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Laurent Boulangerie-Patisserie- Hawthorn, VIC

11/29/2016

Filling: Berry jelly with mint mousse and whipped cream 7/10
Pastry: Almost bruleed crispy golden layers 8.5/10
Presentation: Decorative, triple layer mille-feuille style with a berry twist 8/10
Value for money: $7 (estimate), freshly baked 6/10
Overall score: 7.4/10

Last time I was in Laurent I made the mistake of not eating their vanilla custard mille-feuille and returned to find this summer offering in its place. Slighty out of the normal criteria, I couldn't resist trying its complex flavours and reviewing it nevertheless.

Somehow all of the elements work together nicely. The subtle berry flavouring hits you first, followed by a creaminess and an aftertaste of smooth mint. The pastry is delightful, almost biscuit-like and the decorations on top are what you'd expect from a high end pattiserie. However, the price is also predictable and goodies like this really are just treats!

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King Hot Bread - Ballarat, VIC

11/27/2016

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Filling: Creamy, fresh custard 7/10
Pastry: Buttery, flaky and dark - the hero 8.5/10
Presentation: Neatly cut and dusted 8/10
Value for money: $2.40, freshly baked on a Sunday 9/10
Overall score: 8/10

You have got to love King Hot Bread in Ballarat. Unassuming from the outside, but simple, cheap and fresh products are being baked everyday here. I love that they are honestly selling yesterdays cakes for cheaper , but still offer freshly baked cakes for a still very cheap price - even on a Sunday.

The profiteroles were also worthy of a mention and the mix of white and milk chocolate topped balls is genius. However, its the vanilla slice I'm interested in. With some extremely flaky, buttery pastry and a generous dusting of icing sugar on offer I had to eat this one freestyle outside of the car. It took about 4 mouthfuls to consume; filled with airy, creamy custard - leaning more towards the custard powder flavour than vanilla, but tasty none the less. These lesser known bakeries are always worth a punt.

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Mount Martha Fine Foods - Mount Martha, VIC

11/8/2016

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Filling: An absurd amount of fresh, creamy custard 10/10
Pastry: Buttery, fine layers of flaky pastry 8.5/10
Presentation: Bursting at the seems, obvious jam layer 10/10
Value for money: $7 (estimated), ridiculous sized portion, freshly baked 9.5/10
Overall score: 9.5/10

Wow..two cake deliveries in three days resulted in these two handsome chaps being hung on my gate on a Tuesday evening by my good friends Phil & Marian Puff. And my god, they were good!

Thanks Pepi Rynolds for the initial heads up about these and they were indeed worth the wait...and speaking of weight...they were HEAVY!

Very similar in concept, stature and taste to the famous Sorrento slice, I initially thought they were the same, however upon closer inspection I would argue that the MM slice have more vanilla content and more jam than it's rival. The creamy custard was delivered by the bucket load and had a lovely yellow hue from an egg or two. The jam added further sweetness and the pastry just dissolved when punctured with a fork. Altogether, big on price, big on size and big on flavour. A worthy entry into my Hall of Fame.

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Redgum Bakery - Leitchville, VIC

11/6/2016

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Traditional

Filling: Ordinary, slightly 'set' custard 5/10
Pastry: Golden baked but slightly soggy 6/10
Presentation: Pink icing chipping off, square and flatter than his French mate 5/10
Value for money: $3.50 (estimated), not fresh in comparison to the others 4/10
Overall score: 5/10

French Vanilla

Filling: Creamy, sweet vanilla custard 8/10
Pastry: Golden baked and still crisp 7.5/10
Presentation: Proportionally better, nice custard height, well dusted 8/10
Value for money: $3.50 (estimated), satisfying and still fresh the next day 8/10
Overall score: 7.8/10

Admirer of the site, Andrew, sent me a 'must try' bakery in slightly remote Leitchville, Victoria. With a three hour drive to plan, it was coincidental that friends Emma and Simon were driving through on their way to Cahuna this weekend. The diamonds that they are, they returned after their weekend away with one traditional and one French vanilla slice (that Andrew holds in such high regard).

Exact costings were uncertain, but they estimated that they were around $3-4 each, but cost aside the two slices were completely different. Having been purchased on Saturday and dropped off on Sunday night, the two slices weren't 'fresh', though the French vanilla certainly held up well. The traditional slice's pastry was soggy by this point and the custard just didn't have the same flavour and vanilla content. The pink icing was not a turn on and served no real purpose aside from adding some sweetness. The French vanilla's creamy, fluffy, sweet custard was very good and was sandwiched between two sheets of crumbly, thin pastry that still cut well with a knife.

Thanks for the home delivery service guys! Thanks for the recommendation Andrew; not a bad shout!

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Gaffney's Bakery - Heathcote, VIC

11/6/2016

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Filling: Creamy, thick custard 6/10
Pastry: Slightly thicker than average, lightly baked 5.5/10
Presentation: Neat square block, thick passionfruit icing 7/10
Value for money: $4.50 (estimated), sizable portion, fresh 7.5/10
Overall score: 6.5/10

The surprise third inclusion of my Sunday night delivery from Emma and Simon was this passionfruit topped lump from lovely Heathcote. In comparison with the two I had already smashed along with Mrs B seconds earlier, it differed quite substantially. The pastry was thicker and not as golden in its bake, though it served well to pick up and cut neatly. The custard was pretty good, though not overly sweet or vanilla flavoured; its texture pleasant. I wanted to love the passionfruit icing but in truth it wasn't as strong as I was hoping for, sparse in black seeds and a tad too thick overall. Tasty enough. Thanks again for the delivery E&S.

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Daily Bakehouse - Sydenham, VIC

11/5/2016

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Filling: Cheese inspired rubber 0.5/10
Pastry: Under-baked nothingness 1/10
Presentation: Pale and uninteresting 1.5/10
Value for money: $3.50, cheap but a throwaway job 0.5/10
Overall score: 0.8/10

I visited this place after looking at their Facebook photos at what appeared to be a lovely fresh French Vanilla slice with whipped cream and royal icing. What they actually serve is embarrassing and anything but French. This is possibly the worst vanilla slice I have reviewed to date and after two bites trying to salvage anything I had to throw the rest away. The filling was like chewing on silicone with no sweetness, creaminess or even flakiness from the pastry. Woeful.

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Laurent Boulangerie-Patisserie- Hawthorn, VIC

King Hot Bread - Ballarat, VIC

Mount Martha Fine Foods - Mount Martha, VIC

Redgum Bakery - Leitchville, VIC

Gaffney's Bakery - Heathcote, VIC

Daily Bakehouse - Sydenham, VIC

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