Sweet Street by Anna Polyviou & Friends-Not Your Average Birthday

i was looking forward to this event the whole week, a lot more exciting than turning 20. so glad i spent my birthday night here (: was really worth my money, with Australia's top pastry chefs all at the one place. go to Shirley's blog (if you haven't already) for full description of what we ate (:

really loved the idea of tokens, a lot better than paying on the spot, since you've already paid for the ticket and don't have to worry about money. quite a lot of people came. i would have liked if there was more table/seating, but that's just something minor.

goodie bags-free sparkling water and Callebaut dark choc

i ended up taking home 3 bottles of sparkling water...i already have 2 bottles in my fridge from good food wine show a while ago...don't really like it, but not sure why i was bothered to take it home...

first in!

N2 Gelato and Lux Bite-Lolly Bag Burger

the "lolly bag cake" featured a Masterchef a while ago, but it was so beautiful and a memorable pressure test! i think it's pretty smart how they combined a sweets into cake into gelato. so glad we got this first up, since this line was the longest, and continued to be throughout the night. i like how they replaced the spearmint from the cake with eucalyptus, since it wasn't too minty but was very refreshing. oddly enough, the mandarin also complemented it. i would have liked a stronger musk stick flavour from the whipped cream (i really like musk sticks).  oh, i also love red skins as well, so the syringe filled redskin ganache added a fun and delicious element. quite messy to eat, but was so good (:

Lux Bite Tarts!

photo not in focus =/ these tarts were so lovely. good shortcrust pastry without having a buttery mouthful, and so many flavours in the one tart which didn't over power each other. loved the lime with meringue-sooo soft, i could eat it all day. see so many of lux bite's stuff on instagram... can't wait till they open in Sydney! i know which cake i will be getting for my next birthday! fingers crossed their melbourne menu will be similar to sydney's

eclairs from Cacao Lab

i haven't had an eclair for so long! can't remember the last tie i bought one from a patisserie, but i am so, so satisfied with these ones! please come to Sydney! the one with the syringe had alcohol in it, but i accidentally squirted it too hard, not sure if it squirted on the floor or onto the eclair itself so it stuck to the top and blended in. either way, couldn't see where the alcohol went, but the little bit of alcohol remaining was interesting to have with this lime-ish eclair.

loved this one mainly because of the novelty of it. even the chocolate inside has the texture/look of a real sausage. the peanut butter cheesecake one and chocolate with pop rocks were amazing.

finally a photo with Zumbo

i have waited a long time for this! didn't end up getting any Zumbarons since it was 1 token for 2 mcacarons. 1 token=$5.50, and normally it's $2.50 per macaron, also they looked a bit smaller than normal...but his stand sold out very quickly, i think mainly because it can be easily taken away since people are too full from everything else.

Kirsten Tibballs!

so beautiful

1 token gave us 3 chocolates, they are pretty amazing, full of chocolate flavour not sugar, and so soft inside, but retains it shape and didn't melt.

Anna Polyviou! she has so much style

she's the executive pastry chef at shangri-la, and she has had a few dessert degustations which all look amazing, but with a $100+ price tag, i would rather save up for another degustation. although dessert degustations would be to die for! 

terrine like desserts in a little glass.

i think i liked the middle one the best, it's banana flavoured which had this texture like a mix of puree and custard. the panna cotta wasn't too creamy, but i guess that's a good thing since all we've been eating was sugar. the passionfruit one i thought it tasted like yoghurt, but more refined. herbs are so refreshing!

took home these donuts since we were so full already. so glad i didn't have free san churros before since i would have been unnecessary stomach space wasted. i feel that when i get older, i can't eat as much as i used to (but still gain more weight...(

strawberry yoghurt and salted caramel popcorn Mag'Annas

strawberry one tasted like strawberry yogurt, with the chocolate on the outside not too sweet even though it was a tad thick. i loved the salted caramel popcorn, could taste the butteriness and salty caramely goodness.

pig!

this was the savoury corner, where they had roast pig and skewers with salads. this is the only thing which is made fresh on the night. i noticed that within a 15minute period, i saw 2 pigs come out from the kitchens. took the meats and salad home as well, since we were THAT full. 

they had a "cat walk" of the chefs w/ their desserts

won a kitchen aid! highlight of the night, and a birthday present...to myself i guess, haha.

 it's a hand blender not hand mixer, but it's worth $250 so i can't complain. hand mixers are only worth $100. probably a bit more useful for me than a hand blender, but anything kitchen aid is good (: story behind this: near the end of the night they started asking people to come up for a dance off/dance with this dance crew who performed throughout the night. initially i was a bit skeptical, until they actually started bringing out the prizes! i saw about 3 boxes carried out onto stage, since there wasn't heapsss of people compared to about an hour ago, the stage still had a lot of their dance crew but not a lot of volunteers so you could be "covered", and also i do dance (and after all that thinking the prizes were still being waved in the air), i decided to go up #noshame. and yeah, just danced and then they have me one (: 

too bad uni is going to go cray next week, already behind on lectures, so no time to try it out. the first thing i thought after getting this (and reading the label on the box said blender not mixer ) was that i could make pastry! as if my Breville blender can blitz up flour and butter, it can't even blend dates properly, and can't make frozen bananas into a smooth ice cream. with this, i can achieve it! (too bad bananas are on my list of stuff i'm not supposed to eat...) i will try making short crust pastry in the holidays. found some vegan options as well (: i guess it doesn't feel as if all hope is lost in obtaining a hand mixer since this comes with a whisk attachment, so i can actually whip up egg whites quickly! (unlike my current hand mixer which overheats). possibly whisk cake mix as well. the other attachments can puree stuff and also froth milk (i guess i didn't have to buy a milk frother...but then again, this can't heat things).  it can blend smoothies as well, and blends is a lot more powerful to blend ice to a smooth consistency (unlike my current blender), but i'm not sure what's easier to wash. with these attachments, the actual blade is inside the bell guard, so you need something to scrub it, but the jug is easy to wash. i guess the blades will never be completely clean, since you actually can't reach into it to clean fully...my normal blender has just the jug to wash, but it's also hard to reach under the blades...should be fun to use (when i have time) nevertheless. now i just have to find a place to put it in the meantime. i don't understand how people with smaller kitchens than mine fit so many different appliances...

20th birthday-time well spent with dessert for dinner (: