Sugar Overload on Bellevue Cakes

I almost forgot to post this entry, but I promised my man I would as a tribute to his all-out support for my obsession for anything sweet. One ordinary day, after having another unhealthy lunch at the neighborhood McDonald's, Richard persuaded me to go to the next door Bellevue Hotel to browse through the line of cakes and pastries in the corner bakeshop. It's nothing out of the ordinary, but I have to admit that the moment I laid my eyes on the shelves, my heart grew happy! I immediately scanned the over-sized cookie jars and gazed longingly at the thumbprint and oatmeal cookies. I can imagine myself hoarding every variety but the steep price-tag stopped me (P16 per pc). Richard suggested I pick the cakes instead. I kinda missed the taste of walnuts so I chose the Walnut Cake (P85/slice). It was adorned with rosettes of what looked like butter cream frosting topped with what looked like a large chunk of chocolate. I was still eyeing the other cakes (convincing myself that I made the correct choice) when the lady behind the counter recommended that I try their Cake of the Month (P85/slice) as well. It was a round petite cake adorned with chocolate "wings" on four sides, frosted with what looked like a meringue icing, and topped with a large chocolate chip. I was curious what it was called (on the cardboard it simply said "Cake of the Month"), but I was too timid to ask so I just let it go. So anyway, we stepped out of Bellevue toting a large paper bag containing two cake slices. As much as Richard likes eating anything that comes out of my oven, no matter how badly baked it was, he really isn't much of a sweet tooth as I am... he declared that the cakes were ALL for me (yey!). I couldn't wait for day to be over so I can go home and leisurely eat my cakes. It turned out that I was too impatient to wait for another hour of commute from work, so as soon as my shift is over, I went straight to the office pantry ready to devour them. Or so I thought...


The Walnut Cake

My first bite was yum-o! Probably because I was eagerly anticipating that moment or I was just hungry that it tasted every bit as I would want it to be. But as I progress, eating almost half the slice, I realized that the cake was way too crumbly. There were loose crumbs all over that you probably need to use a spoon instead of a fork to eat it. I figured that it was made of ground walnuts with just a little amount of flour, but whatever was the binding ingredient, it wasn't enough to hold the cake together. Aside from the texture, another thing I didn't quite like was the flavor! I like walnuts in chunks and pieces to enhance an otherwise plain concoction, but the walnut-y taste of this cake was very overpowering that the cake was almost bitter. Another disappointment was the seeming chocolate chunk on top... it wasn't chocolate, it was a prune!?! I was never fond of prunes, I will never be. Not to mention that the there were large pieces of it tucked all over the cake. The only thing I liked is the buttercream frosting, and I have to give credit to that. Growing up with cakes from the ever present Goldilocks Bakeshop whose buttercream frosting tasted more like shortening than butter, I'd have to say that this version from Bellevue was authentic.

♥♥♥

The Bellevue Cake of the Month

This cake with no name helped me recover from my utter disappointment of the walnut cake. For starters, I liked the chocolate "wings" adorning the sides of the cake. It was too cute, I almost didn't want to eat it. It stayed firm and crunchy even when the icing was clearly melting. I liked its nutty bittersweet taste, balancing the saccharine sweetness of the meringue icing on top. Aside from its fancy decor and frosting, the cake was just a regular chocolate cake with layers sandwiched in whipped cream frosting resembling that of a Black Forest cake. In fact, I think it was just Black Forest clothed in another disguise. But anyway, it was still chocolate and I love chocolate so I'm not complaining. I gave my half-eaten walnut cake to my Mom, but this one I actually finished. All in all, it was definitely a sugar loaded day... sugars that would probably all go to my hips, but then again, I'm not complaining. ;o)

the chocolate wings