Cake

Beatrix

img_20161207_130600

Cocoa sour cream layer cake with chocolate cheesecake buttercream and raspberries

A light and spongy cake that is perfect for that chocolate craving.

★★★★☆

Pistachio and lemon curd layer cake

Pistachio + Lemon = Amazing. How did I not know this earlier? This deliciously moist cake was lightly tangy and had an intense nutty flavour.

★★★★☆

Goats’ curd cheesecake tart with a toasted hazelnut crust and cherry compote

After eating this I realised that loving goats cheese and goats curd in a savoury form does not mean that I will love it in a sweet form. It just didn’t taste quite right.

★★☆☆☆

Baked and brûléed caramel cheesecake with a cocoa cookie crust

Crunchy caramelised topping, dense sugary cheesecake, tasty cookie crust.

★★★★☆

Overall:

Beatrix is a cake lover’s dream. It’s a place where the cakes are baked with love and have a homemade quality to them. I seriously wanted to order one of everything but the slices here are decently sized and we could barely finish what we ordered. Service was cheery however seating is limited (as this place is teeny-tiny). Note that this place is closed on Mondays and Sundays.

Beatrix

688 Queensberry St, North Melbourne, VIC

0403 698 836

http://www.beatrixbakes.com/

Sushi “Cake”

How time flies! It’s been a whole year since I made a Fruit “Cake” for my mum’s birthday and I needed another cake alternative for this year. I saw a savoury sushi “cake” at a work lunch a few years ago and I remember thinking to myself: THIS IS GENIUS!

Ingredients:

3 cups sushi rice
8 tbsp sushi vinegar
425g canned tuna
4 eggs
Smoked salmon
Cucumber
Avocado

Method:

1. Rinse rice under cold running water (stirring occasionally with your hand to remove any excess starch) until water runs clear. Drain well.

2. Place rice and water in a rice cooker to cook (easy option), or in a large pot to cook. If cooking in a pot, have the pot covered and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook (covered) for 15 minutes or until the water is absorbed. (If rice is still not soft, add more water) Remove from heat. Set the rice aside and allow it to cool slightly.

3. Using a wooden spoon, gently fold in sushi vinegar.

4. In a loose base cake pan, place half the sushi rice on the base of the pan. Layer on the tuna and then layer on the remaining sushi rice.

5. Make an omelette from the eggs (I added a splash of soy sauce to my omelette), and place the omelette on top of the sushi rice.

6. Arrange the smoked salmon, cucumber and avocado on top of the “cake”.

7. Remove pan from around the “cake” and serve.

Fruit “Cake”

It was my mum’s birthday and as she is quite health conscious, she requested “no birthday cake please!” (Which was very sad because I LOVE birthday cake) So instead I made her this alternative “cake” made entirely out of fruit. No need to feel guilty about having another slice of this birthday “cake”!

Le Bon Continental Cake Shop

93 Acland St, St Kilda 9534 2515

Vanilla slice

Boysenberry, pistachio and almond tart

Thoughts:

Vanilla slice – alternating layers of flaky puff pastry and smooth custard, dusted with powdered sugar. Wasn’t overly sweet = Good

Boysenberry, pistachio and almond tart – dense syrupy tart = Not bad

Overall:

You can’t help but slow down and ogle at the huge assortment of desserts that they have on display here. However once you actually step into the shop, the magic and the excitement that you feel while looking through the window is lost. The place felt cold, was too brightly lit and was so quiet that you feel almost uncomfortable having a conversation in there. The waitress who served us was pleasant enough while the owner sat at the table behind us and read from his newspaper the entire time we were there. So if you really want to try any of their desserts, best to get it as a take away.

Luxbite

38 Toorak Road, South Yarra 9867 5888

Meringue Monster

(green tea sponge, pistachio, watermelon yoghurt, sour strawberry mousse, meringue)

Passionfruit Tart

(Passionfruit curd, meringue, kaffir lime sherbet)

Endless Love

(lychee ganache, rose cream, lychee, fresh raspberries)

Lolly Bag Cake

Thoughts:

Meringue Monster – terrific combination of flavours! The only thing that could have made this cake even more delectable was having a less dry and powdery green tea sponge (which is only noticeable if you eat this layer alone) = Excellent

Passionfruit Tart – the tangy passionfruit curd together with the sweet meringue and hint of kaffir lime resulted in a very refreshing tart. Just note that the pastry is quite solid and takes a bit of muscle to cut through = Good

Endless Love – fresh and delicate with a hint of tanginess from the raspberries = Good

Lolly Bag Cake – made famous by Masterchef, this cake is made up of seven layers that include: 2 layers of joconde almond sponge brushed with banana sweet syrup (banana lollies), freckles crunch with popping candy (chocolate freckles), spearmint leaf buttercream (spearmint leaves), mandarin Jaffa ganache (jaffas), musk stick marshmallow (musk sticks), topped with a delightful redskin glaze (redskins). A very sweet and unique creation, the best part about eating this was trying to determine which layer was which lolly = Good

Overall:

The desserts on offer here are pretty amazing: well presented and of course taste fantastic! There is a curious Asian influence with some their flavours; their macaron selection includes pandan, green tea pistachio, rose and lychee, and bamboo oolong tea. The decor here is modern with high ceilings, striped walls and a long marble communal table. Service is quick and friendly although seating is limited so expect a wait or grab a takeaway instead.

Green Refectory

115 Sydney Rd, Brunswick 9387 1150

Breakfast stack

The big breakfast

Pavlova

Black forest cake

Thoughts:

Breakfast stack – a potato pattie, bacon, grilled tomato, spinach, haloumi cheese, basil and a poached or fried egg = Good

The big breakfast – eggs, toast, bacon, spinach, tomato, onion, haloumi, sausage, avocado, mushroom and homemade baked beans. One of the best ‘big breakfasts’ that I have ever laid eyes on; huge variety of food (no need to order anything extra), huge servings and is great value for money! = Good

Pavlova – light and fluffy meringue (that wasn’t overly sweet) with a generous layer of fresh cream and fruit, just amazing! = Excellent

Black forest cake – a typically tasty black forest cake = Good

Overall:

This hipster-filled place is always busy for good reason: the food is is fantastic, the portions are generous, there is a huge variety to choose from, the prices are great, and the service is quick and efficient. Just note that you need to go up to the counter to order and that this is a cash only place.

White Chocolate Mud Cake

Ok first of all, please ignore my crappy icing. I was trying to do something fancy, but that ending up failing so i scraped everything off and hid my failure with icing sugar.

Thoughts:

So I found this recipe from Exclusively Food
Changes I made to the recipe: decreasing the amount of white chocolate to 270g and the sugar to 1/2 a cup (this still resulted in a very sweet cake)
Once the mixture is poured into a baking pan, make sure you drop the pan from 10cm or so onto a counter LOTS of times to get rid all the air bubbles before baking

Overall:

A quick and easy recipe that results in a delicious mud cake that will leave you wanting another slice…and another slice