Every country has a cheesecake. New Zealand tends towards a biscuit base and a lemon lift; New York goes tall and dense; Japan makes it wobble. Brazil pairs it with guava, and if you are looking for cheesecake in Christchurch that does something other than the expected, that is the one to try.
Romeu e Julieta, explained
In Brazil, Romeu e Julieta is a plate of firm white cheese with a slab of goiabada, a thick guava paste, cut alongside it. Salty against sweet, mild against perfumed — two things that should not work together and completely do. The name is the joke: an unlikely pair, famously inseparable.
Our Romeo & Juliet Cheesecake is that idea rebuilt as patisserie. White chocolate and creamy cheesecake, rich guava jam, all sitting on a no-added-gluten shortcrust. It comes as a 20cm cake in guava or mixed berry, and because it needs three days of preparation, it is one to order ahead rather than hope for.
The small version
If a whole cheesecake is more commitment than the afternoon requires, the individual Romeo & Juliet is in the cabinet at our patisserie inside The Welder. It sits alongside the rest of our mini desserts — one person, one dessert, no leftovers to negotiate.
Cheesecake without the gluten
The shortcrust is made without added gluten, which puts the Romeo & Juliet in a small group of desserts that do not feel like a compromise. It is not the only one: our Black & White Chocolate Mousse is built on a flourless brownie base, and the Ferrari Rocher is made with no added gluten. The full range lives in our no-added-gluten cakes and desserts collection, and we went into more detail in our piece on gluten-free baking in Christchurch.
One honest note: our kitchen is small and without exclusive production areas for all of our different recipes, so traces may occur and nothing is guaranteed safe for severe coeliac disease.
What else to eat it with
Guava wants something clean beside it rather than something rich. A pot of organic Zealong tea is the natural partner, or an espresso from our coffee menu. If you would rather lean into the fruit, our fridge carries New Zealand-made juices in flavours like feijoa and boysenberry.
Other Brazilian desserts on the menu
The Romeo & Juliet is not an outlier. Pudim caramel flan, brigadeiro and Brazilian carrot cake all come from the same tradition — you can read about why the carrot cake is orange rather than brown if that surprises you.
How to order
Whole cheesecakes need three days' notice, so order online and choose a pickup date that works. Individual sizes are in the cabinet Tuesday to Saturday, no notice required. Browse the full menu or the wider celebration cake range if you are planning something bigger.
