With autumn in full swing, it’s time for some new menu items at our South Melbourne Cafe! Whether you keep it simple (yet delicious) with our Quinoa & Soya Bread with avocado, tomato and goats curd or you spice it up a little with our Spicy Tuna Sandwich, these newcomers will only make you hungry for more.

Our Spicy Tuna Sandwich is made with green beans, tomatoes, chilli and rocket. Served on our beautiful Quinoa & Soya Bread, this sandwich packs a punch.

For mushroom lovers, we’ve got the Sautéed Mushrooms with Lemon, Parsley and Ricotta on Sourdough Toast. Buttery and juicy button mushrooms are served on a bed of ricotta and crusty sourdough with an added zing from lemon.

There’s also a heart-warming dish perfect for colder weather – the Pulled Pork and Sweet Potato Hash with a Fried Egg! Flavoursome, warm and irresistible, this is also a favourite at our Sydney Cafe.

Or try the Crispy Bacon and Poached Eggs with Roast Romatoes served on Sourdough Toast. A myriad of textures come together from the crunch of bacon and the softness of slow roast tomatoes, topped off with a deliciously runny egg.

See the full menu on our website.

Spicy Tuna and Green Beans on Quinoa & Soya Bread

Sauteed Mushrooms with Parsley, Lemon and Ricotta on Wholemeal Toast

Pulled Pork, Sweet Potato Hash and a Fried Egg

Crispy Bacon, Poached Eggs, Slow Roast Tomatoes on Sourdough Toast

We hope you’ve saved your tummies for some delicious Hot Cross Buns this Easter! Smothered in butter (Pepe Saya preferably), these little buns of joy are destined to make your Easter a hundred times more delicious.

Unfortunately our South Melbourne Cafe will be closed over the Easter weekend, so Thursday will be the last day you can get your Hot Cross Bun fix at our bakery cafe.

But if you’re got a hefty hankering over the weekend, make sure your stop by at Thomas Dux Armadale or Port Melbourne, where 6-packs will be available. Oh, and Thomas Dux has finally joined Facebook, so don’t forget to hit the ‘Like’ button.

Read more about the history of Hot Cross Buns on our Sydney cousin’s blog.

Crossing the buns

Hot Cross Buns at our South Melbourne Cafe

Butter makes everything better!

We recently went to pay our friends Campos Coffee a visit and were greeted by a buzzy room teeming with coffee connoisseurs and a sexy Slayer espresso machine. Hemmed in by exposed brick walls, Campos has a funky warehouse feel. But what’s most apparent is the tangible passion for quality coffee in the air.

Open since November 2010, Campos owners Brian and Matt clearly know what they’re doing. With its birthplace in a little shop in Newtown, Sydney over ten years ago, Campos is known for its coffee consistency and integrity. Brian and Matt are also very passionate about the sustainability and ethical commitments at the farms where they source their beans from.

As for our bread, you’ll find it all over the menu! In the all-day breakfast options, there’s the Bashed avocado on our Quinoa & Soya Bread with lemon and piment d’espelette (mild, red peppers from Espelette in Southern France) or the Chorizo and egg pot – with cannellini, roast peppers, chorizo, manchego cheese & fried egg with soldiers made of our Olive & Rosemary Loaf.

They’ve also got scrummy sandwiches served on our Organic Sourdough, Rustic Loaf and Schiacciata. These breads are also available in toast form (along with our awesome Sour Cherry Loaf). And those looking for a sweet alternatives, Campos also stocks our pastry range and Coconut Teacakes!

Campos hold cupping sessions every day – and if you’re a die-hard coffee aficionado, the cupping session is open to the public every Friday at 10am (bookings essential).

Bashed avocado on our Quinoa & Soya Bread with lemon and piment d'espelette

Our lovely croissant!

Gorgeous looking latte

Our Pain Raisin looking as pretty as ever

Coffee quality

Campos menu

Campos Coffee
144 Elgin Street, Carlton, VIC
Tel: 03 9347 7445

Opening Hours
Mon to Fri 7am to 4pm,
Sat 8am to 4-pm, Sun Closed

With the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival in full swing we decided to host several baking classes at our South Melbourne bakery.  Last Saturday we kicked the classes off with an ‘invite only’ blogger & media class.  Our very own Michael Klausen hosted the class and immediately made sure everyone got their hands dirty.

Our students of the day were Agnes from Off The Spork, Amy from Amystown, April from My Food Trail, Ellen from Milk Bar Mag, I-Hua from The Chronicles of Ms I-Hua, Jess from That Jess Ho, Justine from WeekendNotes, Leanne from Tour de Clance, Lauren from Broadsheet and Thanh from I Eat Therefore I Am.

The 3-hour class had our guests mixing, kneading, shaping, moulding, smacking, slamming, resting…and ultimately baking their bread ready for consumption.  Several other baking methods were shown and sampled by all.

A schedule for adult classes will be released soon, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, check out this delightful video of Michael teaching at MasterChef LIVE 2011 and read Justine’s review of the class on WeekendNotes.

Baking ingredients

Baking bloggers hard at work!

Bloggers love baking

Doughy

Happy bloggers

The accompaniments to go with our artisan breads

]]> http://www.brasseriebread.com.au/melbourne/2012/03/blogger-media-baking-class-at-brasserie-bread-melbourne/feed/ 1 http://www.brasseriebread.com.au/melbourne/2012/02/naked-espresso-390-little-bourke-street-melbourne/ http://www.brasseriebread.com.au/melbourne/2012/02/naked-espresso-390-little-bourke-street-melbourne/#comments Fri, 24 Feb 2012 03:41:44 +0000 brasseriemelb http://www.brasseriebread.com.au/melbourne/?p=745

Naked Espresso Bar is nestled in amongst the quaint shops on Little Bourke Street.  Shanny and Tom (owners) opened their thriving cafe business in August 2011.  Their passion for great coffee and delicious breakfast/lunches is paying off with a strong local business clientele.

On my midmorning visit recently there was a steady stream of locals coming in and out after takeaways…some sitting in chatting over their laptops munching on pastries and slurping their lattes.

Naked Espresso use their own private blend coffee.  They are also using several of our breads, pastries and cakes.  Tom was preparing the lunches for the day when I visited and the roasted pumpkin, semi dried tomato & slivered almonds on our Sourdough Bakers Round bread looked awesome!

Shanny and Tom both had big career changes to start their business together…Shanny described their life now as ‘poorer but happier’.  I certainly love what they are doing and the locals seem to be loving them too!

On Thursday nights they run ukulele lessons and you can book through We Teach Me.

Naked Espresso is open Monday to Friday 7am to 4pm.  Closed weekends.  You can also follow them on Twitter here: @naked_espresso

Find out which other cafes stock our bread

Delicious latte with raspberry & pistachio friand

Naked Espresso's Street Sign on Little Bourke Street

Naked Espresso's entrance on Little Bourke Street

Tom serving a customer a Brasserie Bread Chocolate Brownie

Shanny working their beloved coffee machine!

Tom preparing the sandwiches for lunch

Cute little touches...

We all have our favourites!  Favourite shoes, favourite day of the week…favourite toast topping…I could go on and on!  One bread that is proving to be a favourite amongst our customers is the Schiacciata.

Schiacciata is a Italian flat bread made with virgin olive oil and pronounced Skiah-CHA-tah!!!!  You can say it with an accent if you want…  Schiacciata means crushed or flattened in Italian, and is the name for flatbread in Tuscany where it has been eaten since the 15th century. Served in golden thin-crusted sheets brushed with the finest virgin olive oil.

We retail this bread daily at our South Melbourne store or you can order it in the cafe… We serve it toasted with crisp proscuitto, aioli, rocket & tomato relish.  All your taste buds will be dancing with this combination!

A couple of snaps for you to see of the Schiacciata dough, the dough being docked by one of our bakers before baking, the baked result and the way we serve it in the cafe…

See our full Melbourne Menu here

Schiacciata Dough resting...

Our baker docking the schiacciata ready for baking

Schiacciata baked, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and ready to enjoy!

Recently on a sunny week day morning our kitchen made up a tasting board of our Spelt and Honey Banana Bread.  Our chef lightly grilled the sliced banana bread, cut into cubes and served with a pot of our heavenly lemon curd.  We had the board sitting at our point of sale so every customer could get a taste…and sure enough every customer tasted it!  Some customers actually tried several and soon we were replenishing the tasting board over and over again and customers were sitting down and ordering their very own slice to enjoy with their Allpress coffee.

Our Spelt and Honey Banana Bread is made with whole ripened bananas, spelt flour, honey and real butter.  We suggest it is best served toasted or re-heated.

Certainly a must try when you next visit our South Melbourne Cafe!…if you have not already!

Baked fresh daily...Spelt & Honey Banana Bread

Instore tasting of our Spelt & Honey Banana Bread w Lemon Curd

Pinch and a punch for the first day of the month! I thought it would be a nice way to start the month of February off with a post on our awesome French Mountain Bread.

She/He is a beauty.  Made using organic wholemeal flour and weighing 1.8Kg.  We class it as a classic French loaf combining master artisan skills & techniques.  We use two organic wholemeal flours and the all important Brasserie Bread Sourdough Starter!

Ingredients include…water, organic high bran flour, organic wheat flour, organic sourdough starter, organic stoneground flour and river salt.

This bread is wonderful torn, sliced and eaten with your favourite topping…eg. goat curd, avocado, vine ripened tomatoes, salt & pepper!  A must try and available for sale at our South Melbourne Cafe.

The Brasserie Bread French Mountain Bread was an Artisan Award Medallist at the 2011 Delicious Produce Awards. See all our awards here.

Freshly baked and out of the oven...French Mountain Bread

Baker Jeremy is a big fan of our French Mountain Bread...wonderful image of his feet, he is a bit shy!

We reopened on Tuesday 10th January and it was so good to be back!  The doors opened at 7:30am and there was a steady flow of regulars coming in all day sharing their holiday stories, ordering much needed Allpress coffees and taking away their favourite bread.

To kick the new year off the cafe menu has been tweaked somewhat with a couple of new menu items and some old favourites served with a twist. View the full menu here.

Image below is our Slow Roast Lamb, Potato & Herb Hash with a Fried Egg.  This is a menu stayer!  Certainly a unique and delicious dish.

A regular favourite! Slow Roast Lamb, Potato & Herb Hash with Fried Egg

Sourdough Pancakes with Smoked Trout, Watercress and Goat Curd...very delicious!

Our hours stay the same…we are open Monday to Saturday 7:30am to 3pm.

Also for those who know or have children aged between 5 & 12 years be sure to book them into our Free Kids Baking Class.  Classes are held every Saturday 10am for 1 hour.  Phone to book & get details on 1300 966 845 or enquire online.  The children love it!

See you soon in-store!

First and foremost Happy New Year!  May 2012 bring much happiness to you and your family.

Secondly I wanted to share some snaps of a salad I served to my family on Christmas Day…and of course one of the main ingredient components was Brasserie Bread!

Since I commenced working for Brasserie Bread Melbourne in August last year I have loved getting to know all their wonderful products.  My little family has reaped the rewards too as I come home with different types of bread, pastries and cakes…and we all have our favourites.  My 8 year old adores our croissants!  My 5 year old can’t go past the sour cherry coconut teacakes and the husband is a huge fan of the caramelised garlic bread.  I am on the fence with a favourite as I have several!

When I was planning our Christmas Day menu I decided to do Panzanella Salad but using Brasserie Bread New York Rye instead of Ciabatta.  It was delicious and the Rye soaked up the wonderful juices of the vine ripened tomatoes, vinegar and olive oil.

I certainly recommend using a sourdough for your next Panzanella!

Soaking up the juices of the vine ripened tomatoes, vinegar & olive oil