cafe rosamond

I must confess I'm not really a sugar person, my choice of death by overindulgence is probably going to be heart attack (fried potatoes, anyone?) Anyway, 1405 is a (manly manly) sweet tooth and it was his teeth that led us to Cafe Rosamond on a chilly pre-winter night.

A pop-up dessert evening by Pierre Roelof (the Yoda of pastry chefs where we are), this little operation is open only on Thursday nights and does not take bookings. Light heartbreak music, local art and whimsical pot plants make this tiny hybrid cafe / dessert legend feels right at home at the hipper part of Smith Street. It is tucked into the back of another obscure alt/pop store, in true Melbourne fashion.

We opted to share a three-course dessert degustation between the two of us with a dessert tube and it was plenty plenty to showcase the exquisite skill and attention to detail of these delicious works of art.

Open ended test tubes: surprisingly substantial.

This is as close as we are getting this year to Heston Blumenthal's "drink me" straws from his Alice in Wonderland themed feast. The bottom of the test tube needed to be soaked in a beaker of hot water for a few second to loosen the contents and then slammed down - delicately. The layers were cream, chocolate and ginger. Together they made a flavour that reminded 1405 of cakes in Germany - hearty, sweet and a touch of spice.

Aniseed meringue with sherbert and a tart fruit base

This was my favourite one of the night, lighly lightly meringue with crisp flavours and a sticky fruit-based saucey thing was a delight to eat.

Bottom to top: gingerbread, ginger granita, citrus liquer, creamy foam and puffed millet.

This very adult and very modern parfait was also very gingery. I liked the puffed millet and the crunchy refreshing granita. I'm not a fan of ice but the flavours were nice, almost savoury.

The piece de resistance! Hazelnut, orange, lime.

The final dish was, to my non-sweet palate, exceedingly good. Hidden under the crumble and freeze dried citrus cubes were tiny scrolls of sponge with a chocolate sauce filling, resting contentedly on a bed of hazelnut chocolate sauce. The crunchy hazelnuts and subtle lime sugar were a welcome contrast to the gooey chocolatey-ness.

Patting our stomachs after three and a half courses of dessert, we realised that we weren't feeling that too-much-of-a-good-thing from a sugar overload. None of the desserts were overly sweet, rather they used fresh, real flavours that just worked - which is really the essence of any good dish, sweet or savoury.

Cafe Rosamond
Rear of 191 Smith Street
Collingwood
9419 2270