Pastry: Beautifully fresh and flaky, faultless 10/10
Presentation: Nicely constructed and delicately iced 8/10
Value for money: $6.50- Over priced, but freshly baked and rich 6.5/10
Overall score: 7.6/10
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Filling: Heavy whipped cream 6/10
Pastry: Beautifully fresh and flaky, faultless 10/10 Presentation: Nicely constructed and delicately iced 8/10 Value for money: $6.50- Over priced, but freshly baked and rich 6.5/10 Overall score: 7.6/10
I love a drive out to the countryside and barely need an excuse to pop into a boutique town and test their bakery out. Today was Malmsbury, and their tri-layer effort was devoured al fresco in the sun. At $6.50 we got off to a rocky start. Clearly they price their vanilla slice highly as the average around these parts is around $4. Admittedly the pastry was outstanding - the overall highlight. With clearly defined, thin, crisp, salty and buttery layers of flaky pastry the whole thing was straightforward to cut up with a cake fork. Unfortunately the filling of purely whipped cream was a let down. I would have expected some custard flavour or a whack of vanilla, perhaps even some jam....but no. Another plus was the millimeter thin layer of perfectly presented icing that balanced the saltiness of the pastry. A few tweaks (including the price) and these guys would have an excellent product.
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Filling: Vanilla essence flavoured custard 6/10
Pastry: Well baked but too much 8/10 Presentation: Large, neatly presented, enticing 8/10 Value for money: $4.20- Well priced, freshly baked and filling 7/10 Overall score: 7.25/10
I stumbled upon Maricano's whilst in Clayton some time ago, but visited their Maidstone shop whilst in the area. I took away their traditional custard vanilla slice over their caramel, cream and custard hybrid. I slightly regret that decision as I feel that the ratios of custard to pastry wasn't quite right with this one. Although beautifully baked to a golden, flaky crisp the layers were just too overpowering and made the whole thing a little dry. The custard was a nice viscosity and colour and also offered good vanilla flavour. However, after a few bites the essence started to taste slightly chemically rather than sweet. Although the feedback might seem harsh, the slice wasn't bad at all and had some great features. Maybe the hybrid slice might be worth a shot.
Filling: Good viscosity but flavourless 4.5/10 Pastry: Golden, buttery and flaky 8.5/10 Presentation: Generous and neatly iced 7/10 Value for money: $3.80- Appropriately priced and rather filling 8/10 Overall score: 7/10 On my last day in Newcastle I took a drive to picturesque Salamander Day in Port Stephens, taking a half way stop at Saxby's Bakery Cafe in Salt Ash. This is by far the best bakery in the area that I managed to visit, selling a wide range of freshly baked products and lots of customers popping in and out. With two vanilla slices on offer I purchased a passionfruit topped slice as I'm not a fan of the pink icing variety. This was much better than yesterday's effort. Golden, flaky pastry crunched as I bit through, buttery in content and rigid in its construction it was an excellent bake. The custard was a good viscosity and looked like it would be really good, but sadly it lacked any real taste. No vanilla to speak of, it was leaning more towards a basic powdered mix with a hint of cream. Finally, the icing on top offered an extra crunch, with a slightly thicker than needed slab of obviously passionfruit flavoured sweetness. A welcome pit stop and a half decent product.
Filling: Powdered custard mix 3.5/10 Pastry: Under baked, but fresh 4/10 Presentation: Effort there but lacking finesse 6/10 Value for money: $3.60 - Wouldn't willingly pay for another 3.5/10 Overall score: 4.25/10 Whilst visiting Newcastle on the Central Coast it took me ages to find a vanilla slice in a bakery, let alone one that looked good enough to buy. On my penultimate day in the city I stumbled upon the Daily Bakehouse in Kotara, selling a rather ropey looking 'traditional' slice and this 'French' offering. I knew straight away that the pastry would be a bit of let down by its very pale complexion and lack of icing sugar on top. The custard too could have gone both ways, with a nice yellow hue to it and unknown texture until purchased. My first bite gave me all the answers; weak, tasteless, thin layers of fresh (at least) pastry sandwiching plump layers of powdered custard mix with a slightly slimy texture. Yes it was fresh, but altogether it wasn't great.
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January 2022
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