Desserts to travel for with Alana Lowes

From Freakshakes to ice-cream alchemists, Canberra has hit the sweet spot for breaking the internet with sugary, oozy, gooey, over-the-top desserts that are worth travelling for.

Here are my top must eat desserts in Canberra:

Café Patissez

You had to be living under a rock if one of the Freakshakes from Café Patissez didn’t invade your social media feed.  The viral success put social media into a meltdown and it was all due to their epic sized shakes designed to tempt both the eyes and the tastebuds.  With names like Muddy Pat, Nutty Pat, French Vanilla and Nutella and Salty Pretzel how can one resist?  Filled with warm fudgy hot chocolate, fudgy brownies and even a toasted marshmallow, I have booked the next flight to our nations capital.

Fugii Dessert Laboratory

Ice-cream alchemist, John Marshall, is the Heston Blumenthal of Canberra’s dessert scene.  Earning a huge and loyal following at the Capital Region Farmers Markets for his heavenly tasting ice-creams, John has now opened his own dessert laboratory.  On offer are his cakes, trifles, fruity verines and of course his famed ice-creams.  A crowd favourite is the selection of choux pastry delights which include inventive flavourings of lemon, lime and bitters – a choux puff filled with zingy citrus custard with a bitters gel you squirt into the baked ball.   

The Capital Region Farmers Market

The Capital Region Farmers Market is a haven for sweet lovers alike.  Open every Saturday, sweet tooths can choose from a great range of fresh baked cakes, tarts, pies, macarons and of course artisan chocolates.

Robyn Rowe has been lovingly making her handmade range of chocolates using the best Callebaut Fair Trade couverture.  The chocolate is processed in Belgium, with the cocoa beans being from Ghana.  Robyn is registered as Fair Trade which means that the cocoa farmers receive a fair, sustainable price the moment their beans are sold – not only does it taste deliciously good, but you are also assisting farmers learn better production methods and you know there is no child labour involved.  Visit Robyn at her stall at the markets early before they all sell out.

Grazing Restaurant

If you are in search of a restaurant that dishes up ever-changing and reliable breathtaking sweets worthy of a trip for dessert, then hit the highway into the country and visit Grazing at Gundaroo.

Housed in an 1865 stone building just outside of Canberra, Grazing is one of the regions best restaurants.  Here they serve hearty and country style fare celebrating the regions produce straight from the restaurant garden.

Their dessert menu reads classic names such a crème caramel, bread and butter pudding and chocolate semi-freddo, but it is the addition of beautifully constructed touches of chocolate honey sauce or cardamom flavours that lift the desserts from passé to inventive.  The flavour combinations will have you relishing every spoonful and wishing you ordered dessert first.

More about Alana

Alana Lowes is a celebrity cook of MasterChef pedigree, and has travelled the world co-hosting the television show ‘A Taste of Travel’ on Channel Ten.

Alana has recently embarked on a new adventure with the launch of her own Alana’s Pantry Spicy Sauce range available at Coles Supermarkets nationally.  Inspired by her travels globally, she has bottled up the flavours of the world into her range of gourmet hot sauces.  

To see where Alana is jetting off to next or what is on her dinner plate, follow her on Instagram and Twitter @AlanaLowes.