Elegance brought about by freshness and beautiful tension
It's so fresh. It may not be the right description for a cake, especially one made only of sponge cake and cream, but that's what I always think when I eat Grace's custard cake. It's the same freshness you feel when you bite into juicy fruit in front of a greengrocer's!
I'm sure they use the freshest ingredients, but there's more to it than that. I always feel bad about taking it home, so I always eat it in the cafe.
Perhaps custard itself evokes something newborn. The first homemade sweets that many children will remember are the "custard family" of puddings and milkshakes. I also vividly remember the cream puffs my mother made for me as a child, their plump appearance in mind.
When I first visited Grace about 20 years ago, the first thing that caught my eye was the custard cake when I saw the cakes lined up in the display case. I thought, "This has to be it." The fork easily goes all the way to the bottom of the cake without any effort, and the sponge cake and custard cream blend perfectly in your mouth.
The vivid impression I had is still brought back to me every time I eat it. What always amazes me is the unwavering aesthetic sense hidden within its comforting gentleness. The layers of dough and custard, folded perfectly, as if measured with a ruler, are truly dazzling. I sense an elegance brought about by a "beautiful tension" that cannot be described simply as simple.
