linda 3 August 2008 Dessert 8 Comments  Print This Post  Email This Post

Waking up to a warm clear sunday morning always puts a smile to my face. H and I have a routine of brunch in Cabramatta, however this time we decided to take advantage of the warm winter morning to explore Balmain. Driving down Darling street, we were excited to see that the street was filled with young families strolling around, visiting the numerous cafes and restaurants on offer. H and I are no yuppies, however once in a while we do like to just sit back and relax at a cafe enjoying a great cup of coffee and watching different people walk by.

As we wanted to visit the Rozelle Market yet strapped for time, we unfortunately did not have the opportunity to sip on our cappuccino. To be honest, we were hoping to run into a food blogger or two. They were no where to be seen, instead we opted for the next best thing, Adriano Zumbo.

Recently, Adriano Zumbo has had some good exposure in the blogging world. Not Quite Nigella has made a few trips, so has chocolatesuze. We thought it would be our turn to see what the fuss is about with Mr Zumbo.

Imagine my surprise as a sweet tooth when I walked into the small stall with a glass cabinet show casing all the different cakes and a basket of freshly baked bread on offer. I felt as if I had just died and woken up in food heaven.

Selection of this seasons creations

Ideally, I would have loved to take each piece home, however knowing that we have lunch to look forward to, I opted to select two pieces and a couple of their specialty macarons.

As we got to our picnic destination, I quickly wolf down our lunch in anticipation of devouring the delicate delights.

Tanzanie- Flourless chocolate biscuit, chocolate jelly, chocolate ganache, vanilla brulee, chocolate mousse and chocolate meringue $7.50

As previously mentioned, I am a chocoholic, so this piece was basically love at first sight. The only way to do this piece justice is to describe each layer from top to bottom. The first was a thin layer of bitter dark chocolate ganache, followed by the fluffy chocolate mousse which I thought was nothing special. Up next was the chocolate jelly which I found a little out of place, possibly due to my immature tastebuds, as it was too bitter. The last two layers were pure bliss. The vanilla brulee was smooth and fragrant, accompanied with the contrasting texture of the dry/cruncy flourless chocolate biscuit, it just seem to create a symbiotic relationship.

Tuk Tuk Nothing- Coconut dacquoise, coconut pandan mousse, caramelised exotic fruit compote $7.50

Tuk Tuk Nothing - Internal

The saying, don’t judge a book by its cover, came to mind as I look back at this photo. At first look, I expected this piece to be very dry and tooth achingly sweet. However, contrary to first thought, this piece is one of the best slice that I have ever had. Everything about this unique piece was perfect. From the crispy dacquoise (layers of nut meringue and whipped cream, according to wiki) accompanied with the lightly toasted shredded coconut, to the fragrant and light coconut pandan mousse. Just when you thought it was the end of a great love affair, Mr Zumbo decides to torment your tastebuds just a tad bit more, delivering a pleasant punch of the exotic fruit, notably passionfruit, compote.

As a result of Adriano Zumbo’s notoriety in the food blogesphire, the two gentlemen serving us were quite happy to address any enquiries and were not fazed by H frantically taking photos of every inch of the shop. Despite it’s small interior and distance from our HQ, tasting pieces of artworks by artists who are not afraid to experiment with contradictory flavours made this experience worth every minute of the day and millimetre of the petrol tank.

This is one place that should be on top of everyone’s must do list, if not for the delicious pieces of cake, then for its ability to ignite all the senses imaginable. My only one critique of this afternoon was being limited to just the two pieces and their luscious macarons.  To appreciate Adriano Zumbo’s effort, I’ll be back.

Adriano Zumbo
296 Darling Street
Balmain, NSW 2041
Ph: (02) 9810 7318
Web: adrianozumbo.com/home.html

No related posts.