Black Forest, reconsidered
$9.50Nine layers, sour cherries steeped in kirsch, cream that is barely sweet at all.
Whole cake $86 · 48h notice
Cake room & bakery · Fitzroy
Nine layers, wonky edges, far too much butter. Everything is baked each morning in the little room you're sitting in.
the 5am shift, halfway done
Our story
In 2011 we rented a shopfront with a broken oven and a very good sponge recipe. We still use the recipe. We fixed the oven. Everything that leaves this room is made by hand, in this room, on the day you eat it.
— Mara & Josip
Cultured, unsalted, and far too much of it. There is no margarine on the premises and there never will be.
Ovens on at five. Whatever is on the counter at nine was made that morning — and when it's gone, it's gone.
Nothing here is machine-smoothed. If a layer leans a little, that is a person's hand, not a fault.
Jams, curds, praline, ice cream, the lot. The only thing we buy finished is the coffee beans, and we're picky about those.
The room
Marble tables, mismatched chairs, and a pass you can watch the whole time you're eating. Sit at the window if you can get it.
more of the same, daily, over on Instagram →
You will queue, and you will not mind. The black forest alone justifies a trip across town — and the room feels like someone's unusually well-lit kitchen.
Good to know
Both. We hold half the room for bookings and keep the window bench and the counter stools for walk-ins. Weekends before eleven are usually fine without a booking; after that, expect twenty minutes.
Come and sit down
Tables for one to six online. For anything larger, or for a whole cake, give us a ring — it's faster and you'll get Mara.
Find us
118 Gertrude StreetOpening hours
Whole cakes & events
Forty-eight hours for the standing list, a week for tiers. Wedding tastings run Tuesday afternoons.
the window table, if you're lucky