It was a rainy, cold Tuesday afternoon. The autumn season had truly kicked in with a cold snap and people were rushing to find cover under the awnings of shop-fronts in Haymarket. Luckily for some, the promise of melted chocolate and dark mocha chocolate frappuccinos lay a stone’s throw from George St, at Oliver Brown.
As it poured down outside, we enjoyed tasting plates of every possible chocolate creation imaginable. There were hot cinnamon churros, sprinkled with icing sugar and served with the finest Belgium chocolate. Adjacent, towered strawberries, bananas, crepes, waffles and brownies, eagerly awaiting a dip in the velvet smooth chocolate fondue or the white, milk and dark chocolate drops. Moreover we were treated to Oliver Brown’s renowned hand crafted Belgium chocolates, packaged in green brown and gold they appear precious and rare – the kind of delights you imagine would fill Willy Wonka’s most treasured chocolate box.
The night wasn’t all about eating chocolate, it was also about making chocolate … and then eating it. Oliver Brown ambassadors, 2011 MKR winners, Sammy and Bella walked us through one of their very own gourmet easter egg recipes, one that will be on sale at the Oliver Brown store’s over the next couple months.
The deceivingly simple recipe creates an impressive layered egg – using pre-caste egg shells, we knocked off the top and filled the egg with an extra rich chocolate mousse-ganache. As the sugar syrup slowly turned thick and viscous, our candied orange and crystalised almonds started to take their form. We scattered the sugary nuts over the top of the ganache and placed small orange dots at the centre of the egg as the yolk, and voila! We had created a milk chocolate egg filled with spiced dark chocolate mousse, candied almonds and orange. Definitely one to impress.
The Oliver Brown Café Experience is a new level of luxe for chocolate lovers. Priding themselves on the best-sourced raw chocolate from Belgium, their chocolate creations are an object of obsession. Their decadent menu invites all to indulge the senses and treat the taste buds to one of life’s greatest pleasures. Chocolate lovers and sweet tooth’s take note, Oliver Brown is the ultimate dessert destination.
Oliver Brown Belgian Chocolate Cafe
Shop 6, 61 – 79 Quay Street,
Haymarket, 2000
http://www.oliverbrown.com.au/