Share a Churros Week support Beyond Blue – San Churros

Today’s post is a little different, of course it’s all about churros those delectable fried Spanish Donuts that San Churros specialising in making but more importantly it’s about their campaign to support beyondblue – an independent non-profit organisation working to address issues associated with depression, anxiety disorders and related mental illnesses.

San Churros has launched ‘Share A Churros Week’ and from the 15th-21st of June (this week) every churros sold $1 will be donated to beyondblue. When I was asked if I would like to help promote this campaign I couldn’t have said any quicker. Unfortunately, a few people very close to me suffer from depression and anxiety, I have seen first hand how it affects them. Therefore, if there’s anything I can do to support and help the charity I will definitely do it.

I wanted to share with some facts about depression and anxiety:
– 45 per cent of people will experience a mental health condition in their lifetime
– On average, 1 in 6 people will experience depression at some stage of their lives
– Anxiety is the most common mental condition in Australia
– On average, 1 in 4 people will experience anxiety
– At least six Australians take their own lives every day

For more information please visit the beyondblue website 🙂

I know it’s very important for people who suffer depression and anxiety to have the support from family and friends. Therefore, it’s a great concept of ‘Share A Churros’ because I honestly believe food can bring people together and because there’s endorphins in chocolate hehe that’s why I asked a dear friend of mine Catherine from Sweet Empire to go to San Churros and have a churros feast with me.

The are quite a few San Churros outlets in Melbourne, we found the one in Westfield Knox in Wantirna to be the closest to us both. We met at the newly renovated store it is much bigger and spacious compared to the kiosk they use to have inside the shopping centre.

With plenty of seating inside and sunlight shining through it is a great place for business meeting, afternoon tea and dessert after dinner. They also have comfy black leather sofas which is where to settled down and ordered our drinks.

Azteca Chilli Spanish Hot Chocolate $5.95

I can never leave without ordering the Azteca Spanish Hot chocolate which is chilli flavoured. If you haven’t had a Spanish hot chocolate before, I am warning you now it is VERY VERY thick haha and not everyone will like it! I personally love it! It is so thick it’s more like a pudding especially when it’s a little colder and thickens up. The subtle chilli taste gives it some more heat and perfect for a cold winter night. They have other flavours for the hot chocolate which I like too such as the peanut butter!

Churros For Two $14.95

We then ordered a Churros For Two because it’s the perfect amount churros for us. Instead of milk and dark chocolate we decided to try something different and order the white chocolate which tasted a little like condense milk and dulce de leche (which is cooked condense milk to make a caramel).

Thanks Catherine for being the hand model 🙂 Just look at that creamy dulce de leche! I’ve had the churros so many times haha my old office use to be walking distance to San Churros so yes I was a regular. They are made to order and freshly baked, never too oily and always crispy on the outside and soft inside with cinnamon sugar sprinkled over.

Fondue for Two $24.95

I would’ve loved to invite more people, but they were all working and hey who said two can’t be a party 😛 We didn’t have breakfast so this made up for it, we ordered the Fondue For Two which had a great range of condiments. Firstly a big pot of melted dark chocolate that is a must for a fondue. Then for dipping you had churros (of course!), fresh strawberries, bananas, marshmallows, brownies, macarons (pistachio & NY Cheesecake), pretzels and chocolate truffles! WOW!

 

Just looking at this platter makes me smile and want to share it with all my friends. I swear I have collected at least 3 fondue sets over the years, but I’ve never gotten around to using them. When I really should because it is such a great idea for dinner parties and so fun to eat using these little skewers.

Catherine as the hand model again ~ why is it always so hard to pick up the strawberries hurry up I want to eat you 😛

There we go the money shot! Fresh strawberries dipped in melted chocolate my favourite! What’s your favourite? We had such a great time chatting and fully indulging ourselves in churros and chocolate.

San Churros will be donating an extra $1 if you share your photos on Instagram and tag #shareachurros

So please do me a favour and visit San Churros if you can this week, order some churros, share with your friends and help raise money for beyondblue!

San Churros Knox
Number 3110a
Knox City Shopping Centre
425 Burward Hwy
Please visit the San Churros website for the closest outlet near you.

Daisy@Nevertoosweet and Catherine dined at San Churros as their guest and Haystac all opinions are true and honest. 

 

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Queen’s Birthday Weekend – Legacy, Camberwell

I hope all my Dear Reader’s in Melbourne have enjoyed the Queen’s Birthday long weekend 🙂 Mr Bao and I had a lovely weekend catching up with friends and spending time with our little puppy. As a weekend ritual we always go out for brunch and this time we ended up going to Legacy in Camberwell nice and close to home. They are owned and run by the same owners as Collective Espresso and Mob Espresso.

It was a very cold morning probably 13 or so degrees outside, but for Cupcake we still decided to sit outside and wear 4 layers of clothing plus a jacket and scarf. Now this is what I call love haha! The staff were wonderfully friendly and attentive.

My Two Boys

Chilli Mocha $4.6

Because it was so cold, I ordered something a little different, this is the chilli mocha. I’ve never heard of this combination before, it’s usually chocolate and chilli which I love and now with the addition of coffee. It was surprisingly nice and very comforting with the hint of heat from the chilli. Great combination and I hope more places will start offering this 🙂

Latte $3.9

Mr Bao ordered a latte which is a single origin (Sorry I forgot the country it’s from!) but it did had floral notes and quite light tasting. The latte art is also beautiful here!

Full House $23

We definitely eat more when it’s cold! Mr Bao needed a big and hearty brunch, he ordered the Full House with Kaiser bacon, field mushrooms, spinach, cherry vine tomatoes, potato rosti, sourdough toast and poached eggs.

You know I can’t resist a good yolk porn shot 😛 So here it is! We enjoyed all the ingredients and everything was cooked so well, our favourite was definitely the potato rosti that was made from grated potato. It was fried so the outside was so crispy but inside still stayed soft. You can’t see the Kasier bacon in this photo but it had great flavour without being too salty.

Legacy Buttermilk fried chicken $19

Another thing I can’t resist is fried chicken especially if it’s buttermilk because it means the chicken stays tender and moist. The fried chicken was placed in a brioche bun with charred corn slaw, mustard and sriracha mayo. Honestly, can’t fault this burger! The fried chicken was absolutely divine!

I forgot to share with you the amazing dessert/pastry cabinet I was staring at from the moment we got to the cafe. I’ve heard from Ash (Im So Hungree) that they make their own donuts and that I must try some! I am kicking myself for not asking the waiter to put some aside for me, as I missed out on the Salted caramel and the white chocolate and Reeses Peanut Butter cup one! Guess that just gives me another excuse to come back ~

Nutella Donut $5

Instead I got the filled donut with Nutella filled up to the top and covered in icing sugar, unlike some of the other donut outlets in Melbourne now. These are still fried donuts but definitely not oily with a slightly dense texture.

 

Can anyone resist a Nutella donut?! Seriously 🙂 I know I can’t hehe

Raspberry Poppyseed Donut $5

Surprisingly Mr Bao agreed to get another donut and he chose the Raspberry poppyseed which had a lovely deep rose colour. Raspberry flavours were strong with hints of poppy seed, a nice combination of flavours and I usually see poppyseed with orange ~

Another great cafe by the guys from MOB and Collective Espresso. The interior is a little more modern than the other two cafes, but food is definitely on par. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and I’m starting to get worried that it will soon be too popular for us to get a table on the weekends! 🙂 Note to self MUST TRY White chocolate Reeses Donut!

Legacy Camberwell
347 Camberwell Road
Camberwell
Melbourne
PH: 9041 1796
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Legacycamberwell

Hong Kong Egg Waffles – Baba Sus

My Dearest Reader’s as you know my family lives in Hong Kong and I go back regularly, and every time I go back I will get Hong Kong style egg waffles. It’s actually getting harder to find them in Hong Kong as they’re not being sold on the street anymore. So I was quite excited when Michelle (The Bakeanista)  told me a new Asian inspired cafe Baba Sus was serving these egg waffles.

Baba Sus is one of those hidden cafes that you would not have found if unless you were specifically looking for them. However, it is actually very close to Burwood Train station and is adjacent to an apartment complex. The cafe has great ambience with cute retro chairs and wooden tables.

Matcha Latte $4

I actually visited Baba Sus with a friend who was visiting from Hong Kong, I’m glad she doesn’t mind coming with me because I know she’s has plenty of Egg Waffles back home. Another reason why I wanted to visit was because of their matcha (Japanese Green Tea) latte. It has great colour and also latte art which I have heard is hard to make on a matcha latte. Even though it wasn’t very strong it was made well especially with a teaspoon of sugar to bring out the flavour 🙂

Teddy Bear cappuccino $3.6

My friend ordered a cappuccino and we were so surprised to see a teddy bear face! It’s so cute that we didn’t even want to drink and ruin the latte art! Very impressive ~ I will even come back just for this cute face hehe

Japanese Chicken Caesar $17

We ordered two dishes to share, the first was this Japanese Chicken Caesar with sweet soy chicken (teriyaki) cos lettuce, pancetta crisp, salted ricotta, soft boil egg and gribiche sauce. I am a sucker for yolk pork shots haha so this definitely got me squealing. Although this is a really simple dish, it was the perfect light refreshing lunch dish.

Pork Luck $17

We then ordered a richer dish the “Pork Luck” twice cooked pork belly, apple balsamic, vermicelli and watermelon salon topped with candied walnuts. Another great dish, the pork was very crispy on the outside, it still remained tender inside and not too stringy. I was a little skeptical about the watermelon salad at first, but it complimented the pork very well with the sweetness.

Hong Kong Egg Waffles $14

Now let’s have a look at the Hong Kong egg waffles with Vanilla custard, green tea ice-cream, berry compote and pistachio praline. Another very pretty dish with all the different colours, I also found the egg waffle to be bigger than the ones we have in Hong Kong. The texture of the waffle was softer and more dense, I really enjoyed the addition of the vanilla custard inside. But I found the green tea ice-cream to be a little bland, and perhaps would have been a better match with vanilla or salted caramel ice cream.

Magic $3.6

To end this great brunch I got a Magic (double ristretto) once again latte art was perfect and the house blend had wonderful floral notes. I had such a great time catching up with Kennise and thoroughly enjoyed all the dishes at Baba Sus. Now I just need to find time to drag Mr Bao back again with me!

Allow me to share another photo of the Egg Waffle because it’s so beautiful!

Baba Sus
15-17 Bardolph St
Glen Iris
Victoria 3146
PH: 9939 6141
W: http://babasus.com.au

Nutella and Peanut Butter French Toast – Rustica Sourdough

Rustica Sourdough Cafe

I’m such a stalker, I am always stalking my foodie friends on Instagram to see what new cafe/restaurant they have recently visited and Rustica Sourdough is one that has been coming up on my feed quite frequently. But my ever growing ‘to-go’ list, it simply slipped my mind. Hence, that’s why I jumped up in joy when I received the email from ID Collective to visit Rustica Sourdough cafe.

We were very lucky and found parking just around the corner, and that’s where we realised Rustica Sourdough is actually opposite from Hammer and Tong another popular cafe 🙂 The cafe staff were all very friendly and welcoming, immediately showing us to the table they reserved for us.

Flat White $3.8

Mr Bao has been working quite hard so dragging him out on a Saturday morning (it was closer to midday 11am!) isn’t easy. So a lot of bribing and coffee is required to wake him up. He’s recently changed his preference and opted for a flat white, he found the coffee to be very floral in taste and with a softer body.

Monsieur Truffe Hot Chocolate $5

I would never pass the chance to have a hot chocolate, but when it’s using Monsieur Truffe chocolate I will definitely order it! For those who don’t know Monsieur Truffe is a boutique chocolate maker in Melbourne, and seriously their hot chocolates are one that should not be missed! This one did not disappoint and I found the native flowers in the background to be so pretty too.

Grandmother Ham, heirloom tomatoes, avocado crush, Merideth feta + Sweet basil sourdough $16.50

I already had my eyes and heart set on the french toast, so I tried to choose a healthier dish as my brunch and it was this sweet basil sourdough topped with Grandmother ham, heirloom tomatoes, crush avocado and Merideth feta. As the name of their cafe/bakery suggests their sourdough is absolutely scrumptious, lightly tense with a slight tangy aftertaste. I particularly enjoyed the moist and flavoursome Grandmothers ham which wasn’t too salty. I know I am being greedy but I would’ve perhaps like an egg or two on top of my sourdough, only because I am an egg yolk addict!

Beef brisket burger with Chipotle mayo, herb slaw and pickles on Brioche bun $17.50

Mr Bao wanted something substantial so nothing beats a beef brisket burger with pickles, herb slaw and French fries with Chipotle mayo. The beef brisket was very tender and flavoursome, only needed some more Chipotle mayo inside. Great lunch dish and highly recommend if you like brisket!

Would you like a bite? Hehe

We had a short break before we moved onto dessert and that is the French Toast using brioche topped with fresh peanut butter, Nutella, strawberry jam, ice-cream, chopped hazelnuts and chocolate cookie crumbs. Now please tell me that sounds AMAZING!

Brioche French Toast with peanut butter, strawberry jam, Nutella, Chocolate cookie crumbs and hazelnuts $16.50

I simply can’t get over the fact, how pretty this French toast is and it has all my favourite ingredients! Especially the peanut butter, Nutella and fresh strawberries! Everything just worked so well, and the brioche was so soft and buttery, the texture resembled a little bit like pancakes! I can’t recommend this enough so please do yourself a favour and try! Because it’s so good had to share another photo hehe

Too pretty! Another shot 🙂

We had such a lovely time at Rustica Sourdough, blown away by the service, food and more importantly the bread and pastries. Look look! I already need to plan a revisit and not eat anything but the croissant, cronut, and fig + peanut butter tart!

As we were heading out one of the friendliest staff stopped us and said they had a little goodie bag for us to take home. We were completely not expecting anything and it was definitely not a little bag, there were so many things in the bag – sourdough, pastries and doughnuts!

Profiteroles, Cronut and Chocolate Croissant

All that flakey pastry just staring at me and telling me to ‘Eat it, Eat it’! But I was unfortunately too full, so took a couple of quick snaps and saved it for later.

Chocolate Croissant

The chocolate croissant was super flakey with thick chocolate and crushed nuts nom nom perfect with a cup of coffee.

Lemon Curd and Jam doughnut

The lemon curd doughnut was tangy and a slightly dense texture and the strawberry jam was also delectable.

Profiterole with cream cheese filling and freeze dried raspberry

Last but not least was this profiterole with I’m pretty sure cream cheese, raspberry ganache and freeze dried raspberry. Phew, that was a lot of food to get through in this post haha but the pleasure was all mine!

 

Daisy@Nevertoosweet and Mr Bao visited Rustica Sourdough as their guest and ID Collective

Last post for 2014 – Addict Food and Coffee

Can you believe it my Dear Readers? It’s already the last day of 2014! I’ve started to reflect back on the things that have happened this year and realised it has been such a turbulent year with so many highs and lows. The highs include getting our little puppy Cupcake, the birth of my niece (name has been confirmed as Valerie) and achieving some new goals at work. While the lows have been an emergency trip back to Hong Kong for my sister, moving houses and some personal issues.

Best Gift of 2014

Anyhow, it all doesn’t matter because the year is ending and I am grateful for all the experiences, failures and success!

Magic

Enough talk moving on to the actual post, brunching has always been a tradition of Mr Bao and I on the weekends and now we bring Cupcake along ~ I’ve seen Addict Food and Coffee come up in my Instagram feed quite a few times and knew I had to come try. Mark Boyd and Steve Hogan are the masterminds in the kitchen, they previously worked at St Ali and now it was their time to shine 🙂 Mr Bao ordered is usual coffee and really enjoyed his single origin magic and commented on the overall nuttiness flavour.

Ice Coffee

Sorry I forgot to take a photo of the menu, so I don’t have the price for the coffee or food here, but I promise to update it once I’ve revisited and have it ~ It wasn’t a very hot day, but we were sitting outside and the sun was out so I felt like an ice coffee. I really liked the presentation of the coffee in a little milk bottle and also a chilled glass with more ice.

Even though the colour looks quite milky, it actually had good coffee flavours. However, I would recommend drinking it quickly otherwise the ice will melt and dilute the coffee or drink it from the milk bottle ~

Southern pulled pork burger with Parmesan fries

The menu here has a good balance between the traditional breakfast dishes with eggs and bacon, yet also caters for vegetarians and also vegan options. But being Mr Bao… he decided to try the Southern pulled pork burger with Parmesan fries. It was more like a sub to me with the long bun instead of the round burger bun ~ The pork was soft and flavoursome, however, what really caught our attention was the Parmesan fries, they were freshly made thin and crispy but not oily. We ended up fighting over who will get the last piece!

Chargrilled corn with poached eggs, polenta bites, yellow beet purée

My choice was this is my vegetarian dish Chargrilled corn with poached eggs, polenta bites, yellow beet puree and also roasted beets. Now you see this was a vegetarian dish but Mr Bao decided to ask for a side of bacon without consulting me, simply because he didn’t want a veggie dish haha not that I really mind but I see no issue with eating healthy somedays!

This dish was beautifully plated and I really liked all the different colours. Even without the bacon there was enough flavour and texture, I was particularly fond of the polenta bites (I’m a huge fan of polenta!) it was crispy on the outside but still stayed warm and fluffy inside. I’m not usually a fan of beetroot but because it was roasted it was very sweet and I guess… the bacon did complete the dish but then bacon always does 😀

Buttermilk Pancakes with Mascarpone and raspberries

So far we’ve enjoyed all the drinks and food at Addict Food and Coffee, but honestly nothing beats these buttermilk pancakes with poached pear, mascarpone cream and fresh raspberries! Sure pancakes have become a staple on menus across Melbourne, but there’s something about these warm fluffy pancakes. It was a generous serving of two thick buttermilk pancakes, that are slightly dense which is the way I like, paired with mascarpone and poached pear! Even Mr Bao was impressed and ate more than half of these pancakes! I was close to ordering another serve just for myself 😀

We really enjoyed Addict Food and Coffee, staff were very friendly and efficient and most importantly they have those buttermilk pancakes and very dog friendly which is important to us now.

 

 

And that ends my last blog post of 2014 on a sugar high! I would like to say how grateful I am for those who have loved and supported me this year. That includes many people but of course Mr Bao (I admit I am hardwork!), my sister Win Win, my family and friends! But I also also grateful for your support my Dearest Readers, thank you for always being here and supportive loyal even when I haven’t had time to blog, I know you’re still here waiting for me!

With that I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year and may 2015 bring you more joy and happiness 🙂