Yuletide office or family morning and afternoon teas will be taken to a new level of Christmas flavour with the incorporation of a limited edition festive pastry. Move over white Christmas and rumballs, here comes the limited edition spirited Red Centre Negroni Cruffin.
Vouched as being a delicious delight by Sydney Scoop's queen of desserts, Nicki Alchin, this festive cruffin is a joint project of Banksia Bakehouse in Sydney's CBD and Archie Rose Distillery Co. Be prepared to be spellbound by the citrus aromatics and wowed by the lava like flow of its deep blood orange mousse centre as you cut into the pastry casing.
Using a range of ingredients – most notably the key one being Archie Rose’s hugely popular, limited release Red Centre Negroni bottled cocktail, we are told that the cruffin’s recipe was inspired by the thoughts of summer relaxation with a Negroni firmly in hand. The result, most definitely, is a decadent blend of blood orange mousse centre with a Negroni ‘coulis’ with orange peel, rosemary, dark chocolate and gold foil, encased in the Sydney CBD bakehouse’s signature light and buttery pastry.
The Archie Rose Negroni cocktail is perfectly balanced with a lot of flavour. Banksia Bakehouse co-founder, Aileen Zhang, is quoted as saying they only had to slightly tweak the coulis ratio of orange custard put in to balance the Negroni.
The whole experience of creating the cruffin is definitely a testament to ingenuity and craftsmanship. Making them takes the Banksia Bakehouse pastry chefs several days. First the dough is made and then ‘rested’; on the second day it’s cut, shaped and stored overnight in a dough proofer (a warming chamber used in baking), and the team then bakes and finishes the cruffin on the third day. Aileen is also quoted as describing the process of making the Negroni filling as a ‘labour of love’ to ensure the Negroni cocktail taste is able to cut through the sweetness but not overpower it. She says it is all about balance and that the cruffin certainly has a flavour kick like a Negroni cocktail!
Of the collaboration – Banksia Bakehouse’s first (but not last!) – Aileen says it’s a “perfect match”.
“We love working with local producers and celebrating local ingredients and Archie Rose aligns perfectly with the Banksia brand. Both teams enjoy using local and native ingredients in our respective creations, and Archie Rose’s Negroni bottled cocktail – from their Native Australian range – certainly ticked all the boxes for us. It’s the ideal ingredient for this specially-produced cruffin,” she says. “And this collaboration with a leading local spirits company is the first of many that will produce delicious, unique creations.”
Archie Rose founder Will Edwards adds: “We’re fortunate to collaborate with Banksia Bakehouse, who share our ethos of celebrating the best local ingredients whilst thinking outside the box in creating innovative and quirky products. We love seeing our spirits used in unique ways.”
Costing $12, the limited-edition Red Centre Cruffin is available until 23 December from Banksia Bakehouse Grosvenor Place Sydney.
