It felt like a long time since the last time we had such a sugar rush from our tours. Then I looked at the last few DDTS - Aroma festival in July, without the usual Baroque because it had closed; The June home bake with only a few participants and therefore only few sweet offers; in short, we haven't had a sizeable sugar injection for a little while. But at the end of this DDT I felt quenched. You will see why ….
Textbook and Dessertology fits perfectly with my nerd background: we love to understand the chemistry of cooking, as well as experimenting with flavour combinations. The pastry chefs from Textbook (ex Gumnut) are the brave nerds/geeks that will go boldly where none had ventured before …. And not only are they creative, they are productive. Just look at the goodies that are on offer! Princess Leia - I mean white chocolate, mango, kaffir lime and coconut - it had an unusual texture that everyone went "hmmm" and tried to decide what it was. The texture was light, somewhat like a combination of tofu and panna cotta. The flavour was good, but we were perplexed with the texture. Jaffa cake was more chocolatey than orange, but it was an amazing chocolatey mousse. Chocolate choux has a gorgeously velvety filling. Ginger and spice mousse - I'm personally not keen on spices but it was otherwise quite delectable.
The favourite? Apple crumble with poached cinnamon apple, apple custard mousse, speculaas crumble and dulcey chocolate bavarois with pain de genes. AMAZING. Crisp and fresh, sharp flavours. This one is a keeper.
Apart from the lovely breads that beckoned to be taken home (excellent baguette, crispy outside and chewy inside) there were the usual boulangerie offerings like loaves and croissants. Breakfast provision, next time….
Get a feeling for why I felt quenched yet? That was only stop 1!
L'Americano is a cafe located inside Coco Republic so as we walked in, we longingly inspected some of their gorgeous and stylish pieces of furnitures. What we were after was much more affordable though - desserts and maybe another cup of coffee to wash it down with. We loved the crockeries - but of course, we're inside Coco Republic! There were a few basic pastries to choose from, we ended up with the home made tiramisu (very intense in flavour, deliciously moist) and a sweet crostini with ricotta, strawberries and orange. I think it would have been much better with figs - not the right season, hence the change of menu - but this was a perfectly wholesome breakfast … maybe I can do it at home next weekend!
We love Black Star. Many a pastry chef were nurtured and trained here. Many hungry or gluttonous mouths were fed here. They've created a monster of a dessert that is so immensely popular, we see this made while we're devouring our own little piece of delicious strawberry and watermelon cake. The maple and bacon popcorn cake also took our fancy - maple caramel popcorn with bacony bits, moreish and intense. Balanced quite well on the mild chocolate cake which initially tasted flat on its own. We really ought to come here with more people and sample more of their goodies!
Final stop - Clubhouse Rosebery. It made us chuckle that the surf life saver's club is located in the inner south, nowhere near the beach. We could not resist the Clubhouse Gaytime - caramel parfait with honeycomb, caramel sauce, vanilla bean ice cream and crushed nuts. And the coconut ice cream with cassava chips, smoked pineapple and chilli … ooh that kick was delicious! And the heat was doused with the coconut ice cream while we enjoyed the smoky pineapple bits. Like having a beach bon fire, toasting bits and pieces and just popping them in my mouth. That kind of lovely feeling.
For the first time in a while, my pancreas and my kidneys screamed. WOOHOO! Back in business…..
CS
The favourite? Apple crumble with poached cinnamon apple, apple custard mousse, speculaas crumble and dulcey chocolate bavarois with pain de genes. AMAZING. Crisp and fresh, sharp flavours. This one is a keeper. 
