I called Sugarplum Cake Co. about a week before my son's 3rd birthday. The employee who took my…read morephone call was really helpful and helped me plan an order of mini cupcakes to take to my son's day care center for his birthday. We kept it pretty simple, vanilla cakes and chocolate icing, but the employee made the best suggestion - mini dinosaur sprinkles! My son loved them and they were a real hit with the kids in his class. I was very pleased with the helpfulness of the staff, the variety of cakes available and the prompt completion of the order (was completely ready for pick-up at our agreed upon time). I'm updating my review, as I've now ordered two birthday cakes from here, one for each of my son's birthdays. For the first, I saw a jungle themed cake on the company's Facebook page and asked them to create something similar for our party. I asked them to make it smaller, asked for specific animals and they were happy to accommodate the requests. The cake turned out more beautiful than I could have hoped for and all the guests commented on how great it tasted as well. On that occasion, I also ordered 10 cupcakes (because it was a party with a lot of 1-year-olds, so they each got their own cupcake). These were delicious as well. Finally, I've just recently ordered again for my other son's fourth birthday. We went into the shop and he got to pick out his decorations (Mickey and Minne Mouse). Again, we just asked for a "Mickey and Minnie" cake and it turned out beautifully. This one was again, super tasty and all the guests loved it. On this occasion, I also ordered one gluten-free cupcake for one of the children in attendance. He loved it! This is now my go-to place for cakes and cupcakes. I've ordered from them 3 times and haven't been disappointed on any occasion.

Wow! Having eaten really good and really bad food the world over I'd say I can pick when something…read moreis made with the utmost care, attention and quality. I only popped in for a coffee and just had to get the lemon and coconut cake. OMG is about what I'm feeling after having eaten that. The texture is quite dense with the right mix of quality ingredients and care. When eating baked goods, it's obvious when a business uses cheaper and inferior products to create their goods, rest assured that is not the case with this cafe. Absolutely delectable. The front of house appears to be a small cafe, but take your delightful fare to the back, and you will find that there is a large and open seating area with plenty of tables and chairs for small to medium sized groups. And the service is great too!

This place does amazing cakes! A go-to for us for any event really. Great flavours and always made…read morefresh. We've used these for work shouts, birthdays and just when we had a cake craving. Would highly recommend.

My first time in here, so much to choose from and the prices were quite reasonable too…read more Staff were very friendly, plenty of space to sit and relax and enjoy your food and a good coffee.

I'm not a local here but we went for a business lunch and it was packed. Apparently a recent change…read moreof management has greatly improved this joint according to my Kiwi colleagues. There was a lot of fresh salads, sandwiches and pastries choices. I was intrigued to see the full fresh choices of gourmets cakes but not game enough to try them. I went with a pre made chicken, brie cheese and cranberry sandwich on turkish bread which came with small salad. It was more average than anything but very filling and couldn't finish it. Still they obviously make good coffee because it's a hit at breakfast time.

Delicious vegan items as well as some gluten free items! Large selection of pot pies, desserts, and…read moresandwiches. Line moves fast and is worth the wait!

I came here the other day to buy a sammy on my way to Uni. WOW! This might seem like a slight…read moreexaggeration, but this sandwich was fantastic. I would go as far as saying my favourite purchased sandwich ever; the ham, the cheese, the mayo, the beetroot and everything else just complimented each other so well. It was certainly an unbeatable combination. At Richoux Patisserie you will find a large selection of sweet items and savoury items, both hot goods (pies and sausage rolls) and cold goods (filled rolls). It's no wonder Richoux Patisserie have won so many awards. Good on them for proudly displaying them in full view of everyone. They have obviously worked very hard to get to where they are today and after having had one of their sandwiches I can see they have. If you're after a quick bite on the run then I would recommend popping in here. There are so many options to choose from, there will be something here to satisfy everyone's taste buds.

It's very convenient that there is another bake house in Albany. The bread and cakes here are…read morereally delicious! And the services are so nice! Happy to see a great store here.

Tucked away in the block of shops near St Thomas' School, Forbes Gourmet double as masters of…read morehomely meals and are responsible for some of the best pies I have experienced in the Greater Auckland region. My favourites include the Smoked Fish, Chicken, Bacon and Leek, and your traditional Mince and Cheese. The quiches are wonderful, as are the chicken sandwiches - with those unforgettable crunchy bits. Parking is always super easy, maybe just be weary of school hours. The service matches the food, always with the friendliness of a neighbour, as well as a big smile. The best thing about the meals, for example, the pies, is that they can be taken home to be heated yourself, not ideal if in a rush, but perfect to masquerade the food as your own to those judgemental rellies.

Coffee is always good here but $5.30 for a double shot small flatwhite is absolutely exorbitant!read more

Definitely as good as it gets! Great place to pick up amazing deserts to impress. The only problem…read moreis that it's too hard to choose. Great selection of sweet treats for all tastes (including some gluten free choices). It is a tad pricey, but what you get is well worth it! Great place for those day when you feel like spoiling yourself a little. Also staff is very attentive and helpful. Also heard good things about their breakfast and lunch selection, but yet to try. To sum up, amazing French patisserie well worth the trip and the money.

There is a reason I keep going back to Vaniye despite the price, which is $8-9 per mini cakes. They…read moreare simply gorgeous. The cakes are carefully designed to visually appeal to everyone. My friend really liked the Zen, a green tea flavoured mousse with red bean paste inside. I am not a big fan of green tea flavour but this was amazing. My Caramel cake, called Chou-chou, has chestnut cream profiteroles on top (which is crisply and creamy) and a brownie and caramel mousse as a base. I have also tried their Guanaja, which is a Valrhona chocolate marquise which had a great soft chocolate taste. But it lacked of a crème brulée flavour mentioned on its description. I felt that the Rasberry mousse, apple slice and lemon slice does not jump out as much as others. But that could be just me. They use Kokako for their coffee beans which is nice, but couple of instance I received burnt coffees. Bummer. However all were forgiven because of the cakes. The flavour, the design and tiny but great atmosphere.

Everyone has heard of Milse. Now famous for the long queues outside the little shop, I can still…read moreremember the first time I stepped inside. Now taking it into their own hands, husband and wife duo Brian and Roselle Campbell have created Sweet Cuisine pop-ups as real time crowd funding for their own dessert shop. I met them and interviewed them earlier this year and they are just the sweetest and most talented team. Clooney had always been on my radar for special occasions but other places had always gotten in the way. When word got out that we would get to dine at the flash Belle Epoque room downstairs with the open kitchen, all my excuses seemed irrelevant. It was the first time Sweet Cuisine had a communal dining format with a long table seating only 18 people. At the beginning, most people talked within their groups but being opposite interesting strangers, it was easy to start conversations. I went with fellow foodie and blogger Amy from My Dining Journey and we found out we were right next to amazing chefs and bakers. Convenient right? Turns out it was all planned with the thoughtful intentions of Brian and Roselle. Haha! Talk about knowing your customers well :) First course: Granny smith apple, feijoa, Heilala vanilla and ginger. Once I got over the initial thought that the egglets were not white chocolate, it was even harder to get over how cute they were. As a first course, I loved how light it was and almost teasing because soon everyone was scraping their eggs to get to that beautiful ginger which lay at the bottom. The combination of granny smith, vanilla and feijoa was a winner. Second course: Pineapple, passionfruit, coconut, banana and dulcey. It had the look of a beautiful Milse dessert but it didn't have the dark imprint of the overshadowing HIP group. I LOVED the small moichi-like balls on the side. Luckily the red chocolate ball was already halved. The rest of us just had to exercise our demolition skills as we tried to calmly break the case without sending shards across the table to our new friends. Third course: Figs, quince, honey, chestnut and oats This is where the flavours got interesting and complex. I'm not a fig person so I wasn't sure where my tastebuds would take me. If it was a normal degustation, I would consider this the mains. It was quite filling from the oats. The conversation took a funny turn with someone tentatively asking whether we were meant to eat the skin on figs. Even as "self acclaimed foodies" we didn't have a straight answer! Most people though, ended up eating the whole thing. Even I enjoyed it, although I couldn't expect any less coming from the Campbell kitchen! Fourth course: Valrhona chocolate, blackcurrant, coffee and hazelnut. Oh my. Totally the climax of the night. Not only stunning to look at, I was so inspired by the different textures that Brian had created on the dish. From the marshmallow to the mini magnum, my thoughts were only affirmed by the "oh wow"s around the table as everyone tucked into it. It was a pleasure watching Brian and his team at work. There was a calm aura as they lovingly put the desserts together. All the dishes were so clever and I know I left more inspired. As I came home to finish my marking, I knew I didn't make a mistake in breaking out of my nana mode. Starting off the week sweet was an uplifting start to the week. And knowing that macarons and cookies would be my morning tea for the next day kept the smile on my face. Even if I had accidentally squashed them in my bag (sorry Roselle!). Keep an eye out for their next pop-up! There's always something interesting about each one and they're popping up at restaurants like Orphan's Kitchen, Meredith's and Ima Deli. And if you haven't already seen it, here's the interview with Brian Campbell if you didn't catch it the last time.

Most of you would have heard of Milse. The amazing dessert bar and patisserie that opened up in…read moreBritomart a few years ago. Serving gelato on sticks, gateaux, chocolates, sweet tarts, plus their stand out macarons, Milse has become a bit of a phenomenon. Because really, who doesn't love chocolate and dessert?!?! The mastermind behind creating all of Milse's desserts is pâtissier, Brian Campbell. He has 15 years' experience working in Michelin star restaurants in the United Kingdom and at award winning restaurants here in New Zealand, at the likes of Kermadec and The French Cafe. Most recently, Brian has left Milse and has started up his own company, namely Sweet Cuisine' A Dessert Pop Up. So far, he and his wife, Roselle Campbell have hosted a dessert night at Fred's Espresso in Ponsonby where they teamed up with Giapo to create ice cream sandwiches, sundaes and drinks and they also had a dessert pop up at Merediths last week. And, a few nights' ago, I attended their second dessert pop up (however this one was special because all the desserts were made using Valrhona chocolate - the best quality chocolate in my opinion, you can buy it here) AND it was held at Sidart in Ponsonby. I have always wanted to dine at Sidart however it is quite expensive - will definitely need to save up one day! Brian and his team used the kitchens at Sidart and for about 20 minutes, my friend and I had the whole restaurant to ourselves, which was a pretty great feeling! The dessert pop up at Sidart involved a 3 course degustation - $45 per person, and an optional 4th course for $9, however sadly we were too full for the 4th course! All the dishes were beautifully presented and almost too pretty to eat! To accompany the desserts, they were also serving sweet Italian dessert wine, sparkling water, teas and coffee. My friend and I decided on a glass of the 'Prunotto Moscato d'Asti 2013′. With aromas of peach and honey, this was the perfect drink for our dessert night. The first dessert was a white chocolate panacotta, made of Ivoire 32% Valrhona chocolate. Surrounding the panacotta were bite-sized raspberries, blueberries and peaches, all topped off with freeze dried raspberries and fresh basil. It was a refreshing way to start the meal and the basil brought out all the flavours. I never thought to use herbs in baking, but I will definitely try it out now! The second course was a sponge like pudding with stewed apricots, hazelnut praline and a sauce inside using Dulcey 35% Valrhona chocolate. While the apricots were delicious, my friend and I could hardly taste the Valrhona chocolate - we felt like the apricots were too overpowering. This could possibly be due to the fact that the chocolate is only 35% - it might have a very subtle flavour. Last but not least, a to.die.for chocolate sphere, made entirely of Guanaja 70% Valrhona chocolate. Dark chocolate being one our favourite foods, my friend and I were amazed by this wonderful creation. Roselle explained the dish in great detail - two mousses, one with hints of tonka beans (vanilla bean substitute), and the other being rich and chocolatey. There was also a chocolate 'soil' surrounding the sphere, consisting of macadamia nuts, nougat and cacao nibs. But Roselle left out one surprise... Yes, popping candy! We were not expecting that at all, and it was truly the most exciting dish I have ever tasted. Every mouthful was full of joy and my friend and I couldn't stop smiling! It was a great night overall, with brilliant and creative desserts, a lovely host and a stunning venue. I cannot wait to see what is next in store for Sweet Cuisine! Note: If you would like some more information, check out Sweet Cuisine's website and Facebook page ("Sweet Cuisine' A Dessert Pop Up by Brian Campbell"), so you can keep up to date!

Solid option for treats and sweets but do yourself a favor and skip the sausage roll.read more

There are a lot of nice places to eat in St Heliers, but you still can't beat grabbing something…read morefrom the Breadwinner Bakery and walking the one minute to the beach, stretching out under a tree, and enjoying a little picnic all to yourself. Everything at Breadwinner is yummy - my favourites are the massive sandwiches, the pies, and the cream buns. It's all your standard kiwi bakery stuff here and a massive variety of it. Everything is made to a high standard and the prices are very reasonable. They have some seats inside and n the footpath, and do coffees and teas to have in or takeaway, but with the beach so close, it's a no-brainer.