North Sea Coffee, Cromer Promenade, Cromer.
You are not going to believe this, you are just not. A third carrot cake since lockdown finished and a third thumbs up. Have I turned into a push over during the last year? Now, I know some of you take a perverse delight in the more vitrolic reviews. The more fulminating a condemnation the better. To be honest I miss that too, it can be such a relief, like releasing a long held fart. Its cathartic. But the ultimate aim of these reviews is to praise the perfect carrot cake. So when I do find one it produces a teenage giggle of delight, that penetrates and rattles through the world weary cynicism of my sixty four year old form.
So what do I say as I begin my review? Don't lose your perspective. Don't get carried away. Don't be deceived by fusspot and foofy presentation. ( that may just be another Golden Rule right there ) In this case it was somewhat the opposite. Don't be mislead by the first appearance of your cake being served unceremoniously shoveled into the papier mache equivalent of a dog bowl. However perfectly and ecologically formed from recycled pulp. Look at that photo! The presentation, even if I were to be charitable, is unprepossessing. But I am more than willing to forgive such errant casualness. should the darkly ginger tinged nosh inside it prove superlative.
You may have heard me mention North Sea Coffee before. I do have, shall I say, the odd Flat White there. It is served in one size, in a small disposable cup, so they get that bit right. As a Flat Whitel its acceptable, but no shining gold star. It is a few kilometres away from the real deal - at The Black Apollo in Holt. Yet after battling through the wind and rain on the Cromer seafront, particularly this past summer, with a passably good coffee at the end of it - meaner men than I would not quibble.
What lifts any wavering spirits are the cakes. Perfect little specimens of wholesome confectionery. My personal favourites in descending priority being Date & Fig Slice - Apricot Slice - Banana Loaf. Some of their best confectionery is produced by the Mother of one of the women who runs North Sea Coffee. She is something of a confectionery goddess as far as I'm concerned. So the day when a carrot cake appeared on the cafe's cake list, interest was peaked enough to put aside my abiding preference for the aforementioned Date & Fig Slice of immaculate conception. Such is my devotion.
Anyway, we are four paragraphs in and still scene setting. Start the review of the cake, its overdue. As you can see from the photo this was one mega piece of carrot cake, carelessly slumped as it is in its ill fitting paper potty. Looking for all the world like a full grown man forced to wear an old school uniform. All the externals of the cake look correct. The tan colour, the weight if it, the mix, the frosting, the walnuts. Look how many walnuts there are, confident in its resemblance to a full sea of curly hair.
Yet how often have ravishing appearances deceived us? In the world of the carrot cake looks are not entirely trustworthy. The cake's texture was spot on. Hefty but not doughy, sturdy enough yet still a strand filled sponge, that was moist. The frosting lay there, magnificently forming a firm crust, but with the delicately sweet edged taste we expect of a superlative cream cheese. I instantly felt deep love for this rough hewn ragamuffin of a cake. Its a classic carrot cake, that doesn't need the additional plump of sultanas to brighten up its flavour spectrum. Quite nutty though, which is a good thing. This one was indeed a very good thing.
CARROT CAKE SCORE - 8/8
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