This year, I was spoilt rotten by my family and friends for my 21st birthday. My girlfriends got me the infamous watermelon and strawberry cake from Black Star Pastry in Newtown, and I was in tears of joy. Since the opening of Black Star in 2008, foodies everywhere have raved about this one of a kind delicious goodness. It really became fully exposed during the past year through social media, especially IG. I've had previously tried the cake, but Newtown is a bit out of the way travel wise so I haven't had it since last year. It was the biggest surprise and truly appreciated the thought and effort. However, after a couple of days of cake eating I was pretty sick of the rosewater cream and thought "I think that's enough cake for the year." Jokes, who am I kidding - you can never have enough cake!

One thing I loveeeeddd the first time I went Black Star is the Raspberry Brulee Tart. It is truly remarkable and I actually preferred it more than the cake. The smooth sweet custard, tartness of the raspberry and crumbly short crust pastry was, both, perfection and genius. I went on a little food adventure a few weeks ago with Maggie, and decided to drop by Newtown to see if we can pick up some take home treats, however they ran out of tarts and I died a little inside :'(((((. 

Black Star is headed by reknowned ex Cladue's pastry chef, Christopher Thé. The cafe is fairly small with limited seating, and take away is always recommended. However, when dining in you can see the team freshly baking goods or mixing in the kitchen behind. The smell of aromatic Little Marionette coffee beans, a DIY toast station with freshly baked bread, incredibly tasty pies, sausage rolls and quiches (though I have yet to try any savoury things, I've heard it's amaze and some even say it's better than Bourke St delights!), this is everything you can ask for in a cafe. They even have freshly brewed home-made ice tea on offer! It is little wonder why Time Out Magazine voted it Top 10 patisserie in Sydney. 

 Persion Fig, Quince and Orange Cake (GF) on display. 

 Chocolate Flourless Cake w Caramel Popcorn and Freeze Dried Raspberries 

I chose the choc cake, because as I said earlier I was sick to death of the strawberry & watermelon one and they had no more tarts left :-(. I just want to say well done, Emily. This cake was sublime, seriously I could eat it forever. I have never had a flourless cake before, but the cake was very moist with a rich chocolate flavour that wasn't too sweet. The raspberries added a much needed tartness to it, however I think the highlight was the abundance of popcorn which added texture as well.  

 Watermelon, Strawberry and Rose Cream Cake

Look at all those wonderful layers! The cake is very light and refreshing (definitely because of the fruit/watermelon), with a delicate balance of flavours between the rose cream and almond dacquois. If you're not a fan of rosewater, like turkish delight, you might not enjoy this as much as everyone else (hey, each to their own). I do think the rose cream gets a bit sickening but as an occasional treat and really unlike anything you've ever had before.