2016 end of year home bake - stars and stripes!

2016 has been an interesting year. Wouldn't be my favourite, but it certainly was quite a character of a year. One good thing about a year like this? Makes one appreciate the uneventful, but peaceful and smooth sailing times.

Everybody loves drama and this year's US election was full of it. As much as it was drawn out and painful to watch at times, it made for some memorable entertainment. It was the mad Americans that  inspired this end of year theme.

Cookies and cream is very American. So is peanut butter and chocolate combo. I'd have wanted to throw a banana to the peanut butter sandwich combo (the King lives as long as his peanut butter and banana sandwich exists), except that I used up my bananas in my banoffee tart - also very America, I think.

Cookies and creme cupcake

Chocolate and peanut butter slice

Cookies and cream cream cheese balls

Banofee tarts

And to cleanse the palate? Not typically "American" but we were grateful for this refreshing strawberry and mango sorbet. The basil leaves are a garnish, though it will probably add an interesting flavour to the sorbet ... Next time, maybe!

With that, farewell 2016, and may 2017 be better for everyone!

CS

Chocoholics, anonymous. Welcome to the Smooth Festival of Chocolate!

Welcome to the best city in the world!! 

And this was made even better with lots of velvety delicious chocolatey desserts. With brilliant weather like this, The Rocks gets incredibly busy - but thanks to the forethought of the organisers, the event was spread out to avoid heavy crowds at any one spot. 

However, queues are not avoidable... Especially the popular stalls like Black Star and of course, Zumbo, whos endless creativity had fattened up who knows how many sweet tooths like myself. 

Two out of 4 Zumbo goodies here. After consuming so many items, it was really hard to remember what they were... one with chocolate mousse, pastry, passionfruit custard; the other was chocolate, raspberry, caramel, custard... Something or other. Both yum, not over sweet, classic Zumbo! Thanks for existing.... 

The most popular Zumbo goodie however was the reinvention of the Golden Gaytime. And I believe that was the most popular dessert of the event!! Ice cream + caramel sandwiched in chocolate macaron shells, coated with chocolate and nuts. It was Golden Gaytime on steroids. Amazing was not enough of a word to describe it! 

If I had to find fault in it... It was not easy to eat. Too big for a mouth, and it was quite ready to fall off the meager popsicle stick. Thankfully the chocolate and nut shell stayed put so we were able to hold on until they were consumed!

There were of course plenty of other goodies - some I managed to devour, like the Profiterole Project's freshly piped creme patissiere that lured me to their stall and the crunchy toffee didn't disappoint; Others I could only look at while my pancreas protested.... I stared at the gorgeous creations from Black Star and Textbook Patisseries and could only say, NEXT YEAR ... At least the watermelon cake (this year it's white chocolate watermelon cake) should still be available from Black Star. But the other desserts? Hopefully they will stay on in their respective patisseries for at least a little longer. 

I did have one of these colourful croissants - how beautiful are they! It was a cherry ripe croissant - chocolate croissant with cherry custard. Flaky croissant, light tang of the cherry, excellent breakfast :D

From a distance, that smoke was a tantalising advertisement for something savoury! We could spot the smoke from Circular Quay! This was a very welcome break from all the sweetness - charcoal chicken/pork skewers with a deliciously thick and sticky sauce, which was gloriously sweet and savoury and finger licking good (better than KFC, by far!!). And with that, we soldiered on for more sweetness....

However apart from having to queue to get my food (and these food stalls were really quick so the wait was minimal), I refused to queue to enter the chocolatiers' hall or the Lindt Lounge. But it was a great idea having chocolatiers indoors - the sun wouldn't have been too kind to the delicate chocolates!

This year unlike the previous two, I missed out on the blogger/social media special treatments because I didn't check the emails early enough. Oops ... So I missed out on VIP passes to the dessert demonstrations... but my trusty camera zoomed in to one of the goodies just to say, yup I was there.... even if I was on the side line, watching other VIPs eat what should also have been mine :p

Thus passed another glorious Spring weekend at the most beautiful place of the most wonderful city in the world. One never grows tired of it.... <3

CS

Hello, Rozelle

Rozelle, very dear to my sugar-infested heart. Lots of beautiful cafes, scattered with gorgeous patisseries and bakeries, and when there is time for a stroll - boutiques ready to take my money ... So on this gloomy Sunday morning, we headed to this lovely funky suburb in the hope of another sugar high that will brighten up the otherwise damp and grey day.

First stop was meant to be Hangry, which received some decent reviews from bloggers and diners alike, but upon strolling back and forth at the address, all I could see was a somewhat ordinary cafe ... so I moved on as I'm not wasting calories on boring brownies!

Now what ... All that's needed was to stroll some 5 meters to find AboutLife, and it was a good find - lots of healthy but delicious food and drinks to choose from, including several that are sweet and guilt free, such as the banana and sweet potato hotcakes topped with vanilla coconut yogurt, raw cacao sauce, chia, coconut shavings and walnuts. 

I say again, that delicious food doesn't have to be bland and rough. These were fluffy hotcakes that are full of natural flavours and different textures to make it interesting. And of course I had to wash it down with an equally healthy version of a coffee - iced coffee with coconut water - refreshing, light, and totally will make it myself from time to time :)

But I do need a proper coffee still. And Piccolo's a great place to pick up my normal lifestyle ... Hole in the wall, almost, and people stream in and out non-stop. There were several breakfast items and pastries in the display cabinet but I was happily satisfied by my wholesome breakfast, I could only have a cold-drip Ethiopian. It was lovely, refreshing, and gave me a perfect amount of time to sit and contemplate.

After a short stroll to digest and to, um, spend money on unnecessary non-food items, I arrived at a gorgeous chocolate shop Belle Fleur. OMG so much to choose from, such a big range, I picked six (plus a block of chilli chocolates - single origin Venezuelan dark). The wasabi chocolate - nice, smooth, dark, could not taste the wasabi. Blood orange jelly - thin layer of chocolate, delicious tangy jelly - I can have this again. And again. And maybe again. And I can't wait to try the salted caramel, chilli, wattle seed and speculaas...

Then a lime brulee tart at C'est Bon drew me. A sucker for lime and anything tangy, I stepped in and got myself a coffee, a scoop of home made pistachio gelato, and the lime brulee tart. Disappointment, unfortunately, and I mentally renamed this cafe C'est ne pas bon immediately. Bitter and burnt coffee, sweet and unflavourful gelato and lime tart. Pretty shop, unfortunately it really should do better than that in a competitive suburb such as Rozelle.

On that note,  I vow to return to explore more, eat more, and most likely, shop more .... 

CS

Dessert First, Beach Later

Happy 2016! Did you indulge over the silly season and set a new year's resolution that revolves around eating carrot and celery sticks to repent said indulgence? As we still need to think about our beach body - it's the middle of summer and I'm yet to show off my new bikini - lets ease into 2016 with a light start to our sweet adventures.

Just like any other popular cafe in Sydney, one expects a wait, Ruby was no exception. The wait was entertaining enough - Happily sleeping babies in prams, happy energetic babies in prams, happy puppies making friends with both humans and other puppies, happy humans making faces at happy babies or patting happy puppies ..... Then again, we were happier at our table, picking and choosing our sweet attacks. 

First order - coffee. Ruby serves many varieties from pour-over and cold drip (served with a wedge of lime and vanilla syrup) to the standard espresso with foamy milk. Cold drip was very refreshing, much like a lime ice tea but it's a coffee! There's a new drink I will make at home now - except, I'd be quite happy to skip the syrup. The soy chai tea got a thumbs up, with so much tea leaves and bits of spice in the mix it was surprisingly well balanced. The affogato - OMG did I ask for a single or a double!? This thing came with a double espresso and double scoops of vanilla ice cream, plus the same vanilla syrup that went on the cold drip coffee. Bonus points to the deliciously sticky honeycomb!

And who can resist rashers of bacon with a brioche French toast? No one. Warm and fluffy and with a smear of ricotta in the centre, we scoffed it down maybe just a bit too quickly. The "loco love raw vegan chocolate" with hazelnut praline and the "wellness by Tess salted caramel slice" were tasty: deliciously nutty base on the caramel slice that unfortunately was not caramelly enough for our liking. But we're just caramel gluttons...

Our next stop was supposed to be Craig's Cheese Shop but unfortunately they appear to be on holidays still ... so we headed over to Bondi Road for Wellington Cake, where Hsinner braved it alone many years ago. Still full from our breakfast, we took a piece of poppy seed slice and an almond crescent cookie home. good breakfast the next morning :D

Since we were robbed of Craig's cheese, we made up for it at Russki's deli, which stocks a lot of the continental and Eastern European goods. Not a place to sit down and eat at, we bought some of our favourite things - cheeses of course - a lovely truffle Gouda (mmm) and a creamy blue (MMM) that we just could not wait to consume! So our next scheduled stop Sefa was unfortunately axed, although we did salivate over their unique Middle Eastern desserts on the menu ...  Sorry Sefa, we will have to revisit another day!

We spent the rest of the afternoon by Bronte - well we didn't exactly have this glorious weather but sunshine filled our heart as we dug into the cheeses and the (ghast!!) cured meats!!





CS

SugarRush 2015 - Bistro Mint

As if we haven't ingested enough sugar this month, let alone this year, an invitation from Bistro Mint arrived and who can resist chocolate?

Balmy spring evenings are the best in Sydney. Following some stomach-lining at the Night Noodle Market, we strolled to the oldest public building in the CBD. Sydney Mint was built in the early 1800s, once known as the "Rum Hospital" due to the contractors having been paid with 45,000 gallons of rum! A different kind of alcohol was served on the evening of Sugar Rush, part of the Good Food Month.

Seated on the balcony overlooking Macquarie Street, glasses of Yalumba Museum Reserve muscat were served. Tawny-coloured, it's plumy, chocolatey, a little spicy and very much sticky!

The dessert plate arrived with a dark chocolate dome, its contents in suspense, and a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream topped with honey foam. A hot dark chocolate sauce, with extra vanilla stirred in, was poured over the dome as the show began.

While the chocolate dome melted, the ooh's & ah's were quite audible in the otherwise placid surrounding. The big unveil consisted of a chocolate fudge coin (geddit!) and Merlot gel - rich and tangy all in one hit. Crushed peanuts at the base of the plate gave the liquidy dessert an extra texture kick, as well as adding its nutty fragrance.

It was another beautiful evening to appreciate our wonderful city, made even better by a sugar high! Thank you Bistro Mint for a lovely sweet indulgence!

**Sugar Rush at Bistro Mint is available from 7pm Tuesdays to Fridays until 30 October 2015. For more information, please visit their website.

Hsinner ;)

Smoooooth(FM) Chocolate Festival at The Rocks

Chocolate overdose again! Just 2 weeks after our intensive dessert study with Textbook, we attended the second annual SmoothFM Chocolate Festival at The Rocks! The organisers have certainly got the knack for picking perfect spring days - last year we were sunburnt from the glorious weather, and this was repeated with the most beautiful sunny spring weather one could ask for!

There was much to see and taste - a feast for the taste buds as well as the eyes! This beautiful sugar sculpture and the chocolate handbag belonged to the Australian Patisserie Academy. I love this handbag though I doubt this will be very useful at all!!

The goodies from the various vendors - generous volume of sweets in a jar, looks fun but I couldn't help but think what we would do with the jars after we've finished...?? 

The goodies from Choco Samta looked so enticing just scattered in the cabinet! 

We like eclairs - they are just so pretty! From Passion Tree Velvet

Chocolate sculptures - chocolate cocoa pods and cocoa tree, and that dirty shallot, the succulent plant, quail egg and the salami in the background were all chocolate too! 

Rosewater cheese cake from Choco Samta. No chocolate here ... :p

"Tacos" from Black Star Pastry - highly recommended the "Angel" (lemon curd, passionfruit jelly, meringue and coconut) which was tangy; Loved the spicy "Devil" (dark chilli chocolate ganache, freeze dried plum and hazelnut) and the creative "Match-mallow" (matcha white choc, freeze dried lychee and raspberry marshmallow)

That is the queue at midday! Patience is a virtue .... especially when chocolates are involved. 

This was the reason for the queue - Zumbo's "Chouxmaca" and a dessert BigMac. Worth the wait? We think so! 

Anna Polyviou (I'd like to call her Polyanna ... not because she looks like a Polyanna but just her name!!) demonstrated her version of a wagon wheel - "Wag Anna" - and gave away a couple of colourful kitchen appliances by making people dance!! 

Tamas Pamer's creation at the Callebaut test kitchen - chocolate mochi, red bean ice cream, aerated dried chocolate 

Australian Patisserie Academy's beautiful demonstration - chocolate  mousse, crumble, rice pudding, mango "skin" (or fruit roll up, as I see it), cardamon and caramel pudding, white chocolate with mango puree centre - LOVE!

And, that was not it. There was so much going on, so many goodies to taste and to see, we just have to stop somewhere! Here's hoping that this event will continue and become another one of those annual DDT pilgrims like the Aroma Festival and the October Good Food Month! (And we are very thankful that this is now held in September so it doesn't clash with the Sugar Rush of October!!)

CS

Studying desserts at Textbook and Dessertology, Alexandria

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