Sara and I visited Blackwell (a magnificent Arts and Crafts style house) in Windermere on Bank Holiday Monday just for something to do.
A summer holiday home built by the Manchester brewing baron, Joseph Holt (completed in 1901), the house sits impressively above Lake Windermere and is a classic example of its kind. It also has a cafe. The cafe, whilst having a reasonably good menu of home-baked stuff, doesn't, as we discovered, include coffee cake. Very disappointing, but a good lunch nonetheless.
We decided that what we needed was a trip to Shap. Not because we thought that there'd be anything there, but because we'd never been there and it was a nice day.
We maybe passed through it without noticing - or maybe it doesn't exist - but we decided to continue on to Penrith, surely there'd be coffee cake available in Penrith?
But, heading up to the M6, we saw a sign for a village called Orton which promised 'Crafts and a chocolate Factory'. We'd never heard of it so thought it might be worth checking out.
What a pretty little village it is and, as promised, right slap bang in the middle, is a chocolate 'factory' (read 'workshop') with a coffee shop attached. Well, we were in need of a cuppa, and hadn't had a pudding at Blackwell...
A quick perusal of the menu showed that coffee cake was available. Result. Sit down, order and wait. And wait a bit more... they take things nice and slow in Orton.
And the coffee cake arrived ...
...and it's fair to say it was different from the norm. It was an individual cake, and it was slightly warm. Which was nice but didn't necessarily endear me to the fayre..
The sponge was decidedly coffee flavoured - but the icing? No. Not a bit - it was a generic butter cream flavouring that was also on the carrot cake (as attested to, and tested, by Sara). There was also no filling, although the price was reasonable at £2.60. So, a slightly disappointing offering. Immaculate sponge but nothing else to commend it.
A very nice coffee milkshake made with local ice cream helped me overcome my disappointment, mind.
So, the scores....
Walnut Garnish: No
Walnut in sponge: No
Sponge: 9/10
Icing: 2/10
Filling: No
