Floresta Nature Doughnuts

I’d seen adorable animal doughnuts on Pinterest and Instagram, so did a bit of a search before we went to Japan to try and find them – I felt a quest coming on. In fact, it took a while to find the store – given a bum steer from an English website, we ended up at Kyoto City Hall where the map said the doughnuts were inside… They weren’t. Luckily, when we did get to the stall they had plenty of animal doughnuts – I picked three to try. The cat was first up – it was chocolate-flavoured, and had almonds as ears (so cute, and tasty too!). The doughnut filler was quite dense and didn’t have as much flavour as I expected, but the actual doughnut was much nicer, with a spongy texture and a nice richness in the chocolate icing. Next was the pumpkin-flavoured rabbit – sadly I couldn’t taste the pumpkin at all, but the strawberry-flavoured frog was very clearly strawberry. The doughnuts were quite heavy so we ate them over the course of a couple of days. Worth the adventure, maybe a bit more for the photos than the flavour, but fun nonetheless.

Floresta Nature Doughnuts, Shinkyogoku street at the intersection with Shijo street, Kyoto Japan http://www.nature-doughnuts.jp/index.htm

Frugii Dessert Laboratory

I loved the TV show Pokemon as a kid – the idea of ‘catch ’em all’ appealed to my inner collector – as does the ever changing flavour menu at Frugii. This visit was part of my #touristinmyowntown adventure, showing a friend from Adelaide the best of Canberra. Of course Frugii was on that list. We stopped in on a Thursday night and the two sorbets on offer were Grapefruit and Passionfruit. Mmm. I sampled the Grapefruit and fell completely in love – sorbets are naturally sweet, so paired with a sour fruit, there is a harmonious balance that ticks all the tastebud boxes. I got a scoop of the Passionfruit too (a small cup with two scoops is $5), after plenty of helpful advice from the friendly staff. Frugii’s sorbets aren’t trying to emulate the creaminess of icecream, because they’re spending plenty of time making sure the flavour is spot on. The passionfruit was really lush and had that fabulously tropical flavour – nothing synthetic here folks. Having added two new flavours to my collection, I wonder what the next one will be on my quest to catch ’em all?

Frugii Dessert Laboratory, 30 Lonsdale Street, Braddon ACT, http://www.frugii.com/

The Grounds

It wasn’t really possible for me to walk past the pastry display at the Grounds and not buy something. If I could have, I would have bought all the things – it all looked so delicious! I was very restrained and picked two – the salted caramel tart and the raspberry chocolate torte. Luckily they were to share, because they were both very rich. I only tried a bit of the salted caramel, but oh my it was good. The caramel was so oozy and there was just a perfect amount of salt. The chocolate layer on top added even more goodness, and the pastry around the edge was nice and crisp. I could have happily devoured a whole piece (and will be back to do just that as soon as I can). I had more of the raspberry and chocolate torte, which was sinfully rich. The raspberry glaze on top was lovely and tart, in contrast to the perfectly smooth, silky chocolate cake beneath. The fresh berries on top were a nice break from the decadent chocolate and added some textural contrast. More please!

The Grounds of Alexandria, Shop 7A, 2 Huntley Street, Alexandria, NSW    http://groundsroasters.com/

Ink Bake Grill

Ok, so maybe this post is cheating a bit. I organised a lunch at Ink Bake Grill, but sadly ended up getting stuck at work, so didn’t visit the restaurant. But, one of my lovely friends brought me back a pastry, so here’s what I thought of that, until I can break free of the office and head out there (they’re only open on weekdays). The pastry my friend chose, knowing my love for raspberry, was a raspberry danish, and it was a really great size. The outer pastry was incredibly flaky and crisp, but amazingly not too messy (meaning I wasn’t embarassed eating it at my desk!). The custard inside was really luxurious and rich, and there was plenty of it so no complaints from me. Finally the raspberries dotted in the centre packed in so much flavour I couldn’t believe that was coming from so few pieces! They had a real bite, but weren’t as tart as unbaked raspberries, and they melted a bit into the custard. Mmm. Highly recommended. I can’t wait to try some of their burgers, bao and tacos too.

Ink Bake Grill, Shop 3, 7 Geils Court, Deakin ACT, http://www.inkbakegrill.com.au/welcome.html

Dom’s Coffee Bar

One of my friends has broken her foot, and after failing to get a park at Floriade that she could walk from, we went for a short stroll along the lakefront near the National Library instead. No outing is complete for me without food of some kind, so we stopped in at Dom’s Coffee Bar for gelato. There isn’t a huge flavour selection, but that’s to be expected for a small kiosk. I was excited to see that they had several dairy free options and I went for the Lemon Lime flavour, while my friend chose the Passionfruit ($4.50 for one scoop in a cup). We walked/hobbled over to the wooden seats to soak up the sun, and I was very excited to discover that my gelato did in fact taste a lot like a Lemon Lime Splice! Whilst lacking the creaminess of a Splice, the gelato retained the strong citrus flavour that I find so refreshing. The texture was slightly melty, so definitely softer than I would have liked, but that didn’t detract from the flavour. I also tried the Passionfruit – the flavour was really crisp and the texture was better. I’d go back again for sure.

Dom’s Coffee Bar, Parkes Place, Parkes ACT, no website

Raw Karma

On my visit to The Market Shed’s Twilight Market, my friend and I scoured the stalls looking for the beautiful mini doughnuts posted on Instagram. After getting through a couple of savoury courses, we found them – success! There were six flavours on offer ($6 per doughnut) and we picked one each – Turkish delight and peanut butter. Disclaimer – we didn’t get to eat these on the night so refrigerated them overnight to taste test the next day. Raw Karma’s doughnuts are vegan, paleo, and gluten-free, and wow are they filling! Whilst they may look small, the dough is less of a dough and more like a fudge – dense and packed full of flavour. The peanut butter doughnut is topped with dark chocolate and crumbled peanuts – it could have had a stronger peanut flavour, but the chocolate is decadently rich. The Turkish delight leaves you in no doubt that’s the flavour you’re enjoying – the rose flavour is beautifully fragrant and cuts through the richness of the chocolate. I’d recommend getting these to share or eat over sometime, as they’re really very dense, but they’re absolutely delicious!

Raw Karma, fortnightly stall at The Market Shed, Holland St, Adelaide SA http://rawkarma.com/

Gelato Messina

A perfect spring day really does call for icecream, so we stopped in at Gelato Messina in Surry Hills. I love the vibrant colours and huge spheres of icecream in the display cabinet at Messina stores, and this one was no exception. The sorbets at the entrance caught my eye and I ordered a cup of the raspberry and mandarin sorbets ($6.80 for two scoops). The bottom scoop of mandarin was a bit bigger than the top scoop of raspberry, but the whole serving together was massive and I took my time enjoying it at the park across the road. I won’t talk too much about texture, because by the time I crossed the road the sun had started melting the edges and it went downhill from there (as to be expected), but the flavours were fantastic. The raspberry had a particularly intense flavour that is probably the most concentrated pure raspberry flavoured sorbet I’ve tried. The balance betwen tartness and sweetness was just right. The mandarin flavour was equally lovely – it was really juicy and whilst not as intense, it was beautifully refreshing and had real clarity of flavour. Ah Messina, you never fail to impress.

Gelato Messina, 389 Crown Street, Surry Hills, NSW http://www.gelatomessina.com/au/