Like macarons, cupcakes are one of the latest crazes as the different colours, flavours and decorations tend to stop traffic when walking past a bakery window. Franchise cupcake stores are booming and what I think they’ve forgotten about is going back to basics where flavour does matter and its not just about the pretty decorations on the top.

I was given an opportunity to review Bronze winner of the 2010 Sydney Royal Fine Food Show which shows a “perfect example of what a cupcake should be about!” It should be about the frosting / icing / butter cream which takes you on a journey and leaves you salivating once unwrapped and demolished. It’s about being cute.. soo cute you wouldn’t want to ruin its decorative beauty and most importantly.. its about the consistency of the cake mix (moist, soft, and tasty stumps).

“no point eating a cupcake..
that has a dry lifeless stump”

After you see the photos I’ve taken, I hope you’ll understand how tasty these cupcakes are. Gertie & Gilbert’s cupcakes are a frosting / creamy icing cupcake which wins hands down in terms of its natural flavour and it’s super soft moist cake.

Heavenly Hazelnut
Chocolate and nuts are a match made in heaven and my favourite nut of all is hazelnuts! Eating this reminded me of a Ferrero Roche ball (if you love Ferreros you’ll have try this one). The coconut added created a lovely texture almost reminding me of a lamington YUMMM!!!! This is truly a cupcake that ticks all the right boxes and sends you to another planet.

Luscious Lemon
Frosting on this is different to the rest. Its has traditional icing with the zesty bite of lemon MMmmm! What I loved most was the combination of pistachios throughout the stump which went well with the lemony icing.

[..Continue reading about the other cupcake flavours..]

There’s going to be a million food blogs with entries about the taste of Sydney food event so i’m getting straight to the point by topics based on the following categories:

1. Bomb-ass favourites
2. Moan like its hot
3. I’m battling, please help me
4. Fill me up buttercup
5. Bringing old skool back

Bomb-ass favourites

Guillaume at Bennelong
All up we ordered about 6 of these some (Jas), (Aud), (M) went back for seconds. That’s freaking good this dish was. Beef was soo tender it melted in your mouth. I’m sure Guillaume will be proud to know how popular this this dish was.

Dank St Depot
Ribs without the bone… Jared you genius! last thing we wanted to do was use our fingers to pick it up and chew on. Smoky flavour made you fall in love with it instantly. Beef was extremely tender and the watermelon salad with avocado hit all the right notes.

Flying Fish
Last year flying fish had an amazing fish curry and this year they had prawn! Considering how good it was last year I couldn’t say no. Prawns were huge and portions were generous match made in heaven if you love curry and a bit of spiciness

Moan like it’s hot

This is not your average souffle. Its not one that deflates immediately (thank god). Instead its soo light and fluffy almost like having dark chocolate mousse. Only difference is, this seriously made me moan I got a lot of shit for making too many noises when seriously it was the BOMB!!! either that or i blame it on my menstrual cycle for craving chocolate haha

Restaurant Balzac – Warm chocolate fondant
My moan-o-meter didn’t reach embarrassing levels like the chocolate souffle did but hey it was right up there! Looks like a cup filled with melted ice-cream but hey it was friggen awesome. Another one for chocolate lovers!

I’m battling, please help me

Marque
(Aud) and (Jas) were battling to eat this. The look on their faces as they were struggling to eat this raised alarms.

Fill me up buttercup

Flying Fish – Yellow fin tuna
Gotta admit, the presentation of this dish is fully-pimped. Would have loved to have a bit more pork crackle but I guess cant be greedy. Previously had this dish @ Flying Fish, Denarau (read entry)

Jonah’s at Whale Beach – Fries with eyes
Considering i don’t suck the brains out of a prawn head.. I thought this was really good considering head and all was deep-fried. At first I was hesitant but soon found myself eating these quickly like a bag of hot chips.

Bird Cow Fish -  Beef cheek and grazed onion pie
There is no way anyone could say NO to a pie that has a pie top looking like that.Definitely one of those dishes you refuse to share with anyone… face it, we’re all greedy when it comes to really good puff pastry.. (I know i am)

Aria – slow roasted Moran family spit roast
Every time i hear the word “Moran” I think of Matt’s signature dessert on Masterchef, or the Moran brothers in underbelly ! couldn’t get over the amount of lamb piled on. On the base of the bread seemed to be cranberry / quince like texture… Lamb boy (J) couldn’t resist the sight of meat before his eyes, he attacked this stall as soon as we entered the grounds

Buon Ricordo – Fagottini di carne
If they call this a homemade sausage.. it was sooo god damn huge. Big and thick enough to hit someone over the head and give them a concussion! Typical bloke dish (meat, meat and more meat)

Balzac – Crispy Wagyu beef
Fancy spring roll as I like to call it Last year balzac had a similar wagyu beef roll which was really good. Which explains why its back and been revamped with wild mushroom truffle foam. *drool* a thumbs up by (Aud) & (Jas)

Guillaume at Bennelong – crab sandwich
If only high tea replaced the boring cucumber sandwiches for blue swimmer crab. I can dream can’t I? hehe

Berowra Waters Inn – Quail breast
Truffled risotto with a golden croustillant (crispy) coating with quail breast.. who would say no to this one..

All things sweet

Bird Cow Fish – Tiramisu roulade
Rolled tiramisu! Imagine new grass about to be laid on a a field or a jam scroll. That’s exactly how the layers are created with this tiramisu with a side sticky gooey caramel. Now that’s something you don’t see every day! Texture is extremely spongy and the mascarpone oozes out once stabbed with a fork.

Flying Fish – Love Cake
The name of this dessert makes me think  your meant to serve this to someone special your trying to impress.. a new date? an old flame? bomb-ass chick your wanting to woo your charm with? Unfortunately none of this McLovin’ wooed me off my feet. I think chocolate is the way to winning a girls heart to me its an aphrodisiac of winning brownie points haha.

Texture was similar to Ellie’s awesome crack pie only difference is Ellie’s pie is deliciously addictive

Pilu at Freshwater – Sardinian donuts
Sardinian donuts what the hell is that?? (M) being so curious when it comes to food, she just had to put herself out of misery and try it. Unfortunately she was disappointed, outside was nice and crunchy the inside was plain dough in the middle :(

Berowra Waters Inn – Cheesecake foam
Creamy lemony cheesecake in a cup with jelly and fruit.. perfect for a hot summers day

Guillaume at Bennelong – macarons
After sampling 60 macarons at Adriano Zumbo’s launch last year (read entry), I’m afraid to admit i’m still traumatised by the sight of macarons. As pretty as these looked in their pastel colours, i still couldn’t bring myself to biting one of these. =(

Bringing old skool back

Last year taste of sydney saw a couple of familiar dishes which were back at this years event. Was it just as good as last years event?? I’ll let you decide ^_^ (see photos from last years taste of sydney)

1.Restaurant Balzac
Last year Blazac had a big success with this dish (saddle of suckling pig). Did it live up to its standards? It sure did (Jas) & (Aud) loved it saying it was one of his favourites for this year.

2. Plan B
Last year the boys (B) & (J) loved these burgers soo much they went back for thirds. This year the boys were really disappointed with the meat patty =( I have to admit last years burger looked heaps good (see 2009 taste of sydney photos)

Boozin’ in the sun

One thing I love about these festivals is boozing in the sun and getting all red faced. I know taste of sydney is an expensive event considering its easy to spend about $100+ in a couple of hours. I always end up leaving satisfied considering food is great and its about having fun with friends and family.