Black Diamond Bakery review

November 2, 12:45 PMTacoma Baking ExaminerAmanda Wedvik

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A Black Diamond Bakery whole wheat apple cinnamona roll with cream cheese frosting. Heaven.
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I visited the Black Diamond Bakery in Black Diamond, Washington last Wednesday. The bakery is a bit of a drive from Tacoma, 35-45 minutes on I-5 and Highway 18, but if you find yourself in South King County it's a stop worth making for their delicious baked goods.

Black Diamond is an old coal mining town in the foothills of the Cascades. It has a small and quaint historic downtown area, where the Black Diamond Bakery has been located since 1902. There is a bakery section and a dining room that looks out over Mt. Rainer. On the clear day I was there, I could see the mountain in all its glory from my seat by the window while I ate the best cinnamon roll I've ever had. The cinnamon roll was whole wheat, had chunks of apple in it, and had a delicious cream cheese frosting. The waitress was very nice and gave me extra frosting. It was a good sized cinnamon roll, the size of a large Cinnabon roll, but so much better. I also had a glass of cold milk and a free Seattle Times to go with my breakfast, which is served until 2 pm.

On my way out, I stocked up at the bakery. For under $20, I bought a loaf of sourdough bread, a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread, 2 pieces of baklava, 3 raised doughnuts with chocolate frosting, and a very large chocolate chip cookie. The sourdough was tangy but not too sour, and had a great crust. The cinnamon raisin bread had a delicious cinnamon mixture swirled though the not-overly-sweet bread, but there were too few raisins. The baklava was made with walnuts, had very flaky phyllo, and was oozing with honey - wonderful. The doughnuts and the giant cookie were good, but not anything spectacular. In my cinnamon roll sugar haze, I forgot to order any Russian tea cakes, but past experience has shown me they are very good as well.

If you need a little time to digest before your trip home, stop by Baker Street Books, a lovely Scottish-themed bookstore, or the Black Diamond Museum, which has great information about the town's mining past. The museum is next door to the bakery, and the bookstore is next door to the museum. The Black Diamond Museum's hours are: Thursday, 9 - 4; Saturday & Sunday (Summer), 12 - 4; Saturday & Sunday (Winter), 12 - 3.

     For more info: Directions to the Black Diamond Bakery. See the website for the Black Diamond Bakery, which has their menu posted. If you want to eat breakfast or brunch on a weekend, it is highly recommended that you get reservations by calling the bakery at 360-886-2235. If you want to buy a loaf of bread from the bakery, it is also recommended that you buy it earlier in the day, as the bakery does run out occasionally. Parking for the bakery is in a graveled lot across the street from the bakery. Make sure you look both ways before crossing the street, because even though the traffic is light, there is no stop sign or crosswalk.

Also see the website for the Black Diamond Museum and the website for Baker Street Books.

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