I don’t have a really sweet tooth, often preferring cheese or another savoury course. So a dessert has to be very special for me to find it memorable.
All too often I find ‘pudding’ to be the disappointment in an otherwise delicious meal. This year however I came across some outstanding treats, well worth their calorie count, that have taken excellent meals all the way to delightfully sweet conclusions. Here’s the best desserts in Sydney I found in 2017.
Bombe Alaska Firedoor
I love a little theatre with my food. And chef Lennox Hastie loves a little flame, even with dessert – from rum baba (pictured top) to bombe Alaska. I’m mesmerised watching the Italian meringue coating on his smoked white chocolate, pecan and blood orange bombe being flamed with house-made orange liqueur right before my eyes at the kitchen counter.
Lemon & Passionfruit Tart Saint Peter
What Josh Niland doesn’t know about seafood may not be worth knowing. The same could be said for the pastry skills of his wife and busines partner, Julie Niland, if this delicate just-set lemon tart topped with tangy passionfruit is anything to go by. It echoes Josh’s light, fresh, perfectly balanced savoury menu.
Churros with Salted Caramel Kepos Street Kitchen
So simple – so irresistible! Crisp, deep-fried dough, fluffy and piping-hot inside, dusted with cinnamon sugar, wrapped in plain brown paper with a generous blob of salty, bitter-sweet caramel alongside for balance. A perfect ending to Michael Rantissi’s delicious Middle Eastern fare.
Coconut Turnover Momofuku Seiobo (CLOSED)
The bar menu at Momofuku warns that this dessert takes 20 minutes – what they don’t tell you is that it’s huge and best shared. Warm from the oven, flaky, soft, sweet and rich with grated coconut, topped with a thick finger-licking layer of cream cheese frosting. So good it made my list of Sydney’s best dishes for 2017 too.
Peanut Butter & Jelly Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich One Penny Red (CLOSED)
A slab of peanut butter ice cream, sandwiched between strawberry-jam-smeared shortbread cookies and rolled in salted almond praline. This was the highlight of a delicious meal at this great venue in Summer Hill’s old post office building (which closed at the end of 2023). Check out Alessandro Pavoni’s sweet treats at its next incarnation Postino Osteria.
Published 16 Sep 2017
