Pastry genius

While in Sydney, Kris and I decided to focus on eating fantastic food, rather than seeing the typical tourist attractions.  An avid fan of Masterchef, I knew a trip to Sydney would not be complete without a visit to the patisserie of the pastry master, Adriano Zumbo.

If you have ever read this blog, then very likely you will have heard about my obsession with macarons.  Though I order them all the time, it is rare that I get to experience macarons so perfect to deserve their own blog post.

Yes… we did catch a cab across the other side of town to get to the patisserie.

Yes… we stood in line waiting to catch a glimpse of the window display.

And yes… I ate a small breakfast to save room for the pastries.

Of course, macarons aren’t the only thing on offer at Adriano Zumbo’s, it was so hard to choose from all the amazing creations, but with a huge line of people behind us the pressure was on, so we  treated ourselves to a pear croquembouche (at the recommendation of a staff member) and an almond croissant.

Zumbo’s almond croissant is one of the best I have ever tasted, so buttery, crumbly, and just enough sweetness.  I was so glad that we decided to revisit it after trying one at a cafe earlier in the week, but it didn’t even last long enough for a quick photo.

The croquembouche was very interesting, with bright green (sugar?) topping the profiteroles and a delicious cream filling punctuated with big chunks of pear.  The biscuit base was a standout, particularly in combination with the cream filling.  Delicious!

As we basked in the sunshine on the grass in a park in Balmain, pigged out, and made ourselves sick, huge storm clouds rolled over and we took that as a sign to leave and shelter in the shops until the torrential downpour passed.

At the airport later that night we sampled the remaining macarons and tried to guess the flavours, with the standouts being raspberry and chocolate, salted caramel and mango.

Needless to say, it was not a good day to choose to wear a midriff top. 😉  Seriously though, if you are in Sydney, go and try the assortment of flavours for yourself!  I’m pretty sure that they change the selection regularly.

Ahhh, I need to get my hands on his recipe for macarons.  Anyone wanna shout me a class?

EDIT:

I forgot I had these photos of my favourite macaron (best way to wait for a flight hehe)