Chinese New Year Love Letters and Kuih Rose from Malaysia (1 Feb 2011)

Love starts with a rose

Every time my dad has a chance to visit Malaysia, especially around Chinese New Year, he brings back large tins of wafer thin homemade Love Letters from the relatives like last time. This year was an added bonus of the very crunchy and intricate looking Kuih Rose (also known as Honeycomb Cookies or Kuih Loyang it seems), mini Pineapple Tarts and tasty Arrowroot Chips. My aunty in Malaysia says it's quite easy to make the Kuih Rose, perhaps for them anyway, and all you need is 2 cups flour, 1 cup of rice flour, coconut milk (consistency to your liking ), castor sugar, a few drops of rose essence and add in an egg (beaten) into the mixture and viola the batter is ready. Heat the mould in the hot oil before dipping the mould into the bowl of batter. The batter will stick onto the mould and then just dip it into hot oil and the rose biscuit will come out by itself and into the oil. I also found a recipe on A Table For Two for a Kuih Rose with measurements.

They said the arrowroot chips are even easier to make. The preparation is a bit tedious but after that, you can get lots of chips. Just remove the skin of the arrowroot. Slice them evenly with a slicer. Heat up the oil and just deep fry them. When it turns golden brown, remove them with a strainer and put them straight away on greasproof paper and sprinkle salt on the chips immediately. This will keep the chip dry and crispy. When cool, store them into tins. If anyone knows of a shop in Sydney that sells love letters, kuih rose and arrowroot chips please let me know. I'd love to see if they're as good as the ones my dad brings back from the motherland but I'm suspecting they won't be.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Delicate and tasty cookies with an amazing crunch factor, It's Malaysian so it must be good ;-)

CONS: Haven't found anywhere in Sydney that sells the Love Letters and Kuih Rose, You need the special mould and patience to make them yourself

MUST TRY: Maybe making them one day otherwise I'll have to wait until my dad comes back with another batch when he visits Malaysia again

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A few yummy treats I get to enjoy from Malaysia — this was only a tiny sample of some huge tins my dad brought back with him

Kuih Rose aka Kuih Loyang and Honeycomb Cookies

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Love Letters

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Arrowroot chips

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Pineapple tarts

Flour and Stone: Bakery, Woolloomooloo (15 Nov 2011, 11 Jan 2012)

53 Riley Street, Woolloomooloo NSW 2011
http://flourandstone.com.au

Freshly baked sugar stop

Sweet Infinity is now only located in the Strand Arcade and Flour and Stone opened this week taking over their Riley Street site with an equally impressive display of tempting delights that I'm sure will keep you coming back. The focus is more on the sweet than the savoury and the daily specials menu will guide you on what cakes are available. Nadine from Cookie Courture is the owner and hence why you'll see her cookies and other products on the shelves.

The Fine apple tart ($5 slice) was very good and filled with plenty of thinly sliced apple as hoped. There's a bit of nice caramelisation throughout with a few sugary highlights on the palate and if it came with a dollop of double whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream it would have been even more satisfying and decadent. The Wholesome carrot cake with spelt ($5 slice) was light and tasty and seemed to work well having the cream in the middle rather than on top as most carrot cakes tend to do. My Mocha ($3) was quite well balanced as hoped without being too bitter. Real chocolate is used and settles on the bottom so be sure to stir it well to emphasis the chocolate taste. I'm tempted to try the Hazelnut torte, Ginger snap iced tea, Macarons and Cookies next time. The service was friendly and welcoming which will be an asset for this place being located a bit off the beaten track. If you need to walk a bit to get to the place it'll be worth it and the extra exercise will help burn off those naughty calories you might consume.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Friendly down-to-earth service, Quality products, Clean and cosy decor, One-stop-sugar-shop, Decent amount of tempting choices

CONS: Location is a bit out of the way but worth the visit, Limited seating and tables, Not the cheapest but better quality than most

MUST TRY: Fine apple tart, Wholesome carrot cake

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15 Nov 2011 visit

Friendly staff give the place a welcoming vibe

Fine apple tart ($5 slice)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Wholesome carrot cake with spelt ($5 slice)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Take away box packaging for my carrot cake

Mocha ($3) — stir the bottom to mix the real chocolate used

Sydney tap water — only the best

Today's menu

Fine apple tart ($5 slice, $50 whole)

Tempting cookies

Muffins, croissants and macarons, lemon capri torte

Cookie Courture products — love the gingerbread designs

Cakes display and jug of Ginger Snap Iced Tea

A few simple tables and chairs inside

Love the pink flowers in the window

11 Jan 2012 visit

Bran muffin ($4.50) — quite moist compared to all other I've had. Fair amount of fruit throughout including sultanas and ricotta I think. I'm generally not a fan of bran muffins but this one was fairly enjoyable as far as bran muffin go. Tasted pretty healthy.

Old Fashion Vanilla Cake ($5) — fairly moist with nice flavours of a double layer of cream and jam. Would go well with a coffee.

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