The woman taking my sister’s order at Charly’s Bakery doesn’t want to say the word ‘rats’.
It’s not a swear word, it’s not an outrageously rude one but the idea of scrawling it over a round of the famous bakery’s gooey chocolate cake catapults her into a worried world where perfectly normal expressions are spelled out with incredulity.
‘You want me to write ‘rats? RATS?”
My sister Mel laughs as she relays the story to me a few days later.
Our friend Rob’s and my own birthday are a day apart which calls for just one cake with the joint cheer of “Happy birthday, rats!” adorning the most delicious ‘wicked chocolate cake’ the world has ever known.
It’s just a communal nickname.
A thing we all call each other indicative of our random, silly, sometimes dodgy ways and our penchant for stealing food off one another’s plates.
The woman at Charly’s Bakery just wants to be sure.
The inscription is as colourful as the bakery itself and, like Charly’s, it has a little story of its own.
Charly’s’ begins with a boy.
A 16yearold Swakopmunder whose search for work found him sweeping the floor, making puff pastry and washing dishes for a severe German baker who later taught him the tricks that make for a brilliant Black Forest cake and a marvellously moist Sacher Torte.
This before love and a lady led to a move to Cape Town where they served their food from Charly’s at Thibault Square and then the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront before settling in the spot the city knows so well.
A bright pink and whitestriped building on Canterbury Street in Cape Town where their selection of cakes, pies, tarts, petit fours, Cookie Monster cupcakes and curious confectionery draws the city’s sweet teeth in droves whether birthday, lunch break or simple craving in need of quenching.
Our order for the day?
The ‘rats’ cake, a box of freshly baked lamb pies and sausage rolls and some mince pies that aren’t as completely terrible as mince pies are inherently.
My sister Mon picks these out of all that is on offer, between stacked cakes reminiscent of Dr Seuss books, gingerbread men and ‘Eat Me’ cupcakes in a charming building made more so with painted flowers, stars and curious characters.
And as for the cake itself? Most people’s sentiments are written cheekily on the box.
“Mucking afazing.”
Charly’s Bakery is situated on Canterbury Street in Cape Town,
South Africa.
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