Saturday, July 14, 2012

Da Paolo Gastronomia: Carrot Cake


After having tasted Da Paolo's Valrhona Chocolate Cake and Blackforest Cake, I wanted to compare another of its cakes against a cake that many Singaporeans have praised... a cake that my family and I have tried and truly enjoy: Cedele's Carrot Walnut Cake. So, one evening, I dropped into Da Paolo and picked up a plastic container of what looked quite different from Cedele's cake.

Picture from http://abbeyeats.onsugar.com/

If you have never seen Cedele's Carrot Walnut Cake before, here it is (above). Two high layers of the moistest, soft and light brown-coloured crumb; bits of carrots and walnuts dispersed throughout the cake crumb; an obvious layer of creamy, slightly tangy, white cream cheese frosting standing out starkly between the two layers of cake; a thicker layer of cream cheese frosting on top and on its back; and nuggets of walnuts pressed into, and totally covering the back of the cake.

A winning cake to pit Da Paolo's Carrot Cake against.


In contrast, Da Paolo's crumb was pale, more dry, but about just as light. Although the cake was not as high as Cedele's, it made up for that in length and width. Throughout the cake crumb were shreds of carrots, much more so than Cedele's. But Da Paolo's cake had no walnuts, which is a pity because walnuts bring a nice textural crunch to carrot cakes and a hint of bitterness to the sweetness.

The layer of cream cheese frosting on top of Da Paolo's cake was thin. The in-between layer of frosting was even thinner. But it did not need to be any thicker, because the frosting was cloyingly sweet... way too sweet. I ended up scraping off the top layer of frosting because it was like eating sugar, and because I wanted to be able to taste the cake. Very surprising, considering that the level of sweetness in Da Paolo's Valrhona Chocolate Cake and Blackforest Cake was just right.

I think you would have guessed by now that Cedele's Carrot Walnut Cake is my favourite, between the two. But if you have a sweet tooth, Da Paolo's may be the right cake for you.



Da Paolo Gastronomia
http://www.dapaolo.com.sg/

Six Battery Road #K1-01
Singapore 049909
Tel: 6535 4339 

Opening hours: Mon – Fri: 8am – 9pm

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