What is it with this city and cupcakes? Everywhere you look there’s a pastel-hued patisserie with a cutesy motif of lips, bows or love hearts, and a gaggle of shop assistants cooing over the silvery sprinkles and strawberry whipped frosting. Seems the sweet-toothed in Abu Dhabi can’t get enough of pressing their noses up against those enticing glass counters either.

This particular sugary specimen, Maison Sucre, is in an unlikely location in the concrete jungle of Khalidiyah. So if you’re seeking refuge from the construction and traffic-filled roads, duck into this quirky little cake shop. There’s not much by way of seating, although staff promised that they’ll soon be serving coffee with their sweet treats. But they do have little trinkets that, we have to admit, we spent a lot of time examining: boxes of mints, packets of greeting cards, tissues and canvas bags with girly motifs printed on them. The atmosphere was kooky and welcoming, and the counter of cakes did look very appetising. Maison Sucre does pretty cupcakes in date and cinnamon, chocolate, carrot, and banana varieties, as well as a nice line in muffins, pies and tarts. All come in delicate, dainty portions except the cake slices which are gigantic – easily enough for two people.

We chose the mini Oreo cheesecake and a slice of red velvet cake. Both came presented in boxes with a huge pink satin ribbon (naturally). The Oreo cheesecake was more like mousse, with a split cookie in the top. It was soft and light, and had the texture of well whipped cake mix rather than cheesecake. Not unpleasant, but we’d had something with more bite in mind. The red velvet cake was very sugary and gooey. Layers of bright red sponge and buttery white icing made it look like a fun treat, and if you brought this one home to your kids, they’d no doubt go crazy over it – and not just because of the E numbers.

The bill (for two)
Mini Oreo cheesecake Dhs14
Red velvet slice Dhs18
Total (excluding service) Dhs32