Zumbolicious! The Master's Gateaux Secrets Unveiled

The menacing sky, rain slicing sideways and forbidding one-way streets couldn't stop three girls marching (in their work heels) into Adriano Zumbo's industrial kitchen in suburban Rozelle. This was the night. The night where the pastry god's secrets would be revealed...

Us? make this? right!

I had only initially discovered the tiny wonderland of Zumbo's offerings weeks ago. Since then I've been gushing about the wonderful sweet creations to anyone who dared come in my path.


I literally jumped when I saw the ad for this cooking class in Good Living, and it didn't take much convincing to get M&M and Coco Chanel to come along - they probably heard me talk about it so much that they wanted to see what the fuss was about!

The events of the night are masterfully captured here. I'll only add that this was what we were greeted with:
Charming right. You don't want to know how much of that was left by the end of the night!!

So without further adieu, Tuk Tuk Nothing revealed:

Coconut dacquoise in the making...

...cooling beside the oven...

Sandwiched and coated by Dean ta daa!

Chocolate Modena revealed:

Making the flourless dark chocolate meringue biscuits. From this...

..to this
Raspberry ganache in the making
The magic touch...

...da da daaaaa

et voila!!

And as if we hadn't pigged out enough in Zumbo's kitchen, not letting a morsel of scrap (or ingredient!) escape our path...


...the exhausted trio ventured down to Buchanen Street in Balmain, to sample what is claimed to be the best pizza in Sydney!

Rosso Pomodoro Pizza - tastes better atop a BMW

Yes, what a night!!

Adriano Zumbo (again)

Here tis: TRUFFLE MACAROONS!! tadaaa...(looks a bit like hamburgers in this foto!)Definite lingering truffle flavour long after the macaroons have disappeared...but a tad disappointed I must say as it had other overpowering flavours - an extra layer of chocolate biscuity bit that took away from the initial truffle taste. Not sure why it's there or necessary, perhaps to add to the weight of the macaroon..?


Now the highlight: the Charlotte O'Hara ($7) - ginger and vanilla bavarois, lime and fig goodness...every spoonful was a surprise and delight - I felt like I was Alice in Wonderland! I am definitely addicted to Zumbo's creations, and can't wait to try a different one next time!

My $84 passionfruit tart

My first food post! I'm dedicating this to Adriano Zumbo, my new favourite patissier. But you're probably wondering why a tart would cost $84? Let's say thank you to Balmain Council for my $79 parking fine. So it may be a little unfair to lump it with the pastry. But let me tell you - the exquisite taste of the tart combined with the joy of discovering this great shop has made every penny worth it!

I chanced upon this narrow Balmain establishment yesterday as I walked Tino up Darling Street. I hesitated about going in at first as it meant tying Tino up to a pole . But am I glad I did!
After much picking and choosing, I walked out with a passionfruit tart ($5, not pictured, as I didn't have my camera with me when I gobbled it up) six mini macaroons ($6.60, at $70/kg), two of each of the mandarin, rose, and passionfruit yoghurt. Unknowingly, I had spoken to the patissier himself who commented about the flavours he'll have next week, including a TRUFFLE one, which I am so going back for. The reason I didn't know it was him was because he was hanging around with a friend on the customer side of the counter, so I had initially assumed they were customers. When I asked the guy behind the counter about the unlabeled yellow macaroon, he informed me it was yoghurt-flavoured but Adriano corrected him: passionfruit yoghurt. It wasn't til I exited the store that I noticed a SMH clipping with his picture on it.

Anyway, onto assessment. I sampled three macaroons pretty quickly in my car partly to dilute the stress of finding the orange envelope slipped under the windscreen-wipers.

I tried the rose one first, as it was the one that appealed to me most in the shop. It didn't disappoint. Unmistakable rose flavour, crunchy exterior and soft, delectable filling. What a macaroon should be. Next most appealing was the mandarin-flavour. Texture-wise good, but the taste was a tad overwhelming for me. I had to restrain myself after the passionfruit (another gorgeous flavour) as I wanted to leave the other three to photograph when I got home.

Now the $84 passionfruit tart. Shared this with a friend over a cuppa. The watermelon pink jelly that protected the filling reminded me of, well watermelon, especially with the two passionfruit seeds laid artfully across the top. The zingy filling oozed out majestically as I unmajestically tried to scoop and share. Again, a delightful passionfruit taste. Crust was standard but did not distract from the main event, the filling. A masterpiece on all accounts.

Yes, worth every dollar.