buppa's bakehouse

Excellent news: our excellent friends, David and Jo, have had a gorgeous baby girl - Little Miss M. Caliban and I have been visiting the new parents at their house (much easier for D&J - babies require a lot of time and energy to move), armed with a variety of brunch goods.

Last week, I read about Buppa's Bakehouse in the SMH. An American bakery in Newtown, it specialises in bagels (boiled, natch), homestyle American pies and cakes, and even stocks Ben & Jerry's icecream (one of the few retailers in Oz to do so...so far!). I couldn't believe our luck. We were due to visit D&J, and as David is Canadian, and Jewish, bagels would be the perfect baked treat to bring. I also know he loves cheesecake, and that Jo is up for pretty much anything sweet and frosted - so I could hardly wait to go nuts at the Bakehouse and buy up big.

Unfortunately, it seems that a lot of people pay attention to Helen Greenwood's SMH reviews. By the time we got there on Saturday afternoon (around 2pm), most of their stock was gone. Faced with scarcity, we took home four plain bagels (blueberry is also normally available), two slices of red velvet cake, a slice of Key Lime pie, and a slice of blueberry cheesecake.

We ate the bagels unadorned - without cream cheese, and untoasted. This was not a great idea. Whether it was the bagels themselves, or the lack of tart cream-cheese-y goodness, I was not impressed. The bagels seemed a little stale, to be honest. Were they yesterday's bagels? Hope not. On the other hand, I hope they weren't indicative of the fresh bagels Buppa's has to offer. Either way, I'm definitely willing to give them another go, but next time, I want dense, chewy bread that's not crumbly and tasteless.

When we're with D&J, we have the greatest idle chats. Babies, Friday Night Lights, books, Christmas, holidays, friends, work troubles and so on...it's guaranteed fab natter. We chat over the sweets. Jo and I are huge fans of the red velvet cake, which features white chocolate frosting (as opposed to the more traditional cream cheese frosting). The mild chocolate flavour of the red velvet definitely wants something richer on top, so the white chocolate pairs well. Like all good American servings, Buppa's piles on the icing thickly. It's exquisite. I only wish we had more.

The Key Lime pie is also fantastic. Unfortunately, it has an almond meal base, which tastes great but means that David, who is allergic to nuts, has to pass. We're only too happy to scoff his portion. The base is similar to that of a cheesecake, and the Key Lime filling is creamy, and properly strong on citrus. Lime is one of my all-time favourite flavours, and I am certainly not disappointed by this pie. The filling is thicker and denser than a cheesecake filling (which tends to be a little fluffier), and the lime flavour would be fab with some raspberries or cream (or both!) on the side. FYI. The blueberry cheesecake, too, is made with almond meal (poor David!) so we have to do the tasting for David. This is more about the texture of the cheesecake than the flavour of the blueberries (rightly so, I reckon: blueberries don't really have enough punch to do the heavy work here). The filling is rich and creamy and yes, slightly fluffier and lighter than its pie cousin. Grins all round.

Buppa's Bakehouse
482 King St, Newtown
www.buppas.com.au (note: website currently under construction)
+61 2 8065 0681