Hot cross bun + butter pudding

The only things about Easter I believe in is dark chocolate and hot cross buns. I made this delicious dessert on Saturday night - we spent it with friends, eating succulent roast pork belly and drinking (Rekorderlig cider for me). I love how festive holidays are spent consuming copious amounts of food. People who are afraid of fat, look away.

Here I am during dinner, dressed up/down in a floaty dress and uggs. The beauty of dining at home.

I started by greasing a glass baking dish.

I cut six hot cross buns in half and lay them face up in the dish.

Then I placed a small slice of butter on each half.

And a spoon of home made cherry jam on top.

I beat four duck eggs - laid that morning - with two cups of milk and half a cup of sugar. I used the Bamix for this, which made it smooth and a beautiful soft yellow.

Then I poured the eggy mix over the hot cross buns, pressed them down to submerge them, and baked this in the oven for...I'm not sure how long? I was drinking cider and eating Havarti by then, Mum did the oven stuff? 30 minutes or so.

When it came out of the oven, it was light and fluffy and smelt divine. So cinnamony.

I served it with King Island cream. Everyone loved it. Even those who didn't like hot cross buns.

I hope you all had feasts too. I haven't eaten one chocolate. I figure my cheese consumption is enough. Plus I've had this dessert for breakfast two days in a row. And I honestly think I am looking skinnier each day.

Girls night out at Miss Chu's + The Victoria Room

Friday night in Sydney was a girls night out. It was so much fun. I dressed up in my St Frock dress :) How beautiful is it?! The purple and the beading and the blush is so special. And it has a special place in my heart as Sandradee kindly gave it to me.

Sydney Shop Girl, Kristy and Sandradee and I dined at Miss Chu's, a Sydney streetfood institution. It was lovely seeing my friends become friends :) And Kristy is a big fan of Sydney Shop Girl's blog.

Sydney Shop Girl took this picture. Isn't it quirky?

I loved the shuttlecocks and bamboo steamers hanging from the roof hanging over the pavement.

 And the bananas. Such an expensive decoration!

We sat on milk crates, watching Sydney Shop Girl brave the long queue, filled with pretty, stylish young things (including YOU, SSG). Girls wore corporate casual with style - high waisted skirts, pearls, funky dresses and sky high heels. We admired.

The menu is fresh and tasty Asian. So cheap too.

Water came in plastic bottles resembling hip flasks. I loved the look. We wished we'd gone to one of the many bottle-os along William Street for some wine.

 We were served food in paper bags.

 

 We ordered heaps! Twice.

Chicken rice paper rolls (they'd run out of duck and banana flower ones) - so fresh and cool. Peking duck pancakes - rich and warming. Eggnet crab spring rolls - not greasy, nice and seafoody.

 Scallop dumplings and Shanghai dumplings - fat and juicy with spicy sauce.

 On our second order, Kristy and I ordered Wagyu pho. Spicy, lemony, slurpy goodness. Wow.

And we also ordered more pancakes. Yum yum yum.

We were all so impressed with Miss Chu's and I was excited to learn there's one in Melbourne. Must. Go. Soon.

We then walked up a large hill to the upmarket Darlinghurst bar, The Victoria Room.

Sydney Shop Girl had a Cinderella moment and changed her amazing sky high shoes to sensible yet stylish flats.

We saw two more Cinderella moments - this carriage at a lavish Russian home decor (??) store.

We lamented that Kate Middleton won't be having a horse drawn carriage at her wedding, and I remembered Kirsti from Melbourne on My Mind went to school with Kate Middleton when she was known as Catherine.

The third Cinderella moment was more bogan, more relatable. A nearly empty bottle of beer and one shoe. I hope she found her prince.

Once we braved the hill, we had cocktails at The Victoria Room. I found it hard to choose. I chose rose and lychee.

 I felt so grown up at The Victoria Room. So plush and posh.

We shared dessert - I had the privilege of choosing them. A divine rose pannecotta with strawberries. So light and creamy, and just sweet enough. It was my favourite of the two.

And this, an apple tart tatin, which I adored only a millimetre less than the pannecotta. SSG and Sandradee loved it! It was warm and rich, and had a sticky sweet caramel sauce.

Friday night in Sydney was the perfect end to a perfect day. Here's to my friends becoming new friends. You can read Sydney Shop Girl's blog about the girls night out here.

Adventures in Sydney with The Lady Llama. Perfect day 1: Clothes. Zumbo. Photos.

My weekend was so fantastic I don't even know where to begin! I do know that being back to routine and reality is going to be hard this week, but I know I'll get through with thoughts that I'm truly loved and admired.

I flew to Sydney early Friday morning. I was exhausted from the event at work on Thursday, but I was so excited about my trip, it was like the day before Christmas! My flight was delayed and so I was placed on an earlier flight which was also delayed. Delayed flights mean free Foxtel, so I watched bogan rock on the music channel! Nothing like November Rain at 700 feet.

My flight got in at 9.10 am and I set off on the airport shuttle train to the city to meet my lovely blogger friend The Lady Llama for the first time. She greeted me with a handmade felt rose and a hug, and we didn't stop talking for five hours!

 

The taxi driver who took us to my hotel looked at me and told me I'm beautiful, twice. Wow. And at that moment, I knew it was going to be a great day - and I felt beautiful all weekend.

We were tourists, training, bussing and walking it. Ouch my feet. Us on the bus!

The Lady Llama is so so wonderful. She is stylish, super beautiful, and takes great photos. I had a wonderful day with her.

We went looking at clothes - I am going to dedicate a whole blog entry to this, but for now here are a few pictures for you.

 

 

She tried to convince me to buy this hat, but wearing the hat for this photo satisfied me.

I wondered whether ducky hat would go with this skirt?

We stopped in at the delicious Simon Johnson store in Pyrmont. I got excited at the fromagerie room, and vowed to make Fromagerie my middle name by deedpoll.

SO MUCH CHEESE! Cheese for the tasting.

 Cheese for the lusting.

And cheese for simultaneous photographing.

 Simon Johnson is a foodie heaven.

 So many bottles and jars of gourmet goodness.

Our mission, however, was to find another foodie heaven. Not the pharmacy, they only sell jellybeans and meal replacement bars.

It didn't matter if we only had dessert for a meal at dessert king Adriano Zumbo. In theory. Only, after walking about three kilometres, we discovered the cafe version of Zumbo had gone from Balmain, and we had to make do with the hole in the wall patisserie version.

So we did have a meal before Zumbo. I had the brunch that transcends cities - or my limited brunching palate when approaching new and not very notable cafes - salmon, avocado and scrambled eggs. It was good.

Back to Zumbo after a proper meal. We saw this dog with a rugby top on. I patted him. His name is Junior. He was bogan, like his owner. I mean that in a nice way - I have a thing for bogan males.

Zumbo was like Wonka. So many delightful desserts...

 With whimsical names...

 And suggestive names...

And intricate designs.

The myriad of choice was marred by knowing that we had to eat our dessert in gazebo type arrangement.

I love that photo The Lady Llama took. We sat next to the man in the foreground. He showed us some pictures of penguins in the newspaper he read.

So bearing in mind our dining arrangements, I got something simple to eat then, and take away.

I got the milo milkshake cake thingy, and four macarons - blueberry mudcake, rice pudding and mango. I ate a rice pudding one on Friday. It tasted exactly like rice pudding. I could eat a million. I am saving the rest for after work treats.

The milo thingy on the other hand, made me feel like I had food regret. It was delicious, but I wish I had have gotten the corn on the cob dessert.

Still, I ate my dessert and enjoyed it. There are layers of thick dark chocolate discs, cake, mousse, chocolate slivers, milo powder, and milky milo. Yum!

Thank you so much to The Lady Llama for taking the pictures, some that you see here, and blogging about our day out. It was so much fun! I've definitely made a friend for life.

 ♥♥♥