Having My Cake, and Eating It, too

The Love Cafe

1501 U Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009
202.265.9800

Monday—Thursday 9am-10pm
Friday 9am-11pm
Saturday 9am-Midnight
Sunday 10am-10pm

You know a bakery is good when the menu begins with "Nothing is fat free." Cake Love uses real butter to bake and isn't afraid to tell you. In fact, that's what makes it so good; the art of baking demands no substitutes. The bakery gave birth to the Love Cafe, and the cafe quickly became a hot spot for locals to gather casually while sipping Lavazza and eating cake. Warren, the owner, has expanded his business to Silver Spring, Maryland, and Shirlington, Virginia.

The Love Cafe recently introduced the Cupcake Bar. You choose a cupcake, choose your frosting, choose your toppings and voilà ! You have an instant custom cupcake. Personally, I can't resist the layered cakes, so I called up my friend Atul and asked if he wanted to meet me at the café.

Atul and I stood in line behind four customers. It was 8:30+ pm and more people were queuing up after us. Waiting in line gave us the opportunity to salivate over the desserts and decide what to order.

"I'm in the mood for something with citrus," said Atul while mentally selecting the lemon tart.

As refreshing the thought a berry tart might be, I was drawn to the chocolate. I was debating between chocolate cake with vanilla butter cream frosting or its counterpart, white cake with chocolate butter cream, but Atul convinced me to inquire about a mysterious looking cake covered in dark chocolate.

"What's in Cynthia's Sin?" I asked the lady taking our order.

"It's a chocolate cake with peanut filling and chocolate ganache." Enough! I was sold.

I expected a thick peanut butter filling, like the inside of a Reese’s peanut butter cup, since I've had other desserts with a similar description ( e.g. the Cheesecake Factory's peanut butter cup cheesecake). The first bite into the creamy interlayer was a surprising delight. It was light and fluffy with an understated flavor; rather than assault your taste buds, the taste of peanuts gradually grew in intensity. Smalls chunks of peanuts in the cream added crunch and texture to counterpose the soft cake.

I tried a bite of the lemon tart. It was reminiscent of a lemon meringue pie without the meringue. The flavor was intense, a bit too intense for me. Perhaps Atul’s tea helped to clear the palate in between bites.