Tesco goodness @ Tesco all around Prague

These liqueur-pumped pralines might not be the most decadent of their kind, but they are a heart-warming find on the praline scene that too often isn’t cruelty-free. Plus, the box of 21 goes for 54 Kč, leaving you almost guilt-free upon stacking up on them. Off the belt line, the pralines offer little adventure for the tastebuds, but, not to suck all the fun out of these little wonders au chocolat, the ways to devour can entertain. Try:
- dissecting the pralines midway with your incisors to marvel at their insides
- bite off their heads and suck all the liqueur out, then ditch the shells or have them dry
- shake the box around until the chocolate cracks, the pink alcohol spurts out and the cherries loosen, forming a bigger and better praline crumble

Brownie Love @ Cupcake, Krossener Straße 12, Berlin

Unfortunately (and unprofessionally) I ate the juicy and crumbly brownie before I photographed it. Chunky and twice the average palm, the brownies they bake in the back room of the Cupcake store rank nothing less than master brownies. If not in the brownie mood, do try the vegan apple pie or, well, the cupcakes.

Cake Cult @ Veg Food, Londýnská 35, Prague

I thank the Supreme Master for spreading the vegan banana-and-chocolate cake. I thank her for the dewy cocoa base, the filler of a mousse with ripe banana slices (though, the mouse could use a flavor to match its yellow hue), and the dough crumbles that coat the lot. I thank the Master for generous portions and humble prices.

Amen.

Pink as in Strawberry @ Veg Food, Londýnská 35, Prague

A cakecstatic surprise: the formerly cake-free Veg Food now has a cooler exclusively dedicated to cake. (Note that I used “cake” thrice in that sentence.)

At 4 p.m., what appeared as a take on an Oreo cake adorned with dark- and white-chocolate shavings was all gone but for a slice. I selected the more whimsical, still whole, pink-mousse embellished cousin, neglecting common sense and slaving to my infatuation with pink.

A bite later, I wasn’t the only one wondering whether this gateau was really vegan. Its core was fluffy and moist, so full of air pockets that it crumbled on the spoon. The generous layer of feathery pink mouse with carnation splinters aptly evoked strawberries in flavor — though the somewhat watered-down and sugarified kind — less so in looks.

The topping, dense and thick, was reminiscent of freshly-baked chocolate brownies, and orgasmic coupled with the lining of strawberry mousse.

This one didn’t have me strip the icing and spoon out the filling, no. The intricately — or accidentally? — layered whole had its ratios down 99.5 percent. (Still looking for that master cake…)

Hell, I would have paid 70 not the 45 Kč it cost me.

Guiltless Coconut Bliss

Kokoška, handmade cocoa-coated coconut tidbits from Vegetarianka, might not look up to the task — ingredients like banana chips, dates, and pineapple flakes aren’t normally decadent on their own — but the many flavors packed into these sweets hypergratify the taste buds the way a human-size praline would. Okay, one or two might not do the trick, but, light as they are, even devouring a box of 10 will leave you totally guiltless. Kokoška is, after all — and best of all — mostly fruits, both raw and dried.

The coconut comes full-bodied and refreshing; texture swings from the softness of dates to the crispness of cornflakes, and, to fully embrace its polarities, Kokoška tastes delish microwaved or refrigerated, though the manufacturer explicitly favors the latter. To truly appreciate this treat’s universal greatness, serve it as a feather-light breakfast, a midmorning snack, an afternoon nibble, and a late-night comfort food.

Uncake @ Country Life, Melantrichova 15, Prague

I was suffering from a mean cake withdrawal on Sunday. With no more boxes of those just-add-water vegan cake mixes left, I treaded to Country Life. Well, I found dessert, but it was no cake, as simple as that. Out of the three choices that CL’s cooler presented me with — all boasting far too many nuts and far too little, um, icing? chocolate? — I selected something best named as a Nut Ball with a Drop of Jam. Nothing exciting.

I blame Sunday for the fact that my dream treat lacked the juiciness I craved — who’d bake on the weekend here? Had I only gone on Friday, the nut ball would surely have had my eyes rolling and heart melting; today, it dried my mouth out.

And as I sat there, in the half-empty cafe, pissy over my nutty ball, I felt it necessary to redeem the pitiful uncake. So, here it is:

- It sells at only 15 Kč (73 cents).

- It appears to have marzipan pockets.

- It contains very, very little sugar.

- It comes in a cupcake wrapper — fancy, no?

- And it comes with free purified water in a city where you’d normally have to buy the bottle.

Lukewarm @ Bolhoed, Prinsengracht 60-62, Amsterdam

The deafening green and yellow and orange walls of Bolhoed clash with the casualness of its wooden eclectic furnishing and the wandering in-house cat. The end result is something middle-of-the-road, something bland like the vegan pear-almond pie in which both the pears and the almonds whisper, choked by the surrounding slimy beige.

Sugar Swell @ Jam Café, Národní 25, Prague

Where are the green-tea traces? The promised veil of black tea? Where is that something (anything!) that distinguishes tea from hued hot water? Couldn’t find it thought I looked everywhere, all around the floating spearmint leaf, deep down at the bottom of the glass, back inside the menu fold-up. But, surprise, surprise, the Moroccan-mint-tea label was a pompous disguise for tongue-numbing sugary water heavily infused with spearmint.

Minting the Moment @ Hans Wurst, Dunckerstrasse 2a, Berlin

Fresh flowers on old tables. Coffee and cake. Cake on the bar. Coke glass with mint leaves afloat. Hot water. Leaves afloat. Mints sink. Whirling honeysuckle and mint vapors clouding. Old couch and leaves. Blooming. Sunk.

Muddied Sips @ Satyam, Goethestr.5, Berlin

Unlike the pungent and spiced yogi teas, this Ayurvedic tea blend gently washes over your senses, bathing them with subtle undercurrents of cardamom and cinnamon. If your senses are crude, you’ll probably moan at it for being bland and brown with no visually redeeming qualities and demand a ginger-pepper punch because, in this one, the earthy, muddy tones really just tiptoe around. They float all around in fine grounds that cluster the sides of the cup and more heavily the bottom but taking nothing out of the airiness and puffiness and lightness in each sip (although the bottom gets more intense).