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Handshaken Lamington Milkshake – Lady Bower

Australia, Melbourne, Reviews May 9, 2013 Comments: 27

I recently heard from someone that everyday 5 new cafes open in Melbourne. It’s quite an alarming figure, but I definitely believe this to be true. There are seriously so many cafes it’s practically impossible to keep up, even if you treated it as a full time job, you would need to go to at least 3 to 5 cafes a day to go through them all! The cafes don’t only open up in Melbourne CBD, there are also those cute hipster cafes in further out suburbs. Lady Bower is definitely one of these hidden cafes, Mr Bao had to be somewhere in Reservoir and asked me to go with him.

It was an early Sunday morning, I wasn’t going to just go to Reservoir with him and wait…so I did some research and found Lady Bower a café. I realised Byran (Fat Boo) had blogged about it before and enjoyed the dishes. Our car pulled up in front of the café at around 9:30am and I was surprised to see such a large venue, which spans over 2 to 3 stores.

Cake display

Walking towards the café, the waitress eagerly opens the door for us, I was immediately attracted to the glass cabinet where they display their cakes. You could tell instantly that they were homemade which is great!

Mocha $4

My mocha was a good temperature but tasted more like a hot chocolate than a mocha and would have been better if it had more coffee to balance it out.

Latte $3.5

Mr Bao got a latte with the house blend from 5 Senses and described it as quite buttery with low acidity and floral notes. He ordered another one after the meal and asked for a strong latte but found that one too be to strong and sour.

Breakfast of Champions $18

Mr Bao found the menu to be more ‘vegetarian-friendly’ so he immediately said he’s getting the Breakfast of Champions which was Lady Bower’s version of the big breakfast. It has the usual bacon, beans, mushrooms but then what surprised me were the meatballs! I didn’t think we were going to have meatballs for breakfast again anytime soon The meatballs were delish! Homemade, full of flavour and wonderfully light. The thick cut bacon was also Mr Bao’s favourite, I think it’s a trend because many cafes are now serving their bacon super thick ~ Unfortunately, the poached eggs were a little overcooked and the yolk wasn’t rushing out as I expected.

I chose the smashed avocado with a dollop of sour cream and chilli oil on the side topped with a poached egg. Once again my poached egg wasn’t as runny as I would have liked, but nothing beats the silky and buttery goodness of the smashed avocado and the sour cream just made it even more indulgent ~ Mr Bao did like the chilli oil and found it too spicy but I loved it, and think it’s a great idea and definitely taking this idea home with me

Smashed avocado with sour cream, chilli oil and poached eggs $13.5

I thought I had misread the specials menu when I saw a handshaken lamington milkshake. I asked the waitress and she said ‘yup it’s a lamington flavoured milkshake’, I couldn’t resist and immediately ordered it. It surprised me when she came over with a large glass jar, but then it made sense to me because it’s handshaken they must have shook it in the jar ~ Very clever! They did a great job getting the lamington flavour spot on! It had the chocolate base, with a slight tanginess from what I assume to be strawberry jam and also desiccated coconut YUM! Highly recommend you trying this!

Handshaken Lamington milkshake $4.5

To finish up Mr Bao and I shared the pear and chocolate ganache cupcake, the cake itself was deliciously moist and light, while the chocolate ganache was sweet and rich. Only complain would be the amount of ganache and the tiny piece of pear, with a thicker layer of ganache it would have been perfect

Pear and chocolate ganache cupcake $3.5

We were definitely impressed with this little cafe in Reservoir and even though its out of our way, I definitely recommend it for locals in the area and I’m coming back just for the lamington milkshake!

An Extra Day – 8 Days Cafe

Australia, Melbourne, Reviews May 4, 2013 Comments: 28

Dearest Readers, have you ever thought, how nice it would be for us to have 8 days instead of 7 in a week. We would work 5 days, have the weekends to spend with family and friends and on the 8th day…it’s for ourselves…we can do whatever we want – sleep, eat and rest! I am forever complaining that I need more time in a day, I simply don’t have time to do everything that I want and need to >_< Mr Bao and my friends are always telling me, I need to slow down but some how I can never just sit and home and do nothing.

8 Days Cafe

Pushing my wishful thinking aside, we may not have 8 days in a week but we can go the 8 days cafe in Armadale for brunch and try to pretend that its the 8th day and we have it all to ourselves I was super lucky and was invited by BBFF Shellie and 8 days cafe to try out their brunch menu last week on Anzac day. I’ve driven past before but haven’t had the chance to try and since Ms I-Hua did a post, I knew it was going to be great ~

Mocha $3.5

We were given a small table in the corner, which was nice and quiet and thankfully had good lighting I started off with my regular mocha to be slightly watery but nonetheless warmed me up and made my tummy grumble as it was getting hungry.

Smashed avocado & Persian fetta on 6 grain w/smoked bacon & poached eggs $18

First up was the smashed avocado with Persian fetta with smoked bacon and poached eggs on a thick slice of bread. I’m a fan of avocado and fetta, but this Persian fetta was amazing it was very smooth and not at all crumbly. Would love to know which brand they use so I can buy some myself ~ The bacon had a slight smokiness to it which made it even better. This was probably my favourite dish

Toasted Glicks bagel w/smoked salmon,spinach, avocado, poached eggs & chilli lime hollandaise $18

Another avocado dish, this time it was a bagel with smoked salmon, spinach, avocado poached eggs finished with some chilli lime hollandaise sauce. They use Glicks bagels here which in my opinion is probably one of the best bagels you can get in Melbourne, it has all that perfect chewy but soft texture. I also liked the chilli lime hollandaise which really helped cut through some of the richness from regular hollandaise.

Baked eggs w/ Tuscan bean cassoulét ,salsicchia & petite rocket salad $16

Next up was the baked eggs with Tuscan beans, salssichia which I found out was an Italian sausage and rocket on scattered on top. It was a very large serving! I don’t think I could have even been able to finish half if I was by myself, glad that we shared it between 4 of us I loved the spiciness from the salsicchia and sauce and the beans were nice and tender.

Avocado & Persian fetta on sourdough w/ chilli, basil & minted broadbean dressing $17

We then got another avocado and Persian fetta dish but this one was vegetarian dish with a chilli, basil and minted broadbean dressing. This is super healthy and probably a good choice after a big night out and you really need a cleanse the next day. But probably a bit too healthy for me

Croissant French Toast with poached pears, candied pistachios, Crème fraîche and maple syrup $16

Now I’ve had different types of French Toast using a variety of breads, but never have I had one made from croissants. But it’s actually a genius idea because the texture of the croissant makes a great sponge and soaks up the eggy mixture. It’s then topped with wonderfully poached pears, candied pistachios and a dollop of Crème fraîche. My only complaint would be it needed a little more maple syrup ~

Spanish omelette with potato, piquillo pepers, onions, sauce ramesco, jamon and rocket salad $17

When I first saw this, I thought this was a pizza, but in turned out to be a Spanish omelette with potato, peppers and onion filling topped with jamon and rocket. I really liked the texture of the omelette which was rather light and kind of souffle like ~

Wagyu beef burger, brioche bun, gruyere cheese,smoked bacon,tomato relish & sliced pickles w/fat chips, crisp baby cos,tomato & aioli $21

Just when I thought the food has stopped coming, the waitress brings over a mini Wagyu beef burger with cheese, bacon, tomato and chips served with tomato sauce and aioli. I’m so glad that there were 8 of us sharing this burger. Jo (Second Helping) did a great job and was able to divide this burger into 8 perfect bite size for use to try! Thank you I really liked the Wagyu beef pattie and thought it was very flavoursome and nothing beats melted cheese on top.

Cherry ripe mud cake

Clearly, we didn’t need any more food but… Veda (The Hospitality Window) may have made a comment to the owners that I love my desserts and told them my blog name and soon enough they brought over a huge slice of Cherry Ripe Mud Cake. I was slightly embarrassed but at the same time so glad that I got to try it! It’s super rich, chocolatey to the max with a thick layer of cherry coconut filling.

I had a lovely breakfast here at 8 Days cafe and enjoyed their dishes as well as meeting new bloggers that I haven’t met before Would also like to thank 8 Days cafe for inviting me! Mr Bao was quite jealous of all the photos I had posted on Instagram so I think we’ll be coming back soon.

8 Days Cafe on Urbanspoon
Daisy@Nevertoosweet attended this event as a guest of Iron Chef Shellie and 8 Days Cafe.

Morning Tea – At The Gables

Australia, Melbourne, Reviews May 1, 2013 Comments: 35

I love afternoon teas And I’m sure if you’ve read my blog for a while you will know hehe I love everything about it the concept of girls ( and maybe boys) sitting together enjoying scones and just chatting about everything ~ I’ve been very spoilt and tried out many afternoon teas in Hong Kong, but unfortunately it doesn’t seem as common in Melbourne.

The Gables

That’s why when Alice and Annette my colleagues asked if I’d like to join them for afternoon tea at The Gables, I immediately jumped at the opportunity The name ‘The Gables’ immediately reminds me of the book that I use to read as a child ‘Anne of Green Gables’, have you read that book before? I use to love it and read the whole series! Anyhow, I have heard of The Gables House and Mansion in Malvern East before but didn’t know that they offered afternoon tea every Wednesday for $45 and Sunday $55 both include a class of French Champagne.

We booked for the early Sunday seating which started at 11am and ends at 1pm, not very long for an afternoon tea and it should really be called a morning tea instead There is ample parking in front of The Gambles mansion, its a Victorian style house made out of brick with white fences all around it ~ very nice and can see why many people choose to this as their wedding venue.

Dessert Buffet

Upon walking in, we were immediately greeted by a friendly waitress and also a large table filled full of desserts That’s when I realised that desserts was going to be served in a buffet style ~ I couldn’t have been happier!

The waitress then led us to a room on the right where there were 5 to 6 tables, we were placed in the middle of the room, which was fine, but we would have wanted a little more privacy and could hear the conversations from the tables around us and would have preferred a table closer to the window.

Champagne

Another waitress then came to offer us a glass of Champagne but unfortunately, I couldn’t see or remember the type but I know it was from France hehe it was a rather light tasting Champagne and not my usual favourite Moet & Chandon.

Very quickly our ginormous 3-tiered stand full of savouries arrived at our table My colleagues aren’t really use to going out with a food blogger, that’s why I quickly took the photos and didn’t want to take took long taking the photos. So sorry in advance for the not-so-great photos ~

Sandwiches

Starting at the bottom, there’s a range of little triangle sandwiches with a variety for us to choose from – egg and lettuce, chicken and chives and smoked salmon with caper berries. I was impressed how fresh and soft the bread was and the filings in the sandwiches were also delicious. If I was to be picky, they would have looked better if the sandwiches were cut into little squares instead to make them look fancier

Mini pies and quiches

The middle layer had mini beef and burgundy pies and spinach and feta quiches, unfortunately they look and tasted like supermarket-bought quality. The fillings for them were nice but the pastry was very thick and not very buttery which was a shame.

Scones plain and whole wheat mixed berry

Scones plain and fruit scones

At the very top layer was the scones, plain ones and other which we can’t work out, it tasted like whole wheats with some mixed berries. It was also served strawberry jam which looked and tasted more like strawberry jelly and also whipped cream. I found the scones to be strangely moist and dense and not as fluffy as I would have liked.

Jam, cream and butter

The afternoon tea also provided unlimited teas, they had a good variety of teas from the regular English Breakfast through more exquisite teas such as green tea with jasmine flowers and Galle District OPI Orange Pekge) tea.

English Breakfast Tea

Even though the savouries and scones weren’t that exciting, I was super excited about the dessert buffet on the large table in the foyer. They had such a large range of goodies macarons, cupcakes, variety of slices, mini tarts, fresh fruit and little chocolate profiteroles.

Dessert Buffet Table

So many to choose from! We had a hard time deciding! But once again, I recognised some of the desserts and have seen them at many cafes, I suspect from the same supplier.

My selection

I am trying to learn the art of eating in moderation so I only got a small plate and tried a few things Starting from the left the coffee panna cotta tasted more like coffee mousse topped with a thick layer of coffee jelly and dollop of whipped cream. The berry jelly and chocolate mousse was nice and smooth, but the pistachio macaron shell was too hard and had barely any filling and last but not least the mixed berry cheesecake was actually my favourite, velvety rich cream cheese with crushed berries through it.

Regrettably, I wouldn’t describe this afternoon tea to be one of the best, but it was certainly lots of fun and good to spend some time with the girls. We have now moved into different teams and work on different sites, so it’s hard for us to meet up. I would still recommend you visiting The Gables for afternoon tea if you’re looking for a nice quiet place near the city for tea that also offers a dessert buffet this is the place It’s also perfect for Mother’s day since it’s just around the corner, a shame my mother will only eat Chinese food and afternoon tea is out of the question

The Gables
15 Finch St, Malvern East
Melbourne Victoria
PH: +61 3 9563 6108

Amazing Balls – Chocolate Milo Cake

Recipes April 21, 2013 Comments: 44

Yesterday was a special day for a very special person It was Shellie AKA Queen of Balls birthday!!! Happy Birthday my lovely blogger friend! I’m not sure if you guys remember but I wrote on my ‘About Me’ page that Shellie was actually one of the people that inspired me to start my blog

So happy that we got to celebrate Shellie’s birthday on the exact day, we met up with Ms-Ihua, Zeboy and Mr Bao at Merchant’s Guild for brunch, everything was so delicious especially the pancakes! Will blog about it soon!

I couldn’t go empty-handed and simply had to bake a cake. A birthday is not complete without a cake! Now as you may know Shellie loves her BALLS So I decided to make her a cake with balls ~ After doing some research I decided on Steph’s Chocolate Milo cake with a super thick condense milk buttercream filling topped with balls (Maltesers and Ferrero Rocher).

This is probably by far one of the prettiest cakes i have made So I’m super happy! But then need to Thank Mr Bao as well because I curdled the ganache and he had to help me fix it ~ If you like chocolate, Milo and Condense Milk this cake is FOR YOU. Hope you’ll like it as much as I do!

Recipe – Chocolate Milo Cake adapted from Raspberri Cupcake

Yield - A double layer 20cm cake

Ingredients
125g unsalted butter, soften
50g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
195g (1 1/4 cup) plain flour
2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
150 (about 1 1/4) Milo Powder
3 eggs
120ml (1/2 cup) buttermilk

Condense Milk filling
150g unsalted butter, soften
350g icing sugar
2/3 cup condense milk

Milo Ganache
300ml thickened cream (35% milk fat)
400g dark chocolate
1/2 cup Milo

Garnish
Maltesers
Ferrero Rocher

Method
1) Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F), spray and line a 20cm round springform cake tin with baking paper.
2) Using an electric mixer or standmixer, cream butter and sugar until light, smooth and pale in colour. Add egg one at a time, beat until incorporated.
3) Combine flour, baking powder and Milo together and sift together. With the mixer on a low-speed gradually add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar.
4) Once combined, gradually add buttermilk until just combined – Do not overmix.
5) Pour into prepared cake tin and bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. If the top starts to brown, cover loosely with foil.
6) Remove from oven, let cake cool in tin for 10 minutes before placing it onto a wire rack to cool completely.
7) To make the condense milk buttercream filling. Using an electric mixer or standmixer, beat butter until light and fluffy, add icing sugar and condense milk and beat for another 3 to 5 minutes until fully incorporated and spreadable.
8) To make Milo ganache, chop chocolate into small pieces and place in a large heat proof bowl. Heat cream in a saucepan until it simmers but not boiling, add the Milo and whisk until well combined.
9) Pour heated cream over the chocolate and set aside for 5 minutes, then whisk until mixture is smooth and glossy. Set aside and let it cool until mixture thickens and is spreadable.
10) To assemble, carefully cut the cooled cake in half and level the top. Spread a generous amount of condensed milk buttercream on one of the cakes and spread evenly. Then cover with the other cake.
11) Cover whole cake with Milo ganache spread until smooth. To garnish smear a little ganache onto the Maltersers and Ferrero Roche.

Notes:
- The original recipe was a three layer cake, but I didn’t feel confident enough to cut my cake into three layers
- You could substitute Milo with other chocolate malt powders such as Ovaltine or mixture of milk powder and cacao powder

Credit: Ms I-Hua

Loved this photo Ms I-Hua look of the cake Thanks for letting me use it!

A Taste of Paris – Boulangerie Bistronomique

Hong Kong, Reviews, Travel Adventures April 19, 2013 Comments: 21

It’s funny I never use to have many friends in Hong Kong, because I never studied there and went to a fairly Caucasian-based high school. But then when I got into University, I met more friends including Sasa best friend and Mr Bao who’s also from HK. And then through blogging I have also met a whole new group of friends One of these new friends is Margaret, if you have Instagram you may know her as little_meg_siu_meg.

Margaret has such strong passion towards food, I don’t think there’s any moment in the day when she’s not thinking about food I think that’s one of the reasons why we get along so well! She is also one of the most knowledge people I know about food ~ I think it helps when you have a brother who was a chef at Quay and is now working at Noma wow!

Last time I was in HK, Margaret and I met up at Boulangerie Bistronomique one of the new cafes that have opened in the Western District. As the name suggests it is a French cafe specialising in baguette sandwiches and pastries. They also have a few shelves with selling jams, pates and other delicacies. I almost forgot that we were in HK and thought we were back in Melbourne at one of the cafes ~

Both feeling a bit hungry, we chose the baguette lunch set for $98HKD ($12.25AUD) you got a baguette of your choice, a mini salad and a soup. I really liked the little bamboo boards that they used to serve it on ~

Ham & Cheese Baguette with salad and soup $98HKD ($12.25AUD)

I went for the classic ham and cheese baguette, from the first bite I knew it was a delicious baguette with a good crust but still remained soft with air bubbles inside. Apart from Paris I haven’t been able to find many good baguettes, they’re either too hard or too airy that feels hallow. The ham was thinly sliced and not too salty while the cheese gave the baguette the saltiness it needed. One word YUM! Sometimes I think all we need is a simple good baguette While the pumpkin soup was very smooth but felt a little diluted and lacked seasoning and the salad was just a mini bowl of rocket and drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

Tete de cochon baguette with pig head's terrine and mustard $98HKD($12.25AUD)

Tete de cochon baguette with pig head’s terrine in a set $98HKD($12.25AUD)

Margaret also chose the Tete de cochon baguette, I wasn’t sure what it was but she explained to me that it was a pig head’s terrine with gribiche sauce, pickled pepper and mustard. Even though flavours were good, as she thought “… the thin layer was completely overwhelmed by the egg salad and gribiche sauce”. A bit of a shame because it looked and smelt wonderful but once again she loved the texture of the baguette which is a win ~

Margaret’s secret salt containers

And just before Margaret had her soup, she opened her bag to get these two little cute salt containers from her purse. If you know Margaret you will know her love for salt, she collects them by the bottle and always has at least two types of salt in her purse, that day she at Maldon sea salt flakes and a finer table salt Now I want one of these salt containers!

Pastries and Cakes

Time for pastries and cakes They had a good selection in their cabinet ranging from tarts to mini cakes to eclairs. But I was meeting up with my family afterwards…so couldn’t go too crazy so we got one dessert each ~

Starting with the Paris Brest, another uncommon pastry, haven’t seen it in many places in Melbourne so was surprise to see it in HK. For those who are unfamiliar a Paris Brest is made out of a choux pastry the same as eclairs, piped into a circle like a donut and filled with a praline cream and topped with crushed nuts and icing sugar.

Paris Brest $45HKD ($5.6AUD)

I was quite impressed with the choux pastry as it was very light with a good crispy texture on the outside ~ while the praline cream was sweet with a nutty flavour. I also liked the crunchiness from the crushed nuts. Now I just wished more cafes would start making these Paris Brests

Mille Feuille $45HKD($5.62AUD)

We also ordered the Mille Feuille, it looked magnificent with the flakey layers of puff pastries and the little black specks in the creme patisserie . Unfortunately, this mille feuille was a bit of a disappointment, the puff pastry was not at all flakey, it even felt a little soggy. While the creme patisserie was smooth and lovely, but then the white icing paste of top had a very strong nearly bitter taste. It’s such a shame as we enjoyed the other dishes and I had such high expectations of their pastries.

I think Boulagerie Bistronimique is a great place for HK people to visit if they want a taste of Paris and if they need a break because we all know how busy and fast-pasted HK can be. It’s located in a quiet area and offers fresh and delicious lunches, even though some of their pastries and cakes can be a hit or miss, I really enjoyed their baguettes and Paris Brest. Next time I go I’m definitely going to try their eclairs and mini tarts

Boulangerie Bistronomique
Shop 1A, G/F, 1 Davis Street,
Kennedy Town, Western District
西環堅尼地城爹核士街1號地下1A號舖
PH: +852 2872 0811

Never Too Sweet

Tag Archives: Cakes

Handshaken Lamington Milkshake – Lady Bower

An Extra Day – 8 Days Cafe

Morning Tea – At The Gables

Amazing Balls – Chocolate Milo Cake

A Taste of Paris – Boulangerie Bistronomique

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Tag Archives: Cakes

Handshaken Lamington Milkshake – Lady Bower

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An Extra Day – 8 Days Cafe

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Morning Tea – At The Gables

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Amazing Balls – Chocolate Milo Cake

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