Petersham, Sydney, Australia: Sweet Belem 21/9/8

In my previous blog, I mentioned that Petersham is a predominantly portuguese suburb. In that visit, we also visited a dessert place called Sweet Belem after our main meal.



Sweet Belem has been featured many times in the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide as a dessert place to be visited. The place is not opulent or fancy but it is tastefully decorated. In fact, the coloured tiles feel authentic and culturally portuguese (on assumption) . I've tried booking cakes in bulk with them before, only to be told that the shop only makes a small quantity a day and the cakes are only sold in the store. Their reason was that they wanted to maintain the quality of the cakes. The shop obviously place quality over profits. Foodies after my heart, I was very impressed.

Still being very full from the Portuguese Chicken Restaurant, we decided to just try 2 desserts.




1) Chocolate Terrine

Rating: 6.5/10

This is a very pretty cake. It has 3 different layers of chocolate mousse- white, dark and milk. I confess that it was a bit disappointing. I attribute it to personal preference as I like my cakes quite light but it was slightly dense. However, a compliment I will pay it was that the terrine was not too sweet. Many chefs often overdo the sweetness in chocolate terrines.




2) Portuguese tart

Rating:8.5/10

It is my understanding that Sweet Belem is particular famous for this dessert. This is rightfully so. The Pastry was flaky and the custard of the tart was not too bland or too sweet. The custard at the top of the tart was lightly charred to give it the carmelised flavour.



Other useful details:
Address: 35 New Canterbury Rd, Petersham, 02 9572 6685
Price: About $5 per cake.