Divine dessert goes south - to Banksmeadow!

It has been a long time since us DDDs graced Sydney South - the last time we went beyond inner city area was to Hurstville, and that was held in our inaugural year of 2008! So it was about time we revisited Southern Sydney, and Mascot/Banksmeadow area it was.

Our absent CEO found Brasserie Bakery and Croquembouche Patisserie in Banksmeadow. This is not the first time our CEO was absent, but this time it is highly unusual for two reasons: firstly she would be away for the rest of the year, secondly ALL of the DDDs (apart from yours truly) are first timers, and they don't know the CEO nor secretary directly ... in fact I am still trying to figure out the connection. But who cares really - a great time was had by all (I presume) and new friendships made (at least on my part!!)

Brasserie Bakery was created by people who are passionate about making artisan breads. For their history go to their website. Since then they have earned awards at the Sydney Easter Show, and have won over a steady stream of customers ... and now they can add DDT to their long list of devotees!

We started at the bakery as it closes at 2pm, and that it has a more breakfast fare which would be more easily stomached by our first timer DDDs. However, despite the generous concession that the first timers will be allowed to order savouries, none of them broke our sacred DDT rule (except a sauteed mushroom and ricotta on toast, but that was ordered AFTER consumption of sweet breakfast!) [KT: these bloody mushrooms should never have made the album!! :P]

Coffee: good coffee, the large latte wasn't just a $3.80 cup of milk!!

Mango eclaire - I had my reservations for the filling but it was simply divine. The choux pastry was light and fluffy - beautiful.

Almond croissant - I was a little disappointed. The pastry was dense, filling dry and very sweet, nothing like the croissant aux amandes I had in Paris. Then again, I had been told off by some Frenchmen that there are different versions of almond croissant ... in which case, I prefer the other styles.

Orange and hazelnut cake (nice and moist, reminds me of Paddington!), apple crumble and chocolate brownie cheese cake. This was one beautiful cheesecake! Light, tasty, like cookies and cream cheese cake but lighter. Voted our favourite dessert at Brasserie Bakery!

Verdict: I loved this place. Fantabulous selection of breads and sourdoughs, and generous pieces of bread for tasting (excellent marketing ploy - if you like the bread you tasted, you're more likely to take a loaf home). They also have an extensive breakfast menu - if you happened to be in the area for breakfast, go for it. Very tempted by their poached egg and smoked Tasmanian trout ... and the egg and soldiers ... and the pancake...... 

Moving on to our next stop (and making sure we took some goodies home) to Croquembouche. While there were a steady stream of customers, many of them ordered take aways, as well as their namesake, croquembouche. I LOVE sharing DDT with a large group of DDDs - we ended up having one of each of their desserts to share! Again starting with coffee - good acidic expresso, not bitter, very aromatic. 

Amazing cutting skill by Hoe Yin, 8 little portions of a standard macaron! However I was not so pleased with the mac, it was dense (gasp!!! One of the mac cardinal sins). Then again I DID have something similar to this texture in France (Olonzac market) - is it possible that macs can also have different styles??

An extremely rich chocolate fondant (KT where are you... I want your fondant!), brioche filled with custard cream (light and fluffy, good breakfast food actually), a smooth Concorde (almond meringue, chocolate mousse and dacquoise base)

Creoles (passionfruit and mango cream on dacquoise) - beautifully tangy, fragrant and light dessert favoured by DDDs today; and a strawberry custard tart.

Verdict: As nice as it was, do I consider this divine? Croquembouche reminds me a little of Christophers,  or Laurent Boulangerie, beautiful presentation but I really think it could be better ... also disappointed that tiramisu was on the menu. Was this supposed to be a French patisserie or what?

After the sweet attack, DDDs moved on to a third and unscheduled stop at Bandung Rasa, Mascot, where I wanted to have their 'es campur' - an Indonesian ice dessert - while the others were more than happy at the prospect of a savoury meal. According to Isabella, the food was authentic (but she did recommend Kingsford for a tasty Indonesian meal). I did have my es campur - the most colourful, refreshing and interesting ice dessert, with different textures (of jelly, jackfruit, red beans and shaved ice) completely different from our French indulgence earlier. While I was unable to have a proper meal, I vowed to come back to Bandung Rasa for a proper meal (mental note: and when will I finally visit Mamak?????) 

With that, I bid our new friends farewell - and look forward to their company again, at our next DDT! 

CS

PS: Thank you Vicky for inviting your friends to our humble event! Welcome Vicky, Olie, Hoe Yin, Phil, Isabella, Els, Charisma, Jackson! 

A bientot, Adriano

For 3 years our beloved DDT CEO extraordinaire KT led our monthly dessert expeditions. However the wind had changed - KT made the incredible decision to follow her heart alllll the way to Buenos Aires!!! To wish her a bon voyage - one last indulgence, as the dessert scene in BA is no where near the sophistication of Sydney - where better than a final fling with KT's wishlist-fiancé Adriano?

The kitchen behind the cafe 

Adriano's success was well known to all. Prior to his rise to (national) fame, the Balmain locals plus those in the know (ahem, like us DDDs) flocked to their local secret gem. Now that every second person and their pets in Australia had heard about him, there was no way his little cafe, which was a block away from the patisserie, could cope. We have long heard that he was expanding and opening a new cafe at Rozelle, so now that it has happened, we DDDs must show our presence!

A couple of us turned up at the patisserie and made our selections - as the cafe had a different selection to that of the patisserie - THEN we arrived at the cafe, which was a hole in the wall - it had two benches each seating 5 stools. And there was not a lot of space to cope with the endless stream of customers. Oh how were we to cope with the expected 20+ people?! Lucky KT was organized and found Bridgewater Park, just minutes walk from the cafe, so the string of DDDs bought and brought their goodies and devoured them at the park. Two tables under cover on a hot summer's day - Perfect!

Divving up the goodies!

A few old favourites included almond croissant, pepito (pastry bread with chocolate and hazelnut filling, excellent breakfast), chocolate croissant, palmier, berry brioche, passionfruit tart and a selection of macarons; a few other interesting new items - yuzu, kalamansi and lime tart, mandarin tart - both beautifully citrusy and tasty, but our favourite was still the passionfruit tart; "was are be you me" - wasabi peas, pistachio creme patissiere, grapefruit confit, wasabi balls - I had reservations but it wasn't overpowering with the heat and sting but that lovely wasabi flavour. Light and fluffy pastry, tasty smooth pastry... better than the mustard profiterole "Allesa I like big buns" 12 months ago.

Interesting selection of macarons - including wasabi (VERY nice - see description on the was are be you me); Go-chu-jang Korean chilli (some liked it, I didn't - personal preference); toasted marshmallow (basically sugar filling in sweet macaron shells... sugar on sugar); peach tea (like just like a Lipton peach tea only crunchy!); Other flavours from the main patisserie - rosemary and apricot earned unanimous frown and "hmmm.... interesting!" - not a popular flavour, I'd say.

Old favourite salted caramel was sold out at 10am - we were lucky to have the last two! A new 'favourite' - lime pineapple, tastes like a splice ice cream (only crunchy!), hope they keep that flavour as a regular. Unfortunately due to the warm weather the macaron fillings were suffering, however I must say that these macarons have improved from how I remembered it - they used to have a hard outer shell and an air pocket (gasp!!) between the outer shell and the macaron body, and at times a bit chewy. This time, every single one we cracked open had a fragile shell that just gave in at the slightest pressure, no air pocket, and virtually melts in your mouth! Thank you Adriano - perfect macarons, amazing flavours.

The last 2 salted caramel macs!

We love the Adriano creativity, daring and imaginative flavour mix and match, putting them together into an artistic architecture, a feast for the taste and sight. One thing we all found disappointing was the size of the cafe "expansion" - if it was to allow more patrons, what's the idea of the tiny cafe? The original cafe could at least seat 20, and its menu included some delectable sweets to die for ("Paris" la vie en rose - romantic rose and berry dessert; and chocolate hamburger made with chocolate macaron and chocolate ice cream etc). If only we were able to sit in relative comfort enjoying some of his signature desserts....

With that, we say BON VOYAGE to our dearly beloved KT... Hope you are happy in your journey and we will think of you when we indulge next!!

CS

KT: I had enough Adriano to last me the year... welcome our first time DDDs, Colleen, Scarlett, Shelley, Neil, Lesley and Caroline!