Six To Try: Limited-Edition Sweet Treats at Dine Out

The second edition of Dine Out, Broadsheet’s annual food festival, wraps on Sunday August 2. If you missed a seat at a headline ticketed event, we’ve still got you. Here are six sweets to try, plus four savoury specials by some of Sydney’s top pastry chefs.

French toast cinnamon scroll at Sundays, Bondi 

Sundays, the viral Bondi scroll spot by 23-year-old Laetitia Loefti, is adding a Dine Out exclusive to its very limited range. Join the queue on Thursday and Friday this week for a taste of the French toast special, featuring two stacked cinnamon scrolls layered with pistachio cream. Expect them hot, having been shallow-fried, dusted with cinnamon sugar and topped with Pepe Saya butter, maple syrup and crushed pistachios. July 30 & 31.

Daintree chocolate cake at Jane, Surry Hills

Jane, the casual counterpart to Tristan Rosier and Bec Fanning’s Arthur, is bringing back a crowd favourite for Dine Out: the sorely missed Daintree chocolate cake. The gluten-free dessert is served with a dollop of Artificer coffee cream, and you can get it for just $10, except during the bar’s Australiano Hour. Until August 2.

Egyptian scoops at Mapo, Newtown, Darlinghurst and Bondi

Two inner west faves teamed up on this sweet special, with Mapo inviting Baba’s Place head chef Fabio Khalil in to create two limited-edition flavours, both drawing on his Egyptian heritage. The first is based on Egypt’s popular bread pudding (and common iftar sweet) Umm Ali, or “Ali’s mother”. Khalil’s version features AP Bakery croissant gelato swirled with pistachio, almonds and golden raisins. The second, Karkade, is a sorbet inspired by a North African tea of hibiscus, spearmint, cinnamon and cardamom. Hit Mapo in Newtown, Darlinghurst and Bondi for a scoop, and Baba’s Place to try the original tea and dessert. All week, Khalil is offering slices of Umm Ali topped with Mapo’s croissant gelato, served alongside karkade tea. Until August 2.

Pepe Saya soufflé pancakes at Bar Julius, Redfern

There’s still time to check out Bar Julius – and its gorgeous vaulted ceilings, decorated by Dinosaur Designs’ Louise Olsen – before it closes on August 26. The stunning all-day eatery, housed in The Eve Hotel, is cooking Tokyo-style soufflé pancakes especially for Dine Out, made from a whipped batter enriched with Pepe Saya cultured butter. They’re cooked low and slow on the griddle, and served in a wobbly stack with a quenelle of Pepe Saya crème fraîche, maple syrup and seasonal fruit. Until August 2.

Halva-chocolate babka at Shaffa, Surry Hills

Down an alleyway, wedged between a church and a 19th-century inn, Shaffa aims to replicate the ambience of a Middle Eastern marketplace in the heart of Surry Hills. Its street-food inspired menu draws on cuisines from across the Mediterranean and beyond – an approach encapsulated in its Dine Out dessert special of halva-chocolate babka with pistachio and ice-cream. Until August 2.

St Honoré choux pastry bun at Baker Bleu, Double Bay

Ahead of his August pop-up bistro at Baker Bleu, French-born chef and TV host Guillaume Brahimi has created three French specials in collaboration with the bakery. The sweet option is a chewy St Honoré choux pastry bun filled with crème diplomate (a fluffy mix of Chantilly cream and crème pâtissière) and drizzled in caramel. Until August 2.

Bonus: four savoury pastries

But wait, there’s more. The Dine Out program also includes four savouries worth travelling for. Still at Baker Bleu, there’s a coq au vin pie filled with chicken, red wine, mushrooms and bacon, and topped with Paris mash. There’s also a rich French onion soup paired with a buttery comté and onion brioche bun for dipping.

Head over to Pantry Story in Enmore for the follow-up to last year’s viral croissant handbag pastry: a pastry shaped like a teapot. The pan-Asian bakery took inspiration from Indonesia’s ubiquitous bakso (meatballs) for this one, which sees buttery puff pastry encasing a savoury meatball filling. It’s served with an inventive sambal tomato gelato on the side, playing the part of a sugar lump.

And at the Dry Dock in Balmain, get your hands on a showstopping duck ragu pie made in collaboration with Lode Pies and Pastries. It draws on the bakery’s famous pithiviers, which Lode co-owner Federico Zanellato first perfected at Lumi Dining. Layers of puff pastry are wrapped around fall-apart Windsor Downs duck that’s been marinated in red wine and braised in a French-style ragu with root veggies spices and herbs. A Maryland duck bone is baked into the crust – pull it out and you’re left with a little pastry chimney, ready for a pour of rich duck gravy.

All four are only available until Sunday.