Cath’s Cakes

As part of my dessert adventures, I have always been curious about what delicious items that could be found in most unsuspecting suburbs. When I first met my Hubby’s family, they introduced me to Cath’s Cake.

Cath’s Cake is owned by my Mother In Law’s friend. Cath’s Cakes are so delicious and are freshly made on the premises. You can literally go to the store and see the bakers icing the cakes and making cakes right in front of you.

One of my favourite items at Cath’s Cakes, is their Caramel Mud Cake. The Caramel Mud Cake taste so dense, moist and rich and the icing is so creamy. When I am eating this cake, I feel like I am eating caramel fudge. The great thing is, that the Caramel Mud Cake comes in cupcake sizes too, so you are not forced to buy a whole cake.

My other favourite cake at Cath’s Cakes is their White Chocolate Mud Cake. The White Chocolate Mud Cake is also so dense, moist and rich. I really love  the icing on the White Chocolate Mud Cake, because it tastes so creamy and not artificial. The White Chocolate Mud Cake, also comes in cupcake form too. I actually loved the White Chocolate Mud Cake so much, that I was considering using the cake for my wedding.

Cath’s Cakes also sell a whole other variety of cakes, pastries, pies and sausage rolls.

What I really love about Cath’s Cakes is that they are a small business and they are doing so well. Cath’s Cakes is a very popular place to buy cake, it is funny how far people will go for delicious cake.

Cath’s Cake is located at:

222-224 Queen Street, St Marys NSW 2760

Belle Saveur Patisserie and Cafe

Hubby and I were walking down Penrith to go visit the real estate agent to discuss our house in Blue Mountains. Whilst walking down High Street, my eyes were captured by this cake shop called Belle Saveur Patisserie and Cafe. I was intrigued, suspicious and uncertain. I decided to give the shop the benefit of the doubt and try their cakes.

I grabbed the menu from the shop front and the cakes on the menu looked delicious. I had a read about the patisserie and I was sold. Hubby and I wandered inside to inspect the cakes.

According to the patisserie, “Belle Saveur” is French for “Beautiful Flavour”. The owner pastry chef Justin Baker at Belle Saveur used to work at the Park Hyatt and The Sofitel Wentworth.

The cake display looked amazing, so many interesting cakes to try. It was so hard to choose which cake to eat. After much thought I decided to buy the Cherry Ripe Cheesecake, Chocolate and Passionfruit Dome and the Triple Chocolate Cake.

When I arrived home, I immediately decided to try the cakes. The first cake I tried was the Triple Chocolate Cake. My first reaction was “Tastes like plastic”. The first bite was very disappointing. The mousse part of the cake was not bad, but nothing special. The next cake I decided to try was the Cherry Ripe Cheesecake. I took one bite and I had the same reaction that I had when I ate the Triple Chocolate Cake.

I decided not to try the Chocolate and Passionfruit Dome, because honestly, I could not stand any further disappointment.

I have to say that Belle Saveur Patisserie and Cafe was an overall disappointing experience. I really hoped that their cakes would taste good.

Belle Saveur Patisserie is located at:

551 High Street, Penrith.

Adriano Zumbo Patisserie

I had always been a fan of Adriano Zumbo before Masterchef made his famous. I have tried just about everything on his menu over the years. My two favourite things out of all his creations are his macarons and his V8 cake.

Adriano Zumbo made macarons famous. Adriano Zumbo Patisserie had always been quite well known, but after his stint on Masterchef Australia, he became very famous. Everyone went crazy over his creations and his macarons. Soon, long lines started to form outside his Balmain store and unfortunately his macarons shrunk.

Adriano Zumbo Patisserie macarons are quite nice. The fillings are quite generous, but the size of the macaron are quite small. Adriano Zumbo have made some pretty crazy macaron flavours such as Baby Powder, Bacon and Finger Bun.  Many of these crazy macaron flavours have been quite hit and miss. My favourite Adriano Zumbo Patisserie macaron is the Salted Caramel Macaron. I love the combination of salty and sweet. The macaron shell is always quite crisp.

Adriano Zumbo Patisserie also makes a variety of interesting cakes. Out of all the cakes that I have eaten from Adriano Zumbo Patisserie, my favourite cake is the Vanilla V8 Cake. I prefer the Vanilla V8 cake more than the Chocolate V8 cake. I found the Chocolate V8 cake to be too sweet. The Vanilla V8 cake is so delicious. I like the different textures to the cake. I really love how the V8 cake comes in a smaller individual serving.

Adriano Zumbo also makes delicious biscuits, bread, pastries and chocolate. I personally am not a fan of his chocolate range, but I do really like his biscuits, bread and pastries.

Adriano Zumbo Patisserie locations can be located on his website:

http://adrianozumbo.com/locations/

Leonard’s Bakery

Before my honeymoon to Waikiki, I decided to research about all the great places that I could eat at. The one thing that I was of course most interested in, were sweet things. My friends on Twitter suggested I visit the famous Leonard’s Bakery.

I was so excited to visit Leonard’s Bakery. Their website looked delicious. I was dying to try their masaladas.

I eventually managed to drag my husband down to find the place. I will admit, we did get lost and at times it seemed like Leonard’s Bakery was an illusion. But after what seemed like forever, we found the place.

Leonard’s Bakery looked so adorable. The bakery looked like something you would’ve found in the 1950’s. I was very impressed with their decor.

Whilst waiting in line, my eyes were immediately drawn to the menu. I was so excited, I wanted to order everything, but I knew I could not. In the end I decided I would order the cinnamon sugar masaladas and also the chocolate filled masalada puff.

After ordering, I dragged my husband outside, so we could sit and eat our delicious masaladas. I decided that I would have to try the cinnamon sugar masaladas first. My first reaction was sugary and very sweet. I thought the plain cinnamon sugar masaladas tasted nice, but I cannot say I was addicted.

Next I tried the chocolate masalada puff. I was not too happy when I took my first bite. I did not like the chocolate filling, I found it way too sweet.

Overall, I was not overly satisfied with my Leonard’s visit. I was not a real huge fan of the masaladas, we did not make a trip back.

Location:

Leonard’s Bakery

933 Kapahulu Avenue, Honolulu, HI 96816
T: 808-737-5591
F: 808-737-5537

Website:

http://www.leonardshawaii.com/index.html