A Zumbo Macaron

clockwise front: raspberry caramel, lime and mint mojito, cola, lemon verbena, caramelised pumpkin seeds and milk chocolate, chilli and cinnamon.

On a recent trip to Sydney my step son Daniel and his beautiful girlfriend Trish went macaron shopping at pastry chef extraordinaire Adriano Zumbo's Balmain store. Daniel returned to Melbourne laden with pastries and boxes of macarons. 

Daniel and Trish

Goodness all the macarons were incredibly good and the perfect example of what a macaron should be. With super thin crisp shells yielding to soft and chewy interiors and "oh, the fillings" well, lets have a look at the flavours.... 

Raspberry Caramel; this reminded me of something from childhood, perhaps the caramelised jam at the bottom of jam pudding?  I, who doesn't like caramel usually loved this one. There is the traditional "burnt sugar" taste to these and the punch of raspberry from the not overly sweet jam like filling.

Lime and Mint Mojito; Daniel and Trish's favourite flavour... and my husband was quiet taken with these too. The strongest colour and flavour of all macaron's we tasted, a clear burst of lime followed by a fresh mint flavour. Bit "sparkly" and pretty these ones :)

Cola; Yes, it tasted like "cola". Nice colours, we all liked it with Daniel commenting he would have liked the cola flavour to be more pronounced. 

Lemon Verbena; Who would have thought?? After 18 years of marriage my husband and I finally agreed on something!! We both voted the unassuming, pale leafy green macaron our "favourite". Beautifully balanced flavour and it is was refreshing and creamy at the same time.

Caramelised Pumpkin Seeds; Voted "ok" by all of us. They weren't awful, but they weren't a "stand out" like some of the other flavours. 

Milk Chocolate Chilli and Cinnamon; These were "yum", just the right amount of heat in these babies, contrasting with the creaminess of the milk chocolate filling. If I was only to buy one flavour to serve at a party/dinner these would it. Fun and delicious.  

We also tried a few individual tarts, including 'Grandma's soap' a lavender concoction comprising of blueberry compote, fresh blueberries, lavender chantilly & almond cème. The classic passionfruit curd and and pâte sucrée and the fab 'Whizz Fizz'...

Inside the Whizz Fizz tart with it's raspberry meringue, sherbet, raspberry compote, liquorice crème. This was "Wow!!". The pastry in all the tarts is so good and unlike any pâte sucrée I've tasted before, my goal for 2012 is to emulate, that taste, texture and flavour.

Well, it's a big week for Adriano Zumbo with his new store opening at Star Casino. If your in Sydney you must go check it out. 

Oh, don't forget it's Zumbo's MACARON day this Sunday... go with an empty belly and fill up on the plethora of fabulous flavours. Get all your updates for the day straight from Zumbo's website, browse the patisserie menu whilst there.  Zumbo 

Happy Baking :) 

I'll looking at the Zumbo cookbook in up coming weeks but for now you might be interested in; Daniel's review of Lindt's Chocolate Cafe  

or a review of the Laurent Patisserie 

Blue Heaven, have we grown up?

 

 blue heaven milkshake and raspberry and vanilla macarons 

Join me on facebook

When I was experimenting with fruit loop cupcakes this week I was surprised to hear how many adults still start their day with a bowl of fruit loops! I fell into the other camp of "oh, they so sweet and artificially coloured!" I can't believe I ever ate them".  Ha! This was as I bit into my artifically coloured and very sweet macaron.

I wondered if any of us really grow up at all? Are macarons the fruit loops for grown ups?

Whether it's a pink frosted cupcake, purple macaron or that spearmint green ice-cream cone you like so much, chances are it's the artificial colour that attracted you and the sugary sweet taste that soothes your inner child. 

'Blue Heaven' milkshakes are an Aussie icon, I loved the blue milky frothiness  as a child and had absolutely no idea what flavour they were. Recent taste testing in our house led to guesses of vanilla/strawberry, vanilla/pineapple, berries; no one had the same answer so I rang McKenzie's the manufacturer of the syrup during the week to find out "What flavour is Blue Heaven" and the answer is... Vanilla Raspberry.  

If you are having a retro moment and are planning on serving milkshakes to adults, try going "small" with the serving size; a stomach full of milk loses some of it's appeal as an adult. Baby food jars are perfectly sized for job, as we have no baby at home I buy the apple puree and use the puree in cake recipes. 

Glass baby food jars perfect for milkshakes, mini layered desserts right through to baked chocolate custards.

That's it for today, happy Baking :)

you might also be interested in Raspberry Marshmallow