Birthday SDP

Birthday SDP
Originally uploaded by knicole7.

We started off the week quite sadly with the demise of our beloved Friz:

,
run over by a car outside Caulfield park. Rest in peace beloved...

Anyway, things were looking up with Durga's birthday and our task of buying the birthday cake. We walked by the bakery outside of Coles (can't remember the name right now sadly) in St. Kilda and paused in our footsteps. Could it be true? Is that a sticky date pudding? Our task was clear. We must buy it.

Clearly the 'Happy Birthday Durga' did not stay on the butterscotch sauce properly, but the bakery did provide us with an extra tub of that delicious sweetness to pour over the final cake.

So we met up with the gang at Mamma Dukes at Caulfield Monash to not only celebrate Durga's 26 years, but also her release from hospital (yay!). Expensive wine that was discounted for us flowed regularly, the dinners were satisfying and all were having a good time.

Alas, the "Happy Birthday" was sung and we hailed the beauty of Sticky Date with a sparkler on top. Pieces were cut, the extra butterscotch was placed on the table and all rejoiced...

Except, my beloved co-blogger. As we were handing out the many pieces of sticky date it seems that there was a miscount and Adam was left out of the distribution. Thus it forced us to share my small piece of sticky birthday...

It was good because it was birthday and had the extra sauce. It would have been better if it were heated, Adam got his own piece and there was some kind of ice cream beside it.

But I enjoyed it, and I believe the rest of the party did as well.

Stucky Date Pudding

Kia ora!

It appears that along with the possum, the sticky date pudding has been introduced into the land of the Kiwi, with similar devastating results on the local environment (well, maybe not).

This particular little sample was had in a pub in Motueka. It is a slight variation on the norm, in that the sauce was caramel, rather than the traditional butterscotch. Still OK, but not as good as the original. Let's just say that it didn't last long on the plate, and that was after four lamb chops for dinner, plus wedges for afternoon tea AND nachos for lunch. This was post kayak/hike semi-starvation, after all.

Done.

Sticky Date Honey

Sticky Date Honey
Originally uploaded by knicole7.

Honey? AND Sticky Date? I don't believe you.

But yes, it's true. Found in the fine honey producing country of New Zealand at the Honey Hive and Meadery outside of Taupo.

And what a selection of honey they had! We got there about 45 minutes before close, but this blogger still managed to walk out with over $40 worth of honey products. So yummy. The Rata is spectacular, but unfortunately only a memory now...

But I digress. So they had Sticky Date Honey. It's pretty close to the pudding, but with honey. I bought some and brought it back to Australia, so I can continue to taste it.

If honey could be a sticky date, it is. And this New Zealand version is it.

It was overkill. Honey AND Sticky Date. Too much... Too much...

The Cookie

SDCookie
Originally uploaded by knicole7.

Something new, something new.

First off, unlike my usual tastings, this one was done in quite a different (almost opposite) state of mind...

A bit hungover after a big night of Modest Mouse and having my oldest and dearest friend come for a visit, we decided to head to the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA) to numb our aching heads.

I ordered my chai and a fudge cookie, when alas! I saw this sticky date ginger cookie. I had to get it even without my co-blogger present.

I must say it was fantastic. SDP works in the cookie form. My friend who was present said he prefered it to his fudge cookie. Yum Yum. I believe it is produced by the Byron Bay Cookie Company.

Final Review: An excellent substitute for the SDP and a happy solution to a sad hangover.

Goodness Gracious...

Baraka SDP, with fork for scale


…Great Balls of Desire! After being denied these (no doubt) delicious chick pea concoctions which had been advertised so effectively on a chalkboard out the front of Baraka on Clarendon in South Melbourne, there was really no hesitation about whether or not to sample the SDP on offer. There were a few moments of apprehension when it appeared that a cheesecake was coming our way rather than our dessert of choice, but fortunately the SDP arrived in due course.

Now, there is some background information which is critical to the remainder of the review. You see, we were on a bit of a tight schedule, since we needed to complete our dining experience within an hour, as we had a very important appointment at the Butterfly Club to see “In a Baltic State”.

As mentioned above, when faced with the possibility of a cheesecake rather than an SDP landing on our table, it was not only the fact that the wrong dessert would have arrived; we would have been forced to go without dessert entirely or miss the show, such were the time constraints. Consequently, the consumption of the SDP was rather rushed, and this may have influenced the following review (yes I am actually going to talk about the dessert now!).

As was the case for Soul Mama, the pudding and the ice cream were presented separately, the pudding on the plate drowned in butterscotch sauce, and the ice cream in a little white bowl about the size of a shot glass. The pudding was moist, not particularly hot, but by no means cold, and the sauce was sufficiently viscous not to drip everywhere. The quantity of ice cream could have been a little more generous. All in all, a decent SDP, and competitively priced.

Give me some Soul, Mama

Soul Mama SDP
Originally uploaded by knicole7.

Lame title, I know.

Anyway, Soul Mama - restaurant with a fantastic view, good vegetarian food and sticky date pudding.

I have to admit, that this blogger had her share of wine prior to the desert, and Adam (my co-blogger who has yet to blog) was not with me on this SDP occasion, but I did get some feedback from my fellow diners. I did manage to get off this text as I was sampling the pud -

"Luke warm, could be softer, small serving, ire [sic] cream separate..."

So we can attempt to interpret that.

I did finish the desert, but it could have been warmer. Other feedback guessed that it was microwaved, thus the lukewarm nature. The separate ice cream could be a good idea, but then it makes it harder to mush the two together. Although, ice cream is a good addition for SDP. It still had the grainy texture, but it didn't quite melt in my mouth.

So it pleased my drunken self, but even in my intoxicated state I realised it wasn't the best SDP I've had.

Vegie Bar

Veggie Bar
Originally uploaded by knicole7.

Alright, we never actually got around to trying this SDP.

ONLY because, it wasn't on the menu and we didn't see it until we were leaving (loses points for inaccessabilty). Thus the picture of the complete pudding (with no pieces missing) in the display case.

However, we will conduct a visual critique.

1.) The actual dates on the top of the desert, are not very appealing. I realise it's sticky date pudding, but I don't want to know I'm actually eating dates. I'm not retired and I don't need them to 'get things moving'.

2.) Whatever sauce they had on it, doesn't look very appealing. I personally, feel that the sauce should be more runny and flow off of the pudding. The crusty hard stuff doesn't look that good.

Don't get me wrong, Vegie Bar does have decent vegetarian food. I did get the burrito, so I'm not sure if I could have handled a full SDP actually.

So anyway, VISUALLY speaking, the vegie bar scores a bit low on the desirability scale. But I would still try it.

The Country Wedding

Sticky Date Pudding 1
Originally uploaded by knicole7.

We'd been thinking of this blog for months. Inspired by the desert at Yeah Maan (to be reviewed) and then eaten at various places around Melbourne, we decided a blog review was necessary in order to determine the best Sticky Date Pudding (apparently an Australian desert.)

Anyway, this sample is from a wedding in country Victoria. I must say, it was the best part of the meal, although a bit dry. More sticky is needed. The name card has my name spelled incorrectly. There were lipstick stains on the glasses and the wine came from casks - "wine-in-a-box!". It wasn't the best sample to start out with, but we finally had a camera to take a picture. Our other option was a cream filled eclair. This looks like it beat the eclair.

I'm also not sure how I felt about it being accompanied by whipped cream. I think ice cream is better.

But as I said, it was the best part of the meal by far.

Sticky Date Pudding

A blog devoted to sticky date pudding and finding the best one.