Another throw back from my travels through South Africa:
After a few days of touring I had another free day to explore the city. I decided to try and find a bakery I had seen when touring the District Six museum, Charly's Bakery. It has been a huge success in Capetown as it is the location for Charly's Cake Angels, a popular TV show on Food Network South Africa.
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| Outside of Charly's Bakery in Capetown |
I loved this bakery right off the bat because they tell their story if how they came to be, showing their pride in their humble beginnings:
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As with most great things, they start far away and humble.
So it was with Charly’s Bakery. It all began with Charly, a 16 year old boy looking for work in a small desert town called Swakopmund. He swept the floor, made puff pastry and washed dishes under the stern guidance of the German Master Baker, until he was allowed to learn the cakes: classics like Black Forest Cake and Sacher Torte.
As with most good stories, there is a woman with long dark hair and a helluva cleavage, who shows up and stirs the pot. Her entrance and their union resulted in two beautiful daughters and a move to Cape Town. First it was Charly’s in Thibault Square, with food made to German perfection. Then onto the V&A Waterfront, where they were famous for “those quiches” and “those cakes!”, “that salad buffet”, not to forget the Eggs Benedict that had people queuing up for hours over long weekends and holidays. It was crazy, so they decided to sell and go smaller.. Yeah Right! You can’t keep a good thing small (or down).
Petit four: Now they have this crazy classic bakery and the girls have joined them.
The colours are brighter, so is the future.
The cakes are sexier, so are the women. The German perfection and standard? Well turn around, it’s still here.
2009…
The story unfolds when the woman with the long dark hair and a helluva cleavage had a dream.. A dream of our story in a building where stories were born – Cape Town’s old Jewish bookstore.
This is a story of no fear, of boldly baking where no one has baked before. This is a story of gaining a new daughter. Of hearts making space for new people to love. A story of “magic”, of things working where science says it shouldn’t. Stories of Oompa Loompas, of Luf Luf and Gooi Gooi.
2011 came and a star was shone on the Bakery.
Our story needed to be shared.. and Charly’s Cake Angels was born. Our story came to life with music and pictures. A peephole into the magic of the family of Charly’s Bakery creating cakes in the beautiful City of Cape Town was shared with the world. The public watched with smiles on their faces, glitter in their eyes & love in their hearts. They were inspired!
2012 and a time of great sadness came upon us.
Our Tata Charly, who brought us all together and taught us so much, became ill and left our world, but not our hearts, on the 25th May 2012. WOW! Heaven scored BIG TIME! We miss our Charly every day & continue to create the magic he inspired in our lives.
Tata Charly, we will meet you again… Somewhere Over The Rainbow"
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| Charly's Bakery - Mucking Afazing Cakes |
I set off around 1 pm on a Saturday which seemed problematic since everything shuts down around noon in Capetown on weekends. I called ahead, thankfully I had that foresight. My hostel helpfully gave me a map and I was on my way! Luckily the walk only took a few minutes, unfortunately it was in the cold wind and I had only a thin sweater. I made it to the bakery in one piece though and was met with a friendly, funky atmosphere. The place was very crowded, signaling to me that the products would be worth the wait. There were many cupcakes available with fun names like the Cookie Monster and the vanilla fu fu.
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| Cookie Monster Cupcakes |
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| Elmo Cupcakes |
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| Chocolate Cupcakes with some fun sayings |
The decorations were well done, artistic and tasteful. The red velvet cupcakes had a cream icing with a rise petal garnish, giving an elegant look to the cupcake.
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| The glorious red velvet cupcakes |
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| Red Velvet Cupcakes from Charly's Bakery |
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| Red Velvet & Chocolate Cupcake |
With high hopes and fork in hand I dove in. Sadly the top of the cupcake was very hard, not quite burnt but definitely over cooked. The icing was very sweet, almost too sweet for the cake itself. The middle of the cake was soft and airy but still a bit over cooked. Overall the cake was disappointing because of the texture and taste. There was still no chocolate taste!
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| Chocolate Cupcake - I ♥ SA! |
Price 19 rand
Cake: overcooked, slightly burnt top, overcooked and dry throughout middle
Icing: very sweet
Decorations: simple, elegant
Overall: 5/10
Website:
Charly's Bakery
