Black Star Pastry, Newtown

Strawberry and Watermelon Cake and Death of the Ninja.

Contrary to popular belief, Adriano Zumbo is not the only pâtissier in town. Personally, I also admire the talented Y aka lemonpi who is featured in this month's Gourmet Traveller Magazine (see no 7) and whose beautiful creations I could only hope to try someday. Go have a read. She is mentioned at no 7. And as part of my quest to eat my body weight in desserts over the weekend (there must be a profound reason why it's 4-day long), I have developed a newfound appreciation for Christopher Thé - former pastry chef of three-hat restaurant Claude’s.

Joining me in embracing my shameless gluttony are The Engineer and friend of 13 years Miss Flower. We decide to start off with something savoury and work our way through to their limited but enticing range of desserts. I really like The Engineer's choice of Lamb Shank and Red Wine Pie. Good flavours, lots of juicy lamb shank meat and affordable at $7.50 each. And yes, we swap dishes like all elderly couples do. My Leek and Goat Cheese Tart ($5) is pretty good too - wish there was more leek but the pastry is perfectly flaky. Miss Flower also enjoys her Mushroom Pie. Unlike The Engineer, she has the choice of not letting me try it.



This brings me to the real star at Black Star Pastry - Strawberry and Watermelon Cake ($6). The interplay between the slightly crunchy watermelon slices and the creamy dacquoise works wonderfully. The strawberries and blueberry provide the acidic contrast, and the pistachio nuts contributing to the textural contrast. As for the dried flowers, they make the cake pretty.

Other choices are well received too. The pyramid-shaped Lemon Meringue ($6) has a refreshing twist in the form of encassed Basil Jelly. Unlike my companions, I quite enjoy the Pear and Quince cake ($4) with half a dried fig and pistachio nuts. Again, dried flowers make the cake pretty. The Engineer and I also share a croissant and Miss Flower takes a cinnamon roll home. The only letdown is the Rose and Lilac Macaroon (sic) which is an interesting concept but way too sweet for our liking ($3.50).



We then decide to celebrate such an enjoyable meal by killing a gingerbread ninja. They come in two varieties - naked (no choc coating) and dressed. We choose the latter because we are not quite ready to commit horrible crime against a naked one (yet). The ninja is cute to look at - for about two seconds - before The Engineer performs the execution with Swiss precision.

BLACK STAR PASTRY
277 Australia Street,
Newtown 2045
02 9557 8656