Month: October 2015

Knafeh

On By Tales of a ConfectionistIn food3 Comments

Who said romance was dead? TimmyC got me a special treat on the way home from #knafeh who are at the Canberra theatre centre today/Friday and then at reconciliation place on Saturday!Be sure to catch them while they are in town! 

#sofranksocial #cbr #localcan #bakery #popup #food #foodie #canberrafood #canberraeats   

Frugii thick shakes

On By Tales of a ConfectionistIn food2 Comments

Frugii’s milkshake brings all the boys (and girls) to the yard. #Frugii thickshakes were released today! It was awesome that it became more thick as you waited but I wanted more sweetness and flavour! Pump up the volume John! I want to be hit in the face with flavour. #frugiiobsession #milkshake #thickshake #braddon #cbr #localcan #food #foodie #canberraeats #canberrafood   

Manic Monday 

On By Tales of a ConfectionistIn foodLeave a comment

So my Monday sort of went like this: went to work, then went shopping for tomorrow night’s dinner, quickly made a tart shell to refrigerate while I went to dinner, went to XO and tried 90% of the menu while instagraming furiously at the table, came home and realised I started a tart, slapped on some Boorowa marmalade and topped with almonds and baking now. Smelling buttery goodness and getting hungry again. Wishing it would hurry up so I can watch The Walking Dead uninterrupted by the oven. Blogged in between. 

Just another manic Monday. 

Asians rejoice 

On By Tales of a ConfectionistIn foodLeave a comment

If you have ever had a chrysanthemum tea popper and loved it, you will love this soft serve from #xo We have checked, they will let you come in and do take-aways just of this soft serve if you give them enough time to warm up the machine! 

#asiansrejoice 

#cbr #sofranksocial #food #foodie #canberraeats #canberrafood #localscan #softserve #chyrsanthemum   

Vanilla slice from Erindale Cakery Bakery 

On By Tales of a ConfectionistIn bakery, Canberra, Erindale, food2 Comments

We were hungry and looking for a sweet snack when we found ourselves at the Erindale shops and I remembered that a few months ago when RiotACT were looking for the ‘best vanilla slice in Canberra’, Erindale Cakery Bakery was mentioned. I looked at their cabinets and they were filled with old school ‘Australian’ bakery treats; everything from meringues to caramel tarts to lamingtons (oh how I miss lamingtons!) and of course vanilla slices. I loved the variety of sweets and treats they had and a bonus was that everything was reasonably priced.

Now back to the real reason why I was there: vanilla slice! There were two types, one with good ol’ passionfruit icing and the other was the ‘French’ version which is the one that I bought ($4.40??). I really liked how the pastry was easy to cut through with a fork and kept its integrity as I slow it ate it, bite by bite. I didn’t think it was overly sweet which was nice and I really liked the pastry. The custard could have tasted a little better but it was still okay and it had a great creamy thick texture.

I will sure to be back and buy more old school treats which takes me back to my primary school days.When was the last time you had a bite of a vanilla slice where it didn’t crumble/break/squirt out the sides? Never? Same here but check out my first forkful of the French vanilla slice from Erindale Cakery Bakery.When was the last time you had a delicious bakery treat and where was it from?

Venue: Erindale Cakery Bakery

Address: Erindale Shopping Centre, 68 Comrie St, Wanniassa ACT 2093

Phone: (02) 6231 2510

Opening hours:

Monday -Friday 7:00am – 20:00pm

Saturday – Sunday 7:00am – 18:00pm

Wedding favours

On By Tales of a ConfectionistIn foodLeave a comment

Last week TimmyC and I (really just TimmyC) made over 400 macarons for our guests as their wedding favours. I wrote all the tags with ‘thank you’s, folded each box and tied each bow. We wanted the whole thing to me hand made (and food themed) because we appreciated every guest that could come and celebrate with us that day. #handmade #homemade #wedding #food #foodie #cbr #localscan #canberraeats #canberrafood #bonbonniere #weddingfavours #macaron #latergram  

The Fish Can re-post

On By Tales of a ConfectionistIn Acton, bao, Canberra, food, Westside village2 Comments

* I just saw a more recent photo of their menu board and prices went up a little but all individual baos are still under $5.00

I’m re-writing this post with a bit more detail after I rushed to blog the original post within the hour that The Fish Can finally opened their doors.
The Fish Can has only been opened for two weeks but have had many positive reviews from people in Canberra who have been craving a good bao at a decent price. The first thing you need to know is the menu so here it is:I love how there are a combination of things including sweet and savoury and everything is under 5 bucks! They had another menu on the other side which is more of a ‘fish and chip’ side but today I’m concentrating on the more important issue: BAOS! But here it is just in case you were curious.  *photo from a friend who doesn’t want to be named.

The thing you need to know before you start to wonder why I only tried three baos is that this is what I saw when I got to Westside that day (see photo below). My heart sank and I headed to Miss Van’s to drown my sorrows in a bowl of pho (and I also may or may not have had a banh mi). While I was slurping away, I looked up from my bowl and noticed that The Fish Can had just opened their doors (so to speak) and I almost immediately dropped my chop sticks. So this was my second lunch and yes I am now a Hobbit.
Porkster braised free-range Murray Valley gilt belly, served with crushed Szechuan peanuts, house relish and cilantro (left $4.10). I was a bit disappointed at the size of the filling to bun ratio but I’m hoping that it was because it one of the first few baos served and they improve with some feed back. The pork itself was tender but it needs some sort of sauce so it isn’t just some dry ingredients in a bun. I would love to see a sliced pork belly with kewpie mayo and some lettuce (like Ippudo).

Not so Crab tempura soft-shell crab, lemon, cabbage slaw, Szechuan aioli and crushed peanuts (right $4.60). More filling, more exciting and more colourful. This was definitely my preference out of the two, the crab was crispy and so was the slaw, there was a nice aioli in there and there was flavour in every bite.
A close up of the ‘porkster’: delicious layers of fat and meat but I didn’t like the pickle so I picked it off. The thick short cut means that you don’t get some meat with every bite and there isn’t much else in the bun, it needs a little extra something…Lots of contrasting crunchy textures with the soft bao.Mars bao handmade bao with Mars bar core ($2.90). I didn’t expect a closed bao but if you think about it, a melted chocolate bar had to stay contained somehow. It might not look appetising but it definitely hit the sweet spot. You could taste the caramel, chocolate and nougat despite it being all melted, I just wish the bao itself had a tad bit more sweetness to it. My first preference was the sweet bao fries but they weren’t available that day, they will definitely be popular with the Asian crowd having been served with condensed milk.My friend tried the Chican bao all natural fried chicken breast, Szechuan aioli, crushed peanuts and cilantro ($4.10). He really really enjoyed it and went back a few days after and ordered more. The chicken looked really moist and the fillings were more generous, I wish I ordered this one too. Next time! Look at that juicy chicken patty. *drool*The savoury baos themselves were soft but could have been served a little warmer than they were, but then again it could have been a ‘we just opened and sorting out the kinks’ situation. In any case I am still super keen to head back, eventually try one of everything and get my hands on some sweet bao fries! The people serving inside were super friendly and the wait wasn’t long at all.

Are you ready to get your bao on?

Venue: The Fish Can (Next to The One)

Address: Westside Acton Park, 3 Barrine Drive, Acton, ACT 2601

Opening hours: **updated apparently they are not opened Thursday any more?**

Friday – Saturday 11:30am- 9:00pm

Sunday 11:30am – 4:00pm
The Fish Can Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato