Can’t read my, can’t read my, my poker face.

It’s true. You can’t. That’s what thirteen years of drama classes will do. But that’s beside the point really. The point is, I made another cake this week, that has a poker face. Or poker table. Can you see the distinction, or am I stretching it just a little too far?

My boyfriend also has a lovely face. Poker face, that is. And to celebrate his face, and also his birthday, I made him this cake.

Chocolate mud cake with chocolate ganache, his favourite. The entire cake is edible, right down to the poker cards.

I presented my boyfriend with this cake, along with other presents, at a surprise lunch with all his friends and family. Luckily for me he had no idea what was going on until the last minute when I pulled into the driveway of his favourite pub. SURPRISE!

He was very excited to see everyone there and very grateful that I had organised such a fantastic event in his honour. Now, because of the shockingly large number of people who actually enjoy reading this blog, I will not humiliate him by telling you all exactly how thanked me. And no, it’s not what you’re thinking you dirty, dirty people. Let’s just say he will be getting a large invoice from my plastic surgeon. Love you baby. Happy birthday!

The Cupcake Bakery, QVB Sydney

It’s been a long time since I’ve visited the QVB. It really is a great shopping location, and I always loved how you can hop straight off the train and you’re in the shopping centre! Talk about convenience.

A very welcome addition to the QVB is The Cupcake Bakery (which happens to be located next to T2.. another of my favourite shopping destinations). Chain cupcake stores are growing at a rapid pace, and I often think the thrill and excitement generated by a gorgeous cupcake is wearing off because of this. Remember the good old days of fairy bread and fairy cakes? You’d head to a friend’s birthday party in anticipation of a soft little cake filled with cream, or if you were really lucky you’d score a huge vanilla cupcake with a thick layer of butter cream on top. You’d be buzzing for days because of the sugar fix!

(The Maxi Cupcakes. $55-$70)

Ahhh, a simpler time. But these past memories didn’t stop me from getting excited over the treats on offer at The Cupcake Bakery. The first thing you notice is the size. Unlike some other chain cupcake stores, these bad boys are big. And if they’re not big enough for you then there is always the maxi cupcake! These monsters can feed up to 12 people, and will set you back between $55 - $70 depending on flavour.

(Box of four $15)

I opt for a box of four – Strawberry vanilla, choc peppermint, banana and lemon meringue.
I was very excited for the choc peppermint and lemon meringue. I think I set my expectations too high with the latter, as the lemon curd was very bitter and I thought the meringue would have a bit of crunch to the outside, similar to a Pavlova. But alas, I am disappointed.

Next up – choc peppermint. It’s possible that my continued disappointment was my own fault with this one, but at the time of purchase I was assuming the cupcake itself was also peppermint choc flavour. Turns out the choc part is the cupcake and the peppermint is the butter cream part. Don’t get me wrong, it was still nice but I am a HUGE fan of peppermint and was just expecting a little bit more of it in this cupcake.

This was followed by strawberry vanilla. Cupcake was good, buttery and moist but not too soft. Butter cream was also good. But where is the strawberry? This was supposed to have a strawberry filling, but I couldn’t find it?

Lastly, we have the Banana cupcake. The cupcake was great, somewhat reminiscent of that banana cake your Grandma would make, lovely and moist with plenty of real banana! It was then topped off with a cream cheese butter cream. I have two very strong beliefs in life – 1. Anything would taste amazing if it is covered in chocolate ganache. 2. If the ganache doesn’t work, try cream cheese butter cream. And the final, unanimous decision from the entire family was that the banana cupcake was hands down the winner on the night.

(Custard tumble. This is on the top of my list for next time! $4.50)

The Cupcake Bakery

Shop 2-4, Lower ground 2 QVB

The Krispy Kreme Burger

In yesterday’s MX newspaper I read the most amazing article about the ultimate in fusion food. The Krispy Kreme Burger. Would you like me to repeat that, because I didn’t believe it when I first read it either. I said The Krispy Kreme Burger. Otherwise known as the Craz-E Burger. So once you’ve picked your jaw up off your chest I’ll tell you a little bit more about it.

This burger made its recent world wide debut at the Big E Fair in West Springfield, USA (where else but America!). However, urban legends tell us that this burger was possibly created by late singer-songwriter and record producer Luther Vandross. A suburban bar in Decatur, Georgia still serve the burger named after its biggest fan, and possible creator, ‘The Luther Burger’. To check out more about the Luther Burger click here.

Yesterday on the way home from work, reading this article on the train I was shocked and amazed. Only problem.. there was no accompanying picture. I had to see this monstrosity with my own eyes. And I’m pretty sure you want to see it now too, huh!

Well folks, here it is. The amazing Craz-E Buger..

Photo from The Big E website, describing the burger as ‘classic fair food’.

“No single ingredient dominates the burger. They all complement each other with artistry expected from a celebrity chef. The glaze smoothes over the burger and oozes into a foreign but delicious combination with the crisp of the bacon. The donut is butter grilled and quite a change from the burger roll you are accustomed to. It transforms the ordinary into the delicious.”
Direct quote for the Big E website. Check out the full article here.

And just in case you get a hankering for one after a huge drinking session, as I feel this could possibly become the new 2.30am kebab, the Big E has supplied us with the recipe.


Craz-E Burger Recipe

One beef patty
American Cheese
Crisp bacon
Butter grilled glazed donut

Carefully slice the donut in half, lightly butter and grill. Add cooked burger, top with cheese and crisp bacon. Place in between the donut halves. No condiments are needed.
Recipe from the Big E.


Now I need to know, who seriously out there would have a go at one of these bad boys? At a whopping 1500 calories would you go for it? And if anyone does have a go at the recipe, do let me know your verdict. And also let me know that you didn’t immediately die of a heart attack, I don’t want to be sending any of you to an early grave!

French themed engagement cake and cupcakes..

Paris, the most romantic city in the world. Just imagine, wandering through the streets of Paris, finding yourself under the Eiffel tower hand in hand with the man of your dreams. And then he drops down on one knee and asks the one question most girls wait their whole life to hear. Then there are tears, congratulations from strangers and a gorgeous ring. Romantic, huh! And no I’m not currently reading a Mills & Boon novel; this is how events actually played out for my ‘sister in law’ on a recent trip overseas. Lucky girl! And very well done Rob Dog!!

And then comes the engagement party, French theme. Lucky me was asked to make the cake! Now, because I am among friends here I’m going to be perfectly honest. While I was thrilled and honoured to help with the party I was also crapping myself. For the first time ever I would be making a cake that would be seen and eaten by people other than my family, who by law must tell be how excellent, amazing, great, lovely and exceptional my work is. I had to get this right, for fear of screwing up the whole night with a crappy cake!


Four weeks out I started on the Eiffel Tower topper for the cake. All went well. Three weeks out, start the cupcake stand. Two weeks out I started on the cupcake toppers. Again, all went well. Four days out, start the cake. One day out, make the cupcakes. All good. Until the day of said party. Cakes packed and in the car, Eiffel Tower topper in its box ready to be assembled at the venue. Jump in the car, head down the street, take one last peak at the tower topper and.. it snapped. Holly crap. Back home, grab royal icing, attempt to glue back together, jump back in the car, head out again, get on the M5.. it snaps again. There are now three pieces to the tower. F##K!!!!

(Cupcakes. I hadn’t told the bride-to-be about these and as luck would have it she had decorated the venue with the word ‘Love’ and their initials ‘N&R’ aswell. Everything matched! Now that’s women’s intuition at its best!)

My worst fear had come true. Not a word was spoken during the car ride, except for when my gorgeous boyfriend looked over at me and said “It’s ok, you can scream if you want, I won’t tell anybody”. What would I do without him! But for some reason the cake gods were smiling down on me that night, and I managed to glue the damn thing back together. Phew!

It was a great night, lots of socialising, photo taking, and eating, drinking and general merriment.
Big congratulations to the gorgeous couple, Nads and Rob Dog. And here’s to a life time of happiness together!

Guylian Cafe, The Rocks

Lucky me received a gift voucher to the Guylian Cafe for my 21st birthday. Ok, so my birthday was back in February, but Daddy and I had drafted this fantastic plan to gorge ourselves stupid one Sunday while Mumma B and JayB were climbing the harbour bridge (yet another birthday present..). We ending up waiting for them to disembark from the bridge and headed over to the cafe together, along with my Aunty Vickii.

My family suffers from a condition I like to refer to as ‘burrell syndrome’, our eyes are far too big for our stomach. We were all suffering from this terrible syndrome on this particular Sunday afternoon. As a result we ordered five different cakes plus a beverage each. All the cakes were amazing, my favourite being the winter of passion ($15.25), extremely light and fluffy with a yummy citrus edge. And you can go past the hazelnut torte ($15.25), chock full of milk chocolate ganache (possibly my most favourite cake filling ever!).

The Guylian Shakes were devoured by Mumma B, Daddy and JayB – I didn’t even get a photo! At 10 bucks a pop you’re probably thinking we’re insane – no amount of milk, ice cream and chocolate flavouring can amount to $10! However, I am reassured that it was extremely satisfying, and totally worth the money.

Winter of Passion ($15.25)

Winter of Passion

Hazelnut Torte ($15.25)

Hazelnut Torte

100% Pure Pleasure ($15.25)

100% Pure Pleasure

Chocolate Eclair ($7)

White Chocolate Eclair ($7)

Complementary Chocolates

Guylian Shake ($10)

Guylian Cafe, The Rocks - 91 George Street - T. +61 (02) 8274 7500

Guylian Cafe, Circular Quay - Shop 10, Opera Quays - 3 Macquarie Street -

T. +61 (02) 8274 7900

http://www.guyliancafe.com.au/

Food porn - kiss vanilla cupcakes

Keep it simple, stupid. Otherwise known as the ‘kiss’ principle. My public relations tutor was a huge fan of the kiss principle. Apply it to your media releases, media kits, academic essays... or any activity in your life. So that’s what I’m doing with this week’s post – keeping it simple with my attempt at food porn.

I am a horrible photographer, but even I was impressed with these snaps! But when you’re photographing gorgeous vanilla cupcakes with butter cream, topped with handmade royal icing roses (yes, I really did make the roses all by myself!), it really isn’t all that hard! These are the best vanilla cupcakes I’ve ever made (not kidding) and you can check out the recipe from Joy of Baking here. Enjoy. Oh and I’ve also included a few snaps of my brand new electric mixer! Hurrah! And remember – keep it simple, stupid!

The Mill and its notorious caesar salad..

I’ve decided to branch out a bit. I’m a general lover of all foods, and as a reformed vegetarian I feel I’ve come to appreciate many more culinary delights over the past year. Some however are not so delightful, but more ‘fascinating’ for the pallet. I will head back to cakes and the like after this post, but I felt this particular culinary experience needed documenting. Enjoy!

I can’t honestly remember the exact amount of people that have recommended I head over to The Mill Hotel for a drink on a Friday night. “It’s the new Oatley Pub” I’m told. Oatley Pub is THE place for young locals to catch up for Friday night drinks and a chance to rub up against one another. Before Oatley Pub it was the Revesby Workers Club.. And now, it’s The Mill Hotel.

The Mill Hotel is located in Milperra and was once upon a time the infamous Viking Tavern where the Milperra Massacre took place in the early 80’s. Up until its transformation into The Mill Hotel, the Viking Tavern was close to deserted on a Friday and Saturday night. This particular Friday night however, and I’m assuming all the rest since the hotel partially opened a few months ago, my father and I find ourselves battling with a huge crowd.

(Some of the 'funky' lighting treatments)

We head straight to the bar for a drink before heading around for a self guided tour. A schooner will set you back around $4, which is the average price for pubs around the area, and we’re surprised to find bar staff battling for customers, and not the other way round. The staff to patron ratio is close to 1:2 which ensures quick and friendly service.

Our self guided tour takes us around to the ‘beer garden’ complete with dance floor, stage and several plasma screens. There are plenty of comfy looking lounges and we find one large section of the outdoor area cordoned off for David’s 30th birthday. The decor is somewhat rustic, with sandstone brick feature walls complete with enclosed fireplaces.

As I mentioned the hotel is only partially open, with the official opening taking place around October. Luckily for us the bistro is open and functioning at full speed! We head to the bistro and at 6.30pm on a Friday night we don’t have to wait long to order. Finding an empty table is a little bit trickier as it seems more than 50 percent of tables are reserved. I am politely shuffled from one table to another by wait staff as they try to prepare another reserved table that they seem to have forgotten about.

(The outdoor bistro area)

Considering that all the tables in the bistro area are occupied, we don’t have to wait much longer than 15 minutes for our food. I’ve ordered a chicken schnitzel parmigiana (a pub classic) while Dad is having the chicken caesar salad. Now, I must admit an ulterior motive for visiting The Mill. It wasn’t because people have told me how trendy and nice the hotel is. It was because of reports about the caesar salad.

(Chicken caesar Salad $13.00)

It is more of an attempt at a work of art than a caesar salad. And tastes like what I image an Andy Warhol piece would taste like. The dressing is bland and in desperate need of some salt, and is used primarily to glue the cos lettuce ‘tubes’ to the plate. Appetizing! The precariously balanced hardboiled egg is less than appealing, and the chicken is stone cold. Call me old fashioned but I enjoy grilled chicken in my caesar salad, adding a bit of warmth to the plate.

(Chicken Schnitzel Parmigiana $16.00)

The chicken schnitzel parmigiana is rather good. The schnitzel is fresh and crispy, topped with a rich napolitana style sauce, similar to what your lil Italian Nona would make! And best of all it is topped with a generous serve of good quality mozzarella. It is served with chips and a side salad, which is a tad bit limp, and the portion size is generous but not over the top like some other pubs in the area serve up.

Even though I am quiet full after my meal (Dad however picks at my leftovers – the caesar salad is served on a plate that’s size is more suited to a bread roll!) I am tempted to try the tim tam brulee ($9.50). Unfortunately the bistro line is now 30 deep, and regardless of the amount of astute staff I can’t help but worry about my chances of getting desert before a reasonable hour.

The Mill Hotel
189 Beaconsfield Street, Milperra NSW

Phone: 9771 2722