Smooth Festival of Chocolate, The Rocks

How gorgeous is this view of Sydney on a warm, sunny day? No doubt, the weather was keen to join the festivities a few weekends ago where we celebrated our love of chocolate at the Smooth Festival of Chocolate at The Rocks. Sure it may have melted the chocolate but isn't the messiness what makes this indulgent sweet so damn good? More than 60k attending on its Facebook event with Adriano Zumbo and Anna Polyviou can't go wrong!

In the lead up to the event, I got the chance to sample a variety of sweets that will be available on the day. There was also lots of Tim Tams to devour between myself, the family and my Tim Tam obsessed colleagues. One of the sweets in the pack was the Tim Tam special edition Chocolate Banana flavour that will be available for a limited time only at Coles stores from next month. Minions will be thrilled!

Speaking of Tim Tams, I also got the chance to attend the sneak peek of the Tim Tam Temptation tent before it was open to the masses on Saturday morning. There was even a special appearance by Zumbo the man!

There was also the opportunity to watch your fave dessert chef working their magic in the demonstration kitchen. I only got the chance to check out Anna Polyviou and her superstar team making their infamous "Wag-Anna" - a twist on the classic old school Wagon Wheel.

Caramel Wag-Anna, Berried Wag-Anna, Ferrero-reveal N2 gelato ($20.00)

There was also The Chocolatier's Quarters where you can check out this delicious tree artwork made entirely of chocolate by Josophan's Fine Chocolate as well as a robot made entirely from Tim Tams and the chance to sample some more sweets from various producers.

Again, pictures tells more than words so enjoy drooling at all the chocolate in many shapes and forms! One of the highlights was the Zumbo teams competing with their dessert creation. While the Zumbo "cheeseburger" sold out super fast on both days, personally I think they're all winners.

Zumbo "cheeseburgers"

Zumbo "Kebabs"

Nutella ball cake by Zumbo

Black Star Pastry was also very popular with their dessert offerings including the "angel" and "devil" tacos, the chocolate torte and the famous watermelon cake with added white chocolate.

Cakes and sweet mini-tacos from Black Star Pastry

Making the crepes

Very cute cookies from Cookie Crazy

PACMAN!

Cronuts from Queen's Pastri House

Oregano Scrolls from Scrollies by Oregano

Churros by Dos Churros

Various sweet delicacies from Choco Samta

Selected eclairs from Passion Tree

Tim Tam espresso martini at the VIP area

Because of the ridiculously insane hype of the overstuffed, extreme milkshakes of late, it was no surprise how long the queues were. Plus it was hot so a milkshake would have gone down a treat *cue a certain friend singing Milkshake out loud*. 

Those notorious extreme milkshakes from The Vogue Cafe

Well that's enough drooling for tonight. Even though it was so packed (unsurprisingly), it was still an enjoyable event where we got to see our fave patisseries creating some new desserts that wouldn't be available in store. Looking forward to more sugary action next year!

Disclaimer: The Random Foodie attended Smooth Festival of Chocolate, courtesy of Nova Entertainment. 

Smooth Festival of Chocolate
http://www.smoothfestivalofchocolate.com.au/

Let's Do Desserts aka Sugar Hit 2013: The Gallery Tea Lounge, Sheraton on the Park, Sydney CBD

It's that time of the year when I end up gaining a few extra kilos thanks to Good Food Month Sydney (formerly know as Crave Sydney and also Sydney International Food Festival). There are heaps of events happening around this time including Night Noodle Markets, Hats Off Dinners and Let's Do Lunch. It's a foodie's dream come true! One of the most popular events is Let's Do Desserts (also known as Sugar Hit previously) where restaurants, tea lounges and hotels create their signature dessert for only $20 including a glass of Brown Brothers dessert wine. There is so many to choose from though this time I decided to check out the dessert at the Gallery Tea Lounge located inside Sheraton on the Park. This hotel is also conveniently located across the street from Hype Park where Night Noodle Markets is happening. Perfect!

The setting was quiet, chilled, formal and relaxing compared to many other restaurants in Sydney CBD. The overall service was not as interacive but it was reasonably attentive. The room was almost empty but then I was there randomly at an earlier time at 7:30pm so it will probably get bus after 9pm when most of the Sugar Hit restaurants start serving their desserts.

The Gallery Tea Lounge's dessert offering is the Guanaja 70% Chocolate Millefeuille served with a Hazelnut Praline and Chilled Chocolate Orange Sauce. The dish itself was fairly cluttered to accompany as many elements on the plate as possible. I enjoyed the Millefeuille (reminded me of the biscuit layers of an ice cream sandwich) as well as the pistachio biscotti and the dried chocolate and honeycomb pieces for that added crunch while the smooth chocolate mousse melts in your mouth. The strawberries on the side as well as the hazlenut praline were very handy in to balancing out the overall flavour of the chocolate. Incredibly rich and filling for one person alone. Perfect for those who love their chocolate especially dark chocolate with its intense and bitter flavour. If you can't handle too much chocolate then this is not really the best option. This is coming from someone who really loves dark chocolate.

Guanaja 70% Chocolate Millefeuille served with a Hazelnut Praline and Chilled Chocolate Orange Sauce ($20.00)

All Sugar Hit desserts are accompanied by a matching Brown Brothers dessert wine for no extra cost. Fruity and sweet just like the dessert.

Brown Brothers Orange Muscat and Flora Dessert Wine

Let's Do Dessert is available every night until 31st October. Bookings are recommended. For more info on which venues are offering 'Let's Do Dessert' for Good Food Month: 
http://sydney.goodfoodmonth.com/letsdodessert

The Gallery Tea Lounge
Sheraton on the Park
161 Elizabeth Street, Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9286 6650
When: 5:30pm - 10:30pm (Oct 1st-29th, 31st October 2013)
http://www.sheratonontheparksydney.com/goodfoodmonth