5/5 Stars
After four months of anticipation during construction, Sweet Daily has finally opened its gateway to a dessert-lover’s paradise. Located in the University Village by Oven 450, Sweet Daily is truly a convenient stop for Highlanders to refuel (and completely binge) on their daily intake of sugary goodness.
As soon as I walked in, I was greeted by the welcoming employees and sweet aroma that filled the space. The months of construction were well worth the wait as I took in the modern and contemporary room with its cool-toned walls and the lengthy, cushioned bench along the right side of the wall. The opposing side allowed customers to view the kitchen as the pastry chef prepared and decorated cakes behind a window that ran along the entirety of the wall. I went directly to the cashier to review the large variety of menu options that ranged from stuffed churros, shaved ice and cakes to savory, fried churro balls.
Overwhelmed by the plentiful options, I finally made my decision to order a bit of everything on the menu after 15 minutes of contemplation. I thus proceeded to order a chocolate-filled churro, cream and cheese shaved ice, a moo roll, raspberry chocolate chantilly cake and ham and cheese churro balls. (All for myself of course. Just kidding!) With the check-in offer for a free alkalinade drink on the Yelp app, my friend and I received a blue lemonade and pomegranate flavored alkalinade as well.
Shortly after ordering, my freshly fried ham and cheese churro balls were dished out to me in a paper container. Upon taking a bite of a churro ball, my eyes immediately began to tear up from the scrumptiousness of the food. It may just be my deep love for anything fried, but I was caught in an impassioned moment as I absorbed the tenderness and warmth of the cheesy potato-like ball. There is no doubt that I will be revisiting Sweet Daily to try the remaining churro balls such as the bacon mac n’ cheese and spicy meat pie balls.
I watched my chocolate-filled churro be made as I eagerly waited for it. An employee seemed to struggle as he exerted a great amount of force to crank what appeared to be a turnstile in which long strings of dough gradually slid out of. The churro dough was then dropped into a vat of frying oil before it was removed to be stuffed with filling and coated with cinnamon sugar. My mouth began to hyper-salivate as the fresh churro was directly delivered to my table. Eat the churro while it is still hot so that you may also experience the crisp exterior followed by its soft, doughy inner coating in its most delicious form. The chocolate filling then luxuriously coated my mouth as it quickly melted away.
Midway through enjoying my churro, the cream and cheese shaved ice was brought to the table. The shaved ice toppings were nearly flowing over the top of the cup as it was piled high with cheesecake crumbles, condensed milk, white chocolate feuilletine and whipped cream alongside a generous amount of strawberry puree drizzled on top. Two layers of shaved ice were separated by a thick layer of creamy cheesecake, so that I could easily get an even blend of each topping with the shaved ice.
The moo roll was meant to resemble a cow as the outer cake layer was white with black patches. The filling of the cake roll consisted of mascarpone cheese and cheesecake crumbles, while the cake itself was made purely from egg whites, creating a light, yet dense cake.
Out of the many ordered items, my personal favorite had to be the raspberry chocolate chantilly cake slice. Layers of chocolate devil cake were beautifully stacked between pink raspberry mascarpone cheese and fresh raspberries. The soft and fluffy layers of cake paired decadently with the lightly whipped raspberry cream and sweet fruit, which easily dissolved in my mouth.
Unlike the more traditional bread bakery of Uncle Chuang’s –– also located in the UV –– Sweet Daily is a dessert cafe. Thus I was completely surprised, yet relieved to find that they not only offer sweets, but also sell comfort foods in the form of their savory churro balls. I’ll definitely be back –– perhaps too often –– to test out their other items such as the churro dog, donut bites and other varieties of cakes.
