Items Selected:
Red Velvet Cake…read moreCarrot Cake
Scone
Cheesecake Brownie
Milk Cake
Peanut Butter Cookie
Chocolate Crispy with White Chocolate Chips
Always interested to see Europeans interpret traditional American desserts it was early Friday morning that a stop was made at Kikarea and although using far less sugar than typically found stateside the results were generally quite excellent, a few pastries neither Spanish nor particularly American the lone exceptions to the rule.
Located on Perez Galdos, a narrow road with limited parking necessitating most to find another area nearby, entry to Kikarea sees a small bar lined with pastries to up front with homey seating at the right and resembling something one might see in Brooklyn or PDX the shabby-chic setting is bolstered by bookshelves lined with paperbacks, black and white photos joining refurbished antique mirrors on the walls.
Pleasant and multilingual in service, one young man at the counter gathering baked goods and playing barrista while a small kitchen worked with fervor behind the scenes, prices at Kikarea trend significantly lower than those back home and trading just €12.50 for a total of seven sizable items it was with great care that each was boxed or bagged.
Taking the lot to go, a later start than anticipated caused by the general lack of Diesel in the city of Bilbao, it was in an attempt to go from light to heavy that guided the degustation, first bites of the milk cake proving buttery and only lightly sweetened, the scone that followed unfortunately so dry the center was essentially flour and baking soda - one bite was taken before the rest was left to the birds.
Improving substantially with two cookies, the crisp shatter of the chocolate version's rim yielding a soft center studded with white chocolate chips, both cake slices proved equally well executed as up-front flavors danced amidst a moist crumb and light layers of cream cheese frosting, the Red Velvet featuring a whole lot of cocoa but nowhere near as much as an over-the-top brownie that must have weighed almost half a pound.