Allow me to take you on a virtual tour of my home city – in chocolate! I found this fabulous chocolate mould at a local supplier, and I’ve been playing around with it.
Luna Park..is just for fun!
The only amusement park in Sydney, Luna Park was built in the harbourside suburb of Milson’s Point in 1935, and has been operating on and off ever since. It’s an astonishing piece of real estate, located right on the edge of the water. I have fond memories of spending time there as a teenager…
Photo source: Wikipedia
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The most famous building in Australia – the Sydney Opera House – rendered here in Callebaut 811 dark chocolate. This magnificent landmark recently received World Heritage recognition as one of the architectural wonders of the world. Seeing it is one of my great joys whenever I’m in town.
There’s more information than you ever wanted to know about the Opera House on their website.
Photo source: Wikipedia
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The Sydney Harbour Bridge, affectionately known as “The Coathanger”, is the world’s widest, and fifth-longest, spanning arch bridge. Opened in 1932, it provides a link between Sydney’s northern suburbs and the CBD.
We now have a tunnel under the harbour as well, but the bridge is still busy twenty-four hours a day…
Here are some photos Small Man took a few years ago during an excursion into town…quite artistic for a (then) nine year old, don’t you think?
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Since 1810, Hyde Park has provided Sydneysiders with a large expanse of green right in the heart of the city. As well as the Archibald Fountain, Anzac War Memorial and some wonderful old Moreton Bay figs, the park also houses a giant chess set, which has been well used since it was built in 1972…
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Sydney Harbour is in constant motion – full of boats and yachts, including the Sydney Ferries, HarbourCats and sailing boats. In the photo below you can see a glimpse of how it all fits together – the ferries, Luna Park and the Bridge.
Photo courtesy of TravelSmart Australia
And…don’t laugh…here’s my slightly tragic attempt at a chocolate diorama of Sydney Harbour. Oh, alright, go on then, laugh..my boys did..for about two seconds before they devoured these!
PS. That’s a chocolate hydrofoil in the middle of the photo – not a whale!
wow! i feel like i took a tour of sydney. my youngest brother is going there for his honeymoon in december. i will forward this to him and his fiance.
Foodielady, there is of course so much more to Sydney – I just couldn’t find the chocolate moulds… :)
Hahaha. I love it! Would it be Chocney or Sydlate? Thanks for the virtual tour of home. I do love Sydney. And Ithink your version is absolutely choctastic.
Chocney! The moulds were great, except for the hydrofoil, which ended up like a humpback whale. :)
There was also a chocolate Centrepoint Tower, but I don’t think it’s really that much of a landmark anymore!
You are so creative and fun! Love your chocolate tour….and I can only imagine that you used the best chocolate that you can find on the market today!!!!
Jude, thank you! I’m a bit fussy about my chocolate (to put it mildly), so whilst we don’t use the best on the market, we do always use the best we can afford! In this case, it was Callebaut 54% cacao dark, and a high cacao milk chocolate – Venezuela 43% origin chocolate from Belcolade.
And the men in my life demand a high standard – Small Man ate the chocolate king (“checkmated the chocolate king”, as he put it) and commented, “Hmm…solid, eh? It’s a shame you can’t make these hollow..” :D
Edible art installation moment – you should do more! I really enjoyed the tour – thanks Celia!
You’re most welcome, friend Jo! Maybe one day you’ll come to Sydney, and I can give you a real live tour! :)
They look fantastic Celia. Where do you get your Belcolade chocolate from? My husband did a chocolate making course on the weekend and now he wants to play.
CHFG, the Belcolade was a gift from a friend, not sure where he got it from, but the Callebaut is available in 2.5kg bags from Chefs’ Warehouse. You can also buy small quantities of Cocoa Barry Tanzanie origin 75% from Colefax Chocolates in Haberfield (it’s an expensive option though, if your hubby wants to make a lot of chocolate!).
Chefs’ Warehouse has Callebaut Milk, White, 54% dark and 70% dark in 2.5kg bags for under $50 each, which is the cheapest way I’ve found to buy really good couverture chocolate in bulk. The Callebaut milk is very nice, and what we usually use here.
great post, celia! i’ve very much enjoyed it. makes me sorry i didn’t push harder for moving to australia last summer. although we would have gone to melbourne. either way, yay for chocolate! funny kid, your son.
Sydney through chocolate-I like it! :D
Very cute, Celia. Surely you could have covered your table with chocolate in the last picture!
I’m also quite impressed with the pictures Small Man has taken – I don’t remember knowing anything about cameras when I was nine.
Ooh new pictures in your header! I like them, aren’t they gorgeous?
Dana, you don’t know the half of it. :) Yep, he’s a funny kid…
Lorraine, there were also chocolates with surfers and sailboarders on them, but they weren’t terribly photogenic!
Wink, thank you – praise from the queen of photos! Trust me though, there was enough chocolate everywhere without me trying to make a chocolate sea! :D
Jo, thanks, glad you liked them. I thought it was time for a change…
Celia
That is super Celia. There should be a link from Australian tourist board website to this post. You could be responsible for a whole upsurge in visitors seeking out the chocolate bridge, the chocolate opera house!
And no points for guessing where the ‘used to be 9 year old’ got his creativity from … well done to him :-)
Gillian, I had great fun – learnt a new technique too! Painted the milk chocolate on as a highlight first, with a paintbrush, then filled the moulds in with dark chocolate once the milk had set. And to be fair, I think Pete and I have picked up a whole lot more from Small Man than he has from us! :)
Wonderful! I am sending to the son of my best friend, who now lives in Sydney with his Vietnamese-Australian girlfriend. They are thinking of starting a food blog, he is a great photographer, she is a great cook
I wish I could go to Sydney someday, but this choc tour was already awesome!
I love this tour. I’ve learnt more about Sydney through your chocolate tour than I did. I used to know only the Opera house :-).
Waw,…how cool is that!!! Sydney in chocolates!!
They only do that in Brussels with Manneken Pis!
Sally, Oz, Sophie – thank you! I wish I could show you more of my gorgeous city – there’s so much to see! :)
How wonderful – I spent a few days only in Sydney when we were working our way around the East Coast well over a decade ago now. I loved it but am now feeling hard done by that we didn’t get to have the tour in chocolate. What a completely fantastic idea – I think you should market it and make a fortune – what visitor wouldn’t go for this?
Hahaha…don’t feel ripped off, Sydney’s pretty special, even without the chocolate!
Celia your Sydney in Chocolate feature is fantastic! I’ve been looking everywhere for similar moulds hence how I came upon your site. (though of course I’ve now subscribed!) In particular, I’m looking for the Opera House mould. Would you mind letting me know where you got them? Thanks!
Lorraine, thank you! I bought the moulds from Roberts Confectionary – if you can’t find it on their website, try giving them a call or dropping them an email, they’re in Melbourne. Link is near the top of the post: http://robertsconfectionery.com.au/
Thanks for stopping by! (And also for subscribing! :))
PS. Just had a look at the website – here’s the direct link to the Opera House mould: http://www.robertsconfectionery.com.au/products/Sydney-A-No.-92.html