Peggy Porschen Cakes

I had never heard of Peggy Porschen before I signed up for classes at their academy near Victoria station.  I was looking around the area for lunch when I found this shop across the street. 

Peggy Porschen Cakes

I though hm, now would be a terrific time to try out their stuff and see if it is any good or if it just looks pretty.

They had an awesome menu you could with which to browse pre-orders.

Cookie lollies

Banofee Cupcake: A combination of bananas and toffee

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Chocolate Heaven Cupcakes

Salted Caramel and Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes

Strawberry Champagne and Chocolate Vanilla Cupcakes

Vanilla Cloud Cake and Salted Caramel Cake

Over the next few days at the academy I tried a few of Peggy's cakes.  These were very delicious.  Careful not to be too sweet as cakes in the states sometimes are.  I was always looking forward to cake time (or tea time as normal people would call it) at the academy.

Vanilla Cloud Cake

Perfect dense vanilla sponge and smooth creamy frosting.

Red Velvet Cupcake

Best red velvet I've had in a while.  I don't even like red velvet.

Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcake

This was everything.  I can't avoid salted caramel.  Put it near chocolate and I'm done.  This was so good and the best part was:

Filling! There's a filling! A salted caramel filling on the inside.

Icy Dot Wine

My favorite thing about Italy is going to be their casual attitude toward day drinking. On my way to Duomo I saw this cute wine bar selling gelato. 

I enjoyed my first cannoli whilst in Italy here and it was almost too much for me to finish.  Very big and crispy with a light cream filling and a candied orange peel on both ends. I decided to stay away from wine this early in the day for the sake of making it through til dinner. They appeared to have quite the wine collection. 

Bo Nuage Pastry Shop

Europe really instilled in me the beauty of meringue as its own stand alone treat.  Airy and brittle, I typically choose denser, richer desserts when I'm craving sweets. But merveilleux are an exception. 

French for "marvelous," whipped cream sandwiched by pieces of meringue are. It. And driving around Melrose one afternoon I saw the words "pastry shop" and hit the brake. (I know it's not right but I was passing an empty parking space AND THESE. THESE--ARE GOLD.)

Bo Nuage Pastry Shop

I just peeked inside and knew I could use one.  I was looking at 45+ minutes in traffic and needed a little spot of joy in my car ride.

Merveilleux in Almond, Coffee, PB, Snickerdoodle, R. Velvet, Choc/Mint, Raspberry & Chocolate

Caramel & Coconut Merveilleux

These are a version of merveilleux, of which there are many.  Chocolate curls substituted for the traditional chocolate shavings.  I thought maybe I'll just get two minis instead of one regular so I could try a few...

Oops.

I got a touch greedy and went for a regular size Snickerdoodle merveilleux and two minis; one vanilla and one coffee.  

Snickerdoodle Merveilleux.  

It had a bonus cookie on top! I couldn't not. You understand.  This would have been my husband's favorite if it had made it home :) ;D

Vanilla Merveilleux Mini

Coffee Merveilleux Mini

You see what I mean?  You know you're doing wrong but it just feels right.  And traffic is bad in LA. You deserve this.

Juice to Boost

A desperate need for wifi and nutrients lead me into Juice to Boost.  An evening gorging on pork meats, cheese and beer left me a little hungover and tired the following day.  

Upstairs Loft

Raw Chocolate Milk; Watermelon Juice

Raw Chocolate "milk"

Drawn in by the chocolate.  Anything chocolate and I'm can be convinced its at the bare minimum drinkable.  Tell me health food and I'm resistant. But again, desperate.  I felt like I was carrying bowling balls with my eyebrows.  But this chocolate milk was a lot better than regular chocolate milk. More complex in flavor, deeper chocolatey-ness, not overwhelmingly sweet but sweet enough. 2% milk and chocolate syrup is basic.  I felt like I have been messing up chocolate milk my whole life.  

Watermelon Juice

I have been putting watermelon into my smoothies so I knew this was going to be delicious.  This was my safety drink in case the chocolate one turned out to be "too" something. But this. Was so. Refreshing.  I was disappointed we only got the small one.  It would have been the perfect walking around with a bit of a hangover drink.  Easy to sip, sweet and light.  Almost like a fruit tea but richer in flavor.

Energy Ball

This was some sort of raw cocoa ball.  I am not 100% sure what it is made of but it looked like a no-bake cookie. I have only had positive experiences with no-bakes. It was bomb. 

My husband's half that he may or may not have received.

This joint made me think I'm not giving healthy treat shops enough of a chance.  I regularly walk by places like this in LA on my way to places with buttercream and glaze and cream filling thinking there is no easy way to transition from one to the other.  One tastes like heaven on a biscuit and the other tastes like a dog biscuit.  But clearly I can be wrong.

Caffe Peru

Piazza di Santa Caterina della Rota

Caffe Peru

I found this little place just wandering in the Trastevere district of Rome.  It was full of people midday which was an unusual time for anywhere to be busy in Italy.

Yo. Chocolate cake.

To late in the afternoon to order a cappuccino I ordered an Americano and it was the perfect pairing for the sweet chocolate cake.

Chocolate Sacher and Americano

On a side note this place had much cheaper drinks than a lot of bars in the area; alcoholic or otherwise. And like many cafes in Italy you pay at the register for what you want then bring the ticket over to the counter where they prepare your order.  Across the piazza is the beautiful Santa Caterina della Rota which you can gaze upon while you enjoy your treats :)