Currently with over 60 entries, I am amazed and overjoyed at the amount of entries and the creativity shown with the Banana Bread Bake-off. There are some truly spectacular entries. Don’t forget the prize: a DIY cupcake set that I’ve put together featuring 25 mini pleated souffle cups (like the ones I used here), 12 royal icing flowers, a cake tester and sprinkles. Shipped to anywhere in the world!

Just a reminder that entries are due midnight on the 12th May 2008 Australian Eastern Standard Time (see www.timeanddate.com) I can’t wait to share the entries with you, I think you’ll be as impressed as I am!

Love,

NQN

xxx

Not even the dampening, miserable weather could put a lid on my enthusiasm for today. For today was the day that I was to meet and attend a cooking lesson held by Adriano Zumbo, creator of the most sublime cakes. Held as part of the Balmain Rozelle Food Week (April 21-27) this Wednesday night Adriano held just two classes for some very lucky people.

The elusive Adriano Zumbo

Trained in Paris at Ecole Lenotre, Adriano has also represented Australia in the Wold Cup of Patissier, the “Coup de Monde de la Patissier” and the “Chocolate Masters” yet those of us that await his new season’s creations like eager groupies at his small but perfectly formed patisserie only know of his friendly staff, as Adriano himself remains an elusive character. Not so tonight.

The recipe

It’s wet and rainy this Wednesday night at 6pm yet there are 20 eager students huddled in the entranceway. Each one is given a clean tea towel and apron as tonight’s class, Gateaux de Voyage is a hands on class making a coconut and coriander cake as well as a tart filled with caramel, lemon curd, praline feulletine noisette and topped with chocolate mousse and chocolate swirls. In the flesh, Adriano is much younger than you’d expect. I pictured an older grumpy but tortured egotistical artistic genius but he a young, smiling and modest guy with an eyebrow and upper ear piercing who looks like he’d be right at home at a music festival or sitting at an inner city cafe. The crowd tonight is a fairly even mix of women and men, some couples, some mums and daughters, even two of my old university professors are there and of course food lovers and I’m chuffed to hear that some are NQN readers-hello!

Adriano asks everyone to introduce themselves and explain what they do for a living to break the ice. After that, people group off into 4 groups of 5 people, each team making their own coconut and coriander cake and then making parts of the multi layered tart.

The first supply to materialise is an enormous hunk of butter on a blue plastic sheet - a good 50cm cube which was taken to with a large knife by the various groups to get their supply. I am somewhat fascinated by this enormous chunk of butter-I realise too fascinated when I get home and realise that I’ve taken 7 pictures of said hunk of butter.

Yes another pic, but it was huge!

Supply room

For the rest of the ingredients they are directed to the storeroom, a neatly stacked and ordered room.

Gordon Ramsay would be proud

There’s also a sign reminding everyone of cleaning standards, something Gordon Ramsay would only be too proud of.

I also see the beginnings of the famous Miss Marple crepe cake!

Everyone starts mixing and beating and I survey the kitchen. Adriano and his team of 4 is on hand to give advice and to ensure that everyone is following the directions that they’ve been given. Bowls are passed out and everyone is busy busy busy.

I look around and notice all of the equipment. There’s a thing that looks like a linen press or a piece of gym equipment which I am told is a pastry machine which stretches and rolls pastry. There are also three Kitchenaids of the heavy duty variety and another large mixer. At one end of the room is a huge prover set at 32 degrees for dough and at the other end two multi tiered ovens.

There’s also a huge dough mixer and I also see the enormous dough hooks that go with it.

I ask Adriano how his inspiration process works and he explains that he is at first struck with inspiration for a look which he then pairs with a list he has of flavours that he feels will work well together. Inspiration can come from anything and everything and of course like a writer or an artist, when he wants inspiration, it refuses to come. He is never short of ideas though, hence his being able to come with up a new collection every 3 or 6 months and his next collection for Winter may be out in June this year. And for those of you who want to see a cake runway show, do go to the Adriano Zumbo Appreciation Society Facebook page. When he feels that he has enough people interested, he will do one!

Tonight, they’re making two variations of the cake, a coconut and coriander butter cake and a lime and basil butter cake. Adriano shows a lady how to roll up the basil leaves together in order to cut them easier.

Buttering tins

Dusting with shredded coconut

Filled with cake mix

The mix for the cake is almost done and the tins are buttered and then dusted with shredded coconut and then filled before being popped in the oven.

Now onto the tarts! The first step is to make the caramel, lemon curd and the chocolate caramel mousse. It turns out that the chocolate caramel mousse didn’t quite come together so a fast chocolate mousse was used instead. Whilst each group does a different filling, one group starts trimming the ready rolled uncooked pastry. These are then filled with liners and then pie weights and baked dark until beautifully crispy. And I do love these tarts shells more than a person should love pastry.

One of the things that most Zumbo lovers appreciate is his attention to detail and his unfailing refusal to use the same details or decorations across his cakes. Indeed it is astounding how many individual components are made to create one single cake, at least 5 or 6, let alone the range of cakes that his patisserie produces. Ever since my first try, I’ve been hooked on the look and the taste of these fabulous creations.

Using the heat gun

So it’s with fascination that we watch Adriano create the chocolate swirls - the flourish to top off the tart. The whole process to make the 16 or so swirls takes about an hour from start to finish yet his patience is unwavering in the pursuit of the perfect flourish. It starts with heating the chocolate and getting it to the correct temperature. Adriano heats it to 50 degrees then drops it by 23 degrees, he of course knows this by feel and by instinct but most of us would be doing this by the thermometer. he’s looking for the perfect “crack”when the chocolate breaks with a glossy finish. When the chocolate needs more melting, he uses the heat gun again.

After that he sprays large sheet of acrylic with the coloured sprays, a relatively new product from France which is a huge time saver in his kitchen. Adriano says that Paris is is really the place to go to learn about the craft although there is a cooking school in Chicago run by two French chefs that also does an excellent job.

Once dry, these are then cut into strips

He then dollops a measure of melted chocolate and then using a comb runs it through touching the acrylic to make the lines.

He lifts it off and then semi dries it .

Each piece is then cut in half and twirled around and let to set in the fridge into a curl shape.

The tarts are then filled firstly with the liquidey caramel, then a light sprinkle of salt flakes, and then the praline disc.

They are then filled with lemon curd.

And then topped with piped chocolate mousse before receiving their last flourish-the chocolate swirls!

We learn that these tarts are a one off not sold in the store and created specially for tonight’s event which makes these delicious morsels even more special. One bite into the crunchy crust and praline, sweet caramel but tangy with lemon and dark chocolate I’m reminded again of how much I love the textural and flavour balance of Zumbo cakes. And when we hear the pop of champagne corks and are handed some bubbly, suddenly everything gets even sweeter.

The cakes are cut up and everyone takes pieces of the cakes and tarts home in a large white cake box. Everyone thanks Adriano and his lovely team for having us, it seems we are all happier for the glimpse into the Zumbo kitchen and to meet the man himself and his team.

For more events see the Balmain Rozelle Food Week program guide here (pdf).

To visit and join the Adriano Zumbo Appreciation Society Facebook page, click here.

To download the recipes click Adriano Zumbo Coconut and Coriander cake or Adriano Zumbo chocolate caramel lemon tart

Adriano Zumbo

296 Darling Street
Balmain NSW
Tel: +61 (02) 9810-7318
Open: 8am-6pm Mon-Sat
8am-4pm Sunday

The Domestic Goddess herself, Nigella Lawson graced our fair, sunny shores today to sign the books of the Sydney contingent of her Antipodean fans. I for one, managed to sleep well despite the occasion although there was just a little hint of trepidation along with excitement. What if she wasn’t as lovely as she is on television? Would I have to rename my blog to “I don’t want to be Nigella”? That’s the risk of meeting your “idols” I suppose.

I managed to convince my lovely husband to take a few hours off work and come with me to photograph her book signing and we lined up at about 11.45am for the 12:30pm start. There were already about 200 people lined up, some since at least 9am. The crowd is made up of 2/3 women and 1/3 men and the line snakes around the shops on the first floor. There were at least 5 security personnel as well as ABC staff on hand to see that everything ran smoothly. The security guards are apologetic about the long queue and the ABC staff apologetic as Nigella will only be signing her name due to the number of people and only 1 item per customer. Damn, there goes my little intro about my website when I ask her to sign to “Not Quite Nigella”

Once 12:30pm hit, the line moved smoothly. It was only another 10 minutes until we reached the front and we ushered to the corner of the store where the Domestic Goddess herself sat. In a candy pink cardigan and black dress (exactly like the one she wears on the Nigella Feasts DVD cover) she is as stunning as she is on television. Her skin is luminous and she has a broad sweet smile. I have three books but the ABC staff help open them up to the signing page so that she’ll sign them all.

Yes the above photo and three below photos were our little exchange! My arm on the left

I even get a bit of a conversation with her when she comments “Wow, you have so many things marked for cooking” about the earmarks on all of my books. While in the queue, I was a little embarrassed at my well worn, well marked books compared to everyone else’s pristine copies but she doesn’t seem to mind. I said to her that I had already made at least 1/4 of Express, hence the dodgy cover but Domestic Goddess was my favourite as I love baking and I would have brought all 6 but I didn’t think that it was practical. She smiles that fabulous and genuine smile again and says that is wonderful and that bringing all 6 would be rather too heavy indeed. She signs unhurriedly and cocks her head while doing so which is much like the way she is on television.

After a few more photos and a thankyou and goodbye, we’re ushered along to make room for more people getting their books signed. She has a lovely smile for everyone and looks at everyone in the eye which is exactly what everyone had hoped for. I think the title of just “Goddess” would be rather fitting.

ABC Shop

Level 1, Queen Victoria Building
455 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Listen to a podcast of Richard Fidler’s interview with Nigella here (click on headphones icon)

One of my favourite bloggers, airyfairycupcakes has nominated me in the blogger’s choice awards. I am unbelievably flattered that she has done so and I really appreciate that she has thought of me! I don’t know how I will go but as they say, its just a honour being nominated (which I never really believed when they’d say that in an Oscars speech but now that I am its so true!).

Anyway if you would like to vote for me you can do so here

For those of you that have voted for me, a heartfelt thanks for taking the time to do so. It means more to me than you’ll know.

A very Happy New Year to my NQN readers, your friends and family! I hope that 2008 is filled with lots of fantastic feasts and fun. Speaking of feasts, my sister Blythe gave me Nigella Express for Christmas and I’ve already earmarked many, many recipes to cook and I thought what better time to start sampling than on the eve of the new year. Nigella’s Scallops-on-the-shell was just crying out to be made.

The dessert recipe that I chose however is not from Nigella Express as I needed something much simpler and quicker, in fact, its made in 5 minutes although the chilling time is much longer than a few minutes. You’ll best make it in the morning or the night before. Its by Rachael Ray who I know some are divided about. I appreciate the swiftness of the cook, if not necessarily her overt enthusiasm as much as her fans do. In any case, its a rather easy dessert to make which can only be a good thing when you’ve got a NYE outfit to bother with.

So with no further ado, and because I need to get dressed, I have for you, a sample of NYE dishes: two cocktails, an appetiser and a dessert, for of course any day of the year but especially NYE.

NQN’s Balmoral Bathing Beauty

The name is purely arbitrary, we happened to be enjoying these while out on our balcony and looking down at Balmoral Beach.

• 4 parts apricot nectar chilled
• 1 part of raspberry vodka (we use Absolut)
• Raspberry puree
• cream to decorate

1. Mix the nectar and raspberry vodka together and pour in martini glass
2. Add raspberry puree and cream to decorate and make into patterns if you wish.

For a Apricot Bellini:

• 1 part chilled apricot nectar
• 3-4 parts chilled Proseco or other fizzy dry white wine

1. Pour nectar in glass
2. top with the Proseco

Recipe from Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson

Scallops-on-the-shell

I can’t believe how simple yet luscious these are. I prefer to get my scallops from the fishmomger for this, which is just as well as I don’t think I could ever get a supermarket to supply me with shells.

You don’t need to take the corals off, but I like to turn this into two meals, and fry up the corals the next day, with some butter and garlic oil and eat them squished onto chunky bread or toast, and spritzed with lemon juice and carpeted with parsley.

These are really a starter, but I certainly wouldn’t mind knocking a couple of shell’s worth back for a special supper any day of the week.

Ingredients

• 6 scallop shells
• 18 scallops o 24 if very small, roes or corals removed
• 100g fresh breadcrumbs
• 6 teaspoons butter
• 1 lime, cut for squeezing
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic oil
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 250c/gas mark 9 (you need a really hot oven). Rinse and dry the scallop shells and arrange them on a baking sheet.

2. Put the scallops in a bowl and sprinkle the breadcrumbs over them. Toss them around to get each one well coated in crumbs.

3. Put 3 breaded scallops into each shell and sprinkle with any leftover breadcrumbs that remain in the bottom of the bowl.

4. Add 1 teaspoon of butter on top of each scallop filled shell, a squirt of lime juice, 1/4 teaspoon of garlic oil and salt and pepper to taste.

5. Put the scallops in the oven for 15-20 minutes-you really want the breadcrumbs to be crispy and the butter turning black around the edges of the shell.

P.S. I found that these really benefited from a liberal dousing of fresh lime juice just before eating

Recipe from Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson

Chocolate cups in 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup whole milk
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• Pinch salt
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 Tbsp. hazelnut liqueur or dark rum
• 4 demitasse cups
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• Mint sprigs, for garnish, optional

When planning your menu, make this dessert first to allow these chocolate cups to set and chill.

1. Heat milk in a small pan over moderate heat until it comes to a boil. In blender or food processor combine egg, sugar, a pinch of salt, semisweet chips and liqueur. Run processor or turn on blender to low setting. Pour in boiling milk in a slow stream. The hot milk will cook the egg and melt the chocolate. Process or blend 1 minute, until smooth.

2. Spoon chocolate into 4 demitasse cups and chill. After dinner, beat cream until soft peaks form. Add a little sugar and beat to combine. Top the chocolate cups with a dollop of cream and garnish each cup with mint sprigs. Place cups on saucers and serve with demitasse spoons.

If you use teacups, this recipe will yield 2 cups, rather than 4.

Recipe by Rachael Ray