Oven Express and Zumbo macarons - what a combo

When I first saw my little cottage many years ago, I was entranced. It was – and still is – a perfect home, with a lovely renovated interior and a plot of low-maintenance garden for enjoying the sunshine. It also came with some high-spec, stainless steel appliances, including a shiny cooktop and a swish oven.

I didn’t realise at the time, but the oven wasn’t as spotless as it should have been. For a new-ish oven, it was pretty grotty, with a fine coating of grease that made me wonder what the previous owners had been cooking in it.  I suppose I could have cleaned it, but I wasn’t sure that there was any non-abrasive cleaning product that would get the gunk off.

Well, imagine my delight when Susan from Oven Express asked if I was interested in reviewing their oven cleaning service. Yes, please, with bells on!

Some details on the services available from Oven Express

1. How long does it take?

My oven cleaning took approx. 1½ hours. A very thorough cleaning, including removal of the oven door and inside racks to improve access to the inside of the oven . The racks are soaked in a tank in their van, with the water heated to 90C and this really gets the grease off. My oven door is double glass, and I was astonished that the cleaning technician, Rabin, managed scrape off the layer of brown haze on it. I can now see what’s cooking in the oven!

2. How much does it cost?

Prices for an an oven clean start from $160 for a standard 60cm oven. Oven Express also cleans barbeques (prices from $140). You can combine these with a rangehood or stovetop clean as well.

3. What areas do they service?

Oven Express has a number of technicians who service the Sydney metro area at the moment.

4. What type of cleaning products are used?

They use non-caustic, fume-free cleaning products. There was barely any smell while my oven was being cleaned. Afterwards, I left the oven to air out for a day before using it, and there was a bit of ‘cleaning’ smell when the oven was first turned on, but this dissipated after a few minutes. Also, the technician was very neat and orderly and didn’t make or leave any mess behind.

5. Would I recommend this service?

Yes, definitely. My oven is now like new and I enjoy using it more. I think an oven cleaning would be ideal if your oven isn’t cleaned regularly. I’m speaking from experience here. It would also be useful if your home is on the market and you don’t want to be embarrassed by potential buyers taking a peek in your oven and getting a shock (yes, I actually look in ovens; don’t you?)

Oven Express

Ovenexpress.com.au

Ph: 1800 325 773
Ooh, Look... blog received this oven cleaning service compliments of Oven Express.

Before: Gross, filthy, caked-on grease

During: Grease, begone!

After: Oh utter bliss, a clean oven.

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To celebrate having a nice clean oven, I dug out a packet of Adriano Zumbo Patissier Salted Caramel Macarons.

I'd bought this pack about a year ago and it was 2 weeks from its Best Before date. And I'd never made macarons before.

It sounded like a good idea at the time...

The pack contains meringue mix, almond meal, caramel and piping bags and macaron stencil. 

You whip the meringue mix (contains dried eggwhites) with water, then fold in the sieved almond meal. 

Then fill the piping bag with the mixture and pipe macaron shells (using the stencil traced onto baking paper first).

After baking the shells, beat some softened butter with the caramel to make buttercream.

Sandwich the macaron shells with buttercream and voila, salted caramel macarons!

So where did I go wrong? I didn't sieve the almond meal properly, resulting in grainy mix. The shells are really orange in colour because the pack was so close to expiry. I didn't pipe the shells big enough, so they look like melting moments made from doggy-do.

What's good about them? They have 'feet'. They taste alright. The buttercream is yummy. They look pretty good coming out of my beautifully clean oven.

Will I try making macarons again? Heck, yeah! They can't be any worse than this effort...!

Momofuku Seiōbo followed by Zonut Cronut

I booked a meal at momofuku seiōbo and survived.

And, no, it wasn’t that difficult – or I was just lucky – to get a spot for the day and time that I wanted. The occasion was the other half’s birthday, part two, with part one being the traditional dinner at Ocean Room (that meal was the 12-course degustation, good value and service).

To make a booking for momofuku seiōbo, you need to first set up an online account, which gives you access to all of the Momofuku restaurants around the world. Then, you go to the reservations site and try your luck at getting a table. Fortunately, the booking window is now 20 days ahead, so I was able to nab a table for lunch on a Saturday. And, really, it is luck of the draw, because when people cancel a booking, it comes back into the reservations system for someone else to get.

momofuku seiōbo is located at the back of The Star (casino), so if you’re feeling doubly lucky, you can try your luck at the casino tables beforehand. And, if you enter through the casino and you wear spectacles, the security staff there may give you a piercing look to check that you don’t have ‘smart glasses’ on.

The staff at momofuku seiōbo are much friendlier. Try and get a seat at the counter of the open kitchen so you can watch them put your meals together. However, it’s more like food arranging rather than food preparation, as not a lot of cooking takes place. This doesn't take away from the enjoyment of the experience, as the dishes are very prettily arranged by the chefs and then they bring it over and tell you what it is.

The food is exceptional: top quality, beautiful, clear flavours. The signature steamed pork buns are ethereally light, miles away from the mass-produced efforts of other local restaurants. Portion sizes are reasonable, though if you are particularly hungry, you may have to stop for a burger and chips on the way home… I took the Cronut route - see further down.

There seems to be a shift away from high-end fine dining in Sydney, what with the imminent closure of restaurants like Claude’s and Guillaume at Bennelong. What’s left if you want a special place for a celebration – Aria, Rockpool, Quay, Tetsuya? All in the CBD, interestingly, unlike the more hip places in Surry Hills, though the hipster joints do not seem to have the staying power of the fine diners.

momofuku seiōbo sits in between ‘hip’ and ‘high-end’, I think. You won’t feel out of place if you don’t wear a jacket and tie here, but it’s definitely not bistro or dude food. The overall vibe is ‘upper middle smart-casual’, despite the high price tag ($110 per person for the 8-course lunch). There is a 5-seat bar area that has a separate small menu (there was a tasty-looking terrine that seemed very popular when we were there), so they may be covering their bases in regard to the mid-to-high end of the dining scale. You don’t need to book for the bar, so maybe you could take a chance there if you don’t succeed in the momofuku seiōbo booking lottery.

 Smoked potato cream in a crisp shell, with apple jelly

 The momofuku Pork Belly Bun

 Striped trumpeter (fish) with celery leaves and mustard oil

Potato balls with mullet roe and parson's nose

Onion, various ways, with burnt leek and egg yolk (that's the round thing with black on top)

Eel dashi jelly with octopus and almond milk (my dish was missing the almond milk)

Striped trumpeter (again!) with fennel and dill

Pork neck, squash and kombu

It's very Intensive Care Unit in the open kitchen

Goat's curd with crushed blackcurrant and mint (two dishes, here. Looks like Eyes!)

Pear with honey cream and muntries (Australian native berries)

Petits Fours: Canelé, and caramel with kombu

Cheers, Angus.

Au revoir, momofuku seiōbo, I'll be back.

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And because I was not completely full after lunch at momofuku seiōbo, and because Adriano Zumbo's patisserie was just across the way...

I got a Zonut cronut to have a little later.

This flavour was Pina Colada. Tasted just like a finger bun, only greasy.

tomato zumbo

For a peek at 2 new cakes at Adriano Zumbo Patissier, click here

Includes 'Ring of Saturn' ($9) and the Tomato ($8!!!) that was on the SBS tv show.

Adriano Zumbo, TV and Ooh, Look... it's my birthday

You may have heard that Sydney's star patissier, Adriano Zumbo, has a new television show premiering on SBS on February 10.  I'm in 2 minds about this because I alternately love and hate Mr Zumbo.

How do I love thee, Adriano, let me count the ways:
 - Your cakes are so very photogenic
 - You are quite photogenic, too
 - Your patisserie is tantalisingly close to my house and I like to boast about it

Why I can't stand you (sometimes):
 - You make me spend so much money on something that makes me fat
 - You are so popular that I can no longer get into the store
 - The store is so small and service there is so slow (not really your fault but the staff do wear your name on their t-shirts).

That makes it even stevens, no?  I will be tuning in to the show, don't worry about that!

It also happens to be this blog's THIRD BIRTHDAY *release the streamers!!*

How's that for great timing?  I originally posted on Zumbo cake several times a week, hence the rapid weight gain in the early days, though the weight has recently, disturbingly, plateaued even though I'm no longer eating so much cake. 

Anyhoo, the focus these days is more on food that I like to prepare for dinner and dessert and poor ol' Zumbo has been relegated to my Tumblr blog, together with the cat.  I'm sure they are thrilled to be there.

Let me know if you are happy with this arrangement, though if you aren't I would not count on any more changes any time soon  - and this is a lead-in to the fact that my blog header here has changed. Or didn't you notice???  So (here's more stats) in the three years since this blog started, I have:
 - posted about Zumbo cakes more than 100 times
 - posted about 'other' cakes 12 times
 - presented over 100 recipes
 - started a craft blog (please visit it here, it's very colourful)
 - changed the header once
 - received thousands of wonderful comments from amazing and supportive readers - thank you all!

Finally, here's some eye candy for you, a kind of birthday present, in the absence of actual cake. Hope you like it!

And,
For most of the original Adriano Zumbo cakes I've blogged about, click here.
For more recent Adriano Zumbo cakes, including the latest Summer 2010 range, click here.

This is still the most bizarre creation:

Adriano Zumbo CakeWalk Summer 2010

 Tonight was the night that Adriano Zumbo Patissier unveiled his long-awaited Summer cake range, in an even longer-awaited Cakewalk.

It was held at Rosebud Restaurant and Bar in Rozelle, NSW. Over one hundred and fifty fans of the Adriano Zumbo Appreciation (facebook) page were quick to respond to the invitation and we tried to squeeze into the venue with the hope that the local occupational health and safety and fire departments were otherwise occupied.

The pretty models were part of the NSW Miss Country Girl pageant:

Fortunately, there lots of samples of the new range were provided for us to taste.  This made up for the incessantly long wait for the show to start.

 This licorice cake was gorgeously black. It had pop rocks inside.

{Flacco ref here}

Thanks for a great cakewalk parade.

Best of luck with the new range: It looks faaabulous, daarling!

The Summer 2010 cake range is released to the eager public on 23 November. I will brave the inevitable queues and bring you more of the range soon.

Adriano Zumbo Patissier is at 296 Darling St, Balmain, NSW

A little something for the weekend

One of the advantages of living near Adriano Zumbo's Patisserie is being able to sample the new creations as they arrive.

One of the disadvantages is sudden, unaccountable weight gain around the midriff area - muffin top, anyone?

Another disadvantage is that a 'new' Zumbo cake appears that you don't think you've had before, and it turns out to be a 'work in progress' - the original cake has evolved into something different, yet the same.

Here are two cases in point:

Still a great pear of.

The green icing has been replaced by a square of green marzipan and a candied almond.

What the?? This is the cake formerly known as 'Blackcurrant', now called 'Vitamin C'.

And it's covered in jester's hat spines that are actually blackcurrant-y macarons.  And I saw them and I ate them and liked them very much.

I have had some other new cakes as well, and you can see them here.

Cakes! Black Star-Cupcake Factory-Zumbo

While waiting for the new Zumbo cake range to hit the shelves, I did something traitorous different and visited some alternative cakeshops...

Firstly, Black Star Pastry in Newtown:

Black Star Pastry (277 Australia St, Newtown, NSW. Open Tue-Sun 7am-5pm) is a tiny patisserie/cafe with some seating outside on the footpath and a nice selection of cakes, pastries and pies inside the shop. 

The ginger ninja is the famed gingerbread guy that comes with or without a chocolate ninja suit - the countergirl said that the chocolate ninja was better, which is why I got two - neither lasted the trip home, with some damage to the ninja's nether regions being done while waiting at Newtown Station...

The gingerbread ninjas (about $4 each) were sublime, with a soft, almost creamy texture, and a 'just right' hit of ginger.

Also purchased and consumed were two canelles and a little Persian fig cake with quince and pistachios (approx $4).  The canelles (approx $3 each) were only alright, as they were a bit too cooked for my liking.  The Persian cake, on the other hand, tasted as sweetly inviting as it looked. 

Not much later, I ventured into the Cupcake Factory:

This Cupcake Factory outlet is just inside Balmain Mall (298 Darling St, Balmain, NSW), and right next door to the Adriano Zumbo Cafe Chocolat.  I'd imagine it is ideally located to get some of the overflow from the Zumbo cafe though on the times I've walked past, it's been mainly empty.

But how are the cupcakes?  Are we over cupcakes yet?? Not if they're as good as these!

The store is filled with mini cupcakes ($1 each) and normal cupcakes ($3.50 each), on cupcake holders and in a cabinet.  I like the thoughtful tissue-lined carrybox, too.

I bought the strawberry cupcake because its head of strawberry chocolate curls reminded me of Mrs Thurston Howell III's bathing cap.  The caramel cupcake was topped with lovely caramel-flavoured buttercream and a jersey caramel. Both cakes, incidentally, are moist and vanilla-flavoured, which counteracts the sweetness of the icing.

There are lots of other flavours to try, and it's an ideal place to grab a well-priced snack if you couldn't be bothered with the queues at Zumbo's.

Speaking of which, I haven't been backward in sampling the latest Adriano Zumbo (Winter 2010) range.  And here is something to whet your appetite:

This is Mandarin and Rose. 

Others that I've had (and enjoyed very much) are:

Wheelie Woman

Lola

I'll get back to you, Barry

Blackcurrant

Shabalicious

Ginger

Grains

Black Pearl 

Hommus

What a great pear of... (aka Pear Perfection from Junior MasterChef finale)

I will be updating my tumblr site with more Zumbo cakes as I try them. 

Please try and keep up!

Adriano Zumbo Winter 2010 Phoenix

Very excited I was this morning as I picked up a healthy breakfast of hot cross buns and pastries from Adriano Zumbo Patissier.  For in the glass case was a new cake.

Charles from the shop said it had only been invented 2 days ago, and he called it Phoenix.  On closer inspection, the cake looks slightly familiar, as are the flavours - raspberry biscuit with white chocolate creme.  Charles also said something about capsicum and chilli, but by this point I was pretty excited and didn't take it all in.  That's chilli powder on the top, though.  And silver leaf.

I haven't eaten this cake yet as I wanted to share it with you first. I'll let you know how it goes.
By the way, while waiting for the rest of the new season's cakes to arrive, there is a 'transition' range of cakes at Zumbo, consisting of lots of old favourites including Marry Me Ed, Dr Apple, Scuro and Tanzanie.  It's a wonderful opportunity to try them if you haven't already. 

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Update: Monday ('the day after')

Okay, so I've now eaten the Phoenix. 
On first taste, the vanilla coating reminded me of something, and, after much scouring of the dark, dim recesses of my memory (and this blog archive), it's this (the top of the V from Zumbo's Winter 2009 collection).
Inside the cake is a lovely red coloured log of jelly that is made of capsicum.  Sorry, I'd just eaten dinner, so I wasn't too keen on its antipasto flavour for dessert.
The rest of the cake was alright, and the biscuit base was a lot like a compacted friand, with raspberry bits.
So, Phoenix (or whatever it ends up being called) was above-average - not a raving success, but not bad, either.
Thank you and good night!

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Update:  May 2010 - Winter 2010 range has been launched.

For more on the Adriano Zumbo Winter 2010 range, click here.

And wouldn't you know it, the 'Phoenix' is nowhere to be seen!

Adriano Zumbo V8 cake - one is not enough

I mentioned previously that I was disappointed to miss out on Adriano Zumbo's "V8" cake. I am now welcoming to the site car enthusiasts searching for 'V8 supercars', or health nuts after 'V8 vegetable juice recipes'.  Hello to you if you are one of these mis-directed souls...

Anyway, to make up for the prior miss, here are TWO V8s (does that make them a V16?).  Because the other half came home with one, which he enjoyed so much he went and bought another one the next day.

The 'V' stands for Vanilla, and there are 8 layers of vanilla-flavoured goodness in this cake, including custard (creme patissier) and some other unidentified though delicious tiers.  You'd have to like vanilla to enjoy this one, and I do on both counts.

By the way, the second of these cakes is for Conor of Hold the Beef - the poor dear is over in Perth and does not have ready access to Zumbo delights. If you would like a cake dedicated to you, please drop me a line.  Vroom, vroom!

Update: July 2010 - The MasterChef aftermath

Yes, the now infamous V8 cake was featured in the MasterChef Australia 2010 finals. 
The hapless (lucky?) contestants were tasked with reproducing the 8 layers of vanilla in a spectacular, sweaty and teary contest.
The cake that Adriano Zumbo brought to the episode was a larger version of the V8 cake shown here.  And it had a more glossy vanilla glaze, topped with a tempered white chocolate flower.  The other layers are the same, though.

This smaller version of the cake was available at the Zumbo Patisserie in March 2010 (part of the summer range), where it was $8.50 per unit. There have been reports that a new version of V8 will be available for $150.  Let's hope it's a bit bigger than this one.

Adriano Zumbo's still at it - a not too shabby collection

Some more Adriano Zumbo cakes, including a couple of new mid-season releases:

The traffic cone-shaped  'Is anybody working' is very fragile.  It's a cone of wobbly mousse encased in bright orange crumbs.  I took one of these to a friend's house and it barely survived the journey.  It tasted alright, though.

'Not too s-h-a-b-b-y' is my favourite of this batch - the chocolate mousse is rich and smooth, and the cake looks so tall, dark and handsome.  I'd call this one 'Prince Charming'.

Another tart-based creation.  'La Premiere of Tom and Jerry' is a cacophony of flavours, though it's the almond mousse that dominates. The taste is reminiscent of Perkin's Paste - I felt like the class misfit that tried to get attention by eating the paste out of the jar...

'Pilgrim's Delight' is a not-so-delightful dome of strange-tasting cream topped with super-bitter burnt orange.  The best part for me was the praline crumbs and the cheesecake base, which I saved to eat last.

So, there are a couple of so-so cakes out of this lot.  I noticed a new vanilla layered cake called 'V8' when I was there with My Food Trail, but haven't seen it since... I want it, now!  Stay tuned to see if it turns up again.

Valentine’s Day at Adriano Zumbo

What is Valentine’s Day good for?

1. About 1 week after Christmas, department stores and gift shops are festooned with pink and red and glittery hearts – not good
2. It is the busiest day of the year for florists. The cost of flower deliveries skyrockets, as does the cost of (imported) red roses – not good
3. The classifieds publish love messages to ‘my cute Honeybunny’ from ‘your big Fluffywuffy’ – good for a laugh but not much else
4. In the week leading up to February 14th, Adriano Zumbo Patissier presents heart-shaped macarons and Valentines cakes – finally, a WIN!

The macarons in the store are a riot of colour, and beautifully packaged, to boot.

Some of the flavours I bought – they are pastel-y and subtle.

The Valentines cake is an extravaganza of strawberry jelly and hazelnut.

 
Have a sweet day, everyone!