Saturday, October 24, 2009

Sweetness Patisserie

38 Oxford St
Epping
Ph : (02) 9869 3800

HOURS :
Mondays to Wednesdays, Fridays : 8.30am-5.30pm
Thursdays : 8.30am-8pm
Saturdays : 8am-5pm


After the disappointing lunch at nero across the road, it was only natural that I visit Epping's most famous food destination, Sweetness, a place whose wares I had only previously eaten when purchased at various  Sydney weekend markets, where I could be guaranteed of a happy gastronomic experience.


Taking pride of place in the shop is this diploma from La Fondation Le Cordon Bleu.


It's a rather pastel and pinkish type of place, with the cakes, slices and other sweetmeats attractively presented.


Even if you're at the counter you can't escape the temptation!


A peek into the kitchen.


A closer look....


One of the items for which Sweetness is known is their delicious marshmallows.


As is the case at their market stalls, there are some marshmallow samples for customers to try.


One of the features of the shop is the attractively displayed "Daily Menu", placed at the window and just asking to be photographed and eaten.


I wanted to buy one of everything.....


...but decided to exercise some self control by only having three items. The fourth (the raspberry macaron), was the sole choice of my friend.

ONE item?!?!


The meringues, at $3 each, were raspbery and pistachio, both filled with chocolate ganache.


I had high expectations of these, as I am partial to a macaron or two.


Tastewise it was good, but as you can tell, or some reason it was a little hollow. To my mind, one of the joys of macarons is their chewiness, so this was a bit of a disappointment. The raspberry one was similarly hollowed out.

However, this was more than compensated by the lemon meringe tart ($4).


The tart base was buttery, the lemon curd's tartness just right, and the meringue topping (unusually not browned), was light and just the right level of sweetness. The taste of the meringue and the fact that it was not browned were testament to its freshness.


Ah the Jam Cookie ($1.75). A small cookie that I regretted not having purchased more of! I can't describe how buttery and flaky the cookie was, and how fruity the jam was. There was nothing solidified about the dollop of jam. I don't know if it was added subsequent to the baking of the cookie itself, as opposed to before the cooking process, but however they bake it, it works!



[AP]

2 comments:

Simon Leong said...

hope to visit this fine establishment one day :-) they had a stall at Chippendale Food for the Future Fair today

The Sydney Tarts said...

Simon - I thought about visiting the Chippendale Fair but didn't get around to it! They are worth going to Epping to visit.