Saturday, August 27, 2011

Burch and Purchese: Birthday Cake!

647 Chapel Street
South Yarra
Telephone: 03 9827 7060

Opening Hours: Tues - Sun 10am - 6:30pm

While we're gabbing away about cake, I figured there is no time like the present to push an Amnesty post hurriedly out the door and down your throats! And who could complain when it involves a Burch & Purchese concoction:


The Sauron-like gaze of food bloggers has long been fixed on Burch & Purchese, but even the fickle public eye was captured when Darren Purchese received his Masterchef stamp of infamy in a celebrity chef challenge opposite current champion Kate.

My precious.

I received this cake as a surprise for my birthday way back in May (hence the amnesty urgency) from some fabulous family and friends. Masterchef being all the rage at the time, I attempted a taste test and announced: "Chocolate! Pear definitely. And er that nut I like!". In case you enjoy quibbling and feel this is an inadequate description, here is the official spiel:

Dark Chocolate, Pear and Hazelnut:
Tarakan 75% chocolate and vanilla mousse, caramelised pear, hazelnut cream, pear cream, chocolate hazelnut brownie, hazelnut milk jelly, dark chocolate velvet spray

It was indeed "awesome". A sensual cornucopia of textures, and the chocolate, pear, and hazelnut overtones were intense to the last crumb. Which, unfortunately, came too quickly. A journey to the studio for replenishment is imminent!


What's the best birthday cake or gift you've ever received?

Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio on Urbanspoon

15 comments:

  1. Aww, what a lovely birthday cake to receive! :) Looks and sounds delicious, keep hinting to the boy next year to either visit B&P or Luxbite and arrange something nice for me...hehe. :)

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  2. Ashley: That's right, you keep working on him so we can vicariously receive as well ;)

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  3. my cakes are usually free of charge because my mom has lots of hotel memberships. my best birthday cake would be lemon cheesecake from lemon garden cafe, kl. and i have no best birthday presents. they just get better and better each year that it is so unfair to judge them!

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  4. Michelle: I've never been there!! Should go when I go to KL in January, I love lemony desserts ;) And I know what you mean, feels so churlish to choose between gifts hey!

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  5. I think I need a birthday cake from there even though it aint my birthday. looks so good.

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  6. Penny: It was to die for! Which is strange considering it was a birth-day cake! Haha!

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  7. Wow hazelnut cream, pear cream... awesome awesome cake !

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  8. AT: Yes, a more complex cake than I'll ever be able to muster! It sure was easy to eat though ;)

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  9. happy birthday! love everything from B&P, wish they would open one in Syd!

    Best gift would be my DSLR camera :)

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  10. Vivian: Yes but you guys get Zumbo!! I suppose the grass is always greener haha

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  11. Thanks. I think it's places like BP, made literally alive by your reviews, that help make Melbourne the best city in the world to live in (see this ranking in The Economist Intelligence Unit's release today).

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  12. what a stunning cake! will get this for a friend for their birthday after seeing this. im sure a lot of ppl will enjoy this. very appealed by the pear flavour too! mmm... =]

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  13. Trust me, I've had Zumbo and it's not all that cracked up to be. Okay maybe it is, but I'm a true blue Melburnian, so we rock :P And I KNEW you were going to get the cake, as I had to provide directions! LALALALALALALAAAAAA

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  14. Winston: Definitely a crowd-pleaser, I had a whole room of finicky people who couldn't get enough! Loved the pear, and I don't generally like fruit in my chocolate!

    msihua: I suppose I have you to thank then! And you see, your good karma has paid off in spades now haha ;)

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  15. Wow, now you're the lucky one with such a wonderful cake for your birthday!! Happy belated birthday! :)

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