Divine Dessert Tour 2008 finale - Happy Holidays!

As this would be the last entry for the year, I must firstly express my appreciation to everyone who participated in our Divine Dessert Tours.

Good things are meant to be shared. It made the sweets that little bit more delicious, the coffees that little bit more aromatic, the blue sky that little bit bluer, the winter cold (or summer heat) that little bit easier to bear. And having dessert as a way of getting people together also meant friendships are made, not to mention expansion of everyone's food experience and creativity.

Well done to those who had been there more than once, to those who came up with suggestions, and muchas gracias to people who made the effort to cook up a storm on the home-bake DDTs.

So, thanks for 11 months of great fun and enjoyment, and we'll certainly have more in 2009!!

Now to this month's home-made Christmas Dessert. We had traditional holiday desserts including
    Boiled fruit pudding (with beautiful aroma and rich flavour)
    Festive gingerbread cookies (individually and painstaking decorated)
    Chocolate apricot cardamon pistachio pudding (fabulous blend of fruit and nut and spices)

And the "just desserts":
    Fruity trifle rich in liquor and creamy custard (light and refreshing)
    Lemon meringue pie (beautifully tangy custard, crispy meringue)
    Raspberry ice cream (exquisite and hand made!)
    Ice cream xmas cake (simply amazing - fruity nutty and caramel-y)
    Fruit salad (something to take the guilt away)

Then there are the participants who wanted to be part of the indulgence but either wouldn't cook, or couldn't cook:
    A Beautiful Life from Ella's Patisserie (an encore dessert because it was so good - see details from the April DDT)
    Selection of cakes and pastries including tiramisu, pistachio and caramel tart, sticky date pudding, baked cheese cake, cannoli etc

And what's a Christmas party without a turkey! For the first time in DDT history we allowed savoury items - only because our CEO prepared a rich gooey spicy chocolate mole sauce for poultry. People who enjoy spiced chocolate will love this, and people who didn't think chocolate could possibly be savoury (which was most of the participants) were converted after one taste! And when this went on a perfectly juicy and lightly savoury 4.5kg turkey, bliss.

I the perfect hostess was left with nothing more than a carcass at the end of the day, thinking, well there goes my hope of a turkey roll for lunch tomorrow.

There were drinks too - many a participants brought dessert wines - ice wine, muscat, golden botrytis, to name a few; and there was French Brut (same brut we had from the June DDT), and a bottle of Tyrrell's Old Winery cab-merlot ('98 vintage). And as it was a nice warm spring day (not summer yet!) a sangria bianca was prepared for everyone's drinking pleasure.

An absolutely divine indulgent day! Thanks again to everyone's effort and contribution, and see you next year!

CS

October Good Food Month! (C)

Sugarhit at Sofitel Wentworth


So the place that served beautiful Le Notrè desserts marked the finale for us DDDs in October. Sofitel Wentworth served a phenomenal high tea earlier this year. We were drawn again by their chocolate assiette sugar hit offer so here we came.
On offer: Chocolate macaronade, white chocolate cheesecake, and dark chocolate crème pot, with either Brown Brothers dessert wine or Hennessy cognac. It was suggested that we enjoy the milder flavours first - which was the cheesecake, followed by the macaronade, and finish with the chocolate crème pot. The first bite of the cheesecake generated a consensus "mmm", the DDDs agreeing it was creamy cheesy cheesecake that wasn't too heavy, and went well with the dessert wine. I could certainly eat a bigger slab. Chocolate macaronade - half a macaroon, but I would recommend having macaroons from either Lindt cafe or Laurent Boulangerie. Chocolate crème pot - a shot of rich, creamy, thick ganachè-like crème not too sweet but a good rich chocolate perfect for a chocoholic.

It was a fanfare finale to the DDT's participation of Good Food month. However for me it was somewhat difficult to decide whether to label this best of the three Sugar Hits, as I enjoyed the InterContinental immensely. It could be because it was the first and therefore most memorable, but it could also be the variety of the delicate dessert creations. I for one found the chocolate crème pot too much to handle after two previous chocolate desserts but that's just me...

Next DDT - November 30th - X'mas party with nothing but good'o X'mas desserts till you drop!!

CS

October Good Food Month! (B)

Sugarhit at Galileo 

Galileo at the Observatory Hotel was the second installment of our October DDT. Orange bavarois, dark chocolate mousse, and a smear of redcurrant sauce were the offer, plus a sweet Browns Brother bubbly to wash things down.

Orange bavarois: refreshing, lightly sweet citrus sorbet.

Dark chocolate mousse encased in an intricate sponge and jelly* layer, white chocolate mousse smoothed over the dark chocolate mousse,
with a small blob of jelly* in the center.

Browns Brother bubbly: it felt like lightly carbonated botrytis semillon, didn't ask the staff what it is.

Verdict: It was nice, but InterContinental still reigns supreme.... maybe until the LeNotre Sugar Hit at Sofitel (Sunday 26th October)?

CS

* not sure how else to describe the red layers (see photo) and the blob in the center of the chocolate mousse - I think it's made of firm jelly

October Good Food Month! (A)

Sugarhit at InterContinental

To take advantage of the annual October Good Food Month, the October DDT will take place multiple times... I mean, when the hotels around Sydney are putting up special Sugar Hits just for this month, it is sinful not to sample the ones that take our fancy!!

The first installment of the October DDT was held at the Hotel InterContinental, sweets on offer are presented on a tasting platter with Grand Marnier-Strawberry Infused Panna Cotta, Chestnut Timbale, and V.S.O.P cognac cream & White Chocolate-Raspberry Torte. Also each came with a choice of either a Browns Brother dessert wine or a Hennessy Cognac.

The panna cotta: creamy, rich, with a hint of fragrance of the liquor, and fantastic tangy sweet strawberry topping (better than ANY strawberry jam I bought! And as good as the strawberry conserve I brewed at home). Very lush.

The chestnut timbale: smooth paste of nutty aromatic chestnut, almost hazelnutty, served with a beautifully rich dark chocolate sauce

Cognac cream and white chocolate raspberry torte - Most subtle of the three, very delicate flavours, fine sponge that stayed fused to the other layers as we sliced the torte into bite-sized morsels. This one reminded me of the pistachio and raspberry torte at the Bather's Pavillion. Gorgeous.

I felt a pang of heartache when I placed the fork on top of each of the beautiful servings, feeling the guilt of destruction of beauty. But of course the heartache was quickly soothed by the luxurious flavours, or numbed by the cognac. One disappointment: the desserts were delicate, and petite (this is not the disappointment though I would have loved to have more!) but the spoon and fork were MEAL sized, meaning we couldn't get the spoons into the panna cotta cup to clean up the last streaks of the cream!!

Luscious and delicate, beautiful experience. Next installment of the October DDT will take place at Galileo on Sunday, 12th October. Stay tuned (or join in!)

CS

KT: Special mention to first time attendees Sabrina and Jim - did pretty well after an all-you-can-eat Brazilian BBQ dinner!

Viva Italia - Haberfield

Haberfield is one of my favourite suburbs. Ramsay St (near the intersection of Dalhousie Rd) is dotted with patisseries, delicatessens, and pizzerias boasting of Sydney's best authentic woodfired pizza. It is popular with the locals, although Haberfield is slowly being invaded by outsiders who are starting to catch on and discover the goods... such as us DDDs.

We had grand plans of 5 or 6 places to conquer, but were disappointed that our starting cafe Espresso Galleria was closed on Sundays. Then we discovered (on the same side of Ramsay St) Colefax Chocolate Cafe was closed. So was Paesanella's cheese shop. Fine then, we will seek our fortunes across the street - at A&P Sulfaro Pasticceria.

And it didn't disappoint. A counter full of biscuits, a counter of pastries & cakes, and behind us a freezer of gelato ice cream cakes, and a constant queue of 10 people at all times. The long wait to order simply gave us time to examine the goods carefully. So here goes: between the CEO and secretary we had a hazelnut profiterole (given two thumbs up), a pistachio and chocolate shortbread (which I later came back for... and bought a dozen), a brioche (standard), a chocolate cannoli (mmm luscious), lemon melting moment (not lemony enough, not melt-in-your-mouth enough), spiced pastry (interesting... sweet-savoury pastry and spiced filling), and two cups of coffee (decent coffee, not cups of milk - KT: !!). The others opted for a custard filled donut (the look of his face said it was a good donut) and an almond biscuit (nice).

Verdict for A&P Sulfaro - fantastic biscuits, mouthwatering pastries, but service was shocking. I saw one of the waitresses take 10 minutes to make an iced mocha (painstakingly scooped out some chocolate gelato into a tall glass, took her time filling and tampering the coffee grind, then made the coffee, then gently poured the coffee onto the already melting chocolate gelato, then looked for the milk that is sitting just behind her and carefully pouring it into the chocolate mush), while another waitress carefully poured two glasses of water to 1cm from the rim, while no one took orders for 20 minutes. Also in the 20 minutes of no service, only 4 cups of coffee were made, meaning at best 2 tables were served.

Pasticceria Papa - our morning tea stop. The long counter displayed biscuits similarly beautiful compared to those of A&P Sulfaro's, as well as cakes and pastries and gelati, and has a queue as long as A&P Sulfaro, except their service was streamline and efficient. The pistachio gelato was full of flavour - Gelatissimo's got nothing on it!! Lovely strawberry cheesecake - you can taste the tang of the cream cheese. The biscuits were good - pistachio biscuits (made of almond meal) are deserving of special mention. Excellent Lavazza espresso and affogato were enjoyed by fellow dessertees too. Sitting languidly in the courtyard, I started noticing the waitress drag chairs and tables loudly to one side and stacking them up, until we were the last uncleared table... an obvious hint they were closing, at 1pm on a busy Sunday afternoon.

Dolcissimo is just across the intersection from Pasticceria Papa, but with a more casual exterior. Dolcissimo also has a biscuits and cakes counter, and always has a fairly lengthy torte selection, with common favourites such as mud cake and tiramisu. Among the 7 of us, our orders were panna cotta torte (disappointed it's not panna cotta, but otherwise a light and moist sponge torte), baked ricotta cheese cake (luscious, but gets a bit rich after a while), creme caramel (deliciously eggy), tiramisu (good, but a bit heavy), stack of pancakes with vanilla gelato and ricotta hotcakes (not as fluffy as Bill's). The lemon gelato needs to be praised: it was so silky smooth and tangy it really melted in your mouth, and no ice crystals! It was that good. Also, it served as refreshment between various cakes.

Despite the disappointment in shops being closed on Sundays, it was a perfect day of relaxation and enjoyment. Different from the Surry Hills walk, we only visited 3 places this time (not by choice, mind you), but it was sufficiently a good day because the quality of the biscuits, cakes, pastries etc were generally satisfying. Each of our visited location has a great variety to choose from, hence pleasing everybody easily.

Special mention: Rusty, Kim's sweet natured puppy, who enjoyed a sunny day out, as well as crumbs and my accidentally dropped jam shortbread.
CS
KT: 1st time attendees were Kim, Rusty, Rebecca and Donna. Returned attendee Terry had nothing to say about BrisVegas. We were not surprised :P

Walk around Surry Hills

So far, each DDT had been trying to out do one another: be it utter extravaganza with Lenôtre at Sofitel, or "show us your best" dessert buffet at home, or the overindulgence at Ella's. Thanks to our CEO's ingenuity, I believe we've done it again - in true dessert TOUR style, we sampled desserts, pastries and coffees from 8 different cafe/patisseries/bakeries around Surry Hills.

The day started with clear blue sky and crisp cool air as we wandered towards Toast Café, (Shop 3, 23 Mary Street). There we savoured a perfect espresso (Toby's Estate) to start our day, accompanied by a lemon polenta cake (thumbs up) and Bowan Island organic fruit toast (fruity and wholesome). After Toast, it was a short walk to The Wall (80 Campbell St), which looked like a hole in the wall, but that does not compromise the service and funkiness. Though the cafe latte (Genovese coffee) was reported to be on the weak side. We were somewhat indifferent to the gooey caramel shortbread, but fantastic fig and ginger cake - I'm not a ginger person but I totally dig (dug?) it.

We took our sunny walk up Crown Street to our next destination Kawa (348a Crown Street). Lovely little cafe, not much space inside, but the counter was lined with cakes, pies, biscuits and sweets. It also has benches and tables on the sidewalk, looking out towards the (quiet side of) Crown St. There we indulged on a coconut cake (moist but not wet, fluffy not crumbly, fragrant, light and tasty) and an oatmeal cookie (moist, slightly chewy, full of flavour and totally changed my preconception of 'healthy' cookies... then again maybe it's not that healthy??), and a top notch affogato (made with Kawa organic blend of Single Origin double shot espresso). This was a really enjoyable little spot, and our special guest Polo (AM's 6-yo 'puppy') got lucky and received a treat of left over bacon from a previous patron!!

From here our plans changed from the proposed stops and skipped to Coffee Tea or Me (536 Crown Street). This is another little cafe that looks like a hole in the wall, with the counter lined with at least 10 different biscuits/desserts (gave me a very hard time) and specialises in Mariage Freres tea (famous French tea house). The teas we selected were Yin Zhen (lightly fragrant white tea), Eros, Punjabi Chai tea, and sweets devoured were snowy road (white version of rocky road), sour cherry toast, and pain du chocolat (a fellow DDD couldn't wait for our next stop - Bourke St Bakery) with toasted crispy flaky pastry and melted chocolate throughout. Like the other cafes this place also had outdoor seating (stools and boxes for tables) which was the only convenient way to keep Polo happy.

Bourke St Bakery (633 Bourke Street). Nothing pretentious about this place, don't expect comfortable seating or interior with great ambiance. This place is about their fresh bread and pastry. On a Saturday people queue up patiently to buy breakfast, morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea. By the time we arrived there were no more of their flaky crispy (even when it's cold) croissant left, so I settled with some pain du chocolat (big sacrifice... not!). But there were still enough of the strawberry brulee tart (MUST HAVE) and lemon tart (tangy curd, crispy base). Also deserving of mention is the praline twist - nutty and aromatic. I was a little disappointed with their long black though - on the bitter side. And this being lunch hour, I also gave myself an excuse to have a lamb sausage roll - well worth the try - and a fellow DDD had a meat pie with real meat chunk in it!! Very satisfying.

We now move towards the city side of Crown St and to our next destination - Le Pain Quotidien (414 Bourke Street), a French bakery I'd been to in New York (at Soho), and is a place I go past frequently on the bus and promised myself to visit time and time again. If it weren't for our already exploded stomachs we may have picked more luscious offers, but we opted for a strawberry friand (which was surprisingly average), a hazelnut flute (very hard bread stick, think grissini but more doughy, flavoursome when biting into a bit of nut) and a brioche (surprise - savoury brioche?!). It was a little disappointing, but we won't give up and will give Le Pain Quotidien another chance, when we're not so stuffed.

Le Pain Quotidien was followed by a surprise find - Sparkle Cupcakery (132 Foveaux St). This newly established cupcake cafe has groovy interior and many unusual cupcake flavours, thus it was impossible to resist. Each of their cupcakes are colour coded by a little sugar button on top of the icing, and we opted for lavender/honey and pistachio/cardamom. What a great find this place is!! The cupcakes have great flavour (the icing on lavender/honey was a little overpowering, but still delicious), loved the texture (fluffy not crumbly, moist not damp, like the coconut cake at Kawa). Very happy with the find, and would definitely head back when I'm in the area.

Christopher's (409 Bourke St) - exquisite continental cake/biscuits lining the counter. At that stage I was beyond consuming, but the beautiful presentation and the little sample sizes ($2.60 each for a 5cm x 5cm x 5cm dessert) lured me into getting a takeaway box. I picked the St Katerina (creme patissier layered with puff pastry - deliciously creamy but the presentation was prettier than its taste) and a black forest (good cake) and indulged myself at home, with a Veluto Nero coffee.

We ended up skipping Foodgame (185 Campbell Street) which, at the time looked no more than an ordinary cafe to us - which may be an unfair observation from two stuffed and overindulged DDDs, though the sweets menu didn't appeal either, so there and then we called it the day.

Many thanks to KT the CEO for coming up with these spots, and for staying from start to finish. Also the participant who stayed with us the whole way (not that he had any choice!!) - Polo - for being a good sport, not whiny for the long walks, and providing entertainment while we waited for our sweets.
CS

GPO Cheese and Wine Room

This deviated from the conventional DDT experience. Cheese. Wine. Crackers. Antipasto plates. Gourmet breads. Olives. But it was our destination for the July DDT because our CEO, being considerate of those who expressed interest in participating but feared sugar high, picked this romantic and convenient city location with a well-stocked cellar and a broad selection of cheeses from all over the world. And of course, cheese is often served as after dinner treats, so they somewhat fall into the "desserts" category.

Yes we will stretch it as far as we can to make this cheesy night qualify for a dessert experience.

It was easier to go with the tasting sets: The cheese and wine flights - three cheeses, each with a matching wine (or vice versa, depending on how you view it), or cheese tasting boards with two to three cheeses with some combination of crackers, breads, muscatels, quince paste, or individual cheeses not covered in the tasting boards. In the end we had European Classic tasting boards (Camembert, cheddar, gorgonzola with cracker and quince paste), red wine flight (gruyere, cheddar, roquefort with red wine to match), white wine flight (same cheeses as the European classic but with wine to match), an individual gorgonzola blue cheese, and side dishes of mixed olives, red pepper relish, caramelised onion jam, and a tasting plate of cured meats (salami, prosciutto, ham, and bread). MB ordered for the group a McLaren Vale Shiraz (2001) which very soon had me enter the happy relaxed but blushing state. I will now admit my weakness that I am no cheese and wine connoisseur and I could only say "great cheeses". Particular mention to the Camembert, which is popular because it has flavour most people can enjoy. The same could not be said about blue cheeses - though I did enjoy the gorgonzola, an acquired taste which comes with the ability to overcome the idea of "eating mould". I also had a go at having roquefort - the cheese part was creamy and rich in flavour, but the mouldy part is yet to grow on me (it had a very strong, somewhat metallic flavour to me, and the palate stayed with me for quite some time).

Now the ambience: Interior of the Cheese and Wine Room was cozy and romantic ("mood lighting"). It is a place designed to make its patrons feel like connoisseurs - classy. However it was surprising that the room was very noisy when it was at close to full capacity - I suppose guests could get a tad too cheerful after a few too many glasses of wine. The tables felt quite cramped after the cheese boards arrived though it could be that greedy DDDs over-ordered (there was consensus of over-indulgence). Then again, this is me being nit-picky as a "critique" would.

Note to participants of this DDT: Those of you who ordered the "flights" please supply a tasting note for the cheese+wine combination. Those who are more qualified to comment on wine please also send me a tasting note on the wine(s) on the night. Much appreciated.
CS

PS apologies for the photos - must remember to bring tripod next time!!

KT: Doubt anyone will submit further notations as nobody ever thought we could get so stuffed on cheese & drunk on multiple glasses of fermented grape juice - ie short term memory! SH & I ended up having EasyWay hot grass jelly soup & mango flavoured tofu pudding... told you I'm hardcore :P

BYO (bake your own) special at Petit Paris (aka Potts Point)

The DDT crew longed to show off their culinary knowledge and skills, as a real foodie must also possess proficient kitchen capability. To mark the 6 month "anniversary" of DDT, and to test the fellow devotees in their dedication, BYO home party was held on the 22nd of June.

More than 10 dessertees attended this day, therefore more than 10 different types of desserts were present. Not all of them were home made, but in the spirit of divine dessert tour any contribution was welcome & much appreciated. To start it off, all devoted dessertees were refreshed with a glass of French brut, followed by admiring the cakes and pastries and chocolates, followed by attacking the cakes and pastries and chocolates. These were classics such as lemon tart (KT) - with beautiful flaky pastry, decadent chocolate brownie (KT), traditional and flavoursome tiramisu (Noriko), fluffy and light (in comparison to a New York Cheesecake) baked cheese cake (Lim, from Savoy), comfort food (give me a bowl and then another) apple and rhubarb crumble (Martin), rich dark flourless chocolate cake (Matt, from Bourke St Bakery), fresh strawberry tart (Rebecca, from a local bakery), text book quality rocky road (Lim), and soft melting cherry financier cake (Anthea). There was also ice cream - home made divine praline ice cream (Anthea), blood orange and hazelnut gelati (from Rebecca Z), and Homer Hudson Vanilla ice cream. On top of that there was plenty of dark chocolates (CS and MW - 10 different flavours - chilli, vanilla, blueberry, dates, sponge finger soaked with coffee and kahlua, pine nuts, hazelnut, hazelnut meal soaked with frangelico, red wine truffles, and peanut butter).

No wonder most dessert devotees were planning to skip dinner or have something light. Those who were cautious took small bites of each item to taste, much like the bite sized desserts at Ella's (see DDT 4) and thus enabled dinner in the evening.

Special mention to KT, DDT CEO and founder, for the large tray of chocolate brownie and deliciously tangy lemon tart (with excellent pastry, which is something I the mere DDT secretary haven't mastered), and the luscious praline ice cream made by the super-baker co-host Anthea. This being a bake your own event, presentation of all desserts were not quite up to the Lenotre standard, but considering the effort everyone made, and the fact that every DDD went home fat and happy meant every dessert was worthy of being part of DDT.

In fact, I would like to know - when shall we have another BYO dessert day again?

Muchas gracias to our gracious hostesses with the mostest - for welcoming the guests and the enormous amount of cleaning and washing up afterwards, for supplying delicious French brut, and of course for the delectable delicacies they provided.

CS

Lenotre at The Lounge, Sofitel

Lenotre holds an exclusive spot in my heart. My first encounter with Lenotre was in Paris. Walking into a shop could have sent me into convulsion from the sheer excitement of drooling over endless displays of desserts!! "Fromboyant" was carefully chosen as my lunch for the day. And the pleasure it delivered was simply exquisite... Yes, I'm talking about food!

 

When Mark Stone, the only Australian accredited by Lenotre, brought "Venus Fromboisier" to Summit for Good Food Month back in 2006 (raising money for National Breast Cancer Foundation - being pink & all) I was beyond ecstatic! It would be another year before the experience is repeated at Sofitel for Sugar Hit in 2007. "Opera" and a glass of Hennessy Cognac... I found THE Lenotre dessert menu, on top of the usual dessert menu and vowed that I would be back.

 

If you haven't had a Lenotre dessert, I urge you to visit Sofitel. The Afternoon Tea stand consists of 6 cakes (see below, corresponding with photo from top to bottom), scones & sandwiches:

 

Cone au Chocolat: rich dark chocolate cone filled with luscious berries, served with cream

Camaieu: layers of chocolate sponge flavoured with marzipan in between layers of dark & milk chocolate mousse topped with ivory Chantilly cream

Macaronades: macaroon made of soft almond meringue filled with fresh raspberries & lemon curd

Ambiance: layers of vanilla Bavarian cream, with fruits of the forest jelly & caramelised hazelnuts

Tarte au Citron: classic French lemon tart, sweet pastry filled with almond & lemon cream, topped with lemon meringue

Opera: chocolate pastry with layers of almond biscuit, decadent chocolate ganache with coffee butter cream topped with gold leaf

 

Ambiance received the most "mmm"s & nods. As usual, the art in eating dessert is to start light. But having a separate stomach & extremely sensitive taste buds, I cared not. Each piece was magnificent in its own right. Some like it heavy, some like it soft. I love it all!

 

Two desserts were chosen from a la carte:

 

Venus Fromboisier: fresh raspberries layered with rich vanilla mousseline, light genoise sponge, raspberry jelly, raspberry caramel & topped with a toffee swirl

Tarte au Peches: light puff pastry case filled with almond cream, peaches with a sprinkling of pistachios

 

The tea menu requires a special mention. The wooden box opens up to exhibit various Mariage Freres tea samples with descriptions (noted, by the future teahouse owner...). Very sweet. And according to the final bill - free! Perhaps no more luck next time :P

 

This has got to be the best afternoon tea experience I have ever had!!

 

KT

Ella's Patisserie and Sweet Belem

As the last few DDTs had been in Snobville, I mean the North side, to make sure the rest of Sydney feels loved, and also to be fair to the south Sydney-siders, the fourth installment of the dessert tour was held at Ella's Patisserie (Hurstville) as our starting point, followed by the famous Sweet Belem (Petersham), the heart of Portuguese eateries in Sydney.

Ella's Patisserie has an interior designed to target young (predominantly Asian) female clientelle - it was very pink and has stuffed toys such as Pooh and Hello Kitty adorning the shelves. This was also reflected in the cutesy chocolate and cake designs. There was also a collection of designer cakes made to order for special occasions, the most attractive for grown up female might be the LV monogram bags...

Thanks to TL and his cousin Polly who works at Ella's, we were given a special "tasting plate" for $10 per person (regular drink included!). Most of the DDDs anticipated a few samplers, maybe 3 or 4, of Ella's collections. None of us expected what was presented to us - a collection of 10 different cakes, possibly Ella's signature/most popular varieties. The look on some of the DDDs were of pure shock - how on earth am I to attack this!!!!

The plate consisted of tofu cheesecake, eclaire, lychee/strawberry/mango tart (one of three), triple chocolate pyramid, mango mousse, red bean mousse on green tea cake, blueberry cheese cake, blackforest cake, chestnut cheese cake, and "beautiful life" - a berry jelly, white chocolate, lemon and berry cheesecake layered cake. So I thought I'd start with the lighter flavours then work my way upwards. It is hard trying to describe 10 different flavours succinctly and without repeating adjectives so much... I'll try my best and forgive me if it's a bit dull.

I started with the tofu cheesecake which I like, and also know it has a light flavour so it may taste bland if I had it after some of the stronger flavours. It doesn't taste like cheesecake, with a subtle tofu flavour and was a little like panna cotta in texture. The eclaire with vanilla creme patissier was light and fluffy. The fruit tart was made with the same creme patissier, and the mango on top was full of flavour so the tanginess and the light custard combo was very appetising. The lychee version had also received equal praise. Mango mousse was covered by thin slices of fresh mango and chiffon cake, making the whole package light and melt in your mouth. Though the mango was so good it may have masked the gentle flavours of the cake and mousse.

By the time I moved on to the cakes, I was starting to feel my stomach struggle, but we don't let such trivial struggles in life stop our pursuit of happiness. Fluffy red bean mousse and green tea cake tasted nutty (from the red beans), though personally I didn't feel either the red bean or green tea came through enough (KT: I thought the green tea cake tasted bitter after I'd had a mouthful of the red bean mousse - not a combo for the lightweights hehe). The blueberry cheesecake was subtle, the occasional burst of flavour from the berry at the bottom helped add to the gentle flavour on top. The blackforest cake was made of layers of delicate chocolate chiffon, cream and berry jelly in the middle so it was nothing like a traditional moist rich blackforest cake. Chestnut cheese cake was very smooth and rich in flavour, but it was still not as heavy as a traditional cheese cake. "Beautiful life" was a symphony of tangy berry and lemon and smooth white chocolate - and with a name like beautiful life to reflect the cheerful flavour combination. I decided to save the chocolate pyramid last - and that was a fantastic choice because it was a smooth and decadent chocolate mousse pyramid similar to mortal sin but much lighter, and an excellent end to the tasting plate.

Overall the theme to the desserts was "light". To have the same amount of normal cheese cake/dessert would have caused a stomach explosion, but Ella's being a fusion style of East and West made the desserts a lot easier to stomach without feeling heavy. Congratulations to Ella for creating such lovely fusion of flavours and styles - but having 10 desserts in one go was still too much for most!!

After Ella's we meandered our way to Petersham, the heart of Portuguese community in Sydney, where the famous Sweet Belem Patisserie is. This place is famous for authentic Portuguese and Continental desserts, and boasts the "best Portuguese tart in Sydney", according to some die hard fans. So this was the primary target of DDDs - and it did not disappoint - signature flaky and crispy pastry with eggy custard (different from the custard on usual Portuguese tarts) that isn't too sweet, and served with sprinkles of ground cinnamon on top. Among other orders are a Opera cake (apparently a little dry), a raspberry and white chocolate mousse on mud cake (decadent, cake on the outside a bit dry but still moist in the centre), creme caramel, almond and hazelnut tart, and palmier with Portuguese custard (not the same as tart custard). Considering we all came from Ella's, we still managed to enjoy the rich desserts at Sweet Belem! (KT: a "mini" Belgium chocolate rose cake is of the same size as a giant muffin!!)

Truly a day of over-indulgence... many thanks again to Ella for her generous servings of fantastic desserts!!

The Tea Room, Gunners Barracks

High tea at Gunner's Barracks was a highly anticipated affair as the venue is renowned for its food, view and location. The last DDT was originally intended for Gunner's if it wasn't booked out, and just a week prior to this DDT the booking was filled up until early April, showing their popularity. There is a minimal spend of $35 per person, and for large group bookings (of more than 10) there is a 10% surcharge. We thought, well, we don't get pampered and treated like ladies (or gentlemen) of court all that often so once in a while doesn't hurt!!

12 servings of high tea arrived on three-tiered trays on the classic Royal Doulton china. It was exciting seeing the delicate parcels arrive at our tables. Not much time was wasted on photos as we had the same order - and there are only so many shots one can take of the identical trays and plates.

There was one serving of each cake/pastry/sandwich/scone per person - Raspberry gateau (very moist), opera espresso cake (layers of chocolate ganache and coffee soaked sponge), melting moment (that you couldn't pick up without it almost crumbling to pieces, and melted the moment it reached your lips - top choice for the day), fruit tartlet (with vanilla bean creme patissier) and citrus almond cake (reminds me a bit of the orange almond cake at Napoli in Bocca, but lighter), raspberry jam and fresh cream for our scones (which was said to be a little on the doughy side and needed a touch more salt, according to the scone experts... one of whom had 3 scones despite the said imperfections). The savoury items were tomato salsa tartlets (refreshing), spinach and cheese puff (not great) and sandwiches (egg or chicken - ok to fill stomach).

Overall there was a consensus of disappointment. The food was good but nothing out of the ordinary. Service at the start was attentive but as our high tea arrived the waiters appeared to be too busy to notice our raised hands (to order more coffee/tea/food), and once the order was made it took quite some time to arrive. They were charging us for the view and the service, but this didn't exactly ring true to the divine dessert theme, and this was no comparison to the delightful and delectable Bather's experience last time.

Verdict was we wouldn't recommend high tea as a dessert experience. As a relaxing afternoon where you sit for hours talking and taking in the view (if sitting outside on the deck) it's great, but we shall seek other worthy DDT destinations for future tours. CS.


KT: Oh, also for groups the tea selection that is meant to be part of the minimum spend becomes limited. They did accommodate for the odd Russian tea or Chai. Anyway, lesson learned :P

A day at Bather's Pavillion

What happy coincidence that a DDT was scheduled on a glorious summer's day perfect for a beach visit, and located at Bather's Pavillion on Balmoral Beach. As with every other sunny Sunday, Balmoral Beach is packed with cheerful beachcombers and people seeking a relaxing afternoon ... and a table at the popular Bather's Pavillion Cafe. No bookings are taken for the cafe, it's first come first serve only. As we were a big group of 8 we had to patiently wait for a table to clear. But that's OK, good DDT CEO arrived early as always, so that the other participants wouldn't have to endure the long (and hungry) wait. (Many many thanks to KT!!)

At 11:30 we were finally seated and ready to order. Breakfast menu was not exhaustively long but had a good variety to choose from (sweet and savoury). The DDT die-hards went for the sweets and those introduced to the idea for the first time were given concession and allowed to have their eggs and bacon (after drizzling with maple syrup to qualify as an official DDT experience). Our breakfasts arrived mouth watering and tantalizing, and it frustrated the hungry DDDs that I demanded no one touch their food until satisfactory photos were obtained. Roasted fig and peach on fig and almond panettone with mascarpone - appetising and hearty, caramelised fruit plus smooth mascarpone perfect with the panettone which to me was better than a heavy fruit loaf or thick cut raisin toast. Vanilla rice pudding stacked with fresh berries, mango and crispy pineapple was beautifully presented, the vanilla rice lightly sweet and very smooth, went well with either of the sweet fresh mango cheeks and tart and tangy berries. Pancake stack with blue berries and maple syrup, an old favourite, was light, fluffy (and thankfully no bicarb taste!!) and just textbook perfect. To me the most unusual and impressive breakfast was the strawberry blintz with poached rhubarb and spiced Meredith honey yogurt - the yogurt was interesting - I'm not sure I liked it because of the spices (my guess is cloves and cinnamon and others), but my compliment to the chef for creating this combination of healthy delicious dish that is highly appealing and has a lot of depth of flavours.

Brownie points to MW - whose experimental and daring mix of left over maple syrup and mascarpone won critical and unanimous acclaim.

After midday, lunch menu replaced the breakfast menu. This menu is significant because it has desserts on it. And we were very delighted to find out that Bather's has recently hired a new pastry chef who was supposed to be very good! With our CEO's persuasion we ordered every dessert on the menu - vanilla creme brulee, lemon delicious (lemon tart/custard type dessert), raspberry and pistachio gateau, yogurt and honeycomb parfait, chocolate fondue for two, rocky road tart. The creme brulee is just classic and perfect, not too rich (like what I had at ArtEspresso Canberra) and incredibly smooth. After this experience I have declared this my favourite creme brulee joint. The other desserts I could only describe according to the one tiny mouthful I've had, as the participants had not submitted their DDT report (they are now on notice for not doing their fair share!) The lemon delicious was as the name suggests, very delicious, it was kind of a tangy lemon curd but wasn't a custard like that of the traditional citrus tart. Raspberry and pistachio gateau was slightly disappointing for our CEO because the flavour was delicate and subtle and if you had the raspberry sorbet with the cake it would overpower it. The rose-water macaroon was muah-tastic. The chocolate in the fondue was rather runny and felt a bit like chocolate sauce used to drizzle cakes and ice cream sundaes, so it was a little less decadent than expected. KT: The rocky road tart had a very thin pastry case, in order not to detract our attention from the marshmellow/cherries/hazelnut combo coated in smooth, almost-date-like, chocolate. Ain't half bad!

Bather's Pavillion Cafe is comfortable, open and airy, that it doesn't feel crammed at all despite the large number of patrons and the constant movements. Their service is attentive and efficient, who were rather amused that this table asked for the lunch menu immediately after the brunch was consumed, and ordered every single dessert on offer. The service and food quality is consistently good, no wonder it is such a popular choice for diners, coffee addicts and DDDs alike. Parking on weekends around this area is a pain - but that's no fault of Bather's!

Some of the DDT die-hards then proceeded to a next (unscheduled but suggested) destination - Le Patissier on Military Rd, Neutral Bay, and were very pleased and impressed with the almond stick (puff pastry with almond and a touch of icing sugar) as well as other pastry/cake purchases. The almond stick was so fresh and fluffy, it was described as moreish. [KT: Apple Slice and Apple Danish were very delicious. Good pastry is hard to perfect. But once perfected, the fruit becomes secondary!! *drool*...] The cakes - again depending on personal preference, are all delectable packages. Next time I happen to be in the neighbourhood I will try their mini fruit tarts and croissants.

That concludes another luscious and indulgent day... until next time.....

CS

Divine Dessert Tour Launch

Bills Woollahra and Laurent Patisserie, Bondi Junction

On a rainy gloomy day in December, 2007, a bunch of foodies gathered up for a feast, and the conversation seemed to revolve around food, food and more food. Then an idea was conceived - As Sydney has such diverse cultures and cuisines, why not make the most of it by indulging ourselves at establishments renowned for their culinary masterpieces! And who says you must do it like critiques do - we must enjoy the event, preferably with loved ones, and make it a fun, relaxing day out while we're at it!

So there it was, the idea of a "food tour" started to take shape. "What theme?"

For some strange reason - maybe it has something to do with the fact that more girls than boys were involved - the theme was DESSERTS. And there it was, the Divine Dessert Tour was born.

The birth of an idea followed by approximately 2 weeks of madly searching the web for reviews, and gathering suggestions from friends and family members, compiling a list of intended targets, and then another 2 weeks to finalise the launch date, time and location. Then the die-hards came along, cameras and tastebuds at the ready, for a day of decadent delights.

Bills Woollahra ought to feel proud to be the Divine Dessert Tour launch pad. The courtyard setting gave it a fantastic casual and cosy feel, though no bookings meant Divine Dessert Devotees have had to put their names down and come back for a table. It didn't take us long to pick our orders, as we had all checked out the menu from their website. Ricotta hotcakes with honeycomb butter, banana and maple syrup, very simple but hearty and satisfying for a Sunday brunch. It came, it went, and it pleased the tastebuds. Hot fluffy golden hotcakes, drenched (ok not THAT drenched) with maple syrup mixed with melted honeycomb butter - it was rich in flavour but surprisingly not rich and heavy like ordinary pancakes. One of the DDDs asked for an alternative to bananas and was presented with strawberries piled under her hotcakes. To deviate from the theme of dessert, another DDD ordered corn fritters, which could probably pass as a sweet item because the corn kernels were so juicy sweet!! Must be fresh off the cob. The gluttonous DDDs also asked for apple cherry and almond bread, and a coconut bread, both delicious and surprisingly light! They were almost like "bready" muesli bars, not moist and heavy like cafe fruit loaves. I was personally very pleased with them, though I think my greediness meant I had to force feed my fellow DDDs so not one crumb was wasted.

So I have committed two deadly sins at just one sitting.

One thing I noticed about Bills Woollahra is that it's quite noisy, maybe because it's a casual cafe/bistro rather than a fine dining restaurant. I never understand why the wait staff would throw the clean cutlery one by one, rather than gently placing the cutlery a bunch at a time, into the cutlery basket. It really would not take more than 2 seconds to place it rather than throw it into the basket, to avoid the harsh metallic banging. And the interior was a little echoey so the chatter combined with the cutlery banging bothered me a bit. Otherwise I had no complaints about what was presented in front of me!!

The DDDs tossed up between walking and driving to our next destination - Bondi Junction Westfield - as walking off the calories sounded like a good idea, though laziness prevailed. Our next stop was Laurent Patisserie, a French patisserie mainly found in Melbourne and only 2 in Sydney (Boulangerie at Manly where bread is REALLY baked there). I really miss the Woolloomoolloo Wharf location as that provided the authentic French atmosphere - outdoor seatings designed for people watching, whilst chewing on a fresh croissant or a baguette... but no, Laurent at BJ was outside Coles, messy, busy, chaotic. Forget the French atmosphere and just focus on the desserts, distributed by a central kitchen. They still impressed - Most of us had trouble picking one dessert out of the dozen on display, and each mouthful generated a contented sigh or satisfied appreciation - "mmm".

The Bahia - delicious layers of chocolate mousse and a tangy jelly centre

My favourite is still the Bahia, but Bora Bora came very close to the favourites list (I think). The Saint Amour was very berry, though the sponge covering the souffle was a bit dry, possibly stale as it's been sitting there for a whole day. The coffee was unfortunately below average for me - my long black came a little watery with thin crema. Totally not what I had at Toorak (Vic) or Woolloomoolloo.

Saint Amour

Bora Bora (top and bottom right) - delicious passionfruit chocolate mousse

Verdict? I will probably buy take away, buy an Illy or Lavazza coffee, and enjoy it at a better location. The cakes were lovely, but might try buying it earlier in the day for a fresher experience.

No the day did not end there. For the warm down we strolled over to the event coordinator's place for a piece of her very own cherry tart. Apart from the fact it was served on a Corning plate, giving away its "home-baked" origins, it was professional and perfect, could easily have passed as a take away from quality patisserie like Laurent. Thus the day ended with more talk about food, and much anticipation (and gym work out in preparation) for the next tour (Sunday, 24 February 2008 - stay tuned)!

Acknowledgment
Muchas gracias to the event coordinator KT for doing the hard part of the organising - ie doing the research, producing a list of target eateries, and setting a date for the launch, and also thanks to fellow DDDs for making this event so fun and memorable!

Cinned