(Photo by Brandon Snyder)
Tasty Tart is an easily overlooked destination in Champaign’s busy streetscape.
Located in an unassuming building off of South Neil Street, Tasty Tart is tucked away between empty land and an old used car lot. For me, the bakery was even more off my radar as someone who usually prefers a savory meal to a sweet treat.
It was off my radar for far, far too long.
Opened during the height of the pandemic, Tasty Tart has an absolutely delightful storefront that is an equal mix of cozy and whimsy. The store’s pastel pink coloring stands in stark contrast to the sea of grey around it. A teddy bear adorned in baking attire and holding a tart welcomes patrons in from the street. There are not a lot of spots in the area with nearly as much thought put into their storefronts as this one. It pays off.
(Photo by Brandon Snyder)
One thing you may notice when you go to order from their wide selection of tarts is the amount that have special decorations on them. Tarts that are not stacked high with edible toppings often have some other sort of decorative topping on them. That added care and labor from decorations was a selling point for me.
With so many different tarts in the display, I opted to go for a seasonal sampler of their options. I ordered strawberry, brownie (seasonal), and pumpkin (seasonal), along with a hokkaido milk tea — a new flavor to me.
The shells on all three tarts were rich, buttery, and not too sweet. They had a nice, crisp texture that balanced out the richness of each of the fillings. Despite this, each one was still a completely different experience. The only thing they all had in common was that perfect tart shell holding them all together.
The strawberry tart was the sweetest of the three, but also the most delicate. Topped with sugar glazed strawberries, this is a masterclass in what fruit can offer in a dish. The strawberries were ripe and extremely juicy, and accompanied by an eye-catching mixture of pink and white cream underneath.
The brownie tart was bordering on being a cookie instead of a tart. Regardless of the description, it was still delicious. It reminded me of a “brookie” — much richer than either a tart or a brownie would be alone.
I was pleasantly surprised that it had a strong dark chocolate flavor. The chocolate profile was a lot stronger and darker than a standard brownie, which I loved. This tart had a very fall, Gilmore Girls-esque vibe about it, if you’re out on the road, feeling lonely and so…anyway.
The pumpkin tart, though, was truly something special.
I’ve never been a fan of the traditional pumpkin pie filling that is ubiquitous on tables across the country during this time of year. The folks at Tasty Tart, though, have single-handedly convinced me that pumpkin-pie type desserts can actually be great. Despite my initial apprehension, it was my favorite of the three — delicious, thick, and rich, with a deep autumnal spice flavor and pumpkin undertones. The pumpkin tart tasted like the autumn equinox nested in a shell.
(Photo by Brandon Snyder)
To wash all of the tarts down, I also enjoyed my Hokkaido milk tea. I didn’t know what to expect, but it made a nice accompaniment to the tarts. The nutty and buttery flavors of the drink were just the right way to finish off my tart meal.
Tasty Tart provides a unique experience amongst CU’s bakeries and sweet shops. It’s some of the best food I’ve had in a while.
Brandon Snyder is a graduate student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.