I love cakes and pastries. I really, really love them. They bring me so much joy when I munch on those little morsels – chocolate melting, almond meal crumbling, pastry fading away on the tongue to nothing… So from this day forth, I think I will try to review a cake or pastry once every fortnight and perhaps get a sense of whether there really is a BEST baked good. For me, I think the important aspects need to be:
Not too big – A large cake or pastry ruins itself. It just goes on and on and on and doesn’t know when to stop. It’s like getting a great masseuse who finds a knot in your shoulder, but then continues to kneed it for 10 minutes when 3 would have been ample.
Not too sweet – Really sweet cakes and pastries don’t do it for me unless they are absolutely minuscule. I quickly find them cloying and no longer satisfying! Add some sweetened herbaceous flavours and I’m anyone’s.
Something away from the norm – Unless something is made spectacularly in its traditional form (like an unbeatable croissant), I look for something a little different from the norm. So none of this bulk-buying from a central factory business that so many cafes lazily do – that just doesn’t cut it because the lowest common denominator is catered for. I want something with a twist to allow me to pause for thought and appreciate this new sensation.
So, given I’m living in Melbourne at the moment, are there any suggestions as to where I might find some nice cakes and pastries to try out?