Central Baking Depot

Two words. Lemon. Pillow. How can you say no?

Mir and I met at Central Baking Depot today for coffee and something sweet. There we were, two recently unemployed people who still rise early, and who can’t seem to reconcile themselves with the fact that they’re now on holiday. It’s too weird. On my first day of Not Working, I got up with a start, wondering if I was late for work. Half an hour into the day and I was thinking that I didn’t know if I could do this whole Relax And Enjoy The Break thing. I thought about sending out my resume, but then decided to at least wait until after breakfast because decisions such as these should not be made on an empty stomach.

I am Day 4 into creating my own sourdough starter, by the way. It’s something I’ve always wanted to try, if I ever had the time. I’ve even named it. Hopefully it’s just a case of early days jitters, because Sully doesn’t seem to be doing much at the moment. There might or might not be some bubbles on the surface of the starter. It either means I have colonies, or Sully just has a mild case of indigestion.

So anyway. Central Baking Depot. It’s small, with limited seating, but I think that’s part of the charm of the place. As you sit and have your coffee, bread is being made, proofed and baked right in front of you. I love watching the process, and the big bags of flour that serve as a room divider between the prep area and the customer seating are a nice touch.

My coffee was okay, not fantastic. Decent decaf is hard to come by, and anyway, I’m spoilt because B does a killer cup of decaf with our Mokita Combi at home. After a bit of umm-ing and ahh-ing, I settled on a pastry stick of chocolate and poppyseed. It’s gnarled and twisted; something I imagine Adam Lambsbreath would use to cletter the dishes with, on Cold Comfort Farm; and utterly utterly delicious. Mir wanted the same, but I talked her into getting the Lemon Pillow which she claimed was too big, but somehow it disappeared pretty quickly while we were seated and chatting. The Lemon Pillow is glorious. It’s puffy and light with a layer of sharp lemony custard inside that goes perfectly with the sweet and rich pastry.

I’m definitely not done with this place. Already I’m looking forward to returning and discovering other treats that I can’t say no to.

Central Baking Depot
37-39 Erskine St
Sydney 2000.

5 Comments »

  1. Aran said,

    May 7, 2008 @ 1:27 am

    I really wish we had good bakeries around here. But no. I don’t understand why it’s so difficult. I would die for one!

  2. Y said,

    May 7, 2008 @ 7:37 am

    Why Aran, you have the best bakery in town, right in your own home. And your bakery even does the most fabulous looking macarons 😉

  3. Tartelette said,

    May 9, 2008 @ 4:20 am

    Like Raon, I wish we had good bakeries like that. We did once and it closed because the location was not ideal.

  4. Mad about cakes said,

    May 12, 2008 @ 9:36 pm

    I’ve been curious about Central Baking Depot. I’ve been to its sister shop Bourke St Bakery in Surry Hills, and it’s a firm favourite.Love their pork and fennel sausage rolls and beef pies. Good on you for making your sourdough starter! I cook with yeast all the time but not brave enough to do sourdough.

  5. Y said,

    May 13, 2008 @ 8:18 am

    It seems to have less choice than Bourke St. Bakery, for now, but I like it because it’s more convenient for me to get to, and still features quality pastries and breads.

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