Convent Bakery - Abbotsford

Convent Bakery - Abbotsford
Abbotsford Convent 1 Saint Heliers St, Abbotsford

Baked Good: Tart Linzer
Should you stay, or should you go?: Follow the light and go.

1. Presentation - 3
2. First bite - 2
3 Texture - 3
4. Flavour - 3
5. How'd it make me feel after - 2
(1 - Not so much. 5 - This is fricking awesome)

I love a good bit of history and I love a good bakery. So when the both can be combined, we are winning. There's a bakery back home in Western Australia with a similar story. Age old ovens with a roaring fire kept going by Monks making some of the most wonderful bread, in particular fruit loaf. The only down side is it takes two hours to get there from Perth.

However sitting in the heart of Melbourne is the Abbotsford Convent surrounded by the Collingwood Children’s Farm and Yarra Bend Park and the Convent's 11 buildings full of art, education and culture. You can grab a wonderfully cheap meal, treat yourself to something sweet from the bakery while you wonder the gardens then end your day with a pint. All this and more tucked away in one historical and peaceful place.

Step inside the bakery and you will see a display case of sandwiches and savoury tarts, hot pies, pasties and sausage rolls and the best part is the cakes, pastries and tarts. The sound of the coffee machine buzzing away to the side and if you look back you'll see the ovens built in 1901 still chugging away. The room itself still holds its beauty with the high wooden ceilings and some nic nac's along the wall. You could almost think you were in another time and place.

This visit I enjoyed the Tart Linzer which as it turns out has a history dating to an Austrian Abbey from 1653. To put that in perspective Australia wasn't even founded until 1901 (the same year the ovens at Abbotsford Convent were made). FoodReference.com noted the original recipe to be "rich buttery dough accentuated by almonds, lemon zest, and cinnamon, filled with black currant preserves and topped with a lattice crust". Now it is more commonly known to have a raspberry filling and and you'll most likely find it in a cookie form. The cookie was mass produced and eventually made its way to America in the 1850s.

The tart has a lovely cookie type of base that wasn't too crumbly that it didn't hold its shape, but strong enough to keep it together as you shovel it into your mouth. The raspberry filling was sweet and rich but it wasn't overloaded, so the balance of sweet to pastry was perfect. The pastry latticed across the top has a cinnamon and lemon taste and maybe there was a hint of ginger in there as well which threw it off every so slightly. Topped with a sprinkle of almond shavings and some icing sugar for good measure. A tad dry, but with the jam it kind of works, mind you not enough to try it again any time soon.

Overall the adventure to Abbotsford and the Convent was a fun day. Lots to see and do and eat and drink. It was amazing to see the bakery still up and running after all this time. The bakery had so much to pick from you wont struggle for choice. The meat pies were walking out the door, so if you don't want something sweet a good old pie is worth a shot.

3 out of 5.

Mister Nice Guys Bake Shop - Ascot Vale

Mister Nice Guys Bake Shop
151 Union Road, Ascot Vale

Baked Good: Cinnamon Bun
Should you stay or should you go?: You should have already been there!


1. Presentation - 3
2. First bite - 4
3 Texture - 4
4. Flavour - 4
5. How'd it make me feel after - 4
(1 - Not so much. 5 - This is fricking awesome)


The cinnamon bun may just be that, a cinnamon bun. But in this case it was a whole lotta memories as well. The taste, smell and full belly afterwards was a memory of a time I went to America and my Mum and I devoured a Cinnobun.

Cinnobun is one of those chains across America you'd find at a mall or airport. They have coffee and milkshakes and of course cinnamon buns. Mum and I maybe overindulged a few times on our travels that warm sweet creamy icing pastry.

And i guess that's what food should be. An indulgence not only in the food, but the memories and feelings it brings with it. And in this case, warm fuzzy family feels is exactly what I ate into.

Mister Nice Guys Bakehouse is possibly the coolest cafe I've been into in a long time. And it's got the rep' to go with it. When ever I mention to friends where I went they got excited just to talk about it.

First up it's this cool rocker style diner that has things in it you'd probably find at your Nan's house. From the old school fridges to the tins for your flour, sugar and tea. This place blends that rocker diner feel with your local coffee and cake shop.

Outside you'll find a couple of chairs and tables to watch the world go by. Inside you'll find a couple more spots to park up for an overindulge.

The counter is glass so you can see all the happy goodies sitting inside. The coffee machine in the corner working away making some delicious caffine to compliment your pastry. Or their milkshakes sounded and looked pretty darn tasty if that's more your style.

**edit** In addition to being awesome not only visually but for the tasty treats as well, they are: 100% egg-free, dairy-free, lactose-free, cochineal & gelatine-free. And their website also says they have a large selection that's: certified Kosher, with soy-free, gluten-free, wheat-free, corn-free, Fructose free & low gi options.

I chose the cinnamon bun with a long black coffee.

The history of the Cinnamon Roll website is loaded with custom and history. The Swedish were the ones to put bread, cinnamon and sugar together on October 4th now known as National Cinnamon Bun Day. The bun has had its fair share of names over time: Sticky bun or sticky roll. The Swedish call it "kanelbulle".

The bun itself was lightly crispy in the outside and soft and moist on the inside. The moistness was a combination of runny sweet cinnamon and tasty icing both swirling around to the outside of the bun which has a thin and sweet but not overpowering icing.

Overall the visit to the bakery was perfect. It was a chilled out happy cafe that was super welcoming to everyone. The cinnamon bun was delicious and worked perfectly in harmony with the cinnamon sugar ratio. This bakery will for sure be on my list to revisit.

4 out of 5.

Chez Dré - South Melbourne

Chez Dré Patisserie and Boulangerie
Rear of 285-287 Coventry Street, South Melbourne.

Baked Good: Apple and Cinnamon cake.
Should You Stay Or Should You Go?: Absolutely Go

You know you are in safe hands when the music being played is Alt-J just soft enough to hear it but loud enough to cover up the awkward silences from all the different crowds enjoying the cafe.

Chez Dré is one of those cafe's that caters for everyone. There were ladies out having coffee catching up on all the gossip of the week from their community groups. Students with their laptops open studying for their exams. Couples and friends enjoying some food a good ol' catch up. Tables of gents having a business meeting, one with a terrible come forward. But Chez Dré doesn't hold that against him. This is a place where everyone comes and can find a perfect atmosphere to get what they want done.

The cafe is hard to find. It's hidden behind another desert cafe down the cobble stoned road. But behind the converted old brick warehouse walls the doors opens to a warm cafe much bigger than the outside would have you think.

The kitchen takes up the most part of the cafe, but it's an open kitchen giving you a great view of the mastery that goes on to bring you scrumptious treats. There are plenty of options for food as well as the baked goods. A large selection of breads you can buy as well as the tasty cakes and pastries.

I was warmly welcomed to the cafe and directed what my options were as I walked past the baked goods display case. I found a seat at the back overlooking everything and had my order taken by a super friendly team member. She almost preempted my thoughts while I was ordering and made it a really enjoyable transaction.

I chose to have an apple and cinnamon cake with a long black coffee.

A little dutch cook book, Een notabel boecxken van cokeryen, was found to have a recipe for the humble apple pie dating back to the middle ages somewhere around 1514, usually with cinnamon. It can only be imagined it evolved into a cake not long after.

The apple cake was presented with care and pride. A swirling strip of caramel icing gliding along the top with tiny apply triangles poking out. The surface of the cake was a lovely crumbly almost biscuit topping. And as you bite in there was a crunch.

The crunch took me by surprise then made me think it was exactly like biting into an apple. A small detail, not just anyone would think of.

The cake was a soft, not dry but not too moist either. And the taste of apple and cinnamon was spot on, not overpowering the overall taste. The icing was a perfect addition to the cake, but not like most cakes the icing wasn't too sweet to take away from the tastiness of the rest of the cake.

Overall the visit was perfect. The warm atmosphere and the welcoming team. And the food, well only this quality can come from someone, Pastry Chef Andrea Reiss, whom truly understands what it is a cake's purpose is. And that purpose is to make me happy.