Food Review: Those devilishly heavenly treats

22 July 2015 - 02:01 By Shelley Seid

Jewish king of comedy Jackie Mason once quipped that the Jews had invented sushi. "That's right - two Jews bought a restaurant with no kitchen." The same thing happened to Roxi Wardman. Spoonful Eatery, her month-old coffee shop in Windermere Centre, has no kitchen.This has clearly not been a hindrance for a woman who has train driver and MasterChef winner on her CV.Armed with a sandwich press and a coffee machine, and with her fiancé, Byron Maclou, she is feeding and watering Durban from her modest slice of trading space hidden at the back of a knick-knack and clothing shop that looks as if it's been stocked by demented magpies.Between a change room and a rack of dresses are Wardman's gourmet delights: oversized, moist cupcakes, topped with butter cream (made - I swear - from real butter and real cream); towering, multi-layered cakes (chocolate with a Nutella topping or wrapped in KitKats or a salted caramel); and a tart of the day - Oreo chocolate and pistachios perhaps, or raspberry meringue - everything is baked at home each evening and carted to the shop daily.Don't go alone. You won't be able to choose without experiencing the stress of FOMO or suffering a superfluity of sugar.I rounded up some favourite relatives so we could share a cross-section of cupcakes - a sublime triple chocolate, a tiramisu buttercream, one with a Nutella frosting, another a celebration of mint - it was a Willy Wonka experience.Wanting a balanced meal we ordered a couple of toasties. Cheddar, feta, spinach and biltong dust won the day, with toasted caramelised onions; Camembert, pecan and cranberries on brown a close second. Give the woman a stove and there'll be no stopping her.Roxi says a regular customer pops in ona Monday, having spent Sunday in church asking forgiveness for the sin of gluttony. She then buys at least half a dozen cupcakes to take home. She should relax. Food like this belongs in heaven...

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