Cafe Adventures; Foxtrot Parlour

I absolutely adore brunch. Call me a ‘white girl’ as much as you like but there are few things that are better than enjoying a delicious stack of pancakes or poached egg on bruschetta toast with a coffee after an hour of Pilates or yoga in a cute little café. 

So there was obviously no other way to celebrate my 17^th Birthday then visiting Foxtrot Parlour in Ponsonby, which I have heard people rave about on various Auckland food blogs. Happy to say that all the stories were true, it was a great little spot, with a large pay parking right beside it and large seating space. 

The large industrial styled building that is shared with Ceres organic supermarket is a perfect mix of quirky and cute with miss-matched cutlery, car number plates for table numbers and a group of happy and helpful staff and waiters.

Since it was a special occasion I indulged in peanut pancakes with Kapiti Vanilla ice-cream, peanut butter cream and candy floss with a Vanilla thick shake, and I was glad that I did. I wasn't expecting to be so full after just one pancake but I could barely manage the last delicious bite of buttery nutty pancake!

A green smoothie, berry herbal tea with a date scone was much enjoyed by my mother, while my sister opted for a mushroom, tomato and rocket salad on toast.

The food was amazing and no complaints although it was quite expensive to dine there so maybe a better place to enjoy their delicious looking cabinet selections and a coffee next time.

Easter Chocolate Cake

I love holidays. Christmas, Easter, Anzac day, Thanksgiving, St Patrick’s Day, although unfortunately New Zealand isn’t exactly big on holiday events like they are in the USA. Regardless of that I will take any opportunity to bake, so this Easter I was excited to have the chance to use my much loved chocolate cake and frosting recipe that is so ridiculously simple and delicious I always wonder why I don’t make it every week! But like these holiday events, it’s the rarity that makes it even more special.

I have made cupcakes with this recipe before, but today I used loaf tins which I find easier for serving cakes so the cooking time was slightly different.

Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

         3 cups self-raising flour

         2 cups sugar

         1½ tsp vanilla extract

         ¾ cup cocoa powder

         2 tsp baking soda, sifted

         200g butter, softened

         1 cup milk or unsweetened yoghurt (buttermilk also works)

         3 large eggs

         1 cup boiling hot coffee (personally I'm not a huge fan of coffee but I can never taste it, and it really adds a richness to the flavor of the chocolate) 

Heat oven to 160°C. Grease the sides and line the base of a 30cm round cake tin or 2 x 20cm loaf cake tins with baking paper.

Place all ingredients in a bowl or food processor and mix or blitz until the ingredients are combined and the butter is fully incorporated. Pour mixture into prepared tin or tins and smooth top. Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin. If not using at once, the cake will keep for about a week in a sealed container in the fridge.

Note: When piping rosettes you will need about double the mixture as it takes up a lot of frosting. I promptly ran out ½ through my second cake and since I was 11.30pm at night I was not in any state to whip up some more so I covered it delicious chunks of mars bars, picnics and Cadbury milk chocolate.

This frosting recipe from Iambaker is fantastic, check it out here 

Cafe Exploring; RAD

So after a lengthy two matches of tennis, which were successfully won under the Auckland sun you can imagine my heartbreak when I realized my planned brunch spot “Belmont Coffee House” was closed! After a quick brainstorm we settled on exploring the beautiful RAD cafe, the newest addition to Mt Eden's dining scene.

Unfortunately being 11.30am on a Sunday the place was packed (which is always a good sign) and majority of seating was inside so we had to wait around 10 minutes for a table. Its smaller size makes it quite a lively little café, which is fine if you don’t mind talking over a little chatter.

Cheeky coffee cup!

The décor is quite clean and fresh with the café having a geometric graphic design style in the coloured tiles and restaurant business card.

The food was delicious and I had the free-range bacon and eggs Benedict on freshly baked sourdough bread with an amazing avocado, pesto and feta paste alongside a chicken sausage. The portion was great and the eggs were perfectly cooked and the pesto was surprisingly nice with them.

Their “Our sh*t is actually bananas” smoothie with almond milk was very cute arriving in a clear mason jar and the coffee was also great quality.

Mike had the omelet with mushrooms, sourdough loaf and feta curd while  Barb opted for a healthy oat slice from the cabinet with raisins and poppy seed which was fresh and tasty.

Overall a really lovely spot with great food although it is quite cosy so probably nicer on a week-morning or quite early as at peak time its very full. The café was well staffed and service was quick and with a big smile, well worth another visit slightly earlier in the morning.