Please excuse our absenteeism..

Hey Readers,

We just wanted to say and apologise of our absenteeism lately. Whilst we have been away, we have been getting in touch with our creative side and employing the knowledge of making a short video to promote what we are about and what we do.

So, here it is: 

Have a look and tell us what you think! Comment, watch, watch again, and perhaps even share the video!

Love Thyme-forfood :) x

N2 Extreme Gelato - Stressed backwards is Desserts!!!

Last night, I went to the city with my friends for a catch-up dinner. After having some Thai food at Central, we decided to walk to Darling Harbour for some coffee - nice work out after dinner!

And fortunately, we ran into this little ice-cream store called N2 Extreme Gelato (Chinatown, Sydney CBD). I have been seeing a lot of my friends been at N2 and actually became a fan on their Facebook official page (lolz)...We didn't have any intention to get some ice-cream (since we were about to have some coffee)...However, I was just so excited and couldn't let this perfect chance go by. So were the other girls - seriously, who can deny a scoop of ice-cream for dessert?!

The front cabinet caught my eyes with full of oversized science-lab flasks with flavours and colors

The little shop was packed with excited customers (just like us) watching every movement of those 'scientists' through the glass display walls. And it doesn't look like a normal ice-cream  store (in a positive way)! Fog is everywhere and the creation of those goodies is like making magic! Dry ice and maybe...liquid Nitrogen (I'm trying to be a geek here lolz but this's what I heard from Masterchef) are used to make yummy ice-cream from fresh ingredients. You will have to wait quite a while but it's totally worth it! And you might not even notice since there are so many cool things happening around the store (I was so busy watching those 'scientists' lolz)...

Candy coloured KitchenAids, waffle cones, lab flasks, paper cups and cool 'liquid Nitrogen fog'!!!

We came around 9pm. Some of the flavors were sold out (but I'll definitely come back to try next time because I really want to try the 'cough syrup' flavor). They have Butter Popcorn, Berry Blue, Coconut & Tea and Earl Grey Caramel just to name some.

Creative blackboard Menu - $6/scoop 

I got 1 scoop of Earl Grey Caramel served with waffle cup while my friends got Butter Popcorn and smoothies. I didn't try those but they gave a lot of compliments. After 2 minutes of waiting or so, my Earl Grey Caramel came out, looking fresh! The ice-cream gives me a real taste of tea (Earl Grey's tea, fair enough!). Not too strong. Overwhelmingly fresh and a hint of French Earl Grey tea. Just so sensational! And the ice-cream is really smooth, soft, creamy and silky. It is so big that you really don't need two scoops. But you have to lick it fast since it melts quickly!

Earl Grey Caramel on waffle cup 

$6 for one scoop of ice-cream! Kinda expensive, but it's freshly made, and totally worthy as a whole experience


Address: Lot 43, 1 Dixon Street, Sydney, NSW (upper end of Dixon Street)
Opening hours: 14:00-23:00

Chiffon Cake Recipe

I started baking when I was having my first summer break back in Uni Year 1. We were having a Christmas lunch at my uncle's house and I got nothing to bring, so I decided to bake a cake - brilliant! It was just a chocolate mud cake with some decorations, quite simple. But everyone loved it and made so many compliments...and that was my starting point. 

It is a great feeling sharing your food with your beloved and see how much they enjoy it. 

Today is an amazing recipe from Savourydays - Chiffon cake. This cake is so well-known for its fluffy, light and soft texture - 'like you're having cloud, it melts in your mouth'. It's a quite challenging cake. I've been trying countless times before I can actually bake a proper one. But this cake deserves that much effort, seriously! My family loves the strong flavor of coffee, but you still can substitute with pandan, orange, lemon, anything that you can think of...give it a try and you won't regret! 

Ingredients (20 x 20 cake pan)
1. Egg Yolk batter

• 4 egg yolks (50g/e)
• 20g sugar
• 40g all-purpose flour
• 40g corn flour
• 45ml milk
• 35ml vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon coffee powder

2. Egg White foam

• 4 egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 40g sugar

Method
1. Egg Yolk batter

• Heat up the milk in the microwave with coffee powder (50sec), mix well. Set aside.

• In a mixing bowl, beat together the egg yolks and sugar with a hand whisk till sugar dissolved.

• Stir in oil and milk-coffee.
• Fold the flour into the egg yolk mixture. Mix well. Set aside.

2. Egg White foam

• Beat the egg whites with hand mixer/stand mixer at medium speed until frothy (2-3 minutes). Slowly add in sugar and cream of tartar while beating at high speed.

• Beat until the egg white is stiff and shining but not dry (about 3 minutes).

3. Preheat oven at 175 degrees Celsius 

4. Use a spatula and gently fold 1/3 of the egg yolk mixture into the egg white mixture (meringue). Do it thoroughly.

5. Gently fold 1/2 of the remaining egg yolk mixture into the egg white mixture. Do it clockwise and very gently, about 5 rounds. 

6. Fold in the rest of the egg yolk mixture. Do it clockwise and very gently, about 3 rounds. 

7. Pour into an ungreased cake pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes.
8. Once cake is cooked (insert a skewer into the middle of the cake and it comes out clean), remove immediately from the oven and invert the pan onto wire rack. Let it cook before removing cake from pan. 

*Note: 
1. Try to use the fresh eggs if you can2. Step 4 - 6 is really important, try to do it gently and do not fold too much (2-3 rounds for each step should be enough). 

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