Our last day in Vienna was finally greeted by sunny weather! ☀️☀️ After the jam-pack schedule of the trip to Salzburg yesterday, we got up slightly later this morning. 😴(Especially considering I got down to the hotel reception for a glass of coke and caught up on UK TV past 2am last night! 📺 🥤😂) However, there was still a bit to do before our flight in the afternoon. 👌
After checking out of the hotel, we headed straight to the Holfburg nearby for some more sightseeing in the Sisi Museum, which showcased many beautiful silver collection and also the history of Empress Elisabeth of Austria in the Imperial Apartments. 👀 (Not to be rude but I think I was more interested in the dinnerwares! 😂)
The HolfburgGlorious weather! ☀️☀️Dinnerwares in the muesum A golden banquet I quite want this for myself lol! 😂❤️Beautiful! ❤️Don’t eat it, it’s fake! 😂 🥖 Want to join me in this banquet? 😉
Next up we headed back to Stephansplatz (where the St. Stephen’s Cathedral is) to finish our Vienna trip with a shopping trip! 🛒
Back in the shopping district in Stephansplatz The third time seeing St. Stephen’s Cathedral in this trip! 😂😂The famous wafer biscuits from ViennaHave you ever seen a recipe postcard before? 😆 Beautiful painting of St. Stephen’s Cathedral ❤️Last meal in Vienna
After adding some more load to our already full suitcases, we went back to the hotel to collect our luggages before taking a taxi to the airport. ✈️ Our flight was a light flight which only allowed a maximum of 8kg per hand luggage, and we were lucky that we got away being checked on our journey to Vienna. But this time we weren’t so lucky! My bag was 2kg over (I don’t know what it was, but I guess it could be my laptop plus the added load of the wafer biscuits… 😐), but I was charged €40 for the excess luggage. 🤷♂️ (Not to mention the zip on the front of my suitcase broke, and my portable charger almost fell out when I collected it in baggage reclaim! 🤦♂️)
Anyway, but to end our trip here in Vienna, I had one more slice of Sachertorte before boarding on the flight back home. 🍰 Obviously nowhere near as good as the one in Sacher Hotels yesterday, but still finished our trip in style! 😂 The end of a journey is only the beginning of another! 😉
One more Sachertorte before flying back to London ✈️✈️ – the cake was much drier than the one in Sacher Hotels though 😂😅😗
For the penultimate day of our stay in Vienna, we decided to head to the neighbouring city of Salzburg – the location of ‘The Sound of Music’! 🎵🎶🎶 (Already can’t stop humming the tune! 😂) In order for us to get to Salzburg, we were up early and ready to aim for our train at 9:42. 🌅 (But not before I made my own waffle for breakfast first! ❤️)
Waffle for Breakfast! 😋First time I made my own waffle too, believe it or not! 😂
The return train ticket from Vienna to Salzburg costed just under €60 – a very reasonable price! And after we grabbed some snacks and drinks from the shop, it was all aboard and off we go! 🚈 The train journey to Salzburg lasted around 2 hours and 20 minutes – which gives me more than enough time to play games on my phone 📱 and nap 😴 in between haha! 😂
Catching the trainGlimpses of the Alps as we are approaching Salzburg
Upon arrival in Salzburg, we went immediately to the information centre to get a Salzburg card (costed €26) which allowed entry to all the major attractions here and also covering costs of buses – honestly if you want to spend a day sightseeing here you should definitely get one! 👍 👍
The Salzburg Card
Our first stop of the day was the Untersberg cable car that travels to the top of the Alps. 🚠 Despite the rainy weather, the mountain views were still breathtaking to behold! ❤️❤️ (Rather than let me waffle in words, I will let the pictures and videos do the talking haha! 😉)
The AlpsBreathtaking! ❤️Starting the cable car… 🚠View from above Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow! ❄️❄️Complete whiteness at the top! 😮
The poor weather today meant that the top of the Alps was covered by a raging blizzard. 🌨🌨 (Such bad luck! 😫 I only noticed on Instagram after that, on a normal day, the view is really spectacular. Such a shame…😕) The lady in the information office informed us that one can spend up to three hours there, but we didn’t even last more than 3 minutes outside! 😂
Blizzard attack! ❄️❄️Let’s hurry back! 😂🏃♂️
After briefly trying to brave the storm, we went back inside and sat down in the restaurant to warm ourselves back up.🔥🔥 I thought the cold weather was perfect for a bowl of hot soup 🥣, and ordered Leberknödelsuppe – a beef broth served with a liver dumpling (which reminded me a bit of haggis!)
Leberknödelsuppe – doesn’t look that appetising, but it actually tasted great! 😋
After coming back down from the mountains, the awful weather continued 🌧🌧. However, we made the most of our day in Salzburg, visiting the Hohensalzburg Fortress, Salzburg Cathedral, Mozart’s Birthplace and Mirabell Gardens.
Hohensalzburg Fortress View of Salzburg from the fortress ❤️❤️ (Yes, it looks brighter than it should because I edited it! 😂)It’s snowing! ⛄️❄️Exploring the inside of the fortress 🔍The outside of Salzburg CathedralInside Salzburg Cathedral 🤫🤫The beautiful ceiling in cathedralMozart’s Birthplace (no photography or videoing allowed inside unfortunately)The entrance of Mirabell GardensMirabell GardensThe beautiful view by the river 🌊🌊
The teatime treat though was the thing I was looking forward to the most today. We visited Sacher Hotels (not the original one in Vienna but its branch) and tasted their world-famous Sachertorte. 😋😋 The 34-steps recipe of the Sachertorte is apparently a top guarded secret and kept in a safe for security! 😬 And the cake certainly did not disappoint as it was perfectly moist with a rich chocolate taste balanced with a slight tartness from the apricot jam. ❤️❤️ We also ordered two other desserts, including the classic Viennese apple strudel which was wonderfully flaky, which paired well with the light custard sauce. But the highlight for me was the pear mousse 🍐. It was light and slightly tangy with the sharpness of the pear coming through. Plus, I love the beautiful pear crisp it was served with on top. 😍💚
The signature SachertorteViennese apple strudel served with cream saucePear Mousse Cup with a beautiful pear crisp! 💚💚
After a rather long train journey back to Vienna, we headed straight back to the hotel for a quick break before finally going out for our last dinner in Vienna to conclude a jam-packed day… but the journey is not over! 😉
Guten Tag here from Vienna! After a less than ideal night of sleep (due to a combination of my jet leg and the hotness of the hotel room 😓), it was rise and shine, and ready to go for a day of sightseeing!
Breakfast buffet in the hotel – I am always amused by the amount of cheese available whenever I visit an European country 🧀🧀🧀
Hoping to recover from our bumpy ride yesterday, we devised a plan to visit all our interested points of attractions for the day with our first destination set to be Schönbrunn Palace – the summer residence to the royal family in Austria (which to me, it’s almost like an Austrian equivalent of the Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh 😂). I searched up the location and noticed it was within very close walking distance from the hotel. But only upon arrival do we realised that I misspelt it as “Schönborn Palace” and in fact the actual Schönbrunn Palace was much further away from we were! 🤦♂️ 🤦♂️ (MISTAKE NUMBER 1! ❌ )
Back on track – quite literally 😂
Back on the underground, we went for the 24 hours daily train ticket (costing only €8) and finally arrived at Schönbrunn Palace after the minor delay. The place was just like one from a fairytale! ❤️❤️ We went with the grand tour around the palace, and I would love to show you the inside of it, but unfortunately the place bans any videoing or photography. One of my favourite places was the beautiful grand ballroom – imagine hosting a party in there! 🎉 🎉🎊🎊🎊 One could dream lol! 😂
Schönbrunn Palace360 degree view!Schönbrunn Palace from the backBeautiful skyline at the back garden Lost in the majestical feel of this garden 🧚🏻♂️🧚♀️
For lunch, we then decided to head to Kim Kocht, a Korean fusion restaurant run by a celebrity chef featured on MasterChef Korea- a place I was much looking forward to going to. We then headed to Währinger Straße-Volksoper station, but thought we ended up at the wrong station due to a different location show on the maps app. 🤷♂️ We then changed a different train to Schwedenplatz to the said location, but then found out that the place is permanently closed! 😱😱 (Turned out we were at the correct station where the current restaurant is, but the maps app did not update about the closure of the old address! – Still I should have checked the address on the website first. MISTAKE NUMBER 2! ❌ 🤦♂️) In the end, we settled at Hard Rock Café nearby and filled up on a larger platter and rehydrated from all the walking.
So thirsty…! Need to recharge our energy!! 💪
We then continued onwards with our sightseeing, visiting the beautiful St. Stephen’s Cathedral and Mozarthaus before returning to the hotel for a short rest.
St. Stephen’s Cathedral Inside the cathedralSo beautiful! ❤️❤️Mozarthaus (again no video or photography allowed inside unfortunately)
After feeling refreshed from my brief nap, we headed out again to the evening. Our destination for dinner was the futuristic Rollercoaster Restaurant inside a quiet fairground. In here, foods are ordered on an iPad and then delivered to the customers through a rollercoaster track! 🚄🚄 (Behold the future of food delivery! 😂👏👏) It was actually a bit noisy and scary when the food landed, plus the food was rather average (my friend got a burnt burger and I received some undercooked pasta…😐) However, I am sure the gimmick will be one to enjoy, especially with family and children.
The FairgroundThe Rollercoaster Restaurant Very futuristic!BANG! Here comes your food! 💨
And finally to end the night, we visited Onyx Bar just opposite St. Stephen Cathedral. The night view of the cathedral was amazing and so were the cocktails! 😉🍸🥂🍹
Great nightview from the bar! 🌃 Cocktail Party!
After the cocktails, my head is now truly spinning round lol! 😵
So excited to be going out of the UK in such a long time! 😆😆 In this half term break, my friends and I decided to visit Vienna – my very first time in the city! Obviously expect plenty of good food and crazy adventure haha! 🤣 After a slight delay and a bit of a bumpy take off from London (thank you Storm Dennis! 💨😐), we finally arrived at Vienna in the early evening and were greeted by a beautiful sunset 🌅 as we landed. (Wish I took a photo on the plane!)
Our first goal upon arrival was to check into the hotel in Rathaus. We decided to take the City Express from the airport and change to a different line in the Vienna U-Bahn.
Let’s go!
However, long story short, we basically did not realise that the City Airport Train only travel between the airport and Landstraße Wien Mitte station… (blaming on the poor guidance we got and the confusing mapping of the train lines 😵) So when we got to Landstraße Wien Mitte station, we stayed sitting on the train, and then ended up being taken back to the airport! 😖😖
Here we go again at the airport…!! ✈️✈️
Moreover, we wasted €12 on that train ticket… 💸💸 But rather spending more time taking the train and back, we decided to have a change of plan and take a taxi to the hotel. It was actually nicer in fact because I got to sit at the front and enjoy the nightview of Vienna.
Taxi!! 🚕 🚕 🚕 Almost there! 🌃
Despite a bit drained from our little detour, we headed out shortly to dinner in Wiener Rathauskeller which was just about two streets across from the hotel. The restaurant was pleasing in the inside, but the food was a bit of a let down. The fried blood sausage I had as a starter tasted okay (just like the British black pudding), whereas the roast beef was good with the rich gravy but served with fried onions that were too salty and bland roasted potatoes. 🤷♂️
Inside the restaurant The beef and gravy was good, but unfortunately paired with salty fried onions and bland roasted potatoes…
We then decided to stroll around Rathauspark nearby which was dazzling with the beautiful festive lights – almost reminding me of Winter Wonderland back in London. ❄️❄️ (I was also envious of the people skating around lol ⛸⛸)
Felt like Christmas again! 🎄❄️💫Wish I could ice skate… ⛸😯This reminded of Christmas Market 🤗
Finally, we finally managed to end the day on a high note as we enjoyed some dessert in Café Landtmann. 😋 😋 We order the classic apple strudel 🍎, vanilla slice🥛and orange cheesecake 🍊, ensuring we will be having a sweet dream tonight. 😉
So many choices… 🤤🤤Dessert table ❤️❤️
More to come tomorrow! This is only the beginning! 👌
Happy Valentine’s Day! ❤️❤️ I don’t think there is any other festival that I can feel anymore disconnected from, so here is a shout out to all the singletons like me out there! 😂 Plus, I am finally getting my week off work next week, so plenty of fun to be coming around!
However, one can’t deny that the best thing about this festival is the chocolate, and lots and lots of them at that! 🍫🍫🍫 While today may be a celebration for some, I am saying goodbye to a dear work colleague who is moving away from London and I definitely use the opportunity to make a chocolate cake that satisfied everyone during lunchtime! (It just so happened that her favourite cake is also chocolate lol.)
‘You’re always welcome home’ – and I am as ‘exasperated’ (as pointed out by somebody) as this bird on my cake 😂😂
For those of you interested, I used the same chocolate sponge recipe that I posted a while back last year. (See link here 👉 https://tangosbaking.home.blog/2019/05/27/life-is-like-a-box-of-chocolates/) But instead of making chocolate ganache, I did a ‘freestyle’ chocolate frosting that I whipped up using some melted butter, cocoa powder, milk and plenty of icing sugar! (Didn’t even bother with measurements! 😂 I was entirely going by eye for consistency.) I then topped the cake with a chocolate nest filled with mini eggs and a white fondant bird. 🐦 Nothing can beat a well-baked chocolate cake really! 😝😋
After spending some time drinking in the pub, I also took myself out for a dinner for one at my favourite Italian comfort food spot. (The mixed fish grill was so delicious! 🤤 Crispy exterior with the perfectly cooked centre 🐟🦐) Who said that single life isn’t fun? 😉
Mixed fish grill (salmon, lemon sole, sea bass and king prawn) served with a mixed salad
And also clearly I haven’t had enough cake earlier…😅
Apple cake served with a warm mango cream sauce and vanilla ice cream
And with a full stomach, it’s time to go home and lie back in my bed! 😂 🛏
My train today back to London was just after lunchtime, so I most definitely have more time to spend in Rochester. A Sunday brunch was obviously the first thing in my mind after waking up, so I checked out the hotel around 10am and headed to The Quills just right next door. I already love Eggs Benedict (that velvety Hollandaise sauce mmmm…❤️), but I really like how they paired it with the pulled pork. 🤤🤤 Great way to start the day! 👍
Afterwards, there are more sightseeing to be done as I headed to the Guildhall Museum down the road. (It’s so convenient in a small town ’cause everything is on the same street! 😂) Given it was a Sunday morning, it wasn’t that surprising that the place was eerily quiet (in fact, I was the only visitor lol) but that didn’t stop me from exploring inside. (Though at one point I got freaked out by my own reflection in the mirrored wall! 🤣)
Feeling like a kid again 😂Eerie music in the background… 🎵🎶🎶More exploring… 🔍🔍Tiptoeing… 😬🤫
Next up, I headed to the beautiful piers (after unceremoniously trying to get inside the cathedral without noticing a Sunday worship was happening lol. ⛪ 😂 ) So blessed to still have the beautiful weather today though (albeit a bit windy haha!)
With still more time to kill, I decided to sit down in a café for a second brunch, but ended up running a bit late, taking the burger with me in a doggy bag to meet the bus to Strood…🏃♂️🚌 (There was no train running from Rochester because it was a Sunday, so we needed to get to the station in Strood. To be fair, it was so close I could have walked – the station was even closer than Jerk Café from yesterday night. Would have saved me from bolting out the café with the burger in my hand lol!)
Anyway, bon appetite!
Finished that on the train back home! 🚂 (Yeah, the bun was a little burnt, but it actually tasted quite good 😂)
After a very busy first month to start off 2020 (and some may say that this hasn’t been a great year so far given Brexit and the current coronavirus crisis… 😔), I decided to reward myself with another weekend getaway trip. This time, I chose to explore the historic town of Rochester after passing it on my last weekend trip to Canterbury. (FYI I was still a bit hungover and sleep deprived from the cocktail night before when I boarded the train… 😂😴😵🍸🍸)
Thankfully, I was blessed with great weather today ☀️☀️ and I was really impressed by the historic vibes of the town. 😀
This painting is a mood 😂 😂
After a brief walk along the High Street, I settled down for a cosy Italian lunch in a restaurant called Mamma Mia. ❤️
For the main part of my sightseeing, I then visited and explored the famous Rochester Castle – a historic site which is said to be around 1000 years old. And I had a great time exploring inside!
My view from the top of the castle was magnificent! ❤️❤️ But it was so windy 💨 💨 when I was there, I was just trying to not let my phone get blown off. 😂 The castle wasn’t very big itself, so it almost felt it went too quick!
After a short rest in the hotel, I decided to go across the river in the evening to head to the town of Strood on the other side of the shore, and also got to enjoy the beautiful evening view of the piers. 🌅
For dinner, I stopped by a Caribbean eatery called Jerk Café. What a delicious meal that was! 😋 Tender steaks, rice and beans plus mac and cheese – who won’t love that? ❤️
A belated happy Chinese New Year from me! 🎉🎉🎉🎊🎊 Work has been very busy since the new year (leading to me neglecting the blog 😅😅) and time really flew in the past weeks. Today though, unlike most of my Asian family that were celebrating Chinese New Year, I was instead away at a friend’s birthday party and playing mini golf.🏌️♂️ Well, it turns out I definitely suck at playing golf but at least I got free complimentary drinks! 😂🍷🍸
It won’t be me without baking a birthday cake for my friend 🎂 and the cake of the choice today was a strawberry red velvet cake covered with the classic cream cheese frosting and desiccated coconut (and a pair of white chocolate wings dusted with edible gold glitters. 😉) It was my first time making red velvet cake, so I guess it wasn’t a bad first attempt (though I did wing the recipe a bit so I guess it may not be totally traditional lol! 😂)
The place didn’t allow us to eat brought in food, though we still ended up sneakily tucking it away underneath the table… 🤫 (‘What’s the worst they could do? Throw us out?’ 🤣🤣 Blame one’s poor judgement after a few drinks haha!) Hence, the awful quality of the pic below! 😛 I swear the waitresses did see us but said nothing, or maybe it was the lucky red colour? 🔴😉
Still getting used to being back to work after the long holiday. 😛 Right now the dark winter sky in the UK is really not giving me enough drive to work in the evening. 😴 (Where has all the motivation in the new year gone lol!?) Does anybody else feel the same?
At this point, I will be dreaming about a tropical island 🏝 in a far land and wishing I am there instead. 😝 However, for now, a mango lover like me can survive with a mango and cream cake. At least, I can taste the tropic right now! 😋😂 I realise it has been a while since I posted a recipe, so I hope you all will enjoy this cake as much as I did! 💛
Mango and Cream Cake
Quantity: 1 cake
Ingredients:
5 eggs, separated
80g caster sugar
60g flavourless oil
70g warm water
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g self raising flour
250ml double cream
1 mango, diced
Mango pulp
White Chocolate, tempered (optional)
Pistachio, chopped finely (optional)
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4.
2. Whisk the egg white with half the sugar until stiff.
3. Mix the remaining sugar, egg yolks, oil water and vanilla together until well-combined.
4. Sieve in the flour and stir until well-combined.
5. Fold in half of the whisked egg white into the flour mixture. Then, pour the mixture back into the remaining egg white and fold until evenly combined.
6. Grease the cake tin, then transfer the cake mixture into it.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
8. Let the cake cool briefly in the cake tin, then remove the cake from the tin. Leave the cake on a wire rack until completely cooled.
9. Whisk the double cream until whipped and smooth.
10. Slice the cake evenly across to create two layers. Sandwich the sponge layers with whipped cream, mangoes and mango pulp.
11. Cover the sides and the top of the cake with the remaining whipped cream. Drizzle more mango pulp at the top of the cake. Decorate with more mangoes, pistachio and tempered white chocolates to finish.
Just want to say a big Happy New Year from the UK! 🎉🎉🎊🎊👏👏👏 Wishing everyone the best and may all your wishes come true in 2020!! ❤️❤️ Don’t forget to be happy 😃 and treasure every moments to come! 🤗
Meanwhile… let me tuck into my bonfire cake to welcome the new year while watching the fireworks 🎆 🎇 from my window! 😂
Tango's Baking 