meei / Cake

triple lamington-spotting mmm. is it me, or has the lamingtons at agnes curran grown smaller and less generous with the raspberry jam? not being accusatory, though, because to be fair, they haven't raised prices even after the GST hike and rising costs of commodity staples (shrug)

looks deceptively run-of-the-mill, but this is absolute ace. even has a generous seam of THAT CHOCOLATE CARAMEL running along the top of the base layer.

also quite faultless. light, the way most japanese desserts usually are.

the most interesting dessert on their menu (apart from the tamarind sorbet). i love the silky, springy texture and equally as delicate aroma, but i don't think it's something everyone will enjoy.

they make some mean-as carrot cake too. one of the best - texturally - carrot cakes i've had in a cafe, bar none. so crumbly.

one of the more reliable cake places in the cbd because of their wide and fairly decent selection. also probably the only one to open late into the night. this one's a little more like a condensed date terrine toasted with dessicated coconut on the top and bottom than a 'cake', really, but i guess it's bearable if you've got an extremely sweet tooth.

just look at the flaky layers and tell me it won't be any good - i'll simply brand you an outright liar. on a somewhat related note, the macaron you spot in the background also happens to be one of the better ones in town.

you wouldn't even have guessed, would you? a cheesecake. i sometimes wonder what goes on in the mind of il forno - their baked creations, save for the danishes, stump me every time (and yet i keep returning. i know, i know - glutton for punishment). ricotta is the last thing that would've crossed my mind, even after i've tasted it. absolutely nothing in this cake reflects the lightness or the faint milkiness of ricotta. the top and bottom crusts are stodgy, beyond unremarkable, and rather tasteless and floury when eaten alone. they rely upon the magical middle layer; a chunky raisin, crushed nuts and chocolate galore that i wouldn't at all mind having on toast every breakfast. and this cake, i suppose, reflects the magic of il forno - if you'd stop to think about it, there isn't anything about it that would qualify it as a quality product, yet if offered to me again, i would be more than happy to lap it all up.

decent cake - moist, dense yet light, but nothing to shout about - at the new organic, vegetarian place. it feels like they actually mean it, though (yes, all you pseudo-eco-friendly cafes, i'm looking at you); they almost double as a grocery store, with the substantial range of fresh organic produce, breads, and packaged goods they offer on the shelves.

i haven't had a cheesecake (actually, any sort of cake) this bad in a long, long time. you will not believe how bouncy the excessive amount of gelatin they used had made the cake. so much so that at one point, the entire body of cheesecake just slipped off the equally as repulsive mush that is the biscuit base the way oil pulls away from water. i don't even remember the last time i've felt this dissatisfied and ripped off with a cake.