Top 20 sweets from South Australia

Compiling a list of 20 sweet treats was a case of yum and yummer for our dedicated team, writes Simon Wilkinson.

Many people will solemnly declare that they don’t have a sweet tooth. But in this collection of 20 treats – a sample of our best bakeries, confectioners and other masters of temptation – we’re sure we can find at least one weakness.

The most desirable desserts, look as good as they taste, use only first-rate ingredients, and show restraint and balance to the sweetness.

With this in mind, we asked our taste team to nominate their favourites, as well as putting out the call on Facebook. Here, in no particular order, are 20 of the best.

1. LEMON TART ($4.50)
Au Matin Calme
210 Hutt St, Adelaide; Phone (07) 7225 2707

There are lemon tarts and then there are Au Matin Calme’s lemon tarts. Crisp buttery pastry. Real butter. A layer of almond creme to counter the sweet, lemony custard. All perfectly enclosed in a palm-sized casing. The Hutt St patisserie echoes the delights found in Paris purely because it is the real deal. Parisian-trained owner Guillaume Blanc also produces chocolate tarts and a variety of sweet butter-laden croissants, pastries and fruit frangipane tarts to take away in crisp cardboard boxes.

2. BIRD’S NEST PASTRY($1.40)
Lavash Bakery
115 South Rd, Thebarton; Phone (08) 8354 0707

Several rows of homemade middle eastern style pastries tempt here, but the best of them is the crunchy, mid-sweet bird’s nest round pillow-like version.

3. PARTY BINGO ($11)
Bingo King
Cnr Grote St and Moonta streets, Adelaide

Formerly the famed pho shop Charlie’s Shack, now the latest of several Asian dessert venues, Bingo King serves up this monster shaved ice extravanganza. A mountain of snow ice, syrup, slices of fruit (mango, strawberry, melons), and little cubes of jelly make for refreshing and exotic cool aid after a Chinatown chilli overdose.

4. CHERRY DONUT ($2.70)
Clarendon Bakery
Main Rd, Clarendon; Phone (08) 8383 6016

The crisp, sugar-coated exterior of this fabulous donut will appeal to your inner child. But it’s the sour cherry filling that takes it to another level, giving it the flavour contrast that is the essence of all great sweets. Also available with fresh cream, it’s a favourite among the biking fraternity who are frequent visitors to this great country bakery.

5. SWEET RICOTTA CANOLI ($1.50)
Dolcetti
Shop 7 /143 Glynburn Rd, Firle; Phone (08) 8337 9008

Dream stuff here with the most seductive light vanilla cream inside a milk chocolatey, fresh canoli rollup. Yu-um. This new venture’s gelati – try the seasonal fruit fig – is also top rate.

6. BRIOCHE WITH HOMEMADE LEMON CURD OR JAM ($4)
La Terre Cafe Jardinage
44 High St, Willunga; Phone (08) 8556 2612 (Friday-Sunday only)

Jen Hanna, who started the Enoteca Sileno specialty food wholesale business (now Bottega Rotolo) in Kent Town, brought good coffee, Willunga almond biscotti and other sweet treats to the Willunga Farmers’ Market from its first day. The citrus tang of the lemon curd is the perfect foil for the rich, buttery brioche. They’re light and fluffy, and, if you really feel like indulging, there’s a variation with chocolate ganache and cream.

7. APPLE TART ($3.75)
Dough, Central Market
Dough, Stall 45 Central Market; Phone (08) 82119640

This pretty little apple tart looks almost too pretty to eat. Bite into that flaky pastry and you’ll find a thin layer of creamy custard below slices of sweet poached apple. The pear version looks just as good.

8. BEE STING ($7-8)
Apex Bakery
Elizabeth St, Tanunda; Phone (08) 8563 2483

This legendary bakery in the heart of the Barossa is best know for its traditional German cake with a strudel topping. But we love the bee sting (or bienenstich), another traditional combo of a cake topped with a crunch layer of honey and almonds, and filled with custard and cream. It’s sold by weight, in big slabs, but be warned, it’s hard to stop at one piece.

9. FLEUR DE SEL ($2.20)
Steven ter Horst Chocolatier
221d Unley Rd, Unley; Phone (08) 8373 1330

The exquisite chocolate jewels hand-crafted by Steven ter Horst are intended to savour, not scoff. Many have girl’s names (Chloes, Lily, Jeanette) but our favourite is the Fleur de Sel, with its filling of caramel spiked with Maldon salt flakes. That salted caramel also can be found in a tart that’s part of the “petit gateaux” collection available at the shop for late-night treats from Tuesday to Saturday.

10. POIRE ($4.40)
Mulot’s Patisserie
143 King William Rd, Hyde Park; Phone (08) 8272 6499

Mulot’s has many sorts of delicacies but this simple pear tart shaped like a pear is a distillation of a lot of it. The pastry base is firm and crispy and puffs up around the edges with a subtle, marzipan custard filling topped with sliced pear.

11. PASTRIES AND OTHER GOODIES
From Scratch Pattisserie
www.fromscratchpatisserie.com.au

Don’t be fooled by the playful names – Ugly Rasp Bettie, Choc N Pox – and the young faces behind the counter. Jonny Pisanelli and Edwina Peoples bring incredible technique, passion and a streak of perfectionism in their sweet treats.

“From Scratch” it is, with everything baked each morning using the best available ingredients and skills learnt first by training in Adelaide at Regency, then on a sojourn to work with the best in France and Italy.

This shows in the sublime crunch of golden pastry, so good you won’t want to waste a flake, whether it’s a galette topped with seasonal fruit or the sfogliatelle. The frangipane tarts are to-die-for, as is the Ugly Rasp Bettie – a jam-filled donut twirl.

From humble beginnings at Gilles St market three years ago, From Scratch is now a regular at the Sunday Adelaide Showground Farmer’s Market and sets up early each Friday in an alleyway off Leigh St.

12. PANCAKE WITH CHOCOLATE SAUCE ($4-6)
Providore
Providore, Stall 66, Adelaide Central Market; Phone (08) 8231 5977.

From the sweet heaven of the Providore in the Central Market, a new pancake machine is going to be a huge hit – with blueberries, ice cream and dark Belgian chocolate sauce on top. Great value.

13. EXCELLENT VANILLA SLICE ($4.20)
Swiss Glory
Central Market Arcade; Phone (08) 8231 6066

The sandwich board outside this chocolate specialist proclaims Adelaide’s best vanilla slice – and we’re not about to argue. Sheets of flaky pastry with custard, but the triumph is the crunchy honey and almond topping.

14. TINY LEMON TART ($1.20)
Stirling Cellars Patisserie
Unit 1, 5 Johnstone St, Stirling (behind the Stirling Hotel); Phone (08) 8339 6378

Hills pastry chef and baker Chris Broadfoot’s delightful, mouthful-sized French tarts – lemon , lime and chocolate are the perfect add-on to great coffee at the same venue.

15. CREME BRULEE TART ($4.50)
Red Door Bakery
22 Elizabeth St, Croydon; Phone (08) 8340 0306

Red Door has been mentioned in these pages before, but how could we leave out these dreamy little tarts, made with brilliant short pastry case, smooth, rich custard and a fragile sheet of toffee. The lemon tart and the fruit danishes are also superb.

16. CHOCOLATE ECLAIR ($3.20)
The Mill Bakehouse
139 Bower Rd, Ethelto; Phone (08) 8449 8173

Everything an eclair should be with generously sized crisp, airy choux pastry absolutely bursting at the seams with thick, fresh cream and topped with a dark, semi-sweet chocolate ganache.

17. BAKED CHEESE CAKE ($4.50)
Sevenhill Fine Food
Stall 75, Central Market