Its scary to think just a week ago the boy and I were walking along Southbank, huddled under my umbrella, searching for
My Sweetopia to test some cupcakes. We checked out the lifestyle markets, dined at Sardine Tin and drive home, with wet shoes but bellies bursting with sweet goods and divine cheeses. But this week, we watched the two hourly reports, seeing the places we have previously dined at, walked along, explored, in Rosalie, the closest Hog's Breath and the banks of South Brisbane being 6 feet under water, our stomachs tied in knots. As reporters updated their viewers, live from the Ipswich CBD, we played a morbid game of identifying the backgrounds of our closest major town in disbelief.
We quickly ushered our relatives and friends off the phone lines, after assuring them we were safe. There wasn't much else we could to help do other than stay inside and off the roads and donate money. They didn't want food or even volunteers.
Just a day before it all went under, I drove up the main street of Ipswich, Brisbane St:
I had no idea that in less than 24 hours it would look like this:
Thank goodness Ipswich has had about 3 days of full-on sun, and I hear these places are no longer underwater. I still feel its better we wait at home, to avoid causing any trouble for the emergency services.
And I hope the businesses at Southbank are fared a little better than Coles did here. It might be sometime before you get to visit My Sweetopia on Grey St, Southbank. I don't mean to be callous, but a quick review...
We entered
My Sweetopia on a cold, wet afternoon. I have been searching for gourmet cupcakes that will knock my socks off in Brissy, and this is one of the most accessible places to get them.
It was pretty slim pickings; I think there were about 8 left. I guess you need to come early if you want a huge array of choice. I settled on a Caramel Choc, and a hot Mocha. The boy had Black Forrest Mud. They were about $4.80 each, but that might be normal for a CBD price.
As we waited for my drink we inspected their reading material and display case. Beautiful! They even had a year of the Rabbit cake. I also liked the look of mini cupcakes, and wished they were selling those that day, like they do at Di...licious in Ipswich.
These cupcakes were a deep dark choc colour - like a mud cake. I wouldn't even call them cupcakes, more like muffins, as they were pretty darn big, with rounded tops. The decorations were nice, although slightly irrelevant (that's a snow-flake on my Caramel Choc)?
My muffin was a chocolate mud base, studded with caramel drops - but I only found four on the outside. Delicious mind you. The muffin base itself was a little dry - not muddy enough for mud cake but not light enough for cupcake. And in it I was expecting a ball or ribbon of caramel, maybe some chips or even caramel icing? The buttercream wasn't too buttery, but not flavoursome enough for me, particularly as the muffin was Choc Caramel. The boy's was also chocolate based, with a ball of jam in the middle (hurrah). The icing, once again, didn't blow us away.
We was rather unimpressed. Perhaps I spoilt him with my baking?
Both were very filling, but we agreed looked much better than they tasted. Perhaps we came too late in the day?
On the plus side the Mocha was
fantastic. They used the right flavoured coffee (not to bitter) and the right chocolate, and it didn't need sweetening, but it wasn't overpowering.
Drat. Sorry Brissy, but all the places I have read about then visited have been slightly disappointing (with the exception of Freestyle Tout). Not bad, just... didn't live up to the hype! I would not return for the same cupcake, but a Mocha, and maybe earlier in the day for the smaller sized ones?
Next, Rubi shoes. I don't usually buy from here as the quality is poor. But they are good for on-trend cheap shoes – the place was overflowing with clogs and heeled combat boots, and if you keep up with fashion I guess you don't care if they fall apart in two months. but I fell in love with these open toe wedge sandals. They make all my dresses look far better than the plastic and canvas ballet flats I wear everywhere.
