Sugar's Sweet Blog

New Year's Eve at Sokyo

2012-01-09T18:13:00.002+11:00

★Happy New Year everyone!★

I hope it started with a ❈BANG❈

Terribly sorry about my lack of posts....been MIA for 3 weeks! *slaps self* I've been partying here and there during the holidays and sleeping my life away when there's nothing on.

Went to Sokyo for my New Year's Eve dinner with a free flow of Moet throughout. Watched the fireworks, then crashed at my hotel room with the Big Bang Theory running in the background.

New Year's Eve 2011/2012

So the guests at Sokyo were give a little thing to take home. The fellas had a blinged up hat...

Whoot hat!

...and the ladies had a fancy mask.

Mask :D

This was taken with the same phone, at the same time but oh the colour difference! Amazing what lighting can do aye?

Free flow of Moet and Chandon

Your lipstick stains, on the front lobe of my left side brain

I knew I wouldn't forget you, and so I left you go and blow my mind

Your sweet moonbeam, the smell of you in every dream I dream

I knew when we collided, you're the one I have decided who's one of my kind...

~Hey Soul Sister by Train

...I hope you would see this and still remember what it means.

Chef Chase Kojima

I was super lucky that Chef Chase Kojima's station was directly in front of me.

So after much anticipation, the dishes came out. To my sad revelation, the dishes were shared amongst two and quite a small serving. What was more disappointing was that we had six people on our table and we only received two plates which is one between three!

They only started to give us one between two after we complained on the third course but we didn't get extra replacement dishes for the previous two :(

Tai Yuzu Honey

Tai sashimi, onion slithers, capers, yuzu honey with crunchy miso. Fresh and thinly sliced tai (sea bream) served in a puddle yuzu honey which resembles much like a ceviche.

Tai is crowned the King of fish in Japan and translates to 'auspicious' and 'celebratory' thus this fish is very commonly served during celebrations like New Year or birthdays.

Ocean Trout Wasabi Salsa

Ocean trout sashimi, chilli threads, yuzu and pickled wasabi salsa.

John Dory Truffle Cloak

Three slices of steamed tender John Dory with scorched cabbage and tuffle yuzu soy topped with threads of saffron to garnish.

Lamb Chop Maple Miso

Grilled lamb chops with maple miso and burnt baby eggplant. I'm not a huge fan of lamb so not much comment on this but I do like how they wrapped the chop with lamb skin for easy holding.

Chef's Assorted Mixed Sushi

Baby sushi rolls with tuna, sushi of kingfish, baby sushi rolls of chicken with avocado and sushi of salmon.

Yamazaki Caramel Macchiato

Coffee ice cream, coco nibs and whisky foam. Nothing beats a little bit of alcohol in your dessert/coffee.

Green Tea

You gotta end a Japanese meal with a cup of freshly brewed green tea.

Fireworks time!!

How was your New Year folks?

Sokyo

Location: Level G, The Darling, The Star, 80 Pyrmont Street, Pyrmont NSW 2009

Opening Hours: Lunch Thurs-Sat 12pm-2:30pm, Dinner Mon-Thurs 6-10:15pm; Fri & Sat 6-11:15pm

Phone: 1800 700 700

Website: http://www.star.com.au/dine/signature-dining/sokyo.html

Christmas at Shangri-La

2011-12-19T14:56:00.001+11:00

Love Martinis?

Love Chocolates?

Love Cake?

If you said yes to the above, this is for you. From 14 December till 25 December 2011, you can enjoy a Gluhwein Martini with a dessert platter in the Lobby Lounge at Shangri-La for $25pp.

In the set, you will get a Gluhwein Martini with 4 specially prepared cakes served on a frosted perspex slab.

Gluhwein Martini Set

Gluhwein Martini

A deliciously sweet martini with Absolut vanilla Vodka, cranberry juice, reduced Gluhwein and orange zest granish. I don't usually like martinis because I think they are very bitter but this one is sweet and fruity with a faint vanilla aroma. It got my tick of approval.

Gateau Opera

The cakes served was similar to the ones from this year's Sugar Hit. This Gateau Opera has already made an appearance in October containing layers of Kahlua soaked sponge with hazelnut chocolate crunch and coffee butter cream.

Chocolate Bavarois

This cake was also in the Sugar Hit but I am very glad to see it again as it was my favourite. The cake consists of a ring of jaconde sponge with a smooth mousse like filling with a mini pipette filled with raspberry coulis inserted to the dessert which meant to be squeezed into the centre. I squeezed in the rapsberry coulis and it exploded on me with the forces of air blowing the cocoa powder everywhere :(

Rice Pudding and Vanilla Slice, Whisky Candy Bar (Behind)

The vanilla slice cake was a variant of the pistachio slice served for the Sugar Hit. Vanilla sponge with a white chocolate and rice pudding bavarois, pistachio glaze and a decorated piece of white chocolate to finish.

The whisky candy bar is a nicely textured cake with a crispy feuilletine base, topped with whisky infused chocolate. The feuilletine base was so crispy that for a moment I thought I was eating pop rocks!

Merry Christmas Folks!

They even have Merry Christmas written in chocolate! :D

Walked past Town Hall on the way back and wheeeee! Light show!

Sugarpuffi attended the Christmas at Shangri-la 2011 courtesy of Crystal Ling.

Lobby Lounge, Shangri-La

Location: 176 Cumberland Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Opening Hours: Mon - Sat 7am - Late , Sun 8:30am - Late

Phone: 02 9250 6144

Website: http://www.shangri-la.com/en/property/sydney/shangrila/dining/restaurant/lobbylounge

Xanthi Bar and Restaurant

2011-12-05T17:00:00.001+11:00

PIGGIE BUTT!!

Teehee! :D

Pig on Spit at Xanthi

Btw, I'm soooooooooooooooooo sorry for the late post! Let me redeem myself by showing you my feeble attempts to photograph things other than food...FAIL! Pictures are taken in my community garden :)

Xanthi Bar and Restaurant

Anyway, back to food. Had lunchie with my favourite girls at Xanthi on one rainy/cold/windy day but our love of food let us braved the harsh conditions.

Xanthi Menu

Xanthi is a new restaurant now open in Westfield Sydney that serves authentic Greek food with lots and lots of ouzo :D The interior decor is filled with Greek elements and I'm in love with this lamp!

Greek Lamp

We started off with some complimentary sourdough with olive oil.

Complimentary Bread with Olive Oil

Greek Lemonade (Gozoza) $4

Ouzomezedakia - Small Sharing Plates

Tarama Dip $7

Tarama is a salted and cured cod roe which gives it that prettily pink colour. The dip is accompanied with three crisp bread with butter, sprinkled with black and white sesame.

Greek Salad $12

Cucumber, tomato, black olives, fetta, capsicum, Spanish onion, dried oregano with Elea Creta extra virgin olive oil.

Honey Peppered Figs $7

Dried figs prepared in a pepper, honey, balsamic vinegar and spice syrup.

Fried School Prawns $9

School prawns tossed in a honey, fish sauce, sesame seed and flaked almond dressing. This is some great tasting prawns! The prawns are fried till super crisp and the shells are coated evenly with sweet sweet honey. It's like eating crunchy toffee but prawns! Tis crowned my favourite dish of the day.

Zucchini Fritters $8

A mixture of shredded zucchini and haloumi with dill, mint and parsley.

Apo Tin Plastira - From the Wooden Board

Pork Belly Baklava $18

Shredded pork belly with a date and pistachio filling and crackling served with a date and mastic sauce. This is a little different from other savory baklavas I've tried as the bottom of the roll contains date and pistachio filling making it sweet, complimenting the pork really well and adds an extra juicy touch to the overall texture. Another of my favourite dish from Xanthi!

Apo Tin Souvla - From the Spit

250g of Pig $40

Meat from the piggie we've seen from the first picture...I'm sorry to eat you little buddy, but you're delicious!

Yia Tous Latreis Ton Glykon - For the Lover of Sweets

No meal is complete without dessert! You should see the horrid face Miss. J made when I suggested 3 desserts instead of her proposed 1. I won. Naturally.

Byzantine 'Ekmek' $12.50

The peasants of Byzantine Constantinople roasted sliced sweet sour dough brioche, served it with kaymaki (clotted cream) and a spiced honey syrup. A super fat slab of yummy brioche with cream. Bliss.

Caramel Baklava Ice Cream $13.50

Sliced layers of vanilla bean ice cream, caramel sauce and baklava. Oh this baby is awesome! It's like an ice cream cake, Greek style! filled with a layer of pistachio crumbs and drizzled with caramel sauce...*drool*

Garden of Aphrodite $15

Such a pretty dessert consisting of sheep milk pudding served with raspberry and beetroot gel. Fresh mandarin segments, crystallised rose petals and ouzo meringues with a dusting of pistachio and dark chocolate powder.

Baroque Bistro

There was also a cheese market that day at The Rocks so I braved the rain, again, to have a look at my beloved cheese but it closed early due to the rain! Argh! To soothe my broken heart, I rewarded myself with 5 macarons from Baroque Bistro<3

Macarons from Baroque Bistro $2.50 ea

They are like, so awesome.

My favourites are the salted caramel and rosewater :D

Xanthi Bar and Restaurant

Location: Level 6, Westfield Sydney, Corner Pitt Street Mall & Market Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Opening Hours: Friday - Saturday 8am – midnight, Sunday - Thursday 8am – 11pm

Phone: 02 9232 8535

Website: http://www.xanthi.com.au/

Baroque Bistro

Location: 88 George Street (corner of Hickson Road) The Rocks, Sydney NSW 2000

Opening Hours: Monday - Saturday Midday - Late, Sunday Midday - 4:30pm

Phone: 02 9241 4811

Website: http://www.baroquebistro.com.au

The Trip DVD Giveaway

2011-11-22T16:36:00.001+11:00

Hai all! Yes, it's time for another giveaway! Yay!

Madman is releasing the hilarious new Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon film, 'The Trip' on DVD and Blu-Ray on 2 November 2011. In celebration of this awesome release, Madman Entertainment has kindly supplied ~~Three~~ (Thank you for the extra copies Madman!) FIVE copies for my lovely readers ^-^

Two friends, one week, six restaurants and the journey of a lifetime.

After Steve (Steve Coogan) is commissioned by The Observer to review half a dozen restaurants, he decides to plan a trip around the North of England with his food-loving American girlfriend. But when she decides to leave him and return to the US, Steve is faced with a week of meals for one. Reluctantly, he calls Rob (Rob Brydon), the only person left he can think of who will be available on short notice.

Over the course of six meals at six different restaurants in and around the Lake District, Lancashire and the Yorkshire Dales, the brilliant comic duo freestyle with flair, driving each other mad with constant competition, all the while riffing hilarious impressions of iconic actors including Michael Caine, Sean Connery and Al Pacino.

Oh bromance! :p

Directed by the award-winning Michael Winterbottom, 'The Trip' stars Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon in a laugh-out-loud British comedy about the importance of friendship, fame and great food.

I watched the trailer and omg it looks hilarious and filled with lots of yummy food!

Official Trailer

Want a copy? Well here is your chance!

1. Simply write a comment below and tell me, if you can go to anywhere in the world, where would you choose as your one stop fine dining destination.

2. *****PLEASE EMAIL me a copy of your comment to sugarpuffi@sugarpuffi.com . Blogger does not let me see your emails so I cannot get back to you if you don't do this. *****

3. Like Sugar's Sweet Blog on Facebook and/or follow @sugarpuffi on Twitter.

4. Entries closes at 11:59pm, 30 November 2011.

Thank you Madman Entertainment:

Last giveaway winners:

Janny
Jackie
Lily
Vivienne
Ben

Congratulations all!

Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcake with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

2011-11-14T13:46:00.001+11:00

So ~~recently.~~..ok not recently (so sorry about the late post!!), I've received a massive package from Cadbury Kitchen filled with their new 'Real Chocolate' baking range goodies. The whole range is now available to purchase.

Cadbury's New 'Real Chocolate' Baking Range

In the package, I've received:

- 1 Block of Cadbury Dark Baking Chocolate

- 1 Block of Cadbury Milk Baking Chocolate

- 1 Packet of Cadbury Dark Baking Chips

- 1 Packet of Cadbury Milk Baking Chips

- 2 Bourneville Cocoa Powder in different sizes

The range have this 'Cocoa Meter' on the packaging with each cocoa bean indicating 20% cocoa solids. So the more beans, the bitter the taste. Super smart idea in my opinion because you will have a clue on what you are getting.

Soooo.....what can I do with so many baking chocolate? Make chocolate cupcakes of course! You've already had a sneak peak in my previous blogversary post and doesn't it look so pretty? :)

Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcake with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcake with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

Adapted from cooks.com

Makes 12 large cupcakes or 24 small cupcakes

Ingredients:

Chocolate Cupcake

1 1/2 cups of flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Filling

250g cream cheese, softened

1 egg

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup chocolate chips

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

Adapted from allrecipes.com

250g cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

What you need:

You may notice my sugar jar was still full and was empty on the panna cotta post :p

My pretty heart shaped silicon moulds

Chocolate Cupcake

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, salt and baking soda.

2. Stir in oil, milk, vinegar and vanilla and mix until blended.

3. Pour batter into prepared cupcake moulds, filling until 2/3 full.

Fill moulds to 2/3 full

Cream Cheese Filling

1. In a separate bowl, beat cream cheese until light and fluffy.

Cream cheese mixture

2. Beat in egg, sugar and salt with the cream cheese.

This is like...insanely delicious!

3. Add in chocolate chips and mix gently.

4. Drop a heaping teaspoonful of the cream cheese mixture into each cupcake.

5. Bake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool.

Tada!

*P.S: if you want it more chocolatey, then half the cream cheese filling.

*PPS: if you love cream cheese, continue on with the vanilla cream cheese frosting recipe.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Beat cream cheese until light and fluffy.

2. Beat in butter until creamy.

3. Mix in vanilla, then gradually stir in the sugar.

Add strawberries and icing sugar to decorate if you wish.

Verdict: I used the Cadbury Bourneville Cocoa Powder and Dark Baking Chips to make the cupcakes. The chocolate flavour was nice and the choc chips really retained it's shape while baking as claimed. Would I go out and buy more? I would.

Sugarpuffi's Birthday Dinner at Momofuku Seiobo

2011-11-09T15:52:00.000+11:00

Ahh...it's that time of the year again when I'm happy and sad at the same time. Happy because I get to be showered with prezzies and good food. Sad because I am yet, another year older *weeps*.

I have been dying to try the renowned Momofuku Seiobo which is the first and only restaurant by David Chang outside of NY but it came with an exxy price tag of $175pp. Ouch! Hey, it's my birthday! We can let it slide this time, ok? Ok. :D

The tasting menu consists of a whopping 15 courses. I starved myself for the entire day to fit everything in and even then, I was on the verge of throwing up.

Sous Chef Chase Lovecky

Sake: Kameman Shuzo, ‘Genmaishu,’ Junmai Genmai-zake (Kumamoto) $125/bottle

No celebration is complete without alcohol! At least not mine! We had a bottle of sweet sake made from brown rice which is very rare as they usually make it from white rice.

Snacks - Dehyrated Shiitake Chip, Deep Fried Nori, Mochi Ball

The first course is a share platter amongst two. The shiitake chip had a very nice fungi aroma and was paper thin and crisp. The mochi ball was gummy and tasted similar to Korean rice cakes.

Steamed Pork Bun - Pork Belly, Cucumber, Hoisin

The infamous pork bun that everyone is talking about. The pork bun came with a little bottle of Sriracha sauce if you like it a bit more spicy. The bun was super soft and fluffy. Twitterverse said it tasted like a 'baby' ROFL! Sounds a bit gory but I think that analogy works.

Kingfish - Warrigal Greens, Furikake

A clean and tasty dish with fresh kingfish, warrigal greens stem and coulis then sprinkled with furikake.

White Asparagus - Marron, Szechuan Pepper

One of my favourite dish of the night. The marron was so tender that it almost melted in my mouth. The lightly pan fried marron went perfectly well with the earthy flavours of the caramelised spring onions and white asparagus.

Beef - Radish, Fermented Black Bean

My initial thought was "Oh! A radish salad" but how wrong could I be. Hidden underneath the radish flower arrangement were cubes of charred wagyu beef in a puddle of burnt watermelon oil and fermented black bean. As strange as the dish sounds, it was delicious.

Hidden Goodies!

Eel Dashi - Hailstone Radish, Chive Blossom

Eel Dashi - Eel with Apple Gel and Apple Powder

This came with the eel dashi and looked like a little cannoli. The eel acted like the pasty shell and held the apple gel inside. The dish was a combination of salty and sweet and it tasted a bit weird on its own. When mixed with the eel dashi, it had a nice balance of salty, smokey eel flavour with a hint of apple coming through.

Spanner and Swimmer Crab - Butter, Pepper, Biscuit

I really liked the juicy, fresh spanner crab but the sauce was a little too salty for my liking. Unfortunately, my brother found a long piece of crab shell in his dish and the person responsible got told off which I felt a bit bad for. The crab Yorkshire pudding on the other hand, was perfect and soft.

Egg - Toasted Rice, Brown Butter

The egg pudding reminded me of the steamed egg custard my mum used to make when I was little. This was slightly different however, as it was coupled with melted brown butter instead of soy sauce. The toasted rice brought out different textures to make the dish more interesting.

Hand Torn Pasta - Goat Cheese, Chilli, Mint

Another dish that brings back memories! This time, the hand torn pasta made me think of wonton skins :P The little dish had many elements; hand torn pasta on the bottom, melted goat cheese, pickled tomatoes, fresh chopped chilli and topped with deep fried basil. A very Italian inspired dish and tasted divine!

Pink Snapper - Broccoli, Horseradish, Potato

I have to say this is the best snapper I've ever had! I normally don't like 'Western style' cooked fish because I found it dry and flavourless but this is totally the opposite. The snapper literally fell apart with a jab of the fork and packed with flavour. It is sided with grilled broccoli, broccoli puree and topped with potato crumble.

Lamb Neck - Daikon, Pickled Turnips

After just learning about the lamb neck during a Lamb Masterclass at the Eat Drink Blog Food Blogger Conference 2011, I appreciated this dish a little more.

The lamb neck came out prettily pink and tender. On the side, it had a daikon puree and pickled turnips. If you have been reading my blog long enough, you should know I love pickled stuff and this turnip is pickled alright! It was sweet and sour; just the way I like it.

Pecorino - Honey Licorice, Bee Pollen

Shaved Percorino cheese with hidden honey licorice on the bottom and topped with bee pollen! The elements in the dessert are meant to be mixed together. I had issues with the licorice department but the honey flavours helped a lot. I really enjoyed the bee pollen and it wasn't 'waxy' as I initially thought it would be.

Wattle Seed - Malt, Crispy Skin

The most amazing dish of the night! It had the wattle seed in two forms: one is a wattle seed meringue which was soft and chewy and the other was dehydrated making it hard and crunchy. The malt icecream was next and finally topped with...get this, crispy milk skin! I have no idea how they made it but omg it was just awesome.

Miso - Pickled Strawberry, Toasted Rice, Mochi

White miso icecream with toasted rice, mochi cubes and pickled fruit. The idea of miso icecream was interesting but sadly didn't wow us at the table. Both the miso icecream and toasted rice was salty and the fruits was not sweet enough to balance out the flavour.

Petite Four

A slow roasted candied pork shoulder was presented to our table. Petite four. Er...WTF? THIS is a petite four? It sure looks like a main to me but you can never expect the ordinary from David Chang.

Four rolls of hot towels came along with this 'petite four' indicating it was meant to be eaten with our hands. The hot and steaming pork was crazily succulent, tender and sweet as all the flavours has been infused into the meat. The skin was perfectly caramelised with the fat layer underneath had oil trickling off my hand. It was definitely the most interesting, most filling, most artery clogging and biggest petite four I've had!

Momofuku Seiobo

Location: Ground Floor, The Star, 80 pyrmont Street, Pyrmont NSW 2009

Opening Hours: Mon - Sat Dinner Only

Reservations: https://reservations.momofuku.com/login.aspx?unit=7

Website: http://www.momofuku.com/restaurants/seiobo/

Vanilla Panna Cotta with Strawberry Coulis

2011-11-04T18:52:00.000+11:00

Ello~long time no blog...again. Been extremely busy lately and didn't have time to whip up a blog post. Doing a super quick post about an equally quick vanilla panna cotta recipe. Yes, I do ~~cook~~...make desserts :)

Vanilla Panna Cotta with Macerated Strawberries and Strawberry Coulis

I also took some photos of the flowers in our community garden. I love flowers, I love natural sunlight yet I'm hardly ever awake during daylight hours on a weekend so this is a very rare occasion! The photos fail, I know. I'm just glad I have more skill in food photography than scenery/landscape.

Alright, alright. Here is the recipe.

Vanilla Panna Cotta with Strawberry Coulis

Adapted from David Lebovitz

Makes 6 small ramekins

Ingredients:

Vanilla Panna Cotta

300mL thickened cream
30g sugar
3/4 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons of gelatine powder

30mL cold water

Macerated Strawberries and Coulis

1 punnet of strawberries

1/2 cup sugar

The ghetto sugar jar strikes again!

Vanilla Panna Cotta

Heated cream and sugar

1. Heat the thickened cream and sugar in a saucepan. Once the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

P.S DON'T USE A WHISK! My bro insisted so I lost the battle :( It will create air bubbles and it will show!!

2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water in a small bowl and let it stand for 5 to 10 minutes.

Lightly oil the ramekins

3. Lightly oil 6 small ramekins. If you have a pretty cup, you can just use that and eat straight out of the cup and there is no need for greasing.

4. Pour gelatine into the cream and sugar mixture then stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved.

5. Divide the panna cotta mixture into the prepared cups then chill until firm. Mine took 4 to 6 hours so if you are pressed for time, you can make this the day before.

6. To unmould, run a sharp knife around the edge of each panna cotta and place each onto a serving plate. Garnish as desired.

Macerated Strawberries and Strawberry Coulis

1. Wash and place strawberries and sugar in a medium bowl and let it chill in the fridge for 1 hour.

2. Heat strawberries and sugar in a medium sized pot on low heat until syrupy. Crush some strawberries to speed up this process but keep some whole strawberries as garnish.

3. Chill macerated strawberries and strawberry coulis in fridge then serve with the panna cotta.

Is it jiggly?

Hell yes it is!!

Jiggly Panna Cotta

Crave SIFF: Sugar Hit 2011 - Azuma Kushiyaki, Spiedo and Tomislav

2011-10-24T19:11:00.000+11:00

Are you guys doing your fair share of Sugar Hits this year? I know I am! Massive post about not one, not two, but THREE Sugar Hits (plus dinner :P) below.

Please scroll down and enjoy! You're very welcome to salivate over your screens. Just make sure it doesn't go into your keyboard cause that might cause some problems :)

Azuma Kushiyaki

As usual, Azuma Kushiyaki - Bar and Grill did a East meets West dessert tasting platter. I really like their creativeness and they come up with weird but delicious combos using Western desserts with Eastern elements.

Azuma Kushiyaki Sugar Hit Menu

The Sugar Hit is served with a 2010 Brown Brothers Orange Muscat and Flora but you can also change that to either a Hennessy Cognac or green tea.

Anmitsu

Assorted seasonal fruits, tapioka pearls, shiratama rice dumplings covered in kinako powder served with a Japanese brown sugar syrup. I loved every element in this small bowl. The sweetness of the fresh, ripe fruits, the bounciness of the tapioka pearls and the soft, fluffy texture of shiratama rice dumplings was almost heavenly.

White Sesame Ice Cream

I didn't particularly like the ice cream as I found the flavours to be really subtle and has a raw sesame taste. It would've been much better if they toasted the sesame beforehand.

Sake Sample

A delicately sweet sake with yuzu. I was so cut that other tables got a wine glass full of it and ours was so tiny :(

Sake Sponge Bites and Handcrafted Chocolate

Two bite sized butter cakes soaked in Japanese sake held together with a decorated toothpick. On the right is a handcrafted dark and milk chocolate praline with chocolate ganache, enrobed in dark chocolate with hidden poprocks.

Green Tea Tiramisu

Shochu soaked sponge fingers layered with mascarpone, fresh cream and matcha powder.

Spiedo

We originally planned for Ocean Room Sugar Hit but it was sooooo far from Tomislav so Spiedo it is! We sat at the Stuzzibar but the full dinner menu is available.

Spiedo Stuzzibar

Pirlo $36/Jug

It is only natural for Miss K and I to get cocktails. We love our fancy alcohol *^-^*. We chose their specialty cocktail...in a jug :D

It contains a blend of Prosecco and Aperol, lengthened with sparkling mineral water and finished with orange. The cocktail was a little bit diluted, mainly consisting of mineral water but it's still a refreshing and citrusy drink.

Salad of Baby Beetroot $14

Salad of baby beetroot, pumpkin, goats gorgonzola, mint and walnuts. It's the first time I've seen baby beetroots! I never knew they were orange before they turned purple when ripen.

Homemade Potato Gnocchi $18

Homemade potato gnocchi with gorgonzola and green peas. The gnocchi was covered in a layer of gorgonzola making it extra delicious. It is a very hearty and filling dish...a little too filling... so this was left mainly untouched :(

Salumi Selection $23

I had my eyes on this dish from the very start. The people that knows me know my love for jamon, proscuitto and salami. The dish is a selection of salami with marinated fennel, olives, artichoke and crackers which I shared with Miss K.

The Sugar Hit and Spiedo starts a little bit earlier and I've seen some desserts being brought out since 8:30pm. I had been letting out squeals here and there every time it went past me and tried to rush my dinner so I can get my hands on those babies as soon as possible.

Sugar Hit at Spiedo

Since Spiedo is a new restaurant, this is the first time they've participated in the Crave SIFF events. Their Sugar Hit certainly looks promising with beautiful presentation and vibrant colours. The Sugar Hit is coupled with a 2010 Brown Brothers Orange Muscat and Flora.

Buttermilk Panna Cotta, Strawberry Granita and Basil

A very light and delicate buttermilk panna cotta with strawberry granita, crumbs, deep fried basil and a swirl of white chocolate to decorate. The panna cotta was nicely coupled with the buttery crumbs that brought contrasting textures to the mouth. The strawberry granita was full of fruity flavour and was my favourite. I could certainly be content with eating it alone. I thought the flavours in the granita was a bit overpowering for the panna cotta as I couldn't taste it when eaten together.

Tomislav

I was enjoying my food so much at Spiedo that I lost track of time. When I finally remember to check the time, it was already 9:30pm. Crap. We made a booking at Tomislav at 9:45pm so we quickly polished off our food, paid and ran out of Westfield to grab a taxi. Made it! but just.

Tomislav offers 4 different desserts for Sugar Hit. Since we got there at near closing time, they only had the apple crumble left. It's fine with me; I was going to chose the apple crumble anyway but I would really like to photograph others too :(

Sugar Hit at Tomislav

2009 Belgravia Gewurztraminer

The wine is not a Brown Brothers dessert wine but a 2009 Belgravia Gewurztraminer which had a musk,citrus and spice taste.

Peppermint Tea

The service was flawless at Tomislav with the waitstaff very friendly and approachable. Miss R does not drink alcohol and they went out of their way in offering an alternative to make her experience more enjoyable. In the end, Miss R opted for a Peppermint Tea which they happily gave.

Warm Apple Crumble with Rhubarb Sorbet and Macadamia Sponge

The description said caramel ice cream but we were presented with a rhubarb sorbet. We really did come very late haha!

The macadamia sponge was moist and squishy. It is then topped with baked apple slices and sprinkled with apple crumble coupled with a rhubard sorbet and macadamia powder which are rolled into balls. Finally, it was drizzled with a ring of honey to complete. A very fine dessert and I couldn't ask for more.

Azuma Kushiyaki - Bar and Grill

Location: Regent Place, 501 George Street Sydney NSW 2000

Opening Hours: Tuesday - Saturday from 12pm, Monday - Sunday from 6pm

Phone: 02 9267 7775

Website: http://www.azuma.com.au/kushiyaki/home.php

Spiedo

Location: Shop 6004-6005 Level 6, Westfield Sydney, 188 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Opening Hours: Monday - Friday 9am - 11pm, Saturday - Sunday 10am - 11pm
Phone: 02 8072 9999

Website: http://www.spiedo.com.au

Tomislav

Location: Level 2 / 13 Kirketon Road, Darlinghurst NSW 2010

Opening Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 6pm - 10pm, Friday 12pm - 3pm

Phone: 02 9356 4535

Website: http://www.tomislav.com.au

Crave SIFF: Night Noodle Market and Sugar Hit 2011 - Shangri-La

2011-10-17T16:53:00.000+11:00

I've been extra good this year for posting up my Crave Sydney events on time. Yeah? Yeah? :D Just beyond the half way mark for this awesome month and I have a 4 more events to go!

Will blog about the Night Noodle Market and Shangri-La Sugar Hit today because they happened on the same day.

Night Noodle Market 2011

Went to the Market on a Tuesday at 7:30 and it was packed. Some stalls jacked up their prices a lot *cough $12.50 sticky rice and mango from Chat Thai that's usually $7.50 in the restaurant cough* but it's good to see most are still in an acceptable price range.

The Night Noodle Market is like an "Asian hawker-style market - for noodles, dumplings, desserts and more." ~Crave Sydney

We waited in line for Jackie M's but I got so hungry waiting so we got some dumplings from Dim Sim King while standing in line.

Assorted Dumplings and Dim Sims from Dim Sim King $10 for 6

Yay we're finally here!!

Jackie M cooking up her famous Char Kuay Diao

I ordered a Fried Radish Cake because I've already tried her Beef Rendang (it was amazing btw) and I struggle to find a good fried radish cake everywhere!

P.S: Jackie M post to come out in Nov-Dec cause I have to get my Crave SIFF posts out of the way first :(

Roti

Sorry about the crap photos. The lighting isn't exactly very photography friendly.

Free roti if you follow her on twitter! :p Apart from her delicious food, isn't that another reason to visit her stall?

Fried Radish Cake (Chai Tow Kuay) $14

Steamed rice squares fried with preserved radish, garlic, egg and chives with optional shrimp paste chilli. It was definitely one of the best fried radish cake I've had! The rice squares were fluffy and soft mixed with crunchy radish, fragrant chives and give your senses an extra kick with a dollop of spicy shrimp paste. I would be happy to eat this plate by myself but I shared this since I have a Sugar Hit to go to in 15 mins.

Sugar Hit 2011 - Shangri-La

I was lucky enough to be invited for a taste of the Shangri-la Sugar Hit. Last year's Sugar Hit was not up to scratch but I've heard positives for this year's so I am pretty looking forward to it.

Shangri-La Sugar Hit: Chocolate Tapas Plate with a Brown Brothers Dessert Wine

The Sugar Hit this year for Shangri-La offers a selection of 6 chocolate desserts from their 11 desserts for the Wickedly Sweet Chocolate High Tea with a Brown Brother's Sienna which was same as last year.

I see that the plating has improved significantly from Mademoiselle Délicieuse's visit earlier. The desserts were aligned neatly on a long frosted perspex rather than scattered on the plate.

Brown Brothers Sienna

Let's start from the left to right shall we.

Chocolate and Cherry Tart

A dense sweet pastry tart shell with a rich baked chocolate and cherries in kirsch. I ate this towards the end as I knew it would be quite heavy.

Whisky Candy Bar

A nicely textured cake with a crispy feuilletine base, topped with whisky infused chocolate.

Pistachio Slice

Pistachio sponge with a white chocolate and rice pudding bavarois, finished with a pistachio glaze. I started off with this dessert first as it looked the lightest. I particularly liked the soft sponge and pistachio glaze. The flavours were subtle but nicely balanced.

Chocolate Bavarois

I saved this till last due to the novelty factor of the dessert. It also turned out to be my favourite with a smooth mousse like filling with a ring of jaconde sponge (although mine is missing half >-<). A mini pipette filled with raspberry coulis is inserted to the dessert and meant to be squeezed into the centre.

Food Porn :)

Gateau Opera

Layers of Kahlua soaked sponge with hazelnut chocolate crunch and coffee butter cream.

Gianduja 'Macaroon'

The description wrote macaron with two 'o's which made me cringe. The Gianjuda Macaron made an appearance in last year's Sugar Hit at Bacco. Gianduja pretty much just means 'an European chocolate made from chocolate and 30% nut paste (usually hazelnut)'. Mr. W asked if this is what a macaron tastes like because it was different from mine. Yes, yes it is. Just that mine sucked and this didn't. Thus the difference.

This year's Sugar Hit was definitely much better than last year's and I personally think it is worth your money as the desserts add up to more than $20 if bought separately not to mention that you get a glass of Brown Brothers dessert wine as well.

Sugarpuffi attended the Shangri-la Sugar Hit 2011 courtesy of Crystal Ling.

Night Noodle Market 2011

Location: Hyde Park North

Opening Hours: October 10-14 and 17-21, 2011, 5 - 9pm weeknights (free entry)

Website: http://cravesydney.com/content/night-noodle-markets/gjoc54

Lobby Lounge, Shangri-La

Location: 176 Cumberland Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Opening Hours: Mon - Sat 7am - Late , Sun 8:30am - Late

Phone: 02 9250 6144

Website: http://www.shangri-la.com/en/property/sydney/shangrila/dining/restaurant/lobbylounge

Sugar's Sweet Blog turns TWO and celebrate with cakes and giveaways

2011-10-11T16:31:00.000+11:00

ღ Sugar's Sweet Blog is now TWO Years Old! ღ

Haiiiiiii Allllll!! Today is a very exciting day for Sugar's Sweet Blog because it turns TWO Years Old! Yippeeee! Remember last year where I had store bought cupcakes to celebrate? Well, this year, I made my own and an extra cake since, it's turning 2 and all.

White Chocolate and Strawberry Cheesecake

Chocolate and Cream Cheese Cupcake

Recipe will sadly have to wait because I need to get my Crave SIFF posts up ASAP.

Two years on since I've started this blog and my love for it has not decreased; if not, even more. You may have noticed that I don't blog as much as I used to but hopefully you will also notice the increase in blog quality. Quality over quantity, right?

Thank you to all my readers, your support is my motivation to blog more.

As a little thank you for your continual support, 5 prizes will be given away. I was very kindly sponsored by Ted's Cameras and Madman Entertainment for this giveaway.

First Prize will be a $100 Voucher from Ted's Camera

Second-Fourth Prize will be a Gourmet Farmer Series 2 DVD valued at $29.95 ea

Fifth but not least will be a copy of Cheap Eats in Sydney 2011-2012 worth $12.95

First Prize X1

$100 Voucher from Ted's Camera

A specialist retailer of all major brands and the latest in photographic hardware, including digital compact and SLR cameras, HD video cameras and accessories; equipment suitable for the novice through to the professional.

Second Prize X3

Gourmet Farmer - Series 2 (Value $29.95)

On the 5th of October , the second series of Gourmet Farmer will be released on DVD. This carries on from Series 1, following chef Matthew Evans on his organic farm in Tasmania – except now he is a family man, with wife Sadie and young son Hedley joining him! Matthew finds himself exploring ingenious and inventive ways of expanding his business with friends and family.

Third Prize X1

Cheap Eats Sydney 2012 (Value $12.95)

Cheap Eats 2011-12: In Sydney, showcases 500 of Sydney's best cheap restaurants, eateries and cafes. It contains over 500 restaurants where you can eat good, authentic, creative food for under 50 bucks.

This guide reviews each restaurant based on an important set of guidelines including price, cuisine, trading hours, facilities, website, disabled access and public transport accessibility to give you a thoroughly comprehensive impression of what to expect.

To win, simply do the following:

1. Leave a comment below stating your favourite photo on Sugar's Sweet Blog and why. If you're really slack, you can just tell me what is your favourite photo anywhere.

*****PLEASE EMAIL me a copy of your comment to sugarpuffi@sugarpuffi.com Blogger does not let me see your emails so I cannot get back to you if you don't do this. *****

2. Like Sugar's Sweet Blog on Facebook and/or follow me @sugarpuffi on Twitter

3. Entries close at 11:59pm, 25 October 2011.

Thank you sponsors: