Once upon a time, when I was about five years old I used to draw a lot. They were never great drawings and even today I show no signs of having artistic talent but my drawings all had one thing in common. They were cake shop windows with a colourful array of cakes and pastries in the window. There were no pictures of families holding hands or children playing in landscapes or fields in front of houses (and to my parent's relief, there were no depictions of severed heads or people on fire). Instead, it was a single minded effort, one in which I drew what I desired most: caaaake.
So when my lovely hairdresser Elly casually mentions a cake shop in nearby Randwick I'm opening up my calender on the phone as fast as I can. "Let's go um....next Tuesday?" I suggest and a date is made to go for morning tea. She brings along a friend of hers Amy who is also a sweet toothed cake lover. Between the three of us I figure that we can do quite a bit of damage to our waistlines (which would hopefully be offset by an early morning workout).
There's a routine when you get here, I only know this because we did this and then after we sit down we watch everyone else do the same. We stand transfixed by the counter looking at the choices of cake available (and we hadn't even seen the Greek biscuits in the display behind). I narrow it down to four, not too bad for me and decide to take one home for Mr NQN's dessert. Amy orders two while Elly orders one and we take a seat. It's a large cafe, decorated in pale blues and white, shabby chic but not overly so style. We pay at the counter and take a number to a table. There's also a selection of savoury pies and a few crepes, macarons and ice creams. Everything but the banana bread is made in house.
The coffee is very good, I order a flat white and Amy orders a chocolate milkshake.
Caprioska $6.90
I must admit that I steered Elly towards this Caprioska not just because it looked pretty but it also sounded delicious. It's a thin shortbread biscuit base topped with a dome of fluffy light lime and lemon mousse, lychee and vanilla sponge with a raspberry macaron on top and raspberry gel. There's a thin layer of spray painted pink hued white chocolate on the outside and the creaminess is beautifully offset by the tangy citrus flavours.
Monsoon $6.90
The monsoon is for chocolate lovers and features layers of Japonais sponge biscuit, cruchy feuilletine and espresso mousse. Around the outside is a joconde sponge layer and a top layer of chocolate glaze. It's rich and bittersweet with the espresso and a dark contrast to the sunny, light Caprioska.
Chocolate mud cake $6.90
I'll admit I don't tend to go for mud cakes and while this was good, I much preferred the other offerings.
Pacoquinha $6.90
The Pacoquinha is based on the Brazilian peanut candy of the same name. This is a solid chocolate shell filled with a thick peanut mousse with an almost cheesecake like texture and topped with candied peanuts. It's more peanutty than chocolatey and for serious peanut lovers.
Bannoffee $6.90
Oh my kingdom for bannoffee! How can such a simple combination be so good? This along with the Caprioska are my favourites of the day and it's a short crust biscuit tart shell filled with soft, voluptuous sweetened whipped cream, thin slices of banana blanketed with sweet caramel.
Cherry and ricotta strudel $6.90
And to take home? A puff pastry and sour cherry filling with cheese. It isn't bad but the cherry and cheese filling is a bit too thick for me and I prefer more cherries in the filling whereas this seemed to be more of the liquid. I also love the multi layers of a filo or strudel type pastry and the breadcrumbs and nuts between each layer.
Nevertheless, a cold Tuesday morning at work doesn't sound too daunting...
The Sweet Spot
18 Perouse Rd, Randwick NSW 2031
Tel:+61 (02) 9399 3344
Open Sunday-Wednesday 9am-7pm, Thursday to Satuday 9am-10pm
