Lost in the World of Bacco Pasticceria

Ever since my blogger buddy (My Date With Food) posted her mouth-watering blog of Bacco Pasticceria, I have this urge to have my own Bacco experience.

Finally the day has arrived! Like a child lost in a candy world I was ecstatic, giggling all the way to Chifley Square at the prospect of indulging myself in a tempting selection of pastries. As soon as I was in front of the window display I knew straightaway that I was in trouble. Which one should I try? After what seems like an eternity, I made up my mind on the Rose Macaroon and Caramelised Pear Butterscotch Mousse.

Too excited to notice/check the receipt that one of the order was wrong, I happily walk away with my Bacco box. Only after I arrived home and open the box (to salivate over the cakes) had I realised that the lady behind the counter has mistaken/misheard the Caramelised Pear for the Panna Cotta. However, this sweet mishap does not bother me at all as I will be coming back for more.

Panna Cotta $6

 I am not a big fan of panna cotta as it is usually very sweet and firm in texture. However, Bacco's panna cotta was softer more like a custard texture. I love the fact that they used vanilla beans in the panna cotta, strong aroma and not overly sweet. The berries were great contrast to the vanilla panna cotta, bursting with sour flavour, leaving me feeling contented.

Rose Macaroon $6

The rose macaroon was my first pick, its beautiful tower of macaroon and the delicate rose petal perched so elegantly on top won my heart instantly. The almond meringue macaroon was very light and chewy, with sprinkle of crunchy crushed almond nuts on top. It's filled with fresh strawberries, fruit jam in the middle and subtle rose flavour infused ganache.

Bacco Pasticceria
Chifley Plaza
2 Chifley Square, Sydney
Tel: (02) 9223 9552

Le Manifique Astral

Astral, located on the 17th floor of the Star City Hotel Tower, it has one of the most magnificent harbour & city views that we Sydneysiders take for granted. Dining at Astral that evening I felt like a tourist, re-discovering the magical Sydney city through Astral's floor to ceiling glass wall. Its modern interior with a touch of elegance and dim lighting are the perfect setting for fine dining.

Unfortunately we were slightly disappointed with the level of service that evening. Even though we were immediately ushered to our table upon arriving and presented with the wine list, it wasn't until a good 15 minutes later when we finally had one of the waitresses attention. She came with her pen & notepad ready to take our order, but soon realised that no one has even shown us the menu! Thankfully her professionalism shined through & we had her full attention all night.

My first dish was the light and aromatic Smoked Salmon, one of Sean Connolly's signature dish. The dish arrived covered with a smoky glass and as soon as the cover was lifted, the smoked chamomile aroma fills up the room. The thinly sliced salmon was very fresh & soft, and it had that subtle smoky taste.

Marinated king salmon, Isigny crème fraîche, pea tendrils, chamomile pearls, chamomile smoke

My husband had the Mandagery Creek Venison two ways, tartare and carpaccio. Initially I was slightly afraid that the venison might have a strong smell, but the dish proved me wrong. Wonderfully lean and freshly cut tartare, it just melts in my mouth. The carpaccio was marinated long enough to soak the vinaigrette flavour, complimenting the raw venison taste.

 Tartare & Carpaccio with crisp potatoes, grebiche vinaigrette

We paid an extra $40 for one of the mains, the Australian Marron Tail. Such a delicate dish, we were definitely paying for the quality instead of quantity and it was worth every dollar. The marron had that crunchy fresh texture and mildly sweet taste. The bisque & parmesan froth was creamy yet light, I kept soaking the perfectly cooked ravioli into the froth and savour every moment of it.

Slow cooked marron tail, open ravioli, creamed leek, bisque, parmesan froth

The other main was the Beef Cheek with potato puree & sauteed mushrooms. A generous serving of beef cheek, cut thickly but cooked long enough to achieve a very tender result. This tender meat was paired with the soft & creamy potato puree that has soaked up some of the beef jus.

Potato purée & sautéed mushrooms

To end our meal we ordered one dessert each, but of course I had most of mine and some of my husband's. As a chocolate lover I ordered the Chocolate Dacquoise. An interesting layer of sweet & sour passionfruit and coconut cream flavour, covered in tempered chocolate and topped with champagne foam. The coconut sorbet was like a palate cleanser, very refreshing and not too overpowering with coconut flavour.

Passionfruit, coconut & champagne foam

Surprisingly, I enjoyed my husband's dessert more than mine. Having had 2 meat dishes for his entree & main (venison & beef cheek) he went for the light & refreshing Mandarin sorbet. The mandarin sorbet was served with fresh mandarin juice, jelly and the most interesting ingredient: pop rocks candy. Pop rocks candy creates a fizzy reaction when it dissolves in the mouth. So imagine eating the sweet mandarin sorbet & juice and suddenly you have this sparkling sensation.

Sorbet, compressed segments & soup; lemon balm & hibiscus jelly

Another spectacular dining experience that was full of flavour & creativity. Where to next?

Astral Restaurant
Level 17, 80 Pyrmont St
Pyrmont, Sydney

Pre-Theatre
2 course $70
3 course $85

My Successful Attempt on the Chocolate Fondant - from MasterChef Australia

After our lovely breakfast at Bird Cow Fish yesterday, my husband & I visited the NSW State Library to see the annual photography exhibition World Press Photo 2010. A collection of inspiring and breathtaking images taken by amazing photographers from all over the world.

We then head home, spending our lazy Saturday watching the prerecorded MasterChef show that I missed from the previous night. I became alert as soon as Gary said that he will be teaching the contestants on how to make chocolate fondant. After listening to him intently and concluded that this is a pretty easy dessert to make, I started with my very own MasterChallenge.

To be honest, it was very easy to make. The only thing that you have to be mindful of is the timing of the chocolate fondant in the oven. It took me 11-12 minutes for the chocolate fondant to bake perfectly in the oven and achieve a gooey chocolatey sauce inside. It is a very rich dessert and best eaten warm when the outer layer is still spongy and oozing in the middle. Be generous with the Amaretto if you like to have an intense alcohol flavour in your dessert. Also, I was unable to get hold of the Amaretto from the local liquor shop and used Kahlua instead. 

Recipe taken from the MasterChef website

Serves 6

Ingredients

Melted butter, for greasing
Cocoa powder, for greasing
200g dark couverture chocolate
200g butter, chopped
4 eggs
4 egg yolks
100g caster sugar
150g plain flour. sifted
100g butter, extra
100 g cocoa powder

625ml milk
5 egg yolks
40g caster sugar
1 vanilla bean
2 tbs amaretto



Method

Step 1: For the fondant, preheat oven to 180C. Place a small square of paper in the bottom of 6 ramekins and grease with melted butter and cocoa powder. Place ramekin on a baking tray.

Step 2: Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a small saucepan of boiling water, turn off heat. In an electric mixer, add the eggs, egg yolks and sugar and mix on high speed until fluffy and white. Tip chocolate mixture into a large bowl, pour egg mixture into chocolate mixture and fold together. Fold in flour and mix until smooth. Spoon or pour mixture into ramekins and place in fridge until ready to serve. When ready to serve, bake in over for 8-9 minutes.

Step 3: For the milkshake, place 500ml milk in a small saucepan over medium heat. Meanwhile, cream egg yolks and sugar together with a whisk. Split vanilla bean in half, scrape seeds out and add the bean along with the seeds to the milk. Once it comes to the boil, pour half onto the yolk mixture, and then pour the mixture back into the saucepan, whisking constantly. Place over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Continue cooking until the mixture coats the back of a spoon, then strain into a bowl and cool over ice. Pour anglaise into a jug and place in the fridge for about an hour.

Step 4: Add 250ml of the anglaise, remaining milk and amaretto to a large jug. Froth with coffee machine steamer or a hand blender until thick and frothy.

Step 5: To serve, gently run knife along outside of each ramekin and turn fondant out into serving bowls. Spoon amaretto milkshake around the fondant and serve.

Breakfast at Bird Cow Fish

Yesterday was one of those Saturdays that made me realised how grateful I am to be living in Sydney. I started the day by having an unusual yet deliciously unforgettable breakfast at Bird Cow Fish. It is located at Surry Hills, a vibrant suburb that offers unlimited dining experience.

Bird Cow Fish has been awarded One Hat Chef since 2007, it serves modern Australian cuisine and open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A cozy restaurant with wooden floorboards and wooden tables & chairs.

Average service, with the two(2) wait staff mostly chatting to each other or joking around with the barista. They barely say anything to the customers, giving me the impression that they are only there to take orders and serve the food.

Brioche & crumb coated soft boiled egg with spanish onion, rocket, potato, bacon & chorizo $16.50

Service aside, I love the brioche & crumb coated soft boiled egg. The soft boiled egg was cut in half, with the egg yolk still slightly runny and the egg white soft & tender. The crunchy and light brioche crumb added a contrasting texture to the egg. The fresh spanish onion and spicy chorizo brought out the flavour of the whole dish without overpowering the egg.

Croque Madame; double smoked ham, Dijon mustard, Heidi Gruyere & a fried egg $10.50

 Croque Madame, similar to Croque Monsieur but with a fried egg inside or on top. After his lovely encounter with Croque Monsieur at Brasserie Bread beginning of this year, my husband has been on the hunt for it ever since. The Croque Madame didn't have enough gruyere to give it a melting chewy cheese texture and I can only taste a hint of the Dijon mustard. However it was toasted long enough for the bread to be very crunchy and without getting the ham & egg overcooked.

If you happen to visit Eveleigh Farmer's Market, you can get a good selection of Bird Cow Fish's breakfast which includes the Croque Madame. A must buy item is their Bircher Muesli(500gms) for $10.50 if you are a muesli lover like me.

Bird Cow Fish
Shops 4 & 5,
500 Crown Street
Surry Hills
T +61 2 9380 4090

Mini Cupcakes from Cupcakes on Pitt

A couple of weeks ago I decided to take a 'sweet' short walk during my lunch break. What is so dangerously appetizing about working in the city is that I am surrounded by different variety of cake shops. So that afternoon I set my heart on the mini cupcakes from Cupcakes on Pitt. 

 

Cupcakes are one of the most popular sweet treats in the world. They taste pretty ordinary, mostly made either from vanilla or chocolate sponge cake. However, it's the beautiful icing decoration on top that makes people go 'woww'. I am one of them! One who so easily fall for the pretty little cupcakes even though I know how ordinary they taste like. 

My favourites are the passionfruit and lemon meringue flavours. Both are vanilla base which is quite light and not overly sweet. I can taste a hint of passionfruit when I first bite into the passionfruit cupcake. Unfortunately the taste slowly disappears with every single bite.

From left to right: Passionfruit Cupcake, Lemon Meringue Cupcake

I love how the lemon meringue sits nicely on top of the base and melts softly when I put it in my mouth. Not as sour as I was hoping it to be, but overall I still thoroughly enjoy the lemon meringue cupcake. 

Blueberries are always great for making desserts and I had that expectation when I chose the blueberry cupcake. Regrettably, it does not taste like blueberry at all. The only thing that I can taste in the blueberry base and icing is sugar, lots of sugar.

From left to right: Blueberry Cupcake, Passionfruit Cupcake

Lucky last is the cherry ripe cupcake. Rich chocolate base, slightly heavier than the vanilla base, topped with sweet pink icing. Another one of the ordinary taste but pretty looking cupcake that uses cherry ripe chocolate as the finishing touch.

From bottom left to bottom right: Cherry Ripe Cupcake, Blueberry Cupcake, Lemon Meringue Cupcake, Passionfruit Cupcake

These mini cupcakes from Cupcakes on Pitt are great for parties, office hour tea time or whenever you fancy a sugar hit. They cost $2.50 each and are always delicately packed in a secure box. 

Check out their website for flavours, store location and opening hours.