South Yarra Sweet Treats

South Yarra is becoming a bit of a foodie destination, especially for gourmet sweet treats.  Today Belinda and I headed down there to check out two of the top places in the area.  We started our afternoon dessert fest at LuxBite on Toorak Road and decided to have the Tea Set for 2 sampler which included 2 finger sandwiches, 2 desserts, 4 macarons and 2 beverages for $48.  For our desserts we went with the green tea cheesecake and meringue monster cake, and chose the green tea pistachio, salted caramel, bamboo oolong tea and heilala vanilla creme brûlé macarons.  Each little bite was delicious and the flavors were light, especially the cakes.  Of the macarons, the bamboo oolong tea was my favorite- the combination of tea and chocolate works really well.

After a bit of a walk we ended up at our next destination, Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio on Chapel Street.  They have a mix of prepackaged treats, cakes and other desserts on offer at the studio.  There were some very cute chocolate animals on display, including a Mr Potato Head one.  We ended up buying 3 little treats to share: a chocolate, pear, hazelnut, and caramel cake, a chocolate hazelnut and salted caramel tart, and a pineapple, mango, and chocolate cake.  Of the three the tart was my favorite.  I also got a couple items to take home with me: the explosive raspberry wheel and the popcorn and honeycomb rubble.  All in all it was a very sugar filled afternoon and I look forward to heading back to South Yarra soon, especially once Adriano Zumbo opens his first Melbourne patisserie in August.