Get your Sweet Potato Doughnuts Here!!!

Due to the change in colder weather and my hungry taste buds for doughnuts, I've created an Asian dessert which you may or may not like...so you come and try it..then tell me what you think hahaha

Baked sweet potato doughnuts filled with custard apple and palm sugar ice cream

It is getting so cold that my container of water and roses were slightly frozen from being left in the fridge.

Come to CODA for your fix! and also see Chef Adam D'Sylva on Masterchef  24th May. So tune in to Channel 10!!

Xx

My sweet tooth journey to Ganache Chocolate, B&P sweet studio, and the American Donut Van

Having hardly any spare time these days, I still manage to satisfy my taste buds by visiting a few sweet stores to get my fix!

Chocolate and hazelnut torte

Very yummy and creamy, Ganache Chocolate makes handmade chocolates and other cakes.. There are 2 stores, one in South Yarra and one in the CBD. Click here to go to there website.

B&P Sweet Studios owned by Darren Purchese and Ian Burch opened their store up during Easter. They make wonderful cakes and are situated at 647 Chapel Street, South Yarra. I couldn't eat them all so my friend Rachel and I chose one cake and one ice cream! There is always time to go back haha

 The Chocolate display in the window

The cake we chose

If it wasn't for Rachel, I would have eaten it all before I took a photo. haha

The yummy to die for ice cream!!!

I felt the garnish sponge on the cake was a little stale. But the mousse was smooth and the mango in the tube was tasty. There was a hint of spice throughout the cake which I personally didn't like too much. But overall I liked it. The ice cream was yummy!!! it was nutty and vanillary, and caramelly..hahahah making up words now..but I want MORE!!!

Every time you go to Queen Vic Market, do you always buy a doughnut or doughnuts from the VAN?? I DO!!! So this time I took a picture. 

There is always a line!!! Thank god it's a fast one! hahaha but it's gone up in price 6 for $6 now..still want them hahaha but not good for my waist line. Also, I wish they would squeeze just a little more jam in it!!

I love my sugar overload...

Xx

"Royal" Dessert

HI EVERYBODY!!

It's been a couple weeks now and I hope everyone had a fabulous Easter break. With CODA closing for 5 days it was refreshing to come back and start afresh!

The talk of the town (or the world) the last couple of  weeks was about the Royal Wedding and I had to get in there with the theme. TACKY I know! But it's fun and just another excuse for a dessert! 

Warm Chocolate cake with butter poached pears, Leatherwood honey ice cream and whisky ganache

Pears are beautiful and cheap to buy at the moment! They are full of flavour and in this dish I just poached them in some melted butter and brown sugar until it softens. The honey is from Tasmania and has a unique flavour on it's own. Tastes very 'Royal' haha and who doesn't love a little whisky in the chocolate ganache... yummy..enough to get my face a little rosy!!

Mother's Day at Coda we were serving...

Pavlova with passion fruit mousse, fresh kiwis, strawberries, roses and Vanilla Persian fairy floss

Just a refreshing dessert with crisp and chewy textures of the meringue, it goes quite well married with passion fruit mousse and fruit which is different from the usual chantilly cream.

 Missing Roy Choi and the girls Natasha, Caroline and Alice from Kogi BBQ, I decided to bring back a little LA loving through flavours.

Raspberry Souffle with persimmon and ginger tea with Lychee sorbet

The tea is garnished with torn mint and roasted pine nuts. Previously, we had blueberries and raspberries with Roy Choi, but I decided raspberry to be the souffle flavour instead.

Little sweet bites are...

Flourless orange cake with orange curd

These little bites are sweet and moist. They are also gluten free!!

Happy belated Mother's Day!!

Xx

Happy Easter!!!

Hi everyone! So, Easter has arrived and the only thing I can think about is CHOCOLATE!!! (In an egg shape perferably, but rabbits have bigger ears therefore more chocolate!!) hehe

So, my sweet special this week is an Easter theme involving chocolate! So, take a look at...

Chocolate parfait with a coconut foam and lemon curd filled egg nestled on kataifi pastry and salted caramel

Kataifi is a thin shredded pastry used by the greeks in savoury and sweet dishes. It is lightly coated in clarified butter then baked until golden brown in the oven. I sprinkle icing sugar to add sweetness to the pastry. The egg shell is actually an egg covered in plastic wrap and dipped in tempered dark chocolate. I also added the chocolate meringue sponge to create a different texture compared to all the others presented on the plate.

This week's souffle is...

Passionfruit souffle with Apricot puree, yoghurt sorbet and isomalt sugar garnish



Pure, simple and tastes awesome!!

Sweet bites this week has changed to Yoyos with lemon scented butter cream and rose flavoured marshmallow.

In case you wanted to know what yoyo's were, it's a butter shortcake that is crumbly in texture.

Enjoy more pictures on behind the scenes at CODA! Above is a nest made of toffee, and with a few minutes to spare I poorly decorated an egg with different coloured sharpies..I think my little nephew Lachlan can do a better job hahaha. And another quick shortbread sketch of the easter bunny! HAVE A GREAT EASTER! EAT LOADS OF CHOCOLATE! AND TAKE CARE!

nap nap time before work!

Ciao ciao now xx

The love of all fruit!!!

Hello everyone!!! I am glad to say this week is the start of my new menu change. A couple weeks of trial and error through planning and the result is good! Tell me what you guys think!

Citrus semifreddo with grapefruit, lime, orange, pomegranates

The Semifreddo is a frozen dessert whipping yolks, citrus juices, sugar and a hint of mandarine liqueur together before folding through the whip cream and the zest. While whipping, the bowl is lightly heated while whisking and the mixture becomes a pale light consistency. The base is a thin layer of biscuit crumbs for a different taste and texture and also helps the semifreddo sit on the plate without directly melting straight away. The dish is garnished with candied lemon zest, micro rocket shoots and a beautiful flower called pineapple sage. They are supplied by Sweet Sunflower whom delivers our organic micro herbs and flowers. The flowers are amazing! You get this HIT of pineapple flavour after biting into the petal, then there is this weet pleasant after taste. REFRESHING!!

White chocolate fondant with poached rhubarb and pear sorbet



Fondant is like a self saucing pudding. It is baked to order at 190C for 8 minutes. The pudding is lightly coated in dessicated coconut to add additional texture to the sponge and gooey centre. The rhubarb brings out the tang in the dish while the freshly churned to order pear sorbet produces the refreshing cool effect in your mouth in contrast to the warm creamy pudding. To garnish, a toffee shard brings out the crunch. YUMMY!!!

Vanilla bean creme brulee with Autumn fruits and shortbread

Creamy vanilla brulee always hits the spot! It goes well with everything or even just on it's own! The persimmon, longans and asian pear refreshes your mouth with every bite. A great end to the night. The shortbread is to compliment the brulee and also...because I wanted to eat it! haha

Apple souffle with fresh grapes salad, vanilla bean ice cream and oat crumble

I was thinking about apple pie at the time of thinking up flavours. Some recipes use sultanas or raisins in their apple mix, but i thought, grapes are in season now, why eat the dried stuff when there are nicer fresh grapes from the markets. So I use seedless red and green grapes for the salad. I guess you can call this deconstructed apple pie flavours in souffle format?

Chocolate Truffles

These truffles are suggestions made by my work colleague Renee. Although when she made them, she had hazelnuts and turkish delights in the centre. These are just creamy ganache truffles with a hint of Frangelico, coated in Dutch cocoa powder.

So I guess...there you have it! I hope I have made you salivate over your keyboard just a little. And as a good night gift, I want to share with you what goes on behind the scenes at CODA sometimes... hehehe xoxo

Good night

Xx

My sister Suzii makes Awesome CAKES!!!!

My sister Susan makes awesome cakes and macarons!! She's done a few cake decorating workshops and gets creative at home baking for friends and family. Here are some of her work...

She makes chocolate cake, white choc mud cake, rainbow (as above), butterscotch... the list goes on!! She also makes cupcakes as well!! Here are a few to wanna make you go ..nhom nhom nhom!!

And then..she also makes a few decorations she's learnt from books..

gelatin flowers

Cute figurines

..and many types of flowers (these are just a few).

She is talented by teaching herself to make macarons which are easy yet hard to conquer first time round, and has done a good job into even creating her own flavours.

Neapolitan Macaron: chocolate shell, strawberry shell with a white chocolate fudge filling

Lamington Macaron: Chocolate shell, dark chocolate ganache and jam filling coated in coconut

Jaffa: orange shell with chocolate filling

Susan's top 10 flavours are Ferrero Rocher, Cookies n cream, Green tea, Dinner mint, Jam Doughnut, Neapolitan, Lamington, Butterscotch, Jaffa and Golden Rough.

However, she does have 26 flavours to choose from and there are 11 more in the making.

So, if you would like to order a special cake or some Macarons, please don't hesitate to email her at suziisdelights@gmail.com

The Deanery!

I visited the Deanery, a restaurant on Bligh Place (off Flinders lane between Queens and Elisabeth St). It was fantastic!!! My friend and I went on a Monday and it wasn't overly busy, however that was a good thing because we had the whole top part to ourselves. The cellar was amazing! It took up the whole back wall behind a glass wall and the space of the whole restaurant was simple and beautiful. We sat at the top of the stairs so we could view diners sitting on the bottom.


The food was beautiful. I couldn't help myself but to share through blogging the savouries as well as the sweets with you guys. I'm salivating thinking about the food as I recall and type this.


We started off with homemade sour dough bread. I stuffed my face with it because I was so hungry and it was so good. However, I did regret eating too much bread because when the charcuterie platter came out, it was massive and Oh so GOOD!!! Also worth the value!

Charcuterie Platter

Starting from the left: Spiced venison terrine with pickled cherries, Warialda Belted Galloway bresaola, Rabbit rillettes with prunes, Jamon Serrano and Organic chicken liver parfait with cornichons.

It was awesome!! I loved every bite but became a bit too full for main course. I always finish food and leave nothing to waste, but that night, I was struggling!

My friend 'Mr Food Buddy' (who usually goes to dinner with me once a month) had the Chargrilled lamb shoulder, cracked wheat, peas, fetta, mint. I had the Duck pie, preserved mushrooms and sweet onion puree. We shared slow roasted carrots with parmesan cream and green beans with almonds. It was delicious, and I struggled big time trying to finish it all. The duck pie was very rich, but was cut down by the mushroom which were tangy. The lamb was so soft and everything had a balance. I literally had to go lie down on the floor because I had to straighten my stomach. I just couldn't sit there anymore, I had to get the food down ready for DESSERTS!!!!! So, after half an hour, we ordered....

Steamed lemon curd pudding

The egg shell had more lemon curd to pour on top of the pudding and it was also served with a quenelle of cream. To die for if you love tangy!!

Donelle one of the owners was so kind and gave us an extra treat which was the..

Strawberry and tomato salad with granita

The tomato was surprisingly lovely. It was peeled and soft poached in sugar syrup. It went really well with the strawberry and granite. A beautiful and refreshing end to the meal.

Thank you Donelle for such a lovely evening!!! Sorry I made the Deanery my home, got a little too comfortable and lied down on the floor. OOps. But I can't wait to come back with a few more friends to eat the charcuterie platter again and try other items on the menu!

Please visit http://www.thedeanery.com.au/ for more information and a look at their simple but delicious menu!!

Night Xx