Yellow Eggs: Cacao Lab

Driver Lane, Melbourne 3000
Date visited: 4th May 2014

An old friend came back to visit Melbourne a couple of weeks ago. I was looking up nice dessert spots where we could catch up, when I realised the old Cacao at GPO had moved. After some researching, I discovered, yes, a new branch just opened two weeks ago, again in another most opportune spot smack in the middle of the CBD on Driver Lane, towards Emporium. Seeing all the gorgeous looking goodies (eclairs, particularly!) on their Facebook and Instagram page, I was determined to stop by this weekend.

The sleek, brightly lit store was like a beacon calling all those who passed to enter. Check out the stunning cakes under hand blown glass domes on display.

Macarons!

You can either dine in or take-away - MerlinFan and I chose a few things to take home.

First was the Chocolate mousse, Oreo biscuit, Irish creme and chocolate mirror glaze. This was awesome. Rich, indulgent chocolate mousse with a layer of Irish creme that you could actually taste - the little macaron shells stuck on the chocolate glaze added a nice crispy, slightly chewy texture. Loved this. The White Knight at the back - the almond dacquoise was amazing, with white chocolate, chantilly cream and a passionfruit centre. MerlinFan's favourite of the bunch.

The mini eclairs were adorable and tinier than they looked online - one could just sit in the palm of your hand. I chose the Pinocchio, which was pistachio creme with strawberry jelly and strawberries. Admittedly, this was my least favourite of the bunch. I'm not sure if they used almonds or marzipan, but the toppings tasted reminiscent of it and pretty much overpowered everything else.