La Belle Miette, Melbourne - macaron goodness

There's no doubt Melbourne, and most of the world, loves macarons. Macarons, not to be confused with macaroons, have now become the centre of the confectionery scene, making appearances on menus of many great cafes and restaurants and there are even macaron making competitions. So what's so good about this ultra sweet ganache sandwiched between two layers of chewy cookies? A lot, that is if you like sweets.

I'm not a huge fan of ultra sweet things and I do admit, I don't like all the macarons I eat. It's best consumed with a cup of tea or unsugared coffee so the sweetness can be spread out. However, I have tried a few macarons that I have taken a liking to. I loved the macarons we had at Hardware Societe and the ones at LuxBite were nice as well. However, after my recent visit to Hardware Societe, I found out they don't sell macarons anymore. I was a bit disappointed at the fact but my world didn't come tumbling down as we headed to La Belle Miette nearby for a good macaron fix.

Some people say La Belle Miette sells the best macarons in Melbourne. I wouldn't disagree. Upon entering the store, I noticed the cute pastel colours and chic decor which seemed quite fitting of this French confectionery. The store is tiny and there were only 2 tables in sight. They primarily sell macarons with I believe just tea, so don't expect to order anything else when you go there. In fact, most of their business is takeaway macarons and La Belle Miette also source macarons to many cafes around Melbourne.

Beautiful boxes lined their counters and you can get macarons either in the free paper box like I did above, or you can get them in a $3 box like my friend Racheese did, which is more sturdy and more presentable (below) and holds 6 macarons. There is also a $4 box which holds 12 macarons and other options for more special gifts.

The flavours I got were as follows (from left to right):

- Hazelnut Belle Miette
- Mariage Freres Earl Grey Chocolate
- Pimm's & Pomegranate
- Pink Grapefruit
- Cherry Blossom & Sake
- ‘Bastille’ – Moet et Chandon and Blackcurrant

My favourite was the earl grey as it had a subtle tea fragrance mixed together with the sweet outer shell which crumbled in my mouth. I loved the texture of the macarons. It wasn't as chewy as some places and was quite airy and light.

However, I did find the pomegranate and grapefruit macarons lacked flavour. I was expecting a strong fruity hit but instead I was hit more with the sweetness. Hazelnut was not bad either as it had rich hazelnut flavoured ganache in the middle.

LuxBite - sinfully good desserts, South Yarra

Desserts. One of those words that can conjure up images of all sorts of luscious sweet indulgences. A word that can put a smile on a crying child and brighten up the day of a heartbroken soul. I have a confession to make. I'm a sucker for a pretty dessert, even though I don't have that much of a sweet tooth. Yuye might argue otherwise because I tend to want to order dessert all the time but when I'm hungry, I'd prefer to eat a savoury dish. With that said, whenever I see a good looking dessert I just can't seem to refuse it. This impulsive behaviour has unfortunately caused many an upset stomach and an unhappy Yuye.

After reading so much about the highly acclaimed and immensely popular LuxBite, I have joined the bandwagon and visited the dessert oriented cafe tucked away on busy Toorak Rd in South Yarra last Thursday. The slogan on the door said 'Life is uncertain, eat dessert first'. I couldn't agree more. Never know when that macaron you've been wanting to get will sell out or even worse, gets wiped off the menu entirely! When you feel like it, just go for it, or so that's how I convince myself to order all that I want to order. My friend Rachel, who's one of the talented dessert chefs working at LuxBite, doesn't know about my slight lack of sweet tooth. Lets keep this hush hush because I don't want her to judge me. It doesn't mean I don't like desserts!

The interior of the cafe is comfy although small and has an air of freshness and excitement brought about by all the colours and buzz.

I love LuxBite's slightly cheeky and playful take on desserts which is reflected in the names and descriptions of the little devils sitting behind that glass wall. I also love the beautiful colours of the macarons and huge variety, 16 to be precise, of flavours to choose from. Watch out because the popular flavours sell out quickly!

As Yuye has an even lesser sweet tooth than me, I thought getting something not so rich was a good idea. I decided on the tea set for 2. With this $42 set we got 3 small sandwich fingers, 2 desserts, 4 macarons and 2 drinks.

Koko Black - Summer Specials, Carlton

Being mid summer, the best way to enjoy the supposed 'heat' is to have a lovely, cold, sweet dessert. I know Melbourne hasn't really had much heat but when we do, it's just unbearably nice, makes me want to go to the beach and eat ice cream!

I had heard from a friend that Koko Black is having a limited time summer special menu, consisting of refreshing fruits, sorbets and of course, chocolatey treats. Now, this summer special is only available at a few stores, the ones I know of are CBD and Carlton. I know for a fact that Chadstone and Westfield don't have the same selection of summer dessert specials, but still do have what's printed on the menu - their 'Summer Indulgence' treats which I assume are available across all their stores. The store we went to was Carlton and boy oh boy, my eyes were popping out of their sockets while gawking at the beautifully made desserts! I wished I had many many stomaches so I could have ordered one of each. :D All the special desserts are $14 each.

After a long and tough decision, i settled for the mango semifreddo - encased in marbled white chocolate, served with fresh tropical fruit and coconut sorbet. I cheated when I ordered this though, I had already had a sneak peak at what it looked like on my friend's camera and knew that this would be beautiful. Isn't it just gorgeous? :D The Coconut sorbet was subtly flavoured with coconut but not too sweet.

The fruit was actually a bit bland I thought, especially the white thing which I couldn't really figure out what it was, I think it may have been some sort of vanilla/coconut jelly? The other fruits were obviously mango, passionfruit, pineapple and I think papaya. The pineapple was very sour which I actually liked.

The mango semifreddo itself was like the Indian mango ice cream (kulfi) which is half churned and still reasonably crystallised and hard. It was slightly on the harder to eat side but was very tasty. Overall it was a very refreshing and tasty dessert which accentuates the tastes of summer.

Pancakes in Paradise, Surfers Paradise

We had breakfast one of the mornings at Pancakes in Paradise just a stone's throw away from The Watermark Hotel where we were staying at in Surfers Paradise. It was what I believed to be a better version of the Pancake Parlour in Melbourne and around the same level or better than Pancakes on the Rocks in Sydney. Either way, pancakes are beautiful. I can never go past the sweet ones :D because they are just so appetising! The stacked pancakes sign outside said $8.95 (which has increased in price to $9.50 now) for all you can eat pancakes with whipped butter and maple syrup - what great value! Although it's probably better for people with big appetites unlike myself.

Inside the store, many colourful hot air balloon decorations can be seen, making the eating experience even more exciting. I felt like a child going on my first hot air balloon flight sitting in one of those stalls, eagerly waiting for my pancakes to arrive.

I, like always decided to order a sweet pancake and this time it was Passion Pancakes for $16.95. It consisted of fresh strawberries and sliced banana on two buttermilk pancakes topped with vanilla ice cream, freshly whipped cream and passionfruit bits. Doesn't just reading the ingredients make your mouth water? It was indeed delicious. WIth the right amount of sweetness, I finished the whole thing while craving for more. You can see the heart attacks sitting on top though, with the cream piled up that high. :P I found their pancakes were a bit thicker than the pancakes in Pancake Parlour.