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!!
