cookie, melbourne.

When I went down to Melbourne with my best friend two years ago, her cousin told us that we HAD to visit Cookie - a cocktail bar. Being a lover for a good cocktail we went down there not knowing what to expect, and was pleasantly surprised.

The cocktails are among the best I've ever tasted, it is the Melbourne equivalent of my watering hole Kuleto's in Newtown (read my review here). The only downside to Cookie is the price is quite high, and they don't have the happy hour deal I'm use to at Kuleto's - and to be honest, the Toblerone at Kuleto's is much nicer. It was also sad to see that a lot of the drinks that were in the menu 2 years ago have now disappeared - my much raved about thickness of their menu was scoffed at by my boyfriend when I saw that the menu had shrunk.

Regardless, I do love the extravagant nature of their drinks and a good cocktail bar is hard to find.

For those who are daring enough they serve this drink (first picture below) called the Dry-Hopped Chocolate Zombie which will only be served once per customer, per evening. It is a lethal mix of absinthe, grenadine, chocolate liqueur - just to name a few of the ingredients. My boyfriend and I shared this and after a few sips each I was tipsy. I wasn't a huge fan of the taste as you could taste the absinthe quite heavily, but definitely worth a sip or two to share!

Find them:
Level 1, 252 Swanston St, Melbourne, VIC

Dry-Hopped Chocolate Zombie, $30

Strawberry Daiquiri, $20

T-Lam-Chi, $19

Toblerone, $20

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hpnotiq lemonade.

My boyfriend & I received a bottle of "Original" Hpnotiq for our 21st birthday last year, and let's just say it did not last long. It is the perfect mix of exotic fruit juices, French vodka and a touch of Cognac. I haven't had a chance to try the "Harmonie" yet but the offerings of infused fruits and flowers sounds delicious!

Because the Hpnotiq had such a full fruity flavour we mixed it with some lemonade, a neutral mixer.

INGREDIENTS:

• 60ml Hpnotiq
• Sprite Lemonade

METHOD:

1. Pour Hpnotiq into highball glass filled with ice and top with lemonade
2. VOILA! A refreshing beverage, perfect for summer!

Image from @lpmmags Instagram

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cocoa cake.

For Easter I decided to make a tasty chocolate cake but didn't want the typical heavy chocolate cake made with chocolate, so I switched it up and tried to make a cake with cocoa powder. This is probably one of my favourite chocolate cake recipes. It's even better when it's been in the fridge as the cake becomes almost like a brownie.

P.S: I decorated the cake with the top of the Easter eggs from my cheesecake easter eggs.

This recipe makes about 8-10 servings.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups plain flour
• ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1½ sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1¾ cups packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1⅓ cups water
• Icing sugar, for dusting

METHOD: 

1. Preheat oven to 180˚C.
2. Butter round cake pan - mine had a diameter of 25cm.
3. Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
4. Beat together butter and brown sugar with electric mixer until pale and fluffy in large mixing bowl.
5. Add eggs in 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. Then beat in vanilla.
7. Add flour mixture and water in batches, beginning and ending with flour and mixing until well combined.
8. Pour batter into cake pan and bake until springy to touch and skewer comes out clean - about 45minutes.
9. Cool in pan for an hour before dusting with icing sugar.
10. VOILA! The perfect chocolate cake! 

Image from @lpmmags Instagram

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