Pastry: Golden, flaky and beautifully thin 8.5/10
Presentation: Neatly cut square, proportionally perfect 8.5/10
Value for money: $3.50 - Decent portion, cheap but slightly forgettable 6/10
Overall score: 7.5/10
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Filling: Smooth, typical bakers custard 7/10 Pastry: Golden, flaky and beautifully thin 8.5/10 Presentation: Neatly cut square, proportionally perfect 8.5/10 Value for money: $3.50 - Decent portion, cheap but slightly forgettable 6/10 Overall score: 7.5/10 Snacking all the way round the Essendon North Farmers Market was topped off by the chance of a freshly baked vanilla slice. A slab of neatly cut slices was pulled out of the van and looked awesome. My own piece was obviously fresh. The pastry was dark, golden and firm to pick up. My first bite crunched, crackled and spewed the custard out immediately. The quantity and overall feel of the custard was excellent, however there was an obvious lack of vanilla and egg to the mixture - a bit plain overall. The strong gusty wind did no favours for the icing dusted on top.
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Filling: Sweetened whipped cream and lumpy strawberry jam 7.5/10
Pastry: Golden, crumbly yet firm to pick up 9/10 Presentation: Long, rustic and authentically Italian 8.5/10 Value for money: $4.75 - Large portion, tasty, overly sweet and rich 8/10 Overall score: 8.25/10
When driving down the Princes Freeway to Geelong, I like nothing better than an excuse for a small diversion for coffee and cake. I stopped at the lesser known Domani Pasticceria in Hoppers Crossing based upon a recommendation from a blog reader a while ago. The place is well hidden from the street and looked closed initially. However, once inside the lovely lady behind the counter soon provided us with sustenance. The vanilla slice is a cross between a mille-feuille and a cream slice - with big dollops of lumpy strawberry jam scattered amongst the sweetened (but sadly lacking vanilla) cream. The pastry was excellent; very flaky, firm to pick up and yet easy to bite through. With sugar in the cream, sugar dusted on top and sugar in the jam the whole slice was slightly too sweet for my liking, Well worth the small detour into unknown territory for something familiar yet very different.
Filling: Vanilla flavoured fluffy, creamy custard 7.5/10
Pastry: Golden but lacking flakiness 6/10 Presentation: Tall, but narrow slice, neatly dusted 7/10 Value for money: $6 - Smallish size, tasty, but not indulgent 6/10 Overall score: 6.6/10
My visiting guest (and recent vanilla slice enthusiast) Flaky J and I fancied a cycle, so we left Essendon and followed the Maribryrong river all the way to Williamstown. We dismounted the bikes and took shelter from the drizzle at Schwabs Galley. The customary vanilla slice was ordered, halved and set upon like rabid dogs. The portion, though tall and proud was slightly small and expensive for the $6 price tag. The actual quality was also lacking, with the pastry rather dry and missing some vital crunch. The creamy vanilla cream had some nice bounce, with subtle vanilla inclusion, but lacking some richness from an egg or two. If homemade - nice try, but I suspect these guys are bought in, subdivided and sold for a premium.
Filling: Light, airy vanilla speckled cream 7.5/10
Pastry: Truly divine. Dark, biscuity, perfect 10/10 Presentation: Innovative yet nostalgic 9/10 Value for money: $4.50 - Fresh, quirky and fun to eat - just not right 7.5/10 Overall score: 8.5/10
En route home from our Williamstown cycle, Flaky J and I stopped in Spotswood to have a punt on the infamous vanilla slice doughnut that has eluded my clutches for the last two years. With my good luck companion in tow we actually triumphed - buying the second to last doughnut remaining late in the day. The vanilla slice doughnut is actually a well designed hybrid with some excellent features, but unfortunately the heart and soul of the doughnut (the vanilla custard) just did not hit the spot. With a lighter than air vanilla cream filling sparingly pumped inside there just wasn't enough filling in comparison to the overall size of the shell. The real hero here was the stunning disk of indulgent, biscuity, flaky pastry. If only these guys made actual vanilla slices using the vanilla custard they pump inside their vanilla custard doughnuts and the stunning pastry from this.
Filling: Vanilla flavoured fluffy, creamy custard 7.5/10
Pastry: Golden and thin, but not ultra crisp and flaky 6/10 Presentation: Healthy sized portion, proportionally sound 8/10 Value for money: $4.80 - Good size, tasty, but not 'just baked' 7/10 Overall score: 7.1/10
With few places left to sample in the South Melbourne area I opted for Romano's coffee whilst walking through the parade. What initially struck me was the overall look of quality custard and pastry, plus the generous sized portion. With my first bite the pastry revealed itself to be ever so slightly stale - well lacking real crunch anyway. With a good colour and bake to it the overall freshness was a let down. The custard, however, proved to be a a decent component. It's viscosity just right; it oozed out the sides with each bite and had definite vanilla content in the mixture. A light dusting of icing sugar gave the portion just enough sweetness to want more. Not a bad slice if on the neighbourhood.
Filling: Indulgent and rich eggy custard, lacking vanilla 7.5/10
Pastry: Heavenly, golden caramelized flaky layers 10/10 Presentation: Beautifully presented, excellent proportions 9.5/10 Value for money: $5.50 (estimate) - Good size, fresh, lovingly made 8.5/10 Overall score: 8.8/10
The only vanilla slice stop for the return leg of my Sydney to Melbourne road trip took me to Bowral - about 90 minutes drive from Sydney. With vast medals in multiple categories from years at the Sydney Royal show I had to sample their 'famous' vanilla slice.
With a French mille-feuille appearance I was straight away seduced by the time and effort put into its glamorous aesthetics. Neatly cut in half, Flaky J and I took half each and devoured in less than a minute. Noticeably the best pastry from the trip and faultless as far as I'm concerned. Dark, buttery, crisp, flaky and a perfect thickness for three even layers. To my disappointment the rich custard offered little to no vanilla content and although a perfect viscosity and richness this really let down the overall experience. The icing was another star of the show; thin, crisp and sticky when heated on the finger tip. Not a bad effort guys, but please add more vanilla.
Filling: Oozy vanilla cream custard 8.5/10
Pastry: Biscuit-like fresh layers of golden pastry 8.5/10 Presentation: Triple stacked and passion fruit iced 8.5/10 Value for money: $5.50 (estimate) - Good size, fresh and delicious 9/10 Overall score: 8.6/10
My first suburban Sydney slice took me to picturesque Drummoyne. Their bakery had some wonderful looking cakes and I took a passion fruit iced slice and a chocolate custard eclair back to home base for Mrs B to chomp. Prior to the car journey back the vanilla slice was not damaged and looked slightly better than the picture, though after cutting into bits for sharing it really made no difference. Flaky J agreed that this was indeed the best slice of the trip so far and was far better assembled than anything else we experienced on the road.
The three layers of fresh, golden flaky pastry cut beautifully and were rich and biscuity. The whipped creamy custard oozed with each bite and offered a purposeful hit of vanilla each time. It would have been slightly more pleasurable to see the specks of fresh vanilla running through the custard to further improve the experience. Finally the subtle and not overly-sweet passion fruit icing was delicate and offered a lovely fresh after taste to the piece. My only regret is that I did not buy two to share! Mrs B also confirmed that this was by far the best chocolate eclair she had ever eaten, with a stunning chocolate custard filling that was more like a ganache. Great bakery, well worth the trip.
Filling: Nicely textured but tasteless custard 5/10
Pastry: Thin, crisp sheets 7.5/10 Presentation: Regimented and attractive, great portion sizes 8/10 Value for money: $3.50 - Attractive, enticing, but not indulgent 6/10 Overall score: 6.6/10
With these guys always featuring in the winners list for the Annual Vanilla Slice Competition I felt obligated to drive through Euroa en route to Sydney. A neat little establishment offering two types of vanilla slice (traditional and continental) I ordered one of each and shared them with my travel buddy Flaky J. Although easy to cut, plate up and consume due to the fresh sheets of crisp pastry we were left questioning where the overall richness and vanilla flavour was. Both varieties, although soundly constructed were a bit tastless and generic. The continental slice offered an extra layer of very airy and unsweetened whipped cream and a slightly murky chocolate icing. Altogether, disappointing for stop 1 of the road trip. Good luck at the competition!
Filling: Smooth, whipped (but vanillaless) custard 6/10 Pastry: Thin, crisp, golden sheets 8.5/10 Presentation: Dodgy pink icing, but impressively built 8.5/10 Value for money: $4 - Great size, fresh, but nasty synthetic raspberry icing 6.5/10 Overall score: 7.4/10 Stop two of my road trip to Sydney allowed me to tick off a bucket list item. I have always wanted to see the World's largest rolling pin! As sizable and surprisingly dysfunctional as it turned out to be, their neon-topped vanilla slice was purchased and split in half for tasting shortly after with Flaky J. The item in question was better than Euroa's two hours before, but only slightly. The custard had a nice consistency, but again lacked notable flavour. The pastry was a darker and tastier colour and had a really good crunch to it when bitten. As predicted the icing was far too sweet and in my opinion ruined the slice. The artificial raspberry flavour wasn't nice whatsoever and I actually left the icing behind in favour of a naked topped half. I love the proportions of the custard and the rolling pin overall.
Filling: Whipped cream vanilla custard 8/10
Pastry: Light, slightly soft tri-layered 5.5/10 Presentation: Long and tall construction, decoratively iced 7.5/10 Value for money: $4.75 - Good size, fresh, but pastry lacking 6/10 Overall score: 6.75/10
Stop three of the Melbourne to Sydney road trip offered another World's biggest - this time the World's biggest concrete ram! Flaky J can be pictured next to the beast for scale purposes in case you're wondering. Famous Trappers Bakery offers the whole package; open log fire, baked goods and an adjoining motel in case you over indulge. The vanilla slice on offer was completely different to the previous two of the day, with a creamy vanilla custard sandwiched between three long, thin sheets of pastry. Sadly the quality of the pastry didn't match the tasty and rich creamy custard. A real hit of vanilla was present in the filling and a slight chocolate undertone was detected in each bite from the decorative iced topping. Not only was the pastry underbaked and slightly flaccid, it was practically impossible to cut was the flimsy plastic knife on offer.
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January 2022
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