Honey Cakes Café
Butterscotch Muffin
Red Velvet Pancakes with a scoop of Birthday Cake Gelato
French Toast with 100% Maple Syrup
Pecan Bun
Apple Croissant
Hazelnut Croissant
Almond Macaron
Salted Caramel Macaron
Oatmeal Raisin Cookie
Carrot Bundt Cake
Tucked away in a shopping center in Centennial, with early morning hours seven days a week, it was on a whim that I decided to travel up to Honey Cakes Café and although the twenty-two minute drive to an area I really had no other reason to visit proved a hassle due to an early morning traffic incident slowing cars to a crawl my 7:20am arrival found the small café ready and waiting – no customers quite yet, but the shelves and cooling racks stocked with no less than two dozen varieties of fresh pastries while the small kitchen gleaming as a cook stood mixing batters for a variety of made-to-order plates.
Owned and operated by a gentleman named Anthony, a classically trained baker who has manned and managed the kitchens of some of Sin City’s finest resorts, it was with the Chef himself present and happy to chat that several pastries were discussed and focusing mostly on personal favorites as well as those hot from the oven seven options were selected, a complimentary apple croissant plus two plates from the kitchen and a ball of housemade gelato comprising an order totaling just shy of $40.
Beginning first with a muffin, taken back to the kitchen in order to be rewarmed in the oven, suffice it to say that anyone who fancies butterscotch would be well served to drive up to Honey Cakes ASAP as the Scotch infused batter dotted with golden chips is undeniably delicious without being overly sweet and following this up with a fresh laminated pastry packed with housemade apple-cinnamon compote a theme was established, the flavor of apples in abundance with a relative lack of sugar allowing the buttery layers of pastry to shine.
At this point receiving two made-to-order plates, one with a ball of sumptuous ‘birthday cake’ gelato, it was a bit of a surprise that the pancakes were served far thinner than many Las Vegas breakfast institutions but with rich cocoa notes and a delicate crumb freely lacquered by a pitcher of 100% Maple Syrup the flavors were robust and on par with those several times more costly on the Strip, the French Toast faring slightly less well largely due to the high egg content of housemade brioche and the fact that it was not soaked long enough to allow custard to penetrate all the way through.
Moving back to pastry, the last item consumed within the café arriving halfway through my pancakes and French Toast, one must consider the phrase “the early bird gets the worm” quite appropriate when considering Chef Anthony’s $4.50 Pecan Roll because, while I cannot guarantee it is nearly as good midday, the piping hot version just out of the oven was not only stunning in the quantity of pecans and caramelized sugar packed into each bite, but also by the crunchy shell with stretchy-soft dough within – a reference standard iteration of a classic that I’d rank best in the city by some distance, and on par with the best I’ve tasted anywhere else as well.
Taking the last five items to go, the bulk consumed with coffee as part of a midday snack, it was only a slightly gummy salted caramel macaron that held the rest of my order back from perfection and with the almond version of the Parisian favorite light and crisp one almost wonders if the former was a one-off mistake – something I’ll no doubt have to determine at a later time when I make the drive back up to Centennial since the creamy housemade hazelnut spread filling another croissant is the sort of thing I’ll crave while the chewy oatmeal cookie and carrot-packed bundt were equally desirable, the later also available in a cake form still calling my name.
FOUR STARS: Long hidden in the ‘pastry department’ of several Strip-based resorts, but now ready to shine in his own regard, the work that Anthony and his team at Honey Cakes is doing not only meets but exceeds several of the city’s most highly regarded bakeries at a far more friendly pricepoint with ingredients and execution every bit as refined.
RECOMMENDED: Pecan Roll, Butterscotch Muffin, Apple Croissant.
VOID: French Toast.
TIP: Currently offering a $15 off $30 restaurant.com certificate, those looking for a deal are well advised to check it out.
WHAT THE STARS MEAN: 5 World Class, 4 Excellent, 3 Good, 2 Fair, 1 Poor
http://www.honeycakescafe.com/home.html
