My Baking Repertoire

The following is a collection of things I have baked so far in 2012. I am constantly challenging myself and I am desperate for improvement!

Baguette - Still trying to work on a lighter, fluffier texture

Chocolate Pound Cake

Red Velvet Cupcakes (prior to frosting)

Red Velvet Cake with delicious cream cheese frosting

Leche Flan - a classic of mine!

Pistachio Caramel Easter Egg Slice

Cheese Soufflé

Intensely rich chocolate cake for my dog
Teddy and his brother Robbie's
1st birthday in April 2012

Chocolate Soufflé

Mango Chiffon Cake with buttercream icing
Mother's Day May 2012

The biggest challenge of them all - my husband's 29th
birthday cake! My very first time using fondant. It was a
double choc-chip choc-fudge cake. The F1 car is based
on Paul's favourite driver, Jenson Button's car.

It took several attempts to get the F1 logo dimensions right

Vanilla Angel Food Cake with Chantilly Cream

My very first attempt at macarons
I invented this flavour: strawberry macarons with a
dark chocolate ganache filling

Hazelnut meringue cake with strawberries
and cream and chocolate ganache

My Second Wedding Anniversary

For our second anniversary we spoiled ourselves and it was all about food and wine! Yes, we paid another visit to a place we love, the Hunter Valley in NSW - but not before we had dinner at Quay on the actual date of our anniversary :)

(Diet starts tomorrow)

We stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel in Sydney
on the night of our anniversary. I bagged all
the L'Occitane toiletries to take home of course.

Our delicious dinner at Quay with our 2 best friends

Amuse bouche: marron with abalone

Snapper in Oyster & Seaweed Consommé

Quay's Eight Texture Chocolate Cake

Petit Fours

My view to the left from our table. I had a view of the Opera House to the right

2 years and still blissfully married :)

Watching the sunrise from our hotel room at Four Seasons.
Was too excited (about going to the Hunter Valley) to sleep ;)

Even after the decadent dinner at Quay I was
starving the next morning! Being not so
healthy at Pancakes on the Rocks.

My first stop in the Hunter Valley was to
get a cupcake from Froggies Patisserie

Next anniversary dinner: degustation with matching wines at Emerson's
Carpaccio of Kingfish

Deeeeeeelicious pork belly - the stick was pork crackling!

My sunrise view of the Brokenback mountain range from
our cottage at Broken View Estate

There were lots of kangaroos in our backyard
near the Broken View Estate vineyards

High Tea at Tower Lodge - I just adored the
décor of this establishment.
It had an Old World-Spanish Villa feel.

Our favourite place in the Hunter Valley and our favourite restaurant
of all time (worldwide!) Hungerford Hill winery (the left building)
and Muse Restaurant (on the right)

My favourite dish of the degustation - seared Canadian scallops
It was served to us with a dome of cold butter covering the entire dish
which melted by the time we were ready to cut into it.

A special treat for us from the kitchen :)

OK, so we had to come back the next day for lunch!

Turkish bread with a trio of dips

I would come here even if all they sold were these DELICIOUS fries

Banana & Caramel Meringue Tart with Pecan Ice Cream

Like I said, diet starts tomorrow.

The Fat Duck

Well first of all let me say how difficult it is to get a booking for Fat Duck! Paul made the booking in around September 2011 and he didn't get a table right away. Fortunately we got placed on a reserve list and received a pleasant phone call one evening! I was simply over the moon to find out we would be going on the actual day of my 27th birthday (January 17th).

The Fat Duck is in a quaint town and you wouldn't think it was an international top 10 restaurant just walking by. The restaurant was heavily staffed - interestingly none of them sounded English; they seemed to have very thick European accents. So I'll shut up now and move onto the food :)

Aerated Beetroot with Horseradish Filling

I was a sucker for the use of dry ice!
This was to create the feeling of being in woodlands.

Snail Porridge

Roast Foie Gras - AB-SO-LUTE-LY DEEEELICIOUS

Mock Turtle Soup (from the Mad Hatter's Tea Party)
There was a pocket watch made of gold foil which the waiter dissolved into the soup.

My favourite dish - Sounds of the Sea
There was an iPod shuffle in each of our shells playing soothing ocean sounds!

This was weird to eat: sashimi with seaweed, "sea foam" and "sand" made of tapioca.
Listening to the ocean sounds simultaneously made me feel like I was at the
beach getting dumped by a wave!

Roast venison with beetroot puree and yes, BRUSSELS SPROUTS

Risotto of spelt and umbles - one of my favourites of the courses

BFG - Black Forest Gateau

Gummy candies made of different whiskeys

The sweets came in an old-fashioned striped candy bag but I was way too full to eat them so I took it home!

This was the cherry on top...

A birthday card for me signed by Heston Blumenthal!!
I love my husband :)