There is a constant buzz and flow of people, baristas/waiters/customers, but it all seems to work perfectly. The cappuccino arrives without the run-of-the-mill chocolate dusting and on first mouthful the caffeine hit is loud and clear. I fell in love! But wait, there's more! The little surprises of finding Mr Gnome (Gnome Project Merchants) on the saucer and "Brewtown" inside the cup made it all the more special.
Being on my own while our beautiful Secretary CS sun-baked in Koh Samui, it is a tough calling to consume the Belgian waffles AND the banana bread AND the Brewnuts. I drew on the inner dessert strength and marched on. The orange ricotta and the caramelised figs stood out from the cold waffle. The honey and lime mascarpone made the banana bread. The Brewnuts were cronuts, period, topped with flavours. Some of us are undecided on the not-so-buttery-like-croissant and not-so-doughy-like-donuts combo. Some appreciated them for who them are. Kaitlin reminds us that this world needs more love and acceptance :)
With a full stomach, I moved on to meet our usual suspects at Black Star Pastry. This is the Nth time DDT has visited the place. For the first-timer, the standard affair includes the chocolate and caramel tart, the strawberry and watermelon cake, and the lemon myrtle chiffon cake. From its first days before the long queue began, the "goo" tart had impressed. Today, it has somewhat lost the wow factor. The other treats are consistently light and comforting.
IZBA Russian Treats is a modernly fitted spot adorn with babushka dolls and golden plaques. We actually bought a takeaway Izba cake from the market instead of walking to the shop-proper for a sit-down. The work involved in making this triangular dessert must have been tedious! It is inspired by the wooden log hut of the old-time Russia and consists of vanilla sour cream and cherries. We shall return to enjoy other creations when we aren't in such a desperate need to have some digestive tea!
So tea it was that we had in 2042 Cafe. I was drawn by the lounge room style decor but the menu is more brunch/lunch than desserts. Having said that, the Moroccan baked eggs can feed 2 people for the price of $18 so we may just return on a non-DDT day... Massive portions! Just look at the size of that French toast next to the normal-sized fork! The Belgian waffles come with honeycomb ice cream which is lovely. The double espresso came with a large scoop of salty caramel ice cream. Consumed together one cannot taste the salty caramel but on its own it was creamily caramely! How we still managed to scoff down the raisin & walnut sourdough with Pepe Saya butter and three oranges marmalade is not beyond me but impressive!
Cow and The Moon recently won the world's best gelato with their mandorla affogato flavour. We had wanted to visit this gelateria years ago but never got around to it. Now we get in the queue like every other good person of Sydney and wait 20 minutes before digging into the flavours: mandorla affogato (vanilla gelato, Kenyan coffee, salted caramel, burnt almond praline), black and blue (blackberries and blueberries), mango sorbet, poppin' the corn and pomegranate. It is understandable that mandorla affogato took the Gelato World Tour title: the ingredients are distinct but blend in so well with each other! Poppin' the corn was the next favourite, with caramelised popcorn hidden in the creamy gelato. Black and blue is refreshingly tart and mango sorbet is oh-so-mangoey! The pomegranate flavour could have been stronger, perhaps more juice added, but the texture was consistently smooth.No amount of walking was enough for there to be more stomach space to deposit the sweet pies of The Pie Tin. We vow to come back to Newtown soon, what with its colourful street art setting the perfect background for some fun shots, and those funky venues boasting with delectable treats!
KT
