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15 April 2012

WEEKEND ESCAPE: PORCINI

We take a nostalgic trip back in time and discover the newest boutique cakery in town.

While it may feel like there has been an abundance of cupcake offerings around the city over the past year (we’ve certainly eaten our way through a fair few), none, in our opinion, have quite nailed the same old-fashioned baked perfection as the new kid on the block – Bluebells’ Cakery.

Owner Karla Goodwin perfected her baking skills during her time living in London, where she worked for a cupcake bakery. She brought back with her the artisan tricks of the cupcake trade and began her own catering company – Bluebells. Although she has been selling her fairytale-esque cupcakes from the La Cigale French markets for a little under a year as of last week, she has now officially opened her own store.

Located in Hillsborough, just off Mt Albert road, the boutique cakery is certainly no inner city stop off, but we think the short drive almost makes it all the more worthwhile. On the Friday afternoon we ventured to check it out (admittedly a little lost direction wise) the smell of Bluebell’s sweet temptations quickly lured us in from halfway down the road, and the sunny spot with its dreamy pastel colours in amongst the block of shops was hard to miss.

Walking into the store connotes a sense of childhood nostalgia. The impressive collection of vintage and kitsch baking trinkets and knick-knacks that fill the space makes you feel like you are stepping back into the kitchen of a 1960s domestic goddess. The counter top is filled with cake stands adorned with expertly iced creations alongside a variety of other sweet treats including coconut ice, fudge, biscuits and toffee apples.

The cupcakes themselves are iced with that inimitable buttercream frosting and decorated with an assortment of picture perfect decorations from online store The Pretty Baker (which are also available for purchase in store.) All of Bluebells’ creations are lovingly made in small batches using only the finest ingredients and can be tailor made to order too.

The cupcakes come in a variety of flavours, and on the afternoon we visited, we managed to work our way through the better part of the all too tempting offerings – lemon curd, chocolate lamington, vanilla and red velvet. We can assure you they taste as good as they look – light and fluffy, with a sweet (but not too sickly) home baking charm. The lemon curd flavour even has fresh homemade curd hidden inside when you take a bite.

This little gem is currently only opening its doors Friday and Saturday’s (although you’ll find Karla baking there most days) but catering is available throughout the week, and with plans to have a coffee machine up and running, these hours are set to extend very soon.