Tag: dessert

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Four Frogs Creperie, Circular Quay Sydney

We just had the beautiful warm winter days in this past weekend, such a nice weather for a walk around city. After lunch, we headed to Circular Quay, revisiting this creperie shop. Been wanting to get hubby to try their crepe for a while and finally get to do it this time.

Located in the front side of (fairly) new revamped Gateway food court in Circular Quay, Four Frogs Creperie is hard to miss. On the front seating area, you can look out to people walking by surrounding the Circular Quay ferry wharf. This would have been a nice spot in the morning or evening, not so much in the afternoon due to direct afternoon sun exposure. Since we went there in the afternoon, we opted to sit inside – not much view but it was cozy enough.

The first time I came here, I was amazed with their Crepes On Fire menu. For the same reason, I asked hubby to choose one from that section. It sure did not disappoint, they came with a bit of theatrical presentation and more importantly, they also taste great! They also have some interesting French ciders on the menu, I guess we just have to try next time we go there.

This is how the waiter brought our orders:

And here are what they look like after that short theatrical show:

Chocolate, vanilla ice cream and Grand Marnier

 

Crepe Suzette

 

They are both absolutely a delicious – the crepes are so smooth and buttery. The sauce are as lovely and not sickly sweet, and don’t taste like artificial flavors. I adore the crepe suzette as the orange sauce and pieces cut down the sweet sauce and the grand marnier really pair wonderfully. Whereas hubby being a chocolate lovers, still keep on saying how good his crepe was a day later 😛

Four Frogs Creperie

1 Macquarie Place, Circular Quay, Sydney

Phone: (02) 9241 2277

www.fourfrogs.com.au

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Meet Fresh, Eastwood

Meet our current Taiwanese style dessert, Meet Fresh 🙂 Meet Fresh is the Taiwanese dessert chain that started in Sydney five or six years back (or actually, it might be longer than that). I knew it was popular for their taro and sweet potato balls in bowl of thin sugary syrup. Then it offered the icy shaved ice desserts which also attracted lots of interest. We used to love their mango shaved ice dessert – so refreshing during summer time. And it comes in a huge bowl, make it perfect for sharing 🙂

Unfortunately along the way, we thought the mango dessert was not as tasty as we first tried it. I think they have used frozen mango pieces instead and it was just bland, lack of flavour and fragrant as fresh mangoes. I understand that mangoes are seasonal and therefore they need to have backup plan using those frozen ones. It is just a shame, as they should have just offered the mango dessert during summer time only, which is the time where mangoes are in season.

Ah well, enough of the rant. Since we haven’t been back to Meet Fresh for such a long time, we though why don’t we try out something else for a change. It did not disappoint, we fell in love again! These were taken at Eastwood store, but being franchise chain I am sure they would somehow follow the same standard in every shop.

Our favourite: Signature Herbal Jelly
Surprisingly tasted good as well: Waffle with vanilla ice cream and banana

Without doubt, we ‘d come back for the Signature Herbal Jelly menu. When we first ordered this, we asked it for a cold version but without ice. I guess as winter is coming, the hot version would be a nice option. Love the herbal jelly, it is very tasty and fragrant, just like the herbal jelly topping at Gong Cha. The waffle was not bad at all, crispy on the outside and fluffy inside – served with ice cream, sliced banana and chopped walnuts.

 

Meet Fresh

175 Rowe St, Eastwood NSW 2122

Phone: (02) 8339 1031

meetfresh.net

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Indonesian Cheesecake and Choco Ball

Here is another post on Indonesian Cheesecake. I used the same base cake recipe as in this post. But this time, I made cream cheese whipped cream for the filling and also to cover the cake.

The recipe is taken from here with slight adjustment, and below is my version:

Cream Cheese Filling:

  • 150 ml thicken cream, cold
  • 50 grams of cream cheese at room temperature
  • 30 grams of grated cheddar cheese
  • 1 tablespoon of sugar

Mix the thickened cream with sugar until almost become whipped cream.

Add in the cream cheese and continue mix with high speed until stiff.

Fold in the grated cheddar cheese to the cream cheese whipped cream.

Set aside in the fridge, covered with cling wrap.

Simple Syrup:

  • 50 grams sugar
  • 150 ml  water
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Bring everything to boil in a small pot, make sure all the sugar has been dissolved well.

Set aside to cool to room temperature.

White Chocolate Ganache: (I skipped this)

  • 100 ml thickened cream
  • 250 grams cooking white chocolate, melted and cool down to room temperature

Mix the thickened cream to whipped cream, add in melted white chocolate. Mix well until the texture is soft-cream-alike.

Assembly:

Once the cake is cool down, trim the side and the surface of the cake to make it level. The cut it horizontally into two or three layers. (I halved mine). Keep the trimmed pieces aside for choco balls.

Brush the surface of each half with simple syrup. Then coat it with generous amount of cream cheese filling.

Put the other half on top of the base and repeat the process again.

Cover all sides with the remaining cream cheese filling (or white chocolate ganache if you made this)

Then cover the whole cake with more cheddar cheese.

I find it difficult to stick the sides of the cake with grated cheddar… Probably waste more cheese here than what actually stick to the cake 😛

Since we have some trimmed pieces of the cake and  I do not want to waste those, I thought why not make them into something more exciting hence the choco balls. There is no fixed measurement, just approximate.

Choco Balls:

Crumble the trimmed pieces of the cake into a bowl.

Add in about two tablespoons of cream cheese at room temperature and mix well.

Then add about three tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk in chocolate flavour.

Mix until everything is combined well. The texture should resemble cookie dough, a little bit on the dryer side.

Shape into bite-sized balls, roll in chocolate rices or dip into melted chocolate – enjoy!

I only rolled them to chocolate rices here, would be better looking had I dipped them in melted chocolate 🙂 But regardless of their appearance here, they actually tasted good and not overly sweet.
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Mango Sago

As the temperature rose to extreme heat (according to the news lady) during last weekend and also abundance of mangoes, why not make some mango desserts right? The first time we had mango sago was at this one yum cha restaurant at Piccadilly Centre, Sydney. I don’t think  have seen the same dessert on offer in any other yum cha restaurants we have been to before, where they usually only have mango pudding and mango pancakes.

Googled mango sago recipe and resulted in many variances, but this is the one I attempted to make.

Ingredients:
  • 2 medium-sized mangoes
  • 1/4 cup mangoes chopped
  • 1/3 cup sago pearls
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 3/4 cup milk, boiled and cooled to room temperature
  • 1/4 cup condensed milk
Directions:

Soak sago in water and rinse off the excess starch. Then boil water in a pot and add the sago, cook until the sago turn transparent and soft. Keep mixing them while cooking to make sure none is stuck at the bottom of you pot.

Once cooked, drain and wash under running water; then drain well and set aside to cool.

In a blender, mix the mango puree and half of the milk and sugar until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl, add in the rest of the milk and mix well.

Give it a taste test while to measure how much condensed milk you will need. Depends on how sweet your mangoes are, you may need more or less of the condensed milk.

Then add in the sago, mix until everything is combined and smooth.

Refrigerate at least one hour before serving, garnish with chopped mangoes and enjoy the sweet summery dessert!

Mangoes at its best!

Cooked sago pearls

I served the mango sago with a little bit more milk to tone down the sweetness 🙂

  • Any mangoes with less fibers would be prefect for this dessert.
  • Obviously, the measurement are just a guide, so please adjust level of sweetness according to your liking.
  • Also, if you prefer thicker consistency, you may add more sago pearls; likewise more milk if you prefer it runnier. As it chills in the fridge, it will thicken up a little bit. 
  • For a creamier and richer taste, you might want to substitute half  or all of the milk to evaporated milk.
  • Add some pomelo or grapefruit chunks for an even more refreshing dessert and cut through the sweetness. Notice that grapefruit will usually hint of bitterness which isn’t the case with pomelo.