Spicyicecream

Counting The Days

December has a bad habit of going by at lightning speed. It’s very sneaky that way. Since the department stores have had their decorations up since some time in October, you may have been lulled into a false sense of security, thinking you still have plenty of time for planning and shopping and cooking, but the next thing you know, you’re counting the days til New Years. If Christmas snuck up on you this year like it did for me, here’s a great recipe for you that is not only quick to make as far as hands-on preparation is concerned, but so very easy, and absolutely delicious.

I was never a big fan of the typical Christmas fruitcake, usually way too rich and boozy for my taste. This year I wanted to make one of my own, but when time ran short, this recipe was an absolute lifesaver. It’s the best fruitcake I’ve ever eaten – moist and studded with a variety of different dried fruit soaked in your choice of whisky or brandy. I’m a whisky girl, personally. Baked in a cupcake tin, the cooking time is much less than a whole cake, and the small size is the perfect portion after a big lunch. I like mine warm and served with custard, but you could also serve them with ice cream or even icing.

For me this year, Christmas will be a much quieter one than usual since most of my extended family is travelling interstate over the holidays. I’m looking forward to more relaxed holiday season for a change! I would like to wish all of my readers a Merry Christmas! I hope yours is filled with great food and great company, and that everyone who is travelling stays safe xox

Little Figgy Christmas Cakes
Makes 12 small cakes
Recipe adapted from Donna Hay magazine

• 1 cup sultanas
• ½ cup currants
• ½ cup pitted dates, chopped
• ½ cup dried figs, chopped
• 1 teaspoon mixed spice
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup whisky or brandy
• 125g butter, softened and chopped
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 ¼ cups plain flour
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ cup hazelnut meal

1. Place sultanas, currants, dates, figs, mixed spice, vanilla and whisky in a bowl. Mix well, cover and soak for 6-8 hours or overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 150ºC (300ºF). Place butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 8-10 minutes or until light and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat well after each addition.
3. Sift the flour, baking soda and hazelnut meal over the fruit mixture and mix well ensuring all the fruit is coated in flour. Add the butter mixture and stir to combine well.
4. Spoon into 6 x 1 cup capacity lightly greased muffin tins. Bake for 30 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Allow them to cool in the tins for 10 minutes. Turn out and cool on a wire rack.

Catch Up

As I’m sure you’re sick of hearing me say, November was a very busy time. Though I had the best of intentions, I missed the deadline for the Daring Bakers Challenge. It feels naughty handing in my homework late, but after seeing everyone else’s beautiful caramel cakes, and hearing the general consensus of “it was great”, I knew I still had to bake it. And with my Mum’s birthday on the horizon and her being the biggest caramel fan I know, it was the perfect occasion and a wonderful opportunity to catch up.

The November challenge consisted of:
– Shuna Fish Lydon’s famous caramel cake
– Caramelised butter frosting

I wanted to stick to the recipe as it was written, as to not confuse the caramel taste in the slightest. We were also given free reign over the presentation of the cake. I thought about making cupcakes, but I thought my Mum would like a ‘real’ birthday cake that could be cut and shared. Shuna’s instructions were a little daunting, especially those about “balancing fat with acid and protein just right”. It almost made it sound like a science project!

My fears were unfounded though, because the cake came together without any problems, and was just delicious. It was dense, but still intensely moist and had an amazing depth of flavour from the caramel sauce. The icing was quite sweet, it has nearly half a kilo of icing sugar in it afterall, but sea salt was used to balance it out and it turned out to be delicious. I think the cake would also be delicious with the milk chocolate and caramel frosting from this recipe. The leftover caramelised butter frosting would be absolutely delicious sandwiched between two vanilla cookies.

Even though I didn’t make the challenge deadline, I’m still very glad I got to bake the cake. I enjoyed making it, and everyone enjoyed eating it. I served it after a dinner of prosciutto wrapped chicken with quince paste, and potato and zucchini gratin courtesy of Not Quite Nigella.

Caramel Cake with Caramelised Butter Frosting
Recipe adapted from Shuna Fish Lydon

• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup caramel syrup (see recipe below)
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups plain (all-purpose) flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup milk, at room temperature

Caramel Syrup
• 2 cups sugar
• ½ cup water
• 1 cup water (for stopping the caramelization process)

Caramelised Butter Frosting
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 450g icing sugar, sifted
• 4-6 tablespoons heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2-4 teaspoons caramel syrup
• Sea salt to taste

1. To make caramel syrup, in a stainless steel saucepan with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray crystals with a wet pastry brush. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly and dark amber in colour.
2. When colour is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and spatter about. It is very dangerous so wear long sleeves and be prepared to step back. Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced and feels slightly sticky between two fingers (after it has been cooled on a spoon)
3. To make the cake, preheat oven to 180ºC (350ºF) and butter one tall 23cm cake pan.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar and salt and cream until light and fluffy. Slowly add the room-temperature caramel, scrape down the bowl and increase speed.
5. Add the eggs and vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again and beat mixture until light and uniform.
6. Sift flour and baking powder together. Turn mixer to lowest speed and add 1/3 of the dry ingredients. When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time. Add another third of the dry ingredients, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dry ingredients.
7. Take off mixer and by hand, with a spatula do the last few folds, making sure the batter is uniform. Turn batter in to the prepared cake tin. Place cake pan on cookie sheet.
8. Set a time for 30 minutes, then rotate the pan and set the timer for another 15-20 minutes. Bake until sides pull away from the pan and a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool cake completely before icing it. Cake will keep for 3 days outside of the refrigerator.
9. To make the caramelised butter frosting, cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl and set aside to cool.
10. Pour cooled brown butter into the bowl of a stand mixer. With the whisk or paddle attachment fixed, add icing sugar a little at a time. When mixture looks too chunky to take any more, add a bit of cream or caramel syrup. Repeat until mixture looks smooth and all confectioners sugar has been incorporated. Add salt to taste. Frosting will keep in the fridge for up to a month.

Rather Adventurous

We spent a rather adventurous few days staying in the city, and as is my habit, I seemed to plan all of our activities around the food we could eat. Our hotel room overlooked Central station, and I liked watching the trains come in. It had a nice little kitchen where I cooked us dinner a few times – tagliatelle with sage and brown butter, and a rather interesting meal of Eumundi Smokehouse duck and pistachio sausages.

On Saturday morning we got up nice and early to visit the Good Living Growers Market in Pyrmont for the first time. I’m usually never awake early enough to make the trip into town when they’re on – the first Saturday of every month – but this worked out nicely. A short walk to Central and we caught a tram to Star City. It was already quite warm by the time we got there, and I loved browsing the stalls. For dinner, I decided to buy some Eumundi sausages after hearing so much about them and some salad vegetables to go with them.

But cooking the sausages in a small hotel room caused a lot of smoke, and even though they weren’t burning, it set the fire alarm off in the room! We tried to shut it off but within seconds there was an announcement to evacuate the building!! A crowd of guests formed on the footpath outside the building, and a few minutes later, two fire trucks arrived outside!!! Embarrassed, we explained the situation, and I ended up finishing cooking the sausages in the oven and not the stove. I am happy to say though, after all that drama that the duck sausages were delicious, and the vine cherry tomatoes and baby carrots were some of the sweetest I’ve ever tasted.

I don’t usually do restaurant reviews, but I wanted to mention another memorable meal we had at Baja Cantina in Glebe. I’ve walked past the place hundreds of times on lunchtime excursions to Gleebooks next door, and saw them win on The Chopping Block on Channel 9 a few weeks ago with the highest star rating ever awarded on the show. My curiosity was piqued and we decided to go there for dinner after my graduation last Monday. We got there early, but the place soon filled out, and for that reason the service fluctuated between overly attentive and not existent. I liked the décor – bold, bright colours, different for each wall with quirky touches like mis-matched cutlery, coloured water bottles and hot sauce on each table and a few cacti for full Mexican atmosphere.

We started with some tomato and coriander salsa with warmed corn chips, and then ordered the Chicken Mole and Taco Supremo with pork carnitas to share. I was looking forward to the Mole – chicken and chocolate, what’s not to love, but it was the taco that really stole the show. From the tender pork pieces to the absolutely delicious soft tortilla, even the salad dressing was tasty. It was also a huge portion size for a very reasonable price, and even between us we couldn’t finish it. The chicken mole was tasty, served with rice and came with an odd accompanying sauce that didn’t taste like much. We asked our waiter what was in it, and all I remember from what he said was “pork fat”. I’ve been craving tacos all week, and I’m looking forward to a return visit with my sister one day soon.

Baja Cantina and Beer Garden
43-45 Glebe Pt Road, Glebe

Summer Collection

While most of Sydney’s other food bloggers descended upon Adriano Zumbo Patisserie in Balmain recently, I was hard at work preparing my final assessment for college – a portfolio of work from the year that would make up 50% of my grade, that was due the next day. I was quite upset that I couldn’t make it to catch up with such a great group of people, but decided that as a treat after the portfolio was done and dusted, I’d take myself there for a look at, and taste of the summer collection aptly titled ‘Please Sir, Can I Have Some More’.

Adriano Zumbo is one of the most original pastry chefs in Sydney right now, and it is an absolute joy to see his colourful and creative display of pastries with innovative flavour combinations and striking presentations. He has admitted his new favourite was liquorice and mango, and we tried it in macaron form. I am not so keen on liquorice, and Steve doesn’t like mango but surprisingly we both liked the balance of the macaron. We also had a delicious sticky date flavoured one (with a pretty pearly sheen), a hazelnutty feullitine and a floral earl grey from the café.

The most intriguing member of the new collection was Zumbo The Kid (pictured in front), which had Vegemite in the bavaroise base, a peanut butter crème legere, raspberry jelly, chocolate peanut glaze, peanut feullitine and a flourless chocolate biscuit. The Vegemite didn’t have a strong flavour, but gave an element of saltiness to balance the cake. A wonderful trip down memory lane, to recapture all of the flavours we loved as kids in a grown up dessert. The Miss Marple Cheesecake was also a must-try after seeing it on other blogs, and it didn’t disappoint. The orange and strawberry cheesecake was topped with a crepe and a maple glaze. The cheesecake wasn’t too heavy or too sweet, and the orange and strawberry elements were delicious.

But we couldn’t leave without seeing the café, complete with red chandelier. After much deliberation, we decided to share the ‘It’s Not a Hamburger, It’s a Macaron’ – a scoop of dulce de leche ice cream sandwiched in a chocolate macaron on a bed of banana rice pudding and topped with chocolate cookie ‘soil’. The girls told us it would be a short wait, and seated comfortably in the lounge, we took in our surroundings. It is an interesting and eclectic setting, definitely worth a repeat visit. We both very much enjoyed the dish and Lorraine was right about its banoffee taste. The cookie crumbs gave it a nice change of texture. Next time I am very keen to try ‘The Younger Years’ – served in a kidney dish, with an accompanying syringe of raspberry sauce that you inject into the chocolate fondant!

I decided to return to the patisserie for a Quiche Charlie that took my eye earlier, because surely I’d be hungry again later! It was a delicious potato and chorizo quiche, probably the best quiche I’ve ever tried. But what really made my day was that in the time between my first and second visits they had added Charles Du Jour to the display, and I of course had to try it. It’s a vanilla lover’s dream, named after one of the talkative and friendly boys manning the counter. He seemed impressed when we mentioned the great lengths we’d traveled to be there (the Western suburbs, and Western Australia). It was my favourite, but unfortunately we didn’t manage to snap a picture of it because the camera battery died! It consisted of pate sucree, vanilla ganache, vanilla crème chantilly, vanilla glaze and vanilla ‘water bursts’ – chocolate balls filled with vanilla water that pop in your mouth. The taste of the real vanilla was amazing throughout every single element.

What can I say, I think the pictures speak for themselves. All I know is that it definitely won’t be long before I’m back again. There’s still so many pastries from the Summer Collection to try, after all…

Serendipitous

I originally bought these blueberries for a college photography assignment. It was all about human element, but other than that, we had completely free reign over what we could do. As with many of my assignments, food managed to sneak into it, I can’t seem to help it. When looking through my portfolio, I think the examiners will probably get hungry!

While thinking about what I could do with them, I remembered this recipe that I had bookmarked in one of my old Gourmet Traveller magazines. I totally fell for the photo, it was just wonderful, but when I saw the source of the recipe, I remembered the wonderful Bathers Pavillion frangpiane tart I had enjoyed so much recently at the Food and Wine Fair. Some events just seem serendipitous!

These tiny tartlets would be perfect to serve at a spring picnic or a girly afternoon tea; both are things I am planning at the moment. I loved the nuttiness of the frangpiane, and though it seemed to have a different personality entirely from their berries and cream variation, I loved it all the same.

I will say, though, that this vanilla custard recipe gave me some grief. I have made custard many times and never had a problem, but it took a dozen eggs before I managed to get this one right. I can’t be sure, but maybe it’s because the sugar was mixed with the milk rather than the eggs like other recipes I’ve used?

The egg yolks went stiff when mixed with the flour and cornflour, even when only whisking for a few seconds, and are hard to mix in completely to the milk mixture, leaving lumpy eggy bits floating around. Even when I strained it, it still didn’t seem silky smooth. If you have a favourite custard recipe, I’d say go ahead and use it here. This one is delicious, yes, but it isn’t worth wasting so many ingredients on if things go wrong!

Blueberry and Vanilla Frangipane Tart
Adapted from Bathers’ Pavillion Menus and Recipes by Serge Danserau
Serves 8

Note: You will need to start this recipe the day before you plan to serve it.

Frangipane
• 100g unsalted butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 40g plain flour
• 125g ground almonds

Pastry
• 225g unsalted butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 350g plain flour

Vanilla Custard
• 1 litre (4 cups) milk
• 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
• 250g white sugar
• 6 egg yolks
• 40g plain flour
• 40g cornflour

To Serve
• 3-4 punnets ripe blueberries, rinsed and towel dried
• Icing sugar, to dust

1. To make frangipane filling, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer for 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating slowly after each addition until well combined. Stop the mixer. Sift the flour and ground almonds and add to the butter mixture. Beat for 1 minute, transfer to a bowl and refrigerate overnight covered with plastic wrap.
2. To make the pastry, cream butter and sugar together until very pale, and then beat in the egg. Gradually add the flour and mix to a smooth paste. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Roll out the pastry to 3mm thickness and use to line 8 individual tartlet tins. Chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 180ºC and blind bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven, add a tablespoon of frangipane filling to each tart and bake for a further 10 minutes or until golden brown.
4. In the meantime, make the vanilla custard. Bring the milk, vanilla beans and sugar to the boil slowly. Cream egg yolks flour and cornflour together in a separate bowl and then pour the milk into the egg mixture. Mix well. Return mixture to the saucepan.
5. On medium heat, stir until it starts to thicken. Continue to mix on low heat for a further 5 minutes. Pass through a sieve and place into a bowl with some baking paper o top to stop a skin forming. When the mixture has cooled to room temperature, spoon a level amount of custard into each cooked pastry tart.
6. Place blueberries tightly packed on top of the custard, dust with icing sugar and serve.

Rhubarb and Almond Crumble Cake

Goodness me, it’s November! I’m not sure how that happened – it feels like New Years Eve was only yesterday. But the weather here has been warming up as summer rapidly approaches, the department stores have put up their Christmas decorations and my final college deadlines and graduation (!) are only a few weeks away. Last November was so extraordinarily busy between college and freelance design projects that I didn’t manage a single blog post. Luckily, I feel a little more organised this time around, and though still busy, I occasionally find the time to sit down with a cup of tea and a nice piece of cake, gather my thoughts, and sketch some ideas into my journal.

I first made this cake before I started blogging, back in May or June last year, when I impulsively bought a bunch of rhubarb and then had to find something to do with it. It’s been a favourite of mine ever since, but I am quite partial to anything involving rhubarb! I find baking very therapeutic, from the whirr of the mixer to dipping my fingers in flour and kneading dough. Though unfortunately sometimes it’s hard to find the time for purely indulgent baking.

I needed a break from the computer screen earlier this week. I had some rhubarb sitting in the fridge waiting patiently to be turned into something delicious, and the rest of the ingredients already on hand. I just couldn’t help myself. And let me tell you, in less than 24 hours, this cake had disappeared. It is really that good – unfussy, easy to prepare and equally perfect served unadorned for afternoon tea or dressed up with cream or mascarpone for dessert.

Rhubarb and Almond Cake
Serves 10
Adapted from Home Beautiful

• 125g butter
• 1 cup raw sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 ½ cups plain flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ¾ cup ground almonds
• ¾ cup milk
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup rhubarb, sliced into 2cm lengths

Topping
• 80g butter
• ½ cup plain flour
• ½ cup raw sugar
• ¼ cup flaked almonds

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 23cm springform cake tin.
2. In an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until soft and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until fully incorporated after each addition
3. Sift flour, baking powder and sugar into egg mixture. Add the ground almonds, milk and vanilla and fold through gently with a metal spoon until just combined, do not overmix.
4. Spoon mixture into the prepared cake tin and then scatter the sliced rhubarb over the top.
5. To make the topping, rub butter and flour using your fingertips until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Stir through sugar and almonds. Scatter topping over rhubarb.
6. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow cake to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the tin. Serve sliced, with double cream or mascarpone if desired.

Spring-like

For a long time, I’ve been wanting to feature more main meal recipes here on my blog, but I find it hard to snap a good photo when I plate up dinner because there’s either not enough light or my hungry family just want to start eating! I’ve developed quite a list of wonderful dishes that I want to make again, and then finally photograph and post, including this one here.

I’ve been wanting to tell you about these lamb kofta kebabs since I first made them last year, but barbecue season in Australia came and went and the post about it was shelved, but certainly not forgotten. Now that we are having some relatively nice, warm, spring-like weather again, I thought I’d dust it off and share.

I seem to be fascinated with using meat together with nuts, whether it’s chicken and macadamias or lamb and walnuts. In this recipe, lamb and pistachios are combined for a very interesting flavour and texture that I just loved. In short, it’s the best kebab I’ve ever made, and likely the best I’ve ever eaten. Forget the greasy, fat-laden kebabs you buy after a night out drinking, these are made with good quality lamb, full of spices and served with fresh, fragrant herbs.

This would be the perfect dish to serve at a casual weekend backyard barbecue, with a few friends and a few cold beers. However, if you’re on the other side of the world, you could also cook these in a frying pan indoors, just make sure you preheat it before you start. You could also shape the mince mixture into patties rather than onto skewers, and it tastes just wonderful with salad on a burger. Just don’t forget the yoghurt.

Lamb Kofta Kebabs
Serves 6-8
Adapted from Jamie At Home by Jamie Oliver

Note: If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for a few minutes before putting the meat on them so that they don’t burn.

• 800g quality lamb mince
• ½ cup shelled pistachios, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground chilli
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large egg
• Zest of 1 lemon or 3 teaspoons sumac
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 red onion, very finely sliced
• Mixed salad leaves, washed and spun dry
• Small bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked
• Large flatbreads or tortilla wraps
• Plain natural yoghurt

1. Preheat your barbecue, or have a griddle pan prepared and preheated.
2. Place the lamb mince in a bowl with the chopped pistachios, thyme leaves, chilli, cumin, salt, pepper and egg. Mix well with a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined.
3. With damp hands, take handfuls of the lamb mixture and shape and squeeze the meat around metal or wooden skewers (see note above)
4. Combine the sliced onion and the lemon juice with a pinch of salt and pepper. Scrunch it together with your hands, then mix in the parsley leaves.
5. Grill the kebabs until nicely golden on all sides and cooked through.
6. Warm the flatbreads for 30 seconds, and divide between plates. Top each with some salad leaves and onion. When the kebabs are cooked, slip them off their skewers and onto the flatbreads. Drizzle with some of the yoghurt before serving.

Eating and Drinking

The last hurrah and crowing moment of Good Food Month comes in the form of the annual Sydney Food and Wine Fair in Hyde Park. This was my first time attending the event, which celebrated its 18th birthday this year. I was pretty excited about a day of eating and drinking, all for a good cause. All proceeds from the day go to the AIDS Trust of Australia. Disconcerting weather predictions gave us some cause for concern, but my cousin Jess and I decided that we’d be there no matter what (umbrellas in tow, just in case). Luckily, the forecast rain held off and it turned out to be a rather pleasant day by all accounts, with good food and good company.

I was imagining that there would be horrendous queues, but we were lucky to never have to line up for more than a few minutes. We arrived just after midday with empty, hungry stomachs. After a quick wander around to inspect the offerings we set about buying coupons. Lots of coupons! Our first stop was the Tea Room stall, because it seemed only right to start with dessert first. I have wanted to visit the Tea Room in the QVB for a long time but I haven’t quite got there yet. The tasting plate consisted of a tuna sandwich, spinach and ricotta pastry, a tiny lemon meringue tartlet, orange and almond cake, rich chocolate mudcake and a tiny biscuit with coffee cream inside. It was all absolutely delicious, and I can’t wait to experience similar treats in the beautiful setting of the Tea Room itself.

Next up was a pasta dish from Ryde Tafe. Apart from being a little cold, it was very tasty, and seemed quite popular judging from the amount of other people we saw carrying around their own little bowls of pasta. It had penne with crab and mushroom in a creamy sauce. I am trying hard to let go of my prejudices towards seafood and I must be doing okay because I quite enjoyed this dish! It’s also a good chance to support the hospitality students at Tafe, since after she finishes her HSC next year, my cousin Jess might be one of them! We also made a stop at the delicious stand and picked up a little show bag that included the latest magazine, a cute Tupperware container, a block of Lindt Pear Intense chocolate and some other goodies.

We spent some time wandering around and saw the Vogue Entertaining + Travel sponsored fresh produce, with a gorgeously presented Rocks Market stall selling fruit and flowers, typical of the Friday markets in the Rocks (right near my work, perfect for a lunchtime stroll). We also got to taste some delicious ravioli and sample some blood orange infused olive oil that had the most amazing citrus kick. Unfortunately they weren’t selling any, or I would have been very tempted!

Still peckish, we sampled China Doll’s white cut chicken with sesame and chilli. We took it over to a spot of grass away from the bustle, and I was reminded again of why I love Hyde Park. You feel a million miles from the city when in fact you’re right in the middle of it. This dish was an amazing blend of flavours and textures – spicy yet sweet, and also fragrant from the coriander and mint, crunchy from the peanuts and sesame and nice and fresh from the bean shoots and cabbage. I really liked it, and thought it was beautifully balanced.

Next came dessert, from the Bathers Pavillion. It looks like they had the same dish at last year’s event, but it was without a doubt my favourite of the day. The cream was perfectly whipped, rich but not heavy with gorgeous vanilla bean specks throughout. The berry compote was a sweet and ripe tumble of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries and paired perfectly with the almond frangipane tartlet. It was also beautifully presented, which is quite a task when the girls at the stall were dishing out several desserts a minute. Later in the afternoon I also had a tasty cocktail from the Bank Hotel, with raspberry, cranberry, mint and a nice bourbon kick. Sitting near the fountain, soaking up the atmosphere, it was the perfect end to the afternoon.

Tastes Sweet

Reaching a culinary milestone is pretty exciting, although the road to get there is sometimes fraught with nerves. So was the case with making my very first soufflé. In fact, I think my kitchen stress levels rise whenever I cook with yeast or egg whites. I read the recipe until I had it almost memorized.

Every step of the way I wondered if I was doing things right. Were my egg whites beaten enough? Or maybe too much? Was I gentle enough when incorporating them? By the time they were finished baking, I had almost no fingernails left, but the true test of success comes when you take them out of the oven.

And behold! My soufflés did not collapse. They behaved perfectly for the camera. I thought I was finished taking photos when I dipped in my spoon and filled the crater with more custard, but it was so beautiful I was compelled to pick up my camera again. The soufflé was tinged with pink and light as air. The rhubarb was perfectly balanced by the custard. Success tastes sweet.

Rhubarb and Custard Soufflé
Adapted from Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver
Serves 6

• 400g rhubarb, cut into 2.5cm chunks
• 100g + 2 tablespoons caster sugar
• 25g softened butter
• 6 gingersnap biscuits
• 150g ready-made custard, plus extra for serving
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon plain flour
• 4 egg whites
• Pinch of salt

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and put a baking tray in to heat up.
2. Put the rhubarb into a saucepan with 100g caster sugar. Cover the pan and simmer gently for about 10 minutes, until the rhubarb is soft. Set aside to cool completely.
3. Rub the insides of six ramekins with butter. Put the gingersnap biscuits into a sandwich bag, tie a knot in the top and smash the biscuits with a rolling pin to make fine crumbs. Alternately, process until fine with a food processor. Dust the insides of the buttered ramekins with the smashed biscuits, then shake out any crumbs and keep them for later.
4. Place a tablespoon of cooled stewed rhubarb into each ramekin. Mix the rest of the rhubarb with the custard, egg yolk, vanilla extract and flour.
5. In a large, clean bowl using an electric whisk, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar and beat on high speed for about 3 minutes, or until the whites and very stiff.
6. Gently fold 2 spoonfuls of the egg whites into the rhubarb mixture. Tip this into the bowl containing the egg whites and fold together very carefully. Divide the mixture between the ramekins and level the tops. Wipe the rims of the dishes clean.
7. Remove the hot baking pan from the oven and place the ramekins on it. Put back into the preheated oven and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the soufflés are golden and have risen nicely. Serve immediately, sprinkled with your leftover gingersnap crumbs and a dusting of icing sugar.

Much More

I can definitely say that I ate a lot of pizza while in I was in Melbourne. I worked it out to find that I’d eaten pizza on seven days out of the previous nine, and miraculously I wasn’t sick of it yet. When we were invited to stay a night with our friends Lucy and Ian in the beautiful Dandenongs, I offered to make lunch the next day. And it was, you guessed it, pizza. Steve had the idea to make a tiny sweet pizza out of some extra dough topped with Nutella and lollies. Not everyone was convinced it would work, but it turned out interestingly. The lollies take on a completely different texture when baked – gooey and sticky with the sweetness even more pronounced.

After lunch, we went up the hill to Sassafras, or “Sassy” for short – a gorgeous little town boasting Miss Marples Tea Room, a fascinating little toyshop, and a wonderful teapot shop. The queue for the tea room was out the door and down the street as they don’t take bookings, so we stocked up on sweets from the lolly shop – hard to find almond M&M’s and peanut butter M&M’s. After a short bush walk, we caught a train back to the city because we had a 5am wakeup the next morning for the MotoGP, although with daylight savings kicking in, it felt like 4am!

It was an interesting experience; the atmosphere was friendly and fun, reaching fever-pitched excitement for the main race. Loyalties were spread between Australian Casey Stoner who won, and Valentino Rossi who started in 12th position and impressively finished 2nd. It was quite cold in the morning as the track is right on the ocean, but it turned out to be an absolutely beautiful day. We met some lovely people, but the highlight of the day was seeing Alvaro Bautista hitting a seagull on his motorbike! It happened right in front of where we were standing, and I saw it sitting on the track and urged it to move but as the bikes came flying around the corner, it was too late. Poor little guy!

The following day we explored Carlton, with the famous Lygon St boasting countless restaurants. Our first stop however was Brunetti’s where we shared vanilla and pistachio profiteroles, a fruit tart and some crostoli. Everything was great, including the coffee. In fact the quality of coffee in Melbourne generally seems considerably higher than in Sydney – out of the several that I had, only one was average. We saw a movie (Wall-E, which we just loved) and had dinner at an Italian restaurant, before stopping in to Koko Black quickly for a chocolate truffle fix.

Yes, we did manage some shopping, which may just be what Melbourne is most famous for. I bought a great little black dress, as I realised I didn’t actually own one, and as everyone knows it is a must-have in any woman’s wardrobe. We caught the tram to St Kilda, had lunch in a nice little park and wandered down Fitzroy St to Fritz Gelato. It was a cold, windy day and at 3pm the girl told us we were her first customers of the day. I loved the gelato, mine was chocolate hazelnut with plum pudding. We also stopped in quickly to Baker D.Chirico for a coffee, though sadly we couldn’t fit in anything else.

Pushka is a tiny café in a laneway off a laneway. The walls outside it are covered with framed pictures, and the place just screams Melbourne. It’s quirky and fun, arty but not pretentious. Little touches like fancy antique spoons to go with your coffee make it something special. Everything about the place appealed to me, and almost made me want to open a tiny café of my own.

Our last stop before heading to the airport was Laurent Patisserie, which was located literally footsteps from our hotel, though we didn’t realise until our last day. If we had, we might have spent a whole lot more time there! I loved my pear tartlet, but no visit would be complete without some macarons – vanilla and lemon flavoured. Steve enjoyed his undeniably pretty chocolate and macadamia crème brulee.

I really enjoyed seeing much more of Melbourne this trip than in all my other trips there combined. It is such an interesting, diverse city with so much more to see, do and eat. We never made it to the Chokolait Hub, and an unfortunate last minute scheduling clash meant that I never got to catch up with Linda from Butter, Sugar, Flour as we’d planned. It’s certain that I’ll be back just as soon as I can. Though there’s a lot to be said about coming home, too. Flying back into Sydney at night is magical. The city sparkles and sprawls on seemingly forever. I don’t particularly like goodbyes, but Melbourne, we’ll see you later.

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