Sharon Wee Creations: Cake Tasting Day, Sydney (30 May 2010)

Website: http://www.sharonwee.com.au

Blog: http://weelovebaking.blogspot.com

13 cakes for arvo tea

It didn't take me long to realise how passionate Sharon is about making cakes once I entered the room — most of the display area was full of cake decorating samples. I felt a bit like a kid in a candy store, or cake store for that matter. Sharon invited me over to sample the new range of cakes she's been working on with some being homemade and some being bought in for a more economical price range for clients. The group of tasters present were provided 13 bite sized pieces of cake in total with My Little Jiggly Butter Cup being on of the more interesting cakes for me on the day which combined crunchy peanut butter and strawberry jam. I ended up preferring the Basic Chocolate Mud which was bought in over the homemade Chocolate Muddy simply because it was less dense and more spongy and airy. Miss Red was definitely visually exciting with it's fiery red cake but my taste buds couldn't quite work out a definable taste. I liked the combination of Moist Orange Jaffa Cake although I thought the orange flavour could have been more pronounced. I love coconut so the Basic Coconut appealed to me and thought the lemon and lime white chocolate ganache could even benefit with the additional of some extra coconut to enhance the overall coconut flavour even more. My tasting notes of each of the cakes are listed under their photo below.

Thanks to Sharon my fantasy of feeling like a MasterChef judge is now complete :-)

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Friendly, personal and passionate cake maker providing plenty of cake and custom made decorating options

CONS: Running out of display area, Some cakes could do with some extra taste punch to make them even more distinctive and memorable

MUST TRY: My Little Jiggly Butter Cup, Orange Jaffa, Basic Coconut

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Cake tasting time

The cake menu plus two more cakes unlisted

Summer On The Beach: Lemon and lime cake brushed with Malibu syrup and covered with vanilla bean white chocolate ganache — I could definitely taste the lemon and lime but the Malibu was quite subtle for me.

My Little Jiggly Butter Cup: Moist chocolate mud cake with dark chocolate ganache and a thin spread of peanut butter and strawberry jam between the layers — Was certainly moist in texture and the crunchy peanut butter worked well. I think the strawberry jam could even be replaced quite easily with other stronger tasting jams like boysenberry or Seville Orange Marmalade.

Basic White Chocolate: White chocolate cake topped with vanilla bean white chocolate ganache — A bought in cake base which seemed to have a bit of citrus taste to me for some reason even though lemon or lime wasn't used in the recipe.

Chocolate Muddy: Moist rich chocolate mud cake with creamy dark chocolate ganache — This homemade cake definitely had a rich chocolate taste.

Basic Chocolate Mud: Basic chocolate mud cake topped with dark chocolate ganache — A bought in cake which I found less dense and spongier in texture than the homemade Chocolate Muddy. I actually preferred the texture and taste of this one which agreed more to my palate.

Tea In Japan: Light green tea cake with vanilla bean white chocolate ganache — I could taste the green tea although it was quite subtle. I think the flavour could be pushed a bit more to make it more distinctive. I'd love to see and try and pandan version which I think would be another option for an Asian influenced cake flavour.

Miss Red: Soft red velvet cake with lemon and vanilla bean white chocolate ganache — Visually strong although I had trouble picking out a distinctive flavour for this cake.

Apples In Mud: Caramelised apple pieces with ginger swirled inside a chocolate mud cake and brushed with strawberry jam, topped with dark creamy chocolate ganache — I couldn't really taste the apple so perhaps needed more and the ginger was very subtle but I sensed it's warming flavour so could have benefitted with more. The strawberry jam was very subtle for me and thought perhaps a ginger marmalade might work better combined with the other ingredients.

Basic Coconut: Moist coconut cake topped with lemon and lime white chocolate ganache — I could definitely taste the coconut, lemon and lime in this bought in cake base and thought some extra coconut in the ganache might work to enhance the coconut flavour and texture.

Moist orange jaffa cake: Moist rich chocolate mudcake with creamy dark chocolate ganache — A nice moist cake but thought it would benefit from more orange which was just a bit too subtle on taste for me. Perhaps adding a layer of Seville Orange Marmalade might be an option as well.

Orange & Poppyseed Cake with white chocolate ganache — A bought in cake which delivered the right amount of orange and poppyseed flavours I expected. The only other option I'd explore is to add a distinctive tasting candied orange peel to the ganache for extra orange zest and flavour punch.