Cloud 9
Strawberry Mousse
Yes I know, I know, I’m so late to be posting about Adriano Zumbo’s Summer collection but in my defence, your Honour, I don’t really live closeby and I do find it hard to get here. However this time, I am ordering cakes for my birthday and of course where else would I get them but Zumbo.
Marry Me Ed
Piste As She Goes
Unfortunately the woman serving seems to be having a bad day/week/year as she’s one tiny shade away from being extremely rude but that doesn’t stop me from ordering a selection of cakes for my birthday.
Charlotte O’Hara
Quince Cheesecake
Yes I am one of those people who would rather taste a tiny portion of everything rather than just have a big slice of one thing. Especially since you know they’ll all be good.
Gem
I dither like every other customer who leans back against the brick wall to contemplate which pleasure they will be partaking in.
Miss Marple
Wheely Good Berrylicious
I am so glad that Adriano hasn’t discontinued the Wheelie Good, my favourite cake but has instead chosen to update it to include berries. So without further ado, here is a virtual “catwalk” of 7 of his latest couture creations!
Piste as she Goes $7.50
I love pistachio so I was rather excited to see this pale green hued cake make an appearance. I’m not certain what is the story behind the name aside from the obvious pistachio reference but then again his cakes are quite whimsically named. The predominant flavour in this for me in the cinnamon and the predominant texture is the crunch from the praline riz which is an upmarket version of crunchy rice clusters-like the Chocolate Crackles you might have only dreamed about having at your 7 year old party. The rest of the layers are melt in the mouth with the cinnamon ganache melting with the pistachio and milk chocolate mousse layers.
Marry Me Ed $7.50
Marry Me Ed suffered a little in transport but this didn’t affect the taste at all. I was a little unsure of the mix of apple compote and raisins with dark chocolate coffee ganache but honestly why even bother second guessing Adriano? It was perfection, the soft apple compote was juicy and the crunchy walnuts the perfect complement. I especially liked the crispy coffee brulee caramel on top which is always my favourite part of the brulee. Rose and I both liked this a lot. And who is the Ed? Apparently it’s Ed from Balmain’s Marionette Cafe.
Gem $7.50
Gem was an interesting one. Certainly one of the most eyecatching with the pink and cream hues, it had an exotic taste in the base said to be Indonesian tree cake. I am not familiar with the tree cake but it looked like one of those awfully hard work layer cakes that people slave over. It has an unusual taste, one that none of us could pick. Indeed my husband thought it was “fish”! Uncovering the white chocolate and coconut outer we revealed a coconut marshmallow filling, white chocolate bavarois type mousse, with a layer of berry compote jelly. Interesting and I am still pondering that “fish” taste.
Wheely Good Berrylicious $7.50
My next one was my favourite of his previous season’s collection. I knew this would be good as I adore the combination of white chocolate and berries and this doesn’t disappoint. What it does do is surpsise. What I assume to be white chocolate mousse is actually passionfruit mousse with a generous riot of berry compote between dacquoise discs. The edges of this are then rolled in white chocolate and almond croccante and dried berries. And I was actually silent for a minute just devouring this slowly and then quickly for fear that someone else would take my slice. Perfection. My favourite again.
Cloud 9 $6.50
This gorgeous little number is said to be one of his most popular and is often ordered in a large size for birthdays. I wasn’t ready to commit to just one cake (call me a cake slut) but I had to try it. The beautifully browned jester hat of meringue shone with golden green fairy dust and inside the pate sucre base is a gorgeous apple and possibly pear curd. I’ve never had apple curd before but it’s gorgeous and not too sweet, just perfect for the sweet meringue.
Charlotte O’Hara $7.50
Charlotte O’Hara, despite her name, is not your typical southern Belle. She has rather exotic roots you see with a biscuit culiere, ginger and vanilla bean bavarois, lime creme and fig, pistachio and basil jelly. All this topped carefully with 4 perfect jellied raspberries and 2 arcs of lime zest.
Miss Marple $7.50
We leave the adorably named Miss Marple crepe til last. Indeed I’d seen the naked, undressed crepes being shaped into rounds at the Cooking Lesson. The crepe is sticky with maple syrup and filled with maple mascarpone with the gentlest touch of Grand Marnier with sections of orange and pieces of strawberry hidden in the folds. The disc of lacey toffee is an elegant tilted hat that holds the folds together quite effectively. I love sweet crepes and this is gorgeous, nothing more to say.
Except of course, Happy 1st Birthday to the Adriano Zumbo shop!
Adriano Zumbo
296 Darling Street
Balmain NSW
Tel: +61 (02) 9810-7318
Open: 8am-6pm Mon-Sat
8am-4pm Sunday
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16 Comments | Add your own
Very beautiful. I’ll be in the area next week so hopefully I’ll get to drop in and treat myself also
How on earth did you get that high shot of the shop?
Happy Belated Birthday Lorraine! No surprise that it was food-filled one!
When is the best time to go to A/Zumbo? The last time I was there, the display case was quite empty.
You certainly picked a great selection of gateaux. Happy birthday to you!
Happy Birthday! My favourite is the Miss Marple - yummo.
Happy Birthday! I can see you have been enjoying yourself with all these yummy cakes. The photos are amazing!!!
good heavens, i’m jealous. i honestly don’t think i’ve ever eaten anything so fancy. every single dessert you pictured and described sounds absolutely decadent. happy birthday indeed!
Hi Y-Definitely stop and treat yourself to 1-or 7 if you feel like it!
My husband took that photo-he’s rather tall (just over 6 foot) and he held the camera up and started clicking 
Hi tian-Thankyou so much!
Hehe yes everything that I seem to do nowadays involves food. I think if you go on weekends, before lunchtime is best. I’d say earlier is best just so you don’t miss out or you coudl ring ahead, they will put them aside for you. There’s nothing worse than when the cake that you want is gone.
Hi belle-Thankyou! I saw some on your blog like Da Bomb but they didn’t have that
Hi belimda-Thanks!
You have good taste, I loved Miss Marple too but the white chocolate and berry combo just pipped it at the post for me
Hi sisko-Thankyou so much. I have definitely been enjoying a lot of cake lately
Hi grace-Adriano’s cakes are certainly a cut above. I call them couture cakes as they look so elaborate and so much work goes into them. Perhaps if you come to Sydney one day you can try them, they’re definitely worth it!
Hi Lorraine, I hope your birthday celebrations wrapped up nicely on the weekend?
I’m back to comment as I looked at this lovely post a few days ago (and did so again just now, Mmm mmm).
That box of cakes just looks **divine**. I’d love to get such an assortment and then to try them/share them with someone.. and share the critiquing of them too.
The Miss Marple (when I first saw it during your cooking class) had me fascinated as I love crepes so much.. sweet and savoury. I think that little creation is ‘genius’! And the Charlotte O’Hara with its flavour combo’s had me fascinated. I read what was in it and thought.. “would that work”? It looks so gorgeous.
Could the ‘gem’ perhaps have had tamarind in it? I know that’s not fishy, but I guess I predominantly eat tamarind in the shrimp paste I buy. ???
Regarding the Piste As She Goes. Forgive me if you’ve already made this connection when you said the “pistachio reference”.. (ie. forgive my ignorance!) –But when I read the title of that cake I thought they were just using the foreign word “Piste” meaning pistachio and adding extra words to make it sound like the word ‘pistachio’… Say it quickly: Pieste As She Goes… sounds like “Pistachio’s”? Anyway, that’s what I thought
I think the Piste cake would appeal to me the most going from your description and looking at the textures. (The photo’s are brilliant by the way). I would also love the Wheelie Good..but I’m a bit over berries right now, I need a bit of a break from them.. so maybe I’d love the original Wheelie Good more?
I’m also a bit over apple/pear compotey-type things and flavours.. and in search of the Miss Marple’s etc (I think the strawberries would work well in that)!
Thanks so much for sharing
Hi Maria-They sure did! It was a great food filled weekend that ended up in some sport and a slight sporting injury-a first for me, I’m almost proud of it
Yes they’re divine, it’s fun trying these as the flavours are so distinct.
If you like crepes, you’ll definitely like the Miss Marple, it’s really good
Ahhh ok, perhaps that is it. I’ll go and taste my tamarind paste, I have a new jar so I’ll try that and let you know. Good idea!
Oooh I think you’re right about Piste as she goes, that completely makes sense! Brilliant, a gold star for you (or a Miss Marple
).
The origina Wheelie Good was so great (he still sells it). It was white chocolate, honeyed mascarpone, pistachio and the hidden flavours were honeyed apple and apricot! Drool worthy stuff or what?
Oooh, thank you for the gold star.. but yes, I’ll take the Miss Marple!!
Hi Maria-You’re welcome! I always used to collect the gold stars and stickers when I was in school
Miss Marple is a great choice!
Hiya lovely lady,
I get silver stars at Weight Watchers, they’re called “Bravo Stars”. At the beginning of the meeting if anyone wants to talk about any small change they’ve made (for the better) and share it with the group, they will usually get a bravo star to stick wherever they like. I stick mine in my WW passport that gets stamped each week. Another lady puts them on her forehead. :-/
Hi Maria-Wow, cool. I guess they know that stars are appreciated by all, even the non kids! And a passport too? They’ve got all the trappings!
I love me a bit of Adriano Zumbo! I feel less guilty eating it when i walk up the hill on Darling street from the ferry. Got the Citron tart and the maxiadz. The tart was gooey and very “tart”- my kind of thing so I didn’t share this at all! The maxiadz was crunchy and super chocolaty and the raspberries added tartness to the rich chocolate (forgive me for my uncreative descriptions tonight!). Way too hard for one person to finish. I ate this over 3 days. I want to try something soft and lighter next time. Any recs NQN?
Hi Maria-I’ve never tried the Maxiadz, I always choose the Wheelie Good. Thanks for letting me know what it’s like (and it’s very creative and descriptive!). Very restrained of you to eat it over 3 days, I wish I could say I ate my Wheelie Good over that long but it was scoffed straight away
The Cloud 9 is definitely soft and light, it’s gorgeous. He has a new collection out though which I haven’t seen-yet!
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