I’d wanted to try Dear Florence for ages. We finally went after lunch at Ibushi, which is in the same building. The cakes are small and expensive, about $20 and up each, and you get maybe four bites. They’re also really good.
Dear Florence is a French patisserie on the ground floor of Prefecture 48, 230 Sussex Street in the Sydney CBD. It opened in 2024. Broadsheet says executive pastry chef Aoife Noonan is behind the cakes, and the shop looks more like a jewellery store than a bakery.
Last time I looked, it was open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 3pm, so check before you go. You can also order online and pick up the next day.
The First Time You Walk Past
Every cake is tiny and perfect. The first time I walked past, the cakes stopped me. Then I saw the price and thought, what could a cake this small possibly be worth that much? Then I had the first bite. Lots of thin layers, and it was worth it.
What We Ate This Time
I don’t like very sweet things, so I picked carefully.
The strawberry choux was my favourite. It isn’t very sweet, and the raspberry jam and pistachio filling balance it out. The matcha cake was amazing on the first bite. After a few bites it’s a little sweet, but it’s still good. We also got a chocolate one, which looked beautiful. If chocolate is your thing, it’s good.
The packaging is lovely too. French cakes are usually a crisp shell with a soft inside, and sometimes a filling in the middle.
What We Ate In January
The last time we went was in January, and these were the new cakes at the time. They change them every so often, so you probably won’t see the same ones now.
Horizon: vanilla rum mousse, pineapple jam and coconut sponge. The mousse is smooth with strong vanilla, and the pineapple jam adds a fresh sourness. Light and soft, with plenty going on.
Wisteria: chamomile cream cheese, blueberry jam and elderflower mousse. Beautiful to look at. The cream cheese isn’t heavy, the blueberry jam is fresh and sour-sweet, and the mousse tastes of flowers.
Mikan: candied citrus, English breakfast tea and sansho pepper. The most unusual of the three. The tea-flavoured custard is moist and the citrus is fresh, with a thick pepper-flavoured almond layer underneath. It’s one you’ll either love or not. I’d have liked a thicker citrus layer, and the pepper wasn’t as hard to take as I’d expected.
All three tasted like good ingredients and had clever combinations. Looks great too.
So, Worth It?
It’s expensive, and it was like that every time we went. If you want to try something new, it’s worth one visit. Go in for a treat, not a snack.
If you like pretty cakes, we also wrote about Saison, Melbourne’s most beautiful cakes. And there are more ideas on our things to do with kids page.