Yesterday, in the name of science and research – but really because I had to buy a gift for a friend – I went into every sweet shop at Serendra and sampled their wares. In the space of half an hour, I had spent a small fortune and had sugar coming out of my gills. (Because I have gills.) I ducked into a bookstore and bought my friend a book which, it would turn out, she already has.

By the time I met Joel for dinner, I was giddy from all the sugar and laughing like a loon.

“Are you high?” he asked.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! No.

ANYWAY, I thought I’d share my research findings with you.

Gourmandise Patisserie. Two thumbs up for the vanilla eclair (P100)!

Cacao. Don’t bother. I sampled about five different chocolates and they were all very bland. The only one that stood out was the dark chocolate-covered caramel with sea salt.

Chez Karine. If I remember correctly, they do a decent panna cotta and pudding here. This time around, I tried their chocolate cookies (P90). While they look like shit – and I mean that literally – they’re actually pretty good. I wouldn’t give them away as gifts though.

Marta’s Cakes. I tried their Red Velvet cupcake and, while it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t great either. So I really don’t see don’t see how they can stand a chance against Cupcakes by Sonja.

Cupcakes by Sonja. I shouldn’t be left unattended at Cupcakes by Sonja. I shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near Cupcakes by Sonja. Oh, the damage I could do to myself in there… I had the Elvis (P115), their homage to the King’s favorite peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Its description contains no punctuation: “Oreo cookie crust and rich peanut butter cream filled with Reese chocolate bits and slathered with chocolate and caramel topped with caramelized banana slices and whipped cream”, but you get the picture.

If you don’t, here’s one that I nicked from the internet.

A lot of cupcake makers think that if they pile their cupcakes from here to kingdomcome with everything in the book, that should be enough. They don’t get it that the cupcake itself has to be good. Sonja knows how to make a really good cupcake. And a lot of other things, it seems. I have a long list of goodies to try the next time I am there. Which is, hopefully, never.

It was around this time that I sent Joel an SOS to save me from myself. And I was fine, until he deposited me at a party later on that evening where I ended up with my other favorite poison – alcohol.

Yeah, it’s anybody’s guess if I make it to barre3 tonight. I already missed the 1 PM class.