UK 7 - The Magical Place

This pretty post is dedicated to my magical niece, Tickly Pickly. We shared way too much sugar and giggles at this, The Magical Place.

Once upon a now, in a land far far away, there is a place. A very special place.

A place so special it's known across the land.

A place where the air is full of sugar, giggles and wonderful sighs. Where pale pinks, yellows, and mauves come to dream.

Whispers...it's a place where the yummiest of cupcakes in the whole wide world are made.

Primrose Bakery.

It's the prettiest of shops in a pretty little street in the prettily named suburb, Primrose Hill.

Afternoons are whiled away sipping tea and tasting treats - Strawberry & White Chocolate Cupcakes (my favourite), Lime & Coconut Cupcakes, Melting Moments, crumpets with dripping butter, Earl Grey Cupcakes, Vanilla Cupcakes (both big and small), all with delicate not-too-sweet pale icing and wonderful melt-in-your-mouth-ness.

Very good little girls (and boys) are taken by their mummies (and daddies) and Aunty Supergals to delight in the splendid pleasures of an afternoon of cupcake goodness (I also saw more than 1 construction worker partaking!).

Primrose Bakery is the only place to indulge in cupcakes in a city overgrown with cupcake shops...it's a slice of heaven sprinkled with icing sugar, just like its Victoria Sponge (another personal favourite).

Even the naughty elixir, coffee, is good in this whimsical cupcake palace.

And for sharing with other good boys and girls, or for your own mouthwatering pleasure, you can exchange money for a pretty box of your chosen jewels to take home with you.

Giggle. I tasted almost everything in the shop...and it was all...MAGICAL.

Sigh.

Primrose Bakery
69 Gloucester Avenue
Primrose Hill

UK 6 - It's a Macaroon-Off!!!

The controversy began as soon as I opened my mouth about Laduree.

I was recounting my London Princess Week (see UK 1 post) to sis, Chanel, who, as soon as I hit the Harrods Laduree Cafe, almost exploded with excitement..."There's a new macaroon in town. Better than Laduree."

Hmmmmmm....I thought. Better than Laduree??? Doubtful.

I mean, how on earth can anything be better than those delicate morsels of crunchy-on-the-outside-gooey-on-the-inside macaroons sandwiched together with voluptuous ganaches?? After all, Laduree is the founder of this very special "double-decker" type of macaroon.

Now, Chanel is a woman of fine taste - she really does know her stuff - so an investigation of this "newbie", Pierre Herme was in order. Pierre Herme has only one location in the UK, in the foodhall at Selfridges. Selfridges is a very very fine department store in the UK - modern and oh-so-chic! I know the foodhalls well...so off I went, hunting.

OH MY.

OH DOUBLE MY.

I'll stop us here sportsfans to explain the pics above. Pic 1 and 2 are the famous Laduree macaroons. Pics 3 & 4 are the new-kids-on-the-block, Pierre Herme macarons (yep, these guys use the french word, macarons - only one "o" - very posh!).

Both brands look beautiful, both packagings are beautiful, but right off the bat I detected a difference. Looking at packaging, shop layout and flavour offerings, it was clear that Laduree takes a very traditional approach, while the Pierre Herme is a more modern, almost sexier version of the macaron!

I taste-tested the Pierre Herme (PH for short) back at Chanel's pad, and they were utterly divine. Nothing says it better than their own little "menu", "A thin, crisp shell, circular in shape, lightly rounded, with tempting colours and a tender interior...That will leave your senses quivering with pleasure".

QUIVERING WITH PLEASURE!

I quivered.

With flavours like Fragola (macaron biscuit, balsamic vinegar cream, strawberry compote), Huile d'Olive & Vanille (macaron biscuit, olive oil cream and vanilla), and Jasmin (macaron biscuit, jasmine flower and jasmine tea cream)...the Mmmmmms in the house were getting a little out of hand. The olive oil and vanilla one just blew me away, you could actually sense the rustic olive oil flavour rather than taste it...it was like nothing I've had before.

So. Chanel was right. Pierre Herme were good. Very good. But, were they better than Laduree????

I decided the only way to really answer that question was a blind taste-test. A Macaroon-Off was planned.

Meanwhile, while all this macaroon action was going on, Chanel and I had actually booked in for a macaroon cooking class at L'atelier des Chefs (my third class there!). What a coincidence! The pictures above show you our journey from having no idea how these mighty morsels were made...to Chanel producing the best ones of the day!

Chef James, ex Head Pastry Chef at the Mandarin Oriental in London, taught us how to make 4 different types of macaroons. I attempted the Lime macaroon with Ginger and Lime Cream, and Chanel went for the very very pretty, and highly sought after Macaroon with Raspberry and Pistachio Cream. There was also Chocolate and Coconut Macaroons produced, and the rather wacky Apricot and Lavender Macaroon.

One of my fave pics there above is the table with all the raw macaroons "drying" - (just like nail polish) you have to "set" the raw macaroons to reduce cracking in the oven - cool hey! The other favourite is Chanel and I showing our very mature approach to the oh-so-serious art of macaroon making! And you can't go past Chanel, there, proudly displaying her "Teacher's Pet" macaroon ability!! A+ Chanel.

So, we were now well informed on the art of baking the macaroon. With the cooking class under our belt, and our tastebuds ready to go, we were all set for our Macaroon-Off.

The Macaroon-Off process was simple. I went to both Laduree and Pierre Herme within 30 mins of each other. I purchased a Rose, Chocolate, and Lemon macaroon from each (it had to be a like-for-like taste test). After dinner, Geeko (Chanel's hubby) was brought in to administer the test - he had to cut each macaroon in half, and feed them to us flavour by flavour (we were blindfolded - final pic above) and keep score. Our scoring process was simple, we just had to decide which we liked the best for each flavour.

We took our jobs very seriously, but even so, it was a total hoot. Being blindfolded had it's usual comic relief, but it also allowed you to fully concentrate on the flavour.

And the results? Well they were interesting.

It was a closer race than either of us expected. It was clear that the textures of each was a point of difference - the Laduree have a thinner biscuit with more "crunch" on the outside, while PH still had a crunch, but the biscuit was thicker and a bit gooeyer (is that a word?). The cream or ganache was thicker in the PH. But what about the flavour? Well we were torn on that, Chanel clearly liked the PH for flavour, whereas I, according to Geeko, "was all over the place"!

After great discussion, both Chanel and I came to the same conclusion. If we were having guests and were going to serve the best macaroons available, we would go for.......

DRUM ROLL PLEASE....

Pierre Herme.

Yes, Pierre Herme wins the inaugural Macaroon-Off, or should I now say Macaron-Off!!

Chanel, of course, was right!

UK 5 - NEWSFLASH...Masterchef Supergal Nails It!!

I bloody did it!

I nailed the hollandaise (read previous post before this one).

I didn't think I was going to.

But I did. Tonight. For dinner.

It was a team effort.

Without the butter clarifying expertise of Geeko (bro-in-law) we would never have made it.

Without Chanel's suggestion of buying a better mixing bowl and to reduce the bain marie heat to less than a simmer (so I didn't bloody scramble those egg yolks again), we would never have made it.

And make it we did!

In fact, we made more than a hollandaise, we made a bearnaise sauce for our dry-aged steak. Apparently, a bearnaise is just hollandaise with the addition of fresh tarragon and parsley (Btw, I'm falling in love with magnificent anise flavoured tarragon)!

We did the bearnaise in my first cooking class at L'Atelier des Chefs a couple of weeks ago, it was a day class on sauces.

Soooooooooooooo...take a good look at the pics above, the first pic is the one taken in our cooking class, and the second one there is of my dinner tonight, Steak with Bearnaise Sauce, roasted new potatoes and rocket salad.

And how did it taste??? One word.

Perfecto!

Bring on the Eggs Benedict baby!!! (For non-foodies, Eggs Benedict is poached eggs on English Muffins smothered in hollandaise sauce!)

UK 4 - Masterchef Supergal Fails on Hollandaise

Bloody Nora.

I scrambled the hollandaise.

Twice.

Not once.

Twice.

Chanel, my fashionista sister (she's there above about to cook salmon -and no, it's not her real name!) and I choofed off last week for a spot of bonding at a cooking class right in the centre of London. We did a dinner class at L'atelier des Chefs on Wigmore Street (just behind John Lewis).

Sis and I rocked up for our hour and a half class at 6.30pm (which turned into a two and half hour class!), met our trusty Italian couple table mates, Filippo and Kiara (pic 1), then proceeded to cook our three course dinner:

Entree - Goats cheese crostini with endive salad
Main - Salmon with vanilla hollandaise and sauteed potatoes
Dessert - Chocolate pot with mint chiffonade (posh term for whipped cream)

We had a bloody ripper of a time!! There was no doubt that we were the star table of the evening, oh yes, we were the only table not to have earnt the wrath of our chef - we didn't split the hollandaise!!! And guess who was making the hollandaise??? Me!

So, floating on our grand success at the cooking school I decided to impress bro-in-law, Geeko, and sis, by presenting a replica of my learning for dinner last Wednesday evening. I was so ready to show off my obvious talent for making hollandaise, so ready to bask in the glory of those around me as they tasted my divine creation...oh-so-ready!

Yes. Well.

I've um posted the pics of my food here at home under the pics of the food we made at the cooking class - pic 6 is my Crostini, and pic 8 is my salmon. The goats cheese crostini turned out pretty ok, though I did forget about the swirly balsamic arty thing on top which would have made mine much prettier.

As for the salmon...well...you may have noticed something missing. Hmmmmm. The hollandaise. Similar to an embarrassing risotto incident last year, it seems I stuffed it up...not once, as I've mentioned, but twice.

I always like to cut myself some slack when trying something new, so always have spare for the "just in case I stuff the first one up". Which I did. I scrambled the bloody egg yolk and vinegar over the bain marie. Damn. Then I did the bloody same thing again! The excessive use of "bloody", which will no doubt get me in trouble with Chanel (sis doesn't like it, but I see it as culturally enriching for the kids, who, let's be frank, need to understand their aussie roots), shows just how um unimpressed I was about the whole thing!!

I am happy to report that dinner was still yum, even without that bugger hollandaise! But never fear sportsfans, this supergal doesn't give up that easily...I'm giving it another go tonight, this time with steak...will keep you posted!!

UK 3 - Tally Ho...Michelin Stars and Punting in Cambridge!!

This post is dedicated to my almost 8 year old, blue-blooded nephew, Astro Boy, who is in training for a career as a food critic (and maths genius, and trumpet player, and electrician, and banker, and...).

Meet my posh English family. They're in the top pic above. What a good looking bunch they are! My sis, Chanel, married Geeko (a very nice English boy with a posh accent), and they produced the very clever Astro Boy, and way-too-cute Tickly Pickly and have lived happily ever after in London.

And I get the guestroom - OH YEAH BABY!!!

Last weekend it was time to pack our straw boaters (they're those funny hats the Grammar School kids wear to school), our blazers and our taste buds for a weekend on the Cam River in Cambridge punting and eating.

Now readers, I've never punted before, and I suspect others out there haven't either, so let me explain. Punting is just like what the gondoliers do in Venice, they stand at the back of a shallow wooden boat and use a pole, either wooden or aluminium, to push down into the bottom of the water to both steer and propel you forward. It's pretty cool stuff. And incredibly romantic - especially with the whole fam in the boat!!!

You can see in the second pic all the boats on the Cam River ready to be rented either to be pushed by your boyfriend/hubby/dad/girlfriend/or whoever, or you could pay someone to punt you. Luckily for us, ol' Geeko was an expert, you see, Geeko (and don't worry, he chose his own name) studied at Cambridge so knows his way around a bit of punting! So, he was our man. Chief Punter, as it were.

We actually spent Saturday arvo, post lunch, going up and down the scenic Cam River watching the beautiful old buildings of Cambridge go by...hand dipped lazily in the water as we were professionally manoeuvred between the other 4,218 boats on the River that afternoon - it was a surprisingly soothing experience, you can see there in the last few pics just how beautiful it was, and what a tough gig it is to be punted around on a river! Ah, such bliss.

We enjoyed ourselves so much we spent Sunday afternoon on a different part of the river, just swishing along the water, snacking on jelly beans, lazing back on the cushions...just a typical Sunday afternoon in Cambridge really. Sigh. In the words of 5 year old Tickly Pickly... "it was splendid".

Before I leave the punting, though, a special mention to my wonderful sis, Chanel, who unlike me (I was enjoying the decadence of sprawling out on the cushions too much), decided to give the punting a go. There she is in the final pic above, looking very cool I might add, getting stuck into it...well done Chanel!!

Now of course punting wasn't the only thing on the Cambridge agenda, no siree, there was other more serious work to be attacked. We were going to a 2 Michelin star restaurant.

After a morning of visiting some of the amazing Cambridge buildings such as Queens' Collegee (pic 4), and Geeko's own alma mater, Trinity College (pic 5 & 6), we headed off for a walk through Jesus Green (yep, you read right) to Midsummer House and the wonderful workings of Daniel Clifford.

Now, I'd like to reintroduce Astro Boy here. Astro Boy and I are going to give a brief critique of our own experience at this darling of a restaurant that sits right on the Cam in a gorgeous old house with the most amazing staff. I'll give you my menu and thoughts, then I'll type out his, we've tried to keep it succinct so as not to bore the non-foodies!!

My Menu

Amuse Bouche - Pea veloute with king prawns, and langoustine jelly cubes (pic 7)
Wonderful creamy pea veloute with wacky intense cubes of langoustine jelly which exploded in the mouth, then the light frothiness hides the perfectly cooked king prawns. The sprig of pea sprout added an intense-flavoured crunch of raw pea! Beautiful pearls of pea popped in the bottom. What a good start.

Entree - Pork terrine with black pudding and apple sorbet (pic 8)
Amazing artwork of terrine - chunks of beautifully cooked pork with earthy bloody sausage and sweet gluggy figs. AMAZING apple puree and a fresh tangy green apple sorbet - I love a sorbet served with savoury food.

Main - Pot roast guinea fowl, with peas, shallot and bacon, cep gnocchi and mushroom cream (pic 9)
The guinea fowl was tender, though not as tasty as I'd hoped. It was my first time for guinea fowl and it leans way more towards chicken than duck and I was hoping it would be more gamey. The veges so fresh and yum...the English know how to do their peas! The cep gnocchi was light but a bit wacky and the fresh mushrooms were delightfully tasty. The mushroom cream was more like a foam than a cream which kept the whole dish light and summery.

Dessert - Lemon flavours with meringue and redcurrant sorbet (pic 10)
The meringue, divine, the best meringue ever eaten, so light and crispy, but melted as soon as it hit the tongue. The lemon cream was good, but could have had more guts. The raspberry cubes were just AMAZING, concentrated flavour that matched perfectly with the lemon.


Astro Boy's Menu
Astro Boy has some allergies, so his menu was similar to mine but with a few changes.

Amuse Bouche - King prawns with peas
The prawns were very good - lots of flavour and very juicy. But I didn't like the smell.

Entree - Seared Scallops with julienne apples and apple sauce
The starter was good, the apple sauce was really good. First time I've had scallops and it's a sort of weird taste, then you have it again and it's YUM.

Main - Guinea Fowl with peas, beans and bacon
I liked the part of the guinea fowl where it was nice and juicy, but I was expecting much more flavour.

Dessert - Tarragon Dust with blueberries and redcurrant sorbet (pic 12)
The Tarragon Dust is absolutely... NO WAY! The blueberries were nice, but you couldn't taste much of them.
I would like to add that the Tarragon Dust for me is one of the most amazing things I've tasted this trip. It was so incredibly wacky. The chef used that new chemical gastronomy to produce incredibly light fluffy tarragon (tarragon has an aniseed flavour) flakes that were a cross between powder and snowflakes, but at room temperature, you can see it in the pic there above, it's that pale green mass. I'm so glad I was able to experience it.

So, there you have it. A wonderful meal. But it didn't stop there. Oh no, readers. The meal was followed by something I'd never seen before...a chocolate chest. Yep, after dessert the table was presented with a big wooden chest that opened to reveal hand made chocolates...NOW THIS IS MY KIND OF RESTAURANT! The Licorice Ganache in dark chocolate (the purpley shiny one) was divine, and I have it on good authority that the Cherry Liqueurs were out-of-this-world!

And just to ensure that we went away extra happy, coffee was served not only with the chocolates, but also a plate of Butreaux, which is a light french pastry, deep fried and smothered in sugar!

All of us loved our lunch, so much so Chanel asked if a few of us would be able to pop into the kitchen. I have to admit that I was dubious. I know chefs don't like tourists in their space, plus they have serious work to do. Chef Daniel Clifford is a man with serious style. Not only were Astro Boy, Tickly Pickly and I welcomed into his kitchen for a chat and a photo (pic 14), he also presented the upcoming food critic, Astro Boy, with a signed menu. I have to say, I've never felt more welcome in a posh restaurant before. Ever.

So, as you can see, a "splendid" weekend was had by all. Punting and good food are a great combination, and if you're lucky enough to share them both with family, then your life is a splendid one indeed.