I have always been a bit of a sweet tooth, well no, I've always been a massive sweet tooth. Although my vice has always been things of the chocolatey, dairy or carbohydrate nature. Chocolates, cookies, cakes, cream, ice-cream. Oh yeah. I'm not so much into jellies and snakes and boiled candies.
However, even being the big sweet tooth that I am, Luxbite pushed that love for sweets to the limit when they very kindly asked me to attend a tasting, to preview their new desserts for summer.
Along with myself, Allan and Shellie, the winners of FOODPampering's photography contest and a few of Luxbite's other friends, we all arrived at 3pm, all waiting in eager anticipation at what we were going to be presented with....
We started with a drink that would be an absolute hit for summer. Lemonade with calamansi and sour plum. Yes it sounds a bit like a weird combination, but it was so utterly refreshing and bright. I can't wait for it to be 30 degrees to come and have some of this! Yen was saying she would have liked to add mint to it, and that they may when they actually get around to serving it. Definitely try it guys!
A trip to Luxbite is never complete without macarons. So it only makes sense that our tasting started with them! Along with some old favourites, we were also presented with the 8 brand new flavours, a lot of them with an interesting Asian twist to them.
The inspiration for the macarons came from the colour pencil boxes they grew up with as kids, with all the colours of the rainbow, neatly lined up from the yellows, reds, greens, all the way to black! The macaron cabinet is looking stunning.
The new 8 flavours are: bamboo and oolong tea, cafe latte (to replace mocha), green tea and pistachio, pandan, Ribena lemonade, peach and apricot cocktail (their first macaron with alcohol actually in it, stay away kiddies!), sour strawberry and banana. They have also updated their peanut butter and jelly macaron and their passionfruit macaron.
Let me tell you, I was absolutely loving some of the new stuff. They always approach their macaron flavours in such a playful and unique way, I remember coming in one time and Bernard giving me a macaron that was supposed to be 'cola' flavoured, with poprocks in it!
The bamboo and oolong tea macaron sounds like the oddest combination, and may not be as pretty a colour since it was grey, but it was probably my favourite. There was a bitterness to it that you get, similar to chinese tea, in the aftertaste and almost had a savoury touch to it as it wasn't as sweet as the other macarons.
Pandan, was a very true pandan flavour, very fragrant with a nice bit of coconut, but a touch sweet. I brought one home to mum and she would have it with a very black tea....or to stay in the Malaysian theme, kopi O?
I also am smitten with the banana flavour, it's got a nice fruity sweetness to it, rather than being sweet from sugar and has a very strong and true banana flavour to it. Which is a nice luxury while bananas are so expensive at the moment...
We were then presented with a plethora of summery tarts, brightening the room again with their cheery colour and fresh presentation.
On one plate we had the lemon meringue tart and the fresh mango, passionfruit tart, with a creme patisser base with a bit of baby coriander adorning it.
On another plate we had the gorgeous raspberry tart and blueberry tart.
All the tarts absolutely exuded summer. They were so light and refreshing, with that touch for fruitiness or tanginess that makes you think of gatherings with friends in the backyard and the barbeque, or lounging around by the beach or swimming pool....
The blueberry and raspberry tart were both so light and lovely, the blueberries in particular were juicy and totally scrumptious. The raspberries still have a little way to go until they're in season (provided the rest of the year goes well for them weather-wise) but hopefully we have more to look forward to!
I love how the lemon meringue tart, has a soft, lightly toasted meringue on the top instead, where I was expecting something firmer. It was a very nice surprise, and whilst I think the lemon could have been a little more tart, it was a pleasant combination, texture and flavour-wise.
Oh and who can forget the mango tart. A little messy to eat, but so refreshing.
We were also treated to their well known 'Supersized Love' which I seriously recommend sharing between two. This is possibly one of their richest chocolate desserts, which I have managed to somehow finish on my own before....and is fashioned after the classic 'golden ball', the Ferrero Rocher.
Hello trifle! Trifle is not something I usually eat, but as I've been more exposed to it, I do definitely enjoy it more and more every time I go out. And I always love how it looks. Those layers, that cream, that colour!
The trifle's have a bit of a nostalgia factor to them for Bernard and Yenn, as one of their first Christmas's in Australia, they made a trifle for their friends and it was a hit, years and years before they started Luxbite.
Their two flavours were 'Tri-flova' and 'Christmas trifle', the 'Tri-flova' with meringue, macadamia nuts, passionfruit, mango and baby coriander. My favourite of the two, as the flavours were so light and fruity, but the addition of the macadamia nuts really rounded off the flavour palette and added a nice earthiness to it. Which seems strange for a dessert, but it really works.
The Christmas trifle had rose panacotta, raspberry, lychee jelly, white chocolate and marscapone. The lychee jelly was particularly nice in this trifle! But I personally found the flavours of the 'Tri-flova' more refreshing.
Nope we're still not done...
The famous ET, except Christmas themed, with cherry mixed into the chocolate. Always a winner. That popcorn gets me everytime. If Luxbite sold it in bags, I would buy it. All the time. (Idea guys? :D)
These little snowmen absolutely stole the show. Aren't they the cutest things? Although this time they were with coconut and calamansi, Luxbite are planning on changing up the flavours a bit...which means we need to come back and try it again. I can absolutely see the kiddies loving this one though!
Bernard and Yen are very fond of watermelon, having done a watermelon and yoghurt macaron before, but this time they upped the ante with a watermelon mousse instead. It's so unusual having watermelon in this manner, but they made it work. I also love the explosion of pink once you break open the mousse...which you will see a bit later...
They gave us the halloween Meringue Monster to sample, although there will be a summery christmas version out soon with flavours of apricot, yoghurt and raspberry instead. Mmmm! Looking forward to that, again, more soft meringue which I'm just going to have to keep coming back for...
Attempting to share desserts is a messy business...
Beheaded snowmen!!
And an explosion of pink.
2 hours of sweets later and I was quite happy to walk out the door and find some meat. It was an absolutely lovely afternoon though, with the cameras busy at work everytime a new dish came out and the collection is really looking and tasting fabulous. It's fresh, fruity (lots of citrus and tart flavours!) and everything you need in a summer dessert. I'm looking forward to seeing the last additional touches to the desserts we tried, and of course a few desserts that they weren't able to prepare for us that day.
Thanks again for treating us Luxbite!
Luxbite
38 Toorak Road
South Yarra, VIC 3141
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