to be honest, as far as cakes (and any baked goods) are concerned, it doesn't get much better than this. i've written a review for velvet before; however, my most recent experience here made me realise that my brief little paragraph of praise deserved some revision, and more delicious detail.
as indicated by my rating, it goes without saying that the baked delights here are just outrageously wonderful--so much so, that zomato sa hosted their last #zomatomeetup here. the very fortunate foodies that had been invited to attend (myself included) were spoiled with sweet and savoury treats alike. we broke the old-fashioned mould about leaving sweet things for last, and started with cupcake and mcc pairings (courtesy of kleine zalze). we began with the coco chanel cupcake, adorned with decadently rich chocolate icing, edible gold dusting and a creamy lindt ball; then, we moved on to the sweetie pie cupcake--a moist chocolate sponge base topped with a fluffy marshmallow-filled chocolate shell, and, finally, we finished off with a cream cheese filled pink velvet cupcake topped with a rosewater-infused meringue icing swirl. the flavours were utterly magical, and all the angels in tastebud-heaven were singing velvet's praises.
to balance out our sweetness overdose, we moved on to the classically crafted mini quiches, made according to the authentic, classic recipe using only traditional ingredients. encased in delicate golden phyllo cups, the selection included a tangy pineapple, peppadew and chicken quiche (which had an incredibly rich, almost gourmet pizza-like flavour), an earthy ham, mushroom and truffle oil quiche (my personal favourite), and a spicy cinnamon, butternut and feta quiche (which tasted like christmas in the south african countryside—to me, anyway). all of these were also beautifully paired with freshly roasted coffees provided by origin roasters.
as if that wasn't enough, velvet generously provided us each with a gift voucher to be splashed out at their gorgeously vibrant little shop, filled with anything the cake-lover's heart could possibly desire, and more. i also thoroughly enjoyed my mini portable 'cake in a cup', which made for a very naughty but oh-so-nice breakfast the next day. from its humble beginnings, velvet has been the apple of my eye as far as bakeries go, and, at this rate, any competition is laughable. do your tastebuds a favour, and treat yourself with some velvet-y goodness.