Cake Spade (Tanjong Pagar): where you get your daily puns through cake

My corny sense of humour makes me a laughing victim of puns, from the most offensive to the wittiest. So when my foodie friend Franny suggested we tea-a-tea'd (geddit, geddit?) over at Cake Spade after our satisfying gyoza lunch, I was really excited. That punny moniker alone piqued my interest and my appetite!

Cake Spade started as an online cake shop by young baker Zenn Eng, who was inspired to bake by her mother. Its success has now turned it into an actual bakery-cum-café at the Orchid Hotel. The café itself is tiny with minimal indoor seating but they have plenty of tables outside, which is pretty cool as Singapore's warm weather calls for al fresco dining anyway.

I didn't prepare myself for the sensory overload when we walked in. My eyes darted all over the counter and the menu, my mouth watered wanting to try every single thing, and though my mind had another R Kelly moment screaming "Noooo!", my belly had already waved into submission. There are too many interesting things to try here.

Punny monikers and overwhelming bakery theatrics aside, I quite like the branding. It's clean and cute but not saccharinely so. I like the Caketender tags, too.

On to the food, but first we shoot. We like how pretty these little things are.

The strawberry tofu cheesecake is one of their bestsellers. It comes with a digestive biscuit base (on some days they make it with Oreos!) and a top layer of jelly encased fresh strawberries. The cheesecake itself is light and easy on the palate. It's not overly sweet nor tart.

Though I've had better, the red velvet cake was tasty albeit the sponge itself was quite dense. The cream cheese frosting was spot on, though, and I'm with Franny when she says you don't have to scrape off the icing because it's well balanced.

F is such a delight to lunch with. I learn so much from her food discoveries in Singapore.

To make life sweeter, F sent me home with a slice of Cake Spade's spiced carrot cake, which I tell you, made me think of all the carrot cakes I've had (and trust me I've had more than plenty). I've never had anything quite like it. The spice (as in aromatics not level of hotness) is apparent but subtle enough as to not override the sweet flavour of carrot cake. It's moist with just the right amount of icing and is not overly sweet. We thoroughly enjoyed this one!

Overall, I liked Cake Spade. Their cakes aren't overly sweet and the other stuff like crumble bars, tarts and cupcakes looked pretty shiok, too. I like the fact that they've put a bit of a twist to our old classic favourites in quite a subtle yet cheeky way which is almost a pun on its own.

Cake Spade
1 Tras Link, #01-06, Orchid Hotel, Singapore 078867 | +65 6444 3868