i had every intention of fulfilling my rice pudding eclair destiny (or the rice pudding eclair’s destiny), but it was so hot that morning, and when i stepped inside the cool interior of adriano zumbo patissier, this vision in white, all shimmery and glimmery, spoke to me. its name, after all, is “have a chat, kai”. kai being one of the affable zumbo counterboys, who, yes, will chat to you, in mandarin even, if you are so inclined.
“if you like coconut,” said the countergirl, “you will like this.”
because inside its white chocolate enclosure, there is a base of coconut dacquoise, and a delicate filling of coconut mousse — and the surprise (though not unwelcome) grittiness of dessicated coconut in every mouthful. it was really the promise of lychee jelly that drew me in though, and there it was, an almost too small treasure hidden within.
this pristine beauty, all sweetness and light, vanished all too quickly. there were no regrets, except perhaps that i did not have another at hand. and somewhere in a balmain pastry cabinet, an eclair lives to see another day.
9 Comments
that cross section is boo-yu-tiful
aww.. i didn’t stick around long enough to get a dessert named after me!
x
Haha I wish I had a desser named after me… need to get a job at Zumbos! 😀
You really should have came on Sunday!!
deborah: the whole thing, really… just gorgeous.
sonya: you could always go back! perhaps you could go undercover for a story? 😉
FFichiban: well… *i* have a dessert named after me, and i didn’t have to get a job at zumbo. i probably did spend the equivalent amount of time there though, on the other side of the counter. 🙂
the knifework precision for that cross-section photo is quite astounding (let alone the lack of debris on the plate alone!).
oh… i had a sharp kitchen knife, and it was a nice, soft cake, very easy to cut, with no pastry bits to crumble. unlike your charles du jour, for example… 😀
Well, thanks for solving the mystery about the name. Just need to find out which one Kai is now.
heh. the kind of eurasian looking one, i’d say. kinda shaggy. has a collection of cool tshirts. 😀
Love the whole lychee coconut thing. Think I would prefer this with raspberries though. Rice pudding eclair sounds kinda.. heavy.