Miss Cakeish

Ishara from Miss Cakeish is a genius. When I saw her drop-dead gorgeous creations on Instagram, I was completely sold – they’re just so beautiful! I ordered a small ‘Monet’ ($90), which serves up to 16 people, and asked for sunset colours for my belated birthday lunch. The result was stunning – topped with fresh roses, gold leaf and streaked in perfect buttercream smudges of orange, ochre, yellow and pink, it was exactly what I’d imagined. Luckily, the cake didn’t just look pretty – it tasted fabulous. With a range of cake and ganache or buttercream flavor options, I ordered the orange and almond cake, with a dark chocolate ganache. Ishara kindly allowed me to adapt the dark chocolate to add an orange flavour, which was balanced the rich bitterness perfectly. Cutting into this beauty, there were four layers of cake, each sandwiched with ganache. The cake itself reminded me of one of my favourites from childhood – madeira cake. Delicate, spongy and light, it was no hardship to eat a giant, tall slice. The cake, ganache and buttercream added up to a cake that wasn’t sickly sweet and wasn’t too heavy – in other words, utterly delightful. Highly recommended for celebrations of all sorts.

Miss Cakeish, https://www.facebook.com/miss.cakeish/

Lolo and Lola

I am a hopeless sweet tooth, and having heard so much about the cakes at Lolo and Lola, I had to try one. I went for the mango sans rival (mango without rival, $7), which is something I’ve never tried before. The cake portion comes with two slices, and it becomes clear quickly that this is a particularly amazing cake. Layered with buttercream, meringue and chopped cashews, the combination of crunchy, soft and creamy textures is amazing, creating a real adventure in sensations. The flavour of the buttercream is almost savoury, so that the sweetness of the meringue, flavoured by the cashews, complements rather than clashes. I found that I enjoyed the layers of meringue that were slightly firmer, with an almost crunchy outside (swoon). In between these layers are soft drizzles of mango, which add a beautiful flavour that stops the whole thing from being sickly but add a luscious, fruity richness. I devoured this dessert, and think the double-serve makes it great value too. Given that the menu changes daily, I can’t wait to go back and try more of their cake range. I think it’s love.

Lolo and Lola, Westside Acton, 3 Barrine Drive, Acton ACT, no website

Madame Hanoi

Part One is here. Next was the rare beef with white anchovies served on toast with anchovy paste. I love anchovies and found the strong fish and salt flavour delightful, although the beef was left as nothing but texture with the strength of the anchovy taste. Tier two was our unanimous favourite – the soft shell crab buns, packed with deep-fried crab and dressed with coriander a very spicy mayonnaise that was one of the tastiest things I’ve ever eaten. Seriously, go and eat this now. Amazing. The final tier was dessert, with more French influence – pistachio, salted caramel and vanilla macarons, all with perfect feet and true flavours. We all liked the pistachio best, although the salted caramel was a close second. We saved the best until last, although again the experience wasn’t top notch as there was no cutlery provided to eat the hazelnut cake covered in gooey chocolate glaze – we had to steal the cutlery bucket from a vacant table to be able to eat it (after having to ask for a water refill, we felt a bit neglected). But oh my, it was fabulous, with a rich dark chocolate mousse and a crispy hazelnut base – super rich, but utterly divine. Food perfection, but the experience didn’t have the same degree of class as other high tea venues.

Madame Hanoi, Adelaide Casino, North Terrace, Adelaide SA, http://www.adelaidecasino.com.au/restaurants/madame-hanoi/

Madame Hanoi

Adelaide has a couple of exotic high tea offerings, and Madame Hanoi’s is to a Vietnamese food theme – how could I resist? We were shown to our table and I was quite gobsmacked by the decor – even the coffee machine has cherry blossoms painted on it! Very stylish. The high tea included a pot of Hendrick’s gin-spiked tea, which I loved but Mum didn’t really enjoy. The tea has a strong cucumber flavour, and paired with honey it was certainly an unusual brew, true to Hendrick’s brand claim. It took a while to persuade the staff to substitute coffee for the tea for Dad, something that you would expect to be standard at any high tea offering. On to the food. Savoury tier one started with the most delicious croque monsieur I’ve ever had – seriously, there was so much cheesy, hammy, buttery goodness in that wedge that I was in foodie heaven. Yum. In comparison, the cold roll was a bit plain – I felt it could have used some dipping sauce, but with advanced notice the staff happily substituted beef for duck due to an allergy in our party. Part Two to follow.

Madame Hanoi, Adelaide Casino, North Terrace, Adelaide SA, http://www.adelaidecasino.com.au/restaurants/madame-hanoi/

Black Star Pastry

In celebration of the Night Noodle Markets, I’m interrupting normal broadcast services and bringing you a special week of NNM food reviews, to help you plan your visit. I’m sure you’ve heard the buzz about the famous Strawberry Watermelon cake from Sydney’s Black Star Pastry. Well, my Canberran friends, they’ve come to town, teaming up with N2 Extreme Gelato for the Good Food Month Night Noodle Markets in Reconciliation Place. At opening night my friend and I braved the queues (actually not as bad as last year) and before we knew it, it was cake time! The portion size ($8) is actually bigger than I had expected, served in a bamboo boat with a slightly inadequate mini-spoon. This cake is perfect for summer – the top layer was my favourite, with sweet-glazed strawberries topped with crunchy pistachio and delicate rose petals, most of the sweetness was here. Next was the almond dacquoise, deliate and light. Further down was a layer of rose cream, which had a light flavour reminiscent of Turkish delight, but not overly fragrant, followed by the layer of fresh watermelon and more cream. The flavours all worked together and impressively, and whilst I think the overall effect would have been more impressive if it was served slightly colder, this is a cake I will happily come back for!

Black Star Pastry, at the Night Noodle Markets, Reconciliation Place, until 13 March 2016, http://www.blackstarpastry.com.au/

Patissez

The Lawns at Manuka are a lovely place to relax on a warm afternoon, which is exactly what my friend and I did – plus cake, of course! We had a 15min wait for a table at Patissez, and then ordered two cakes from the display cabinet – a pistachio cake and an open lemon meringue tart, both gluten free. Both were beautifully presented, and we went halves to be able to try both! The pistachio cake was topped with a lime-flavoured meringue in fluro green – this somewhat artificial-tasting flavour seemed to dominate, dulling the pistachio flavour, but complimenting the perfect texture of the cake layers. With oozy icing and luscious creamy layers in between the pistachio cake, those less excited by the lime can still enjoy the delicious flavours beneath. Next up was the open lemon meringue – this is a creative take on a classic, with beautiful, crisp honeycomb perched on top of a huge meringue cloud. Hiding beneath are dollops of a tart lemon curd, but the real surprise was the spice-infused tart base – we thought it might be cardamom or nutmeg, which cuts through the sweetness of the rest of the cake perfectly. Be warned – these cakes are huge, so we got the leftovers to takeaway. Yum.

Patissez, 21 Bougainville Street, Griffith ACT, http://patissez.com.au/

Ricardo’s Cafe

After seeing the cake display cabinet at sister venture Space Kitchen, I knew I had to stop in at Ricardo’s Cafe to try something from their extensive selection. Friends had raved about the cannoli there, but I was sucked in by the incredibly beautiful (and large) cakes in the display cabinet, and after much deliberation (the Cookie Monster? Snickers Gaytime?), I ordered the Raspberry Dome ($9.90) to dine in. The serving is massive – I would recommend sharing, otherwise the staff are happy to provide takeaway containers, so none of the deliciousness goes to waste. This cake is at its best when you can get a mouthful with all of the elements – the raspberry mousse, blood orange curd, chocolate tart shell and pistachio crumb all work together into a light but tasty combination. The raspberry mousse is beautifully light and fluffy, while the blood orange curd adds weight in the flavour department. The chocolate tart shell was a good choice, adding textural contrast, but the pistachios really brought the whole thing together. I would happily order this again – especially when there are plenty of leftovers for future me to enjoy!

Ricardo’s Cafe, Jamison Plaza, Bowman Street, Macquarie ACT, ricardoscafe.com/