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Posted by ragingyoghurt on 6 November 2007 – 9:25 am

Filed under lunch

i was going to say, “let’s go for three”, but the sonoma muffin post has turned out to be a zumbo muffin post, so. let’s go for four.

this is not a long-forgotten fred williams, not one of his later works with its vibrant and abstract marks of the australian scrub. i found it in the bread basket at zumbo over the weekend: the artichoke and mushroom flatbread. look at it! littered with wedges of marinated artichoke and tiny sliced mushrooms, and just enough tomato and cheese to round it out. but yes, redolent with memories of the sunburnt country, now that has gone all winter again. what is this? damn climate change. nevermind, it gave me opportunity to defrost that enormous green icecube of broccoli soup languishing in the freezer. mopped up with chunks of mushroomy, artichokey bread, it made a splendid lunch.

a few months ago, this was the flatbread on offer. yuh, more olives than you could poke a stick at; a great salty treat.

speaking of bread… i was shocked and saddened to discover, yesterday, that zumbo no longer stocks the sonoma soy and linseed in the shelves beneath the ceiling. “but why??” i may have wailed. turns out he’s flogging his own. i settled for a fat loaf of olive oil bread.

it was just as soft and squishy as counterboy had promised, with a welcome nudge of salt. i had it with butter and broccoli soup. the soy and linseed thing was not such a disappointment after all.

Posted by ragingyoghurt on 3 November 2007 – 10:12 pm

Filed under cake, chocolate

well. since we’re talking zumbo…

the plump raspberry heralds its lineage. this saucy daughter of the envie (remember? chocolate ganache and squishy raspberries in a fine pate sucree shell) goes by the name, envious. but take your cue from the bite-sized yellow macaron: yes, a passionfruit-chocolate tart. how can it be, you wonder.

as did i.

i’d take a bite, and the fleeting tang of passionfruit would be almost imperceptible. the next bite would be an intense burst of sunshine, and then the ganache would melt away, fast and chocolate, and i’d be left wondering… did i just –? and on it went.

i hear they make this by straining passionfruit pulp and stirring it through the ganache. while there are no hidden surprises in the crisp pastry shell, no squishy bits of fruit to tease your tongue, i love that the passionfruit component is not quite homogenised; you get a different passionfruit-chocolate experience with each mouthful.

today i saw a big tart, for sharing or sheer spectacle. it was festooned with many a small yellow macaron, and spears of vegetation, truly a tiny garden of eden.

next down the runway, barbados: a moulded wall of palm sugar mousse, and then sticky rice pudding, a thin layer of coconut jelly, and one of mango with bits of pineapple, all on a biscuit base.

the first time i saw this, it was a lopsided construction. i seem to remember it did not have the rice pudding (any counterboys reading today? please set me straight!), and it looked like a soft, pastry version of a soviet era factory building. i was intrigued.

the first time i ate it — a couple of months ago — i was leaning up against the counter at adriano zumbo patissier, eating spoonfuls of the velvety mousse from the cake that had just been slid across to me. the rice pudding had, by then, been incorporated into the structure, and — fine, i have come to terms with the fact that the pastrychef likes a little bite in his grains of rice, fine — and that aside, it shot right up to one of my very favourite things from the zumbo kitchen. i think it was the mousse that done it, the faint caramel flavour, the way it felt full and fat — yet light — on my tongue before it swiftly dissipated. or maybe it was the summery thrill of tropical fruit. or hell, it was the sticky rice. oh how i love it, al dente and all.

this one here, that i finally brought home with me last week, seems different again. the rice pudding tastes more complex than i remember, with shades of lime and… basil? is it possible? it’s almost savoury, certainly, and plays off the medley of sweet things in a most satisfying manner. the pastry base is a little sodden; perhaps i have left it too long before eating it, but i don’t expect it was ever meant to be the star of the show. barbados is at least two desserts in one, maybe even four! it is possible that you may feel like you’ve had an island holiday after you’ve eaten it. and like a holiday, it will make you feel like you need another one.

it is fun, is it not, being able to follow the evolution of these beautiful cakes? to see them through gawky adolescence to their final splendour? a few weeks ago, there was a row of nascent religieuses behind glass. they were somewhat garish, a little clunky, but not without charm. this afternoon i caught a glimpse of the elegant poufs they had become, all dainty, detailed piping, and a promise of roses and lychees. this religieuse exerience, i think, will be the one i have next.

Posted by ragingyoghurt on 3 November 2007 – 4:12 pm

Filed under cake

beautiful, they are, like jewels.

Posted by ragingyoghurt on 2 November 2007 – 10:11 pm

Filed under around town, cake, kid, snacks

i know that you know that i know that muffins are, like, way behind cupcakes in… well, everything. for a start, there is no frosting. and most muffins i’ve had are bite after bite of dry, dense mastication. the little ones like rubbery pucks, the big ones like a workout for your jaw. so not fun.

but. yesterday, i found the best muffin in the world. sonoma make the best soy and linseed loaf in the world — with the whole soybeans? — whoulda thunk they would also sell the best muffin [note to self: double-check if they bake the muffins inhouse. edit 05/11: i have been informed, via the comments box for this post, that all pastries sold at sonoma, including the best muffin in the world, are made by zumbo. well!].

i only bought it because the kid wanted a snack as we passed by, and then sitting in the park across the road watching the monster raven skulk across the grass, i discovered the muffintop crunchy with sugar, and the moist, moist, crumbly inside with its generous — almost wanton, really — display of juicy berries.

“we’re sharing, right?” i asked the kid, but she was already off chasing the giant bird. tops.

Posted by ragingyoghurt on 2 November 2007 – 9:56 pm

Filed under drawn, werk

“comic artist rehab is where four comic artists (who haven’t been as busy as they should) commit to drawing four panels every four days for four weeks.”

this month, i am one of those artists — and today is my first strip! come for a squiz if you’re interested or if you’d like to arrange for an intervention for someone you know.

my friend, amber, set this up, and clearly she is plenty busy as it is, because she is also the one responsible for the kids craft weekly website, and now book, which i spent a chunk of last month working on, and which is finally back from the printer, with its satiny smooth cover that i can’t stop stroking (and now i know how matt moran felt at that good food show demonstration). you know you want one!

Posted by ragingyoghurt on 31 October 2007 – 7:22 am

Filed under around town, chocolate, lunch, packaging

halloween! halloween? in australia?

last saturday, the kid, my mum and i were just walking up the street to lunch, when we suddenly decided to get on the bus into the city. the spontaneous plan was to partake of the sydney food and wine fair in hyde park, but as we approached, we realised that the enormous crowd of people we saw across elizabeth street was just the queue to buy food vouchers. ghastly!

it did not take much for us to turn left up elizabeth, and head for the lindt cafe instead. how’s that for spontaneous, eh?

before too long, we were ensconced in plush white seating, surrounded by cool marble and glidey waiters, with a selection of well-crafted, modestly-sized (but satisfyingly filling) sandwiches before us. spicy sausage panini with yoghurt and grilled peppers; roast beef schiaciatta with mustard, vintage cheddar, marinated tomatoes and bitey cress; club sandwich with smoked salmon and goat curd with dill. we were so satisfied we couldn’t even order dessert! well, ok, so i did have one of those only slightly over-the-top $6 iced dark chocolates. but still.

instead, i made do with a couple of special edition halloween lindor balls to go. the jack-o-lantern is a regular milk chocolate ball, and the spooky ghost one is a milk chocolate shell with a white chocolate filling (it also appears to use the font, template gothic, for smallprint — my favourite font from the 90s and boy does it take me back to that special place — although really, i think it’s just the effects of the limitations of printing small on plastic)… neither of which were extraordinary. i’m not even demanding an exotic pumpkin pie filling; just an orange-infused chocolate would have sufficed, and a dark chocolate shell for the ghosties. is all.

a day later, the crazy hot weather had rendered the filling a perfect liquid consistency, though by that same token it also sent the milk chocolate the wrong side of cloying.

i did get a raspberry lindor ball too, because, well, you know me and raspberry chocolate, and also, it’s wrapped in pink foil.

(and did you know you can now get bars of chilli dark chocolate? like, the regular 100g dark bar with a gentle burn in the back of your throat? for $4? bafflingly, the lindt shop is the most expensive place to buy lindt chocolate, but if you eat at the cafe, and present your cafe receipt at the shop counter, they take 15% off. so we did, and they did.)

but look! here’s the tricky raspberry-chocolate treat for you: adriano zumbo‘s raspberry-chocolate macaron. i got it monday afternoon, a lone specimen perched atop a case of plain chocolate ones. its speckled biscuit like a jewel in the raw, its fruity ganache mysterious and coy. but see, if only there had been more filling, i would totally be saying “voluptuous and jolly”.

Posted by ragingyoghurt on 29 October 2007 – 10:17 pm

Filed under cake, dinner, kid, kitchen

two recipes

1. red velvet cupcake. behold.
i figured i’d be trotting out the ol’ martha stewart one-bowl chocolate cupcake recipe yet again, but when i came across luckykat’s red velvet post a couple of weeks before the kid’s birthday, i knew that i’d have to make them. you know how it is… so hard to resist the mythological cuisine of the american deep south. more importantly though, it looked like a simple enough pair of recipes. lucky, kat had already sourced and tested them for me.

so the day before the birthday saw us two roaming the streets of balmain, buying red food colouring — pillarbox red, as artificial as you can get; raspberries — suddenly up to $8 a punnet; buttermilk — aggravatingly unstocked at the supermarket, but i tracked down the last carton on the peninsula at the local deli, for about twice the going rate. so far, so burning a hole in my wallet.

the cake recipe called for a whole bottle (just a bit more, actually) of red, into which you dissolve a surprisingly small amount of cocoa powder. the cocoa was measured with my wonderful new measuring spoons, a completely surprise present in the mail from the green bananas. look! the bowl of it is actually a miniature mixing bowl!! thanks, santos!!!

and then i chucked a few more things in the batter, and suddenly everything went like molten lava. i filled a tray of regular-sized cakes, and then another of mini ones — and ok, i overfilled so i wouldn’t have to wait for a second round of oven time, the cakes rose dramatically and i was vexed until i figured out that i could hide it all with frosting, hurrah!

this recipe yielded a voluptuous and pillowy soft frosting. there are other versions out there with half the cream cheese, which i guess gives you more definition when piping the icing on. however, i applied mine by dipping each cupcake headfirst into the mixing bowl and then slathering on quite a bit more with a butter knife. the texture was lovely and rich, perfect for licking off the beater at the very end — breakfast of champions…

… although maybe after three or four cupcakes, things go a little funny.

these were great cakes! moist, not overly chocolatey, and very, very sweet. i will definitely make them again, although i may not have to just right now, because there is a box in my freezer with three unfrosted cakes, and another box with a quantity of leftover frosting, and any day now i will complete the experiment called “does cream cheese frosting freeze ok?”. does red velvet cake? we shall see.

– – –

2. spanakopita
a few weeks ago, when spinach was $1 a bunch, i googled a recipe on the internet, and because i neither bookmarked it nor printed it out, i cannot remember where i got it from. tchk. however, because it turned out to be a really good recipe, this afternoon i fished about my recycling bin, and retrieved the scrap of paper on which i’d scribbled down these notes from the screen:

2 pounds spinach — wash, coarsely chop. 907g
2 tbs olive oil
cook onion, chopped, scallions 4
add chopped spinach, handful at time
5 mins, wilted, liquid released
cook on high until dry
stir in 1/4 cup dill
cool. squeeze liquid

large bowl:
4 eggs, beaten
add spinach
8oz feta crumbled 226g
1/2 tsp salt
black pepper

melt butter
1 pound filo
8 sheets bottom
8 top

oven 375°F 190°C
bake 45min

helpful, huh? but see, i cooked off these notes, and it was delicious. i think i may have used just three eggs, and brushed the filo with olive oil instead of butter, to no ill effect. i ♥ spanakopita.

Posted by ragingyoghurt on 28 October 2007 – 10:44 pm

Filed under drink

where does a day go? hell, where do they all go?? so we lost an hour this morning, but that does not explain how i’m suddenly at the tail end of october. it’s been a month of eye-twitching work and a week of xtreme tourism, and even though it’s really only 10pm, i am so very tired.

perhaps i’m missing that 470ml of blood i donated on friday. you should do it! it’s draining (ha!) but fun: you go in, they bleed you, and then in return they pour you one of their finest lukewarm, uncreamy milkshakes. this time i chose caramel.

Posted by ragingyoghurt on 18 October 2007 – 11:34 pm

Filed under cake, kid, trip

i am leaving for the beach, leaving in too few hours and not quite packed, but i just wanted to put it out there that i think i have more than redeemed myself from the unfortunate madeleine affair of a few months ago. poof! it is gone from your mind.

many cupcakes were eaten today by me and the kid. she’s three!, as she keeps reminding us, and to celebrate, my olds are taking us to the sunshine coast — golden beach, to be exact. we will paddle in sheltered waters, dig moats in the sand, eat hot chips by the bucket (and the same quantity, probably, of ice cream). we will pick strawberries, and maybe see bindi irwin. maybe.

yesterday i discovered that it is possible — just, and only because my mum made dinner and took the kid to the park, so maybe it is not possible after all — in a day, to finish off a print deadline, build a suite of kiddie ikea furniture, and bake a batch of red velvet cupcakes. if you leave the cream cheese and butter out on the counter overnight (and not think too much about the cockroaches that prowl the kitchen in the dark), it will be the right consistency to whip up a bowl of frosting first thing in the morning, for the first birthday breakfast cupcake.

see you in a bit.

Posted by ragingyoghurt on 17 October 2007 – 9:59 am

Filed under cake, nellie

when is a post not really a post? when it’s a postcard!

but i’ve been werking. werking so intently that there has only been a break for hank moody — i only break for moody — and my right eye twitches even when i’m not at the computer.

yesterday, this postcard showed up in my mailbox, and though it wasn’t a real, live cake, it cheered me immensely.

from nellie:
“CAKE! is what i have just had in the little cafe at the back. i came to ask if they were hiring — they are not. but in the cafe in the back they had cake, walnut cake, very light, with strawberries and cream. i am always hiring for cake.”

i think i am done. done-ish, because i seem to remember that saving print-ready PDFs takes about 1400 hours longer than you expect. and normally i would say, “this calls for cake!”, or “send cake!”, but on the cards is a batch of red velvet cupcakes for the kid’s birthday tomorrow. she wants raspberries on ’em.

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