(photo taken from the Albrechts Pâtisserie website)

There are days - your last day off before returning to work, for instance - that seem, unquestionably, to merit a small cake. Usually, it's Kuchen and Torte that Berlin excels at, and I could fill pages with odes to the spread at the Opernpalais or the plum streusel cake we found at a little café near Peacock Island. But there is something special about a confection for one that makes me feel dressed up and special, like a little girl being taken out for a treat, shown a display case beyond her wildest dreams and told to choose what she likes. Choosing is the best part at Albrechts, because everything looks fantastic. Also pleasing is knowing that everything is made fresh daily on the premises, and that the woman who runs the place is only a few years older than me, a spunky entrepreneur in this somewhat stultified city.

Everything is available to take away, but can also be enjoyed in the small but cheery red and white interior. The magazines are plentiful, particularly fat glossy numbers like the German Architectural Digest and Vogue, and the atmosphere is always lively, with at least five small children nibbling away at their own nonce tea parties each of the times I was last there.

The first time I had a pear tart, barely glazed and with a crumbly, almond-rich crust. Today I settled on a citron tart, unexpectedly grounded with a thin bottom of dark chocolate, the lemony cream unctuous and just the right side of sour. Costing around 2.50 EUR, they're rather expensive by Berlin standards, but a steal as far as I'm concerned, and just the thing to round off a last long lazy day.

Albrechts Pâtisserie, Rykestr. 39 (map)
Open Tuesday to Sunday, 11 am to 6 pm