sweet expressions @ SWEETNESS - the patisserie

This post comes a little late but I guess late better than never! Sweet Expressions @ SWEETNESS was one of the events I attended as part of this year's Crave Sydney International Food Festival. I didn't make it to any of the Sugar Hits (which is what I usually scout out) but I think I more than well made up for it by going to Sweet Expressions which was one of the two events Gena (owner of Sweetness) hosted this year for the first time.

Unlike 'Tea on Tuesdays' which I also attended, Sweet Expressions was an art cross marshmallow evening spent in the Sweetness Kitchen - sounds a little cryptic so maybe a few photos might give you a better idea. To be quite honest, up until the day, I was actually unsure of what we were doing or what to expect but in the true nature of Gena and her patisserie, it was a most pleasant surprise and I had a really lovely evening!

The view from outside - the window display was created for the night by Yumi Takahashi who was co-hosting the evening with Gena.

Meeting Yumi - artist/water colour painter. Her work is stunning and part of the goodie bag we took home that night was one of her limited edition prints. I framed mine straight away and have it sitting on my table and it's ever so pretty!

In a nutshell, the evening was about marshmallows and art. We didn't actually get to make our own marshmallows but used Gena's marshmallows as a canvas for artwork. Here's an assortment of nibbles which we helped ourselves to over the 2 hour session.

It would've been good to have a hands-on session making marshmallows but nonetheless we did get to ask questions about making them and Gena was more than happy to explain the technicalities of making her best-selling product (and little do I need to explain why; try her marshmallows and you won't be eating any other marshmallow for good!) Here's artwork that the boy and I created that night, inspired by the lovely Yumi who I think is extremely talented and I would love to have more of her work to hang up at home! The colours we used were non-toxic pastels mixed with a little grappa - in case you're worried about non-toxic pastels, these are used for cake decorating also and are actually safe to eat.

The two hour session quickly drew to an end and the class of six of us had managed to create some very different and unique pieces of artwork. We also had tour through the kitchen and I just remember asking Gena a lot of questions and me falling in love with her and her patisserie! Here's the goodie bag we got to take home, the boy gave me his print so now I have two!

I really have a big girl-crush on Gena - her story of how she came to open up a Patisserie is both amazing and inspiring. She is so friendly and personable, stepping into her kitchen is like being welcomed home and there's so many things in her kitchen to look at, I could very well entertain myself for a day in her kitchen. Anyway Gena, please run more sessions next year; I thoroughly enjoyed both Tea on Tuesday and Sweet Expressions!