mister tamago

a little place i found interesting

Nestled in between or behind commercial buildings and tall office blocks in Melbourne are woven through with designer boutiques, coffee shops, florists and a French creperie. A charming sub-culture which is filled with excitement and mystery with every turn in the winding maze.

Hidden away in one of the lane ways in the cafe and restaurant filled Little Collins Street, was once a truck rental garage now transformed into a bakery that you have to keep your eyes peeled for!

Looking into the pastry window to view the freshly baked breads and pastries, you will witness tongs continuously clipping away at the bakery items. Walking inside you will smell freshly toasted ham and cheese croissants whilst hearing the whirring and clunking of the coffee machines. Admire the simple decor of colourful tiles adjourned to the wall. Sit on the high-perched stools looking out through the "hole in the wall" whilst waiting for your baguette filled with all sorts to be toasted.

If you think the window filled goodies is all they sell, head inside, take a deep breath, enjoy the air perfumed by coffee and yeast and take a browse at the menu. If bakery items are not your thing, come back for lunch in the connecting Gills Diner down the back.

I just discovered this neat cafe last month and I love it!

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Commercial Bakery
Rear 360 Little Collins Street, Melbourne 3000
Phone: (03) 8631 5900

third day of celebrating

Into the third day of Chinese New Year. Another twelve days of celebrating, visiting relatives and eating like no tomorrow. And for us kids, making sure we do our annual money hoarding from lucky red packets :)

It was a great night with the family and everyone was able to choose something off the menu. To top things up, I liked the bright lighting.

To all celebrating, wishing you a Happy Chinese New Year!
兔年快乐！

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Kum Den (old)

(chocolate) digestives

Digestive biscuits; probably the worst sounding name for a great biscuit. I never bought them until a few Christmases ago when I saw this Homer Simpson cup. His head was sliced off on the top, brains and skulls hollowed out for your drink. Whereas his open mouth was a biscuit holder for two packaged chocolate digestive biscuits.

Pretty awesome cup right? Too bad I didn't get it, but I bought a whole packet of chocolate digestives at the supermarket :)

I recently I found out about King Arthur Flour's recipes from Xiaolu's recent post. There are lots of recipes that use wholemeal flour and lots of recipes I'd like to try out, but the digestive biscuits was a first choice for me.

These were super easy to mix in the processor and makes lots and lots of crunchy biscuits. Even better with a thick coating of dark chocolate at the bottom!

Oh by the way, for those celebrating, Happy Chinese New Year!
新年快乐，恭喜发财，万事如意，身体健康，年年有余，红包到来！

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(chocolate) digestives
adapted from king arthur's english digestive biscuits

ingredients:
I didn't count them but it makes lots and lots of biscuits

• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 1 1/2 cups wholemeal plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup caster sugar (the original recipe uses icing sugar)
• 1/4 cup cold milk
• dark chocolate (optional)

method:

Preheat your oven to 180°C.

Measure the flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl. With a pastry blender, two knives, or your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour mixture. Toss in the sugar and enough milk to make a stiff dough.

Knead this mixture on a floured surface until smooth. (All this can be done almost instantly in a food processor.) Roll the dough out to a bit more than 3 mm thick and cut into any desired shape. Traditionally, digestive biscuits are round and about 6.35 cm in diameter. Place on greased cookie sheets, prick evenly with a fork, and bake until pale gold, between 15 and 20 minutes.

* For chocolate digestives, melt dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids) in a double boiler or microwave and dip the bottom of the biscuit in the chocolate. Munch away when the chocolate is set...!