The Lab, Adriano Zumbo - Rozelle

A couple of Saturday's ago Cheesecake Boy, Dumpling Sister and I were off to The Lab where all things Adriano Zumbo were being created.  With my V8 Diesel cake order confirmation in one hand, we all waited patiently in line, adamant to resist other surrounding temptations, but the lure of all things Zumbo was too great as it had been a while since our last Zumbo fix.

Here are some photos of some of the goodies we saw, and the passionfruit tart, almond croissant and of course the macarons that we we walked away with. 

Lemon tart, $6

Pear and almond tart, $6

Decorated fondant bar cake, $29.50

Almond croissant's are a favourite of my mum's, so since it was her special day, we knew we could not walk out of The Lab without one.  It's definitely generous in the slivered almond department.

Almond croissant, $3.50

Cheesecake Boy and are a bit enamoured with Zumbo's passionfruit tart with it's wonderfully tangy and creamy passionfruit curd against the buttery, sweet and crisp pastry.

Passionfruit tart, $6

I actually was going to walk out of The lab without any macarons, but I remembered how fascinated Cupcake Girl is with them as she's inspired to become a pastry chef, so in order to keep the motivation of the dream alive, a box of pretty macarons seem to be the answer.  Flavours of the day were chocolate pop, coffee creme brulee, blackcurrant, fig & burnt honey, lemon and olive oil, butterscotch caramel, mandarin, passionfruit, salted butter popcorn, pear & vanilla and a mystery chocolate coated macaron.

Macarons, $2.30 each

To be honest, I have always liked Zumbo macarons, but have never loved them, but after polishing off some of these macarons, and some of the broken ones that the shop assistant in the shop gave us to munch on, I have definitely changed my tune.  Specials mentions to the delectable lemon & olive oil, gooey butterscotch caramel, divine combination of pear & vanilla, exuberant salted butter popcorn and the mysterious chocolate coated macaron.  It's a mystery because even the shop assistant had no idea what flavour it was, but I liked to be surprised so we got one of those too.

Dumpling Mummy picked up the bubbly looking salted butter popcorn, and it's definitely amusing how a Zumbo macaron can make grown women like my mum all giddy like a school girl again, with that happy glimmer in her eyes after her first bite.

The cherry coloured dust over the chocolate coated macaron was enough to draw me in, but at first bite I was surprised by the incredibly bright red macaron that was hidden underneath all that chocolate coating.  Cheesecake Boy and I slowly devoured the macaron in order to decipher what flavour this mysterious macaron was.  We were positive the filling was coconut, and came to the conclusion that the macaron was a cherry ripe macaron due to the sweet and sour cherry notes that seem to come through.  It was delicious.  Cheesecake Boy and my only regret was that we wished we had bought a few more to save for later.

The mysterious chocolate coated macaron

Inside the chocolate coated macaron

Saving the best for last, the V8 Diesel cake in all of it's chocolaty glory was made up of many distinct layers of flourless chocolate, chocolate crunch, burnt chocolate brulee, chocolate macaron, chocolate jelly, chocolate creamaux and chocolate chantilly.  Now I have had the privilege of eating the original vanilla V8 cake twice, once ordered directly from Adriano Zumbo and the second time Lord High Tea actually baked this marvel and shared it around.  I am usually a vanilla girl, but I actually preferred the V8 Diesel cake hands down.  We had this stored in the fridge the whole time, and the innate silky creaminess of this cake when served cold was reminiscent to a glorious chocolate ice cream cake.  This cake was rich, but light and the chocolate mousse consistency that glided all over your mouth was perfectly complemented by the texture of the ever so subtle crispness of the chocolate crunch.

In case you have ever wondered about the molecular chocolate structure behind the plaque.  The structure is completely hollow and Dumpling Mummy was hoping that each molecule was going to be filled with hazelnut praline, and so did I.  I guess not all birthday wishes always come true.  Special thanks to Sugarpuffi for posting the V8 Diesel cake on her blog at the right time, as I actually forgot its existence, as my fussy siblings only eat chocolate cake.

6" V8 Diesel cake, $51 and message plaque, $5

A bit of Zumbo always makes the day extra special.  Even if it means you have to wait patiently in long queues.   In small doses, I guess, I can make an exception every now and then for some Zumbo magic.

Munching away, Dumpling Girl.


The Lab, Adriano Zumbo
114 Terry Street
Rozelle NSW 2039
Ph: (02) 9810 7318
http://www.adrianozumbo.com