Melbourne Snackage - Round 2

One of the dangers of going on holiday is that there are always so many places I want to eat at. Three square meals a day just isn't enough time so I manage to squeeze in a few snacks here and there, leaving me ridiculously full after each day. Oh well - it is a holiday after all! My last trip to Melbourne included snacks like fries, cupcakes and chocolate. Round 2 of Melbourne Snackage is about all things sweet... get ready for some macarons, doughnuts, cakes and more macarons!

Our first stop is LuxBite in South Yarra - and the first thing that catches my eye is the rainbow of macarons in the glass cabinet. There are lots of flavours, several of which are unique to LuxBite, which makes it difficult to choose just a few.

Endless Love - $8.50

Near the macaron display is a wall of pretty cakes. We ogle at the cake display for a while before choosing a pretty ispahan-inspired dessert called Endless Love. It's sweet but not overly so, with a delicate lychee ganache, rose cream, chunks of lychee and fresh raspberries providing a bit of tartness.

LuxBite macarons - $2.50 each

We also try a few of the macarons - clockwise from left we have Ribena and Lemonade, Peanut Butter & Jelly, Watermelon and Kaya Toast. Unfortunately the flavours were a bit muted for me, and I struggled to taste the Ribena and the Watermelon flavours. The peanut butter and jelly though was very distinct, with a surprise cube of jelly in the centre. My favourite was definitely the Kaya toast which had a filling of kaya coconut jam with a knob of butter in the centre.

American Doughnut Kitchen

We visited the Queen Victoria Markets one morning and I walked all around the markets to find this doughnut van. There were already people lining up for doughnuts (breakfast of champions!) so I joined the fast-moving queue as well.

Jam doughnuts - 6 for $6

They only sell one thing at the American Doughnut Kitchen - jam-filled doughnuts! Through the window of the van you can see little balls of dough ready to be baptised in hot oil. You can get 6 of these doughnuts for a mere 6 bucks and they come in a paper bag with lots of sugar dusted over them.

Jam innards

They're freshly fried so be careful, because the jam innards are hot! We sit on a park bench and eat them, with the sugar scattering all over floor and the jam oozing out. Best breakfast ever.

Burch & Purchese

A trip to South Yarra isn't complete without paying a visit to Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio. You can smell the cakes as you enter the store and it's hard to decide what to look at first - the cakes in the display, the pink and yellow clouds of meringues on the counter, or the jars of salted caramel and handmade chocolates along the wall (there was a chocolate penguin!)

Explosive raspberry milk chocolate

We got a few cakes to take home with us, including this explosive raspberry milk chocolate dessert. Why is it explosive? Because there are hidden pop rocks in the milk chocolate chip cookie crumb layer, in amongst the raspberry and milk chocolate mousses, the raspberry custard and compote, and the raspberry marshmallow. It's packed with flavour and the raspberry and milk chocolate flavour combination works really well.

Mango, milk chocolate, ginger cake

The mango, milk chocolate and ginger cake is cute as a button with a chocolate gingerbread teddy on top. There are layers of milk chocolate and mango cream, interlaced with coconut meringue, Jamaican ginger cake and chocolate sponge. I'm not a big fan of ginger but the ginger flavour is quite subtle in this, lending a slight warming feel rather than a big hit of ginger spice.

Strawberry eclair

The strawberry eclair is a little simpler than the other desserts but that doesn't mean it loses out on flavour. There is a sweet strawberry cream in the choux pastry, and the whole eclair is topped with a tile of brilliant white chocolate and a sprinkling of freeze dried strawberries.

Iced chocolate and chocolate pavlova from Chokolait

I had to take the family to Chokolait, one of my favourite chocolate cafes ever. It was a warm day so an iced chocolate was in order, and I can never say no to a slice of their chocolate pavlova, complete with strawberries and cream.

La Belle Miette macarons - $2.50

After hearing so much about La Belle Miette, I had to make a stop there just before we left Melbourne. The shop itself is small, with pastel tea sets and a pastel rainbow of macarons in the display. I selected 6 to take home - Moet & Chandon and Blackcurrant, Cherry Blossom & Sake, Raspberry, Violet and Blueberry, Passionfruit Chocolate, and Caramel with Fleur de Sel. Luckily, they survived the trip to Sydney and still retained their perfect shape and texture. They were all true to their flavours as well, and my favourite was the Raspberry which was just amazing. These are macarons that are definitely worth travelling for!

LuxBite
38 Toorak Road
South Yarra VIC 3141
Ph: +61 3 9867 5888
Open 7 days, 10.30am - 7pm


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American Doughnut Kitchen
Queen Victoria Markets
513 Elizabeth St
Melbourne VIC 3000‎
Ph: +61 3 9320 5822
Open Tuesday and Thursday, 6am-2pm; Friday, 6am-5pm; Saturday, 6am-3pm; Sunday, 9am-4pm


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Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio
647 Chapel Street
South Yarra VIC 3141
Ph: +61 3 9827 7060
Open 7 days, 10am - 6.30pm


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Chokolait
Shop 8, Hub Arcade
318 Little Collins St
Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph: +61 3 9639 6188


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La Belle Miette
30 Hardware Lane
Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph: +61 3 9024 4528
Open Monday to Thursday 10am – 6pm, Friday 10am – 9pm, Saturday 10am – 5pm, Sunday 11am – 4pm


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