Bourke Street Bakery

After eating lunch at Bourke Street Bakery, we decided to treat ourselves to a couple of takeaway sweets and some bread. I picked the fresh-baked seeded sourdough loaf and two tarts – a classic lemon and the more exotic ginger creme brulee. Both tarts had a lovely pastry shell, which wasn’t too crumbly but had just the right amount of crisp. The lemon tart was utterly luxurious – I’ve never had one with such a creamy, lush-textured filling. The lemon flavour was nice and strong, but not too sharp as the creamy filling’s richness softened it out. Be warned, it’s a messy one to eat – the filling oozed everywhere! The ginger creme brulee tart was my favourite though. I loved the caramelised, almost burnt flavour of the top-layer, and there was an added bit of crunch and salt from the pistachios crumbled on top. The filling had a bit of body to it and the ginger flavour was well-balanced with the overall sweetness of the tart. Oh, and the seeded sourdough was delicious! There’s nothing like fresh bread on the day it’s baked! Yum, yum, yum.

Bourke Street Bakery: Shop 7/19-25 Grosvenor Street, Neutral Bay, NSW http://bourkestreetbakery.com.au/project/neutral-bay/

Bourke Street Bakery

Ah Bourke Street Bakery, it has been some time! On my last visit I couldn’t go past the soup of the day, and being another wintery day, I just stuck with what I knew (although I had some order envy about Dad’s reuben sandwich, which looked fantastic!). The cauliflour soup came out in a large bowl with a garnish of parsley, chives and pepper, all of which complemented the soup perfectly. Cauliflour soup is something that everyone should try at least once – there’s a lovely creaminess and heartiness that comes from its unique texture, and Bourke Street Bakery knows how to put that flavour on show. It’s also not a perfectly pureed soup, so there’s still some texture in there, and with such a generous portion size, you won’t leave hungry. The soup was served with a wedge of sourdough bread and a little tray of butter (such a luxury!) – it was perfect both by itself and dunked into the soup. I picked the homemade lemonade to have with my soup and it was really refreshing and not sickly sweet. Perfect for a chilly winter’s day.

Bourke St Bakery, Shop 7/19-25 Grosvenor Street, Neutral Bay, NSW http://bourkestreetbakery.com.au/

Ladurée

I’ve been to a Ladurée salon de thé in Paris, but when I tried to visit the Ginza one while living in Tokyo in 2009, I couldn’t get a table (they don’t take reservations). On this visit, I was very strategic about when we went (5pm on a weekday) and we only waited 10mins to get a seat – winning! This was Mum’s belated Mother’s Day gift – we started out with a pot of Thé Eugenie each, served in silver teapots with pastel coloured cups and saucers. The black tea had a fruity fragrance, with strawberry, cherry, raspberry and redcurrant part of the blend. It wasn’t as overpowering as some of the other options (there are samples to sniff while you wait for a table) and we enjoyed every sip. For cake, I picked the Ispahan – a large macaron filled with fresh raspberries, lychee and rose-flavoured cream. The flavours all worked so well together and every mouthful was delicious – the macaron shell was crisp, the raspberries were very fresh and the cream spiked with lychee was just as decadent as you would expect. If you get a seat by the window you can people-watch while enjoying your luxury sweets. Swoon.

Ladurée, salon de thé, 4-6-16 Ginza, Chuo, Tokyo Japan                                             http://www.laduree.jp/

Hopetoun Tea Rooms

Stopping in at the Hopetoun Tea Rooms is becoming a Melbourne tradition for me. I am completely in love with their window display and their William Morris wallpaper, and I could happily spend days working my way through the tea menu. On this occassion, I met a friend and we managed to get a table without having to queue. The line grew quickly after we were seated, though, so you have to either time your visit well or be prepared to wait. I started with a pot of Buddha’s Finger tea – oolong with peach characteristics. The tea was strongly flavoured, and, as with all of their teas, best consumed fairly quickly, as it started to go bitter as it cooled. I couldn’t resist a big slice of cake, so picked the raspberry sponge as my snack – the piece was quite large and full of cream. The raspberries on top and throughout were plump and fresh, and added a nice tartness to the overall sweetness of the slice. The sponge was lovely and moist, and the raspberry coulis served on the side was divine. Everything here – from the cake to the decor – is lovely.

Hopetoun Tea Rooms, Block Arcade, 282 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC    http://www.hopetountearooms.com.au

Brewtown Newtown

Brewtown has been on my to visit list for a while, so with an afternoon to while away in Newtown, I made a beeline for their store. It occupies the former home of Berkelouw Books on O’Connell Street, and is well-known for their take on the cronut – the Brewnut. I was seated right away at a share table near the window, and ordered a soy hot chocolate and a fruit and nut Brewnut. While I waited, I admired the tasteful decor – from the white tiled tabletop, to the fresh flowers and old-fashioned Newtown fire department sign on the wall. My hot chocolate arrived first and was a real delight – Sydney’s inner suburbs really know how to steam soy. There was just the right amount of sweetness, given the sugar hit that was about to follow. The Brewnut was a towering cavalcade of fruit and nuts – pistachios, almonds, pecans, crystalised ginger, raisins and dried apricots all vyed for space on the layers of luscious, deep-fried pastry. Yes, it was sugar overload, but oh man, these guys know how to bring the flavour. Without a doubt it was the most creative, well-executed cronut interpretation I’ve tried to date. Yum.

Brewtown Newtown, 6-8 O’Connell Street, Newtown, NSW               http://www.brewtownnewtown.com/

Patissez

I was super excited to try Patissez’s raspberry and pomegranate galettes after drooling over them on their Instagram feed, but alas, they had sold out when I arrived. The staff were really friendly and helpful, and when I asked for another fruity cake to try, the pointed me at this one – a raspberry and lychee dacquois. As you can see, it’s pretty, and yep, it tastes amazing. Let me walk you through it. The garnish on top is a fresh raspberry and a cluster of caramel popcorn -the popcorn doesn’t relate to any other flavours in the cake, but it’s really tasty! The red outer layer is a raspberry gel of some kind, and it’s really thick and stretchy – quite an unusual texture. The raspberry flavour is excellent though, and it matches the lychee cream filling perfectly. The lychee cream is really authentic and I couldn’t believe how light and fluffy it was – but hidden inside is a layer of more raspberry and pistachio cake – as if it could get any better! The flavours and textures all worked together really well and the dacquois was just the right size for an afternoon treat.

Patissez, Shop 2/21 “The Lawns” Bougainville Street, Manuka ACT, no website

Cafe Comme Ca

Food blogging is a tough business – sometimes you have to make great sacrifices for the sake of a good post. After exploring Loft, one of my favourite stores in Shibuya, I spotted a Cafe Comme Ca and had to stop in to try their special promotional tart – yep, true sacrifice, especially because the tart was shaped like the adorable cartoon character Rascal the Raccoon (oh no, if I HAVE to). For 1000 yen I got a slice of this decadent…slice, a cup of black tea and a commemorative coaster. The tart had a milk chocolate paw and tail (could it be any cuter?!), and was jam-packed with cream. The tart base was dark chocolate flavoured and there was a sinfully rich dark chocolate ganache layered inside. The ribbons of mango woven throughout to cut through the rich creaminess of the rest of the slice were a highlight, but there was also a lightly-flavoured coffee cream in between the ribbons which complemented the mango nicely. The whole dish was very, very sweet though, so maybe not the best pre-lunch snack, but definitely the tastiest slice I’ve munched on for the sake of this blog!

Cafe Comme Ca Shibuya, within Loft, 21-1 Udagawa-cho, Shibuya, Tokyo Japan   http://www.cafe-commeca.co.jp/ (Japanese only)