Around the world in Enmore!

I had to have a huge appetite.

A couple of days leading to our culinary round-the-world trip, I had 3 DDDs cancel (one going home leaving Sydney that day, one had to be at the other side of Sydney [in this rain? Not pleasant] and another one has a last minute thing pop up). As I'd offered to eat their share of sweet indulgence for them (plus KT's ) ... I had to eat for myself and 4 others today.

Let's just say I'll have a food baby by the end of the day ... or food quadruplet, more like.

My parking luck was truly legendary. Untimed parking across the road from Pickwick's! It wasn't the result of my painstaking street-parking research but through pure luck.... rainy day demands good parking spot!

I did not hesitate to order the brioche French Toast (with ricotta, lemon myrtle honey, cinnamon sugar, strawberries and fresh raspberry compote). Coulis was fresh crushed raspberry, layers of brioche bread soaked in custards, generous and sweet fresh strawberries piled up on the plate ... And, bonus - good Toby's Estate coffee.

I decided to skip Ocean and Cow & The Moon as it was too cold for icy desserts and I didn't want to miss out on the famous Blackstar 'goo' chocolate tart (they sold out early afternoon last time we came). And I found parking just outside Black Star - AGAIN! I was free from any parking problem in Newtown ... that's unheard of!! 

Black Star is phenomenal because despite the miserable weather, there was still a queue out the door and the chairs outside the bakery were still occupied! From a large selection these were cherry picked: a canelle (a French dessert that looks unassuming but has a lovely caramelised flavour), a goo tart (KT: uh, they won't know what DDD asks for coz WE call it the goo tart haha. It's the chocolate & caramel tart!), and a beautifully constructed strawberry watermelon and rose cake. 

Strawberry watermelon and rose cake was melt-in-your-mouth moist and fragrant, the texture more like trifle because it was so moist; I have never had a dessert with a slice of watermelon in the middle - it was lovely but although the flavour was great, I question the texture as the rest of the cake was so fragile and tender. I love this dessert nonetheless. Canelle is a classic baked dessert that isn't eye-catching. It's something you must have tried to appreciate it. Slightly crispy on the caramelised surface, slightly doughy centre, very fragrant. And then the star of Black Star - the chocolate caramel 'goo' tart , gorgeous, decadent, gooey and luscious, pinch of salt to cut the sweetness, but the caramel was so sweet it  overpowered the chocolate - who would have thought! [KT: compared to the pic from 2009 it's not as GOOEY the chocolate... the cold weather? change of recipe?]

Next time I have a chance to visit Black Star, and if they still make it, must try their salted caramel panna cotta.

Had to battle the rain and again find parking, and again I had the good fortune of finding free parking just around the corner from the next destination! Pity about the rain, it didn't matter where we went, it was miserable.

Decided to fast-forward to Luxe Bakery and finish the day early - Funky warehouse style interior, a wall of (nearly sold out) organic sourdough loaves, and a cabinet of tarts and pastries perfect for the afternoon. Creamy smooth tangy lemon curd on flaky pastry similar to that of Bourke Street bakery, highly recommended. The loaves were so tantalizing I had to take one home.

A real shame about the weather - would have been a lovely day otherwise Hopefully we'll have a good October for Crave International Food Festival!

CS

[KT: Line your tummies, ardent dessertees!!!!]