Sweet Obsessions Cakes & Pastries

Restaurant: Sweet Obsessions Cakes & Pastries

Cuisine: Dessert/Bakery
Last visited: December 22, 09

Area: Vancouver, BC (Kitsilano)
2611 W 16th Ave

Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 2.5
Service: 2.5
Ambiance: 3
Overall: 2.5
Additional comments:

• Specializes in cakes, pastries and desserts
• Everything made in house/on-site
• Sister restaurant to Trafalgar’s Bistro next door
• Casual service
• Contemporary atmosphere
  
• Located in local neighbourhood
• Freshly baked breads
• Considered a fancier dessert/bakery
• Whole cakes available
• Some pre-made sandwiches and salads
• Pay extra for hot water
• Eat in/Take-out

**Recommendation: n/a (Out of 5 things, I still haven’t found anything I would recommend yet)

It was my 2^nd visit to Sweet Obsessions Cakes & Pastries, but this time I enjoyed them at Sweet Obsessions rather than at their sister restaurant Trafalgar’s Bistro right next door. The two restaurants serve the exact same desserts, but you’re paying a couple dollars more at Trafalgar’s Bistro for service and atmosphere.

I came with Anita and Kim after dinner at The Irish Heather. I’ve tried a total of 5 desserts now, and I’m still not really impressed by anything except for the presentation. If I liked it, it was only good, but nothing amazing or must try. Everything looks delicious and the presentation is high end, but the taste and flavours just don’t do much for me. For what it represents and the target market it attracts, I would think the dessert would be better. In a nutshell, I think they look better than they taste.

I really think they need to include a short description of the cakes on the menu. The descriptions are only available on cake order forms or online so you make your choice based on the name or look of the cake. I had the same problem on my last visit. It’s kind of annoying because you think you know what you’re ordering/getting and it’s not what you expected…not in a good way either. You’ll see what I mean if you continue reading…

On the table:

Tiramisu 2.5/6

• Layers of Italian sponge, zabaglione, mascarpone cream and espresso $7.50
• I really wish they had descriptions of the cake on the menu because then I would know what to expect and I wouldn’t be as disappointed.
• I ordered the Tiramisu based on the servers recommendations. He said the Tiramisu was one of the favorites and most popular items, so of course I had to try it.
• This was not a traditional Tiramisu. It didn’t really have any characteristics of one either. There were no lady fingers, cocoa powder, very faint espresso flavour, no real Mascarpone layer, and no Rum. If they called it an “Italian Zabaglione Cake” I would have accepted it, but when you call it a “Tiramisu” there are certain expectations that come with that.
• Lady finger cookies dipped in espresso for a tiramisu is so much better than “Italian sponge”. It just absorbs better and holds onto flavour better. The Italian sponge was just a light sponge cake that wasn’t too sweet and it was dipped in a light tasting espresso.
  
• The Zabaglione was an acceptable switch up to a traditional Tiramisu so I didn’t mind that part. Zabalione is Italian custard made with egg yolks, cream, sugar and sweet liquor. I couldn’t taste any alcohol in this custard, but it had a nice flavour and texture. I think they whipped the Mascarpone right into it to give it that ultra creaminess. It was almost like a smooth Mascarpone custard/cream. This part was good.
• They also used finely ground chocolate shavings instead of cocoa powder, which I didn't mind either. It made for an elegant presentation, great texture, nice flavour and matched with the Zabalione.

Passion Fruit Flan 3/6

• Tangy passion fruit custard in a buttery pastry shell $7.50
• The filling was good, but the texture of the crust is inconsistent.
• The passion fruit filling was very sweet and quite tart as the same time. More tart than sweet. I could taste the passion fruit, but I wanted to see and taste the actual fruit and not just the pulp. It was very creamy and quite moist, but I’d like to see actual passion fruit used in the décor too, not just candied orange peel.
• The crust was a shortbread crust. The bottom of the crust was nice and soft, but the outer edge was much too thick and very hard! I put my fork into it and the crust just snapped into pieces…some flying off the plate. I think it was in the display case for too long and that’s why the bottom crust was moist and the outer edge had dried out.

Neopolitan Cake 2/6

• Layers chocolate cake, vanilla butter cream, made from Bourbon vanilla beans, whole raspberries and raspberry coulis $7.50
• I’m not a huge fan of raspberries and chocolate, but when it’s done right I can definitely appreciate it.
• The chocolate cake tastes like regular chocolate cake from a box. Of course it wasn’t from a box, and was made in house, but the flavour/texture was the same as box cake. It was a relatively light chocolate cake, but not a sponge cake either. It wasn’t really dense, decadent or chocolaty like the one I had from Manhattan Restaurant. It wasn't bad, but just stating what to expect because it looks more chocolaty than it is.
• You could definitely taste the raspberry coulis and I could even bite into the raspberry seeds. It was really tart, and because the cake wasn’t too sweet you really needed to find the balance between coulis and cake.
• The butter cream was smooth but not fluffy. I could really taste the vanilla and see the vanilla beans, but only if I ate it by itself. I’m just not a fan of their butter cream here; it was the same when I tried their Mango Coconut Roulade cake. They use shortening in it and it’s not soft, I think becuase it's chilled in a display case. It doesn’t melt well or mix with the cake. I find myself chewing it sometimes….and you shouldn't need to chew through butter cream.
• I didn’t really enjoy this cake; I found I had to eat everything separately before I could taste the flavours.

Mango Coconut Roulade Cake

Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake