Chouquette, New Farm October 21, 2009

A row of lime and fuchsia seats outside Chouquette

Raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with string, these were some of Maria’s favourite things from the sound of Music. Maria also liked cream coloured ponies and crisp apple strudels.

I think she had the right idea about some things, especially the copper kettles, the brown paper packages and the apple strudels. Vanilla Townies with tan coloured saddles, the smell of new shoes in their thick cardboard boxes, Japanese wrapping paper, fresh coffee in the morning, a delicious brunch with perfectly poached eggs…the list goes on.

One of my favourite things (funnily involving food) is a good morning or afternoon tea. I must admit that any meals of the day are my favourite things…but I think it’s much harder to find a good morning or afternoon tea than any other meal times of the day.

A peak into their kitchen

I had one of the best afternoon tea experiences recently when I went to Chouquette in New Farm. It was a Friday afternoon, so the bakery/café wasn’t especially busy (as I heard it can get on Saturdays). Next to the actual bakery, there’s a commercial kitchen you can see through, the café is small, with one wall lined with wicker baskets of freshly baked breads and croissants and a pastry case full of delectable delights. Small tables line the other wall, there were also a row of brightly coloured lime and fuchsia seats outside facing the street.

Gorgeous fresh baked breads

Delectable delights in the pastry case

YT and I went in and we were greeted in French, there were a few people enjoying their pastries and teas and a lone lady who looks like she visited Chouquette every afternoon. We spent a bit of time perusing their pastry case as there was a lot of choice. I was a bit disappointed that their Mille Feuille had sold out as YT had been raving about it for days. After much um and aahing and a recommendation from them, I went with the four layered gateaux ($6.30), a petit four choux pastry with praline cream ($2.90) and a green tea ($3.50) and YT got a chocolate mousse gateaux ($6.30), a petit four citrus tart and an Apple Isle.

Clockwise from left: Green tea, Chocolate gateaux, citrus tart

YT’s chocolate mousse gateaux had a coffee flavoured centre, smooth and rich, with just the right amount of sweetness and bitterness to balance each other out. The macarons that came with it were light, chewy and absolutely delicious. Her citrus tarts were smooth but maybe a bit too eggy for me.

Four layered chocolate gateaux

My four layer chocolate gateaux were delicious, rich, tasting strongly of hazelnuts and the last layer were light and crispy – sort of had the texture of Hershey’s 5th Avenues without the heavy sweetness and peanuts. It was definitely my favourite out of all the pastries we bought. My choux pastry was light, creamy and I probably should’ve eaten it before I tucked into my rich tasting gateaux. Before I left, I also bought a paper cone of the store’s namesake, 5 chouquettes for $1.50, these were light and only slightly sweet and also an apple and prune Danish for $5.70.

I will definitely be going back so that I can try the myriad of other pastries they have on offer, and I leave you with more pictures to drool over.

Rosey Cheeks

Their Petit fours, second from left is my choux with praline cream

More pastries in the pastry case