Ginger Cake with Lemon and Pistachio Icing

 

Last weekend, there was a lovely looking cake by Neil Perry called Ginger Cake with Lemon and Pistachio Icing in the newspaper.  I tore the recipe out and had the pleasure of making it a few days ago.

Here is the recipe online.  Other readers have only given it three stars, but I don't know why - I thought it was a beautiful cake, and so did my colleagues.  It has a distinct ginger flavour, and the tangy icing tastes like cream cheese icing, even though it is not.

I made some changes to the recipe necessitated by the ingredients I had on hand.  Instead of 100g of grated ginger, I used a tablespoon of grated fresh ginger and a teaspoon of ground ginger.  Instead of a cup of golden syrup, I used half and half golden syrup and honey.  But otherwise, I made the recipe as stated, and loved it.  Definitely a winner in my books.

Queenie's Sweet Dreams Walking Tour, South Yarra

Last Sunday, I had the pleasure of doing the Sweet Dreams Walking Tour ($85 for 3 hours) in South Yarra run by Queenie's Food Tours.  As the name of the tour suggests, it is all about the desserts.  I had independently been to all of the establishments that we visited, but the joy of doing this tour is that you got to meet at least some of the people behind the creations in the store, and enjoy the camaraderie with like-minded people.  The tour groups are limited to eight people, so you receive a personalised tour and won't get lost in the crowd.

Our first stop was at LuxBite in Toorak Road:  

LuxBite became famed for its Lolly Bag Cake after it was one of the challenges on Masterchef.  I have already tried the Lolly Bag Cake, so I was free to explore other menu items.

In the price of the tour, we were able to have a coffee and a dessert at LuxBite.  I had my usual skinny flat white:

and chose a seasonal pudding - the Winter Warmer, a bread pudding served warm with warm pandan custard:

This was delightfully rich and really hit the spot on a grey, cold Melbourne day.

Christine, our tour guide, chose the Meringue Monster (also pictured at the top of this post): 

The Meringue Monster is a gluten-free delight comprising green tea sponge, pistachio, watermelon yoghurt, sour strawberry mousse and meringue.  I also tried this, and it is as light as a feather.  I think it would be the perfect summer time dessert.

As we were at LuxBite early and there weren't many customers yet, when I spied one of the geniuses behind LuxBite, Bernard Chu, behind the counter, I could not resist asking for a photo with him.  He very kindly obliged: 

Squeee!  At the LuxBite counter, they have these cute bits and bobs that I could not resist photographing:

From LuxBite, we moved on to Adriano Zumbo Patissier in Claremont Street:

I have also been there before. Adriano is a creative genius with cakes and sweets, and the cabinets in his stores are always a kaleidoscope of colour:

Adriano is a Sydney-sider, although he sometimes appears at the Melbourne stores.  Alas, this was not the case on the day of my tour.  However, I did snag a limited edition redskin cronut that I had seen on Facebook (see the back left of this photo):

Redskins are red sugary chewy sweets in Australia, in case you were wondering.

At the side of the Zumbo store, you can watch his staff at work behind a plate glass window:
 

Our next stop was the Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio in Chapel Street (you can see what a "lovely" day it was from the sky):

I had not been there for many moons.  At Burch & Purchese, we were greeted by staff with samples of marshmallows.  There was also a beautiful stand of meringues on the front counter:

And of course, their desserts are magical:  

This decoration is made of chocolate:

Christine mentioned a gin and tonic tart, pictured below - I was sold and bought one of these:

There were some gorgeous salted caramel cake pops in a jar on the counter - wouldn't you just love these for a child's birthday party?

Unfortunately, we did not get to meet Darren Purchese, but them's the breaks.

We then walked on up Chapel Street to  A La Folie, an establishment that specialises in macarons and petit choux.  (I had visited there late last year.)  Here are some of their gorgeous macarons in the window of the store:

This was my favourite stop on the tour, because the lovely owner of A La Folie, Mercedes, sat down with us and discussed how her shop came to be, including why she specialises in two products and tips for home baking.  Here is Mercedes discussing her wonderful petit choux:

At A La Folie, we got to sample two flavours of macarons and a vanilla petit choux (which I liked better than the raspberry and salted caramel ones that I had last year).

Here is our tour group in front of the Eiffel Tour mural at A La Folie:

And here I am with Mercedes:

I really enjoyed hearing Mercedes' story and learning some tips for making macarons and choux pastry at home.

Our final stop on the tour was at Ganache Chocolate in Toorak Road.  I am a regular at their city store so I am familiar with their product, but it was good to get a behind the scenes perspective.  Unfortunately, Arnaud, the chocolatier, was out, but Steve, the store manager, kindly, took us to see the kitchen where all the action happens. Here is Steve with Christine, our tour guide:

There was no work in progress in the kitchen as it was early Sunday afternoon, but we did see piles of chocolate stilettos drying:

Our tour included a cup of coffee or tea and samples of quiche and savoury croissant:

as well as two chocolates each - honey (made from the honey from the beehive on the roof of the South Yarra store) and coconut:

Everything was delicious, and Steve was a gracious host.

With the tour over and my belly full, I later sampled my haul.  Here is a glimpse inside the Zumbo Redskin Cronut (redskin flavoured  cream, redskin marshmallow topping) ($5.50):

It was good on day one, but by day two, had started to become a little oily.

The B&P gin and tonic tart ($9.50) comprises white lime chocolate, lime curd, gin and tonic jellies, and juniper and lime marshmallows:

Delish!

At Burch & Purchese, I also bought this chocolate and raspberry crumble to play with on desserts and icecream ($9.50):

 

At LuxBite, I received a chocolate and a rose macaron in the tour price:
 

 

 

and I bought this delicious kaya coconut jam ($10) (tastes like caramel):

and a Mork salted caramel hot chocolate  kit, a collaboration between Mork and LuxBite ($25):

I am yet to try this out, but I look forward to it.

I shared the cronut, macarons and tart with Tim.  I also bought Tim an almond croissant from A La Folie, as those are his favourite.

Thanks to Christine, our Queenies tour guide, who made this tour a fun experience.

Queenie's Food Tours

Ph: 03 9018 7196 

LuxBite

38 Toorak Rd

South Yarra VIC 3141

Ph: (03) 9867 5888

Adriano Zumbo Patissier

14 Claremont St

South Yarra VIC 3141

Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio

647 Chapel St

South Yarra VIC 3141
(03) 9827 7060

 

A La Folie

589 Chapel Street
South Yarra 3141
Ph: 03 9827 3337

 

Ganache Chocolate

250 Toorak Rd

South Yarra VIC 3141(03) 9804 7485

WIAFK (CB) - Skate with Brown Butter and Capers

Happy 4th of July to my US readers!

Today is an auspicious occasion  of a different kind - it is the inaugural Weekend in a French Kitchen (Café Boulud Cookbook) post. Weekend in a French Kitchen is a new cooking group started by Christy, Tammy, Alice and Emily to cook through two cookbooks - the Café Boulud Cookbook by Daniel Boulud and Dorie Greenspan on Saturdays, and A Kitchen in France by Mimi Thorisson on Sundays.

I have decided just to cook from the Café Boulud Cookbook because I don't think I have room for more than one extra group post in a week.  My decision on which book to pick was made by the fact that our beloved Dorie Greenspan co-wrote the Café Boulud Cookbook book (I had never heard of Daniel before).

Our first recipe from the Café Boulud Cookbook is Skate with Brown Butter and Capers.  Skate seems to be a rare commodity here, because on this, the second occasion when I have tried to buy it, I once again drew a blank.  I asked the fishmonger what he thought would be a good substitute, and he suggested blue eye trevalla - so that it what I bought.

Once you have the fish, the rest is a breeze - the fish is lightly poached and served with a delicious garlic and caper browned butter sauce, and boiled cubes of potato.

I really enjoyed this subtle but perfect dish - and because it is easy to make, it would be a recipe I'd repeat again.

To see what the other CBCB cooks thought of this dish, visit the LYL section of the WIAFK (CB) website.

Cheesy Passionfruit Slice

I recently bought some beautiful passionfruit from the market and did some research into how I could best use them.  I found this terrific recipe on the Coles website for Cheesy Passionfruit Slice.

This slice is kind of a refrigerator cheesecake, as it is made with a mixture of cream cheese and condensed milk.  It is very simple to make, and really highlights the slightly tart flavour of the passionfruit.

I thought this slice was sensational, and I would make it again.  It would be perfect for a summer barbecue (never mind that it is very cold here right now - I can dream).

EwE - Spinach, Herb and Goat Cheese Frittata

 

 

For Eating with Ellie this week, Peggy chose Spinach, Herb and Goat Cheese Frittata.  Ellie has published the recipe online here.

 

I made a serve for one.  I think the goats cheese made this dish - it would have been a bit ordinary without it.  I also added a dash of tabasco on top to give it an extra kick.

 

This is the kind of thing I make for breakfast all the time, so I was on board with this.  To see what the others thought of this dish, visit the LYL section of the EwE website.

Felicity Cloake's Perfect Blondies for Deborah Harry's 70th Birthday

Today is Deborah Harry's 70th birthday, so in honour of the occasion, I decided to make blondies.  There are many different recipes for blondies around, but fortuitously, Felicity Cloake of The Guardian last week published her recipe for the perfect blondies.  It seemed like it was meant to be, so I chose Felicity's recipe for my blondies.

 

These blondies are delicious - chewy, dense, textural and delicious.  They contain browned butter, toasted pecans and white chocolate chunks.  They are way too tempting - luckily I have removed them from the house by taking them to work.

 

If you are a fan of blondies or Blondie, try Felicity Cloake's recipe and give yourself something delicious for afternoon tea to accompany with a cup of steaming coffee or tea.

WWDH - Stewed Apple and Coconut Cobbler

For Wednesday with Donna Hay this week, I chose Stewed Apple and Coconut Cobbler from the very beautiful book, Seasons.  You can also find the recipe online here.

I mini-fied the recipe to make it just for one and baked it in a ramekin.  And the verdict?  Delicious - the perfect treat for a cold winter's night. 

I would definitely make this again.  To see whether the others feel the same, visit the LYL section of the WWDH website.