In a cobble stone avenue, find cakes created with a painter’s eye.

Our experience

La Renaissance is a beautiful little secret located along a broad cobbled avenue in The Rocks district. To accompany a very French bol de cafe, the cafe serves a variety of quiches, baguettes and pies. For MoMo & Coco however, it was undoubtedly les gateaux that magnetically drew us here. Given our inability to sample ces gateaux masterpieces during our previous night’s visit to La Renaissance’s offshoot, Baroque Bistro, due to certain idiosyncracies of the wait staff, MoMo & Coco found sufficient solace in La Renaissance’s original and beautiful creations. We couriered the following four irresistibles back to Melbourne with us…

The first irresistible sampled was the flamboyantly red, La Pompadour ($8). Sitting on a thin base of almond sponge, this little round irresistible was a raspberry mousse cake, with two yellow passionfruit macaron halves affixed to the sides. It is also available at Baroque. Apologies for the lack of photos, this irresistible did not manage the interstate journey well.

The second irresistible was the aptly-named Le Roi Soleil ($8). Shaped like a coronet, this comprised a robustly flavoured mandarine mousse cake, with a touch of mango and jasmine, and a hemline of little gold pebbles. Its inner cross-section resembled a radiant setting sun, hence le soleil. It is also available at Baroque.

The third irresistible was the love-at-first-sight, Passion de Pierre ($7). Encased in a spot-patterned joconde (a buttery almond cake), the inside revealed a passionfruit mousse, with a layer of raspberry jelly singing through the centre….hmmmmm….irresistible…..

The fourth irresistible in our little box was the splendid Gaugin ($7). Its whimisical tear-drop shape and bold colouring was clearly inspired by the post-impressionist works of its namesake. More a cake than a mousse (as a cake should always be), a small centre of tangy berry mousse was held within a sponge marbled with red, pinks and brown tones, its top glazed with a creamy raspberry ganache and embellished with more berries. MoMo & Coco sign this off as… hmmmm….irresistible……

Our verdict

The cakes at La Renaissance are what they should be – cakes, not mousses or half-mousses. Beautiful to look at and beautiful to eat. MoMo & Coco can say nothing more than, La Renaissance, please open up in Melbourne.

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Dessert adventure checklist

1. ☑ Dessert destination: La Renaissance Patisserie and Cafe, 47 Argyle Street, The Rocks, Sydney, NSW 2000.
2. ☑ Budget: $$.
3. ☑ Sweet irresistibles: Cake.
4. ☑ Must-eat: Every dessert that you can fit in, but especially the “Le Gaujin.”
5. ☑ The short and sweet story: In a cobble stone avenue, find cakes created with a painter’s eye.

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