Bundaberg in STL?!

So Bundaberg Ginger Beer is an Aussie Staple (one I never actually did a blog post about). I generally don't like soda, but I actually do enjoy Bundaberg (especially as a mixer), since it is sweeter than typical American ginger beer, and it also comes with a sweet pull top! I wasn't something that I drank a lot in Australia, but it was such a comforting site to find in in St. Louis!!!! There is a soda and candy shop, called Soda Fizz that opened up on the loop this summer. One of my friends took me there when I got back and I scoured the store until I found this treasure! Since returning to the states I've been frantically searching to see if I can find any Aussie staples around. So far I have found that "Arnnett's Biscuits" (aka snooty american Tim Tams) can be purchased at World Market. Violet Crumble can be found there too. There is a new specialty grocery store on the Loop that sells tins of Milo and jars of vegemite. And Soda Fizz sells Bundaberg. I have not been able to find Boost chocolate bars :,(, Just Right Ceral, or Aussie Strongbow Cider anywhere. 

It's funny how seeing Aussie brands and foods has become a very comforting sight. I've made myself vegemite on toast/cheddarmite sandwiches about once a week since returning to St. Louis, and I've already run through one of my two boxes of Just Right, much to my dismay. As Australia starts to feel farther away, seeing these little things make feel sadly nostalgic. On the flip side, seeing an Aussie food item in a store brings happy memories and stories to the forefront of my mind. I've shared these stories with friends to explain my enthusiasm for these little things, and doing so makes me feel a lot closer to being back Down Under!

Pavlova

So Pavlova is a traditional Australian dessert. It's basically a gigantic meringue with fruit and cream. I have been wanting to try one since before I came to Australia, but unfortunately I really had a hard time finding them anywhere. I think that is because they are something that is more accessible and nicer restaurants, instead of the places that I was usually frequenting. Fortunately, when I was with my family we were eating at really nice restaurants. So our last night in Sydney, on our way back from New Zealand, Pavlova was on the dessert menu. So naturally, I had to order it! It was pavlova with passionfruit. Now, I can take or leave passionfruit, but it was the meringue that I really wanted to taste. It came out in an enormous slice, and we all had some. It. Was. Fantastic!!!! The meringue had a different consistency throughout, light and fluffy in the middle, cake like and then chewy on the outside. I loved it! I was also really happy that I could end my time in Australia by tasting a dessert that I had wanted to try for so long. I was the perfect treat to end my journey. 

Tasting my way around Fitzroy

Fitzroy is a funky neighborhood in Melbourne. It's filled with Coffee Shops and boutiques. It is somewhat of the hipster area. It was also one of my friend's favorite part of Melbourne so I wanted to check it out! I walked there from the Queen Victoria markets, and that's where I spent most of my afternoon. The architecture makes the area look bohemian, and the funky names of the stores give in personality. I bought this mini strawberry cupcake (above), as a walked around. It wasn't amazing, but it was $1 and cute. It started randomly pouring on my when I was there (below left), so I ducked into a coffee shop and got a chai (below right). They give you a pot of milky tea, and you have to strain it yourself. It was really good and the chai hit the spot on a rainy afternoon. I drank it and read my book!

I continued to walk around and made a few small on sale purchases. I got a map of Australia poster for $4 and a scarf for $2.50! When I got hungry I stopped at Lord of the Fries, a Melbourne fast food chain known for their amazing chips, a bunch of friends had recommended it to me. I got their Sweet Potato fries with sour cream and sweet chili (below), they were amazing!!!!! Just the right thing for lunch!

I had such a nice time enjoying an afternoon of walking around and exploring. I've realized it's a nice and leisurely way to get the feel of different areas of a city!

Green Tea Lamingtons

Lamingtons are Australian tea cakes. They are generally vanilla sponge cake squares, covered in a frosting glaze and dipped in desiccated coconut. They are usually double layered and the filling is usually either chocolate or jam. I really wanted to make a traditional Aussie dessert before I left Australia. Originally I wanted to make Pavlova, which is a meringue with creme and fruit, but without an electric blender that was out. So I decided to do Lamingtons, but with a twist! And that twist is matcha! I made green tea lamingtons, and they were amazing. No seriously, they lasted about a day and a half before my housemates and I devoured them. The baking part of this recipe was easy, it was the assembly that was difficult.

I baked the cake using a box mix and added matcha powder, I didn't have as much as I wanted so the cake ended up with this cake that had a slight matcha taste, it was nice but I would use more next time. For this recipe it requires that I cut the cake into easily dippable squares. Due to this I had to be strategic with what pan I baked the cake in. I decided on the bread pan, rather than our round cake pan. This ended up being a good idea. The first step to the squares was to trim off them rounded top of the cake (above), I think next time I'll trim the sides to make it more even as well, the reason I didn't this time is because I was worried about not having enough cake.

The next step was to do the layering. I sliced the cake into two layers, which was harder than expected to cut evenly, so the top layer was a bit thicker than the bottom (above left). Next I melted dark chocolate in the microwave and spread it on the bottom layer of the cake (above right). I tried to do this quickly before it hardened up again. Then I stuck the top layer back onto the cake. Next I cut the cake into 15 squares (below left). The next move was to arrange them for the dipping. So I covered a baking sheet in baking parchment and then arranged them on the tray. 

The next step was to dip them in frosting and then cover them in desiccated coconut. Now desiccated is a fancy word for dryed and dehydrated. This is a special type of shredded coconut and in order to really make this treat work you need to buy this kind, it prevents the cakes from getting soggy. What I did was buy some store bought vanilla frosting, I then microwaved it for about 20 seconds (below left) and dipped each individual square in the frosting. I tried to make sure that it was completely covered. Next I quickly moved the cake to a bowl with the coconut in it and covered the frosted cake in the coconut, once again trying to cover it completely. Then I set it on the baking sheet to harden. While my fingers got really messy during this process, it actually worked out so much easier than I expected. First of all, the heated frosting turned into this glaze that sticked really well, and the coconut adhered to it amazingly. And then when it was covered in coconut, I could move it around and set it down without it sticking (below right). Also, as one of my housemates pointed out, I got better at it as I went along so the later squares were easier and prettier.

These cakes tasted amazing. The matcha, vanilla, coconut, and chocolate each added their own texture and flavor to the dessert, and meshed really well together. These are perfect with a cup of tea (or matcha haha) after dinner. Or with a cup of coffee for breakfast! Lamingtons are classic Australia and it makes me happy that I will be able to make these anytime I want at home and bring Australia with me!

Thoughts on this Dessert:

• Like I said, next time more matcha is going into this recipe.
• I would like to try different flavors for these. My sister makes this awesome cake called 'Blush Cake' and I think that it would be great with this recipe, but with rose jam filling. Also I'd try them with taro cloud cake for sure!
• I think that next time I'd use chocolate frosting instead of vanilla.
• When doing the dipping step, its important to reheat the frosting for 5-10 seconds or so after each cake to make sure the consistency stays right. Also to add more frosting to the bowl when it starts to get low so that you don't have to scrape the cake on the bowl. 

Really happy that my last dessert here is a really cool Australian one, and one that I could make my own. I found it really fulfilling to be able to make a recipe that was complicated but turned out well. 

Balsamic Sweet Potato Chips

Snacks for dinner! After I made the Tim Tam Truffles I was not in the mood to make anything complicated for dinner. So I opted to try and make sweet potato chips. Super east and quick, they turned out pretty well. Basically I sliced 2 small sweet potatoes rather thinly (after steaming them in the microwave for about 2 minutes). Then marinated them in Balsamic vinegar with garlic salt, by shaking them in a tupperware container until they were covered (below left). I then arranged them on a plate and microwaved them for about 8 minutes, sprinkling more garlic salt before doing so. The before and after pics are below right, they shrink up and get crispy. Also I found letting them sit for a minute or so after the microwave helps them crisp up even more (as tempting as it was to just go ahead and eat them). This was a delicious and easy meal that I would usually do as a snack, but it also sufficed for a light dinner. 

Dark Chocolate Tim Tam Truffles

Volia! I give you the ultimate Tim Tam dessert, Tim Tam Truffles! One of my friends in the Pathfinder Program at Wash U makes these AMAZING oreo truffles, so I was inspired by her to do the same thing, but with Tim Tams. This recipe is actually really simple, but seems sophisticated. It's only 3 ingredients. Tim Tams, cream cheese, and melted chocolate. The result is a truffle that looks (if you roll it correctly) and tastes like something you would buy at a gourmet candy store (below). 

I used 1.5 packs of dark chocolate Tim Tams for this recipe, but in retrospect I would have used 2 whole packs instead. I blended the cookies (entire thing) until it was crumbs (below right). Then I added the cream cheese and blended that as well. This took awhile because I was using a magic bullet blender, which is rather small and really isn't made for this kind of mixing. When it was completely mixed to the desired consistence (bottom below), I stuck some dark chocolate into the microwave, for 4 30 second intervals, stirring in between. Then I rolled the Tim Tam mixture into balls and dipped it into the chocolate. This worked really well at first and I got about 3 completely covered truffles, but then the chocolate started to harden again, and it got a lot more difficult. 

I did eventually manage to roll them all. There were 15 truffles in total. After they were rolled I placed the cookie tray they were on in the fridge for about 3 hours. Then consolidated them in tupperware (below) and placed them back in the fridge. The refrigerator keeps the chocolate from melting and keeps the truffles together, so make sure you store them this way. My housemates and I agreed these were absolutely amazing. Yet another of my favorite desserts that I've made here, and it's so fun to bake with Tim Tams!

Thoughts on this Dessert:

• What a winner! Super easy and unique
• I would love to try these with other Tim Tam flavors. Mainly the Mint Slices, Caramel Tim Tams or the Orange ones. Unfortunately, I think that once I get back to the states I'm not going to want to waste my precious Tim Tams on baking… so while I might not get a chance to try these ideas, readers with access to Tim Tams should! Wish I had tried this earlier in the semester
• Next time I think I'm going to roll the truffles and stick them in the fridge before rolling them in the melted chocolate. This will help them stay together better and hopefully cut down on the time between rolling, so the chocolate won't solidify as quickly.

This were so fun to make and even more fun to eat. And a great twist on an Aussie favorite during SWOTVAC here at UQ. 

Maxibon Honeycomb Ice Cream Bar

Sooooo, I may have been craving ice cream earlier tonight. And I may have indulged in that craving, by going to the grocery store a block from our house to get an ice cream bar. But, I'm justifying it because I get to share some more Aussie food culture with you guys! So when we were at the zoo a couple of weeks ago we got ice cream bars (it's really common for snack bars/convience stores/resturants to stock ice cream bars all around Australia). I've been trying a bunch of kinds since I've been here, and besides the Milo Cups, which are actually kinda rare, I hadn't found one that I loved. That was, until the zoo. I got a Maxibon, and it changed everything! Maxibons are basically half ice cream sandwich half chocolate covered ice cream bar… so you don't have to choose! Whoever invented this was a legit genius. At the zoo I got a caramel flavored one, which I loved. But I wanted to try the other flavors as well. And today I finally got to! I tried the honeycomb one, and it was AMAZING. 

So first I should explain honeycomb. The same way that there are certain flavors that people LOVE in America and they have lots of sweet products with them (i.e. peanut butter and Red Velvet) Australia has flavors like that too. Two of the most prevalent are Turkish Delight, and honeycomb. They have honeycomb chocolate bars, and of course, honeycomb ice cream (I also saw online they have honeycomb tim tams but haven't come across any here :( ). Honeycomb is great and is sometimes mixed with chocolate crunchies or caramel. In the case of the Maxibon, there were chocolate chunchies in the honeycomb flavored ice cream (see below). It was so good. I loved the combination of the chocolate crust and crunchy ice cream of the bar part (see pic below on the left), but I have to say nothing beats the cakey cookies of an ice cream sandwich, so I think I may actually have liked the sandwich part better (pics below on right), but really the best part of this ice cream is that you get both and don't have to choose a favorite! 

Kinda sad I didn't get around to tasting these until the last month I was here, but at least I got to it before I left. Seriously, the inventor of this kind of ice cream bar should get a medal. Why don't we have these back in the states?!

Aussie Chocolate Bars Take 5: Boost Toffee Crunch and Chokito

Okay this might be my last chocolate bar post, because I think from now on if I get a chocolate bar I'll be getting Boosts, they are definitely my favorite! However, we were traveling last week, so candy on the go is a must and I tried two more bars when I was in Cairns. The first was a special addition Boost bar, it had toffee in the middle instead of krispies, and oh my, it was absolutely heavenly!!! This is the winner folks, the best Aussie Chocolate Bar… too bad I think they were just testing it out in Cairns because it is no where to be seen back in Brissy, but I'll keep an eye out.

The Chokito was also really good, but seriously nothing can compete with my Boost bars at this point. Chokitos are caramel flavored fudge coveremilk chocolate with krispy balls covered in milk chocolate. It was pretty yummy and definitely hit the spot as a plane treat home, but the caramel fudge would have been better if it was chocolate fudge with real caramel instead. Still I really liked this one, and I think I sent it home for my family to try (I sent them a huge Aussie snack food care package last month, and it finally arrived so I can mention it here without spoilers!) so I'm glad they will get to enjoy it! I now wish I had sent a Boost home, but they can taste it when they come visit in July.

21st Birthday Cupcakes!!!

My twenty first birthday day was yesterday, June 4th. Usually, my birthday falls at the time where I'm back in Chicago after the end of the semester and celebrate with my high school friends, and of course, my family. This is actually the first time I haven't been in Chicago with my family on my birthday. However, my parents managed to make it special even half a world away. They had cupcakes sent over to our house from the Cupcake Parlour in West End, which I blogged about months ago! In fact, my sister referred to that when picking flavors, which is why there were 5 Turkish Delight cupcakes, because I had expressed my love for that cupcake in my previous post. They were even better than I remembered, I really really like them :) And the Tim Tam cupcakes were really cool as well, perfect for a birthday in Australia. My family coordinated with my housemates to get them delivered to the house. The Cupcake Parlour kinda messed up and had them delivered 3 hours early, so I was the one who came to the door to get them. I was still really surprised and it was wonderful, but we couldn't help but laugh because there was a note on the box that said to deliver them between 1-2 and they came at 10 :P The surprises didn't end there! Apparently my parents also had balloons sent to the house (this time when I was at class) and my housemates surprised me with the balloons and a cupcake with a candle in it later that day! It so nice of everyone. 

That night I then went out to dinner with friends at the club and restaurant Cloudland in Fortitude Valley. We had some wonderful Italian food, and an AMAZING apple-pear sangria. I wasn't really taking food pics because I was just trying to enjoy the night instead, but take my word for it the food was splendid. The highlight was the pumpkin ricotta tortellinis in brown butter sauce. Also the decor at Cloudland is the coolest thing ever. It's full of feathers, leaves, and crystal chandeliers! After dinner we ended up going to the RE, one of the UQ student bars, because it's the place to be on a Wednesday. It was really great because a bunch of other people I knew were there as well so it was a great place to drink and dance, and ultimately end the evening. It was such a wonderful way to spend a birthday, and it was so cool to be able to celebrate in Australia!

Aussie Chocolate Bars Take 4: Boost and Picnic

Okay, let me start off this post by saying that these are my FAVORITE two chocolate bars that i've had here. So good were they, that I think I'm adding them to the list with Tim Tams and Just Right Cereal, as things I'm going to be taking back to the states with me. Let me explain why I liked these so much. The Boost bar is one that I had been avoiding because on the wrapper it looks like it had solid crunchy in the middle. Well serves me right for judging a cary bar by it's wrapper. The inside it a heavenly mix of creamy chocolate, caramel, and some rice krispies (below). The whole thing is then covered in chocolate. The texture as well as the way the chocolate and caramel messed puts this guy at the top of the list. Absolutely amazing bar, the only thing that would make it better is some dark chocolate.

The Picnic bar was also amazing. I delicious combination of nugget, wafer, caramel, and rice krispies. This had a much chunkier texture than the Boost, but less chocolate. The peanuts and the caramel made this combo so great, that I didn't mind that it had less chocolate. It's also a super filling bar, and great it you're hungry and craving sweet and salty.

These bars were both amazing, and now I'm going to have trouble trying more because I'll just want to keep buying these two!

The Ultimate Tim Tam Guide

Okay. I've mentioned Tim Tams a couple of times on this blog, but have yet to devote an entire post to them. This is why. I've been waiting until I tried all flavors of these magnificent cookies, and could review them in their entirety. Well today was the day that I finally for around to tasting them all! So the post I've been waiting to do all semester: The Ultimate Tim Tam Guide.

Tim Tams are chocolate biscuits (cookies are called biscuits here). The easiest way to think of them is the Aussie equivalent of Oreos. Only they are SO MUCH better than Oreos. A Tim Tam is a rectangular chocolate cookie sandwich. It is chocolate cream between two chocolate cookies, covered in chocolate. Sounds good right? Well it is! They are really delicious and they make them in lots of different flavors and fillings besides the typical chocolate ones (see above). I tasted almost all of them (I didn't try the white ones, which were white chocolate covered vanilla cookies with vanilla cream, because I don't really like white chocolate). So the rest of the post is my ranking of the Tim Tams, as well as comments about each kind!

1. Dark Chocolate

These are unsurprisingly me favorite flavor of Tim Tams. Dark chocolate is richer and less sugary than milk and these Tim Tams are no exception. They are the best. Also this was the first flavor that I did a Tim Tam Slam with. A Tim Tam slam, is when you bit off both ends of the Tim Tam and stick it in a drink (preferably hot, but cold works too) This could be coffee, hot chocolate, or tea. I did mine with matcha (see above). You then use the Tim Tam as a straw and suck the liquid through it. You will notice the cookie starts to fall apart, at that point you slam it into your mouth an enjoy. It. Is. Amazing. Basically the Tim Tam becomes this gooey, cakey, choclatey mess, and is three times as good as the cookie by itself. Dark Chocolate Tim Tams can be slammed with all kinds of drinks. Their versatility, along with their general amazingness is why they beat out all other flavors in the rankings.

2. Orange Dark Chocolate

What makes dark chocolate better? Fruit! These Tim Tams are like the dark chocolate ones but have orange cream filling instead of chocolate. They are great because they have all the best qualities of the dark chocolate ones, but also a wonderful unique flavor that comes out amazingly in this cookie!

3. Mint Slice

Okay, so this isn't technically a Tim Tam. But it is a biscuit made by the same company, Arnott's, so I'm counting it. Imagine that a York Peppermint Patty and a Thin Mint had a baby. That is literally what this cookie is. It's basically self-explanatory why this is ranked 3rd on the list.

4. Chewy Caramel

So these guys are basically the original Tim Tam, with a little extra. There is chewy caramel in the middle of the cookie! If you refrigerate them (you have to in the summer because they melt!) it gets hard and crunchy, but at room temp it's gooey and chewy. These are really amazing, the carmel really adds something to the cookie.

5. Chocolate Brownie

                                

I mean this Tim Tam's filling is fudgey brownie batter. I transforms it into more than just a cookie. These ones are seriously addicting and so rich and delicious. I haven't done a slam with one, but I bet it would be out of this world!

6. Double Coat

So these Tim tams are something special. They have an extra coating of chocolate on the outside, and I think a little more cream in the middle as well. Basically the Double Stuf of the Tim Tam word. Also wonderful, I love Tim Tam slamming these ones because they can take a little more liquid before they break down. I did my Tim Tam Slam with Milo (above left). Milo is basically hot chocolate mix, but it's made of malted barley as well as coco (I posted about Milo here). It's amazing and went really well with the Tim Tams. It was such an Aussie thing to eat for dessert it made me happy!

7. Turkish Delight

Turkish Delight is one of the main flavors here, they have Turkish Delight flavored everything, so of course, Tim Tams are no exception. I really liked these ones. They have rose flavored jelly in the middle, and it goes really well with the chocolate. The cookies were actually dark chocolate, but the coating was the traditional milk. They were a yummy surprise!

8. Dark Chocolate Mint

These Tim Tams are basally milk chocolate coated with dark chocolate cookies, and dark chocolate filling with mint extract in it. They are pretty yummy, but I prefer the plain dark ones (the dark chocolate coating really makes it!). Also if I want mint biscuits I really prefer the Mint Slices. I think those two things hurt they're ranking.

9. Salted Caramel

These Tim Tams are caramel cookies, with caramel filling, and a gooey salted carmel center, covered in the milk chocolate filling. Though the salted flavor is really yummy and adds an extra dimension to the cookie, they suffer from lack of chocolate cookies and filling. This makes the Chewy Caramel ones much better. 

10. Double Chocolate Vanilla

Oreo lovers take note! This are the typical Tim Tam, but with vanilla filling instead of chocolate. This basically makes them a chocolate covered oreo. Really yummy, and very satisfying, but the chocolate lover at heat had to rank them lower then all the more choclately flavors :)

11. Raspberry White Chocolate

So as I mentioned, I don't really like white chocolate, but wanted to try these because of the raspberry creme. They were my least favorite, but I did like how the raspberry complimented the vanilla cookies. 

So this is my list of Tim Tams! There may be a couple of other flavors floating around somewhere, but I haven't seen them around Brisbane. These biscuits are my FAVORITE Australian food and I will miss them dearly when I leave. So much so that I'm bringing as many as I can fit back to the U.S. with me. Especially the Dark Chocolate ones!