d’ough Espresso- Galeries of Victoria

My workplace celebrates birthdays and farewells quite a few times a month. Lucky for us, we have a decent place to buy cake near our workplace and lucky we do not have to resort to buying Woolworth’s artificial cakes. (cringe)

Our favourite place to buy affordable cake is d’ough Espresso at the Galeries of Victoria. We love buying our cakes there, the service is friendly and efficient and of course their range of cakes taste delicious.

Our favourite cake at d’ough Espresso is the Black and White Mousse Cake. The Black and White Mousse Cake has delicious thick curls of dark and white chocolate on top and the cake is both sponge and chocolate mousse. The chocolate mousse part is so creamy and chocolatey.

d’ough Espresso sells the most delicious Sponge Cake that I have ever eaten. I am not usually a fan of Sponge Cake with cream, because usually they are made with mock cream, but the Chocolate Sponge and the Vanilla Sponge Cake is made with fresh cream and it is delicious. I love the light fresh sponge, the thinly spread icing on top and the fresh cream filling, all combine to make a cake marriage made in heaven.

Other cakes that we have tried at d’ough Espresso, include:

Oreo Deep Dish Tart: Sweet, delicious and rich

Mortal Sin: Three types of mousse layers. I like this cake

Cookies and Cream: Quite sweet and rich

We have also tried the mud cakes and other non creamy cakes, many of them are hit and miss. But overall most cakes at d’ough Espresso are delicious and they even have cake stamp system too. Buy 10 cakes and get a free Sponge Cake!

d’ough Espresso is located at:

Galeries of Victoria on Pitt Street. (located near Boost Juice)

Simple dessert goodness at Sushi 07

Sometimes I am not in the mood for a rich dessert, all I want is something simple. The one simple dessert item that I like the most is the Mini Shu Cream Puffs from Sushi 07.

The Mini Shu Cream Puffs from Sushi 07 are so light. The pastry puffs are so light and there is just enough cream filling inside. The cream filling tastes like real cream and not like mock cream. I hate the taste of mock cream. The Mini Shu Cream Puffs are perfect for a simple and sweet dessert fix.

Sushi 07 also sell chocolate cream filled eclairs. I personally found the cream filling too heavy, because there was almost double or three times the amount of cream filling inside.

Sushi 07 also sells the best chicken katsu  and sweet egg sushi that I have ever eaten. Their other sushi dishes are pretty nice too.

Sushi 07 is located at:

Westfield Shoppingtown Eastgardens, Bunnerong Road, Eastgardens NSW 2036

Phone: 9314 0300

Papa Pasticceria

I love cheesecake. My favourite cheesecake is the Godiva chocolate cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory USA. To get my temporary Australian fix for a good cheesecake, my friend suggested I visit Papa Pasticceria to try their ricotta cheesecake, she said I will fall in love. Boy, she was right!

I love Papa Pasticceria. Not only do they sell one of the best ricotta cheesecakes that I have eaten, they also sell some of the most delicious biscuits, bread and cakes.

The ricotta cheesecake from Papa Pasticceria comes in two sizes and it is absolutely divine. It tastes even better when it is still warm. I have managed to buy the ricotta cheesecake when it is still warm, and the ricotta filling melts in my mouth. I love everything about the ricotta cheesecake, from the sweet and delicious dusting of icing sugar and cinnamon on top, to the biscuit-pastry type base.

Whilst at Papa Pasticceria, I also tried a few of their biscuits and cannoli. I really liked the cannoli and their biscuits. My Dad really loves the jam biscuits.

The two bad things about Papa Pasticceria is firstly the long queues and the fact that you can only pay by cash. Papa Pasticceria gets so busy on the weekends, so busy that the queues are often outside the door. The ricotta cheesecake also sells out quickly too, sometimes you may need to call up in advance to reserve one. My suggestion is to get there early.

For my next visit, I really want to try the other cakes. My friend swears by the profiterole cake. I think I should wait until after the wedding. I keep forgetting, that I should be on a diet so I can fit into my wedding dress. 🙂

Papa Pasticceria is located at:

145 Ramsay Street, Haberfield NSW 2045

Phone: 9798 6894

Brownies

I have always loved chocolate brownies, from the intense chocolate flavours to the texture of a brownie, so dense and delicious. I started my addiction to chocolate brownies when I discovered them in the display cabinet at Workshop Espresso. Workshop Espresso’s chocolate brownies were so delicious.

Despite my love for chocolate brownies, I never really thought about making chocolate brownies myself. This could be due to the fact, that it is easy to buy them than to bake them. Or maybe it is because I am a lazy baker sometimes.

One day I was reading tweets on Twitter, I came across a recipe for chocolate brownies from Christine Salins @FoodWineTravel . When I clicked on the link, I noticed that the chocolate brownie recipe was called “The World’s Finest Chocolate Brownies” (http://www.foodwinetravel.com.au/food/food-features/the-worlds-finest-chocolate-brownies/), my eyes almost popped out. I checked out the recipe, and the recipe seemed reasonably easy to make, I decided that I would try to make it.

Making the chocolate brownies was fun. The only error I made was accidentally taking the chocolate brownies out of the baking tray too early, so the brownies top looked messy. The recipe was otherwise easy to follow. The chocolate brownies tasted so delicious, I could not stop eating them. My sister in law loved the chocolate brownies, she said it was the best chocolate brownie she had ever eaten.  For my second attempt I decided to use expensive couverture chocolate, but in the end, they tasted the same.

A few weeks later, I had an idea. How about if I improvise the recipe and make white chocolate and coconut brownies. I ended up using the same recipe as before, but instead I used white baking chocolate, replaced cocoa with dessicated coconut and reduced the sugar content. The result was amazing.

At first the white chocolate and coconut brownies appeared to have more of a cake texture, but after spending a few hours in the fridge, the white chocolate and coconut brownies had the same dense texture as the chocolate brownies.  They were delicious. I took the white chocolate and coconut brownies to work, and they were very popular. I was so happy that everyone loved them. My friend even ate the crumbs from the cake container!

I think for my next attempt, I shall try to add pecans or make caramel and chocolate brownies. I hope they will turn out to be just as delicious.

Del Mondo Pastries: Concorde Cake

I love the fact that in the last few years, Majors Bay Road Concord, has flourished into a great street for eating. I have had some of the best restaurant experiences on this road.

One day I was talking to D’s brother L, L, who is a fellow dessert lover, suggested that I visit Del Mondo Pastries and try the Concorde Cake. He told me that this cake is so delicious. So one day when I was driving through Concord, I decided to visit Del Mondo Pastries and try this Concorde Cake that L has been raving about.

When I arrived at Del Mondo Pastries, I noticed that the Concorde Cake came in two sizes. You could buy the large size cake or the smaller individual serving sized version of the cake. I decided to buy a few smaller individual versions of the Concorde Cake. The Concorde Cake is made of crispy meringue  bits and inside is a delicious chocolatey mousse filling.

When I arrived at D’s house, I could not wait to try the Concorde Cake. The Concorde Cake was so amazingly delicious from the first bite to the last bite. The meringue part was chocolatey and crispy. The chocolatey mousse filling was so creamy and melted in my mouth. I could not stop eating the cake, it was so amazing, I was in love!

I loved the Concorde Cake so much, that I declared there and then, that this cake was definitely going to be place in my top 10 favourite cakes list.

Del Mondo Pastries is located at:

83 Majors Bay Road, Concord NSW 2137

*the business has now closed

Bourke Street Bakery: Strawberry and Vanilla Brulee Tart and Passionfruit Meringue Tart

I ended up making a visit to Bourke Street Bakery, because my friends on Twitter were regular visitors to the place and always mentioned great things about the food, especially the Strawberry and Vanilla Brulee Tart.

I had absolutely no idea that Bourke Street Bakery had so many branches. I was very excited that one branch was quite close to my where I lived. When I arrived at Bourke Street Bakery, my eyes were immediately drawn to the famous Strawberry and Vanilla Brulee Tart that my friends had mentioned on Twitter. There were only three left, and I was third in line. I was crossing my fingers and toes, hoping that the people before me would not buy the last three tarts. I was getting so anxious, I really wanted one and two were now remaining.

Finally I got served! The Strawberry and Vanilla Brulee Tart was all mine! Success. I decided to buy one Strawberry and Vanilla Brulee Tart, one Passionfruit Meringue Tart and two  sausage rolls. I was so happy that they had the Strawberry and Vanilla Brulee Tart left.

When I got home, I immediately plated up the Strawberry and Vanilla Brulee Tart and Passionfruit Meringue Tart and took my first bite. The Strawberry and Vanilla Brulee Tart was so delicious. The crispy caramelised sugar top was a tad bitter, the brulee filling was so creamy and the strawberry puree filling was divine. The sweet shortcrust pastry casing was to die for. The sweet shortcrust pastry casing was so buttery and flaky. I really loved the Strawberry and Vanilla Brulee Tart.

Next up, was the Passionfruit Meringue Tart. The  Passionfruit Meringue Tart was quite nice, but I was not a real fan of the passionfruit filling, I found the filling to be too sour for my liking. The meringue topping was quite fluffy delicious and yet again, the sweet shortcrust pastry casing was so buttery and flaky.

I would definitely love to go back to Bourke Street Bakery one day to try the other delicious looking sweet goodies in the store. My friend at work has been bugging me to try their Pear and Rhubarb for ages, she said this muffin is the best muffin she has ever eaten.

Looks like a visit to Bourke Street Bakery is on the cards this weekend!

Bourke Street Bakery Locations can be found on their website:

http://bourkestreetbakery.com.au/

Chocolateria San Churro

I first discovered churros at Chocola at Kings Cross. I just loved the taste of churros and the fact that you could dip them in chocolate sauce. The combination was indeed a match made in heaven. What more could a girl ask for?

So one day, after a day of wandering around Chastwood, I stumbled upon Chocolateria San Churro. My eyes were immediately drawn to the menu, chocolate-check, churros-check and a drink with coconut-check, Chocolateria San Churro ticked all my boxes. I was in heaven.

The churros at Chocolateria San Churro were delicious.  My friend and I both chose the churros serving for one. I ended up choosing the milk chocolate dipping sauce, and my friend chose the caramel dipping sauce. We both chose the El Coco(Nut) milkshake, because my friend and I both love everything coconut.

The churros serving for one was a very generous serving. I had a lot of trouble finishing the dish all by myself. The chocolate sauce was very creamy and chocolatey. The El Coco(Nut) milkshake was absolutely divine. The combination of fresh milk, coconut and chocolate was a delight to drink. My friend and I were in chocolate heaven.

My friend and I decided to try their chocolate range too. We bought a block of the milk chocolate and some truffles. We were not too impressed with the truffles, because they did not taste freshly made. The block of milk chocolate was quite decent.

I will definitely visit Chocolateria San Churro again. I am already craving churros and chocolate.

For Chocolateria San Churro locations, please visit:

http://www.sanchurro.com/

Vellarons: Vella Nero’s version of the humble macaron

It is certainly no secret, that I am crazy about macarons. I have travelled far and wide for the best macarons. I even travelled to Canberra to get my macaron fix from Dream Cuisine Patisserie. When I read on Twitter that Vella Nero have released their very own version of a macaron, called Vellarons, I had to visit to try them for myself.

I was so excited at the thought of having a place that sells macarons that was fairly close to my workplace. This would that I would be able to get my macaron fix Monday-Friday. (On second thought, I probably should watch what I eat, because my wedding is approaching in 4 weeks! )

I headed down to Vella Nero at lunch time. I decided to get my Vellaron fix first and then eat lunch. When I arrived at Vella Nero, I was very excited to see the extensive Vellaron macaron menu. Trying to choose which three I should try first was indeed a challenge.

After much deliberation, I ended up choosing the Choc Mint, the Salted Caramel and the Lamington Vellaron. The Vellarons were all very nice. My only critique, was that the Vellarons needed more filling. The outer shell of the Vellarons were quite crispy and delicious. The Vellarons were also a decent size, and not small like some macarons that I have seen in some shops.

There was so many other flavours that I wanted to try. I really am interested in trying the passionfruit Vellaron. Unfortunately when I got there, that Vellaron had sold out.

I will definitely be back to try more Vellarons.

Vella Nero is located at:

259 Clarence Street, Sydney NSW 2000.

Website:

http://www.vellanero.com.au

Colefax Chocolate Cafe

I had become pretty annoyed with chocolate lately, it just seemed that there are so many new chocolate places opening up, but most of them are in my opinion rubbish.

I saw a coupon deal for a variety of Colefax chocolate delights from Definitely Chocolate. The deal seemed perfect, so I bought a coupon and placed the order shortly thereafter.

Weeks later, the chocolate arrived. I was so excited and immediately ripped open the box. The contents of the chocolate were absolutely droolworthy.

There was so much chocolate. I could not eat it all!

I can honestly say that all the chocolate was delicious. I wanted more!

I did a Google search and found out that Colefax Chocolate had a cafe in Haberfield. I decided that I must make a visit as soon as possible.

My friend and I went to visit Colefax Chocolate Cafe in Haberfield. When we entered the cafe, we were enticed by the smell of chocolate.

My friend and I decided that we would order beverages and buy some chocolate later. My friend ordered the Baci Hot Chocolate and she loved it. She said the Baci Hot Chocolate was very indulgent. I found it very hard to narrow down to one drink, I eventually decided to order the chocolate milk shake-(how boring of me right?!). The chocolate milkshake was made with real chocolate and there were delicious chocolate bits in the milkshake. The chocolate milkshake was perhaps one of the best chocolate milkshakes I have drunk.

After drinking our delicious beverages, we were in one huge chocolate coma.

Moments after, we walked down to chocolate display. I ordered a variety of chocolates which were recommended by the staff member and my friend did the same.

The chocolates were divine.

Colefax Chocolates are undoubtedly now one of my favourite brand of chocolate. Nothing beats quality chocolate.

Colefax Chocolate Cafe is located at:

78 Ramsay Street, Haberfield, NSW 2045
*this business has now closed