Coconut Ice Cupcake from Sparkle Cupcakery

There is certainly no doubt that I am totally obsessed with everything that contains the ingredient coconut. I am so obsessed, that if I see a new dessert item with the ingredient coconut, I have to stop and have a look.

Whilst walking around David Jones in Sydney City, I stumbled upon the Coconut Ice Cupcakes from Sparkle Cupcakery. I had previously tried a few different Sparkle Cupcakery cupcakes and I was not too impressed. I remember I once tried their Salted Caramel Cupcake and I thought it was too sickly sweet.

I decided that I would give them another shot and play it safe and buy just one Coconut Ice Cupcake. I took the cupcake back to work and ate it for afternoon tea.

My first bite of the Coconut Ice Cupcake ended up being a tasty occasion. The icing was deliciously coconutty and creamy. The cake part was really quite nice, it was moist and best of all it tasted so fresh. I was so impressed, that I shared some with my friend at work, she too was quite impressed.

After so many bad cupcake experiences, I was so pleased that this cupcake tasted good, because I do not how I could deal with yet another bad cupcake experience.

My friend has already planned another visit for us to Sparkle Cupcakery. She wants to try one of each flavour.

Sparkle Cupcakery  is located at:

David Jones Food Hall- Sydney, 86-108 Castlereagh Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Other locations of Sparkle Cupcakery and their cupcake flavours can be found on their website: 

http://www.sparklecupcakery.com.au

Ladurée Chocolates

I saw the boxes of the Ladurée Chocolates in the display cabinet at Ladurée Westfield Sydney and I decided that I would have to try them. The boxes of Ladurée Chocolate looked so cute that the chocoholic within me was telling me to buy some.

The Ladurée Chocolates are quite expensive for such a small amount and this could be the fact that they are made in France, frozen and then shipped to Australia.

I must be honest in saying that I had no idea what sort of chocolate was in my assorted chocolate box, all I can say is that the Ladurée Chocolates were actually quite tasty. I found the chocolates to taste quite smooth and creamy and I actually ate each one.

I cannot say that I would buy these chocolates again, only because I am kind of against the process of how these chocolates were made in France, frozen and then shipped to Australia.

I must go to the real Ladurée in Paris some day, so I can compare!

Ladurée is located at:

Westfield Sydney

Level 3, 100 Market Street, Sydney

Frilled Neck Designs Mini Monet Cupcakes

My friend brought over a variety of Frilled Neck Designs Mini Monet Cupcakes that she had bought from the Rocks Markets. I was so excited, because they looked so cute and tasty, and I love cupcakes.

The cupcakes looked so cute in the brown box that I wanted to leave them in the box to admire how pretty they looked. I ended up taking the cupcakes out and D and I ate one, two and three and then gave up.

The first cupcake we ate was the chocolate cupcake, and the icing was really nice, but the cake part tasted very dry. The second cupcake we ate was the coconut cupcake and once again the icing was nice, but the cake part was dry. Lastly we tried the cookies and cream cupcake and the cupcake had the same problem. We were not impressed. D, the not so cake type snob even said the cake part was dry.

I was really disappointed that the cupcakes did not taste very nice, because they really did look cute and the icing is so tasty.

I found it really strange that the company has typos on the labels on their boxes too. Their company is called Frilled Neck Designs, but their labels on the box say “Filled Neck Designs” for the website and email address. However on the paper bag that it comes in, the label is correct. I find this inconsistency to be quite unprofessional.

I guess all cupcakes cannot be perfect….

Frilled Neck Designs Mini Monet Cupcakes:

Website: http://www.frilledneckdesigns.com/pages/cupcakes.html

Adriano Zumbo Chocolate Brownie Cake Mix

One day whilst shopping at Woolworths, I stumbled upon Adriano Zumbo’s new range of cake mixes and Zumbaron making kits. My first reaction was that I felt quite surprised that Mr Zumbo would venture into this sort of product. On this particular day, these cake mixes were on sale for only $6.99 (usually RRP $8), so I decided to buy the Chocolate Brownie Mix to see how it may taste.

I have to confess, that I am not a fan of using cake mixes. The  only reason that I bought the  Chocolate Brownie Cake Mix, was out of sheer curiosity. To be honest, I had no real expectations.

I decided to have a read of box and read that the Chocolate Brownie mix is “Made for Adriano Zumbo by Green’s General Foods Pty Ltd”  interesting piece of information. I hope that the Chocolate Brownie mix was actually  made using a recipe by Adriano Zumbo and not just Adriano Zumbo putting his name on a product.

The Chocolate Brownie Cake Mix was quite easy to make. All I had to add was eggs and butter and then the dark chocolate that was supplied and then mix it all together.

The chocolate brownies did not take long to bake and the end result of the chocolate brownies was quite pretty and they smelt great.

I decided to let the chocolate brownies cool down and then try one. The chocolate brownies actually tasted quite nice. The chocolate brownies had a delicious gooey chocolate texture and I liked the addition of the white chocolate. I did not think they tasted better than making then from scratch, but I did think they tasted better than the usual cake mix.

The next day I took the chocolate brownies to work, and they were an instant hit with my work colleagues. My work colleagues all loved the chocolate brownies.

I think the Adriano Zumbo Chocolate Brownie Cake Mix is a good fast alternative to making chocolate brownies, if you do not have time to make them yourself.  However I am a firm believer that making them from scratch is the best way.

Where to buy Adriano Zumbo Chocolate Brownie Cake Mix:

Adriano Zumbo Chocolate Brownie Cake Mix is available for purchase at most Woolworths Supermarkets and cost approximately $8.

 

 

Hot Chocolate from Cumulus Inc.

If there is one thing that annoys me the most about cafés in Sydney, is that most not many cafés make a decent hot chocolate. Cafés seem to primarily focus on good coffee and not good hot chocolate. I have tried so many different types of hot chocolate in so many different cafés and only a few have tasted perfect.

To my joy, my Twitter friend Mel @misspiggyeats told me about this Café called Cumulus Inc. , in Melbourne. Mel told me this café makes a very good hot chocolate. I was very intrigued and was determined to try this hot chocolate as soon as I arrived in Melbourne for my holiday.

Finding exactly where Cumulus Inc. was located in Melbourne was indeed a difficult task for this Sydney Sider, but eventually we found the café. Cumulus Inc., looked extremely busy and there seemed to be a lot of people waiting. We were told that the wait could be approximately twenty minutes and were guided to stand in this waiting area. Whilst waiting in the waiting area, the waitress took our drink orders, and of course I ordered a hot chocolate.

Moments later my hot chocolate arrived, I could not help but be in awe of the creamy chocolate froth on the top of my hot chocolate, and the hot chocolate smelt amazing.

When I took my first sip of the hot chocolate, it was definitely love at first sip. The hot chocolate tasted so creamy and delicious, the milk was not overly heated and the chocolate was not too sweet. I was so impressed, that I wanted another one.

As soon as we were allocated our table, I decided to order another hot chocolate and once again it tasted amazing. I was in heaven and at that point wished that I could live in Melbourne, because Melbourne just seemed to have so many great amazing places that I loved.

Cumulus Inc.’s hot chocolate in my opinion,  is undoubtedly the best hot chocolate that I have ever drunk.

Cumulus Inc. is located at:

45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne Victoria 3000

Website:

http://cumulusinc.com.au/

La Belle Miette Macarons

Another place that D and I visited when we were down in Melbourne to watch the Sydney Swans versus Hawthorn Grand Final game, was La Belle Miette.

As you all know, I am obsessed with macarons. I have tried so many macarons over the years, in the quest to find the perfect one. Imagine my delight, when I my Twitter friend Julie @idreaminchoc mentioned La Belle Miette’s Macarons and how good they were, so I decided to make a visit.

La Belle Miette is a cute little shop in Hardware Lane in Melbourne. The shop reminded me of an old fashioned patisserie, I loved the look of the shop, from the classical furniture to the displays.

La Belle Miette had so many different types of macarons to choose from. It was really hard to narrow down to which macarons I should try. The macarons costed $2.80 each, which is pretty much the standard for macarons these days.

In the end, I ended up choosing the Salted Caramel, Mango and Coconut, Passionfruit and 72% Cocoa Chocolate macarons. I really loved the cute blue boxes that the macarons came in.

I wanted to take some macarons home for my friend to try, so I decided to eat one Salted Caramel Macaron and then take the rest home to Sydney. The Salted Caramel Macaron was delicious! I was so impressed. The Salted Caramel Macaron was not too sweet, it was perfect balance of caramel and a hint of salt.

When I finally got home to Sydney, I tried the rest of the macarons with my friend. We both agreed that our favourite macarons were the Mango and Coconut and the Salted Caramel Macarons. The Mango and Coconut macaron ended up being a delightful combination. I was so happy that the coconut part was not sickly sweet.

I have to say that La Belle Miette’s Macarons rate highly on my list of  my favourite macarons. I will definitely visit again soon.

La Belle Miette is located at:

30 Hardware Lane, Melbourne Victoria 3000

Website:

http://labellemiette.com.au/mac/

Burch and Purchese Sweet Studio

I am so ashamed to confess that I, the dessert addict, did not even know this place existed! I usually seem to know about new places and great dessert places. Anyway, thanks to Twitter friend Julie @idreaminchoc , I finally got to discover this dessert haven.

D and I were down in Melbourne to watch the Sydney Swans versus Hawthorn Grand Final game. I was so excited to be re-visiting Melbourne again, firstly because of the Grand Final and secondly so I could explore all the delicious dessert places that Melbourne had to offer. Before we even landed in Melbourne, I had already drafted a list of dessert places I wanted to go and visit.

I was really happy to find out that Burch and Purchese Sweet Studio was literally a ten minute walk from our hotel. How perfect!

When I arrived at Burch and Purchese Sweet Studio, I got so excited, that you would think I was like a child in a lolly shop.

I was literally in awe looking at all the different types of chocolates, cakes, ice cream and other sweet goodies. I did a quick scan of what was on offer and gradually started choosing what to buy. I knew I had to be strict and not over spend, because we only had carry on luggage.

When I saw the beautiful cake display, I had wished that I could take one home, but I knew that was not going to happen. The lady at the shop gave me a sample one of the cakes and it was so delicious. I was in such a daze that I even forgot what kind of cake it was.

After much thought, I decided to buy one block of the Caramalised White Chocolate and Macadamia Nut, one block of the Salted Cocoa Nib Dark Chocolate, two packets of the Salted Caramel Gold Bullion Bars, Hazelnut Crumble, one packet of the popcorn and honeycomb rumble and a jar of the Salted Caramel Spread. I could have easily bought more, but I hate to remember the depressing fact that I had limited luggage space.

As soon as I had the chance I gradually started to try all my goodies. I really loved everything that I bought, except perhaps the Hazelnut Crumble which I was not a huge fan of.  The chocolates were divine, especially the Salted Caramel Gold Bullion Bars. I still to this day have not finished the jar of Salted Caramel Spread, I am saving that one.

I cannot wait to go back to Melbourne so that I can revisit again. This time I shall bring a bigger luggage!

Burch and Purchese Sweet Studio is located at:

647 Chapel Street, South Yarra, Victoria 3141

Website:

http://www.burchandpurchese.com