The contents of this blog are matters of opinion formed over one more visits. There has been some artistry applied and metaphors and similes should not necessarily be taken literally. All meals are independently paid for - the author has no conflicts of interest to disclose.
I ordered this small round honeycake ($65) from Newtown bakery Christina’s Honeycakes for a recent family birthday via home delivery service store2door. Delivery was smooth, but required a little bit of foreplanning as ordering had to be done prior to noon on the day two days before delivery.
The cake was very dense and sweet, with multiple thin layers of honey soaked sponge alternating with thick layers of flavoured cream. I’ve never had medovik before and am unlikely to ever have it again (of my own accord), so I don’t have any other honey cakes to compare this with, but the sweetness was in general too much for me.
I will say however that despite its small size it packs a punch in terms of its density, so a small 18cm cake really does go a long way in terms of how many people it can serve. Christina’s says 10 people, which I agree is appropriate, and can even stretch to more if need be.
Quite surprisingly for two Asians, my parents were fans.
Savoy Cake Shop has been the go-to for our family birthdays since the early 2000s, making an appearance at almost every single family event throughout my childhood and my adulthood. The reach of their taro cake is absolutely inescapable in our extended family and probably, I assume, many families of Chinese descent in the Sydney region.
I ordered a couple of cakes from Savoy, not by choice but out of obligation, for a recent family birthday.
The taro cake ($45 – 6 inch) is primarily made of soft and light chiffon, fresh cream and a taro cream both between the layers of sponge as well as on top. This cake epitomises the concept of ‘not too sweet’ while still being flavourful, and in my old age I have started to see why my family always went back to it, even though as an unprofessional food blogger I am required to sample the many cakes of Sydney.
I was advised by my family that I would have to order ahead of time in order to get fruit on the cake, however even having done so, this cake lacked fruit. It turns out that not only does one have to order ahead of time but also specifically mention fruit in the comments in order to get fruit on their cake, which is upsetting.
The second cake I ordered against my parents’ wishes was the matcha cheesecake ($49 – 8 inch). Two cakes was too many for our small family gathering, but I really felt the need to try something different – so the internet could know. The green tea cake was not bad, but much weaker than many cheesecakes I’ve had, and definitely the lesser of the two.
Most importantly I didn’t quite enjoy the texture of it, particularly the bottom 50%, which though appeared macroscopically the same tasted and felt much breadier and drier than the top, I assume due to to a settling process during production. My family pretended to enjoy it but it certainly wasn’t as enjoyed as the OG.
I found these photos on my computer from a year and a half ago, and realised I had never written anything about these porks roll. Searching through my Whatsapp chat with my girlfriend where sometimes feelings about banhs mi go, there was nothing noted, suggesting that these were neither memorably good nor memorably bad.
It doesn’t seem particularly fair, therefore, to even put up a post about Happy Snack Cafe, except for a fact that it acts as a reminder to myself that I’ve been here and that I don’t have to ever go back, unless it is to try some of their sit down options.
A completely unrelated flashback from the past is that it looks like we picked up these porks roll as we were actively worried about the possible impending death of our cat Evie. She had started wobbling all over the place, falling over, and had stopped eating. We had taken her to a couple of different vets who had given her IV fluids and each time she seemed to get better, but got worse again post-discharge.
Eventually we took her to the Small Animal Specialist Hospital (SASH) at North Ryde, where for the cost of $8,000 or so they put her in the MRI scanner under GA, took a CSF sample (from just under the occiput in cats!), and a bunch of other specialised tests. Seen by neurology, ophthalmology, dermatology, general surgery, and internal medicine, the presumptive diagnosis was thiamine deficiency based on increased signal intensity of bilateral basal nuclei. Some thiamine supplementation, and she didn’t have to die, and she’s been fine ever since.
These pork rolls were picked up on our way to pick up Evie from SASH. Here she is, in the car, with her neck all shaved for vascular access. I love her.
I honestly don’t remember enough about the porks roll to recommend Happy Snack Cafe House, but I remember a lot about SASH and can definitely recommend them to a friend or colleague.
Happy Snack Cafe House 104 The Crescent, Homebush West NSW 2140
I fell victim to a targeted ad for La PaTEAsserie’s cake whilst on the hunt for something to serve at our wedding.
My wife and I each got to choose a cake and my choice was the Tie Guan Yin & Orange Cake (8 inch, serves 8-12, $90), which we ordered two of. Whilst it was certainly not bad, it did unfortunately pale in comparison to its competitor, the Lemon Dream from Flour and Stone.
The majority of components of this cake were tea-infused. The chiffon, a very light sponge, was infused with tieguanyin and had a very light taste, probably a victim of the Lemon Dream that was served before it. The Tieguanyin mousse with a hint of orange zest was pretty good though overall I felt that the cake lacked in flavour and took the concept of not too sweet a little too far.
It’s a shame that we had this cake second, and I fully accept that it’s very possible that I would have enjoyed this cake significantly more had I eaten it first before eating something else that was much stronger in flavour, but it is what it is.
Again, one cake served 20 people, and the second cake that was untouched for service was sliced up by the restaurant staff at Sunny Seafood Restaurant Central Park Mall to be taken home.
We had ours in the hotel room that night.
La PaTEAsserie (online order and pickup/delivery) 35 Oxford Street, Epping, NSW
My wife and I each picked a cake to have at our wedding, and her choice was the Lemon Dream Cake from Flower and Stone Bakery in Woolloomooloo. It’s not a wedding cake in particular, but it was something that she had been wanting to try for some time, and this was finally an opportunity to do so.
I really enjoyed this cake, and I think it was easily the better of the two that we had, the other being my choice. The cake component was very rich and decadent and heavy, whilst remaining moist. The cream and lemon curd filling was delicious, and the meringue was light, with a bit of an eggy taste. Overall it was sweeter than the other cake that we had, but importantly it was not too sweet, and was well received by our fully Asian group of family-only guests.
The cake we ordered was the 12 inch cake, which was said to serve 20-30 for $165, however I think based on our experience, especially given on its density and richness, it could easily feed 30-40 people.
Flour and Stone 3 Riley St, Woolloomooloo NSW 2011
