It’s all about indulgence at the Schakasz Dessert Bar! 

With its soft white and teal interiors (almost like it’s straight out of a Pinterest board), coined around the theme of a French patisserie with its soft pastels and window seats, the Schakasz Dessert Bar is warm and inviting. Just a little over a week old, the desserts-only store promises fine, top notch desserts to its patrons, all of which have been prepared with love and the best of ingredients.

The brainchild of two friends Kasuni Silva and Chanika Rodrigo, they say that it’s been a dream to finally be able to open a place just for desserts – something that still isn’t available in Colombo as yet. “We have places serving cakes and desserts alongside sandwiches, or main meals, but do we have a place that serves only desserts? This is the void we set out to fill,” says Kasuni Silva, who looks into the operations of the dessert bar such as its interiors, packaging and sourcing. Chanika does the baking, with over a decade of experience in treating family and friends to delicious and comforting desserts, as well as taking orders on a pre-order basis.

The menu consists of a few favourites at the moment, and there are at least sixteen more desserts in the pipeline, which are currently being experimented around with, to perfect and tweak before they are added to the store in a few weeks’ time. I’m told the Passionista is a firm favourite among anyone who enjoys the tart flavour of fresh passion fruit. “The thing with passion fruit is either you love it or hate it. There’s no in-between, so if you enjoy it, this tart is ideal,” explains Chanika.

For someone who’s partial to passion fruit in desserts, I absolutely loved this tart with soft passion fruit curd encased in its soft, buttery crust. It isn’t too tart in flavour and just the right amount of sweetness which makes it a great dessert. The Bailey’s Cream Pot is something in between a mousse and pudding, and infused with a bit of Bailey’s - to give you a heady chocolate rush - is divine! Topped with a fresh strawberry, this dessert is quite rich and a must-try (I’m beginning to think that all these desserts are must-tries).

By this point, I was quite stuffed (pathetic I know), but Chanika and Kasuni describe the rest of the desserts to me. The Chocolate Madness is a chocolate cake, generously slathered with a chocolate ganache on top. The Chocolicious consists of soft chocolate cream encased in a buttery crust, and appears to be a popular favourite already, and perfect if you enjoy chocolate tarts.

The No Bake Cheesecake comes in two variants – with sliced peaches or fresh strawberries, same as the Panna Cotta. The Anna Pavlova is a soft meringue filled with fluffy cream and topped with peaches, fresh strawberries or passion fruit. The Brown Betty Apple is an apple crumble served alongside a pot of warm custard. I’m told the chocolate mousse is quite stellar too, with its soft cake base and thick gooey mousse. The Crème Brûlée is torched upon order, and is available only for dine-in, just as the Pavlova. All this is enough to make me want to go back soon, just to try them all out, hopefully without passing out from a sugar-induced coma.

Schakasz also serves hot chocolate, and teas – iced or hot, the teas are paired with a soft French Madeline dusted with icing sugar. Whole cakes and desserts are available for pre-order or pickup, but make sure you give them a call first just to make sure.

The Schakasz Dessert Bar is open everyday, except Monday. Their operating hours are from 11.30am-9.30pm from Tuesday – Thursday and Sunday, and on Fridays and Saturdays from 11.30am-11pm. They can be contacted on 0767477588, and are located at No.56, Stratford Avenue, Colombo 06 (just passing Gandhara). Parking is also available at the Gandhara premises. Search for ‘Schakasz’ in your Facebook search bar and like the page, or follow them on Instagram @schakaszdessert, and stay posted with daily updates.

By Sarah Kellapatha
Photographs courtesy Schakasz Dessert Bar