chic eats : peggy porschen cakes, london.

{Images taken on my iPhone, edited with VSCO}

Nestled in  the sunniest corner in London lies a cupcake parlour by Peggy Porschen painted in the prettiest hue of pink, where beyond glistening glass cabinets are (quite literally) your sweetest dreams awaiting with tufts of soft champagne buttercream and berries upon airy sponge cake of vanilla chiffon,  choc chip, or red velvet...

Much love, Mandy. xx

Peggy Porschen Parlour

116 Ebury Street
Belgravia
London
SW1W 9QQ
Tel 020 7730 1316

chic eats : the butcher's daughter, NYC.

Inspiring food is difficult to come by. Inspiring raw, organic food is an insurmountable accomplishment. The Butcher's Daughter achieves exactly that - an experience that is delightful to the palate in a milieu that is as light and beautiful as its menu. A juice bar/cafe hybrid in the hip Nolita, it delivers the loveliest cold pressed juice melanges and smoothies (my favourite was 'cacao suave' - a divine concoction of raw cacao, cacao nibs, bananas, and almond milk) as well as dairy-free alternatives to their coffee selection (delicious cashew/almond milk). 

But moreover, it is their menu that stands out with a clear ethos that embraces gloriously fresh produce and salubrious ingredients - I had the quinoa salad and avocado toast, which were not only exquisitely presented but wholly droolworthy. There are few raw foods that induce cravings for me but the food here is so transcendent, so exquisitely executed, that I think about it almost every day now that I am back in the raw food void that is Australia. The crowd that linger here are also hip, but not in a pretentious way, and the place is warm with communal tables and effused light, which makes the experience all the more enticing. 

There is truly no more resplendent way to detox! 

Much love, Mandy. xx

The Butcher's Daughter

19 Kenmare St

NYC 10012

Ph: 212-219-3434

Chic eats : Kitchen by Mike.

{Coconut yoghurt with blueberries and papaya & eggs Benedict }

"At Kitchen by Mike, we're aiming to strip down traditional restaurant dining to find something more honest" is the ethos that this delightful food purveyor lives by. And indeed, from the minute you set foot into its lofty, gorgeously light interiors, you immediately feel welcome by a wholesome sense of comfort and familiarity, almost as if you were in a good friend's (somewhat deliciously contemporary and impeccable) abode. The ambience is rustic yet polished, and whilst the menu isn't particularly generous, the food is delectable and clean and a joy to eat. If I had the privilege of living in Sydney again (yes, it's my birth place!), I would happily spend many languorous afternoons here with a lighthearted paperback. 

 Kitchen by Mike

85 Dunning Avenue

Roseberry 

NSW 

Much love, Mandy. xx

midnight snack : organic caramelised figs.

My snack of choice all throughout the last summer : ripened organic figs from the local farmer's markets drizzled with a liberal coat of agave nectar, caramelised in the oven at 160 degrees Celsius until they gloss into a high sheen. Would equally be as lovely to indulge on cold winter nights, perhaps with an ample pot of warm chocolate fondue in the darkest hue nearby...

Much love, Mandy. xx

{recipe} : summer chocolate mousse.

I woke up this morning to the sudden realisation that summer is quickly dissipating, implicating a finite time limit to my summer-inspired blog posts that have been patiently pending. The bigger implication, however, is that I have been working as a doctor for four grand weeks now and that those tumultuous series of night shifts and erratic work hours feel like a euphoric haze of realised longstanding dreams. I'm not going to deny the fact that I return home utterly exhausted, mentally and physically, but there's a such a glorious satisfaction in knowing you've find your calling because you cannot conceive the possibility of life any other way.

Anyhow, onto more frivolous matters ... this dessert. I think chocolate is perhaps one of the less favourable dessert options during the sweltering summer days as it cloys too easily, and in my case, an inadvertent omission of mint leaves in the white chocolate mousse layer meant that the overall flavours were far too saccharine. The summer berries, however, are not only a lovely seasonal touch to an otherwise basic dessert but are also mandatory for their added acidity. 

In some ways, this dessert is deceptively simple - basically three different permutations of chocolate and cream with the dark chocolate mousse layer, white chocolate mousse layer, and the dark chocolate ganache but you do need time and patience to execute this. I am quite particular about the aesthetic element of the dessert so I was a little disappointed at the lack of congruity between the layers, but this can easily be rectified in the future with the use of a stalwart piping bag. 

I think I would still save chocolate desserts for the chiller months but this is still a worthy idea to keep in your dessert repertoire for laid-back summer soirees! 

Much love, Mandy. xx

{Recipe} : vanilla bean panna cotta with summer berry jelly and lychee granita.

Whilst I love an Australian summer, its heady melange of heat and humidity makes dessert options when entertaining a fairly meticulous task. I have been wanting to make this delightful confection of panna cotta, berry jelly, and lychee granita for quite some time since sampling a similar version at Little Truffle because its flavours are so seasonal and light on the palate. Moreover, I am a highly visual person and I love how its presentation evokes everything I love about summer - vibrant colours, fresh berries, and gorgeously dainty florals!

For the panna cotta, I used David Leibovitz's recipe (the half-and-half version); an absolutely obligatory recipe for any discerning dessert aficionado's repertoire. Once it set, I layered it with berry jelly and then embellished them with a lychee granita I made in advance as well as a pretty scattering of red currants and edible flowers (both of which I acquired at Ferry Rd Market, but should be found in any fine fruit purveyor). The combination of the granita with the creamy tones and gelatinous lucidity of the jelly is the perfect foil to a sweltering summer's day and I'm looking forward to experimenting with even more whimsical versions of this theme (think, coconut milk panna cotta and mango granita!).

Much love, Mandy. xx

The perfect vanilla cupcake.

The perfect vanilla cupcake recipe is elusive in a way that is not entirely incongruous to the search for the perfect white shirt - there are so many out there but finding The One is ironically an utterly exhausting (and seemingly futile) task. But in the same way that a crisp white shirt is an absolute sartorial essential, the plain, understated vanilla cupcake is a staple that must be possessed in one's cupcake repertoire. 

For the longest time, I used this recipe, which was lovely in its ease (if you're short on time, I still recommend this one!) but eventually my fastidious palate longed for a more 'fluffy' version. Cue the beautiful Sweetapolita's Bakery Style Cupcakes. Truly transcendent and wholly life-changing, I haven't come across a more flawless recipe in the arduous five-year search for the ultimate vanilla cupcake recipe. I do, however, use a different buttercream icing - a creature of habit, I have iced hundreds of cupcakes with the recipe below and they have proven deliciously infallible for Magnolia-bakery style frosting or even for piping delicate rosettes. 

Vanilla buttercream icing (adapted from Martha Swift and Lisa Thomas' 'Cupcakes' book)

Makes enough for 15-20 regular cupcakes 

Ingredients

- 110g unsalted butter, at room temperature 

- 60ml full cream milk, at room temperature 

- 1 teaspoon good-quality vanilla extract

- 500g icing sugar, sifted

- Few drops of food colouring (if you have a penchant for pretty things)

Beat the butter, milk, vanilla extract and half of the icing sugar in a large mixing bowl until smooth - this usually takes me about five minutes. Add the remaining icing sugar until the components of the batter are beautifully incorporated. It should be dreamily creamy by the end! 

If you do decide to imbue your buttercream with some gorgeous hues, remember to add the food colouring sparingly - a little (a single drop will generally suffice) tends to go a long way! 

I do hope you are all as enamoured with this recipe as I am! 

Love, Mandy. xx

Melting moments.

There are times when you need a recipe that is not only delightfully delectable but also truly dependable without necessitating the artistic competence of a Michelin star pastry chef. This is one such recipe (find it here). I am remarkably prodigious at being incompetent in the kitchen but I find that even on my weariest days, this recipe never capitulates. 


Melting moments have always been my favourite genre of cookie with its decadently crumbly texture and its smooth, lemony filling - in fact, I love the acidity to the extent that I double the quantity of lemon juice stated in the recipe. Perfect kept in a glass canister for afternoons of tea or coffee, or it makes a lovely gift when wrapped in cellophane and swathes of pretty ribbon! 


...And if you're lucky enough to receive these gorgeous cookies - I promise it will melt in your mouth as much as it melts your heart! 


Love, Mandy. xx

Sunday gluttony.

If you live in the Brisbane area and have a penchant for Vietnamese cuisine, it is absolutely obligatory that you try Que Huong in Darra - the salt and pepper sole and Singapore chilli crab are sublime, but better still, the jackfruit and lychee sorbet frappes are truly heavenly on the palate and are the perfect foil to a sweltering summer day. 

Love, Mandy. xx

Food hedonism.

(Images: hardtoexplain)

I find these images so incredibly invigorating. They instil me with the feeling of wanting to abscond from the city humdrum to a small seaside village with my own little beach shack, running errands barefoot and living the organic life .... 

Hope your weekend is filled with a little hedonism. :) 

Love, Mandy. xx

Little Truffle.

(Dress - goldmine sequin dress at Nasty Gal)

My best friend Jai (though 'sister' is perhaps a more apt description) from high school always spends her birthday with great panache. This year she held her dinner at Little Truffle, which has the most gorgeous array of cuisine with eclectic decor to match - the vanilla bean panna cotta with raspberry and rose jelly and rose granita was the pinnacle; such a delectable means to cleanse the palate at the end of the night. Absolutely must attempt to emulate this dessert soon! 

Hope all your birthday wishes came true, Jai! <3

Love, Mandy. xx

Chocolate & peanut butter mousse cupcakes.

I know my blog has been really heavily fashion-based thus far - I'm just such a pedant when it comes to my own food photography and I want everything to be perfect! For now, I'm willing to concede until I work out how to use a photo editing program (I told you I was an amateur!).

This is a recipe I constantly return to (find it here). The melange of savoury and sweet tones imparts a really addictive morish taste that makes it a ubiquitous palate pleaser.

I only make a few changes:
- I use self-raising flour instead of their plain flour/bicarb combination
- To elevate the decadence of this cupcake, I replace the sour cream with normal heavy whipping cream
- For a smoother frosting that's delightful to pipe, I mix everything together instead of whipping the cream first. However, if you prefer a more mousse-like effect then whipping the cream will achieve this texture. Either way, it is truly delectable!

Enjoy! <3 

Love, Mandy. xx

High tea with Versace.

(Dress - ASOS, bracelet - Chrissy L, YSL-like ring, bag - Peep Toe, watch - Michael Kors, shoes - Wittner)

Aficionados of minimalism would cringe at the decor of the Palazzo Versace hotel but I love the bright interior that borderlines on being outrageously gaudy. So distinctively Versace. 

Just a note on the dress - I absolutely adore scalloped hems and Peter Pan collars and this dress is the perfect amalgam of both! 

Hope you all had a beautiful weekend! 

Love, Mandy. xx