Bourke Street Bakery, Surry Hills

Just as people have certain dishes they consider as "comfort food", I view Bourke Street Bakery as my very own security blanket, and a home away from home, if it isn't too presumptuous to say so.

At times, I would purposefully get off the bus a few stops earlier, just so I can walk past the bakery on my way to wherever it is I am going. Sometimes I would go in and grab a few things for lunch or a snack. On the rare occasions that I am actually not hungry, I am content to simply admire the window display of gigantic sourdough loaves, raisin snails, and (my personal favourite) the pain au chocolat.

The said pain au chocolat.

My friend Pumpkin Pie, a self-confessed Bourke Street Bakery aficionado, gave a somewhat embarrassed recount of the time she and her mother polished off half a loaf of sourdough, just the bread on its own, at lightning speed while sitting inside their car. I countered her story with one of my very own: myself and another friend, each clutching an armful of brown paper bags filled with baked goods sweet and savoury, stumbling over to the park across the street and wolfing down half of our purchases before our brain could even process what it was we were eating. And when it did start to process, the scent, sight and atmosphere of the moment only served to stimulate our appetites further, and we finished everything off at a more leisurely pace, agreeing at the end that this was one of the best eating experiences we have shared.

Toby the dog, who left the side of his master to watch us eat. This was his expression throughout the length of our meal, and would return to his face each time he was done devouring whatever we gave him from our bounty.

Amongst our purchases were two sausage rolls, a variety of sweet tarts and a pain au chocolat to have then and there, as well as a few loaves of various sourdough to take home (or just in case we were still hungry afterwards).

We started with the savoury: the sausage rolls.

Pork & fennel sausage roll

The pastry of the pork & fennel sausage roll was very, very buttery and flaky, as evidenced by the state of my shirt afterwards, but did not taste greasy at all - a true indication of the freshness of the ingredients used and the rapid turnover of goods at the bakery. The pork and fennel filling was juicy, aromatic and very well seasoned. I can say with certainty that this was the best sausage roll I've tasted up to that point in time.

Inside the pork & fennel sausage roll. Look at the beautiful colours of the pastry and filling.



The lamb, almond & harrisa sausage roll was similarly fresh, flaky and delectable. A sprinkle of what looked to be poppyseeds on top gave this a distinctly gourmet look. It tasted gourmet too! ;D

Lamb, almond & harrisa sausage roll.

The insides of the lamb, almond & harrisa sausage roll.

The sausage rolls were quite substantial in size, but we had just completed a long run and still had more than sufficient stomach space to accommodate desserts. So, without the slightest reprieve, we moved onto the sweets!

Ginger brulee tart

There's certainly no skimping on the ginger in the ginger brulee tart. The caramelized top tasted of deeply burnt sugar and ginger (a good thing!) and the custard underneath was smooth, wonderfully chilled, and held echoes of the gingery flavour.

Chocolate tart

The chocolate tart reminded me of a Twix chocolate bar. I maintain that Bourke Street Bakery has the best sweet tart crust (the recipe for which, if I recall correctly, may be found in the bakery's cookbook). It's not crumbly like shortbread, but very brittle, like a freshly made cannoli shell or the casing of a brandy snap. And tastes best when chilled, I reckon.

 Passion fruit meringue tart

The passion fruit meringue tart was definitely the stunner out of all the tarts in appearance. Perfect balance between the acidity of the passion fruit curd, and fluffy sweetness of the meringue.

Chocolate mousse and raspberry tart

The mousse component of the chocolate mousse and raspberry tart was very chocolatey, but not too sweet. The raspberry part was quite sour. They paired very well together.

Lemon curd tart

On the brink of a sugar coma, it was a good thing this lemon curd tart lived up to its name. The curd is indeed very sour and lemon-y, and may not necessarily be everyone's cuppa tea, but if you like a bit of bite to your desserts, do try this!

Oho, if we haven't scared you off yet with our gluttony, you should know that somehow, we managed to fit in a chocolate croissant as well!

Surely I am not the only one who sees a cute little piggy snout in this?!

And that was the end of our feast, I promise :D

Bourke Street Bakery

633 Bourke Street, Surry Hills.

Phone: (02) 9699 1011

Website: http://www.bourkestreetbakery.com.au/

Opening Hours

Monday to Friday: 7am - 6pm

Saturday & Sunday: 8am - 5pm

The Tea Cosy, The Rocks

Scones, despite their haggard appearance, always makes me think of ladies in fascinators taking their tea on some English hillside. Although, I doubt real ladies eat scones the way I do - crumbs a-flyin', clotted cream behind one ear (???how did it end up there???) and jam stains down the front of my dress. Good thing I wasn't enjoying these scones with other real ladies (sorry, guys). Nah, it was just me and two of my oldest and bestest friends, popping into this little gem on a cafe (previously Tara Tea Room; now known as The Tea Cosy) on one fine, Saturday morning.

Haha, you can see the edge of my polka dot dress; my one concession to being lady-like!

My attire for the day - definitely a case of "WHAT was I thinking?!" It's okay, you're allowed to laugh; I sure did when I saw the picture. I look like I'm posing for a royal portrait! xD

Prior to immersing myself in the foodie culture, I've only ever tried scones from Bakers Delight. Not that they were bad or anything. In fact, I'm rather addicted to BD's berry and white choc, and choc mud scones. I've just never had a properly made English scone before, fresh from the oven and all fluffy and piping hot. Eager to satisfy my curiosity once and for all, I ordered the "deluxe" tea set, which came with two scones (any flavour of our choosing), clotted cream, Hank's Jam, and "bottomless drinks" (whatever and as many drinks as you want).

[Note: from looking at The Tea Cosy's website just now, it seems that the the "deluxe" tea set is no longer offered and has been replaced by other sets.]

I chose a raisin scone, a date scone, and strawberry jam.

Woah, carb overload! Being mindful that we were heading to Sweet Infinity Bakery next as a part of our own little food tour, I had half of each scone, but went big on the clotted cream and strawberry jam. In fact, each mouthful was more topping than the scone itself...just the way I like it! ;P

For my first drink, I ordered a diet coke. It was quite hot that day, I remember.

We stayed at the tea room for a pretty long time, and a second drink became necessary - an iced coffee!

Urgh, I felt so sick after taking a few sips. Nothing to do with the drink itself; my own fault for being greedy!

My friends both ordered the normal scone sets, which comes with two scones, double cream, normal (not Hank's) jam, and one beverage of choice.

Cute tea-cozy:

The scones were warm and fluffy, and with plenty of clotted cream and jam piled on top...delish!


The Tea Cosy (formerly Tara Tea Room)

33 George Street, The Rocks, Sydney.

Phone: (02) 9247 4955

Website: www.irishdesign.com.au/g/4145/the-tea-cosy---tea-rom.html

Opening hours

Fridays: 10am - 4pm
Saturday and Sunday: 10am - 5pm.

Hello Happy, Strathfield

The uni course I'm currently doing is structured differently to most degrees, so we end up having weird, random "holidays" while all my friends (who study different things, or are at different unis) are in the midst of preparing for their mid-sem exams. One MAJOR consequence of this is that I don't have anyone to hang out with. Not that that ought to be an issue, since these holidays aren't meant to be real holidays anyway. (Can you sense my bitterness?) I've written about it before, but I have some HUGE exams coming up at the end of this year, and as far as I know, the more studious amongst us are spending these holidays with their heads burrowed in their textbooks. I should be doing the same, but each time I sit down to do anything uni-related, I always get distracted by something on the internet. And, most of the time, it's food-related. *sigh*

Choco mousse dome

Case in point - two weeks ago, I was locked in the throes of some intense preparation for my end-of-course exam. My day consisted of getting up at 6am in the morning, shovelling down breakfast (I'm one of those weird people who wake up starving), and then plonking myself down in front of my computer for the next 12 hours in a desperate attempt to cram as much knowledge as possible into my tiny brain. I know you're probably thinking, "Wow, that's some dedication you had going on!" Yeah, I wish. You see, I'd plonk myself in front of my laptop with full intentions of spending the next 12 hours studying, where as in actual fact I'd get distracted within the hour and end up stalking people on Facebook. Or reading food blogs. Or running down to the local Hello Happy bakery for "brain food" while my family is out (since my mother disapproves of my love affair with pastries. Please don't tell on me.)

New York Cheesecake

On this occasion, I purchased the choco mousse dome and a slice of the New York cheesecake. I can't remember the exact price of each, but their cakes average around $3.80 - $5.00 per serving. More expensive than the ones from Chinese/Vietnamese bakeries, but cheaper compared to the European-style ones. Quite reasonable, I suppose. The choco mousse dome was everything I hoped for - creamy, light as a cloud, sweet and chocolatey.

Cross-section of the mousse dome. Excuse the mess on my desk.

The cheesecake, on the other hand, was a major letdown, tasting very dry and crumbly from being overbaked. I was in the mood for cheesecake on that day, but if I'd been so inclined to purchase anything from bakery, I most certainly would have gone for the almond croissant. Which I don't have a picture of, but trust me when I say that it is THE BEST ALMOND CROISSANT I've ever tasted. The flaky pastry absolutely shatters when you bite into it, and the almond filling is so wonderfully creamy and nutty...must get another one sometime soon, just so I'll have pictures for this blog ;P

Mid-Autumn Festival in Spring...with home-made Moon Cakes to celebrate!

Such is the nature of living in the Antipodes; you never end up celebrating traditional Chinese festivals in the season they were named for. Mid-Autumn in Spring, the Spring Festival in Summer (although, that's more of a Lunar calendar thing)...oh well, it's the thought that counts. And the food!

The moon cake has been called the "Christmas fruitcake of China", forever being regifted and recirculated because people feel obligated to give them, but no one actually likes eating it. I don't know what they heck they're talking about, because I love, love, LOVE mooncakes. Boxes of luxury lotus seed moon cakes are given to us by relatives and friends as fast as we are polishing them off.  If it wasn't for the health concerns associated with eating moon cakes to excess (800 calories per moon cake!!!), I would capitalise on their ubiquity around this time of year, and eat them 24/7.

As it is, I try and limit myself to no more than a quarter of a mooncake per day. It's harder than it sounds, and there is alway that acute sense of disappointment with the last bite. *sigh*. I have full intentions of letting myself go completely once I reach 60 years of age, and eating as much moon cake as I want. I'm sure my aged pancreas would be ecstatic afterward.

Nothing impresses my family more than when I try to recreate a traditional dish/dessert in my very own kitchen. I stumbled upon a beautiful moon cake mould at a knives shop in Burwood, and handed over $38 for it with only a slight wince. Of course they're a lot cheaper in China (thank you, Grandmother, for repeatedly pointing that out to me), but it's not like I can just snap my fingers and and go shopping in Beijing. After some research, I decided on the recipe for the moon cake skin given by Florence at Do What I Like. The filling presented more of a problem since the canned lotus seed paste I acquired from a local Asian grocery store was very runny and insipid in flavour, and tasted nothing like the rich, nutty lotus paste in professionally-made moon cakes. I remedied that by mixing in some peanut oil and honey, and then drying the whole thing over a stove, until I got a thick paste with an almost dough-like consistency. And then it was a simple case of wrapping the dough over the filling, plopping it into the floured mould, and then banging the living daylights out of it over a counter to remove the now perfectly formed moon cake.

I decided to make another batch earlier this week, except this time...they were porcine-shaped!

Oink oink!



Recipe for Baked Mooncake with lotus seed paste filling

Adapted from Do What I Like

Ingredients (makes many small ones, or a few large ones ;P)

For the skin pastry dough:

500g all-purpose/plain flour
150g peanut oil
325g golden syrup
2.5 teaspoons lye water (available from Asian groceries)


For the filling:

2 cans of lotus seed paste, around 1150g in total
150ml peanut oil
2 tablespoons honey


For the egg wash:

1 egg yolk + 1 tsp water, lightly beaten and strained.



Method

To make the filling:

1. Combine everything, and mix until well incorporated. Heat over medium flame, stirring constantly, until a thick dough-like paste forms.

2. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Place in fridge once cooled for 1 hour.


To make the pastry:

1. Combine peanut oil, golden syrup and lye water in a small bowl and heat over a pot of boiling water until everyting is combined. Allow to cool slightly (but not cold) and add to the flour. Mix into a dough, and set aside for 1 hour.


To make the mooncake:

Please refer to Florence's blog post :D