Las Paletas (that’s Colombian for kick-ass, artisan ice lollies folks)

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Karisa

Diana Chavarro is a passionate Colombian who’s been living here in South Africa for about 3 1/2 years now.

She’s a designer by trade, but has always had a great love for food… A few months back she decided she’d indulge her foodie side a little by making some creative ice lollies. She chose ice lollies specifically because back in South America they’re a traditional, “humble” dessert as she calls them and something she really used to enjoy. She served up her lollies at a braai with friends one day and they were such a huge hit, they all encouraged her to make this a full time thing. And this is how Las Paletas, which is the Spanish term for ice lollies, was born.

She started out with small amounts in a cooler box, using moulds she had sourced from the US. Today, only 3 months later, she has a small factory in Montague Gardens and the folks at Food Lover’s Market want Diana to make lollies to be sold in their stores. How incredible is that?

Diana invited me to come sample her lollies at her Saturday home base at the City Bowl Market in Hope St. It’s still one of my favourite markets and it was buzzing with people on the day…

Diana with hubby, Jason, who she met over here in SA.

Diana changes her flavours all the time depending on what ingredients are fresh & seasonal (she uses only real fruit, not pulp or anything like that). She’s also inspired by desserts she used to enjoy when she was little and she likes to be adventurous. Therefore you can expect some weird & wonderful ones to pop up every now and again.

She told me how she once decided to make her own peanut butter from scratch and then made peanut butter & jam lollies. Doesn’t that sound just too good? I was totally sold on the concept & ready to dig in for sure…

On the day she had the following flavours:

Top left: Guava cheesecake (which is her signature flavour) and Avo & lemon; Top right: Gooseberry cheesecake and Mango Lassi; Bottom left: Cheesecake brownie and Strawberry; Bottom right: Strawberries & cream and Papaya

I’m still working my way through all of them (Diana & Jason gifted me one of each – thanks again guys!), but I can tell you, I have never tasted ice lollies as creamy and fruity as these. Even the avo & lemon one which to me sounded a bit blegh, is really quite tasty. It’s a sweet treat that doesn’t leave you feeling guilty because it’s so fresh & light and therefore you’ll find yourself reaching for one more… and one more… and…

Diana sells them for R20 each. But if you want to a bulk order for a party or event, she’ll work out a better price. (you can contact her on 082 269 1153 / diana@laspaletas.co.za)

Wanna try them out for yourselves? Then hop on over to Hope St OR you’ll also find them at the Galileo Open Air Cinema every week. Then they’ll be at Taste of Cape Town in April, the Good Food & Wine Show in May and the SA Wedding Expo in June. Oh and then of course, as I mentioned above, at Food Lover’s Market hopefully soon, but they’ll be packaged under their name.

Also when you do, be sure to take a piccie and then hop on over to their Facebook page - you can stand the chance of winning a 3 month supply of absolutely irrisistable Las Paletas for yourself! See details below:

That’s a pretty great prize…

Thanks again to Diana & Jason for taking the time to tell me about these amazing lollies. I really love them and I’m sure you guys will love them too…

xxx

Hello cupcake… get into my belly…

Posted on February 23, 2013 by Karisa

I talk to cupcakes. Yup, I know, I’m weird. A usual conversation would go down like this:

Hello cupcake… lookin’ sooo pretty, almost you pretty to eat… well I said “almost”, mwhuahahahaha…

This exact conversation in fact went down just last Sat at a friend’s birthday lunch. You see that’s cause she got each guest one of these babies as a little gift:

How pretty is that damn cupcake?

They were beautifully packaged in little cupcake boxes, so I’m assuming Carmen intended that we actually take them home with us. But my cupcake didn’t even make it through lunch. In fact, I ate mine before we even ordered. Ha!

Then at the end of the party, one of the other girls left their cupcake behind (this would never ever happen to me). Carmen then lovingly suggested that I take it home for the boyfriend cause she knows he has a major sweet tooth. I was like ah sweet man, cool, I’ll do that. But come now, that cupcake never made it home… (we’ll just keep this little secret between us OK? )

Anyways, long story short, these cupcakes were amazing, so I immediately asked Carmen for the contact details of the lady behind them so I could add her to my speed dial…

Marisa from Cupcakes By Fairies was the lady behind these heavenly cake babies and when I looked through the photos on the Cupcakes By Fairies Facebook Page I was even more impressed. This woman is super talented. She does anything from wedding cakes to cake pops and everything’s like a work of art. Let me show you what I mean:

Crazy good right? She can also print edible pictures for you and she offers 3 flavours: vanilla, chocolate & red velvet (I freakin’ love red velvet). Also from chatting to Carmen about how much she paid for her cupcakes, Marisa’s pricing is really good, especially for what you’re getting.

So ja, if you’re looking a one-of-a-kind cake or cupcake, do give Marisa a shout on 072 527 8898 or email her at cupcakesbyfairies@gmail.com.

xxx

Tempting treats at Ma Mére Maison

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Karisa

Olive oil and roasted almond nougat, honey & vanilla bean mashmallows coated in roasted coconut, soft white chocolate and stem ginger fudge…

These are only some of the amazing things you will be able to sink your teeth into at French style confectioner, Ma Mére Maison. Hidden away in the Salt Circle Arcade in Salt River, to me it seemed like this just has to be of Cape Town’s best kept secrets.

Their home borders Woodstock and is not too far away from the Old Biscuit Mill. Salt Circle Arcade is on the opposite side of the road and very close to the big traffic circle that takes you into Salt river. If you enter from Albert Rd, you pass through a little alleyway of shops, then a courtyard and into the next building’s foyer which is filled with a pretty fountain, some greenery & some water features.

Then look to your left and you’ve arrived:

I was already very very excited at this point…

Ma Mére Maison in French mean’s “my mother’s kitchen” and you certainly feel that welcoming, cosy feel of a family kitchen as you step into their workshop.

Owner, Lexi Bechet & partner, Di Spicer, are both passionate about crafting beautiful handmade treats and Lexi spends a lot of time in that kitchen coming up with wonderful new creations.

Heaven… I’m in heaven… (good luck with getting that song outta your heads now)

I got so sample some of their hottest sellers. First up their Parisian macarons:

How beautiful is that selection? And I can tell you, they taste equally good. And at only R6 per macaron if you buy a box of six (even less if you buy large quantities), it’s an absolute steal. These totally matched up to my favourite babies from Cassis, and that’s never happened before…

Next was their signature salted macadamia nut brittle:

Brittle. Is. So. Addictive.

And their salted macadamia nut, sea salt & honey nougat:

Mmmmm… love at first bite…

That whole salty & sweet thing has become huge hasn’t it? And for good reason. It’s absolutely delicious. I made the mistake of telling the boyfriend about my loot… and my brittle & nougat mysteriously disappeaded… but luckily he only got to it after I had already managed to basically inhale those macarons.

Oh and get this, they also do red velvet cake pops. I love cake pops and I love red velvet, so to me this just sounded too good to be true. Sadly they didn’t have any for sampling as they do them on special request. But they were nice enough to send me this piccie to drool over:

I’m feeling a little Valentine’s day gift from me to me coming on (OK not so little, I’m thinking about 2 dosen should be enough. hehe).

You can purchase Ma Mére Maison’s exquisite goodies directly from their shop or from a variety of wine farms and delis around the Western Cape. But most of their time is spent working on orders for weddings and special events. I mean just imagine how happy your guests will be with a little Ma Mere Maison party box, or even better, a tower of macarons! But before you go and call them up for an order, please also make sure I’m on the guest list… pretty please.

Find Ma Mére Maison at:

Unit G3, Salt Circle Arcade, 19 Kent Road, Salt River (opposite the Old Biscuit Mill)

Or contact them on:

info@mamere.co.za / 082 445 2091

Also show them some love by giving them a “Like”on their Facebook page or following them on Twitter (@_mamere).

Here’s to sweet Ma Mére Maison dreams for everyone…

xxx

Pimp your biscuit at the Market on the Wharf

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Karisa

I was at the V&A yesterday and quickly popped into the new Market on the Wharf for a return visit.

Something cool I spotted which I didn’t see the first time was Pimp your biscuit. It’s a little stand just as you come in, opposite Origin Coffee and next to Nap.

They do exactly what the name says, they allow you to pimp some biscuits baby. First you pick what cookie dough you want. You can pick from 5 flavours:

shortbread
oatmeal & raisin
peanut butter
ginger spice
choc chunk

Then you can choose any 3 fillings from a wide variety of tempting options:

And a quick 9min later your biscuits are ready to be enjoyed! (you can also tell them how you prefer them. Softish, crispy, etc)

R45 gets you a batch of 6 and not only do I think makes for an awesome snack, but also a very cute little prezzie for someone. It’s like creating your (or someone else’s) signature biscuit. Love it. So get pimpin’ ladies & gents.

xxx

Totally tempting Italian Ice Cream in Stellies

Posted on December 27, 2012 by Karisa

I really do love Stellenbosch – not as much as Cape Town of course – but I do love the fact that it’s only a quick 30 – 40 min drive away and that once there you feel like you’ve stepped back in time just a teensy bit. I mean it’s just so damn pretty with it’s picturesque streets, lined with leavy trees and filled with tons old school charm, a lazy afternoon here is absolute bliss.

One recent afternoon of mine was spent enjoying some beautiful gelato at Lecca il Gelato which you’ll find towards the middle of Church St.

Too cute…

They’ve got quite a solid selection of flavours and price wise, I thought it was really quite good. For R18 you can get yourself a small cone, R25 gets you a medium & R30 a large. And a small cup costs R19, with a medium R28 and a large R32.

Ooh, then they also have a special Lindt cone (R30) as well as waffles and ice cream (R40). Mmmmm…

It becomes a pretty tough choice really…

I went for a chocolaty flavour as well as some pistachio and I have to say, it took me straight back to Italy and this day I decided to explore the Venice islands of Murano, Burano & Torcello. But by the time we got to Torcello, it was boiling hot and I decided that instead of checking out the island’s museums and cathedral, I would rather stay on the little dock area and stuff my face with creamy, ice cold gelato. Best decision ever! So yeah, in my book, this gelato definitely hit the mark.

Their website states that this was the first real gelato shop in South Africa and it is owned by an “enthusiastic team of Italians”, so it really doesn’t get more authentic than that. They also serve up some Italian coffee and next door they do some baked goodies as well. But my focus that day was only on the gelato. Maybe I’ll give the rest a bash on my next visit.

Important info:

Address: 15 Church St, Stellenbosch
Opening Hours: Mon – Sun: 8:00 am – 11:00 pm
You can contact them on: 083 269 8791 or info@leccailgelato.co.za

The website also makes mention of other branches in the Western Cape as well as plans to expand to other areas in SA. But I couldn’t find any specific info on this unfortunately. For now though, I can highly recommend their Stellies base for the next time you need a cool break from the summer rays.

xxx

Wakaberry opens in Cape Town

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Karisa

This past weekend saw the opening of the first Wakaberry branch in Cape Town. Wakaberry is a frozen yoghurt (or as they refer to it “froyo”) company which started in Durban back in 2011 and already has 5 stores across KZN, 3 in Gauteng and 1 in Stellenbosch. Their first venture into the Mother City is situated at 98 Kloof St, Gardens – right next to Melissa’s – but they’re also opening another one this Sat, the 24th of Nov at 47 Dean St in Newlands.

I popped into the Kloof St branch this past Sun to give their froyo a test drive. It was a nice sunny day, so perfect weather to indulge in something ice cold & creamy…

Firstly I love the store’s acid bright colours and cute little deck area where you can sit & relax. Then I also love their really great self-service setup:

Easy peasy!

Wakaberry’s froyo is made from 100% real frozen yoghurt and is 98% fat free. But as we all know boys and girls, it all boils down to your choice of toppings hey. You have been warned. They’re also known for their very impressive selection of froyo flavours. They apparently change from store to store and currently at the Kloof St branch you can choose between the following: peanut butter, strawberry, red velvet cake, passion fruit, blueberry, mixed berry, vanilla & cheese cake.

I opted for a little taste of their red velvet cake, cheese cake & blueberry. Then I topped it off with some glazed cherries, mini eggs & some sprinkles for fun. Yeah baby! After having my little bowl of awesome weighed, my cost came to R27.30. Not bad I thought.

My favourite flavour out of the 3 was the blueberry. My friend Darryn loved the strawberry. And the BF preferred the vanilla. Even though Wakaberry is super tasty, to me personally, I still prefer Yogiberri in Cape Quarter, purely based on the creaminess & flavour of their frozen yoghurt. But Wakaberry certainly adds oomph with all their options and cool setup. So a close 2nd in my book and certainly a spot I will be be popping into again if I’m in the area.

Anybody else tried it yet? What’s your favourite frozen yoghurt spot in Cape Town?

xxx

Celebrating Global Champagne Day like true ladies of leisure with Taittinger & The Table Bay

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Karisa

Last Friday I took a half day’s leave (because I knew this was going to be a damn goodie) to join the folks from Taittinger SA at the beautiful Table Bay Hotel to celebrate Global Champagne Day… a day which to be honest, I didn’t even know existed, but was very very happy about because as everyone knows, after diamonds & shoes, champers is a girl’s best friend! Especially if it’s the fancy French kind all the way from the picturesque Reims region in viva la France (I popped in for a visit there a few years back – absolutely stunning)…

Our lovely host, Linette Cox (she from Taittinger SA), had commissioned an incredible cake creation from baking magicians, Charly’s Bakery. It took me a while to spot it, even though it was pretty big, because at first glance it looked like a real Magnum sized bottle of bubbly. Just check this out:

How freakin’ amazing is that??? It’s clear to see why Charly’s remains the go-to-people for cakes. The detail was seriously impressive…

BUT not only did we have this baby to dig into, we also had free reign over the High Tea area. I’ve raved about the High Tea at the Table Bay before here on MLAWCT, but I must say, they really outdid themselves this time round. These are just some of the incredible creations which were on display:

I of course started off with my vegetables… i.e. the icing carrot on that yummy carrot cake…

They even had these really awesome strawberries wearing freakin’ tuxedos!!!

How do you like my date? He’s pretty suave I tell you…

These guys have taken dipped strawberries to the next level for sure. Same goes with koeksisters, theirs comes with gold leaf daaahlings:

: Jislaaik… maar dis flippen fancy ne…

All these beautiful things were thanks to the Table Bay’s total sweetheart of a pastry chef, Chef Robbie:

Beware ladies… a man who specialises in sweet treats will do serious damage to your bikini plans. Code red! Back away!

Celebrating with us was the gorgeous Irma G from Heart 104.9fm and some of my favourite blogger ladies:

And after lots and lots of bubbly & high tea overindulgence, it was time for the official cutting of the champagne cake. I for one was very excited to see what the cake inside looked like…

: Linette doing the honours… and a ha! The famouse Charly’s wicked chocolate cake inside… Mmmmmmm

I have to say a HUGE thank you to Linette, Taittinger SA and the Table Bay for such a great afternoon away from the office. I finally left there at 7pm, and that was simply because I had an engagement party to get to. So a very successful afternoon indeed.

And hey, if you’re also a big champers fan, why not join Taittinger at the James Bond themed “Finer Things in Life” French champagne festival later this month, brought to you by Wine Concepts:

What to expect: More than 20 cuvees from premium and boutique Champagne Houses, James Bond motorcars past and present and live music playing theme songs from James Bond movies. Hot and cold finger food will be served. Oysters, Cheese, Sushi and Chocolates will also be on offer. Generous prizes for lucky ticket holders and a charity auction for a private movie, dinner and stay at the 12 Apostles hotel in aid of St Luke’s Hospice.

Date/time: Fri 23 Nov 2012 from 6pm to 9pm

Where: At the Vineyard Hotel & Spa

Cost: R360 for early bird (still availalbe); R400 normal price

Tickets: Available through Wine Concepts stores or Webtickets over here.

I say cheers to that!

xxx

High tea at the beautiful Table Bay Hotel

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Karisa

Last Saturday, right in the middle of a mini Cape Storm, Bjorn and I got to enjoy a relaxing & indulgent afternoon of High Tea at the Table Bay Hotel in the V&A Waterfront.

Now this hotel has always been a favourite of mine. I’ve been there for a few events and have also been to their Camelot Spa for a little treat for myself, but their restaurant & High tea are two things I had not yet had the pleasure of experiencing.

Every time I walk into that reception hall I’m blown away by how beautiful this hotel is. It’s got that old world charm to it, rich colours, atrium style windows, furniture with a gorgeous antique feel, the kind of space which immediately makes you you think of royalty and how they probably live…

So the challenge for the afternoon: High Tea consisting of 3 courses, each course carefully paired with fine teas from TWG. TWG is a Singapore based company (just so you know). They source the best tea leaves, spices and flavour-packed ingredients from all around the world, making their tea something quite special. Food wise you’re also in really good hands because the High Tea menu has been specially created by the Table Bay executive chef, Jocelyn Myers.

As we settled into our seats and took in the waterfront views, our waiter came to say hi:

This is Frankie. He painstakingly brought us our food crumb by crumb… like the little piece he has there next to him…

OK OK, that didn’t actually happen. But that would have been a pretty awesome Disney moment, right? Our real waiter was Sergio and he was an absolute sweetheart. He didn’t even blink an eye when I put milk & sugar into one of my teas, which when it comes to top quality tea, that’s like asking for All Gold tomato sauce at a fine dining spot…

For the first course however, I was brave and went for the Royal Darjeeling tea without any milk or sugar. And I was really surprised. I didn’t need to add anything because the flavour just popped. Bjorn had the Lung Ching tea, which is a green tea and according to Sergio his top choice for that particular course. Now courses one & two are served at your table and then for course three, they let you loose on the cake buffet.

We kicked things of with some fancy finger sandwiches:

Clockwise from left: egg mayo, cucumber & cream cheese, veggie wrap and salmon & cream cheese.

But it doesn’t stop there, they also bring you a selection of mini quiches:

From front to back: mushroom & ham, bacon and salmon.

Normally I don’t really enjoy quiches, especially when they’ve got that soggy eggy texture to them. Blegh. But these had a nice crispy crust and were totally yum.

Course number 2 is probably one of my favourite things in the world: scones with fresh cream & preserves. You just don’t get better than that.

You get a selection of scones: in the front you have a plain one, then in the back there’s a raisin scone and on the right is my favourite out of the bunch, a red pepper scone. This is then paired with a plum preserve, fresh cream, clotted cream & lemon curd.

This was so good, we asked for a 2nd round of scones. Forgot to mention with course 1, you can even ask for a refill! Paired with our scones we both opted for the French Earl Grey tea. This is where I crumbled and added the milk & sugar. Just because I’m used to having my Earl Grey that way. But I think Bjorn was a bit embarrassed. hehe.

To catch our breath a bit before we tucked into course number 3, Sergio brought us some of the recommended teas for the last course to see & smell:

Beautiful right? Clockwise from top left: Pink Flamingo green tea, Red Christmas rooibos tea, Bain de Roses black tea (there’s an extra cost for this one though) and the Number 12 black tea (you can see there it has some coffee beans & dried coconut mixed in with the tea leaves)

They all had such an incredible aroma, but I looove pink, so my choice was easy peasy:

The Pink Flamingo! It kinda smelt like Turkish delight, but not quite. I’m still trying to figure out what it reminds me off.

It was at this point Bjorn let me in on his “buffet conspiracy theory”. He was like: “You see, they fill you up with the sandwiches and scones, delicious as they were, but in the hope that you’ll be too full to overindulge at the cake table. But they won’t get me.. I’ll show ‘em…” I had to laugh (a lot). The look of determination in his eyes was quite impressive. Obviously some kind of previous buffet trauma was still haunting him. He was very serious about this, something which was quite evident when you compared our two cake plates. This was mine:

A good selection I thought…

But this was his:

Right… where to start…

I couldn’t even finish mine, but he worked through his plate like a man on a mission. I just had to steal this piccie from his Instagram feed to show you:

hehehehehehehe…

Now I was pretty full after this amazing treat. My stomach had kinda popped out like a little pregnant belly. But needless to say, a certain someone felt a little more uncomfortable than that… My advice: Just pace yourself and you’ll be fine. There’s no need to rush and also no need to panic.

A huge thank you to Sarah Prins, the PR Manager at Sun International for setting this up for us. This was certainly a very special treat and we loved every single minute of it.

Important things to note:

High Tea takes place daily from 14:30 to 17:30
The cost is R185 per person
Rather be safe than sorry and call ahead to book a table: 021 406 5988

Let them eat cake!

xxx

For realz Belgian choccie

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Karisa

Miserable weather is awesome. You know why? Well because you can totally indulge in all the evil things in life like sleeping in, chillin’ on the couch, watching hours and hours of movies/series and stuffing your face with copious amounts of comfort food…

And all this can be enjoyed totally guilt free cause nodoby’s gonna say annoying things like “why aren’t you outside enjoying the sunshine? Blah blah blah” Now my favourite comfort treat is definitely chocolate. But only the good stuff will do. My philosophy is if you’re going to be bad, make sure it’s the best bad you can be. Oh yeah.

Last Sunday a return visit to the Hout Bay Market (if you haven’t yet been – seriously!? You are missing out BIG TIME) lead to an awesome discovery: The best Belgian chocolate I’ve had in years… mmmmmm. Jean-pierre Fortain is “Mâitre Chocolatier” (which is French for “I’m pure awesome”) from Brussels who’s just recently moved down to Cape Town with his family.

Last weekend was their first appearance at the market, and for the time being, this will be the only place where you’ll be able to try his beautiful things. Bjorn and I went absolutely crazy. It’s really not a good idea dating someone who’s just as big a sugar freak as you are. There’s no voice of reason, nobody saying “No no Karisa, you’ve had enough, you don’t want people to think you’re a Michelin Man impersonator now” This meant we pretty much tried everything… no holds barred… marzipan pancakes, vanilla macarons with a dark chocolate mousse filling, white chocolate infused with chilli, creamy milk chocolate drops, chocolate filled with fluffy cream… like I said, everything.

This collage is like porn for chocoholics… hehe.

The best part? This was only their “lets just test the waters” stock. They said that this weekend they’re planning on bringing even more stuff! OMG… hold be back, somebody please…

Not that you needed it, but now you have just one more reason to take a trip out to the Hout Bay market. Need an emergency chocolate fix? Best you contact Jean-pierre at info@fortain.co.za or 082 687 0796.

xxx

My Love Affair with Cape Town…

Just random fun in my mother city

Category Archives: For your sweet tooth