AKRO
BAKE
2023
PERFUMER
Olivier Cresp
lemon zest
rum chantilly cream
praline
vanilla
brown sugar
‘At Akro, we don’t have a lot of restraint. The temptations of everyday life are at the heart of what we do, and continue to inspire new scents and ideas. One of the aromas of modern life we find most alluring is that of bakeries and cake shops, the scent of fresh pastry and sticky sugar brightening up the most humdrum of days. One of our favourite bakeries in all of London is Carnaby Street’s Crumbs & Dollies, and inspired by their famous lemon cupcakes, we created a new perfume: BAKE. BAKE is a fascinating scent; made up of tart lemon notes, followed by sweet vanilla and rich, nutty praline. It’s so good, you might not even need that naughty cupcake or extra patisserie after all.’ – Akro
Akro Bake is centered around an addiction that hits a bit close to home. So obviously… I needed to try it.
Straight from the opening, an enormous load of citrus. High pitched lemons are very prominent. They are also very sweet, but at the same time, sharp and zesty. Bake gets compared to Casamorati Lira a lot, but the citrus is different; closer to that of Casamorati’s Dama Bianca. The citrus is prominent for longer than I would expect.
It’s quite fresh at first and seems appropriate for moderately warm weather. Not unlike Nishane Ani X, that I coincidentally happened to wear alongside it for my testing. On first wear, my preference goes to Ani X for sugary reasons I will expand on below.
Underneath is is a baked, cake-like vanilla, that does recall Lira a bit. Smooth, but at the same time slightly more dry, Shalimar-esque vanilla with caramel touches.
Very edible, but the overall fragrance isn’t fully gourmand in the way that I would’ve expected. Or at least, the vanilla gets overpowered by sugar. Because Bake’s sweetness after a couple of hours is not what I picture when I think patisserie (admittedly, lemon cake, maybe yes). Not really cloying, but it feels like a nondescript candy more so than baked goods; It loses part of the actual vanilla and praline quality (I never got praline from Bake during this wear). The sweetness reminds me of the type of oudy-Middle Eastern sugariness you find in a bunch of Terenzi or Electimuss releases.
On first impression a decent fragrance, which will by and large appeal to gourmand lovers. Delivers on the concept of a lemon cake; perhaps my expectations leaned a bit more on the cake aspect, causing me to enjoy it somewhat, but not fall in love with it at all. I’d take Dama Bianca, Lira, but also Superfumista Lemon Delight and several others over Bake.