Opening late last week, Beard Papa is an Japanese company from Osaka renowned for it’s custard cream choux. Using a special patented two-layer choux/pastry recipe, it is crunchy on the outside and spongy on the inside. [...]]]> 26 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne

Looks like Melbourne has succumbed to another worldwide franchise.

Opening late last week, Beard Papa is an Japanese company from Osaka renowned for it’s custard cream choux. Using a special patented two-layer choux/pastry recipe, it is crunchy on the outside and spongy on the inside. It is then pumped full of vanilla custard cream (or the flavour of the week custard cream, which includes such choices as raspberry, coffee, green tea, chocolate etc.). They also make chocolate fondant cakes and cheesecake sticks.

We couldn’t go past the eclair, which is the regular choux profiterole topped with delicious dark chocolate and sprinkled with flakes of chocolate. It was pumped full of the signature vanilla custard cream, which was flecked with vanilla seeds. It was pure evil. Be warned.

The best bit is watching the production line. Your profiterole starts its life as an empty shell which is filled with custard and weighed for correct weight, sprinkled with cocoa or icing sugar, and then bagged and boxed (they come individually or in a six/twelve pack). To prevent sogginess they don’t pre-fill, and they recommend consuming them straight away, especially as they don’t use preservatives.

***THIS ESTABLISHMENT HAS NOW CLOSED***

Whilst absolutely delicious, these things wallop about 13g of fat (without the chocolate), so it is certainly an occasional treat and not an everyday treat.

After our yum cha at Shark Fin House, how can one not swing by Maxim’s for an egg tart? Touted as Melbourne’s best (…well it says so in the window so it must be true), well, I have to admit they do taste rather [...]]]> Maxim’s Cakes
173 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne
Phone 03 9662 1980

After our yum cha at Shark Fin House, how can one not swing by Maxim’s for an egg tart? Touted as Melbourne’s best (…well it says so in the window so it must be true), well, I have to admit they do taste rather good. And they also couldn’t be fresher – a 15 minute wait and we picked them up straight from the oven.

What differentiates it from their Portuguese cousins is that the pastry is more biscuity as opposed to puffy. That is not to say that the Chinese egg tart doesn’t come in a puffy version, but the Maxim one is made with regular sweet shortcrust pastry. The custard too runs a little more sweet and eggy, and is cooked until the custard just sets. It maintains a lovely silky consistency and a delicate texture.

This year I decided on “the ultimate fruit [...]]]>

I absolutely adore Christmas pudding. I yearn for a hunk of that dense fruity spicy booziness, licked with brandy butter and swimming in a pool of anglaise. Unfortunately those closest to me don’t share my love – so an alternative dessert is pretty much called for.

This year I decided on “the ultimate fruit meringue with vanilla cream, hazelnuts and caramel” as created by Jamie Oliver for delicious. Of course, my version is a little different. The original one can be found on page 34 of the November 2006 issue.

Basic Meringue
6 large free-range egg whites
300g caster sugar
Pinch of salt

The stuff that goes on top
400ml double cream
2 tbs icing sugar
1 vanilla pod, scored lengthways, seeds only
1 punnet raspberries
1 punnet blueberries
2 small mangoes
200g caster sugar
200ml water

Preheat oven to 150 degrees Celsius and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

For the meringue, put egg whites into a clean bowl and whisk on medium until firm peaks form. With mixer still running, slowly pour in sugar and a pinch of salt. Turn the mixer up to its highest setting and mix for 5-7 minutes until white and glossy. To test whether the mixture is right, dip your finger in and rub between your thumb and index finger. If it feels gritty, mix for another minute or so.

Using a spatula, spread meringue over the paper into your desired shape. The original recipe calls for a long 25cm x 7cm ish size. I made mine a round. Bake in the preheated oven for an hour until crisp on the outside. Take out of the oven and leave to cool on the tray. When cool, move to a serving dish (gently!!).

Whip the cream with the icing sugar and vanilla pod seeds until it forms soft peaks. Spoon it on to the meringue, and then top with the berries and sliced mango.

Put the caster sugar and water into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Cook until it reduces to a caramel colour (which is one step before a burnt colour), and then drizzle onto the meringue/cream/fruit.

Now go and enjoy the fabulousness that is not Christmas pudding. It’s just lucky that I also love a good meringue

As far as vanilla slices go, the Sorrento version from Just Fine Foods Delicatessen (23 Ocean Beach Road, Sorrento, Victoria) has got to be one of the better ones. I do have a slight criticism though. They are very hard to eat!

Layers of crisp puff pastry barely contain the indulgence of creamy [...]]]>

As far as vanilla slices go, the Sorrento version from Just Fine Foods Delicatessen (23 Ocean Beach Road, Sorrento, Victoria) has got to be one of the better ones. I do have a slight criticism though. They are very hard to eat!

Layers of crisp puff pastry barely contain the indulgence of creamy custard, which has a decidedly comforting whipped vanilla pudding taste to it. A seam of sweet strawberry jam gooeyfies the bottom layer of pastry, and the top is liberally caked in a blizzard of icing sugar.

One quite doesn’t know how to tackle its consumption though. A fork can pierce the flaky pastry when tackled from above, but attempting to remove a portion forces the custard to spurt outwards like some divine halo. And picking it up and taking a bite has its perils as well. An untimely inhalation could have one high on icing sugar for days!

At $5.00 a pop for takeaway, it certainly isn’t cheap. And for the purist, it probably doesn’t fulfill the criteria of the traditonal vanilla slice. But it is well worth a drop in should you find yourself in that part of the peninsula.

Sometimes a recipe just grabs you by the apron ties and begs to be baked. A Pistachio Layer Cake with Nougat Cream led me astray this weekend. Oh my.

The method and ingredient list is rather impressive, although I had to tweak a few of the ingredients as to what was at [...]]]>

Sometimes a recipe just grabs you by the apron ties and begs to be baked. A Pistachio Layer Cake with Nougat Cream led me astray this weekend. Oh my.

The method and ingredient list is rather impressive, although I had to tweak a few of the ingredients as to what was at hand. So out went the Amaretto di Saronno and orange / almond extract. And in came Frangelico, orange rind, orange blossom water and some almond essence. But I must say, this is a really spectacularly yummy cake (despite my cheapass substitutes). What a winner.

The cake was super easy. I had the food processor, the mix master and the hand held mixer all going at once. Yolks and sugar were beaten to a pale yellow ribbony consistency, and the whites and sugar aerated to a glossy cloudy puff. The pistachios, shelled, were blitzed to a fine powder with plain flour and baking powder. Then the three mixes were combined together and poured out into a large tray. A quick stint in the oven, and out she came, twice as high and smelling divinely of toasted nuts.

The soaking liquid and nougat cream were easy as. I contemplated throwing in some chunks of leftover glace citron, but couldn’t be stuffed once I remembered how difficult it is to cut the damn stuff.

Anyway, the assembly was purely pleasurable. Four layers of pistachio cake were drenched in a nutty orange soaking liquid, and then pillowed with generous layers of honey nougat cream. Crushed nuts decorated the side (a la continental style), and I even adorned it with a retro piped star cream border. I wonder if I’ll learn about those in culinary school

My apprenticeship starts on the 30th January 2006. I went and purchased all the required duds from Dura-wear…traditional chef checked drawstring pants, white long/short sleeve jackets, white/yellow jacket studs, aprons, profi birkenstocks, skull cap, bakers cap and white/yellow neckerchief (how the heck do I tie it?). At work I can dress up in whites, but at school the required uniform includes yellow jacket studs, yellow neckerchief, bakers hat, short-sleeved jacket and short apron. I got dressed up in the new gear on Saturday, and must admit to feeling a slight thrill as I looked in the mirror. I looked like a true blue dinky-di chef. But I’m sure it won’t take long to dirty those crisp new whites though!