Dulcineasdiarycontinued: July 2019

OK I'm back on my blog now.

After work last Thursday 25th July 2019 night I didn't feel like cooking so headed off to Chatswood Mall Markets again for something tasty for dinner. I think I have tried most of the market's culinary delights now and didn't feel like anything from the markets tonight however I have been having cravings for a takeaway serving of BBQ duck served with rice and accompanied with leafy green vegetables of some sort. So off I went to Chatswood BBQ to purchase a serving.

Photo below - absolutely yummy and I don't get to eat this very often (not that anyone should)

Saturday 27th July 2019 it is the usual pay bills, cleaning, shopping, cooking and laundry (not particularly in that order). Off I head to Macquarie Shopping Centre on the Metroline instead of doing my weekly shopping in Chatswood. I travel to Macquarie Shopping Centre as the Woolworths, Aldi and Coles are all under one roof - in Chatswood they are all in different shopping centres which means a lot of walking with my often heavy loads of shopping between each supermarket and unable to take one trolley with me once outside each shopping centre due to locked wheels on all types of shopping trolleys. The Woolworths and Coles at Macquarie Shopping Centre are also much larger then the ones at Chatswood - there is only a small Woolworths Metro in Chstswood, 1 main Coles in Chatswood Chase and another smaller one in Westfield with one Aldi and another newer and larger Aldi in the new Chatswood Mix Complex across the road and down from Chatswood Chase ( yep a lot of walking upto 1 km between the Woolworths and the newer larger Aldi right down the other end of Chatswood! Often one Aldi or Coles has run out of particular items so I have walk to the other ones or back to Woolworths with no trolley!).

I was hungry when I arrived at Macquarie Shopping Centre and had not had breakfast. I had intended to have a sausage and egg with no cheese and a slice of tomato McMuffin however changed my mind and looked around for a healthier alternative. After looking at some Japanese concessions in the extremely busy food court, I settled on a dish which I have not had for quite a while but really love - Agedashi Tofu. Cheap but tasty $2.50 for 2 cubes of tofu lightly fried in a light sweet but saucy broth. This dish also had a slightly crunchy texture on the top of one cube of tofu and some finely shredded pieces of red chilli. I accompanied this with some tempura prawn and cucumber rice or sushi rolls. To add flavour and not waste the left over sweet broth from the tofu I dipped my pieces of tempura prawn and cucumber rice rolls in it. Yum!

Photos attached - this type of tofu dish is not seen or sold very often at Sushi concessions in food courts. If you find it try it especially if you are vegetarian - some are better then others, I thought this one was pretty good.

Enough about food and onto my visit to this year's Sweet Expo 2019 at EQ inside the Hordern Pavilion ( instead of The Hall of Industries next door previously) on Sunday 28th July 2019. A bit of a hike to get there and it would have cost me a lot more on public transport if I had not decided to go on Sunday. Entry was not value for money at $28 online (no extra booking fee) and $30 at the door. I had the opportunity to get a pre release earlybird 2 for 1 ticket for around $17 but was unsure what day I wanted to go on and no flexi tickets are ever available for this event. Groupon had discounted tickets for $21 up until Friday night before the show opened but I missed out because I booked online on Saturday which was too late - Groupon only gives you a promo code which you then have to then redeem on the Sweet Expo site ( I have noticed this is not always the case for all events advertised at discounted prices on Groupon). I have suggested previously there should be a flexi pass but this was obviously not taken on by the organiser.

As per my past blogs this annual 2 day event in Sydney is about all things party related baking and desserts.

Was there much new at this year's event? Not really although the latest baking trends change from year to year. This year it was all about baking and decorating themed biscuits with fondant rather then outlining and flooding themed biscuits with coloured royal icing. The ice cream cone and unicorn shaped biscuits were the favourites this year - it is no longer the ice cream or unicorn cake. Butter cream flowers and butter cream covered cakes were also favoured over fondant covered cakes. New products included black cocoa powder - yes tastes apparently just like cocoa but pure black in colour rather then dark brown - great for creating a dark base as black fondant and black butter cream is difficult to create - I have tried to make black fondant by adding black concentrated food colouring to white fondant and it turns out charcoal. There was also a new Australian made oil based Vegan Kosher Halal Allergen Free colouring ideal for butter cream Swiss meringue ganache and chocolate available in a very wide range of colours. The colouring looked great but the colours did not look as vibrant particularly when added to buttercream and piped into buttercream flowers - another popular baking trend this year over fondant flowers. However my favourite was the Ruby cocao, dried pineapple/mango, lime, vanilla and macadamia nougat from Nougat Royale by Ben Lockett. I loved it so much I purchased 2 pieces ate one so returned to purchase a 3rd one - the full sized logs had sold out previous to my purchase. Not cheap as they were $4 a small piece.

This year there was a selection of sweet only food stalls and trucks inside The Hordon Pavillion with their own sets of seating and live music this year. I wondered where the savoury food trucks were and they were all outside organised around an enclosed courtyard with its own set of tables and chairs with live music - just a good handful of them however to get to them you had to enter the Hordern Pavilion and walk through the Sweet Expo to get to them.

Instead of "high tea" area this year, it was a "let's do lunch" area with bangers and burgers instead of finger sandwiches and other bite sized treats. Separate tickets required for this and it didn't seem as popular as previous years with less elaborate table settings.

The usual main cake decorating and baking supply companies were present including interstate representation as well as a few new ones.

I was looking for Crackle a flavoured popcorn stand which I though I saw advertised online would be present at the Sweet Expo this year but disappoint it wasn't - I love their batched and unique flavoured packets of popcorn

Rating 7/10 - I only spend a maximum of 2.5 - 3 hours there and I mainly go to this expo for the free workshops and demonstrations to pick up tips on decorating biscuits and cakes and purchase baking related stuff. Not a very large event. It would help if there was a proper program and directory of stalls and floorplan available for planning my time there preferably in advance but again suggestion ignored by organisers. Split baking stages a great idea so workshops/demonstrations can be set up and rotated one after another on each stage on time and in accordance with program schedule advertised on a single sign in front of the stage. Lots of in stall demonstrations as well all free. I arrived early before 11 am and was surprised to receive a free sample packet of CSR buttercream sugar prior to entry to the event . No cake decorating competitions on display no celebrity pastry chefs present and no major kitchen appliances sponsors eg Kitchenaid Stand mixers. Only Sponsors present was Sweet Magazine ( the organisers) stand where subscriptions and showbags were all sold out by Sunday. No frills here - if you want frills attend the annual Cake Bake & Sweet Show towards the end of the year!

Photos below