Some things in life are just better together. Bert and Ernie. Kim and Kanye. Cheese and cake. From the traditional classics to the outrageously wicked, here are our picks for where to find the best cheesecakes in Melbourne.
Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio
South Yarra
Burch & Purchese's Strawberry Cheesecake sounds simple enough. But in reality, it's a lemony delight stuffed with strawberry cream and glazed with white chocolate and vanilla atop a crust of strawberry, blackberry, and cranberry. It looks like a toadstool out of a fairy tale too!
The Kettle Black
South Melbourne
When the decision comes down to deciding between ordering the cheesecake or the brownie The Kettle Black come to the rescue! Their Chocolate Cheesecake Brownie comes as a rich slab of swirled creamy decadence over a dense bed of brownie. No wonder it's a fan favourite. Easy access to a Square One coffee fix here is a bonus.
Higher Ground
Melbourne CBD
At Higher Ground cheesecake goes high concept. Their Whole Boiled Mandarin Cheesecake is no regular Jaffa cake. A whole mandarin is cooked for days(!) on end until it forms a completely tender globe destined to be filled with silky cheesecake and sprinkled with of cocoa nibs to finish. Your taste buds will be as impressed as your eyeballs.
The Black Toro
Glen Waverley
We may not like our lattes deconstructed but we're willing to give this cheesecake a pass since it's so darn addictive. You can't go wrong with anything plus peanut butter and The Black Toro's Deconstructed Peanut Butter Cheesecake comes served out of its pie crust alongside a scoop of intense chocolate ice-cream and hunks of shattered honeycomb. The missing "crust" is scattered over the top in crumbs.
Saigon Sally
Windsor
Also in the deconstructed vein is Saigon Sally's Candied Chestnut Cheesecake. Their sous chef Christina has whipped up an earthy cheesecake accented by a gleaming dollop of blackcurrant sorbet, coconut and macadamia shortbread and sweet fennel fronds. It's a pretty wild combo but it totally works.
Hopetoun Tea Rooms
Melbourne CBD
So many cheesecakes so little time! At Hopetoun Tea Rooms we recommend you skip past the passionfruit, New York, triple choc or Raspberry Pistachio cheesecakes - if you can bear it - and grab a slice of the retro Cappuccino Cheesecake. It's your afternoon tea break of coffee and cake in one with all of the over-the-top trimmings from coffee beans and flowers to chocolate shards and swirls of cream.
Beatrix
North Melbourne
Eating at Beatrix is like having a home-cooked meal from your most kitchen-accomplished friend, only better. Their Cookies and Cream Cheesecake is beautiful in its simplicity. An enticingly milky sour cream layer on top balances out a deeply chocolatey cocoa crumb crust below.
Brunetti
Carlton
If you're after a hefty wedge of old-school cheesecake in this town you head to Brunetti for their New York Cheesecake, Pelligrini's for their baked Italian Cheesecake or Monarch Cakes for their century old Polish Cheesecake recipe. But if you're trying to fit more cheesecake into your life (who isn't?) try Royals Stacks' dreamy New York Cheesecake in frozen custard form. It's like soft serve ice-cream but better. Alternatively, 8bit's Strawberry Cheesecake Milkshake is a ridiculously decadent take on the dessert and leaves sweet-toothed fans in raptures.
Image Credit: Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio