Extraordinary Desserts (San Diego)

I was a busy traveler last week, flying from SF to LA and then driving down to SD during the week. Although the focus of the trip was (for once) not food, I did have a lovely afternoon at Extraordinary Desserts in downtown San Diego. The desserts were indeed extraordinary looking, each more gorgeous than the next. In terms of taste, however, it was a mixed bag. 

My favorite dessert of the day was the passionfruit torte. The passionfruit flavor came through very prominently without being overwhelmingly sour, and the strawberries and kiwi embedded in whipped cream filling were cool and fresh. The trio of sauces mirrored the flavors in the cake, and it was nice to have the choice of whether or not to eat it because altogether it was a little sugar overkill. This cake reminds me of one my favorites, the berry blossom cake at Susina Bakery in LA.

I purchased a lemon bar to go for my sister, because she is a lemon bar aficionado. I didn't end up tasting it, but like everything else at Extraordinary Desserts they lemon bars were covered in beautiful fresh flowers.  

The brownie was served warm and fudgey, but my cousin and I both wished it was all chocolate. 

I thought the shortcake was gorgeous, but that the texture of the cake fell flat. It was a little dry and crumbly, with no discernible flavor.

The lemon torte was light fluffy filling and fresh berries served between layers of crispy pastry dough. This was probably my second favorite dessert after the passionfruit torte. I think Extraordinary Dessert's forte is in chiffon/genoise style cakes with fluffy whipped cream filling, rather than in tarts or mousses. Then again, I'm more a fan of cake than other types of bakery sweets, so I could just be biased. 

The one thing that unanimously fell flat was the mocha. There was way to much chocolate and sugar in it, making it more of a hot chocolate than a mocha. The huge dollop of whip cream on top rendered the drink lukewarm. Even if it had been hot, it was much to sweet to be enjoyed with a plateful of sugary desserts. Extraordinary Desserts is a fantastic place for those with a true sweet tooth or who just enjoy looking at beautiful food. For those who have a more restrained palate, bring a friend or two to share! It's a fun place, but you will leave in a sugar coma.