I saw it first pop up on my Instagram feed: a brick-like chocolate cake snapped by the magazine Food and Wine. “This is the super-fudgy, deliciously boozy Grand Marnier-soaked cake that @theritzcarlton just unveiled,” the caption read. My first thoughts: “Is this true? Can I get this in Beijing?” I soon found out – yes, on both accounts.

The Cake is a new Ritz-Carlton signature offered worldwide at all 85 branches of the hotel. They’re not messing around – this thing is insanely dense. The cake came about through a competition among Ritz-Carlton pastry chefs who submitted recipes to the Corporate Chef in Paris. The requirements? That it must contain Grand Marnier (the liqueur’s creator was a friend of Cesar Ritz and investor in the original hotel) and fine chocolate (what else implies luxury) and must travel well (the best gift ever). The winning recipe? A creation of Chef Yusuke Aoki from Toronto.

Onto the goods. The cake comes elegantly packaged (of course), in a tidy box with magnetic sides and a ribbon for carrying.

It took a couple days to power through this beast, and certainly feeds more than the suggested 8-10. True to the Ritz-Carlton brand, the cake is rich and indulgent and at a price of RMB 350 for 400g, the value is definitely apparent. Also, a bonus is the unrefrigerated shelf life of seven days.

This is one of the few times that Beijing is lucky with sweets. The Cake is now available at both Ritz-Carltons.

The Ritz-Carlton, Beijing
83A Jianguo Lu, China Central Place, Chaoyang District
朝阳区建国路甲83号华贸中心
Call 5908 8161 to place an order

The Ritz-Carlton Beijing, Financial Street
1 Jinchengfang Dongjie, Financial Street, Xicheng District
西城区金融街金城坊东街1号
Call 6629 6990 to place an order (a smaller size is also available for RMB 100 – no box and can be eaten at the hotel restaurant)

Photos: Cat Nelson