Kiss Me Cake

I know Sonja, the owner of Kiss Me Cake, through our mutual friend Peggy Porschen. We both worked with Peggy in London (at different times though) but we had to move to the other side of the globe to get to know each other. She also worked for Konditorei and Cook in London as cake decorator and it's there where she decided to specialise in this trade.
Coming to Sydney she worked for the French cafe and patisserie "La Renaissance" in the Rocks and "Sweet Art" in Paddington.
However, it has always been a dream of hers to open her own shop and Sydney seemed to be the right place at the right time and so she started "Kiss Me Cake" in 2006.

The bakery.

Getting the order ready.

Square cupcakes - bestseller at Kiss Me Cake.

Off to the decorating corner...

Yum!

Rolling the fondant.

The Grounds in Sydney

There is something new and very hip right now in Alexandria - The Grounds!  It's a cafe, but actually a little more than that. It's a coffee roaster (of course) as well as nursery, or is it just a garden. There's a not so hidden Secret Bar and it seems soon a stone pizza oven in the garden.

We only had toast and jam but from looking around at others people's orders everything edible comes served on a chunky wooden board. The lemonade arrived in a mason jar with handle (very trendy at weddings too) and the lights hanging from the beams are also masons jars. The sun was shining and after a few days of heavy rain it was the perfect day to hang out at The Grounds and enjoy a nice coffee and fresh sourdough toast.

Ragamuffin in Leichhardt

There is a fairly new cafe in Leichhardt where you can not only get a damn good coffee from a lever and piston espresso machine but also gluten free muffins, they have a different flavour each week.
Ragamuffin on Norton Street, check it out.
Couldn't help but hear Gentlemen music in my ears...

Jesse knows how to make good coffee.

Danii, owner and chef.

Haylea and Jesse, always a smile for their customers.

Bar Sport in Leichhardt

Every morning on my way to work I would drive pass Bar Sport and see all the men sitting outside having a catch up over coffee and maybe a piccolo sandwich. Sometimes when the times allows I get a coffee there and feel right in Italy somewhere. Although I am sure you'll still be able to get a latte after eleven o'clock here.

Staying true to its name it all about sport, soccer in particular, in this cosy Italian cafe with the morning sun. Still looking for a spot to watch the World Cup on the big screen? They are open for most of the games not only when Italy plays, even at the wee hours!

Rosie and Joe have run this cafe for 11 years and a lot of regulars. The coffee is fantastic but that goes without saying in Sydney. Need some lunch, grab a panini or if you're just feeling a little peckish there are lots of Italian treats on offer.
The music I had in my ears at the cafe was Paolo Conte, listen to it here on spotify.

Meet the owners: Rosie and Joe.

There is always time for chat.

Have a treat with your drink.

Italian sweets.

Such a nice atmosphere and good coffee.

It's all happening on Norton Street.

Brown's Siding Cafe in the Blue Mountains

The last days of Autumn are coming to an end and I can feel the winter fast approaching. The mornings are way cooler than normal and it gets really cold inside the house. It's time to get the heater out. Mind you the sun is still lovely and temperatures still reach 23 degrees C. The leaves are so beautiful right now and this is the perfect time for the Blue Mountains which despite their name can be quite golden and red in Autumn. We stopped at a cafe, the Brown's Siding, for some delightful lunch and coffee.

Isn't nature just wonderful?!

Bread and butter pudding vs crumble- a tough decision.

Old baking moulds adorn the walls.

Twice baked goats cheese with roasted walnut, celery and balsamic dressing. Delicious!

Nursery Cafe in Dural

Oh so colourful.

Flower Power Lady with trendy ankle boots.

Eyeing off..

Aristocrats and ants - companions for a nursery rhyme?

Old crates to carry the pickles and jams...

Homemade Jam and honey from busy local bees.

Reuben Hills cafe in Surry Hills

Admittedly it took me so long to write this blog post that the cafe I am talking about Reuben Hills is not really the new cafe on the block any more (at least not by Surry Hills standards).
Nevertheless it's sill worth mentioning. It's so effortless trendy and cool as you would expect a haunt like this in Surry Hills.

Its menu has a Central American take, offering Baleada – a Honduran tortilla, empanadas and ceviche while also venturing North for its namesake, Reuben sandwich. If you like sweet and salty, order a ‘Dogg’s breakfast’ an ice-cream sandwich with salted caramel. The shakes sound very interesting too: salted caramel, black sesame, and espresso with wattle seed.

It's quite a narrow space showing off a sleek and clean design. Natural light comes in from the front entrance as well as the rolled-up roller door at the rear (Melbourne style). A semi-circular cutaway in the ceiling reveals the upper level which houses the roastery and cupping workshops for coffee nerds.

My friend actually thought it was a waste of beautiful space that should belong to the customers too.

Surry Hills neighbourhood.

Reuben Hills Cafe.

This is it!

Are marshmallows the new cupcakes?

I came across an interesting article recently. Daily Mail online forecasts a new sweet trend on the horizon: New York artisan bakers have taken on the marshmallow to dress them up and make them more appealing for us grown-ups. I suppose nearly every child likes marshmallow and doesn't mind so much the bought dry stuff as long as they are pink (well, that at least applies to my daughter:-).

I had my first yummy marshmallow a couple of years ago when I was at the Yellow Cafe in Potts Point, Sydney. Homemade and fresh they are beautifully soft and sweet. The Yellow Cafe had a few different flavours but I was cautious and only tried the coconut marshmallow with toasted fresh coconut flakes. They were superb! I then made passion fruit marshmallows and since then I am hooked - but they really have to be fresh. Honestly, forget the packaged ones.

I now make them from time to time as they are not so hard to make and also very versatile (not very healthy though), you can mix almost any flavour in you can think of. What you do need is a sugar thermometer because you have to make a sugar syrup and get this to the right temperature.

I can understand why bakeries in New York have chosen the humble marshmallow to be the next big thing on the sweet sky. It's versatile and the creations I have seen look very far away from the dry and rubbery marshmallow you'll find at supermarkets.

Here is a collection of Marshmallow aficionados and their creations:

Marshmallow mug toppers by Plush Puffs.

Beautifully wrapped marshmallows by Fusion Sweets.

 

Watermelon marshmallows by Mia Mallows.

Beautiful old Millthorpe

Millthorpe is only a few kilometers away from Orange and such a peaceful place. We got there early in the morning and had a little walk around, it was very quiet. At the end of the main road are two antiques shops and especially the Old Wares shop was right up my alley. I could have spent much more time in there, looking for props and would have liked to have a big truck. I think I have to go back soon.
After prop hunting we went to the Old Mill Cafe for breakfast and I had a beautiful frittata which came in its own little skillet, very cute and tasty.

Sleepy Millthorpe

Old Wares shop in Millthorpe

The Old Mill Cafe in Millthorpe

Waiheke Island / New Zealand

If you ever going to do one thing while on New Zealand's North island you have to visit Waiheke Island. Waiheke is famous for its wine, olives and art and marketing talk aside a very beautiful island only a short ferry ride away from Auckland. It definitely helps to have a car there as the island is quite large and the vineyards are scattered all over Waiheke.  

Te Whau vineyard and restaurant won "Auckland's Best Rural Restaurant" in 2008/09/10 and I am sure they up for 2011 as well. The food is outstanding and so is the wine, not to mention the view.
You can actually see Auckland from that tip of the island but you'll probably don't care as you are too busy enjoying the food and getting a bit tipsy drinking all that wonderful wine from the island's own vineyards.

Head chef Marco and one of the beautiful dishes we enjoyed for lunch at Te Whau Vineyard on Waiheke - snapper with dukkah crust, zucchini salad and tomato jus.

More delicious food: Goat's cheese and wild mushroom tart with beetroot relish; beef medallion with semi-dried tomatoes in jus.

There should always be room for dessert: sticky date pudding with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream; cheese platter with blue cheese, washed rind and goat's cheese brie accompanied by home-made lavosh, apricot thyme compote and cherry relish - to die for!

Lunch and wine tasting at Wild On Waiheke - cafe, vineyard and brewery.

Really good coffee in the morning at Spice Cafe in Oneroa.