Pastry: Tightly packed dark layers, lacking flake and butteriness 5.5/10
Presentation: Well executed pastry crumb finish, well decorated icing 8.5/10
Value for money: $6.60 - Medium portion, poor flavours, didn’t seem fresh 3/10
Overall score: 4.5/10
The slice itself was well put together, with thought and time put into its structure and decoration, noticeably the dusted pastry crumb edging and vanilla and chocolate patterned fondant icing. Sadly that’s about all the positives I can mention. It’s price was hefty but justifiable if delicious, but it failed in every department once tasted. The golden pastry sheets looked amazing, but were lacking richness and flake making me assume it had been baked with margarine or vegetable oil instead of butter. The custard looked fluffy and creamy but in actual fact was grainy and flavourless, not even distinguishable as pastry cream or anything similar. Even the icing lacked sweetness most bizarrely. With so much pastry used for the decorative element and it’s inherent lack of flavour, I found the whole slice to be quite unrewarding and I didn’t finish it.
I’d be keen to know if this was in fact a vanilla slice as I know it or a vegan alternative. I didn’t see anything to suggest in the store to indicate I was buying a vegan alternative.