Le Yummeh Bunneh

Parisian Patisserie
19 Keilor Rd,
Essendon

When I was at school, we were taught a trick to help us spell dessert. Spell it with a double 's', because you want double servings. In the case of Parisian Patisserie, dessert would be spelled desssssssssssssssssert, because you'd want that many servings of it... get it?

Step into this bustling haven, and you are enveloped by that warm, fresh-out-of-the-oven aroma. The very thought of dining here makes your ass grow a few inches. And you still can't help yourself. We dragged two other people with us on the 45min drive, just so that we could order more...

We arrived at 9:30am Staurday morning and the place was already full. The entire time we were there, constant streams of people came in for their sugar hits.

Strawberry Tart

First up was a strawberry tart. Each bite filled our mouths with fresh juicy strawberries, sweet creamy filling, and a buttery pastry. A very exciting preview of things to come.

Lemon Tart

I'm a sucker for lemon tart, and this one is up there with the best I've tried. The rich lemon filling was the perfect balance of sweet and sour, and paired with the shortbread crust - I could've scoffed the whole thing down in one go. But alas, I had to share. Shitballs.

Ham and Cheese Croissant

The patisserie is known mostly for its sweets, but its savoury pastries are also of note. Enter the best ham and cheese croissant we've ever had. Crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy in the centre. Nothing like the soggy/too dry specimens I've tried elsewhere.

Escargot

Normally with escargots, I like to slowly peel apart the swirl so that I end up with one long piece of dough. But this one, with its sweet and sticky outer glaze, and plump sultanas scattered throughout didn't allow for such luxuries; I was far too impatient and couldn't eat it fast enough.

Almond Croissant

The famous almond croissant was the last to come out. The patisserie is said to sell 160 of these a day - and more often than not, sell out before midday. Despite feeling quite full, my mouth watered at the sight of this. This croissant was sinfully good. Fresh from the oven, the hot sweet crust melted away to reveal an amazing buttery interior. The crunchy flaked almonds texturally took the croissant to another level. This alone, was worth the drive.

Macarons (From top left: lemon, rasberry, hazelnut, pistachio, cassis and chocolate)

Of course we couldn't resist taking home some macarons to enjoy. These lasted about 2 hours before we devoured them. Unfortunately, these were not the best samples of macarons we've had. They lacked that satisfying crunch and crispiness of the shells, and the fillings were average.

Still, Parisian Patisserie is a shining jewel of a real French bakery. If you are watching your weight, stay away from this place with all your might. But for us, we left full, happy and with nicely elevated blood sugar levels.

A sweet start to the weekend.

Little cups of cake

Little Cupcakes

Shop 7, Degraves St, Melbourne

Everybody loves cupcakes. Now imagine this - fitting 10 cupcakes into your mouth at once. This is the type of super human feat Little Cupcakes allows you to achieve. This cosy store churns out freshly baked handmade treats to the hordes of customers it attracts everyday.

After waiting patiently in line, it was finally my turn to choose from an assortment of tiny (and not so tiny delights). A mini cupcake (roughly a quarter of the size of a standard) will cost you $2, and a standard size between $4 - $4.20 each. I couldn't decide on one mini cupcake, so I got five...

From the top: Rasberry White Choc, Cookies and Cream, Mint Choc, Cream Cheese Choc, and Belgian Choc

Rasberry White Choc was the best. Buttery, melt in your mouth icing, with a moist cake base. Mint Choc came a close second, which is surprising considering I usually think all mint sweets taste like toothpaste. In this case however, the mint icing was light and delicate and paired well with the crunchy malteaser on top. I'd happily brush my teeth with it everyday.

So if you're ever down this end of the city, make sure to visit this little treasure cave and shove one (or five) of these delights into your mouth, and be on your merry way.