Overview
The minds behind the multi-layered delight that is the legendary Strawberry Watermelon Cake — which has lit up Instagram feeds across the world since its inception in Sydney over a decade ago — are heading south. Sydney's Black Star Pastry is whipping up something just for us Melburnians, opening the doors to a summer-long pop-up in St Kilda from today, Monday, November 25.
Making its home beneath Acland Street's Jackalope Pavilion — where you'll find blockbuster exhibition Rain Room — the temporary bakery follows a successful 2017 pop-up in Carlton, as well as plenty of outings at Melbourne's Night Noodle Markets over the years.
The new pop-up store is serving up a selection of Black Star smash hits, the bill headlined, of course, by that Strawberry Watermelon Cake. Sporting layers of almond dacquoise, rose-scented cream and watermelon, this little beauty sells around one million slices annually across the brand's four Sydney stores and was even dubbed the "world's most Instagrammed cake" by the New York Times.
Other favourites making the journey south include the Pistachio Lemon Zen Cake — another layered sensation featuring pistachio ganache, white chocolate mousse, lemon curd and crunchy pistachio dacquoise — and the Raspberry Lychee Cake, which fuses chocolate biscuit, raspberry marshmallow and vanilla cream. When Easter rolls around, Melburnians will also get to try the brand's famed hot cross buns.
The sweet stuff is complemented by St Ali coffee and a contemporary, minimalist store space, featuring neon signage by UK artist Tracey Emin proclaiming "you loved me like a distant star". And, in a win for those who don't like waiting, customers can also pre-order a range of cakes online and skip the queues with express pick-up.
While this Melbourne store is only a pop-up, Black Star Pastry has plans to open stores across Australia (and overseas) in 2020 — fingers crossed one of those lands in Melbourne.
Find Black Star Pastry's Melbourne pop-up at 2a Acland Street, St Kilda until Easter 2020. It's open 7am–4pm Monday to Friday and 8am–5pm Saturday and Sunday.