Today was a cloudy drive through the Stirlingshire countryside and onto to the little town of Doune. The Scottish Antique and Arts centre 1 mile out of Doune is also home to "Cafe Circa" . The Centre is well sign posted and I arrived just in time for a bite of lunch . The lunch review can be viewed on our Hotel/Restaurant tab on the homepage . I was however here for the Cakes and boy was I presented with cakes !!! The Cake display hits you When you enter this lovely homely Café and would be hard to refuse after a bite of lunch once seen. Wendy and Jamie Robertson run this very busy Café and share the Baking duties between them . Wendy has baked all her life and it was a pleasure to chat to her at length about tips and different methods we both used for our Baking. I was presented with a ridiculously huge amount of Cakes to try and all beautifully delivered on lovely China crockery. Where to begin is the issue with this review but here goes - I really should learn to not judge a book by its cover and first up was what I thought was a really coarse looking sponge ,beautifully decorated . This turned out to be an unusual ( And I love unusual) Coconut Delice Cake . Very moist , full of flavour and texture and beautifully decorated with white chocolate and fresh fruit pieces. Loved it ! Next up was a variety of different sponge cakes , none least than an unusual carrot Cake made with dates (No sultanas or nuts) and had the combined flavour of a sticky toffee pudding/Carrot cake topped with a cream cheese frosting - Loved it ! The shortbread was melt in the mouth heaven and the Scones were just as I like - traditionally made with a hard crusty exterior and soft and flavour some in the inside. Wendy is known for producing a good range of Gluten Free cakes and Bakes and I tried an Apple and Almond cake - very good texture and flavour . I would say that if good food and good cakes is your thing then this place is for you . I will certainly be returning for a personal visit very soon. All the best and see you soon .
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