#TNTea

Hello!!

I know I have been very inconsistent with the blogging. I have been busy with a few new job ventures. However, with uni exams coming up, I thought I would take a little break and do a quick post on my 22nd Birthday by sharing a few photos with the blogger world. 

For my 22nd Birthday, I decided to host a Garden Tea Party. With the help of my sister, friends and family I was able to pull off an amazing event! 

The set up was at my sisters house, where all cake stands, decorations and props were items that we have between the 2 of us. Most of the food was either made by my sister or myself. My sister has 2 pet rabbits, Taro & Sesame whom were also a highlight of the event. Lastly I had an event hashtag of #TNTea where more photos can be seen.

Additional items were by:
Flowers by PaPetal http://papetal.blogspot.com.au/ - She uses crepe paper to create beautiful floral creations, she has an instagram of @papetalcraft. Her Facebook page would be best mode for contact.
Tea sets  by Just My Cup of Tea - Vintage China & Prop Hire
Macarons by fellow food blogger Tina Huynh (Gaytime and neopolitan!)
Cake from http://www.cavallaros.com.au/cakes.html
Pastries by Dulce Luna Viennoiserie
Photography Danny Ku

The menu

Photobooth props and area

The set up

Papetal hypericumberries

The tea table set up

Papetal crepe flowers and Just my cup of Tea sets

Dulce Luna pastries

A glimpse of afternoon delights

Papetal crepe flowers

Papetal crepe flowers

Home-made scones with jam

The filled table

Maracuja Cake from Cavalloros 

Sesame

Taro

Thank you everyone for helping pull of an amazing event! Another shout out to everyone who came, because without you all, there wouldn't have been an event to begin with!

Good food, good times!

100TH POST! Easter Tea Party

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE! But also a HAPPY 100TH POST! I am not sure if it is really a milestone, but to me it seems to be. After blogging for almost 2 years, I continue to find joy with it, and hopefully it is helpful to some people. Anyways, going on with Easter, my girlfriends decided to host a high tea at my house, where everyone was to bring a savoury and sweet dish. It was a great first high tea, and hopefully be one of many catch ups! 

My contribution was a Strawberry and Watermelon Cake (the famous one from black star pastry), however the cake part didn't quite turn out, so instead it became a tart (by using puff pastry and used baking beads to flatten it). So I will definitely be trying this recipe again, if you are after the recipe it can be found here on Gourmet Traveller: strawberry and watermelon cake recipe. 

Collection of tea pots

Victorian style tea set that has been with the family for years

My Easter display, lindt chocolates in a basket

Ham, cheese & cucumber, and turkey, spinach & avocado sandwiches

Hedgehog slice

Mini pandan cupcakes and vanilla, coconut, pandan tarts

Date pastries and toasted oregano and tomato sandwiches

Strawberry and watermelon tart

Cross section of the tart

The tart and I

The lovely girls! xx

Good food, good times!

Ladurée @ Westfield Sydney, Level 3

I heard about Ladurée opening in May, where it was supposed to be opened in July. Now, after months and months of waiting, the day finally came, the day that Ladurée opened. I was there on opening day (11/09/2012) at 10am, to only find out it would open at 12, and then 1, and then 2.30! My friend and I went back at 2, and they had already started selling, and the queue to buy macarons was extremely long. With that, we decided to queue in the in store cafe line (where we only had to wait 30 minutes) and able to dine in to enjoy macarons and buy some takeaway.

I have yet been able to go to France where the original store is, but I will one day. This is the closest I could get to experiencing the real thing. The macarons are a bit on the pricier end of the spectrum, but considering they are shipped from Europe, it is reasonable and worth it.

The flavours

The Store:
I guess Ladurée Sydney isn't quite a store, but just to make things easier it shall be described as one. The Ladurée store is surrounded with products they sell, ranging from bags, perfume, teas, jams, chocolates, gift boxes and of course the infamous macarons. At the top of all the display windows there are lovely tiered macaron boxes tied with ribbon or macaron towers. The gold trimmings around product labels and all the signage are very French chic. 

The cafe:

The cafe is located behind the store and has a lovely outdoor garden feel as it is surrounded with small hedges. The layout is basic with tables of 2 or 4, low back chairs and simple black tables providing an elegance of a high tea. Further displaying large  boxes of macarons and scented candles.

Tea & Macarons:
Tea and macarons are a few of my favourite things. The teas are named after famous French Monarchs, each with their own individual scent and taste. They allow you to smell each tea, and pick your favourite for a pot. Tea costs $7.50 per pot. I love how Ladurée place a little napkin on the tea pot handle, so simple, yet so elegant.

Marie Antoinette (background Roi Soleil)

I went to Ladurée with a uni friend, so we decided to get every single flavour available and halve it. Overall the texture of Ladurée macarons are exquisite and perfect. They are light, with the perfect chew, and an exceptional balance between macaron shell and filling. They are somewhat indescribable, but I can now sort of understand the hype and fame of Ladurée macarons (until I experience the original in Paris).

Plate 1 (clockwise from white):
Vanilla, Lemon, Chocolate, Almond and Coffee. 
We thought we would start with the basics. My favourite of these was the coffee. It has the taste of a perfectly brewed coffee. My friends favourite was coffee, and also lemon (one of her favourite desserts are lemon tart), it has an intense lemon taste, so if you like a little zest in your life, then lemon is perfect for you.

Plate 2 (clockwise from purple):
Blackcurrant, Strawberry Poppy, Raspberry, Salted caramel, Liquorice, Pistachio and Chestnut (middle). 
These flavours are a bit more on the exotic range of the spectrum. I enjoyed all of these flavours. The strawberry poppy was delectable, it wasn't too sweet like other strawberry macarons are and I think that is because of the poppy component. The subtle poppy flavour balanced the macaron, a definite favourite. This delighted both our taste buds.

My other favourite was the salted caramel. I have tried many salted caramel macarons and never been completely satisfied (part from La belle miette). However, at Ladurée there was the perfect middle point of salt and caramel, the best salted caramel I have tried in Sydney...to date.

Plate 3 (clockwise from green):

Almond marshmallow, Lemon Lime marshmallow, Strawberry marshmallow, Violet marshmallow.

As a part of the 150th anniversary, Ladurée created 4 new flavours to celebrate the homage of the world famous macarons. All of the macarons contained a marshmallow centre that wasn't too gooey or sticky. The lemon lime was a very unique flavour, where it tasted very similar to gatorade, quite intense. My favourite of all these was  the strawberry marshmallow (I also bought this flavour for 2 of my other friends and they loved it too). Just thinking about it is making me salivate, the strawberry flavour with a slight crunch due to the sugar on top, just wonderful. 

Upon second visit, I tried Orange blossom and Ghana Chocolate (bottom two) where there was a subtle hit in the orange blossom, and the ghana chocolate has a darker chocolate taste compared to the normal chocolate. I prefer the ghana chocolate over the normal chocolate.

Table of goodies

16 macarons, done and dusted

Complimentary chocolate (even the chocolates are labelled Ladurée)

Bags of macarons

Good food, good times!