05 March 2012

sweet tooth.

Up until recently, the only thing missing from my Jo'burg list of "go-to" places was a delicious pastry shop.  I had found a favorite in Stellenbosch, and I used to love Corner Bakery in California, but in Jo'burg no matter how hard I searched I couldn't seem to find that one place that never failed to happily indulge my sweet tooth.

Fortunately, a couple of weekends ago some friends introduced me to Chateau Gateaux Patisserie in Illovo, and I'm happy to announce that my "go-to" list is now more than complete.  As soon as I walked into the shop my jaw practically dropped to the floor in awe of all the deliciousness and I quickly started snapping photos of every sugary creation in sight.  The little individual cakes were so beautiful that I wasn't sure how I was going to choose just one - and on top of that they had croissants, bagels, danishes, and even apple pie {a rarity in South Africa}!

Luckily, Karen and Martina were willing to share, so we ordered three things and then everyone sampled each other's dessert.  We went with hot mud pudding, key lime cheesecake, and cookies n' cream mousse.  They were all just as tasty as they sound, but in the end I think it was the mud pudding that got our vote for first prize.


I'm pretty certain it won't be long until I'm back at Chateau Gateaux again, although I need to make a conscious effort to limit my trips as much as possible - otherwise it could get dangerous ;)

For any Jo'burg based readers - this place comes highly recommended by moi.
{and I'm not getting paid a cent to say this!}

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Do you have a favorite "go-to" place that never fails to satisfy your sweet tooth?

27 comments:

  1. That hot mud pudding looks OUTSTANDING! Much better than the canned soup I'm currently slurping down:/

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  2. you can't post something like this when i haven't even had breakfast. let me just start my day with a dessert please!

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  3. Sounds delicious! Have you tried moemas, petit fours and wolves? My favourite places in JHB for yummy things!

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  4. lovely pictures, this makes me hungry!

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  5. Mouth = officially watering!

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  6. I want to dive through this computer screen and have one of those sweet treats.

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  7. Looks so good! Are things less sweet in South Africa? I remember when I lived in Argentina it was a huge shock because nothing had as much sugar as it did in the U.S. and I missed the sweets! Even the candy and the chocolate didn't taste as sweet as it did back home!

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  8. Oh my hat! I could lick the screen...in fact, I might just do that....

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  9. WOW!!! everything looks phenomenal. youre making me want to fly to joburg just to visit this place!!

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  10. You know, apple pie isn't such a rarity in Afrikaans households. They even eat it with cream. I don't like it though. That place look amazing, you should take me there sometime

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  11. Yum! Everything looks delish! So I've been to Corner Bakery lots of times but never ordered anything sweet. I need to change that thanks to this post :)

    Visiting via your guest post at La Mia Vita!

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  12. Hi Jenna! I just found your blog through La Mia Vita and I am so glad!! I love your blog and your story! I just moved to Paris to study French pastry and always like reading stories of other expats around the world. Looking forward to reading more! PS- that patissiere is so beautiful and everything looks even more delicious!

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  13. I'm not that picky so I don't really have a go-to place :) haha any place where I can get something sweet is good!

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  14. Oh YUM!!! Everything looks delicious! Now I'm dying to go get a cupcake or something. Haha.

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  15. Oh my gosh---that looks amazing. I need a snack....and I don't mean the grapes I brought for that purpose! :)

    Love your blog--I'm your newest follower! Can't wait to hear all about your South African adventure!

    ~Tiffany
    http://tiffanyd22.blogspot.com

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  16. OMG. sweet tooth coming on. i love cheese cake, creme brulee, choc chip cookies... i love sweets (:

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  17. These look AMAZING! Love your blog. Newest reader!

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  18. That looks dangerously tempting! I have favourite places to go for coffee but not really sweet things!

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  19. Mmmm, that strawberry cheesecake looks delish! But also the mudpie, I'm drooling right now! :) In London there's a really good patisserie called Paul's, I think it's actually french but luckily we have it in England too, they have the best croissants!

    xo Lisa

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  20. holy crap - the strawberry cheesecake looks so intense and yummy!

    and maybe i'm just a moron but - why did i think south africa had a different language. is everyone english speaking?

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  21. that looks so great; clearly Jo'Burg has become quite fancy since I was there in '07!
    http://sawatdeeyall.blogspot.com/

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  22. love the shortening to Jo'burg Jenna! and LOVE to the end of the earth and back again these awesome dessert treasures. wowness, i'm dying over a glimpse into this place. what a find! glad you finally got there and ticked it off your list of hot spots to visit. the molten lava chocolate decadent cakey thing looks ahhh-mazing!! oh i bet you girls smelled delicious just by being near all the sweetness going on. my gf used to be a baker and she always smelled so good! trick of the trade i guess. ♥

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  23. Have you ever been to The Patisserie? My sweet toothed S.A aunt took me there on my last visit and everything was SO tasty!

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Thanks for the love!