I realise that I’m in the minority as I prefer Puffy’s cookie puffs to Beard Papa’s puffs. Its purely the cookie crumb that attracts me. The filling in Beard Papa is better but I prefer Puffy’s outer. So when we walk past Puffy one evening and I spy a new offering, a Puffy Ice Cream puff, I’m straight in the queue. With flavours such as mango sorbet, durian, green tea, caramel, ferrero rocher, vanilla, chocolate and taro, they’re $2.50 each.

While waiting in line, I spy another item, a Puffy sponge cake. Described as a “Classic recipe” of Golden Brown puff pastry filled with orange flavoured Puffy cake I’m intrigued. At $5.60 I figure why not, it comes in its own cute little box (did I ever mention that I am a sucker for packaging?).

I order my taro flavoured puff and cake and go off to taste my chilly little globe of ice cream filled choux goodness. My first mistake is that I don’t really like ice cream at a very cold temperature, preferring it to melt somewhat before tasting. Unfortunately the choux and packaging doesn’t allow for my drips or slightly melted ice cream so I’m left to take bites of the ultra frozen ice cream and the cookie choux. I usually love taro flavoured things but this ice cream isn’t to my taste and my sensitive teeth doth protest painfully so I pass it onto my husband. He enjoys the ice cream but concedes it was a pain in the bottom to eat and that he would’ve rathered a plain ice cream.

Back at the hotel, we open up the cake to find a convenient set of forks and a knife inside and although plastic, the knife is surprisingly able to slice through the cake’s puff pastry shell. It appears to be a puff pastry outer and a plain sponge inside. The puff outer is sweet and prettily patterned and the sponge inside is very soft and fresh but very, very lightly orange flavoured. Its the typical type of sponge that you’ll find at any Chinatown bakery-usually split and spread with mock cream whereas this one isn’t and as a result it comes across as dry and about as boring as it comes. Qu’elle disappointment. I think I’ll stick the the regular puffs.

Puffy

Shop9/ 644 World Square Shopping Centre
Lower Ground Floor
Cnr George, Liverpool, Pitt & Goulburn Streets, Sydney
Open until 9pm

Prior to my visit, I was told three things about Bourke Street Bakery: 1. The queues are long but move quickly 2. The shop is tiny and 3. They make fantastic baked goods worshiped by many.

I can confirm all three. It was 1.50pm on a Saturday afternoon, where we, pre-picnic and perilously peckish fronted up the store. We needed something delicious and tasty to take to Centennial Park to eat before enjoying a tandem bike ride. And like everyone said, the line was long but moved quickly. I was queueing for less than 5 minutes when I reached the crowded front of the counter. With 4 people taking orders behind a fairly small space, its organised chaos.

As I’ve been waiting in the line I’ve already had a chance to decide what I want. I choose my selection of two sausage rolls, two types of rolls and two tarts (the strawberry and vanilla brulee tart is fresh from the oven, the huge tray brought out while I am waiting). Alas the ginger creme brulee with pistachio is not available. Sometimes life is just not fair! Its a cry for the spoilt I know and don’t think I don’t know how ludicrous that sounds but I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t disappointed. There’s also quiches, sandwiches, pies, cookies and breads available.

Lamb, harissa and almond sausage roll $4

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When I published my blogpost on the Vietnamese rolls, I didn’t realise that a few doors down from VeeVee was a cake shop that specialised in Greek sweets and has been doing so, at various locations around Sydney, since 1955. I love Greek yogurt, Greek cheese and the Greek Almond biscuits so I figure I ought to give these cakes a try-all in the name of research you see.

This is apparently their newest store and it certainly looks that way. What has caught my eye are the cylindrical cakes, in a myriad of colours and flavours. I’m buying cake for 4 people for dessert so I figure one cake per person plus some biscuits will do and resist their seemingly over the top suggestion of 2 cakes per person as well as biscuits. I select the Continental (layers of vanilla sponge with layers of vanilla fresh cream and chocolate fresh cream finished with a fine layer of Belgian chocolate); Praline (layers of vanilla sponge layered with caramelised flaked almonds fresh cream); Mango and Coconut Fresh Cream (layers of vanilla sponge together with layers of mango and coconut fresh cream finished with a mango glaze) all $3.90 each plus a Chocolate Mud Cake $2.90 (layers of chocolate mud cake layered with ganache chocolate and finished with a spread of fine chocolate). Alongside these I choose a strawberry and lemon melting moment dipped in icing and some pistachio biscuits, some melomakaronas (traditional almond honey biscuit) and of course my favourite greek almond shortbreads liberally sprinkled with icing sugar (all $19 a kilo, my box of 8 cookies was $8.27).

Praline (layers of vanilla sponge layered with caramelised flaked almonds fresh cream) $3.90

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