singapore girl finally made it to balmain last week; she’d heard about a particular cake shop i like to go to. so there we were, thinking we were safe by going for lunch beforehand, to line our stomachs, but we left zumbo with two cakes for now and a bag of macaron for later.

reading it off the little plaque in the shop, charlotte o’hara sounds like one of those eccentric ladies with too many voices in her head: biscuit cuillere, ginger and vanilla bavarois, lime creme, fig, basil and pistachio jelly… and if you were to eat each element one at a time, as i did to start, then you might think the bavarois too gingery, or the jelly too figgy. but i’ve heard more than one person say it — including the countergirl — that all the flavours come together into one great superflavour, and it’s true.

truly, this is alchemy at work. i could not decide if i should eat it fast, or slow. it was light and delicate, and certainly could’ve been inhaled. but that would only have brought matters to an end much too quickly.

after all, she got all gussied up for us: see her bonnet of bright raspberries, plump and bursting with tart flavour. the neat ring of meringue, the fine ribbons of lime zest and white chocolate. the finery on the outside, though, belied a primness within. we took our time with her.

the pace slowed even more for essaouira. turns out that charlotte o’hara is all sweetness and light — but only while you’re eating it. once it’s down your gullet, all the richness of the cream and butter remind you how debauched your time together really was.

but try and stop. try and say no to the slim plaques of dark chocolate that break with such a satisfying crack. try and resist the piped rows of dark chocolate chantilly creme, and the ones beneath of orange ganache. the base of cakey hazelnut dacquoise and crunchy praline feulletine were most persuasive. all up, essaouira reminded me of the chocolate-covered, orange-flavoured wafers of my childhood — which only made me love it more.

and i did stop eating it after all, for i feared that i might die. i left the smallest little corner for quite a way after dinner. i ate it in the dark.