Chez Dre, South Melbourne

Chocolate tart: chocolate ganache, peanut-cocoa nib tuile, 
chocolate mousse. Make sure you do not leave here without 
one of these babies!

I first came to this hidden gem while browsing for a new cafe for delicious cake and coffee.  After reading some online reviews I was hooked.  It is conveniently located near the South Melbourne Market and easily accessible by trams.  I love the decor, sort of revamp of an old industrial building with an open kitchen located in the heart of the restaurant.  There is a small outdoor area which is heated in the cold Melbourne winter - bonus!

One you passed through by the busy diners and hectic kitchen you will arrive at the cake display - oh wow what a selection!  There is a vast range of delightful cakes, petite macaroons and to die-for croissants available.  The first time I came here we shared cakes and quiche and later returned for brunch the second time.  To be honest that the cakes and the quiche were FANTASTIC, BUT...I was disappointed with the brunch food and their specialty hot chocolate (Ganache Chocolate is still the best in my personal opinion).  I suppose I was expecting more from their food with such good cakes available, this is why it is always dangerous to have high expectations...  If you're a fussy brunch eater like me this probably isn't the place for you.  However, I will definitely return for more cake and coffee once in a blue moon. The cakes are delicious but expensive, $8.50 per cake according to their menu online which I believe is an older version and think it was $9.00 when I went last week.  I will just have to add this place to the collection of my "treat list" for special occasions, since it is always so hard to resist delicious Gateaux!

Hazelnut-Praline Crunch: hazelnut dacquoise, gianduja mousse, hazelnut and chocolate crumble.  10/10 for desert.  Crunchy base, smooth creamy 
mouse and was definitely nutty from the hazelnut.
 YUMMY!

Quiche of the day: ham and cheese with salad. 

The pastry was so amazing my mouth waters just 

thinking about it.

Braised Mushroom Ragu: Swiss field and button mushrooms, soft polenta, poached egg & truffle oil.
This dish was delicious but lacked seasoning. I wish there was slightly more acidity to balance out the dish.  Towards the end of the meal it I found it was too rich to finish.

Brioche French Toast: caramelized pecan, vanilla mascarpone & berry compote.  The brioche was excellent and pecan nut were very delicious.  Individually they are fantastic but when you combined them it was sugar overload.  Maybe slightly more salt in the brioche, more acidic berry or more sauce could have helped.

OVERALL

FOOD: Coffee and cakes are delicious, not so convinced by their breakfast menu items.

PRICE: Cakes are expensive and brunch food price is on the high end or pricey.

SERVICE: Services have always been good with tentative and friendly staff members.
ATMOSPHERE: This is definitely a hip brunch place and it is also family friendly and a great place to catch up with friends on a lazy Sunday morning.

Summary:  Coffee and cake is all I need to say!

Cumulus - Flinders Lane, Melbourne CBD

Cumulus is pretty high up there with the clouds and is by far the best find since I moved over to Melbourne, and brunch has gone from great to beyond amazing with Cumulus on a lazy Sat/Sun morning.  Just thinking about this place while writing makes me salivate and cannot wait for another visit!

This place has been jammed packed every time I visited but never had to wait long for a table. I love their decor and open plan-kitchen, there is just something sexy about open-plan kitchen that I cannot put into words. If you come here in small numbers, definitely sit on the bar stool facing the kitchen - so intriguing watching the chefs working away and if you are there when they changeover from breakfast to lunch service, you would be amazed how they transform the kitchen!  

Now about their food, the picture says a thousand words! But I will still talk a little about it. I have to-date sampled many of their delightful creations and I am absolutely head-over-heels in love with their "Grilled Lyonnaise sausage, parsley & shallot salad 65/65 egg". This scrumptious egg and haricot beans dish will hit the spot every time. If you enjoy grapefruit, they do freshly squeezed grapefruit juice here and is a fantastic combo with the grilled Lyonnaise sausage.

The thing that I look forward to the most is their delectable Madeleine with lemon curd. It is made-to-order so always freshly baked from the oven and filled with cooled rich lemony curd, the Madeleine is soft and fluffy and absolutely perfect with a cup of coffee and a fantastic way to finish the brunch.  Make sure you don't leave without sampling one of these babies!

OVERALL

FOOD: Fantastic!

PRICE: The cafe is on the pricey side, but their food is really worth it.

SERVICE: Friendly.

ATMOSPHERE: The open kitchen is fantastic.

Summary:  Great food and service, this place is lazy weekend brunch at its best.

House made crumpets, whipped ricotta & rooftop honey

Selection of fresh fruits and minty yoghurt.

Shakshouka-baked eggs with roasted peppers and shanklish

Toasted honey granola & poached rhubarb with vanilla yoghurt

Laurent Boulangerie Patisserie - Little Collins St

Having cravings all day for that delicious pastry?  Give into temptation and come to Laurent Boulangerie Patisserie.  This place has a wide range selection of delightful pastries to satisfy any taste-buds (sweet and savoury) - though it does come with a price...  This is a place I come for a treat (once in a blue moon) and I just love their Tarts - golden-brown buttery shortbread pastry filled with citrusy passionfruit/lemon curd - oh perfection with a cup of coffee!  I only dined-in once and will probably do it again as I really enjoyed the ambience which reminds me of cafes back in Europe.  One negative note apart from the price tag is I did find their coffee rather average and my friend found their hot chocolate not the best either.  

What I usually do is I grab a take-away of whichever I desired the most on the day, go and get my coffee elsewhere and then find myself a spot on the bench along the Yarra river nearby and soak up some sun.  This is when I take a moment to treat myself and do absolutely nothing other than savouring every last bite of my tart and sip of my coffee, and I hope you can do the same as well :)

Affogato

Now that summer has finally arrived in NZ (sorry for those in the Northern Hemisphere), it is time for my all time favourite Italian desert: Affogato.  It is so simple that it'll be a crime not to go and make it right now! Affogato in Italian means "drowned", basically you just drown the ice cream or gelato with a shot of hot espresso. Some people like to make this with a shot of liqueur like Amaretto or my personal favourite Baileys, and obviously this is the"big kids version". Yes I know what you're thinking, what can go wrong with the combination of ice cream, coffee and liqueur :D

To be honest, I love eating Affogato even on a cold wintery night...while sitting very close to the heater or a fire place of course! I know not everyone has a fire place at home or have the luxury to crank up the heater in the middle of winter to enjoy a tasty late-night treat, but oh boy, this is so worth it!

Fear you may not sleep afterwards, then why not use decaffeinated coffee? It is fun to try out different flavours of ice cream, you may be very surprised by how some weird combinations works like a charm, for example: mint chocolate chips ice cream with espresso - weird huh! But I assure you, if you love mint like I do, this combination is the great union of strong flavours! With this recipe, you never have to slave hours in the kitchen to make a WOW ending for your dinner parties!

Affogato

2 generous scoops of ice cream 1 shot of espresso 1 shot of liqueur (optional)

Place the ice cream in a cup. Add espresso (and liqueur if you choose to). Done! Now eat it before the ice cream melts!

Enjoy :)

Kiwi's Favourite Pavlova

The first Pavalova I have made for 2012, topped with Crème Chantilly
and fresh Strawberries and blueberries.

I thought I would start my blog with my all-time favourite desert - the Pavlova.

Christmas is an occasion most people associate with white snow and freezing cold temperature.  However, here down-under in good old summery New Zealand, it is the occasion where people dust off their BBQ, drink beer and more importantly eat a Pavlova!

Most of you may wonder what is a Pavlova?  "It is a meringue-based desert named after the famous Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavlova_(food).  It is basically a meringue with corn flour and vinegar  added to it.

Many New Zealanders that I have met so far have spent their lives battling to make a Pavlova, however I have been fortunate enough to have acquire a "fool's-proof" recipe from a family friend and never knew of this battle.  The crunchy, caramelised centre is a decadent contrast to the soft sugary marshmallow like centre.  It is best accompanied with citrous fruit (here with strawberries and blueberries in summer) and Crème Chantilly.  In winter I like to top it off with mandarin or defrosted frozen berries.  You wouldn't want to top it off with fruits such as apple and pear because you don't want to take away the already crunchy texture of the Pavlova.  For weight conscious people, this desert is equally indulgent with a fruity yoghurt.

If you never made one before or are one of those amongst many New Zealanders who are still in the Pavlova battle, check out "Wynnie's Pavlova" for my fool-proof recipe.  Check out my recipe page for my collection of recipes with my tips to ensure a satisfying belly Recipes.

Wynnie's Pavlova

This is one of the first deserts I tried in New Zealand made by a family friend Jill Thomas.  Jill got this fool-proof recipe from her belated friend Wynnie and hence named after her.  For the enthusiastic people, I find Step 2 best done by hand whisking.  However if you don't have the time or arm-muscles or just don't like the hassle, electric whisk is perfectly adequate!

3 egg whites 1 1/4 cup of caster sugar (ideally vanilla sugar) 3 tablespoons of water Pinch of salt 3 teaspoon of corn flour 1 teaspoon of white vinegar (actually, any vinegar would do but just not balsamic if you want to make this vanilla Pavlova) 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence Topping 100 mL cream 1 tablespoon of sugar Grated/shaved dark chocolate (for decoration) Seasonal fruit (sliced up) – blueberry, strawberry, mandarins and kiwi fruits work very well.

Preheat oven to 160°C, oven bake.  Line oven tray with baking paper. Whisk egg whites until fine white bubble forms.  Add 3 tablespoon of cold water, 1 spoon at a time. Add sugar slowly from the outside in small amounts until mixed well. Add the remaining ingredients and mixed gently. Pour out onto wax paper to about 15cm in diameter and 5 cm height. Bake for 30-40 min.  Leave in oven to cool. Whip the cream with sugar while waiting baking.  Pour cream on top of the cooled pavlova, spread and decorate with grated/shaved chocolate and fruits.

For Dairy-Free option, leave out the cream.

Tips: use fresh and large eggs!  If you refrigerate your eggs, take your eggs out of the fridge and bring it to room temperature first before whisking, you tend to get a better meringue.  Regarding to cold water, not tap water temperature but chilled water, easiest to add ice cubes.  When I say "whisk until bubble forms", you must be very patient at this stage to ensure the "bubbles" formed are small and fine (you tend to find the egg whites have doubled in volume), but be careful not to over whisk!!!

This is what the final product should look like or similar ^.^