Time for a quick cake tally. Since the new Adriano Zumbo range arrived (5th July 2008), I have had:
4 Cherry Cherry
1 Tuk Tuk Nothing
1 Open Sesame
2 Lime and Strawberry Millefeuille
2 Cinque Terre
3 Ed Knocked Me Up
3 Homie (aka You Name It)
3 Marge (aka Storm Cloud)
1 Erice
4 Charlotte Guadaloupe
1 Boom!
Innumerable*** macarons and countless passionfruit tarts
(***this doesn't seem nearly enough. I'm sure I've forgotten some).
Also time for a reality check, don’t you think? So while I mull it over, I’ll have a little bit of cake:
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
A weekend of cake (so what's new?)
The new Zumbo chocolate cafĂ© is due to open 11 October, according to the signs in the cake shop window. Can’t hardly wait!
In the meantime, here’s a ‘Boom!’. Not quite ‘da bomb’, but an explosive mix of meringue and white chocolate crust, passionfruit mousse, and rhubarb and strawberry jelly. I love these fruit-infused creations.
The weather this weekend was a perfect taste of summer (even though it’s spring). So perfect that we caught the ferry to Circular Quay and played at being tourists (‘ooh look, there’s the Bridge, take a photo of me in front of it! Ooh look, there’s the opera house, take a photo of me in front of it! Ooh look, there’s a seagull. Eeewww!’).
Also paid a visit to La Renaissance patisserie in Argyle St in the Rocks. The cakes looked a bit traditional compared to Zumbo’s, but the macaron flavours included rose, vanilla, jasmine and chocolate. Here are the rose and jasmine.
The rose was pleasantly rose-scented, but the buttercream filling was strangely stiff. The Jasmine did not really have any flavour except of eggwhites and sugar, and the macaron itself was a bit hard. Pretty, but no cigar… However, I highly recommend Nougat Limar (stall at the Rocks Market), a soft, creamy nougat chock full of cherry, cranberry and pistachio.
In the meantime, here’s a ‘Boom!’. Not quite ‘da bomb’, but an explosive mix of meringue and white chocolate crust, passionfruit mousse, and rhubarb and strawberry jelly. I love these fruit-infused creations.
The weather this weekend was a perfect taste of summer (even though it’s spring). So perfect that we caught the ferry to Circular Quay and played at being tourists (‘ooh look, there’s the Bridge, take a photo of me in front of it! Ooh look, there’s the opera house, take a photo of me in front of it! Ooh look, there’s a seagull. Eeewww!’). Also paid a visit to La Renaissance patisserie in Argyle St in the Rocks. The cakes looked a bit traditional compared to Zumbo’s, but the macaron flavours included rose, vanilla, jasmine and chocolate. Here are the rose and jasmine.
The rose was pleasantly rose-scented, but the buttercream filling was strangely stiff. The Jasmine did not really have any flavour except of eggwhites and sugar, and the macaron itself was a bit hard. Pretty, but no cigar… However, I highly recommend Nougat Limar (stall at the Rocks Market), a soft, creamy nougat chock full of cherry, cranberry and pistachio.Friday, September 26, 2008
...a Present for Tabitha...
It's been over six months since Tab was signed over to us, and during that time, she was still wearing her old name tag. Finally got round to getting a new one, and isn't it lovely? Very pretty engraving on a shiny gold tag.
And if you ever need engraving done in Sydney, then I can highly recommend the engraver at Brices Shoe Service in the Imperial Arcade.
And if you ever need engraving done in Sydney, then I can highly recommend the engraver at Brices Shoe Service in the Imperial Arcade.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
yummy biscuits (not Zumbo!)
The Hawkesbury Harvest Farmers/City of Sydney markets are a new food and produce market on the local food scene. The markets are held 10am-3pm every Friday in the forecourt of St Mary’s Cathedral. I would have visited sooner, but last Friday was the first Friday since the markets started that wasn’t windy, rainy, squally and stormy.
So, I popped along at lunch time and who should be there but the sweet chocolatesuze, at her Biscuit Tree stall.
I got a selection of goodies, and I tell you what, it’s all I can do to not eat them all at once. The shortbread is incredibly buttery (gorgeous!), and the biscotti are wafer thin, crisp and very classy. Race you there next week!
So, I popped along at lunch time and who should be there but the sweet chocolatesuze, at her Biscuit Tree stall.
I got a selection of goodies, and I tell you what, it’s all I can do to not eat them all at once. The shortbread is incredibly buttery (gorgeous!), and the biscotti are wafer thin, crisp and very classy. Race you there next week!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
a last-minute baby shower card
So Mum phones up saying: "When you come over tomorrow, can you bring a baby shower card?".
Me: "What? What for?".
Mum: "I'm going to a baby shower and don't have a card".
Me: "What? Why?".
Mum: "I thought you'd have a card".
Me: "What? Why would I have a card?!?"
You get the drift. I spent an hour coming up with a card design that matched Mum's exacting specifications: 'not too big', 'not too small', 'no white', 'not for boy or girl' (?), 'a baby on the front' (I ignored this last one).
Postscript: Mum liked the card. I love the Threading Water hole punch!
Me: "What? What for?".
Mum: "I'm going to a baby shower and don't have a card".
Me: "What? Why?".
Mum: "I thought you'd have a card".
Me: "What? Why would I have a card?!?"
You get the drift. I spent an hour coming up with a card design that matched Mum's exacting specifications: 'not too big', 'not too small', 'no white', 'not for boy or girl' (?), 'a baby on the front' (I ignored this last one).
Postscript: Mum liked the card. I love the Threading Water hole punch!Monday, September 22, 2008
Don't make me angry...
Does this remind you of something? A mild-mannered Zumbo gateau that gets ANGRY and rips its white shirt off to reveal....the incredible green meanie! Don't make me angry...You won't like me when I'm angry.....

The new Tuk Tuk Nothing is a variation on the previous Wheelie Good, with coconut and exotic fruit replacing the hazelnut.
I also indulged in a passionfruit tart before tucking into the tuk tuk nothing.

The new Tuk Tuk Nothing is a variation on the previous Wheelie Good, with coconut and exotic fruit replacing the hazelnut.
I also indulged in a passionfruit tart before tucking into the tuk tuk nothing.Friday, September 19, 2008
Not a chook raffle, but better...
I was - lucky /fortunate /in the right place at the right time /all of the above - to win a prize in a Hero Arts challenge. Titled ‘about me’, you had to present a page about yourself that featured Hero Arts stamps. This was my entry.
I hardly ever win anything, so I was thrilled with this. Thank you, randomizer!
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