Look back in ombre: Narcissus ombre cake

“It was a dark and rainy night…”

This seems to be the way that most of my recent blog-posts have started. 

“It was a dark and rainy night and I took shelter in a cocktail bar…”

That kind of thing.

Luckily for you guys, I usually erase it and try and find a different way to lead into a post.

It’s been Spring officially for a fortnight now but the glimpses of warmer weather have been infrequent. Rainy days are good for baking and blogging but they are also good for staying in and doing the work that you have had to bring home. That work that suddenly appeared while you were having a fantastic holiday in Sydney, and now seems like a punishment for having enjoyed yourself too much.

But, having met the deadlines for all the writing projects that have recently come my way, I finally had a quiet, free weekend for the first time since I got back, and it was time to get reacquainted with the kitchen.

I’ve been wanting to try and ‘ombre’ style cake for ages, but have been very aware that the trend (in cake, in hair, in weddings) has now passed out of fashion. There are a thousand blogs with a thousand clever ombre cakes out there. It isn’t new. It’s been well-and-truly done before. Still, I have never been stylish and I wanted to have a go, just to say that I had done it, so, with a sense of Spring in the air as I took my early morning walk this morning, I decided that today was the day.

A patch of everlastings that I saw while I was out walking. It seems like Spring - but for how long?

I chose the ‘narcissus’ colour theme because to me, any daffodil-sighting means that real Spring cannot be too far away. This meant yellow food-colouring – lots of it. I didn’t buy gel-colouring. I didn’t buy organic colouring. I shamelessly grovelled at the shrine of the gods of Tartrazine and used bog-standard chemical colouring that is found in any supermarket aisle. If you (or your cake-eating family and friends) are the kind of person who objects to this, I am sure that you are also possessed of the knowledge to find a healthier alternative, so when, in the recipe, it says ‘yellow food colouring’, you will know exactly what to do.

 

The vanilla extract was organic though!

Narcissus Ombre Cake

For the cake batter:

1 cup caster sugar

200g butter (melted)

2 eggs

1.5 cups milk

1 cup plain flour

1 cup SR flour

Yellow colouring (and 1 drop of red food colouring for the darkest layer)

For the lemon butter icing:

50g butter (melted)

Juice of 1 large lemon

3 cups of icing sugar, sifted

To make the cake batter:

In a food processor, mix melted butter and caster sugar until pale. Add eggs. Add the cup of plain flour. Then add the milk. Then add the cup of SR flour and the vanilla essence and mix until completely combined.(Adding the flours separately seems to result in a smoother batter.)

Separate the cake batter into 5 small bowls. Pour the (uncoloured) contents of one bowl into a standard spring-form tin which has been lined with baking paper. Place in oven, pre-heated to 200C, and bake for 15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
 

At this stage, your cake will look more like aioli, mustard and cheese sauce, but do not despair! All will be well.

 While the first section is baking, colour the other 4 portions of cake batter so that you have progressively deeper shades of yellow. Adding a single drop of red colouring to the darkest layer will get you a much richer yellow. When you have coloured all bowls to your satisfaction, repeat the baking step above with each portion of cake batter.

If they aren't perectly round, that's okay. Icing will hide a multitude of sins. ;)

Place all layers of cake onto wire trays and leave until completely cool.

To make the lemon butter icing:

Place the melted butter into a mixing bowl, add sifted icing sugar and mix thoroughly. Gradually add lemon juice until you have a mixture that is firm and not too thin. You want the kind of texture that will hold its shape and not be runny when you want to cover the cake.

To assemble the cake:

Starting with the darkest layer and working up to the uncoloured layer, stick each layer of cake together with the thin covering of lemon butter icing (you don’t want the icing to be obvious, because it will spoil the seamlessness of the ombre effect).

Use remaining icing to cover the top and sides of the cake.

To serve:

Cut each slice of cake using a clean, warm knife (you can run it under the hot-water tap before drying it off) to avoid smudging the layers when you cut the cake.

This is a pretty cake which I decided to make prettier by using some jasmine and lemon blossom from the garden, but some people actually go the distance and decorate their ombre cakes with ombre icing on the outside. It’s up to you, really.

Me, I just wanted to decorate the cake as quickly as possible, so I could cut a slice and eat it outside in the sunshine. I’ve seen the weather report for tomorrow – it says ‘increasing showers’ which means another dark and stormy night is on the horizon, and instead of being outside in the Spring weather,  I shall probably have to seek shelter in some bar…

Promises to keep: Sydney again.

It wouldn't be Surry Hills without a picture of the Crown Street school,

I’m not sure if I can keep my promise.

I said to my friends, “This is absolutely my last Sydney trip for this year. I promise.”

See that? I promised.

My most recent trip had nothing to do with work. It was simply the pull of the place and the people – particularly the people - that had me on the early flight out of Perth. A few dozy hours, one indifferent breakfast and a crying baby later, and the view of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House from the aeroplane window was an iconic and breath-taking welcome.

Just as breath-taking from ground level.

I’d based myself in Surry Hills again – the scene of my previous “Red Adventures” as I now think of them, at Red Lantern and Red Door. In an interesting coincidence, my apartment, with its Vietnamese and Russian communist propaganda art, and glossy cinnabar-coloured furniture, had been given the name “Red Panda”. It was my home for five wonderful days and a great base from which to explore the neighbourhood.

The cupboard of mystery - never did manage to find out what was inside.

My food adventures were many and varied and too numerous for one post, so I’d like to share some of the highlights here and show you why my promise to stay put in Perth for the rest of the year is going to be so hard to keep.

·        Reuben Sandwich from Two Good Eggs Café – Goulburn Street, Surry Hills

I’d enjoyed the coffee at Two Good Eggs before so it was no surprise that the food was as great as the brew. The thick wedge of Reuben sandwich, (suggested by my friend and dining companion, @rich_tapestry) with clear strata of corned beef, pickle, and cheese was creamy and tangy and substantial.

It was also too much for me - I couldn’t finish. I didn’t even touch the fat olives that were served on the side. The long macc that I had with it lifted my jet-lag (the 2 hour time difference is just the wrong side of acceptable).

·        Salted Caramel Éclair from Flour and Stone Bakery – Riley Street, Woolloomooloo

The temptation of the fabled salted caramel éclair and the chance to meet Twitter friend @multiforkgasms in person had me walking the length of Riley Street in the sunshine. It was hard to believe it was the end of winter; the weather was so warm and pleasant.

There was a queue outside the bakery but the resourceful @multiforkgasms and his good lady, J., had managed to score a table inside. The pleasure of being with other food-minded people is that they understand the need to photograph the hell out of anything edible that happens to be around. The éclairs, carrot cake, shortbread and other baked goods were duly recorded and J. showed all the classic patience of the partner who knows not to touch their food until it has been photographed from every possible angle.

And the éclair? The delicate choux was topped with dark chocolate which was itself studded with toffee praline. The filling was dense, sweet with the smokiness of burnt sugar and subtly salty (I would add more salt!)

I chased my sinful éclair with the world’s fiercest mocha. It packed a real punch but I think I needed it to counter all the sugar. After a wonderful breakfast, I said goodbye to family Forkgasms, and stocked up with Flour and Stone loot for lunch – leek and gruyere tart, pizza scrolls, lemon and ricotta doughnuts, strawberry brulee, and strawberry shortbread. 

Strawberry shortbread for a Strawberrythief

 

Strawberry brulee for...yes, you guessed it, me!

·     El Mexicano cocktail from Hinky Dinks Bar - Darlinghurst Road, Darlinghurst

I knew that I would like Hinky Dinks when I saw their motto, “Cocktails first, questions later.”

This is a bar with beautiful mixologists serving beautiful concoctions. I wasn’t sure what had more appeal – all the perfect-skin supermodels holding cocktail shakers or the drinks menu. My El Mexicano contained chipotle-infused sweet vermouth, Campari, chocolate bitters, soda, blood orange and a large hand-cut rock of ice. Citrus and woodsmoke and herbs – a refreshing blend for a warm evening. Thanks to my dear friend, F. for introducing me to this bar.

 

Breakfast and bubbles from Baia – Darling Harbour/ Cocktails from The Strawberry Hills Hotel roof-top bar

I would probably be less in Sydney if my sister, C., didn’t live there. We had a long, leisurely breakfast working our way up the tiered cake-stand which had a good balance of sweet and savoury early-morning morsels for us to sample. We began with coffee and finished with bubbles, and along the way enjoyed cucumber topped with salmon and roe, mini-croissants, chocolate, olives, and finger-sandwiches.

 

After breakfast, we had some quality sister-time shopping, taking a turn about the Chinese Friendship Garden, and going for a Thai massage. 

You get a picture of the Friendship Garden but not of the Thai massage.

 At the time of typing, I am still recovering from the massage which brought sensation back to long-forgotten muscles. The cocktails at The Strawberry Hills Hotel were a way to numb those surprised muscles all over again.

 C. had a pomegranate mojito and I had an espresso martini. While the cocktails were delicious, the martini was my second choice. I’d asked for a Negroni and been flatly refused (even though I could see that they had all the necessary ingredients behind the bar). There wasn’t even an attempt to try to help me out – “We only do the cocktails on the chalkboard” – not the way to win return business. Still, the roof-bar is a good space for a drink or to have a meal (I have eaten there with my sister before) and there is the bonus (or not, depending on your vintage) of 80s music videos on the TV screens. Between sips of my martini, I proved that I knew all the words to “The Timewarp”, “Rock Lobster” and “Dreadlock Holiday” and my sister was generous enough not to disown me there and then.

 

 Lemon snapper with truffled risotto from The Dove and Olive – Waterloo Road, Surry Hills

 

I’m never sure what to expect from pub meals. The only thing I do know is that I try to avoid the word “hearty” when writing about them. The Dove and Olive had the double advantage of being only 200m up the street from my “Red Panda” apartment and also of raising the bar for pub-food everywhere simply with the quality of the truffle risotto – no stinginess with the black gold here, lots of discernible truffle shavings through the rice, and an intense truffle flavour that paired nicely with the lemony fish. Alas, the house wine didn’t quite reach the standard of the meal. It was…hearty. Still, if you want to get off the main strip of Crown Street but stay in Surry Hills, you will enjoy the relaxed atmosphere at The Dove and Olive, and I’m grateful to the wonderful R. for taking me there.

 

·        Toby’s Estate coffee (and a freckle!) from Fifi Foveaux Café – Foveaux Street, Surry Hills

My last excursion out and my only solo one. I loved my giant mocha with a double shot of superb coffee. The friendly service made me smile, as did the freckle on the spoon.

And that’s meant to be it for this year. I promised that I would not return to Sydney again in 2013. But you can see the temptations, can’t you?

And you would understand, wouldn’t you, if, in a few months, I was blogging about the Sydney food and beverage scene all over again?

I knew you would.

I have to go back - if only to get a ride on the Darling Harbour carousel...

Be-ginned and beginnings: Secret Bar Crawl

Cocktail ingredients at Frisk! Bar

It was Mel who started it all. She was the one who was all over Twitter saying that she was interested in gin-based drinks that didn't involve tonic. I was the one who suggested that she could drink gin neat (good gin anyway) and that's when she, Michelle, and I decided that we were going to have a night sampling different types of gin. I wanted to go back to Bobeche to try their teapots of cocktail. Mel wanted to go to Frisk Bar because they specialise in gin (over 200 different varieties in the one bar). Suddenly, it wasn't just gin, and it wasn't just drinks - it was a gin crawl. 

Once it turned into a gin crawl, other people were interested in joining us and thus it was that we planned for an evening where we would spend an hour at Bobeche and then move onto Frisk providing the times when we would be at each venue so that others could join us at a time that suited them.

Quiet and relaxed at Bobeche

First stop, Bobeche, which was quiet for a Saturday night, but it was still early - only 7pm. I got there first and settled into the area right at the back of the bar. The waiter was friendly, bringing water and bowls of popcorn, and waiting patiently for everyone to arrive (and there were 5 of us) before taking our order. 

Candle-lit teapot

 We decided on the Bobeche Iced Tea because it was the mix that had gin it it - to be specific, Tanqueray Gin, Ketel One Vodka, Pampero Blanco Rum, Cherry Heering, spiced tea, lemon, and lemonade. 

Bobeche teapot menu.

It came in an elegant china tea-pot decorated with an orange glaze and oriental patterns. It was poured into delicate wide-bowled tea-cups. It was sweet with a kick, refreshing but relaxing, easy to drink, and good value at $62 for 4 people. Four of us managed to get about three teacupfuls each.

It was a fine winter's night, practically spring-like, so we walked from the city centre to Northbridge and Frisk. I had been there exactly one week before for the cocktail-themed Secret Cake Club, and it was nice to be back with another chance to try the different gins that the bar had to offer. We met up with another 4 friends there, and had a table outside on the street. 

There was a lot more activity at Frisk and the hard-working bar staff were kept on their toes, mixing cocktail after cocktail, not just for our group but for everyone else. I have to confess at this stage I fell off the gin wagon and ordered an espresso martini (made with vodka) because I hadn't had one the week before.

No gin here - espresso martini.

 I did, however, manage to redeem myself later on, trying a Negroni made with Citadelle gin (my discovery of the night - essence of sandalwood, pine, and ginger), a classic G&T made with Caorunn (Scottish) gin - flavoured with heather and other 'Scottish botanicals' and then headed back to the Negroni, this time made with Sipsmith gin. 

Negroni made with the superb Citadelle gin

Around me, the others were trying Friskatinis - the house cocktail made with gin and Chambord - more espresso martinis, G&T with chili and basil garnish. Somewhere along the line, we had forgotten the original plan to get away from the ubiquitous tonic, but by that stage it didn't seem to matter.

Friskatini

Chili and basil G&T

It was a fun night out and not just because of all the cocktails. It was a chance to get dressed up, go out, meet some new people (some of us had only ever met online before), and socialise over drinks. 

Just one page in the gin menu.

Towards the end, when we were all thoroughly be-ginned, we had an idea that it would be great to do it all again on a future occasion. People suggested other bars that they would like to try and we were trying to imagine the best possible sequence in which to crawl these places.

G&T with Caorunn Scottish gin - flavoured with heather, garnished with apple.

It was Mel who started it all. She was the one who got onto Twitter and found out that the handle 'Secret Bar Crawl' wasn't taken. I was the one who suggested we work together to plan another crawl - following the model of Secret Cake Club - and that's when Mel went home and channeled her jet-lag (she was just off the plane from Europe the day before) into a Twitter account, Facebook page, email account and a bunch of followers.

Welcome to Secret Bar Crawl. Join us for drinks.

Negroni made with Sipsmith gin.