Pastry: Not so fresh and a bit bland 5/10
Presentation: Average rectangular affair 6/10
Value for money: $3.50 - a nice little pick me up 6.5/10
Overall score: 6.1/10
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Filling: Smooth vanilla cream custard 7/10
Pastry: Not so fresh and a bit bland 5/10 Presentation: Average rectangular affair 6/10 Value for money: $3.50 - a nice little pick me up 6.5/10 Overall score: 6.1/10
Another mall, another bakery, another vanilla slice. This time Kathy Tran, or Yve’s Bakery as it appears to have been rebranded. The pleasantly sweet and smooth helping of vanilla custard was a winner. Coupled with the sweet and sticky icing with chocolate drizzle, this was also was rather good. The weakest part was the slightly rubbery pastry that was neither flaky or anything special. Half decent when on the go. Potentially baked early this morning, but more likely baked yesterday!
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Filling: Low impact and minimal confectioners cream 2/10
Pastry: The main event, golden, rich caramel taste 9/10 Presentation: Rustic and unfinished, no icing or topping 5/10 Value for money: $3.50 - Fresh but not indulgent: slightly curious 5/10 Overall score: 5.25/10
I took a punt on a Vietnamese Bakery in St Albans offering a Napoleon slice; with mixed results. A curiously assembled sweet, noticeably heavy on the pastry and scrimping on a meaningful cream filling. Thankfully the pastry was excellent; a rich, golden almost burnt caramel tasting wedge, not delicate thin layers like most vanilla slices. Even though the pastry was excellent, the sheer amount of it in contrast to a filling made the whole thing a little like eating a dry weetbix. The filling was barely worth mentioning. No topping either. I also bought one of their egg tarts which was very tasty. Had they used their custard in between the pastry layers on this slice then the results might have been significantly different.
Filling: Sweet, slightly set vanilla custard 5.5/10
Pastry: Tight layers, not baked golden brown, not freshly baked 5/10 Presentation: Average Bakery effort, glossy white icing 6/10 Value for money: $2.50 - 2 for $5 but not fresh 7/10 Overall score: 5.9/10
With the rain pouring down, a rumbling stomach and a parking space right outside Ferguson Plare on Puckle Street, I could think of nothing better than a butter chicken pie for lunch. With no intention of purchasing a vanilla slice (I’ve had numerous from this chain before) I was sadly duped into their promotion of 2 for $5. Whilst this sounds promising, the slices themsleves turned out to be past their best let’s say. I have to say that the custard was better than the last slice I had from here, slightly less rubbery and a lot more tasty with vanilla. The icing was the highlight; glossy and sticky on the fingers. Sadly, the pastry proved a means of merely picking up the custard and icing, little else. Awesome pie, however.
Filling: Creamy pudding mix, overly sweet 5/10
Pastry: Lightly coloured, thin layers, crispy and fresh 6.5/10 Presentation: Interesting cube construction, slab of icing on top 6/10 Value for money: $4.90- overpriced for the ingredients, but fresh and large 6/10 Overall score: 5.9/10
With the two year old refusing a nap I decided to drive out to the country, calling into Gisborne. I’d never seen the Bakery & Cafe in my previous visits so decided to call in and see what they had to offer. A rather appealing French vanilla slice selling at a reasonable $4.90 was purchased and I got back into the car for more forced sleep driving. On opening the bag at home (toddler now asleep thankfully) I noticed the third layer of pastry nestled inside the heavy layers of cream. I cut the slice into pieces as it was too large to pick up and immediately felt the crunch of the pastry, then a whack of sweetness from the pudding mix flavoured cream and heavy layer of icing. I was really let down with the quality of the cream as I was at least expecting some vanilla flavour and coupled with the icing the whole thing made my teeth furry. Fresh yes, tasty....not really.
Filling: Bog standard whipped cream powdered mix 5/10
Pastry: Tightly puffed and golden, sadly stale 5/10 Presentation: Average dusted effort, individually acetate wrapped 6/10 Value for money: $6 (estimate) - overpriced and yesterday’s 4/10 Overall score: 5/10
Stopping for lunch in a shopping centre is always a risky business, so I picked what I thought looked to be most up my street. I took out a slow cooked pulled beef focaccia, a small latte and a vanilla slice for a combined and somewhat hefty $21.50 from Espresso Room (ironically named considering its just a counter in a food court). Not massively impressed by my toasted sandwich or the quality of the coffee, I ended lunch by peeling away the acetate and chomping the vanilla slice freestyle. Instantly noticing the stale pastry and the tangy and very uninspiring custard powdered mixed whipped cream, I grudgingly continued to eat the slice until there was none left. Had this thing been fresh the pastry would have been half decent. However, the custard just was lackluster and lacking vanilla flavour. Next time I will try somewhere else.
Filling: Loose, creamy custard. Lacking vanilla content 6/10
Pastry: Superb, rich, biscuity golden flaked layers 10/10 Presentation: Artisan by name. Artisan by nature 8/10 Value for money: $5 (estimate) - some real highlights, decent price and size 8/10 Overall score: 8/10
I popped by this little French inspired bakery three or four years with no success of a vanilla slice. Today I wasn’t even intending to call in, but found myself in the area, and with no expectations I left with the last vanilla slice and Mrs B a jam donut (for a reasonable $9). I wasn’t sure it would survive the journey home; first in the pram next to my two year old and then in the foot well of the car. Surprisingly, plating up revealed the mountain of icing sugar had remained and all was coming up trumps. The presentation of this slice was interesting; dark layers of very rich looking flaky pastry, custard oozing out of the middle and lumpy jam present underneath the top layer of pastry. The real success story was the pastry. Absolutely beautifully baked, golden, flaky and morish. I also really enjoyed the jam; not just any old jam, but homemade (I assume) lumpy, raspberry jam that wasn’t just sweet, but also a little tart. Sadly the custard just wasn’t top notch. It was a nice loose consistency that provided an ooze with each bite, but annoyingly the vanilla content was lacking and it wasn’t a rich with egg as I’d hoped. In case you’re wondering, Mrs B took out the donut in the car and thoroughly enjoyed it. Overall, a nice surprise and I would recommend.
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January 2022
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