Adriano Zumbo Patisserie, Balmain and Belle Fleur Fine Chocolates, Rozelle

Continuing on from our very satisfying brunch at Kazbah on Darling, we drove further up Darling Street to Adriano Zumbo's patisserie. It had been a few weeks since his appearance on Masterchef Season 2 with the fear-inspiring macaron tower, but obviously the Zumbo craze was yet to die down since we could spot the patisserie a mile away from the seemingly permanent queue of customers outside.

We joined the queue and I saw a lot of people who were walking past slow down as they got to Zumbo's patisserie and wonder what all the fuss was about. I also spotted these t-shirts as we approached the store-front - I heart zumbo oh yes I do (but not enough to buy the t-shirt, I'd rather buy more cakes haha)

When we finally got into the store itself it was madness, I could barely even see what cakes were left. It was already 2pm so a lot of the more popular cakes had been snapped up and given the current macaron hype I wasn't surprised to find out that there was only one macaron flavour left: Vegemite.

(left) Tarte aux fruits de la passion and "I'll Get Back To You Barry" cake; (right) "I'll Get Back To You Barry": Chocolate yogo creme brulee, soft chocolate gel, chocolate cereal crunchy, chocolate sable breton, chocolate caramel mousse, chocolate plaquette - $8.00

Lemon and Passionfruit Macarons

Oh macarons. You are such tasty creatures but so fickle when it comes to creating you! I've had intentions of tackling macarons for a long time, but it wasn't until recently that I mustered up the courage and found the time to attempt them. My sister even bought me a macaron set from France which included a little book on macarons published by Larousse and a piping bag, which I took as a sign that I should hurry up and make them already!

Passionfruit macarons

So I started off the long road to making perfect macarons and began by asking people on twitter for macaron tips. And I got replies from seasoned macaron makers who told me to make sure I don't overmix my batter, not to overbeat my egg whites and to be prepared for failures.

Passionfruit Butter

Have you ever hung around someone who likes a food that you don't particularly like, and somehow over time you gradually get converted and end up a big fan of the food? This is what happened to me and passionfruit. I never hated the stuff, but I just didn't particularly enjoy eating it, especially the crunchy seeds.

But Sir D loved passionfruit and he absolutely couldn't get enough of the stuff. He'd buy it when it was cheap at the supermarket and we'd end up getting passionfruit gelato whenever we went to eat ice cream. And he converted me - I don't know how it happened but I've developed a love for passionfruit, and now I'm the one who insists on getting passionfruit gelato when we go out.

I first came across passionfruit butter at my school's Garden Party (read: posh term for school fete) where they sold it at the Jams and Preserves stall. I bought a jar home for Sir D and while we spread the liquid gold dotted with black seeds on toast and savoured the sweet passionfruit flavour, I thought, why can't I make this myself?

So I did. The next time I saw passionfruit on special at the grocery store I grabbed six of them and set about making my own passionfruit butter. I was surprised at how easy and simple it was to make and wondered about all the things I could use it in. You could smother some between cakes, put it in tart cases or sandwich it between macaron shells (yes that's macaron, not macarOOn!).

But my favourite way of eating it is just spread simply on a slice of toast for breakfast in the morning. Mmmm yes, tastes like sunshine.