, or maple syrup.
The filling consistency — set on the edges but slightly runny in the center — is the defining quality factor. The pastry shell should be flaky and golden, not thick and dense. A great butter tart is sweet but not cloying, with a clean buttery finish.
Strawberry-rhubarb in late May-June, sour cherry in July-August, peach in August-September, apple from September through November. A good bakery sources seasonal fruit at peak ripeness, so the pie reflects the time of year honestly.
A Nanaimo bar is a no-bake Canadian confection with three layers: a wafer-coconut-cocoa crumb base, a custard-flavoured buttercream center, and a dark chocolate top. Named for Nanaimo, BC, it appears at every Canadian bakery and potluck. Quality varies widely — the custard layer should be smooth and not too sweet.
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