#holysugar

Your car pulls up along the high street of Northcote. You walk past a neon sign “Merah” and you know it’s a Malaysian restaurant, walk a little further and you arrive at your destination, a rustic-styled café. Think seemingly unvarnished wood and white borders. Tucked in a corner is what your unexpected mind exclaims to be an antique piano – the type dating to 19th century where the piano was more of an object of art with painting than the instrument to make art. 

Welcome to Holy Sugar, opened by pâtissier Audrey Allard, this is another cafe that opened up during the COVID pandemic. A successful story of a pâtissier who took the risk and turned the misfortune of losing her shifts into being her own boss. 

(Taken from holysugar.com.au)

You finally confront the counter laden with grandmother-syled large slices of cakes and pastries. From the lemon meringue to the passionfruit tart to the huge slice of basque cheesecake. Everything appeals to you but once again a choice must be made.

You and your cousin make for the worst customers, for you ask the staff what he would recommend. The staff is friendly and helpful. She goes, “hmmm, the Tiramisu is a best seller, the passionfruit tart is also very nice “. You hank her, you think, you discuss with each other. The end result? You chose a cinnamon crumplet and basque cheesecake. He chooses lemon meringue and biscuit with caramel and boysenberry.

That is FOUR huge pieces of cake and none that were recommended. The staff still makes pleasant comments of “perfect!” and “enjoy your cakes!”.

………

Now the taste test. You and your cousin tears into the cinnamon crumplets. Think crispy churros with soft interior dipped in plentiful cinnamon sugar. If you like churros and you like cinnamon, this is a must have.  

Next came the lemon meringue. You are quite the lemon meringue snob. You love lemon tarts and tend to gravitate towards them in any café. Often you leave disappointed. This one was indeed a let down. Beautifully presented and generously portioned but the taste leaves to be desired. The lemon was not tart enough to cut through the sweet meringue. The meringue was good with a crispy top and marshmallow-y centre but it was far too thick a layer for the mild lemon curd. The shortcrust though must be commended, buttery with just the right crunch.

Next came the biscuit – two nicely spiced snaps sandwich a milky caramel with tart Boysenberry confit. Each ingredient taken separately was very good – the snaps well had a good snap, the caramel was a reminder of a chewy weathers original, the boysenberry was tart and fruity. But the balance unfortunately, could have been better. There was too much caramel for the berry confit – so similar to the lemon meringue, the balance was just a little off.