Gilmore Girls is a contributing factor to my love of waffles

Melbourne, from a food-lover's point of view - Part 4

This post concludes my Australian food experience. It was an interesting 5 days spent in the city of Melbourne and I hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as I enjoyed posting it. :)

Brunetti

Brunetti was a cafe recommended by a close friend who now studies in Melbourne University. Situated under the Westin hotel on Swanston St and next to St. Paul's Cathedral, the place looked pretty fancy from outside. It had a distinct European charm with red awnings and quaint outdoor seating. The cakes and pastries inside were also European.

Various pastries displayed inside the cafe

Cakes and tarts

I went here on my first day in Melbourne and wasn't feeling too hungry for rich cakes (weird, I know). Instead my brother and I hopped over to Krispy Kremes across the road. It didn't stop me from tasting what my parents had ordered though. One of which was an uber-rich rum bar, which was literally, cake soaked in rum. The liquor was incredibly strong which made the cake soggy. Of course the adults loved it while I chomped on a chocolate glazed doughnut.

Choco Churro Spanish Doughnuts

I was on my way to Degraves St when this place caught my eye. Next to Coles supermarket on Flinders St, I knew I had to return there one day to try out their churros. I never knew churros could be savoury, coated in chocolate, or filled with custard.

On my last day in Melbourne, I shared a dark chocolate coated churro with caramel filling. The doughnut was hard and eaten together with the chocolate and caramel, was pretty sweet. The caramel was addictive though and if I could, I would have sucked it all out of the churro and left the rest.

For some reason the churros in Melbourne taste different from the ones I'm used to in Singapore. First of all, they're not hanging in long sticks and coated in cinnamon. Also, the texture differs greatly. The ones in Singapore were soft with a strong cinnamon sugar flavour. The ones I tried in Melbourne were hard and chewy and rolled in powdered sugar. I'm not familiar with Spanish doughnuts, so are there different kinds of churros? Which ones of these are actually authentic Spanish doughnuts? Perhaps a bit more travelling (and eating) would figure this one out.

Melbourne, from a food-lover's point of view - Part 3

Max Brenner's Chocolate Bar

Max Brenner was another place that I would have loved to re-visit in Melbourne. I heard that this chocolate shop is frequented by "young people" and it is easy to see why. Their chocolate is to die for. But their selections (and prices) may scare off those who are not fond of all things sweet. Being a chocolate addict, it was imperative I try their chocolate products, and I got the chance one night after dinner at Melbourne's Queen Victoria building.

Store counter and menu

Max Brenner also sells other chocolate products

Their fondue was $16.50 and came with dark and milk chocolate to be dipped with strawberries, bananas, marshmallows and banana bread. As you can imagine, it was absolutely delicious! The best combination was the bananas with dark chocolate. I thought it may have been even better if white chocolate was in the mix, since my first fondue experience was with melted white chocolate and diced pears. Aside from this, there is really little to complain about the simple joy of dunking little treats into creamy chocolate.

I also sampled their baked goodies, each costing $13.50, which is relatively expensive considering their small size. The white chocolate dome with mango glaze and raspberry filling tasted a little strange for me. It had the consistency of panna cotta with a seaweed-like aftertaste. The white chocolate flavour was faint, which was disappointing as white chocolate is my favourite type of chocolate.

However, the chocolate souffle, which was recommended by the salesgirl, was divine. I had asked for something that wasn't so sweet, and this definitely delivered. It was nicely heated up and the melted chocolate filling was unexpected but totally pleasant. Having tasted souffles my dad has made, I always thought souffles were light and fluffy like sponge cakes. These souffles were more like mud cakes or fudge brownies, but not as dense and way yummier. Just thinking about its richness and gooey chocolate filling makes my mouth water...

Max Brenner's selection of chocolates

Max Brenner was a very pleasant experience. Some people have said Koko Black is a better chocolatier but I don't see how anything can get better than this. It is no surprise that Max Brenner has opened up stores worldwide. I can now relive this wonderful experience in their branch in Singapore when I visit at the end of the year. Now if only they cross the ditch and sold their chocolate creations here in New Zealand!

Melbourne, from a food-lover's point of view - Part 2

International Cakes

Our hotel in Melbourne was right smack in the CBD which allowed us to explore the city by foot. I came across this cake shop on Lonsdale St. Unless you stare at the ground whilst walking, there is no way you'll miss this place. Called International Cakes, the entire shop window is a display of an assortment of exotic cakes and many more inside the store.

I found that most of the cakes weren't "international" per se. Unless you happened to be very experienced in European pastries, you would have no clue as to what each cake was. The weirdest cake they had was a 100% grape juice roll. We were a bit too conservative to give that a try, but we did taste their other exotic cakes.

Cannoli

Samali

Pistachio baklava

Verdict? The cakes were by far, the sweetest cakes I've ever tasted. Luckily I had shared them with others because I wouldn't have been able to consume one slice by myself. It was as if the cakes were drenched with syrup then doused with lashings of treacle. And I thought the cupcakes Nat and I made were sweet!

Chocolate theme for those late late nights

What happens late at night when you're hungry and you're looking for that satisfying munch of crumbly sweetness that melts all too quickly with the lingering taste of cocoa?

Nothing like playing cupcake scrabble!

A lovely friend of mine made these for me and desserts really can literally scream (or spell) your name

The answer to the above question, if it isn't any more obvious already, is, late tea!

The above has white chocolate glaze hardened to a shiny shell. Oh, the secret to chocolate glazes which I'm sure you already know is the microwave. Quick and easy. No double-boiling, no boiling, no steaming, no adding oil (yes, yes all these were suggested to me by friends). The worst was adding oil, it turned out watery! And double-boiling simply burnt the chocolate.

Now here comes the real story - who needs chocolate glazes when you can have wholesome chocolate cake? In 10 minutes? In a mug like tea? Hence the late tea name. Too good to be true? Well, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

It's simple, really...

Microwave Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

• 5 tablespoons flour
• 4 tablespoons cocoa
• 6 tablespoons sugar (original recipe called for 4! But then again, the original recipe said 5 minutes, whereas I took more time to sift the flour and all)
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 3 tablespoons cooking oil
• Chopped real chocolate for a more chocolatey punch (I used a half eaten bar of Whittaker's dark bittersweet)
• A dash of cinnamon and chilli (just 'cos I love those two spices)

Method:

1. Sift the dry ingredients and mix them up with the wet ones in a large mug.
2. Grate the chocolate and add the spices into the mixture.
3. Microwave for 3 minutes, and you're done!

Print-friendly recipe here.

Your emergency late night fix for when you're salivating and hallucinating about desserts calling your name.