Pink Ombré Cake

I’m not much of a girly girl. Most days, I’m sporting jeans, a t-shirt of some description and a flyaway ponytail, if I can get away with it. But when I stumbled upon this awesome pink ombré cake video tutorial, I couldn’t help myself – I squealed and jumped around in the girliest of girly girl ways for a good minute or two. Partly because I’ve been itching to try an ombré recipe for a while now, but also because Ann from How To Cook That makes it look like an absolute cakewalk – pun very much intended. 😉

Not that I nailed it – as you can see, I totally botched some of the icing, whoops! – but overall, I’m pretty chuffed with how it turned out first time around. Besides, practise makes perfect, right? I’ve seen some crazy beautiful ombré cakes with impeccable rose petal icing and am already toying with the idea of attempting one myself.

Anyway, onto the cake! I opted for a sponge, but you can use any cake that tickles your fancy. This was my first time ever making a sponge, so not even knowing where to start, I took to good old reliable Google and stumbled upon Donna Hay’s basic sponge cake recipe. I was a little puzzled at first, since there didn’t appear to be any sort of rising agent in the recipe aside from the eggs, but it didn’t seem to be a problem when I popped four beautiful golden babies out of the oven – not a euphemism, in case you were wondering. 😉

Ann advises you have three cake layers for optimum ombré results, so you’ll have to increase the quantity of each of the following ingredients by adding half of their original quantities. I wasn’t sure how they were going to turn out, so I doubled the recipe, which left me with one cake to spare in case something went wrong – better safe than sorry!

Ingredients – Sponge Cake

Makes two 20cm cakes

1 & ¼ cups plain flour

6 eggs

¾ cup caster sugar

60g butter, melted

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F /180°C/160°C fan-forced.

Grease the sides of two 20cm round cake tins and line the base of each with baking paper.

Sift the flour three times and set aside.

Beat eggs and sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high speed for 8-10 minutes, or until thick and pale in colour, and tripled in volume.

Sift flour into egg mixture in two additions, folding gently.

Add melted butter, again folding gently until ingredients are well incorporated.

Divide cake batter evenly between both tins and bake for approximately 25 minutes or until cakes are golden brown and spring back when pressed lightly.

Cool on wire racks.

Looking forward, I’d probably experiment with another sponge recipe. These turned out relatively well considering they were a first attempt, but they were slightly eggy and not as light and airy on the inside as I would have liked.

I used the buttercream icing recipe on the How To Cook That website, and doubled the ingredients thinking that would be enough, but silly me, I missed the note that said I needed to triple them to completely cover the three cake layers!  In any case, I’d probably recommend you make three separate portions of icing or else you’ll end up with a face full of icing sugar! I just got by with a double dose of each ingredient, but I was scraping the bottom of the bowl trying to cover the top layer in the end.

Ingredients – Buttercream Icing

Makes enough to ice one 20cm cake

120g butter, at room temperature

2-2 & ½ cups icing sugar

3 tbsp pouring cream or milk

Your choice of liquid food colouring

Method

Loosely combine butter and icing sugar in a large bowl.

Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until well combined.

Add one tablespoon of cream or milk at a time until you have reached your desired consistency.

Once you’ve churned out enough buttercream, place about a third into another bowl and set aside.

Then, starting with a few drops of your food colouring, incorporate into the rest of the buttercream and beat until you have a pale shade of your chosen colour. Take a fifth of the buttercream out and place into a zip-lock/icing bag.

Repeat the process, gradually adding a few more drops of food colouring to the buttercream at a time, until you have five different shades.

Assembly & Icing

To assemble, take one of your sponge cakes and evenly spread a generous amount of the uncoloured buttercream over the top. Place the next cake on top and repeat the process twice more. Make sure to spread a thin layer on the outsides of each layer as well – this will help with the ombré icing later on.

Now for the fun part! Once your three-layered cake is covered in white buttercream, take the lightest shade of coloured buttercream and pipe blobs the whole way around the top of the cake. Then take a teaspoon or a small palette knife and squash the bottom half of each blob, dragging it downwards.

Sidebar: it really helps to occasionally dip your teaspoon or knife into some hot water; this way, you get a nice, smooth finish. Which I definitely will keep in mind for next time! By the time I got to the third row of buttercream, my water was lukewarm at best and the smearing got messy to say the least!

Continue doing this until you’ve made it the whole way around the cake. Then take the next shade and pipe your next set of blobs so that they cover the bottom half of the smears from the top row. Repeat the process with the remaining buttercream. With the darkest shade, simply pipe blobs along the bottom of the cake and voilà! You have an ombré cake!

Check out the full video tutorial on How To Cook That here. Definitely worth having a visual aid handy if you get stuck! I had so much fun making this, and anybody thinking of making one should go for it. Life truly is better in colour!

Enjoy!

– Erika x

Peanut Butter Choc Chunk Cookies

Not too long ago, I was lucky enough to take up a six-week food styling and photography course at RMIT. The class is taught by Olivia Sparks, a super talented stylist who specialises in food, interiors, fashion and lifestyle. It was every bit as inspiring and insightful as I thought it would be, and, in addition to meeting some wonderful people, I also learnt heaps! Like how lighting can make or break a shot. And where to find the coolest props. And how stylists use lipstick to make strawberries look redder. And…yeah, I could go on all day! If you want to find out more about the class or are interested in taking it because, like me, you’re absolutely hopeless at anything that requires the flow of creative juice, here’s the link to the course page. I highly recommend it!

Of course, even having completed the course, I’m still a complete novice. But whenever I whip  my camera out now, I’m thinking about props and backdrops and surfaces and negative space and a bunch of other things I’d never considered before I took the class. So, I decided to put a little effort into today’s post. A little more than my usual ‘dunk it on a plate and take a photo’ method, that is. 🙂

I thought I’d stick with something simple. But truth be told, I’ve never had much luck with cookies. In all of my tragic cookie-related experiences, I’ve always taken them out of the oven and waited eagerly while they cooled, only to find they had turned rock hard. Like eat-one-and-you-will-chip-a-tooth-rock-hard. Anyway, I woke up the other day with a massive craving for something – anything – peanut butter-flavoured, and the first thing that popped into my head was a big fat peanut butter cookie, oozy melted chocolate chunks and all. Promptly followed by me sledge-hammering my likely version of the poor thing to death.

Lucky for me, Curtis Stone knows his cookies. These peanut butter choc chunk bad boys are everything a cookie should be – soft, chewy and outrageously addictive. The recipe is pretty straightforward, as well – one of those plonk everything in the mixer and watch it work its magic types.

Ingredients

Yields approximately 15 cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup (roughly 280g) peanut butter (I opted for smooth, but you’re more than welcome to go down the chunky route)

1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar

1/2 cup caster sugar

1/2 cup (125g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 ½ tbsp honey

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

155g semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (you can use chocolate chips, as well!)

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F /180°C/160°C fan-forced.

Line 1 large tray or 2 medium-sized trays with baking paper.

Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.

Beat the peanut butter, brown sugar, caster sugar, butter, honey, egg and vanilla extract with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.

Add flour mixture to peanut butter mixture in 2 parts, mixing well after each addition.

Gently fold in chocolate chunks.

Spoon 1 ½ heaped tablespoons of dough for each cookie onto prepared baking tray(s), spacing them about 5cm apart. No need to flatten them, they’ll expand on their own in the oven.

Bake for 12 minutes or until cookies are slightly browned on top, but still very soft.

Allow cookies to cool on trays for 5 minutes (if you can wait that long, goodness knows I was chomping at the bit to eat one by this point) and then transfer to cooling rack once slightly they have firmed up a little.

I’m slightly alarmed at how many I’ve already polished off, but like all the sugary treats I’ve come across lately, I’m just going to file this one under ‘to be worked off at the gym’. Besides, it’s peanut butter! And chocolate! All counter-arguments are invalid. 😉

Enjoy!

– Erika x

Servery and Spoon

137 Waverley Road
Malvern East, VIC 3145
03 9571 7495
www.serveryandspoon.com.au

I recently started watching Friday Night Lights – out of nowhere, really, although I am a massive One Tree Hill fan and have been told that the two are fairly similar. For anyone who hasn’t seen the show (FNL, that is), it’s about a high school football team from a small town called Dillon that deals with its fair share of ups and downs as the tight-knit Texan community rallies behind it. I had my doubts about it at first. I mean, for one thing, I’m not a sports-mad person, least of all American football, which – up until a couple of weeks ago – I had zero interest in. Secondly, it was all I could do to keep up with the Southern drawl. But four seasons in, I’m absolutely loving it. It’s such an underrated show.

Like FNL, a huge chunk of Melbourne’s culinary scene is also way, way underrated. Maybe we simply like going to the same places, but regardless, it’s a shame so many of the usual suspects get all the airtime. Servery and Spoon wasn’t even on my radar until good friend G (bless her) gave a stellar recommendation. She then proceeded to gush over the uber-cute display of cakes and desserts and the equally charming gourmet produce store next door, and well…who can say no to cake? 😉 So, in a post-gym hankering for hash browns and other cheeky treats, C and I hurtled off to the Malvern East eatery for a feed that pretty much undid all the effort that went into our morning workout.

S & S sports the industrial chic fit-out that most Melbourne cafés seem to nurse a soft spot for. We were seated in the rear dining area, a mish-mash of vibrant seat cushions, timber tables and kooky artwork. To be honest, I’m yet to find some place that breaks the usual mould, but S & S does the restored look really well and manages to inject a little warmth into the otherwise neutral palette.

To kick things off, I ordered a chai tea, the perfect pick-me-up given the miserable weather that day. The lovely chai flavour was like a big bear hug. Me being the complete and utter airhead that I am, I forgot to note down drink prices, but whatever I paid, it was totally worth it.

Chai tea

Meanwhile, in pursuit of both a caffeine and sugar hit, C opted for a mocha that she downed with equal gusto.

Mocha

S & S’s menu didn’t disappoint. Baklava French toast, slow-roasted tomatoes, salmon and sweet corn blinis…talk about being spoiled for choice! There’s something on there for everyone, and a handful of gluten-free options, which was good to see. After some serious deliberation, I went with my gut and settled on the crispy dukkah crusted eggs with smashed avocado, sautéed spinach and fetta on sourdough (15.5).

Crispy dukkah crusted eggs with smashed avocado, sautéed spinach and fetta on sourdough (15.5)

Apparently my gut knows what’s up. My eggs were cooked beautifully, and all the flavours and textures on the plate– from the crunchy dukkah crust to the creamy crumbled fetta – had my taste buds in a tizzy.

C went for the fresh herb pikelets topped with caramelised beetroot, horseradish crème fraiche and snow pea tendrils (16.5). A few bites in, she noted that the overwhelming amount of horseradish wiped out any flavour the pikelets might have had, but, unpredictably, the beetroot was the hero of the dish. After sampling it myself, I came to the same conclusion – and I don’t even like beetroot!

Fresh herb pikelets with caramelised beetroot, horseradish crème fraiche and snow pea tendrils (16.5)

And, oh my, those hash browns! There I was expecting deep-fried potato goodness of the Maccas variety – and we ended up with the super-super-sized versions (4.0 each). Crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside, these bad boys were all sorts of awesome.

Hash browns (4.0 each)

Even though we were stuffed and ready to roll out the door on our sides by this point, the salted caramel slice samples on offer next door lured us into the grocery store. And boy did we find ourselves in foodie heaven – freshly baked bread, ready-made soups, salads, frittatas, sweets galore – you name it, it was there. We also spied packets of vanilla and pistachio-flavoured Persian fairy floss that, of course, had to be taken home.

We did make it out of there, eventually. I’m so psyched to have found a new favourite local gem – next to Huff, that is. Something tells me I’ll be back real soon.

Wonderbao

Shop 4/19-37 A’Beckett St
CBD, VIC 3000
(03) 9654 7887
http://www.wonderbaokitchen.com.au/

Were you ever one of those kids who brought lunch to school only to get baffled stares or reactions like, ‘dude, what is that?’ I, for one, generated many a baffled stare as I pulled out not a ham and cheese sandwich from my Hello Kitty lunchbox, but something completely foreign to my four square buddies. Every so often, my mom would send me off to school with a mammoth steamed pork bun with the works – Chinese sausage, quail egg, vermicelli noodles, you name it, it was in there. Needless to say, I tried to bolt that thing down before anybody noticed and started berating me with questions.

It’s crazy how times have changed. These days, Aussie natives twirl chopsticks around with dizzying technique (well, maybe I’m the only one impressed because I’m absolutely hopeless at using them). Chinese cuisine no longer simply equates to fried rice and spring rolls. There even seems to be some sort of bao revival in full swing, with up and comers Wonderbao and Bao Now winning over hungry Melburnians left, right and centre.

My sister – who’s an interior design student at RMIT – had heard all about Wonderbao and was just as keen as I was to try it out, so, one Friday, we meandered our way through the city’s cobblestoned laneways to see what all the fuss was about. And to see how these bao or ‘siopao’ (as Filipinos like to call them) measured up to the ones we enjoyed growing up.

The space is absolutely tiny! Even though it wasn’t particularly busy when we got there – which was about three in the afternoon – we still had to wait a while for the five or so stools by the window to free up. That… and we weren’t feeling hipster enough to sit on the plastic crates outside. 😦

Wonderbao’s menu is simple but caters to just about everybody. There are vegetarian and sweet options to tickle everyone’s pickle.

First up, we ordered two of the char siu bao (2.0 each), my personal favourite. I’m thrilled to report that they didn’t disappoint – the meat was deliciously sticky and sweet. On top of that, the ratio of BBQ pork to bao was perfect, and the bun itself was nice and soft. We followed these up with one of the braised pork belly gua bao (3.8). For anyone, like me, who has never had an open style bao before, behold – the Asian taco! The braised meat was beautifully tender and packed so much flavour, along with the pickled mustard, crushed peanuts and coriander sprigs. The super-thick layer of fat was slightly off-putting, though.

Braised pork belly gua bao (3.8), char siu bao (2.0)

The roast pork belly gua bao (also 3.8) reminded me a little of the banh mi that we buy from our favourite Springvale bakery. Filled with cucumber, pickled carrots, daikon and hoisin sauce, this number played the sourness of the pickled carrots off the sweetness of the hoisin sauce nicely. The pork belly skin, however, was crazy salty for some reason. I had to slurp down the rest of my lychee F.O.B drink (1.6) – as the menu explicitly labelled it, not trying to be racist, promise! – like there was no tomorrow.

Roast pork belly gua bao (3.8), char siu bao (2.0)

Overall, the tasty treats on offer at Wonderbao were  heaps better than I expected, despite a few hiccups. They definitely make for cheap, on-the-go snacks for RMIT students and commuters alike. About ten years too late, but who am I to complain? Pork buns for everyone, I say! 🙂

two birds one stone

12 Claremont Street
South Yarra, VIC 3141
(03) 9827 1228
www.twobirdsonestonecafe.com.au/

I’m not a morning person. It takes me a good hour of snoozing my alarm (I usually have two or three set and spaced 10 minutes apart), walking into walls and a splash of ice-cold water to wake up. And even then, I’m still halfway in lala-land or trying to figure out what I was dreaming about before my alarm so rudely interrupted.

There are two things that will unmistakably have me up and at’em before my phone starts quacking at me. One is me falling out of my bed, which, admittedly, doesn’t happen often. Actually, it’s only happened once, but suffice to say, I got up. Maybe I should get someone to push me out of bed every morning. Or not. Pretty sure I bruised my butt the first time. The second – a far more pleasant and common occurrence – is the promise of brunch. /end long-winding psycho babble.

C and I decided to head over to South Yarra and kick off the 2013 brunch series at two birds one stone (every fibre of my being is fighting the urge to capitalise each of those starting letters!). We arrived just before midday and were able to score a booth between the outgoing breakfast and incoming lunch crowds. I hadn’t even ordered and I already liked what I saw – the café was bright and airy, with clean, varnished counter tops and random bursts of teal. The guys who brought us Three Bags Full are doing well – not only have they heated things up along Claremont Street with this little gem, they’ve just opened up shop in Richmond with Top Paddock.

As always, C started off with a skinny latte (3.8), which, according to her, was nothing special. We’re yet to find a cup of Joe that really knocks her socks off. I, for one, could not stop gushing over the Tiffany blue cups and saucers – they were too cute! They definitely gave the otherwise sparse space a bit of warmth and colour.

Latte (3.8)

My hot chocolate (4.0) was more lukewarm than hot, but nice and chocolatey. I loved the detail of the chocolate powder dusted over the top.

Hot chocolate (4.0)

‘Breakfast served all day’ is my all-time favourite phrase next to ‘Sale on now!’. So, of course, my heart did a little flip-flop as my eyes skimmed across the same words atop the menu. C ventured down the sweet route and ordered the twice-cooked marmalade French toast with oranges and vanilla panna cotta (16.5). The bit of French toast that I was lucky enough to try practically melted in my mouth. It was the perfect balance of flavours; not too eggy, but not overly sweet. And finished off with the vanilla panna cotta (which was more like a quenelle of a really thick cream) – incredible! An absolute ripper of a dish, no question.

Twice-cooked marmalade French toast with oranges and vanilla panna cotta (16.5)

While C tended to her sweet tooth, I ordered off the specials menu and wolfed down the smashed peas with crispy pancetta, chèvre and poached eggs on toast (16.5). My egg was poached beautifully – the yolk oozed out like a boss as I cut into it with my knife and fork. The smashed peas were a great alternative to avocado and went nicely with the salty pancetta. The only issue was that it could have done with another slice of toast! The slice flying solo on my plate could barely hold it together, it was like the peas, pancetta and poached egg were playing stacks on.

Smashed peas with crispy pancetta, chèvre and poached eggs on toast (16.5)

I couldn’t leave without taking a few of the apple and pistachio crumble muffins (4.5 each) home. There’s no photographic evidence to suggest this actually happened… because they were in my belly before I could whip out my camera. But hey, I defy anyone to resist a cupcake that good-looking. The apple filling was deliciously sweet, the vanilla bean frosting was spot on and the pistachio crumble gave it great texture. Not to mention they were fresh from the oven – the cake was so lovely and fluffy, I wanted to die. Not unlike Agnes in Despicable Me 😉

For a morning feed that’s sure to please, check out two birds one stone. The menu boasts variety, the space is fresh and funky, and that twice-cooked French toast… well, let’s just say I’d be more than happy to wake up and smell the marmalade any day 🙂

Joomak

Basement 407-409 Swanston Street 
Melbourne CBD, VIC 3000
(03) 9663 7123

Happy 2013, everyone! OK, so it’s like the second last week of January, but you know what I mean. I feel like I need to dust the cobwebs off this blog, it’s been that long since I last posted. The last few weeks have been a little nuts, what with all the present hunting and festivities and crying over the state of my bank account. And the food. Holy cow. I’m pretty sure I ate my weight’s worth in food over the Christmas break.

Of course, that didn’t stop me from ringing in the new year doing what I do considerably well – eat. And what better way to celebrate than with Korean food? Some friends and I forewent the usual Victoria Street haunts for something closer to the fireworks and found ourselves at Joomak – an unsuspecting, hole-in-the-wall type place nestled in the RMIT district on Swanston.

I didn’t really know what to expect as I traipsed – hesitantly – down the stairs into the basement of the seedy-looking building. But I knew I had stumbled onto a hidden gem upon taking in the uber-cute private booths, neon string lights and kitschy spool chairs. Joomak also oozed a very cool, relaxed vibe, which I dug. Everyone looked like they were right at home.

Our party of five was one member too many for a booth, so we were seated at a corner table. A round of Soju (15.0 a bottle) kicked off the celebrations. Soju is like the Korean alternative to vodka but a little sweeter and more rounded out in taste. Well, as far as I could tell, anyway. Being designated driver on NYE probably wasn’t the best idea, but hey, at least there aren’t any deplorable Facebook photos. 😉

Chum-Churum soju (15.0 a bottle)

The chicken drumettes (15.0) that made their way over to us next almost evaporated into thin air, they were snatched up so quickly! I reached for a second, only to find an empty plate and everyone else munching/avoiding eye contact. Sneaky buggers. The one I did have was crunchy and juicy and went down an absolute treat. Those Koreans sure know their chicken! Hallah over in West Melbourne do it one better, though. I could live on that stuff.

Chicken drumettes (15.0)

Complimentary banchan

Our seafood pancake (17.0) was a generous serving of prawns, mussels, carrots and spring onions. It was nice and thin, and full of flavour. Plus, it wasn’t batter-y like some okonomiyaki I’ve had in the past, which was a welcome change.

Seafood pancake (17.0)

We also ordered ourselves a Kimchi and pork pancake (17.0). The spicy Kimchi flavour wasn’t all there and the shredded pork was scarce, but it was still pretty delicious. We still had the complimentary banchan (traditional Korean side dishes) that came complete with some exceptional Kimchi, so no biggie.

Kimchi and pork pancake (17.0)

The pan-fried spicy squid (19.0) arrived at our table on a steaming hot plate. I’m usually a self-confessed chilli wuss, but with it being NYE and I decided that I couldn’t wuss out this time. While I ended up scraping some of the sauce off, it was fairly manageable (in tiny doses, between large gulps of my lemon lime and bitters). The squid was lovely and tender.

Pan-fried spicy squid (19.0)

Trying to squeeze in all the food we could before we each embarked on our doomed resolutions to eat less in the new year (yeah, that’s never gonna happen), our last pick from the Joomak menu was the cheese egg roll with fish roe (14.0). Anyone who has an acquired taste for eggs and tomato sauce (or anybody who is Filipino) will probably like this number. As soon as our waitress laid it down, there was a stunned silence, followed by a simultaneous ‘whoaaa’. It didn’t disappoint, either. The eggs were light and fluffy, and the cheese was wonderful in all of its melted, gooey glory. We gobbled that thing up like there was no tomorrow.

Cheese egg roll with fish roe (14.0)

I was kinda bummed that there was no BBQ component to dinner, but I’d happily go back to Joomak (and the strawberry rice wine that we apparently missed out on). Service was genuine and friendly, and the food was pretty good, too. No matter what the occasion, the Korean dining experience is always fun – and best shared with friends. 🙂

Taste of Melbourne 2012

Taste of Melbourne is the ultimate event for any camera toting, wine swilling, gourmet cheese sniffing foodie. Or, you know, any human being with functioning taste buds. For anybody who hasn’t had the chance to go, Taste brings together some of the city’s best restaurants to showcase their signature dishes. The festival also gives exhibitors the chance to flaunt local food, wine and produce.

This year, the annual celebration of food and drink made the move from the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton to the lakeside location of Albert Park. G and I had purchased tickets for the Sunday session in advance, which was all well and good – except we had no idea what the weather would be like! We were so lucky in that not only did it turn out to be a beautiful, sunny afternoon – we also got an extra hour to take in the sights, as it was the longest and last session of the lot.

The Botanical

We thought we’d get our bearings first and take a little stroll around, so we could note down restaurants and stalls we wanted to hit up before digging in, but weakness struck at our first stop. I could already tell my book of Crowns (the unique currency used across all Taste festivals) was going to last all of five seconds. Plus, the Botanical’s menu was pretty banging. The crumbed pressed confit pork medallions with apple and fennel coleslaw (8 Crowns) was my first pick. The pork medallions were so succulent and juicy, and went down a treat with the creamy slaw. The fennel and mustard seeds gave the dish a bit of extra kick.

Crumbed pressed confit pork medallions with apple and fennel coleslaw (8 Crowns)

We also nabbed ourselves a lamb burger with truffled mayonnaise (10 Crowns). It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t a standout. The sad, lone leaf of iceberg lettuce made for a lacklustre burger. The lamb was moist and nicely seasoned, though, and the truffled mayonnaise gave us a little bang for our buck.

Lamb burger with truffled mayonnaise (10 Crowns)

Malaysia Kitchen

G and I were lucky enough to sit in on the Malaysia Kitchen presentation with MasterChef heavyweight Poh Ling Yeow. I could watch cooking shows all day long, Poh’s Kitchen included, so it was way cool to see her cook up a storm. She’s just as exuberant and chatty in person as she is on TV. 🙂

The cooking demonstration itself was really enlightening; we learnt about common ingredients used across the Malaysian cuisine as well as the different processes involved in making a kickass sambal. Poh and the Malaysia Kitchen team are all for making Malaysian cooking more user-friendly and accessible to the Australian community. It wasn’t long before her pineapple and prawn curry had the crowd oohing and aahing and clamouring for a bite!

Sensology Presents ‘The Art of Cocktail Making’

Next on the mental list of must-dos was a visit to the Sensology tent. I’ve always wanted to learn how to make a mean cocktail and I was so bummed when I missed out on this the last time I was at Taste. For just 10 Crowns, you get an exclusive look into the tricks of the bartending trade and you get to reap the fruits of your labour by taking your drink with you.

By the time we got there, we had just missed the Mojito session, so we booked ourselves in for the 1.30 Southside class. I didn’t even know what a Southside was before signing up – turns out it’s like a mojito, but with gin instead of rum.

The Sensology team really know what they’re doing! They got everyone involved and pumped up (ok, maybe it was the gin, but still, we had a blast) and the tutorial was really easy to follow.

Shakin’ it like a polaroid picture! (Photo courtesy of Taste of Melbourne)

Even though we may or may not have poured in more gin than we were supposed to, these bad boys were pretty delish!

Mamasita

FREAKIN’ FINALLY! This is probably the closest I’ve ever gotten to the actual restaurant – I’ve struck out every single time in the past with Mamasita. I mean, seriously, what’s a girl gotta do to get some tacos around here?! Naturally, half the festival’s patrons seemed to be gathered at the Mamasita stall, so it took us a while to locate the end of the queue and even longer to get to the front of it. But after some confusion and moving around in circles, we eventually clawed our way from the crowd victorious!

Mamasita’s famed elotes callejeros (6 Crowns) were being doled out faster than you can say olé! The street style corn was a little more on the charred side than I would have liked, but boy, was it good. The chipotle mayo and parmesan packed an amazing flavour punch that was salty, sweet, sour and spicy all at the same time.

Elotes callejeros (6 Crowns)

The taco de pescado or fish taco (8 Crowns) struck me as a weird concept, but it worked. The fish was lovely and moist and complemented the red onion salsa and achiote paste rather than overpowering them.

Taco de pescado (8 Crowns)

Over the din of the crowd, the guy at the counter mistook our request for the bean taco as a request for the ‘beef taco’ – so he gave us the braised ox taco (8 Crowns) instead. I’m sure there’s logic in there somewhere. In any case, the combination of the tender meat and the zingy pickled vegetables was unreal. Not totally mind-blowing dishes, but good enough that I might just have the patience to wait around for a table at Mamasita next time I’m around. 🙂

Taco de lengua (8 Crowns)

Saké

The afternoon was absolutely flying by! We still had some serious eating to do, but not enough time do it all, so the game plan was to hit up as many stalls as we could in rapid succession. Saké was our next stop. I’m a sucker for pork belly anything, so of course, we had to give the tonkatsu cups a whirl.

The deliciously crunchy panko-crumbed pork belly went so well with the tangy miso mustard, and the addition of the purple cabbage and baby butter lettuce leaves made for a pretty picture. The asking price was a little steep, though (8 Crowns for two cups), considering they were absolutely miniscule.

Tonkatsu cups – panko fried pork belly, mustard miso and barbecue sauce served in a lettuce cup (8 Crowns)

The Aylesbury

We saw a few of the dorper lamb ribs with pea and mint (6 Crowns) floating around and after scanning frantically through the menu, we found ourselves at The Aylesbury.

The lamb was cooked beautifully and fell off the bone with the gentlest of tugs. The only issue I had was that the fat hadn’t been rendered down enough, which made it unbelievably greasy. Didn’t stop me from licking that rib clean 😉

Dorper lamb ribs with pea and mint (6 Crowns)

Cointreau Fizz

In need of another drink, G and I followed the trail of ridiculously cute cocktails in conical flasks to the Cointreau Fizz tent. We got to watch the bartenders make our drinks, fancy tricks and all.

G went for the strawberry and mint variation, while I settled on the cucumber and basil. All I remember is the massive Cointreau hit! Sadly, the cucumber and basil was lost in amidst all of the alcohol.

Strawberry and mint Cointreau Fizz, Cucumber and basil Cointreau Fizz (8 Crowns each)

Livingroom

At this point, we started jonesing for something sweet. The desserts on offer at Taste this year were off the chain – far more impressive than most of the savoury dishes, in my opinion. Round one of dessert saw us paying a visit to the Livingroom tent and treating ourselves to their warm chocolate mousse with toasted marshmallows and caramel popcorn (8 Crowns). The cup that it came in couldn’t have been bigger than your average shot glass, but given how wonderfully rich and sweet the chocolate was, I couldn’t complain. The consistency of the mousse was more like a thick Belgian hot chocolate and the gooey marshmallows were the bomb diggity.

Warm chocolate mousse with toasted marshmallows and caramel popcorn (8 Crowns)

Mr. Hive Kitchen & Bar

Mr. Hive Kitchen & Bar has been on my ‘to visit’ list for quite some time now but I haven’t had the chance to swing by yet, so I was pretty stoked when I saw them in the line-up for Taste this year. Their summer berry Eton mess (6 Crowns) was probably my favourite dessert of the day. For lack of a better description, it was like eating a fruity cloud (it sounds so lame when I put it like that) but so much better. A truly wonderful summer dessert!

Summer berry Eton mess (6 Crowns)

Mr. Hive’s chocolate bar (8 Crowns) wasn’t actually on the menu, but I guess they had a few left over from their dessert degustation and wanted to sell them. Good thing they were, too, because it was a little slice of heaven. I’m totally itching to go to the real thing now!

Mr. Hive’s chocolate bar (8 Crowns)

Libertine

The Point had run out of cheesecake (nooooo), so off to Libertine we went. Their apple and frangipane tartine, with maple and honeycomb (8 Crowns) was to die for. The puff pastry was warm and flaky and mopped up the honeycomb ice-cream like a boss.

Apple and frangipane tartine, with maple and honeycomb (8 Crowns)

Burch & Purchese

Our last stop on the Taste circuit was Burch & Purchese. We didn’t know that they were exhibiting until we saw some people carrying the pretty B & P bags around. Darren Purchese is the nicest guy ever! It was great to see him manning the B & P stall and chatting away with customers. I was even lucky enough to get a photo with him!

Then we did some damage! 😉 B & P’s ice-cream range is too awesome for me to put into words. I picked up a chocolate chip cookie dough, while G chose a raspberry explosion (8 Crowns each). It was like biting into a real cookie! There were actual chunks of cookie dough in the ice cream, which was unreal.

Raspberry explosion, chocolate chip cookie dough (8 Crowns each)

Scrounging up the last of our Crowns, we also picked up a slab of their popcorn and honeycomb rubble (14 Crowns) and a few meringue clouds (2 Crowns each) to take home.

What a way to end such a fantastic event – on a colossal sugar high! This year’s line-up of restaurants was phenomenal and the food was spectacular across the board. Even though the five hours honestly felt like five minutes, we learnt heaps and had so much fun. I absolutely can’t wait to see what Taste of Melbourne 2013 brings to the table! 😀

Adriano Zumbo Pâtissier

Shop 1, Café Court
The Star
80 Pyrmont St
Pyrmont, NSW 2009
adrianozumbo.com/the-star-pyrmont/

G and I couldn’t wrap up our Sydney weekender without another dose of Adriano Zumbo. If there’s a dessert train within walking/driving/flying distance, I will move mountains to get on that train. And if there’s UNLIMITED SOFT SERVE (that got your attention, didn’t it?) aboard that dessert train, then I’m never getting off. Ever. 😉

By this point in the trip, we had pretty much eaten our weight’s worth in food, so we were feeling a little queasy to say the least. But as soon as we saw the hot pink neon signs, the crazy awesome macaron display and the dessert train chug-chuggin’ away, all signs of nausea miraculously disappeared.

We didn’t have to wait too long before two seats were made available. I couldn’t stop jiggling around in my seat, I was so psyched! If you haven’t had a chance to swing by Adriano Zumbo at The Star yet, dessert prices are indicated by plate colour. White plates are $5, pink plates are $6 and black plates (reserved for macarons and petits gateau) are $10.

The hazelnut dacquoise (5.0) was my first pick. It tasted like a ferrero rocher in cake form. The spongy meringue was slightly crunchy on the outside, but soft and moist on the inside, and went perfectly with the silky smooth hazelnut mousse. Yum!

Hazelnut Dacquoise (5.0)

Continuing with the confectionary-turned-dessert theme, we tried the violet crunchie (6.0) next. A beautifully deconstructed version of the classic chocolate bars, the honeycomb flavour rang through and through. The chunk on top was melt-in-your-mouth awesome.

Violet Crunchie (6.0)

The cherry and coconut concoction (6.0) was probably my least favourite dessert of the day. Perhaps it’s because I have an aversion to Cherry Ripes? Which is weird because I like chocolate, and I like cherries – I just don’t like them together. This number was more sour than sweet, which I was a little put off by, but I’m nitpicking here. It was still an enjoyable dessert.

Cherry & Coconut (6.0)

Comfortably full at this stage, G and I ummed and aahed over whether to call it a day. Then one of the wait staff (bless her) asked us if we wanted a never-ending bowl of soft-serve. To which the natural response was, “Um. Only heck yes!” And out came an epic bowl of chocolate-raspberry soft serve (5.0). It was chocolatey indulgence with a fresh, fruity twist. Mind you, we could barely get through that bowl, but hot damn, it was good.

Chocolate-raspberry soft serve (5.0)

We decided to give the macarons a miss since we had already sampled almost every flavour at the Manly store. We did, however, see this beast on our way out. I totally should have taken one home.

Adriano Zumbo at The Star is truly an experience like no other. His sweet works of art are made with such finesse and imagination. Forget trains of the steam or sushi variety; dessert trains are what’s up.