Lygon St, The Little Italy Of Melbourne

I am slowly going to make my way through my Melbourne trip which occurred early August so that was a while back! One of our nights there, my friends and I decided to explore the Little Italy of Melbourne. Café Corretto was definitely one of the busiest Italian restaurants along Lygon St though to be fair, many of the restaurants were overflowing with customers. We waited for around half an hour before we were seated so I suggest you get there early if you plan on not waiting around!

Blue Heaven, $5.00

We noticed they had a drinks section dedicated solely on spiders and we clapped our hands in glee upon noticing the name blue heaven. Instant order! Turned out to be lemonade with blue flavouring, but I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it. I like spiders way too much! Yes, I will forever be a child.

Cardinale, entrée size for $13.00

This would have to be my second time trying gnocchi and I have to tell you all that I think I’ve fallen in love. The pasta is all freshly made in store and these little potato-y pasta gems were so soft and wonderfully pillowy I felt like I was eating clouds. It was very different from the slightly chewy version I had at Black by Ezard. The cream sauce was incredibly rich and indulgent but the hint of the tomato based Napoli sauce made it lighter and not as heavy from the repetitive flavour that you sometimes get from sauces based solely on cream. Chicken pieces were scattered thoughout, along with avocado pieces which were cooked. Can’t say I’m the biggest fan of cooked avocado in general, but give it to me raw and I can eat it any day! The serving sizes were also huge where my guy friends struggled to finish their mains serving size :P

Café Corretto
225-227 Lygon Street
Carlton, VIC, 3053

Opening Hours
Sunday - Thursday: 11:30am - 1:00am
Friday - Saturday: 11:30am - 3:00am


 
Just down the road is Brunetti - a cafe with the biggest Italian dessert selection I have ever seen. Cakes, biscuits, cannoli, cookies, more cake! It was everywhere! The display wowed me and I was overwhelmed by choices. Thanks to A for introducing this place to me, you fellow Melbourne-sider! The cafe was extremely busy and popular from the looks of it and completely packed. Service was hard to snag at the counters due to the crowds of people so it took a while to let them know of our selection choices and to order.

Pear & cheese crumble, $6.50

I was blown away by what was essentially a cheesecake with a twist. The poached pears and blackberry jam lent this slice of cheesecake a sweetness and juiciness that toned down the richness of the cheesecake. Of course, the choc chip biscuit base totally threw all that out the window, but I must say, the base of a cheesecake is one of the things I love most :P

Dolce amore, $6.90

Isn't this the cutest cake? My friends and I were enticed into ordering this slice because it looked like a strawberry. It was just too cute to resist. It was a light cake, with a soft coconut sponge that encased a strawberry confit and strawberry cream interior with a red velvet mouse surrounding it all.

Lemon brulee tart, $6.50

We were tossing up between the lemon meringue tart and the lemon brulee, with the latter winning because I do love myself a nice crunchy toffee top. However, I found this slightly a bit too tart without a sugary meringue cloud to balance it out. I do love lemon, however this was a bit too much. Not to say it wasn't a nice tart though!

Raspberry & white chocolate opera, $2.00

There are also bite sized options for those who have difficulties choosing from the range they have to offer and want to try a bit too much of everything or for those who haven't quite managed to activate their emergency dessert stomach. This was a nice option, with raspberry and white chocolate being a classic dessert flavour pairing however, it was nothing special.

New York baked cheesecake, $2.00

This was the pick out of the mini desserts though! The little slice was deceivingly rich and creamy with the wonderful denseness that you can only achieve through baked cheesecakes. Ah good old cheesecake, you always win me over, time and time again.

We stumbled back to our humble student accommodation, our stomachs filled to the brim. Trust the Italians to know how to feed us!

Brunetti
380 Lygon St
Carlton, VIC, 3053

Opening Hours
Sunday - Thursday: 6:00am - 11:00pm
Friday - Saturday: 6:00am - 12:00 midnight

Pasticceria Papa 2, Haberfield

Turning the big two-zero yesterday, I waved goodbye to my teenage years. How sad! Doesn't mean I can't act immature still :P I suppose I'm meant to be a year wiser, but I sure don't feel that way. What I do know is that I still have my love for sweets and my father dearest spoilt me rotten with a trip to Pasticceria Papa! While I absolutely adore their baked ricotta cheesecake, I decided to try something else this time around.

Blueberry cheesecake, $26.00 / various Italian biscuits and pastries, a bit over $20.00

My dad said we were going to pick out a cake, but once we were there, he encouraged me to pick out a whole range of biscuits and pastries too! They were all so delicious. The apple crumble had such a lovely crisp covering sweet stewed cinnamon-y apples underneath and the ricotta tart was so creamy, soft and fluffy at the same time. Those two sitting at the top were especially good mm.

The cheesecake was also divine. I could eat cheesecake all day ;) But clearly not possible as I would balloon up and resemble a lump of cheese haha!

If any of you are ever in the Haberfield area, I definitely encourage you all to pay a visit to Pasticceria Papa and try out their delicacies over a hot cup of coffee!

Pasticceria Papa
145 Ramsay St
Haberfield, NSW, 2045
9799 9631
http://ppapa.com.au/

Opening Hours
Monday - Friday: 8:00am - 6:00pm
Saturday: 7:30am - 5:00pm
Sunday:7:30am - 1:00pm

Chocolates Del Mondo, Burwood

For the past week, I've been having the biggest craving for a good cheesecake for some reason. So what a perfect time to try out a new chocolate cafe other than going to Max Brenner! I've been wanting to go to Chocolates Del Mondo ever since it opened last year but have put it off until now.

I was very excited upon seeing the large display cabinet of cakes and tarts that they had!

Forrero Rocher shake, $7.95

We ordered a shake as it was quite a warm day, and it was very refreshing and cooling. This definitely tasted like Ferrero Rocher, though I thought it was a bit too runny. I enjoyed it all the same regardless.

Lime and coconut cheesecake, $8.95

Sorry, wasn't told how much these two cakes cost individually, but together it was $17.90. This was quite an odd concoction with lime jelly on top of a coconut cheesecake. I thought the lime was a bit too tart and it didn't quite work that well with the cheesecake which disappointingly had that coconut essence flavour which I find to be too fake and not to palatable on my tongue. The swirl of chocolate definitely made it look more pretty but I failed to see how it was necessary as it didn't correlate with the flavours of lime and coconut at all.

Baked blueberry and ricotta cheesecake, $8.95

I had higher expectations for this one as I love blueberry and that crumble on top looked quite lovely! But unfortunately the ricotta cheesecake itself was quite dry and had a grainy texture. The only flavour came from the crumble and the blueberries that were directly under it. The rest of the cheesecake didn't have much flavour at all.

Considering how much we paid, I was expecting better quality cakes but unfortunately they fell short. Alas, I probably would have been better off buying a frozen Sara Lee cheesecake from my local Woolworths freezer. Cheaper at that too. Definitely not what I was expecting when I had such high expectations too. I was pretty happy about having a local chocolate cafe to frequent, but I don't think I would be going back any time soon :( Maybe for the drinks?

Does anyone have a favourite cheesecake at any cafes to recommend to me? :)

Here are the menus if anyone is interested.

Morena, Surry Hills

Managed to score a deal for high tea at Morena for $23 per person so of course I dragged the sister with me :)

We managed to get service all to ourselves today. Thursday lunches are apparently not very busy!

It definitely felt like one of the nicer places to dine at when we entered. First time trying Peruvian cuisine! Service was very friendly and helpful. I guess it does help that we were the only ones there ;)

Coco leaf tea

I think I prefer Chinese green tea - it delivers a much stronger flavour.

Savouries board

I am going to be honest here and say that I wasn't quite sure what this was :( They were fritters of some sort but I am unfamiliar with the flavour. I think it was cassava and there were dried olives on top. I enjoyed it nonetheless though.

Mushroom frittata with avocado cream and sun-dried tomatoes

This was a really good frittata! I really do love my egg. The avocado cream had a good douse of lemon which gave it the frittata element of tartness when combined with the sundried tomatoes.

Alpaca burgers and pork crackling

Mm, pork crackling... So crispy! One of the best pork cracklings I've had :D Onto the alpaca meat - who has actually eaten alpaca meat? It was reminiscent of camel and beef, but definitely juicier than camel meat. The buns were soft and slightly sweet, balancing the gerkin-like sauce and roasted onion. Good burger!

Dessert board

Hello sweets!

Chocolate cups with rice pudding and kirsch cherries

Chocolate is chocolate which is always good :) The rice pudding made these bite-sized morsels super creamy!

Tres leches cake with nutmeg roasted pineapple and a dusting of chocolate powder

I have been wanting to try tres leches cake for the longest of times and this was a damned good one! Super dense, sticky, and amazingly sweet from the cake soaked in three types of milks (evaporated, condensed and whole) - it was very decadent indeed. The texture was not what I was expecting at all! I wonder if all tres leches cakes have this texture?

Peruvian caramel with gooseberry compote, mini meringues and crumble

I would have to say that this is my favourite out of the three though. Not the prettiest of desserts, but we've learnt by now not to judge a book by it's cover right? The caramel was almost like an intensely soft yet thick custard which wasn't as sweet as I thought it'd be and when eaten with the buttery crumble and tart gooseberry compote, it just went together so well! I absolutely loved how the caramel seemed to melt/dissolve in my mouth. It was very therapeutic.

Have any of you tried Peruvian cuisine? If so, do tell me about your experiences!

Morena
425 Bourke St
Surry Hills, NSW, 2010
0405 902 896

Opening Hours

Lunch
Friday-Sunday: 12:00-3:00pm

Dinner
Tuesday-Sunday: 6:00pm until late

Eats lately via iPhone

Sorry I've been MIA for a while! I'm currently doing Chinese at summer school and boy is it intense. So many characters to learn and so little time. Not to mention getting the tone and pronunciation right... But it doesn't mean I haven't been eating :P

Burnt butter gelato, $6.00

With all the hot weather going on lately, gelato has been a must! This burnt butter one reminded me much of salted butter caramel.. Mm, so good.

Check out the mountainous claw of gelato! The perks of bumping into a friend who works there :P

N2 Extreme Gelato
43-1 Dixon St
Haymarket, NSW, 2000

Happy birthday cake, $9.00

As with all of Adriano Zumbo's cakes, this one was incredibly rich. How could it not be with a flourless chocolate biscuit, chocolate sabayon mousse, chocolate brownie, milk chocolate chantilly and passionfruit glaze? Definitely delicious though! But I think my heart lies with the V8 ;)

From L to R: candy cane, johnny walker, citrus, salted butter caramel, & salted butter popcorn, $2.50 each

Wasn't the biggest fan of the candy cane, Johnny Walker or citrus (which had gone soggy) but salted butter caramel and salted butter popcorn have always been favourites of mine at Zumbo!

Adriano Zumbo Pattisier
80 Pyrmont St
Pyrmont, NSW, 2009

Clockwise from top: coconut, maple, & fruit salad fairy floss

I bought these on a deal website for $5.00 (I think?) each with $10.00 shipping. It definitely is interesting trying new flavours, especially gourmet, artisan fairy floss! If anyone is interested, Spun Fairy Floss has stores around Sydney.

Iced tea and scone with jam & cream

I finally made a trip to the Tea Cosy with a few of my high school girls to catch up. And my, this apple and cinnamon scone was absolutely delicious! So fluffy and with the home made jam plus cream, I fell in love with scones all over again. Must visit this place again!

The Tea Cosy
33 George St
The Rocks, NSW, 2000

San churros signature classic Spanish hot chocolate, $5.95

This was a different experience having a hot chocolate this thick! I really did love it, but nearing the end of the cup I was finding it a bit too thick and a bit too sweet. Great in smaller doses though! And maybe not after a huge meal, like I had...

Choclateria San Churros
2-10 Darling Dr,
Sydney, NSW, 2000

Khao nieaw sangkaya, $4.00

Sticky rice steamed with coconut cream and palm sugar accompanied with a steamed coconut custard? Yes, please!

Chat Thai
20 Campbell St
Haymarket, NSW, 2000

Volcano sushi

Couldn't resist snapping a photo of this extremely pretty volcano sushi dish we managed to nab on a sushi train. So much cream cheese!

Kz's Sushi Experience
59 Burwood Rd
Burwood, NSW, 2134

Grilled lamb salad, $22.90

This salad really did win my heart. It was amazing of all sorts! There were so many elements yet they all seemed to work together. The sweetness from the pumpkin and beetroot, cous cous for texture, baby spinach for our daily dose of greens (and iron!), walnuts for crunch, lamb for protein and a delicious mint and coriander dressing. Too good.

Blackbird Cafe
Harbour St
Sydney, NSW, 2000

Banana Bread

Funny thing is when I was young, I used to hate bananas. And when I say hate, I mean absolutely despise them. While I love my grandpa to bits, he used to always try to get me to eat the weirdly textured, awful tasting fruit trying to enlighten me about the great nutrients it has. He never really did convince me to eat them.

Fast forward a decade and now I eat bananas most days strangely enough. Amusing how things turn out don't they? On the other hand, my boyfriend sees bananas at the enemy (don't worry, you don't have to eat this banana bread!) but that's not a problem - more for me!

This banana bread is awesome fresh out of the oven. Cut through the crunchy top and you will be rewarded with a soft fluffy crumb that will have you coming back for more. The best thing is that banana bread recipes require old bananas that are spotty so you can get rid of them before they go bad!

A question I have for you, dear reader, is have you ever thought about why banana bread is categorised as 'bread'? I think it's to trick us into thinking we aren't devouring cake when in actual fact, we really are ;)

Banana Bread
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients

3 medium-large bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted salted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cup of flour

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C.

2. Mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl.

3. Beat in sugar, egg and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and stir in.

4. Add the flour and mix until thoroughly incorporated.

5. Pour batter into a greased 10 x 20cm loaf pan.

6. Bake for 50 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

7. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve. Eat!