Le Petit Gateau

458 Little Collins St, Melbourne 3000
Date visited: 28th March 2012

Le Petit Gateau is located on Little Collins St, near the back of the RACV Club.  We came this sunny afternoon, especially to try the infamous Brownie and passionfruit gateau, created by award winning French pastry chef Pierrick Boyer and his team.  

The patisserie is small and cosy - the cakes and pastries are showcased in a wide glass display at the counter.  If you choose to sit at the bar, you can look right into their kitchen :)  

We came in time for the Afternoon Coffee and Cake (after 2.30pm) for only $8.50.  This is great value for your money, as a single slice of cake is $8, so we had our choice of coffee/ tea or hot chocolate for 50 cents.

I had a latte - their coffees were by Vittoria, which I liked.  MerlinFan had the hot chocolate with orange and cardamom, which tasted nostalgically like the orange chiffon cake my aunt used to bake when we were young :)

Hot chocolate with orange and cardamom (back) and latte (front)

Now for the moment we've been waiting for - the cakes, which were by far, the highlight of our visit today.  The slices were delicate and appropriately so, for they were so rich and sinfully decadent it would be way too much for a regular cake serve size.

MerlinFan had the peanut, raspberry and chocolate jelly sandwich.  Very delicate and pretty, garnished with raspberry jelly and golden peanuts that shimmered as they were hit by light.  The separate layers - peanut, raspberry jelly, praline and the chocolate brownie base were nice on their own and together as well.  MerlinFan said it could have been taken to another level if the top layer had a more buttery warmth, like peanut butter. 

Peanut, raspberry and chocolate sandwich

The brownie and passionfruit chocolate gateau was just amazing and left our tastebuds dancing.   A brownie base, crunchy praline, passionfruit custard, chocolate mousse, topped off with chocolate ganache and a mango square.  The smoothness of the rich mousse was perfectly balanced by the slight tartness of the passionfruit and the crunchy texture of praline.  You can't get any better than that.

Brownie and passionfruit chocolate gateau

I hope they keep the Afternoon Coffee and Cake offer - would love to come back and try the other gorgeous cakes... or indulge in the brownie passionfruit gateau yet again. 

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