Chocolatesuze - Sydney Food Blogger

I love lego. I remember spending hours building colour coordinated houses and towers. And so I was looking at the lego.com online shop and look! Squeeee! A lego-man-head scales! Isn’t his moustache sexy?


And a lego icecube tray!


And because i have biscuits on the brain- a lego cookie cutter!

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The two Daves from Nuffnang were coming up from Melbourne to Sydney to speak to some clients and a flurry of emails later, dinner was organised at Steel Bar and Grill (60 Carrington St, Sydney). Helen and I were told choose the Nuffnang fence-sitters and so foodbloggers Howard, Leona, Lili, Simon, Steph and Trish were invited to the dinner for the set menu ($65) along with some fabulous wines.


Bread. I’m not a fan of the dunking of bread in oil. I’m more of a slather butter on bread girl. But i still ate it. I like bread. Carbohydrates are my friend.


Olives marinated with rosemary, thyme and garlic. Yeah i didn’t eat the olives. i don’t like olives. But other people did and gave it a thumbs up!


Wood fire grilled chorizo, tomato and chilli jam. Wary of inferior chorizos with a super spicy level i halve a sausage slice and cautiously take a bite before a smile spreads across my face and i quickly retrieve the other half of my sausage. It is a gorgeously meaty sausage with a smokey flavour.


Freshly shucked Sydney rock oysters. The oysters were super fresh and heh i managed to score a second oyster thanks to the non bivalve loving Dave


Cured salmon, orange, watercress, red onion. I have issues with citrus in my savoury foods but other than the orange being on the plate the salmon was good. Tasty.


Japanese seared beef salad – cucumber, sesame, daikon. Was expecting to not like this when it came out as i don’t usually like beef salads but this was awesome the strips of beef were tender and juicy and while the sauce was a tad on the sweet side the sesame seeds made it so moreish


150 day grain fed Sirloin, hand cut chips, béarnaise, watercress. Although i had asked for my steak to be medium rare it was closer to a medium. It was still good tho. But i didn’t like the bearnaise sauce mainly because it was a great cut of steak and the flavour was awesome and didn’t need that drowning of sauce. I super loved the bits of fat that was ribboned thruout my steak. And it tasted like… WIN! (lol that was totally a roboppy reference hehe happy birthday dude!) and look at those chunky chunky fries! They were ginormous!


Wood fire grilled salmon, celeriac salad, basil infused oil. I swapped a bite of salmon with my steak with Lili. It sure was tasty altho just a bit overcooked. But i loved the smokey taste.


Spiced chicken breast, roasted carrot puree, bok choy, ginger. ‘Hey Suze want to try the crispy chicken skin?’ [pause] ‘and the chicken?’ bwhahaha oh Leona how you know me well! I love love chicken skin when it has been crispified!


Baked potato gnocchi, rich tomato sauce, ligurian olives. Simon is the only one who has opted for the gnocchi and we all sneak bites and oh! The gnocchi is pillow soft! Like babies! And the tomato sauce was perfect and i would have gotten the bread and mopped up every last bit.


And then my favourite part of all meals- DESSERT TIME! Pavlova, double cream, passionfruit, caramelised banana. I’m a sucker for pavs mainly because of the cream. I love cream. And all pavs are sweet so i’m easily pleased. I have issues with passionfruit tho- i love the taste but not so much the crunch of the seeds. Helen donates half of her pav to the chocolatesuze cause hee <3


Caramel and pear crème brulee, date and walnut cigars. Howard offers me first crack at the creme brulee hoho i have awesome friends! While i don’t usually like pear or apple in desserts the nubbins of soft pear in the brulee are a nice contrast to the toffee layer and i absolutely loved the cigars! Flakey pastry and sweet sweet date innards with the crunch of walnut mmm tasty


Chocolate marquise, grand marnier cream, pistachio praline. Chocolate! Rich, dense and while i suffered from dessert envy one spoonful was enough for me.


Super thanks to Dave and Dave from Nuffnang for the dinner! i had an awesome time catching up with everyone and if you guys have a blog and haven’t signed up yet click here and you get a free prize pack! And feel free to say i referred ya =D

Chocolatesuze dined at Steel Bar and Grill courtesy of Nuffnang Australia

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Bwahahahaha check this out! Your own customised branding iron! Oh how i want! I would totally make mine say ‘chocolatesuze was here’


Or maybe ‘burned by chocolatesuze’ hmm the possibilities!


And zomg a condiment gun!



Lock and load!
[images from firebox.com]

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(Hi Butch! I’m still writing properly are ya proud of me?) Day 2 of our Terrigal trip and we were staying at the Crown Plaza Hotel mainly because we love their buffet breakfasts. Look an eggs station! Eggs cooked any way you want!


Muffins, danish, croissants, banana bread


Breads of every variety. And an automatic toaster! I love those things! There’s just something about watching your piece of toast move from one side to the other…


Fresh fruits and yoghurt


Instant coffee and tea section. There was actually a dude with a proper coffee cart but i forgot to take a photo of him. My bad.


Fresh juice and smoothies. Loved loved loved the mango smoothies! There used to be a smoothie station where the lady made your drink fresh to order but guess she moved to the egg station


Plate of food with our awesome view


Lol noods looks sleepy. His idea of a holiday is sleeping all day haha i however am wide awake and ready for:


SURFING LESSONS! Bwahahaha i’ve always wanted to learn to surf!


I’m the only one wearing a full length wetsuit because i always get cold haha i’m weak! Also, apparently i’m backward and usually right handed people lead with their left foot… Was super glad the class wasn’t completely full of kids…


The surfboard was heavy…


One last grin to noods before i head off to my doom


The class in the water


Noobie alert hoho


Wheeeee!


So i managed to stand on my surfboard but not without plenty of falls hoho look at mah bruises! And that’s only on my arm!


And a random pic on the giant chess set before we head home <3

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(I’m writing properly for this week only Butch!) So yeah. The boy and i like to make short weekend trips to Terrigal and uh this post kinda took place sometime last year. Yup i’m super backlogged in posts and I realise half the photos aren’t technically food photos but hey this is MY blog and the only way i can remember things is if i write about it. Anyways. Look cars! This is the traffic on the F3.


Always need snacks for the car ride. Macarons from Zumbo. Last seasons range.


And we bring heaps of munchies so we don’t have to leave the beach.


Probably too much munchies.


Sadly it was raining by the time we reached Terrigal so we grabbed fish and chips from the shop at the bottom of the Skillion and ate in the car.


Mmm deep fried goodness. Battered fishies, potato scallops, crab claws and chips. Unfortunately no pineapple fritters. Or fried mars bars heh


The Skillion is this giant hill that has awesome views and for some reason we are always compelled to climb up and whinge the whole way


Several minutes later and the view from the top.


Hurrah self timer!


After running down the Skillion and around the beach for a bit it’s time for dinner at the Cowrie (109 Scenic Highway, Terrigal)


The awesome view. Now, i didn’t take a photo of the menu and obviously the menu has changed since last year and because my memory is super duper awesome i have a bit of a problem with remembering what we ate. It was a degustation menu and was $110 and the service was pretty good except towards the end of the night when they got slammed and there weren’t enough waiters around. But as far as i can remember the food was good but hey onto the photos!


Mmm drinkies. Maybe this is why i can’t remember what we ate hmm


Amuse bouche. Roasted capsicum on brioche with a balsamic vinegar dressing


Tuna tartare with beans and microherbs. Loved this. That much i remember.


Kingfish with an olive tapenade. Perfectly cooked kingfish that flaked with a jab of the fork. Though i wasn’t a big fan of the olive tapenade as it kinda overpowered the fish.


Pork belly with chat potatoes and fried scallion. It seems pork belly is everywhere. I’m definitely not complaining though if the pork is done anywhere near as good as the Cowrie’s! Super tender and juicy pork with a gorgeous crackling that shattered with every bite. And cubes of potato! I do like my carbs


Palate cleanser. Grapefruit sorbet that was super refreshing and tasty that i wished i could get a whole bowl of it to eat.


Steak on a bed of mashed potato. ZOMG the steak was freaking fantastic! Dare i say the best steak that is non wagyu that i’ve ever eaten? Anyone that has eaten with me will know that i’m usually a very small savoury eater but i cleaned up this whole plate with no problem. And the mash! Oh the buttery goodness! Be still my artery clogged heart!


Vanilla creme brulee with a ginger cookie. Loved the creme brulee with its sugary crust and smooth creamy custardy innards but the ginger cookie blew my mind seriously it was fanfreakingtastic with a super intense ginger flavour


Cheese! Fail memory means all i can say is that it was a brie…


<3

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Thanks to everyone who entered the chocolatesuze Cocolo chocolate giveaway!


The Random Integer Generator was used to determine the winners so congratulations to:

#96 Hannah

#63 Wenqi

#110 Dante

All winners have been sent emails and Cocolo will send out your chocolates in the next few days. Thanks to everyone who entered! And much thanks to Cocolo chocolate for the prizes!

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THIS POST IS DEDICATED TO BUTCH. Butch would like me to start writing with capital letters in my sentences. Hope you’re happy Butch!


(Image borrowed from Laura). Last week i attended my first ever blog chicks meetup. Blog chicks is an online community of aussie women bloggers and is hosted by the lovely Leigh who also collates the list of top 100 aussie female bloggers each month.

Bloggers at the lunch were: Lucy from Chief Bridesmaid, Leigh from Crazy Meezer, Marilyn from Live first, write later, Laura from LR Kane, Trish from My Little Drummer Boys, Emma from Reality Ravings, Liz from Savvy Cat and fellow foodbloggers Helen, Jen and Shez. But hey time for some food pics!


Ok i lied here’s a pic of our drinks. Helen and I have spotted an avocado milkshake ($5.50) on the menu and because we are suckers for random menu items we immediately order it. Along with a normal drink just in case- a vanilla malt milkshake ($5.10). The vanilla malt milkshake was awesome. The avocado milkshake not so much. It was like drinking guacamole and the honey that was laced in the drink was no comparison to the condensed milk that an avocado milkshake should have.


Steak sandwich ($17.50) with extra cheese, roasted mushrooms, rocket and beetroot relish with chips. I loved all the toppings on the sandwich except well, the steak. A tad on the dry side but the beetroot relish saves the day. As does the side of fat crunchy chips. Mmm carbohydrates.


Big Breakfast ($18) Two eggs, bacon, tomato, mushrooms, sausage, hash brown and toast. And a single piece of rocket heh. Shez gleefully attacks her food and crows with delight at finding sausage buried under the pile. I snuck a piece of hash brown when she wasn’t looking. It was tasty. I like my potato deep fried. Actually i guess i like all foods deep fried.


Open BBQ chicken burger ($16.50) with lettuce, tomato, avocado and aioli with chips


Chicken quesadilla ($16.50) Folded flour tortilla filled with grilled chicken, Spanish onion and cheese lightly toasted and topped with sour cream


Salt and pepper calamari ($16.50) tossed with seasoned Besan flour


Grilled barramundi ($19) with a macadamia crust on sauteed spinach, capsicum, tomato and feta


Grilled prawn pasta ($16.50) with chilli, lime and basil


The afternoon passes quickly with tech talk about what platforms we use, domain registrations and how a boy managed to get on the girls list… Soon we start feeling peckish and while the others have chosen dessert from the cake cabinet at the front i have stuck to my can of mother and a chocolate icecream while Helen goes for the Magnum option.


Chocolate tart ($6). Shez has chosen a rich looking chocolate tart and i stare enviously at it before begging for a piece heh and it is good. Super chocolatey but not too sweet with a fudgey denseness


Cannoli ($6)


Banana cake ($6)


Baby chocolate pudding ($6). (Lol oops sorry about the crap pic of the pudding. Still messing around with the 50mm)


It was lovely meeting everyone and super thanks to Leigh for organising!

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i managed to walk past the entrance of the ivy lifts several times and when finally emerging from the lifts i paused for to my right was a super long bar and all around me were sofas and chairs scattered in a seemingly random pattern. and so, helen and i wait there in front of the lifts for billy to save us. we eventually find the restaurant Teppanyaki without tripping (my god it’s dark in there) and are led to the communal table and stare at the chefs in their open kitchen. we are joined by the lovely myriam who is french and confirmed that it’s ‘macaron’ with ONE ‘o’ and pronounced macarawn NOT MACAROON PEOPLE! but anyways moving along…


the merivale winter feast is an awesome $35 and you get 3 courses plus a glass of wine or beer. there are 3 choices for entree, main and dessert. for the entree i have of course chosen the wagyu penny burgers (2 pieces) with cucumber, tomato and house sauce. hee so cute they were! i wouldve been happy eating about 6 of those burgers!


balmain bug wonton (2 pieces) with sweet chilli and cucumber sauce. it was such a shame that the delicate balmain bug flesh got killed by being wrapped in a wonton wrapper and deepfried


king fish sashimi (2 pieces) with shiso leaf and an asian salsa. again with the wonton skins! altho at least the kingfish to wonton ratio was more balanced than the balmain bug wontons


Main: wagyu striploin 100g Oakleigh Ranch marble score 5+ striploin with wok-tossed shiitake, buckwheat and soybean. funnily enough the girls have chosen the wagyu and while the presentation is beautiful the same cannot be said for the wagyu which is sadly a tad overcooked. the shiitake mushrooms are awesome tho and are swirled in the wagyu juice before nomming


Main: ocean trout served with crispy skin, pickled cucumber, black fungus and chilli salad with sesame dressing. billy has chosen the trout which is juicy and the plate is soon polished off


Dessert: banana tempura with a sake chocolate fondue. the desserts on the teppanyaki winter feasts menu are to be shared between two people and immediately i am drawn towards the word ‘tempura’ ‘sake’ and ‘chocolate’ ahh anything that is deep fried, contains alcohol and of course has the magic that is chocolate and i am a very happy girl. the banana tempura batter is light with sweet banana innards that i gleefully dunk into the bittersweet chocolate sauce which seriously i could have drunk straight from the bowl.


Dessert: black sesame ice cream with seasonal fruits. the single scoop of icecream in that teeny tiny bowl had us glancing at each other- if this dessert was meant to be shared by two people they must be either very full or not a fan of dessert because man it was pretty small!


the chair at the ivy lifts… pricewise i’d say the teppanyaki winter feasts is a pretty good deal. servings are a little small for dinner but i think it’d be perfect for lunch. probably less dark too.


of course a bit later we get the munchies and so we head to mamak for some roti tissue goodness…

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lol lol lol seriously is the dumbest allergy warning you’ve seen? the eggs from testco in ireland comes with a warning: “Allergy Advice: Contains egg.”
[image and link via serious eats]

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just a quick post today guys! geez can you believe its mid august already? it’s onli a matter of time before it’s xmas =D just a reminder for anyone who mightve missed it- the cocolo chocolate giveaway ends monday 24th august so click the pic or click here and leave a comment on which flavour you want to try!

cmon you know you want some chocolate mmm chocolate


also, nuffnang are still giving away these awesome packs until friday 11th sept to any aussie blogger who signs up with them so click here to sign up and don’t forget to say chocolatesuze referred ya!

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that’s right its psychedelic rainbow cake time! my previous rainbow cake for ffichiban was pretty fun to make but i didn’t have the pleasure of seeing the swirlies in person so decided to make the rainbow cake for noods


splitting the cake mixture into separate bowls. notice how the green and blue aren’t as vivid as the red and yellow? that’s because the green and blue gels i bought were cheap and crap. lesson learnt: while food colouring gels are way way better than the food colouring liquids there are different quality gels.


colour sequence! if you don’t plan on icing the top of your cake put blue batter on last because if you end with the red batter the cake just looks brown


bowls. spoons. empty.


cakeage with cream cheese buttercream icing and a penrith panthers edible sticker. i bought the sticker. surprisingly tasty.


CAKE INNARDS!!! look at the swirlies!


singular slice


heh noods’ shirt says ‘i dont want to grow up’ lol he wore it especially for today haha happy 26th love!

Other rainbow cakes I’ve made:
FFichiban’s Mario Mushroom Rainbow Cake
Helen’s 20 Layer Rainbow Cake

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it is our ninth visit to Rise (23 Craigend St, Darlinghurst) and tonight we are here for the Italian-Japanese Degustation Menu ($60). Chef Hide Okazaki has spent 10years at Italian restaurants including 2years at Michelin-starred restaurants in Italy. he also reads my blog heh heh


yes i took a photo of the bread. for one, noods was a whole 45mins late! and also was playing with my new/old 50mm lens because of the ‘mood lighting’ so i apologise for the graininess of the photos to come because i didnt use flash and am still such a noob with my camera XD


Salmon paupiette with sour cream & orange glaze. for an antipasto this serving was freaking huge! totally not a complaint tho because the salmon was fantastic- baby soft and super fresh. i couldn’t really taste the orange glaze which was good for me because i have issues with citrus in savoury foods but the sour cream went well with the salmon


Pipi & saffron soup with calamari tortellini. rise always has spectacular soups. the flavour pretty much punches you in the face with awesomeness. there was a fat fat mussel floating in the bowl that i was going to pawn off to noods because i dont like em but decided to give it a try and oh boy im glad i didnt because it was so sooo tender man if all mussels were cooked this perfectly i would be firmly in the i love mussels camp. the tortellini was so pretty! look at those purpley swirls!


Gratin of pasta conchiglia with Italian sausage. the pasta shells were a cute way to hold the porky sausage slices hidden underneath a blanket of tasty cheese


Grilled black tiger prawn wrapped with prosciutto crudo & tomato salsa. noods is allergic to prawns but he couldn’t resist eating the prawn after the rest of us chomped thru the crispy shell and into the prawn flesh which was sweet and with a bite of the prosciutto a nice salty edge


Savoy cabbage rolled with braised beef cheek & creamed vegies. i have to admit i wasnt a big fan of the main. while the beef cheek was perfectly juicy and fall apart tender there was a spice in it that i couldnt quite pin which didnt suit the meat and there was a bit too much tomato sauce which kinda drowned the whole dish. the potato croquette on the bottom was awesome though with crispy breadcrumbs on the outside and creamy potato innards


the parents dont eat red meat so their meal substitute was a fish fritter with creamed vegies and potato croquette. i suffered from food envy when their plate arrived the presentation of the fish was awesome and was perfectly cooked. a firm slab of fishy that was juicy and matched the tomato sauce more than the beef did


and then it’s dessert time and 2 platters arrive with sparklers woohoo happy (early) birthday to noods and happy (late) birthday to dad


it’s a donut! hoho well, a ‘ricotta bombolone’ on a ricotta semi freddo studded with glace cherries. the awesomeness! seriously the donut was so tasty! freshly fried and super fluffy i wished i could take home a 6pack!


erm not quite sure what were in these 2 glasses as it wasn’t on the menu. but one was a green tea pannacotta and the other tasted like almond?


and woohoo another free dessert! vanilla bean ice cream on slices of dense fruit cake


da family

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calling all aussie bloggers! want to make some easy money? i bring to you: Nuffnang Australia- Asia Pacific’s first blog advertising community!


sign up to Nuffnang and you could soon be earning a lil dosh or getting exclusive invites to parties and movie screenings! for a limited time, for every aussie blogger that signs up to Nuffnang they will receive a welcome package in the mail – $10 coles myer card, redken hair products, john west tuna, leggos italian beef casserole sauce and a spring valley juicy tea. so click here to sign up and if you’re feeling the love feel free to say that chocolatesuze.com referred ya =D

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woohoo look what arrived in the mail! the awesome people at Cocolo Chocolate sent me some of their fabulous chocolate to try and guess what they’re also giving you guys the chance to win one of three prizes!


Cocolo is made in Switzerland and only use Organic Fairtrade cocoa which is great cos it means that their growers are being paid the proper amount. They’re also certified as organic, GMO free and additive free so the only flavours you taste will be from the highest quality ingredients.


but the part you’ve been waiting for: the chance for 3 chocolatesuze readers to win a pack of Cocolo chocolates!

1st Prize: 8 Luscious 100g blocks in a each of their 8 flavours

2nd Prize: 4 Luscious 100g blocks in a variety of flavours

3rd Prize: 4 Luscious 100g blocks in a variety of flavours

what you have to do is: check out the Cocolo Chocolate website and leave a comment on this post on which flavour of Cocolo chocolate you would like to try. the winners will be chosen using random.org and notified by email on Monday 24th August at 9am AEST. NOTE: this competition is only open to Australian residents. You may leave a comment in this post once each day so what are ya waiting for? gogogo!

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chef lex. he of steak fame has started a blog! and as foodbloggers love any excuse to get together and eat craploads he threw a party for the launch of his new blog: vue de cuisinier at his freaking awesome house. see the water? yeah that’s all i saw too when i stepped thru the front door. joining us in the eats were: richard, shez, simon and steph


and these recipe books sitting stacked in a precarious tower arent there just to look pretty. oh yes these babies do get used! i was in recipe book envy.


food delicious food starts appearing on the table but wait just one more photo!


lex’s awesome blue swimmer crab miso soup


shez’s cauliflower and broccoli soup with super tasty garlic bagel crumbs and garlic infused olive oil


lemons! oh wait i mean oysters! haha


sausages and squeaky haloumi


lex’s maple smoked pork belly. (sorry for the blurblur shot i have no idea why so blur) sweet, super juicy meat and zomg the crackle! simon was lucky enough to find himself sitting right in front of this platter hehe


richard’s honey & soy chicken maryland. mmm look at the shiny glossy skin!


simon’s japanese bento box. porky tonkatsu, king prawn ebi furai (deep fried prawn cutlets), salmon sashimi and tamagoyaki (egg roll). and with individual sauce bottles!


mmm deep fried


of course lex and richard just had to have an eating comp with the oysters haha and i was feeling a little under the weather that day and ive realised i forgot to take photos of the mashed potato. oh man it was so tasty. oh and the sourdough. and the salad. oops.


but what’s this? dessert time? fo sure!


remember my dulce de leche brownies? yup i made them for the party because we were supposed to bring a signature dish but i dont really have one lol but i knew had to bring something chocolatey. and sweet.


steph’s dulce de leche cookies. ohhh man could not stop eating these! i have had an aversion of biscuits due to well, my job but these were so tasty! sweet sweet dulce de leche filling with salty flakes of uh salt on top


steph also made her signature raspberry cupcakes hehe or should i say raspberri?


shez’s cake was a chocolate & orange blossom water layered cake with pistachio cream, butterscotch pear insert and bitter chocolate ganache. yeah i renamed it shezs sexy cake. it was so sexy.


and sneaking in a pic of me with lex’s kiwi fruit on sticks. food on sticks always taste better. that and the kiwis were soaked in a sugar syrup. mmm sweetness. much thanks to lex for the partay and for the hours of guitar hero fun heh heh let’s do it again!

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hah bet the title got your attention huh? Kooky chew human dog food is really “2 1/2 ounces of crunchy cookie kibbles and bits, just like Rover eats. As a bonus, you also get a candy bone.” BONUS! lol it reminded me of this hoho [link via geekologie]

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what’s better than brownies? brownies WITH DULCE DE LECHE! oh baby! so other than making a banoffee pie i stumbled onto david lebovitz’s awesome recipe and knew i had to make em


thanks to the awesome emma from bangpr, i scored some green & black’s organic chocolate so i used a mixture of the dark chocolate with a bit of milk chocolate


ingredients: 115g salted or unsalted butter; 170g bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped; 1/4cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder; 3 large eggs; 1cup sugar; 1tsp vanilla extract; 1cup flour; 1cup of your awesome home made dulce de leche


mmm chocolate. roughly chop. line square/rectangle brownie pan with foil. make sure it goes up the edges. spray with a bit of oil and preheat oven to 175C


melt the butter in a medium saucepan. add the chocolate pieces and stir constantly over very low heat until the chocolate is melted. remove from heat and whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth. add in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the sugar, vanilla, then the flour


scrape half of the batter into the prepared pan


now grab your jar of dulce de leche. maybe swipe a spoonful first.


drop tablespoons of dulce de leche over the brownie batter. drop bigger spoonfuls than in my photo. trust me. the first time i made these there was nowhere near enough of the sweet sweet goodness so i added a whole crapload of dulce de leche the second time. don’t worry the brownie isnt sweet so it’s ok


spread remaining brownie batter on top. and maybe a couple more spoons of dulce de leche on top. i tried to ‘swirl’ mine with the brownie batter but for some reason it didnt look that pretty hmm anywhos bake 35-45mins until centre feels just slightly firm


and tadah!


and stack em for brownie pyramid awesomeness!

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making dulce de leche. the very thought of making it is enough to send most people crying into a corner for fear of exploding cans and shards of metal and molten caramel everywhere. but one taste of the magical golden awesomeness and you’re hooked. and so one dreary afternoon i attempted to boil a can of condensed milk and punched holes on top so that it wouldnt explode. it didnt explode but water got into the holes which made my dulce de leche crystalise. so second attempt: peel off the label on the can, completely submerge cans in water, cover with lid and let em boil away (edit: simmer) for 3 hours, topping up water if you need to. and ignore the rattling sounds (edit: yas says to put a tea towel on the bottom to prevent the rattling)


and tadah! mah tin of dulce de leche! oh look at its sugary awesomeness! so golden! so beyootiful! edit: WARNING! do NOT open the can straight away unless you want molten hot dulce de leche everywhere! leave it to cool down for several hours yeah? trust me.


a spoon a day makes chocolatesuze so very happy…

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whats in the box! whats in the box!


the awesome krystyna sent me a 1litre sample pack of some of the new flavours from Gelatissimo! Gelatissimo’s ‘Flavours of the World’ is for a limited time only and has some pretty amazing flavours. my flavours in my pack were Swiss Toblerone, American
Fudge Brownie and Canadian Maple and Walnut


(foto from gelatissimo) the swiss toblerone was super super chocolatey! the american fudge brownie had huge chunks of brownie mixed thruout the gelato but the canadian maple walnut absolutely blew my mind! i looove all things maple and there was cinnamon in it mmm cinnamon…


last but not least- i managed to score this gelatissimo bin last year but hadnt had a chance to show you guys hehe its awesome and almost as tall as me!

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it’s not every day that i drink wine in fact i’m pretty much a n00b in all things wine. so it was a surprise to be invited to the Nepenthe celebrations at Aria. the Nepenthe Sauvignon Blanc 2008 was awarded winner of the Best Australian Sauvignon Blanc under £10 Trophy. also here tonite were helen, minh, lorraine and mel. truthfully i was much more interested in the canapes that floated around the room…


agedashi tofu with pickled ginger. i like spoonfuls of food. yep.


gruyere gougeres. puffs! golden puffs filled with delicious cheese!


Coffin Bay oysters


lamb and harissa sausage rolls


smoked salmon rolls


Spencer Gulf prawn toasts


deep-fried school prawns. cones! the prawns were so crispy and so very moreish


the awesome michael from nepenthe notices us hovering hesitantly at the wine table and introduces himself and lets us in on a secret- when in doubt of descriptions for the flavours of wine there is always a cheat sheet heh heh minh is now able to taste berries. and notes of mushrooms. fo sure


cheers!


[image borrowed from helen] and just as we start to head off we spot matt moran who has managed to sneak in from the wrap party of the masterchef finale. with shy grins prue introduces us and he laughs foodbloggers hey? he smiles and shakes our hands before leading the way into the kitchen for a group photo woohoo!

chocolatesuze attended the Nepenthe wine celebrations courtesy of Prue and Brett from The Mint Partners.

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