Cafe Cre Asion, Surry Hills

hello! hello!

I’ve taken a break from food blogging just so I can erm.. spend more time eating and taking photos of food! hah.. partially true. I’ve spent a few weeks in China accompanying dad on his business trip/visiting family during uni mid-sem holidays… so I HAVE been busy eating lots over there! have not gone through my photos from China.. may consider blogging some (though don’t have hopes too high.. I didn’t lug my camera around much, damn fear of getting mugged bleh )

Been having such a great time overseas that I forgot to wish EatMyShots.com a… *shameful*

on July 10th!

A year has gone past so quickly, and have ate lots of yummy food! I shall hope for a more committed relationship with my food blog in the coming year.. aaaand won’t gain 50kgs by then . Thank you all for keeping up with my food journeys until now

So in return, I shall make this post extra pretty by {effortlessly hah} posting  macarons!….

So it seems like there are new macaron masterchefs in town!.. move over Zumba! hello Cafe Cre Asion! This lil cafe, just on 21 Alberta St, Surry Hills (a small lane, just behind Travelodge!), is opened by Japanese owner, Yu and two of his mates. Read up what flavours were available, and the Asian flavours caught my eye!

One Saturday afternoon, the boyfriend and I managed to make our way to the cafe, just 10mins before their closing time! (4pm).. I had kept my hopes low .. that maybe there would only be a few flavours left at the end of the day… but I was wrong.

The above image only captured half of their display cabinet!

I’m pretty sure there were 10+ flavours available, but I had to control myself from asking 2 of each flavour please’, so instead I asked Yu to pick out their favourites/best sellers.. plus a few flavours I was curious to try ;D

The macarons are usually about $2.70 each, but there are packages available.. for box of 8 or 16. We went for the pack of 16 as it was the better deal .. for $36. The price went up the last time I visited again though $40 for a box of 16???

I call this a box of joy!

Flavours note: Dear Chris is actually Hazelnut + chocolate flavour

From the above selection, my faves had to be Blood Orange, Dear Chris and Lemonade.. flavours were pure awesomeness

They also had these extras in store – lemon pistachio balls -$2.50, they also had choc salty balls I’m guessing they are like truffles??

Slightly pricey, but the description sounded too good to resist.. I have to say I love this one (over the choc salty balls), love the slight ‘tang’ amongst the sweet melting moments of the chocolate consider this a lil treat to yourself if you ever visit!

And then… just 2 weeks later, my girlfriends wanted to try Cre Asion, so we made a trip there! I picked up a few macs for the boyfriend’s ‘after-uni-snack’ (hehe)

I have to say I loved Yuzu, Cassis and Chai flavours!.. Didn’t like strawberries & milk because it had that artificial strawberry milk taste which I don’t like :/ as in, anything ‘artificial strawberry testing’, so excuse me for being slightly bias @.@

Anyway, yuzu is a Japanese citrus so a slight sourness was expected.. the moment you start savouring it.. mm!

I’m not sure if theres much difference between Cassis berries and Blackcurrants..since that’s what it tasted like, but I liked it ;D

As for Chai.. I’ve never tried a Chai macaron, so this was my first.. and best one by far! Recommended

I drove to Uni to meet him after class while I waited for my class to start.. and we had macarons together.. in my Mazda

Chai! Chai! Chai!

Reason why Yuzu was missing from my steering wheel shot.. is because it was half gone already lol.

Overall.. the flavours of Cre Asion macarons are pretty gooodd.. i think they are more pleasant yet ‘awesome’ flavours compared to that of Zumbo’s .. atleast I didn’t have 2nd thoughts before biting into a macaron! (e.g. Ahh pigs blood jelly macaron!).

Texture wise, it lacks the light crunch that Le Renaissance macarons which I lovee.

Size-wise, it’s somewhat small.. about the same size of Zumbo’s macarons but pricier @ $2.70 (Zumbo is only about $2.30), you’d have to buy  in bulk for it to be sliiightly cheaper!

Anyways, I’d gladly visit Cre Asion for my next macaron fix.. 1, because their flavours are awesome, and 2, parking in the area is fairly convenient (better than trying to find parking in The Rocks and Rozelle ! )

Check it out

Ma…Makaron!

Hi readers!

// trying to concentrate on blogging while watching the new season of Gleeee! //

I’ve been queuing my photos to blog in an orderly, non-repetitive (e.g. breakfast after breakfast) manner, and finally up to macarons! I mean makaron’s with a ‘k’!

I have been recommended MakMakaron some blog posts ago by a reader; as he quoted, “better than Zumbo and Le Renaissance”. The sound of ‘better’, had me interested. I found MakMakaron on facebook/twitter and have been waiting for a chance to pick up some MakMakarons where they stocked at… such as Baffi & Mo! (During breakfast, one lovely day~)

I felt a tad greedy when I told the lady at the cashier ‘Can I please have one of each flavour?’, but in the back of my mind I knew it’d be worth it. The flavours available (unfortunately not all from their collection )….

• Mocha
• Vanilla
• Peppermint and chocolate
• Black sesame
• Raspberry and cardamon-scented white chocolate ‘rice-pudding’

Do any of these flavours interest you??…

If you’re a new reader; you may be unfamiliar with the way I consume macaron’s;

To lessen the guilt, and be able to try more flavours… I tend to divide each flavour of macaron up into 5 pieces to between my 3 sisters, my boyfriend and I to share/try… we would play a guessing game, and give a vote what our favourite flavour was.

Curious yet?

Firstly, I’d like to confess to my sisters {who may be reading this post}, that I shared half the peppermint and chocolate macaron with the boyfriend and myself! .. so they didn’t get to try it …

What I realized was; I’m not usually a fan of having an entire macaron to myself, because it may be to sweet or I can pass with just a taster, but this time was different. I ate half the macaron and honestly wanted to finish the whole thing (if it wasn’t for the boyfriend ). What can I say? I really loved the texture of the macaron; it wasn’t too hard or too soft, it was just right, and the best bit about these macarons is that it’s not too sweet; hence I’d gladly finish it to myself. *Not forgetting to mention, it was my first peppermint/choc chip macaron*

The sweet factor brings me to another point; it was a delight munching away on these, even though I only had 1/5 of the other flavours… I really loved the ganache or whatever filling was in each one of them. I have to say, usually the fillings in macarons taste more artificial than the original flavour… for example, more sugary sweet, but these were ‘true to their flavour’, if you get what I mean.

I particularly enjoyed the Raspberry and cardamon-scented white chocolate ‘rice-pudding’ macaron most because I tasted bits of raspberry rather than pure ganache. As it name suggests, it does pack a punch!

The other one I also found interesting was the black sesame; I love it when Western recipes take influence from Asian flavours, and also the fact that I love black sesame, earns another point!

Personally, I found Baffi & Mo selling it for $3 is a little pricey; well understandable since they are only stockists… but I guess its okay if you were curious to try! I’m craving some more MakMakarons now by the end of this post… although I could order directly from Makmakaron, I’m eagerly waiting for the next outing where I could order a batch of ‘makarons’ without the guilt! and be able to share the lovely flavours at the same time!

As you can tell I thoroughly enjoyed these macarons and can definitely add them to my list of favourite macaron chefs! (If you have any more to suggest, comment away!) I urge you to try get your hands on some too if you’re a macaron lover like me!

Sweet weekend ahead to you all!

Saint Germain Patisserie, Redfern

Lately I’ve realized, at least once a week for the past month, a small portion of my diet had consisted of macarons. Okay, it may not sound that much but… realistically macarons aren’t your affordable, everyday cookie. I wish it is.

The sight of macarons to me, is just as irresistible as spotting a must-have fashion accessory… except they only last with every bite.

It has been well over a month or so since I heard of this Redfern gem, what caught my attention? Great tasting macarons at $1.50 each! … a small saving is a big saving when it comes to macarons!

So I made a detour to Redfern while on the way home from the CBD. Without checking Google Maps – live view, I expected it to be situated along the main strip of cafes and shops of Redfern, I was wrong. The boyfriend was in the driver seat, while he was trying to bypass the afternoon peak traffic in the area.. it took us a while till we realized where it was.. although on the corner of a narrow street amongst appartments, it was hard to distinguish with the lack of shop signage. We had to take a step into recognize that yes, it is a French Patisserie. You will be immediately delighted by the display of cakes and patisseries – but I was there for 1 reason, Macarons.

It was later in the day, so I imagined there weren’t as many macarons left… First of all you wouldn’t expect the same standards as Adriano Zumbo (millions of flavours to choose from)..

Back to front; Left; Raspberry, Mango, Strawberry
Right; Almond, Milk chocolate (ganache), Passionfruit

When purchasing these, I had no idea what flavours they were, and just asked one of each. To lighten my guilt back home, I  usually divide macarons into bite sized pieces between my sisters and have a session of ‘Guess the flavour’ and of course our own Judging Panel (lol).

My favourites? Rasberry, Mango!

I’ve never tried Mango macaron before, so it was a delight.. Overall, the flavours and textures aren’t as extraordinary as.. the ones from say.. Le Renaissance and Lindt Cafe (my common Macaron-go-to’s).. but it is great for the price, $1.50!

Will I go back? Of course -

I heard that their pastries are yummo! Like… Brie & Tomato croissants, savoury crepes.. etc.etc. So I will definitely have to try it out myself

———————-

St. Germain Patissierrie

88 Rosehill Street,corner of Gibbons street, Redfern.
Tel: 61+ (02) 9319 7161