Harucake

Harucake is a cake studio on West 6th in Koreatown, founded in 2019 by pastry artisan Ellie You, and it works to a four-word rule: less sweet, more love. The cakes are minimalist milk cream cakes made with 100 percent organic fresh cream, which lands lighter and gentler than the buttercream tradition, and every one is crafted to order with nothing sitting pre-made in a case. Green grape yogurt, banana chocolate and a biscoff mocha are among the current lineup, and same-day cakes come out in limited numbers each afternoon. The drinks are where matcha takes over. A banana matcha and a banana matcha cloud, a matcha yuzu tonic, a matcha strawberry, and the SooSoo matcha, which is the corn one and the sleeper of the whole board. Small bakes have joined the counter, with dubai mochi balls holding chocolate, pistachio cream and crispy kadayif, plus egg tarts under flaky shells. We order a cake for the occasion and a SooSoo for the walk back.