Strawberry and Cream Mille Crepe Cake

I can't really say that I like sugary desserts and snacks which is why I really like mille crepe cake because it is a mix of savoury-sweet crepes, cream and fresh fruits. I made about 15 crepes and layered it with whipped cream and thinly cut strawberries this time but I also like mango in my mille crepe cake when it is in season. 

Mille crepe cakes require much patience to make and assemble. This cake took me about an hour to make and assemble which gave me a lot of time to think about other things. Like the Australian sugar industry. Did you know that sugar is Australia's second largest export after wheat? The sugar industry was deregulated in 2006 and since then out of the 24 sugar mills in Australia, only one remains Australian owned. In Australia, the biggest players in sugar processing are Wilmar Sugar (Singaporean owned) and MSF (Thai owned). More than 80% of sugar is exported overseas which makes Australia the second largest sugar exporter after Brazil. Sugar cane thrives in hot and humid environment which is why Queensland is the the sugar cane growing state. 

The average Australian consumes about 105 grams of sugar per day of which 60% are free sugars (not found in naturally occurring foods). This is compared to the recommended sugar intake of 36 grams per day. I think that many people are genuinely health conscious these days but inadvertently eat more sugar than the recommended intake because it is hidden in many everyday foods such as breakfast cereal, flavoured yoghurt, chocolate milk and food sauces. 

So if you wish to indulge in a dessert but don't like too much sugar, then the mille crepe cake is perfect for you!

Post Covid19 Dining Out

When the restaurants open again, would you dine out? That is the million dollar question. 

From my limited experience of dining out post Covid19, restaurant operators need to understand that the whole operating environment has changed. The new normal is no longer just about putting a bottle of hand sanitiser at the door, it is so much more than that. 

Restaurants should no longer be putting out shared condiments, utensils and cutleries on the table for everyone to help themselves. The virus can live on plastic for 7 hours, during which multiple customers would have helped themselves to a dose of the virus too. 

Many restaurants are still charging a surcharge for card payments. By all means provide the option of payment by cash or card, but removing the surcharge on card payments would be helpful. Do restaurant workers really want to be handling cash right now? And do the customers want them to handle food or dishes after handling cash?

Maybe it's time for restaurants to have disposable paper menus or menus on the wall to avoid multiple people touching those plastic encased menus and leaving their DNA on them.

Collecting customers' details does not mean passing a book and pen that have been handled by numerous people for customers to write their details down. To be honest, I don't really want to be touching anything that has passed through the hands of so many people before me. 

To ensure social distancing and meeting maximum customer numbers in the dining area, seating should be removed or if not removed, blocked off so that customers cannot demand to sit in a particular spot in close proximity to diners on the next table. 

Perhaps the more established restaurants have already implemented these changes, but there are still a number that have not, particularly the suburban restaurants. I would not be surprised to see restaurant reviews cover Covid19 safe practices besides the quality of service and food. 

So, back to the million dollar question. I think I will dine out at restaurants less often and preferably in large, airy venues with good hygiene practices. Until then, more home cooked food for me. 

BlackBall, Bourke St

We visited BlackBall desserts to satisfy our hankering for something cold one day and ordered the Mango Qffles and Chocolate Banana Qffles. 

The waffles were spongy and bland, and the ice cream tasted below average. Perhaps for $9 each we should not expect too much. Maybe the other Chinese style desserts would taste better but we would not be going back to try them out.