The Cake Factory has opened a small cafe on 5th Lane that offers a limited range of their cakes and desserts. The cakes were so-so, but their cheesecake was the real winner.
The Desserts
The Cake Factory is no newbie when it comes to sweets in Colombo, but they’ve somehow eluded us thus far. This is their newest outlet, but they’ve got two more, one at the Urban Kitchen in Hyde Park and the other in Rajagiriya (which generally bakes on a pre-order basis).
This one is actually a tiny outlet so you’ll only find a fraction of their repertoire, which you can check out here. Prices fall in the mid range with cupcakes priced between Rs. 120 – 170 and desserts coming in at under Rs. 500.
Like most days in Colombo, it was scorching, so we got their iced coffee (Rs. 180) to start. Honestly, for Rs. 180 a slightly large cup would have been warranted. Tastewise, this was definitely on the milky end of the spectrum so don’t expect it to have a strong coffee flavour. I generally prefer my coffee with as little sugar as possible so this was a bit too sweet for me, but that’s a personal preference.
The red velvet (Rs. 165) and fudge (Rs. 150) cupcakes both stayed true to the classic recipes. The red velvet’s cream cheese topping was a bit denser than we would have liked but all in all it isn’t too noticeable unless you’re a frosting nazi, like me. We didn’t have any complaints when it came to the fudge, which had a soft, moist cake and glossy ganache-like frosting.
Ribbon is without a doubt my favourite type of cake, but Cake Factory’s ribbon cake (Rs. 220 per slice) didn’t deliver. The frosting was okay but it did have an unpleasant flaky texture at times, but the biggest issue was the dryness of cake which meant it would immediately crumble if we tried to pick it up or eat it with a spoon. I’m not quite sure when the cake was baked since it certainly wasn’t fresh.
Thankfully, they managed to redeem themselves with their baked cheesecake (Rs. 300 per slice), which was one of the creamiest and cheesiest cheesecakes we’ve had in a while. We also like the fact that CF has moved away from the usual blueberry cheesecake with this one. At first it tastes a bit odd since the flavour of the cream cheese comes through unadulterated by any toppings. It’s not too sweet either so the most prominent flavour is that cream cheese.
Ambience & Service
Like we mentioned earlier, this particular outlet is quite tiny, made to look like a small pantry with seating along the wall. That being said they’ve done up the place quite nicely and kept the theme quite clean with the white walls and wooden panels.
The gentlemen who mans the counter was quite friendly, but clearly still not too familiar with the menus and prices. But then again there’s hardly any prep involved since pretty much everything is premade.
Conclusion
The Cake Factory doesn’t really look to change the status quo with their cakes, but they do offer a unique experience with their cheesecake. If you find yourself around 5th Lane craving something sweet, The Cake Factory is worth a stop.
