Wellington Cake Shop, Bondi

Regular readers of my blog are likely well aware that I adore baked goods, and love to seek out new bakeries wherever I am.  My recent trip to Sydney included such an adventure, although, unintentionally.

Store Front.

It just so happened to be a celebration at my office for a co-worker, and to feed us hungry masses, the organizer arranged to get baked goods from his favorite bakery in the area: Wellington Cake Shop, in Bondi.  I later ventured there myself to check it out, and it really is a cute little bakery, very local neighborhood vibe to it. I got to enjoy an array of items.

"Where ordinary end sensation begins."

Wellington Cake Shop is small bakery specializing in Austro-Hungarian cakes and tortes, with a rather cute slogan.  For me, Hungarian items are not ordinary at all, so, this was fitting.  I'm largely unfamiliar with these specialties.  But locals, besides just the guest of honor, rave about this place, and it has been in operation for quite a while, so, clearly, they are doing something right.

"No pre-mixes, no funny numbers, just the pure of the pure: butter, chocolate and more butter."

They take pride in creating everything from scratch, and I think the "something right" is exactly what they say: "more butter".  These items are decadent and delicious, and most certainly not healthy.  In addition to a number of Hungarian items, they are also known for their bagels and ice cream, although I did not get to try either of those. 

Since we had such an assortment of items, I did try small pieces of a few items that I didn't get photos of, such as a savory cheese crisp pastry that my co-workers really liked, but I wasn't really in the mood for (eh, savory, would be good paired with a salad at lunch, but not what I wanted at 2:30pm), and the apple strudel that I enjoyed all the remnants of (great flaky pastry, cinnamon and sugar, yes!), and settled on 3 full size items to really enjoy.

Chocolate Kuglouf.

"The Kuglouf is the undisputed King of its Class, all others pale into insignificance."

The kuglouf is the signature item of Wellington Cake Shop, and was the one that drew all our attention when we saw it, not even knowing this fact.  So lofty, and, zomg, look at all that chocolate!!!  It was sliced into massive hunks, and no one seemed to mind the hefty portion sizes.

That said, I didn't love it, but I think this was just me not loving this general type of dessert.  This was my first kuglouf.  It was not moist, and it sorta looked like it should be flaky, but wasn't, both of which threw me off a bit.  I suspect that it might be much better warmed up (and with vanilla ice cream?).  I also didn't find that chocolate as pronounced as I'd expect given how visible it was.  So, dense, not moist, not flaky, and not particularly chocolately ... but people love this.

So for me, this was just ok, not great, and not something I wanted more of. **+.

Walnut Danish.

"Our Danish’s and Snails use the traditional Austro-Hungarian recipes and we make our own fillings – lush and moist."

I moved on to try another item, and I'm glad I did.  This was fabulous!  The pastry itself was top notch.  So ridiculously flaky and buttery.  Messy, and perfect.  The folds inside were nicely moist.

I still am not sure what the filling was (walnut and cinnamon?).  The filling was a slightly savory slightly sweet paste, with a subtle nuttiness to it.  I liked it.

I wish I knew what this is, but what I do know is that I truly enjoyed it.  ****.

Cheese Pocket.

I took one more item, again not knowing what it was.  I was drawn in by the generous dusting of powdered sugar on top.

This turned out to be delicious too, and I was rewarded with another slightly sweet, slightly savory filling, this one I think was cheesecake-like: sweetened ricotta, hint of citrus.  The pastry was again incredible, super flaky, super messy.  

Slightly better than the walnut danish, but I'd gladly have either again. ****+.