Tania's Handmade Chocolate Pizzas

I apologise dear readers, I can barely make time for myself of late let alone this blog. However, I must not lie for fear of getting caught out on instagram (follow me, amyrath), I DID just arrive home from a dinner date at Plunge. My local is now open for dinner, and if you can't tell from the Twitter/instagram spam, I'm very happy about it. You see, I've been swimming in university work with the end of semester approaching. If seven hours on a Saturday spent at uni doesn't make you believe me, I don't know what will. Apart from uni, the only other thing I've made time for this week is chocolate pizza. Yes, chocolate pizza. Yes, I am trying to eat healthy (such a joke). And yes, I did say chocolate.

I was approached regarding trying Tania's handmade chocolate pizzas last week and, to be honest, after browsing Tania's website, I didn't think they would be my thing. Tania's pizzas aren't of the likes found at Max Brenner and other chocolate cafes. They're covered in lollies. And yes, I admit I have a raging sweet tooth but it's never quite drawn me to lollies--other than red and blue snakes that is. Anyway, I thought I'd give them a try. I was pleasantly surprised.

I received two chocolate pizzas on Monday, one round, the other heart shaped. I'm kind of ashamed to admit that I ate some for dinner. And again on Wednesday night (hey, I spent all day driving, sitting in traffic, out on farms and interviewing people for a journo story, and then driving again).

The quality of the chocolate was top notch. The lollies were not sickly sweet, but rather unexpectedly gelled well with the chocolate and abundance of nerds. Not only did my chocolate pizzas taste good, but they looked great as well. The bright, contrasting colours were one thing, but what got me was the way the individual lollies had been arranged so neatly; covering entirely the chocolate base. And for your information, I'm almost 20. Who says "adults" can't enjoy lollies, or chocolate, or the combination of the two.

However, critical I must be, there was one downside. These things are hard to cut and bite into. This meant that I could not tuck in to the deliciousness quick enough. Yep, that's just about my only criticism.

Tania's been operating her pizza business in Sydney since 2010. I'm disappointed I didn't uncover her sooner. These pizzas, delivered in an authentic Italian pizza box, would make great presents. I fear I've now spoiled the surprise. Sorry mum!

Accompanied best by a glass of milk

Chocolate pizzas c/o Tania's Handmade Chocolate Pizzas

Ph: 0425 771 719

Email: enquiries@taniaschocpizzas.com.au

Banana maple upside-down cake by Bill Granger

Okay, so I'm not that great at making pretty cakes, as you can see from the photograph of the plated cake at the bottom of this post. I'm also not the best at working out how to arrange bananas in a cake tin a la the photography in Bill Granger's book. Nonetheless, this Banana maple upside-down cake from Best of Bill tastes great regardless of how it looks.

Banana maple upside-down cake
from Bill Granger's Best of Bill, pp. 152-3
serves 10-12


50g unsalted butter
55g (1/4 cup) soft brown sugar
60ml (1/4 cup) maple syrup
3-4 bananas, peeled and sliced in half lengthways
100g unsalted butter, softened, extra
230g (1 cup) caster (superfine) sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract
155g (1 1/4 cup) plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt
vanilla ice-cream to serve

1. Preheat the over to 180 degrees Celsius. To make the topping, place the butter, brown sugar and maple syrup in a small saucepan. Cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes, or until the sugar melts and the syrup is rich and golden. 

Pour the syrup into a 23cm (9 inch) greased or non-stick springform cake tin and arrange the sliced banana, cut side down, over the base of the tin. (Yes, I just noticed I put the bananas upside down, and I repeat, a logical way of arranging the bananas was completely gone to me when I was baking this cake...)

 2. To make the cake, place the extra butter and caster sugar in a bowl and beat until pale and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition, then add the vanilla.

3. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt and gently fold through the mixture. Spoon the batter evenly over the bananas and caramel and smooth the top with a spatula.

4. Place the cake in the oven on a baking tray to catch any escaping caramel (my tray was covered in said caramel - definitely necessary) and bake for 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

5. Remove from the oven and leave in the tin for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Transfer to a large serving plate. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Okay, so I know my efforts in baking this cake were poor and I made a few mistakes. Hence why there's no image of the whole completed cake as not to deter you from cooking it (the failures all being on my part, not the recipe's). But seriously, this tastes beautiful. It is lovely and moist and works a treat with vanilla ice cream. Like Liaw's Ant's nest cake, the texture is not that different to a pudding, and the crisp maple adds another degree of stunning flavour. Would I cook it again: most likely, yes.

Visit Bill Granger's website, or even better, one of his cafes

Ants' nest cake by Adam Liaw

I received the above cookbook from the family of a boy I tutored. It was one of those "We receive too much junk and need to get rid of some of it" gifts. Regardless, I was ecstatic and have been meaning to cook something from Mr Adam Liaw since that fateful day (probably back in September/October) but hadn't gotten around to it.

I had been eyeballing the iced coffee pudding with tea-smoked chocolate and five-spice tenkasu (pp. 212-3) for a while. Needless to say, the lengthy name - with all its unfamiliar ingredients - basically spelt out that the recipe may be difficult to source ingredients for, let alone cook.

So instead, I set my heart on cooking the above Ants' nest cake (apparently it's known as "honeycomb cake" in England).

The cake looked beautiful on the pages of Liaw's Two Asian Kitchens, as well as relatively cheap to make given its short list of ingredients (many of which are pantry staples). 

Ants' Nest Cake

from Adam Liaw's Two Asian Kitchens, pp. 126-7

220g caster sugar

85g unsalted butter, softened

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

4 eggs, at room temperature

125ml condensed milk

150g plain flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda

As I mentioned, the ingredient list is rather short, making cooking the cake very tempting considering that the shorter the ingredient list usually means the cheaper the end product. Of couse, I took a couple of shortcuts (I am working on a strict budget given I am both a student and live out of home) and replaced the butter and vanilla extract with Coles brand canola spread and imitation vanilla respectively.

The recipe, like the ingredients, is simple and, as it turns out, extremely easy to follow:

1. Put the sugar into a medium saucepan and heat gently, swirling the pan occasionally, until melted to a dark caramel. Reduce the heat to low and add 250ml water (it will spit, so stand back). The caramel will solidify but continue to stir over low heat until no lumps remain and you have a thin liquid caramel. Set aside to cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.

 2. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Grease an 18cm round cake tin and line the base with baking paper. Cream the butter and vanilla extract in a large bowl until the butter becomes slightly pale.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs until well combined. Add the eggs, condensed milk and caramel to the creamed butter and whisk to combine. Sift together the flour and bicarbonate of soda and use the whisk to gently stir into the butter mixture. Don't worry that the butter doesn't mix in evenly - this is how it should be.

4. Pour the cake batter into the tin and leave for a minute or two. 

Bake for 50 minute or until the cake is springy to a gentle touch in the centre. Leave to cool in the tin, then run a knife around the edge before turning out.

This cake is plain beautiful. I've cooked it twice in the last week and really, there's little room for error making it the perfect cake for beginners or those, like me, who just fell back in love with baking after a long hiatus.

The cake itself is quite dense, almost like a pudding in terms of texture - deliciously soft and moist. I could imagine it would go down excellently with a butterscotch or caramel sauce. Mind you, this Ants' nest cake is extremely rich by itself, with a very strong caramel flavour. So, if you don't have an insatiable sweet tooth like me, maybe just pair it with ice cream.

And as well as tasting good, Liaw's cake looks great. The lines of caramel that make their way throughout the cake is where the name comes from. The cracked top and crisp golden flavour are likewise lovely characteristics of what is a near flawless cake.

Buy the book or visit Adam Liaw's website

Pasticceria Papa, Haberfield

If you haven't gone to Haberfield's renowned Pasticceria Papa, you haven't lived. As simple as that.

This patisserie is ah-maze-ing. There's so much to choose from, everything is just so cheap and the food (or the sweets) are just divine. I'm a bit behind on posts, and thus have forgotten the pricing of the above items but the gelato was deceptively large and came in at four dollars something, the jam donuts and cannoli at around the $2.50 mark and the gelato thickshake was five something dollars.

Everything was more than worth the price.

I had the vanilla cannoli and hazelnut gelato thickshake. If you haven't had one, I highly recommend said drink. The nutty flavours, the creaminess - oh oh oh. I had walked into the patisserie in search only of a delicious drink. I was trying to be "healthy" but, needless to say, I condemned myself to an impossible task given my location. This was the first time I had tried cannoli, it was so tasty, the vanilla custard velvety and delicious and contrasting excellently with the crisp pastry tube.

I also had some of my friend's strawberry gelato. He couldn't finish it. It had a very similar texture to sorbet and real fruit was easily identifiable in the flavour. He also had a jam donut (I brought one home for Nathan). Both were smitten.

My only wish: that I had heard of Pasticceria Papa's reputation for having a stunning baked ricotta cheesecake before I ventured out there. Next time!

Pasticceria Papa, 145 Ramsay St, Haberfield

Cheeky Chocolate, North Strathfield

Cheeky Chocolate Sundae w/ honeycomb creme chantilly, peanut caramel, raspberry gel and banana gelato topped with Cheeky Chocolate sauce ($18)

 Roll the Dice, is it Naughty or Nice: chocolate creme brulee, cinnamon ice cream and cherry gel w/ pistachio, sesame crumble ($18)

Cappuccino ($4.90)

Passionfruit, banana and caramel macarons ($3 each)

 Strawberry thickshake ($6.50)

So I don't know where they get the names from for the desserts, but they certainly are special. 

Cheeky Chocolate is a recent addition to North Strathfield's George St precinct. I was actually quite surprised by the area having never been there before. The cafes and restaurants that deck both sides of the street are upmarket and sophisticated, but also include Pancakes on the Rocks and Outback Steakhouse to cater to families.

Cheeky Chocolate is the work of proprietor Jennifer Dibs, but also has the touch of an angel. That angel being Adriano Zumbo. This man, who I would regard as quite heavenly after tasting some of his patisserie creations, designed the menu for Cheeky Chocolate. As a result, the chocolate haven offers an array of delectable cakes, cocktails and mocktails to suit all chocolate fanatics and those wishing to indulge.

The restaurant is decked out with beautiful Victorian decor, including great leather lounges, velvet chairs, burgundy curtains and chandelier crystal lighting. The ambience is perfect for an evening of indulgence, with perfect lighting- which doesn't make for the best photos but does make for an enjoyable, relaxing and decadent dining experience.

We visited Cheeky Chocolate on a Friday night. There were too many staff given the amount of customers. Consequently, the waitstaff seemed to be wandering around aimlessly most of the time we were there. And also surprisingly, when I approached the counter to check out the macarons (they were so tempting- forgive me waistline), the staff were slow in noticing and acting on my interest in placing an order. One of the waitstaff was overly friendly and made the dining experience positive, not so much the others who seemed apprehensive of their customers.

The food and coffee on offer was in my opinion overpriced. $4.90 for a standard Toby's Estate latte or cappuccino was a bit ridiculous, especially when it was nothing special and the standard no where near that of such places as Pausa on Harris St, Broadway which serve the same blend. However, my friend's thickshake was delicious and I think $6.50 was a reasonable price considering. The desserts were AMAZING but although well-priced in comparison to offerings from such places as Guylian Cafe, were generally expensive given serving sizes.

I had "Roll the Dice is it Naughty or Nice." I couldn't pick the flavour of the icecream at the time, but my memories three hours later are of a velvety and creamy ice cream that was perfectly paired with and contrasted to a crunchy pistachio and sesame crumb. The chocolate creme brulee was a smart appropriation of traditional brulees but overall the weaker element of the dish. The caramel crunch added another excellent texture and taste as did the cherry gel. I would pay $18 to taste other items on the menu, as long as money wasn't tight. Cheeky Chocolate is definitely an evening of indulgence that would be best experienced on the rare special or celebratory occasion.

I also just couldn't refrain from ordering a macaron. I usually stick to caramel flavours, so this macaron was a bit different with the addition of passionfruit and banana. It wasn't the best macaron I had ever tasted. The passionfruit overrided the other flavours and the texture was a bit off. We did receive a bonus macaron on accident and thus for free. Always a bonus.

I just asked the consumer of the sundae what his overall opinion was. He said: "Good." I know, very enthusiastic. That's boys for you. Oh sorry, he corrected me: "men."

Cheeky Chocolate, 11 George St, North Strathfield

Envy Cafe & Gallery, Summer Hill

Baked ricotta cheesecake with mixed berry compote and cream ($8.90)

 Freshly squeezed orange juice ($5)

Iced Coffee ($5.50)

With this blog, I hope to make accessible to both foodies and non-foodies the opinion of a journalism student who has a lot to say about food (but no qualifications) on various restaurants and cafes in Australia, and eventually the rest of the world. I am quite picky when it comes to eating out and wasting my money on an experience that lasts only an hour or so. When choosing restaurants to visit I sometimes find myself trawling the internet for others' opinions on where to eat. Eatability is good. But others' blogs are better. I hope this blog may one day be of help in the same way.

So anyway, the best way to achieve my purpose would be to eat out a lot- at different restaurants- and document my exploits through images and text. The problem is I sometimes just crave something familiar and like to visit restaurants and cafes where I know I will get my money's worth. So, please, excuse the thousands of posts that I will continue to write about Envy, Plunge and Sideways, which are all wonderful cafes within walking distance that I frequently visit.

This outing took place yesterday morning. Yes, I did eat cheesecake for breakfast. And I followed it up with Mexican for dinner and delicious gelato (post to come). All in all, a very successful day. The cheesecake was spectacular! Even better than the one I raved about from Buzzzbar the other night. Envy, as I have said before, does good sweets- namely said item and the pear and raspberry bread also with mixed berry compote and ricotta.

I followed the cheesecake up with an iced coffee as I had a sore throat and ice cream usually makes it feel the slightest bit better. My friend ordered a freshly squeezed orange juice which, in my opinion, was quite exy.

As always, the service at Envy was poor. It took a while to catch the waitstaff's eye and actually receive menus. But we were in no rush, and 30 minutes spent in a serene courtyard with orange juice was the perfect cure for my friend's hangover.

Envy, 109 Smith St, Summer Hill

Pasticceria Papa, Haberfield

 Coffee panacotta

Chocolate eclair

Last Sunday morning, before the sickness that has plagued me all week set in, I visited Pasticceria Papa for morning tea with a friend. I had all intentions of eating healthy but upon being confronted with a vast display of fresh cakes and pastries, I was never going to be able to refrain my sweet tooth. 

The Italian patisserie offers everything you can think of; cannoli, cornettos, custard donuts, ricotta tarts and vanilla slice being some of the offerings. And everything was so cheap! My gorgeous panacotta, which was so finely decorated and had a lovely coffee crumb amid the velvety custard, cost a mere $6. My friend's eclair was $2.50!

Apart from the display cabinet, the decor itself is a bit dull, as is with most cafes and patisseries of its size. I guess such places worry not so much about decoration as having enough seats for the swarms of people that visit each day.

The service was prompt but not very friendly. Again, the waitstaff were kept on their feet by the hungry Sunday morning crowds. 

Anyway, if you love Italian desserts this is definitely the place to go. The coffee is also decent and they serve gelato, if that's what tickles your fancy.

Pasticceria Papa, 145 Ramsay St, Haberfield

Buzzzbar Cafe, Newtown

 Vegan salad: hummus, chick peas, potatoes, tomatoes, mushroom, cucumber, capsicum and avocado ($15)

 Black and white mousse cake ($8.50)

Baked cheesecake ($8.50)

A couple of things to begin: 1) I have been sitting at my desk for 2 hours now; trying to chip away at my 500 university assignments and have managed to write one sentence. 2) I really need a new camera and apologise for the poor quality of these photos. I currently take all of my photographs using my phone (HTC Incredible S), which doesn't seem to be too fond of dimly lit rooms.

Last Saturday night, when the daylight was dwindling, a friend and I decided we wanted to go out for dinner. I have a list of places I have been dying to visit so did a ring-around to make a reservation. Of course they all had no tables available for the evening. So after hours of looking, I finally decided on Buzzzbar Cafe in Newtown. I had never heard much about it (be it either good or bad) but decided for the purposes of bringing to you all kinds of dining experiences that we may as well give it a go.

We arrived at the cafe/bar around 6.30pm and it was empty. This is never a great first impression. The waitstaff were friendly and showed us to a table and promptly gave us some water and menus. 

Although not a vegan, I ordered the featured salad. In its written form, the meal closely resembled a chick pea and lentil salad from Taste of Europe in Port Macquarie that I had always resorted to when I felt like healthy takeaway. My friend ordered Penne Bolognese ($16.50). We were going to order garlic bread as a starter had the waiter not informed us that all meals come with a side of garlic bread. He did however, continue to try and sell us another serve on the side. On the whole, the waitstaff seemed a bit pushy when it came to upselling (he later tried to sell us drinks, then coffee, then gelato). This is of course a waiter's job but, having worked in hospitality myself, you can usually tell when someone will or will not be open to ordering items at your suggestion.

Our meals came out rather quickly. My friend did receive spaghetti rather than penne but the staff quickly fixed this for him and were sincerely apologetic. He said the pasta was delicious and filling. My meals was massive and quite tasty, especially the marinated mushrooms. Nonetheless, it wasn't exactly anything special. The complimentary garlic bread was also a very nice touch and did not taste store-bought being made on crisp turkish bread, which was a refreshing change.

If anything, I would go to Buzzzbar for their desserts! They offer a page long menu of cakes, gelato and other pastries including flourless chocolate cake, chocolate truffle torte, a blueberry flan and the baked cheesecake and black and white mousse cake that we ordered (among other things). We both received very generous servings that were well priced at $8.50. The cheesecake was just like a cheesecake should be- rich, sweet and yet not too creamy (I have had some bad cheesecakes in my time). The different layers of mousse in my friend's cake were divine, and again, very rich. We couldn't decide which dessert we preferred, with each having very distinctive flavours. By the time we left, there were quite of lot of people who seemed to have this same idea- some scrumptious after dinner desserts.

In terms of decor, the place is not too fancy. It's very laid back with couches and an outdoor courtyard nestled in some stunning greenery.

Buzzzbar Cafe, 349 King St, Newtown