Cake Boy
Unit 2 Kingfisher House, Battersea Reach, (off York Road) SW18 1TX
Nearest Station: Wandsworth Town
Phone: 020 7978 55555
Expect to Pay: around £2.50 per cake
Eric Lanlard, star of TV’s ‘Glamour Puds’ and arguably the closest anyone with a Y chromosome can get to Nigella Lawson, is significantly contributing to London’s collective sugar high. Not only has he collaborated with Patrick Cox on Cox, Cookies and Cake, but he also has his own temple of baked goods in SW18. Lanlard's Cake Boy is a small café located in a ‘luxury riverside development’ near Wandsworth Town station, meaning that visiting does feel a bit like trespassing if you don’t happen to live in one of the lustrous flats above.
Nevertheless, intrepid cake pilgrims will find a warmer welcome inside the chic cafe, which is split into two distinct sections. The left-hand side is clean and colourful without being impersonal, comprising a professional kitchen (where fairly high-priced baking classes are held) and small breakfast bar that overlooks what we're charitably going to call the piazza outside. To the right is a comfortable yet stylish leather-bound seating area where you can relax (or pose) with a cake and a drink: their beverage selection ranges from coffees and adulterated hot chocolates (disappointingly more of the Cadbury than the thick European variety) to alcoholic tipples.
Most importantly, Cake Boy offers a sweeping array of snacks that encompasses savoury sandwiches and tarts, morning pastries and a tantalising mix of sugary treats. We tried a selection of the latter: a blueberry cupcake that neatly contrasted indulgent icing with a sweet surprise of fruit puree inside; a classic French frangipane pear tart that delivered everything it promised and one disappointment: a chocolate sponge adorned with a sugar figure whose dark ganache didn’t quite hit the sweet spot.
Although we probably wouldn’t trek across town for another visit, Cake Boy is a pleasant addition to an otherwise sparse area we're sure that Eric Lanlard's cake empire will continue to rise like a well made soufflé.
