Vanille part trois

So we found ourselves in Vanille once more last Sunday. I wanted to check out what is new. It’s a lame excuse, but any will do so that I can visit my favorite dessert haunt in Cebu. Here are a few more pastries that we’ve tried.

Cerise. Structured piles of mousse and sponge cakes are a trademark of Vanille. This one promises chocolate mousse with cherries but somehow I was expecting some bits or the definitive flavor of cherry but both escaped me. It was tart but indistinct. Perhaps I was inattentive? There were pieces of cherry on top of the sweetened vanilla-flavored whipped Chantilly cream so the concoction can still lay a claim to its name. Still, the raised sponge cake was as always, very light and delectable and the mousse was rich and not overly sweet.
price= P80


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/400s, f/2.8, 100mm, ISO 800


Tarte aux pommes. Non-francophiles, don’t be scared, the name is just French for apple tart. I am a fan of apple tarts and pies. I crave them. I look for them. The Vanille version was not a disappointment. The crust is just the right thinness (I don’t like thick crust in pies) and flakiness. The apples were firm, juicy, tart and sweet, with the usual hint of cinnamon and vanilla. That said, the price of 120 pesos was a bit expensive when compared to versions of other pastry shops in Cebu. If there is a plus, it would be the presentation. The topping of razor-thin apple slivers which were slightly browned at the edges, looks quite fetching.
price= P120


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/125s, f/2.8, 100mm, ISO 800


French macarons in passionfruit. I’m already a fan of Vanille’s French macarons . I love the juxtaposition of the saccharine crunchiness of meringue and the creaminess of the ganache. The passionfruit version is a winner. At first bite, the taste is subtle but in due time, the sharp sourness attacks. When it comes to tropical fruits, sometimes, I want them to be in-your-face and non apologetic. True to its name, passionfruit is an ardent explosion in the palate.
price= P25 each


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/400s, f/2.8, 100mm, ISO 800, -1/3EV



Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/160s, f/2.8, 100mm, ISO 800, -1/3EV


Concerto. The finger-like log of hazelnut dacquoise reminds me a lot of Isabelia (see my first blog on Vanille). The biscuit-like base of meringue is nutty and I always like my dessert to have some crunch. The hazelnut bits contrasted delicately both in flavor and in texture with mousse of creamy Belgian chocolate. This is an uplifting aria of the senses.


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/100s, f/5.6, 53mm, ISO 800


Chocolat. What is a pastry shop without a chocolate cake? Vanille’s version is divine and could be its trademark, what with its elaborate construction. Billed a la maison, the layers of chocolate cake and chocolate mousse are shaped in a spherical half-globe. The cake has just the hint of bitterness which tempers the inherent sweetness of sugar. The clincher is the icing fully covering the dome. Dark and gooey, it stretches like marshmallows, slices like meringue and melts like fudge in the mouth. Too bad that this delicacy cannot be scaled up structurally as the big cake is flat and round and the icing is reduced to a thin upper crust. I’d take the personal mini anytime.


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/640s, f/2.8, 100mm, ISO 800, -1/3EV



Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/100s, f/5.6, 53mm, ISO 800


Vanille Cafe and Patisserie
The Terraces, 2nd level
Cebu Ayala Mall
Cebu City, the Philippines

This is the 3rd Vanille review after part 1 and part 2.