I have been on a mission to try all the afternoon high tea places in Singapore. One would imagine that there are plenty of nice dessert places to go for a leisure afternoon tea. But the problem is, I have been to most of them, and sometimes, I end up going to the usual ones because there are only that few high tea places in town.

After having dim sum at Paradise Pavilion, my partner-in-crime and I were greedy for more food, and we I suddenly thought of the macarons at Jean-Philippe Darcis, Marina Bay Sands. Life is good when you have desserts after dim sum.

I have heard of the chocolatier before, but it was only when I did a quick search online, then I knew that he holds the prestigious title of Belgian Chocolate Ambassador along with other awards.

Anyway, back to Jean-Philippe Darcis at MBS. The chocolate cafe sells pralines, Belgian Waffles, Cupcakes, and an assortment of macarons (around 14 flavours to be precise).

At $3 per piece, the macarons are not exactly cheap. But still, no one can resist macarons. Death by macarons! Death by macarons!

We were debating if we should get a dozen macarons, but our common sense told us otherwise. We ended up getting 5 macaron (Almond Milk, Passion-fruit chocolate, Pistachio, Vanilla, Hazelnut) and a passion-fruit cupcake (a little dry).

Among the ones that we had, my favourite was the vanilla and hazelnut. We thought that the Pistachio was lacking in the nutty flavour, while the Almond Milk and Passion-fruit chocolate were decent, but not life-changing.

Do they have the best macarons in Singapore? Well, the macarons at Jean-Philippe Darcis are definitely some of the better ones that I’ve had. But I am not sure if it is the best. There are after all, so many patisseries and cake shops in Singapore. This gives me the perfect excuse of doing a taste-test of all the macarons in Singapore, but that’s a separate story.

All in all, Jean-Philippe Darcis at Marina Bay Sands is a nice place to have Belgian waffle, macarons and a cup of tea. It is not as popular as the chichi TWG Salon (yet), so I will definitely go back and try the other macarons.

Singapore Food Blog Review
Jean-Philippe Darcis
10 Bayfront Avenue, #01-38
The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands
Tel: +65 6688 7202

For more recommendations, read my list of afternoon high tea places in Singapore

Easter is coming! Easter is coming!

If you are still looking for Easter Chocolate gifts, or trying to make a reservation for Easter Sunday brunch - here are some suggestions for your Easter Holiday celebrations:

Global Kitchen

Indulge this Easter with a sumptuous feast at Global Kitchen. Choose from an unlimited selection of premium crustacean, meats, cold cuts and platters. Highlights of the Easter Brunch Menu include a chocolate fountain, a crepe station, a salmon counter as well as a spectacular array of chocolate creations. Children will also receive Easter bunnies as a memento for the Easter Sunday Promotion.

$98++ per adult
$128++ per adult with free flow of Veuve Clicquot champagne
$28++ for children below 12 years old
24 April 2011, 12noon to 2.30pm

Level 3 Pan Pacific Hotel
7 Raffles Boulevard Marina Square
Tel: +65 6826 8240

Basilico Italian Restaurant

Enjoy a sumptuous Easter spread at Basilico. The Sunday brunch has different stations like seafood, antipasti & coldcut, grill, rotisserie & carving to satisfy everyone. Some of the signature items are Smoked Salmon with Caviar and Cream, Roasted Italian Baby Lamb, Hot Cross Buns and Simnel Cake. Kids will be thrilled with the Egg hunting activities with the Easter Bunny too.

$128++ with Free flow of Soft Beverages and juices
$198++ with Champagne, wine, martini, beer
$68++ for kids
24 April 2011, 12noon to 3pm

1 Cuscaden Road
Level 2 The Regent Singapore
Tel: +65 6725 3232

Artichoke Cafe & Bar

Not to worry if you are not a fan of brunch buffet. Artichoke Cafe at Middle road (the intersection with Waterloo Street) is a nice place to enjoy your Easter Sunday brunch. Try the ‘Self-destruction’ – big breakfast with crispy hash browns, melted cheddar, mushrooms and two fried eggs.

Sculpture Square
161 Middle Rd
Tel: +65 6336 6949
Weekend Brunch: 11am – 3pm

Recommendations: Easter Chocolate Gifts for kids (small & big)

Jewels Artisan Chocolate

With a new egg-tastic treat this Easter season, Jewels Artisan Chocolate presents their own take on the proverbial Easter Chocolate egg. Available in two flavours, the Praline Café and Maracaibo Gianduju, each individual egg is lovingly hand-crafted by Chef Then Chui Foong, the resident Chocolatier, using only the finest ingredients and chocolates.

181 Orchard Road #02-31/32
Orchard Central Singapore
Tel: +65 6509 8998

Laurent Bernard Chocolatier

Famed for its premium chocolate, Laurent Bernard Chocolatier has a few Easter chocolate special in store for everyone. Choose from Jojo the rabbit ($43), Medium Size Chocolate Hen ($48) or the Large Chocolate Hen ($78). They are the ideal Easter Chocolate gifts for your loved ones.

80 Mohamed Sultan Road #01-11
The Pier @ Robertson Singapore
Tel: +65 6235 9007

Truffs

My friend had the chocolate truffles from Truffs recently, and she couldn’t stop raving about it.

For those of you who are working in the Tanjong Pagar area, it is very convenient to drop by Truffs during lunch time. A box of 9 truffles (choice of 1 variety) goes for $25 while the bigger box of 18 (choice of 2 varieties) is $45.

179a Telok Ayer Street
Tel: +65 9088 2736

I don’t know about you, but I think the Easter Holiday (24th April 2011) is a very good excuse for us to indulge in champagne, chocolate, and brunch.

For more ideas, read my list of brunch places and buffets in Singapore.

Have a good Easter Holiday!

/ / The Chocolate Fondue giveaway is now closed, thank you for participating. The winners for my chocolate fondue giveaway are comments #403, 224, 389, 36, and 209. I will be emailing you very soon.

Jewels Artisan Chocolate cafe is located on the second level of Orchard Central. They have a value-for-money afternoon tea set, and their Black Palm Island Salt macaron is one of the best I’ve had.

It has been some time since I last did a contest, so I am happy to let you guys know that I am giving away 5 sets of Chocolate Fondue from Jewels Artisan Chocolate.

Last week, I met up with Singapore’s first artisan chocolatier Then Chui Foong, who is currently helming the kitchen at Jewels Artisan Chocolate. It is very interesting to hear her philosophy about chocolate and dessert, and I think the Singapore food scene needs more people like her.

Jewels Artisan Chocolate Cafe has recently introduced a new item, the Chocolate Fondue Set ($18.80) on their menu. It is the first ever chocolate fondue to give you 3 choices of premium chocolate dip – Dark chocolate, Milk chocolate or Brandy chocolate.

And now is the exciting part: readers of my food blog get to win 5 sets of chocolate fondue by answering a simple question.

HOW TO ENTER THE SINGAPORE FOOD BLOG CHOCOLATE FONDUE GIVEAWAY

1. FIVE lucky winners will win themselves a set of Chocolate Fondue worth $18.80 each.

2. Answer this question by leaving a comment: What is the name of the shop that is giving away the chocolate fondue?

3. Chocolate fondue giveaway is open to Singapore residents only.

4. Giveaway ends on Friday 12 noon 11th March 2011. All winners will be notified by email.

// Note that comments are moderated, they will appear after I approve it, so please do not submit more than once.

NOTE: Guys, it’s perfectly fine to take part in the giveaway even though there are already a lot of entries. I am using a random generator to select the winners, everyone has an equal chance to win.

When it comes to chocolate desserts, no one does it better than Laurent Bernard Chocolatier. Formerly known as The Chocolate Factory, the newly renamed Laurent’s Café & Chocolate Bar has two branches at Robertson Quay and Portsdown road. Whenever I’m having dinner at the Robertson Quay restaurants, I always find it hard to decide between Canele Patisserie or Laurent Bernard for desserts.

For those of you who are having a chocolate craving, I’m sure Laurent’s Cafe & Chocolate Bar can satisfy you with the chocolatey truffle cake, my favourite Plaisir Sucré, the delicious chocolate tart and of course, their famous Chocolate Souffle.

One of my favourite cakes from Laurent Bernard Cafe is definitely the Pleasure ($9.80). The classic Plaisir Sucré comprises whipped chocolate cream and ganache in between the beautiful and delicate chocolate sheets, and a base of hazelnut and praline; it is out-of-this-world.

The Trianon ($7.80) reminds me of the Plaisir Sucré. In place of the chocolate sheets, it has the dark yet rich chocolate mousse, and the base of hazelnut dacquoise is excellent. Look at the picture on top, the dessert looks so gorgeous!

Having the Chocolate Soufflé ($16.50) may takes time and patience, but straight out from the oven, it’s instant gratification. Once you start digging your spoon into the souffle cup, it’s almost impossible to stop, that is, until you are down to the last smear of the spoon.

The chocolate souffle is moist, dark, rich, and intense while the accompanying raspberry sherbet is sour, tangy and provides the perfect balance to the dessert.

There’s a waiting time of 15-30 minutes for the chocolate soufflé, and like they say: good things come to those who can wait. But sometimes, I’m not so sure. Between the chocolate soufflé and warm chocolate lava cake, I’m inclined to go for the latter – who can resist the magnificent oozing effect? Not me.

Laurent Bernard has possibly the best chocolate souffle in Singapore, but I’m not encouraged by neither the long waiting time nor the price tag. Most people will probably disagree with me, but if I’m craving for chocolate souffle, I will go to Bakerzin which serves a pretty competent rendition at only half the price.

* * *

Chocolate bars are my Disney land, somehow they know how to make me happy. If you are in the Esplanade or Vivocity area, go to Max Brenner Chocolate Bar, and if you are somewhere near Robertson Quay or Portsdown road, then it’s a must to go Laurent Bernard Chocolatier to satisfy your chocolate craving.

Which is your favourite dessert from Laurent’s Café & Chocolate Bar?

Singapore Food Restaurant Review
Laurent Bernard Chocolatier
80 Mohamed Sultan Road #01-11
The Pier @ Robertson Singapore
Tel: +65 6235 9007

5B Portsdown Road #01-02
Wessex Village Square Singapore
Tel: +65 6475 9410

// Read my list of the best dessert places in Singapore.

Sometimes, all it takes is chocolate and cake to make me happy. I’m very sure that I’m not the only one who feels this way, so if you like chocolate and cake too, you should drop by Jewel Artisan Chocolate for their afternoon high tea.

They are located on the second level of Orchard Central. At just $14.80++, I’d think that Jewel Artisan Chocolate has a pretty value for money tea set for those who are not willing to splurge $38++/pax to have afternoon tea at a Five Star Hotel.

I was caught in a dilemma for the title of this post. You see, afternoon tea typically refers to a light mid afternoon break from 3pm to 5pm and there’s usually sandwiches and scones, while high tea is an early evening meal between 5pm to 6pm. Technically speaking, Jewel Artisan Chocolate’s tea set cannot be classified under both afternoon tea or high tea since it is an all day affair from 11am to 6pm in the evening.

Oh what the heck, I’m calling it Afternoon high tea, you can figure it out yourself. The $14.80++ High Tea Set at Jewel Artisan Chocolate Orchard Central includes: 1 x truffle/praline, 1 pc macaron, 1 slice of 85% Dark Chocolate Gateau, 1 dollop x Ice Cream/Sorbet, and 1 pot x Gourmet Tea.

The two of us decided to share an afternoon tea set plus an additional Dark Chocolate Lava Cake from their cake menu ($10.80/serving). If you do not fancy the ubiquitous chocolate lava cake, there’s also the chocolate tart, chocolate crumble, chocolate gateau or chocolate mousse to choose from.

The mini slice of 85% Dark Chocolate Gateau which comes with the afternoon tea set was rich, smooth, and very cakey (if there’s even such a word). For the macarons, there are choices of Black Palm Island Salt, Raspberry, Butterfly Pea Bloom, Green tea, Passionfruit, Dark chocolate, Hazelnut and Butterscotch. We had a macaron from the tea set, and it was so addictive. In the name of research, we ended up ordering another two macaron ($2 each).

I wasn’t too impressed with the Butterfly Pea Bloom. Other than the seemingly-artificial colouring, the combination of kaya and pandan almond cream didn’t really go well together for my taste bud. The Raspberry wasn’t too bad, but it was the Black Palm Island Salt (atas name for Salted egg yolk) macaron that was truly phenomenal! It’s impossible to describe the intriguing flavor, please go to Jewel Artisan and try it out for yourself. It’s possibly one of the best macarons in Singapore.

It’s a shame that there wasn’t any vanilla ice cream on the menu to go along with the Dark Chocolate Lava Cake ($10.8), so we had two scoops of hazelnut and dark chocolate (one for the tea set and the other comes with the lava cake).

The chocolate lava exploded as I cut off a corner of the cake. Warm and luscious dark chocolate with a scoop of cold ice cream – life can’t get any better than this.

Jewel Artisan Chocolate High Tea is a good option (11am to 6pm daily) if you are not able to make it during lunch time for the $12++ dessert buffet from One Ninety Restaurant at Four Seasons Hotel. Now, if only the chairs are more comfortable, I will be back all the time for a pot of tea, a nibble of truffle and a slice of cake.

Singapore Food Restaurant Review
Jewel Artisan Chocolate
181 Orchard Road #02-31/32
Orchard Central Singapore
Tel: +65 6509 8998

// Read my list of dessert places in Singapore.

Ever since Valerie went to Max Brenner Chocolate Bar, she has been telling me: “you must go to Max Brenner, they have the best waffles in Singapore!” I have heard of Max Brenner before of course, it’s the chocolate bar at Esplanade that all chocolate lovers should go to.

It’s strange how even when I saw Max Brenner while holidaying in Australia, I never had the urge to go there. You know how they say sometimes it hits you when you least expect it? Well, that time was now. When the word ‘Max Brenner’ appeared in twitter so many times a week, I know it’s only sooner or later before I try their famous chocolate desserts.

When we saw the picture of the amazing Chocolate Souffle on the menu, I couldn’t help but mis-read it as ‘Best Chocolate Souffle‘. It’s funny how our eyes like to play tricks on us, and with that, we ordered the Banana Split Waffles, and the Chocolate Souffle.

Then everything went silent. We didn’t speak for at least a minute. If you have ever experienced this phenomenon, it can only mean two things: a) the food is so good that everyone forgot how to speak, and b) your dining companion is too busy, desperately trying to figure out how the chef came up with this out-of-this-world creation. We smiled at each other, and the silence continued until we finished the Chocolate Souffle.

Between the two of us, we wiped everything clean within a minute. It was so good! I have no vocabulary to describe it; excellent or fantastic are simply not good enough to explain how it tasted like. Maybe, maybe heavenly is the only word that fits the description. This is the Best Chocolate Souffle in Singapore.

Initially, I felt that it’s expensive to pay $16++ for a dessert. But I changed my mind after having it – I’d definitely pay for the best chocolate souffle every single time.

Today is waffles day – because I say so.

Adrenaline flowed through my body as we poured the tube of chocolate over the Belgian waffles. Although it wasn’t as fluffy nor as hot as I’ve imagine (time spent on taking photographs), the waffles were very satisfying. Both of us had been craving for waffles for a whole week. When the staff brought the waffles to our table; it was like bringing a helpless lamb to the mercy of the wolf – we devoured it in a split second.

Scrambling to maximize the tiny scoop of vanilla ice cream, every mouthful was so gratifying. And subconsciously, we started to Ooh and whoa. Who needs bananas and berries when there’s waffles? Give me more waffles!

I’ve always insisted that every guy should have a waffle maker at home, it’s the best thing you can do for your girl the next morning. Otherwise, please be a good boyfriend and bring her to Max Brenner for this orgasmic experience – I promise she will love you even more.

* * *

We finished both the Chocolate Souffle and the Banana Split Waffles within ten minutes. Chocolate overdose? Definitely not, can we have another Chocolate Souffle please?

Now if you can excuse me, I need to go check out Laurent Bernand’s Chocolate Souffle.

Restaurant Review
Max Brenner Chocolate Bar
8 Raffles Avenue
#01-06/08 Esplanade Mall
Tel: +65 6235 9556

Remember the times when you were a kid, and blew soap bubbles into the air, making you go ‘aww..’ inside, I have the same feeling when it comes to ice cream too. In this world, not many things can give you that type of feeling and I believe, ice cream is one of them.

You do not need an excuse to eat ice cream.

Whenever I feel happy, I will indulge in ice cream as it makes me even happier. And besides having a patissier to cheer me up when I’m feeling down, ice cream practically does the same thing as it always chase the blues away.

How good can a good ice cream be?

I mean ice cream, being ice cream, is already perfect. How do the ice cream places in Singapore reinvent and continue the trend for something that is already done to death and found everywhere? Well, they either come up with all sorts of fanciful flavors, throw in some exotic toppings, hire pretty girls, let you mix-and-match your own ingredients, reinvent ice cream in the form of sundaes, or this case, milkshakes. Yes, milkshakes.

Ice cream, can never be bad. Even an exceptional ordinary ice cream will taste good when you are craving for it. Unike the other ice cream parlours in Singapore that scramble to compete on the varieties of flavor, the folks behind Once Upon A Milk Shake (OUAM) are a smart bunch; they keep things simple to just a couple of flavor, and package everything nicely.

What’s there not to like when it a) has a catchy name, b) sports a clean and yet bold color in white & purple, c) gives you choices of either ice cream, milkshake, or both, d) comes up with whimsical names like Agent Strawberry and Nutty Peanut Butler.

On the two occasions that I went there, I had the Chocolate Truffle Castle, Sir Cookies & Cream, Vainillapot, and Nutty Peanut Butler. The Chocolate truffle ice cream was awfully good. Thick and chocolaty, there’s no way any chocolate lover can resist this. But it was not my favorite pick, don’t get me wrong, I like chocolate, but I never really fancy chocolate ice cream; chocolate on its own, is already divine.

The Cookies & Cream milkshake, is oh-so-good. There are some renditions of the cookies and cream that are too dense and heavy, while there are others that are too light and hardly have any cookie texture. I like the lush vanilla base that has rich Oreo cookies bits, and at the same time, it’s also not cloyingly sweet. All in one cookie – this is a keeper.

Recently I’m hooked on Vanilla ice cream. Since there’s a huge supply of Ben & Jerry ice cream in my fridge, I’ve been having vanilla ice cream almost every day for the past week. Vanilla, is perhaps the simplest flavor there is, and yet the hardest to attain perfection. I think it’s the nature of vanilla, the subtle, yet sweetly-flavored, distinct elegant taste that appeals to me. Vanilla milkshake, anyone?

Peanut butter can perhaps, be mentioned in the same legendary status like Nutella. Peanut butter, I’m sure, was invented for the sole purpose of satisfying the wildest desire of the human species. Oh yes, there is the lovely strawberry jam, those are great, but it pales in comparison when you put it side by side with peanut butter. The richness of the thick and creamy peanut butter  milkshake simply makes anything ordinary, taste delicious. It’s so addictive that you will eat it straight from the jar.

Which makes it a pity when my friend claimed that she had tasted better Peanut butter milkshake elsewhere before. Perhaps the one here, is still not the one to beat.

The milkshakes are available in 2 sizes (mini @ $3.30 and regular @ $5.50). The mini ones are really tiny, but I’d go for mini and try different flavors. Best ice cream and milkshake in Singapore? Maybe, maybe not. But does it really matter?

Among all the ice cream parlours in Singapore, Once Upon A Milkshake (OUAM) is all about gimmicks,  but I love it! You know what? It’s like a guy knowing that the girl is lying to him, and yet, is willing to be deceived. I know I’m superficial. Whatever, I’m a sucker for all things pretty.

Restaurant Review
Once Upon A Milk Shake
32 Maxwell Road
#01-08 Maxwell Chambers
Tel: 9823 3779
Daily: 11am-11pm

2 Orchard Link #02-03/04
Singapore 237978
Tel: +65 9233 1624

1 Raffles Place #B1-03E
Singapore 048616
Tel: +65 9649 7893

Once Upon A Milk Shake is listed as one of ladyironchef’s favorite restaurants in Singapore.

My adventure in Australia is drawing to a close, but I will like to share one final post with you: Adriano Zumbo. This is the patisserie that has caught Sydney by storm, this is the bakery that has created many lovely creations each season – this is the place in Sydney that I wanted to go the most.

Cakes arrived at our small round table, plated nicely. I’ve no idea exactly how the name Google it, Real life ($7.9) came about. But I do know for a fact that it is banana passion-fruit creme tart, and it is not just a pretty face. The diguise of almond croquante within the midst of the creme was clever; it added a crunchy dimension and provided a slightly salty aftertaste to the tart.

First and foremost: banana passion-fruit creme, a pretty orange-yellow layer on top of the crispy tart, beautifully dressed by the presence of the fresh berries. Banana and passion-fruit provided a good balance with each other, on it’s own, passion-fruit taste slightly sourish, but the banana is like the key to the lock, just like how chocolate always works with hazelnut.

The fine balance meant that neither fruits were overbearing, and in this case, it was rather surprising that both the banana and passion-fruit maintained a subtle, yet distinct flavor.

Your frund in the frudge.. toasted ($7.90), turns out to be a quirky interpretation of sandwich with tomato and cheese, in the body of a cake. I’ve ordered it solely based on the crispy puff pastry; the toast mousse had one of the weirdest taste I ever came across, flanked with the addition of the tomato jelly and the melted cheese creameaux, with hints of black pepper; I’d give it full marks for the creative idea, but it was too much for me.

Most of the creations have cheeky and whimsical names, and the 5, 6, 7, 8 ($8) is no exception. The flavors practically exploded on my tongue, each portion was trying to out-do the other; the lemongrass pandan & vanilla creame legere was by far my favourite among the three components of the cake.

You can discover the robust lemongrass taste among the smoothing and fragrance pandan; to the right of it there’s a case of identity crisis with the pineapple palm sugar sous vide – Adriano did something to it, but I’ve totally no idea whatever that is.

Coriander creamaux completes the trio with a peanut stable base the the bottom. 5, 6, 7, 8 is a highly complex creation, it looks good with the three complimenting colors, and there’s an intense mixture of different taste and texture involve – you’d either love it, or get lost trying to follow each and every unique flavor.

I’m glad we left the Not too S-h-a-b-b-y ($7.9) for the last, it was again, a combination of many different individual flavor, blend in to make one wholesome cake. There was flourless biscuit, muscavado creme brulee plantation chocolate mousse, and chocolate malt creme legere; all of which did not make sense to me. Tasting the stuff, one struggles for words, memories came flashing back and I felt like a kid again; I remember the first time I tried nutella, the first time I put foie gras into my mouth – I know my life will never be the same again.

It took every bit of discipline I had not to moan and giggle and rave after my first bite. I’m in love with this cake, so in love, she’s the reason for my very existence.

I’m really happy that I went to Adriano Zumbo patisserie before I left, his bold yet unique creations are indeed worth the effort to travel all the way there, I think Adriano Zumbo really deserves the accolade he has earned so far.

The fact that the patisserie is out of town in Balmain, yet managed to garner so much support, tells you everything about the desserts. Adriano Zumbo – he’s a genius! Thank you Richard & Simon for bringing me here!

* * *

This is the last post of my Twelve days in Sydney. It is not exaggerating to say that I planned the itinerary based on food, and all these will not be possible without the awesome food blogs in Sydney. I had the pleasure of meeting 50 Sydney food bloggers at a Christmas party while I was there; Helen & Lorraine are practically food bibles of Sydney, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading Billy’s, Howard & crew and many other great food blogs that is impossible for me to list all of them here.

I’m not sure when I will be back again, but there’s something I’m certain of: Sydney is a great city, with real friendly folks, and good food. See you there!

Adriano Zumbo Patisserie
296 Darling St
Balmain, Sydney

I eat desserts first. There is not a single day that I will stop thinking about them. I have a really sweet, sweet tooth, and I don’t know how to control it. Oh heck, I don’t want to control it. Sweets are good, they make me happy.

First bite – wow. This is definitely a ferrero rocher cake. Even though the Caraibe ($8.50) was touted as a dark chocolate cake with dark chocolate cream, but it was really a lot sweeter than what we would like it. And this comes from someone who has a penchant for sweet stuff. It would be nicer if there’s more of the crunchy hazelnut nougatine. If you are a big fan of anything-hazelnut, go for Canele’s Le Royale instead.

Among all the different cakes on showcase at Canele, the Jupiter ($7) must be the most outstanding one with its attracting dome shape. The combination of the 64% dark chocolate mousse provided a good counter-balance to the flourless chocolate sponge; the sweetness was done just right, with a subtle hint of caramel and pecan nut nougatine in between.

If I have to use a word to describe the Baked fruit tart ($5.50), it will be pleasant. The whole thing was so nice, we thoroughly enjoyed the lemon filling on top of the tart. You definitely will not go wrong with it.

The Nougatine ($8) is one of the best ice cream around. No kidding. What’s there not to like about hazelnut praline ice cream and salted caramel? The ice cream was divine, and the salted caramel drip by the side was literally the icing on the ice cream. I fell in love, all over again.

* * *

I’m a guy. I like desserts. And I think you should too! Come on, take a nibble, sweets make you happy. This is my fifth (or sixth) time to Canele, and I almost tried all their cakes with just a couple of them left, so another visit should do the trick.

Canele Patisserie
290 Orchard road
#B1-25 Paragon
Tel: 6733 8893

A dreamy Sunday out with you, eating nothing but eggs and pancakes. And a glass of that bubbly champagne is just the icing on the cake. I love brunch! I really do. There’s just something about brunch that makes me excited, just the mention of it will be enough to get me on a high.

And how about a buffet brunch? Excellent, you get to eat a bit of everything (not that I’m a big fan of buffet), and free flow of champagne? Swoon!

I can never say no to desserts, you are my weakness. And we couldn’t resist taking photographs at the desserts section first since it’s right in front of the restaurant. All the petite desserts were waving to me, with the alluring cakes winking and making signals for me to step forward.

Do you want a piece of chocolate?

How about a chocolate tree? I’ll pluck the chocolates off and give them all to you. I know you want the bitter one, and you can feed me the sweet one. The chocolates, they were so good!

And there were a few different whole cakes, crepes, selections of bread alongside the mini cakes and petite shooters.

Rows, and rows of them: mustard lox salmon, smoked salmon, Thai smoked salmon, and an assortment of smoked fish platter. I bet you will just stand there all day and finish every slice of them.

Breakfast to me, must consist of eggs benedicts, pancakes, sausages; that sort of stuff. They had poached eggs here, but there wasn’t any hollandaise sauce, and sadly because the breakfast section was prepared beforehand (not on the spot), the eggs, sausages, and hash browns were cold.

But there’s an ala-minute section where the chef prepared eggs-done-in-any-style. Omelettes, sunny sideup, overeasy, you name it, they have it.

And while you are at the same area, the chef will prepared Vol Au Vent on the spot too. There’s Prawn with Brandy Sauce, Duck Confit with Foie Gras, Chicken Ragout with Mushrooms and Ham & Cheese Ragout to choose from. I’ve the duck confit with foie gras, which sort of reminded me of the kueh pie tee; crispy shells with savoury fillings

The array of seafood selection at Global Kitchen consisted of the typical mussels, prawns, scallop, and there’s Alaskan king crabs too! But it was the spoilt-for-choice of oysters that impressed me! The usual buffet line-ups will mostly just have, you know, fresh oysters on a bed of ice. But not here, there’s so many options, this is oysters at their best!

Among all, the fried oyster with bacon wrap was my favourite; I know this might not be the best way to taste the oysters as there probably wouldn’t be “freshness” left since it’s fried, but you know the thing with fried food, it’s always tasty. The saltiness of the bacon greatly enhanced the whole thing, not that you need to “add more flavour” to the oyster anyway. The purist probably couldn’t accept it since this was akin to killing the oyster, but I like it!

I also enjoyed the baked oyster with cheese tremendously. What’s there not to like when oyster marry with cheese? Fans of oysters will most likely gulp down a dozen of them at one shot, but not me. I had enough after having about five different ways of oysters, and there’s a few other ways which I didn’t try!

In buffets, I will always go for the ala minute food – stuff that are cook by chefs on the spot. And the fish & chips were pretty impressive. For one, they had mashed green peas, yes green peas! It totally exudes the “British feel” of a hearty fish & chips.

And can you imagine my excitement when I saw the chef preparing risotto and pastas too? There’s not much ingredients to choose from, you know the typical mushroom, tomato, but there’s no need for fanciful stuff when a plate of simple and comfort risotto/pasta is all I need.

There’s actually a lot more food, main courses like duck breast, salmon, seabass, beef, lamb, pork loin; in short, something to cater to everybody. I didn’t try all of them, just a bit here and there. Camemberu managed to take all the photos of them, so check it out over at her blog!

Free flow of champagne, amazing company with Camemberu, and Aromacookery, we pigged out for three hours ( including one hour for taking photos), this is what I call brunch! My appreciation to Cheryl and Merissa of Pan Pacific Hotel for hostingus for the media tasting session. We did not eat a lot, just a bit of everything, and  yet at the end of it I was feeling sick – over stuffed with food. And we didn’t even try all the things available at the buffet! The champagne brunch is on Sundays from 12.00pm to 3.00pm.

Price:
$98++ per adult (with Champagne, wines, cocktails, beers, juices and soft drinks)
$88++ per adult (with wines, cocktails, beers, juices and soft drinks)
$78++ per adult (with juices and soft drinks)

Global Kitchen
Level 3, Pan Pacific Hotel
7 Raffles Boulevard, Marina Square
Tel: 6826-8240

Ever since I discover the existence of macarons, I’m hooked. There are some fantastic ones, while some are just very bad; macarons are lovable, how can something so small and petite, taste so, so good!

The most delicious way, to eat a macaron will be: admire her perfect figure, pick it up and smell her fragrance. Never shovel in and swallow the whole thing in one bite. It’s like foreplay, you need to arouse the palates first; you nibble a bit of it, and I finish it up the rest. Macarons, taste the best, when I share it with you.

The very pretty lady in raspberry winks at me as I walk over. Hello, can I buy you a dessert? Do you want chocolate fudge? Or how about some cheesecake? No? You want both? Okay sure, in that case I’ll get you the Raspberry Cheesecake ($7.50).

Rosemary Chantilly with a layer of raspberry jelly, adorns the top part of the cake. There’s cheesecake sandwiched in between, with the chocolate fudge layer completing the dessert. My only grudge? It tasted weird when everything is combined together, raspberry, cheesecake and chocolate fudge just do not works for me. But eaten separately, it’s good.

Having seen the Fondant Choccolat ($8), I happily/naturally assumed that it will be the type that has lava chocolate oozing out. Except, it did not. No chocolate lava. No warm chocolate oozing out from the middle. And oh, the fondant wasn’t heat up too.

Luckily there’s Chantilly. She is pleasant, sweet and makes everyone around happy.

Which one is the mousse and which one is the cream?

Dark chocolate, your love. I know you’ll have like this one. The flourless chocolate sponge increased the density of the chocolate, with the dark chocolate cream in between layers. And I like how they pretty things up with a spot of chocolate on top; simple and chic. Gateaux Chocolat ($6.50)

* * *

After so many times to Canele, I’ve yet to try out all their creations. Maybe some day, definitely one day.

Canele Patisserie
1 Scotts road
#01-01A Shaw Centre
Tel: 6738 9020

In life we have dreams; they are our goals to work towards to, one step by one step, and approached it. I’ve always wanted to visit Spain; the country, with its rich culture and vibrant cities appeal to me, and of course, Spanish food.

I simply love the idea of Tapas; the option of having more variety of food in smaller bite sizes, seduces me. Why have two dishes when we can have four? And so our Spanish adventure started with the Plamuk tod ($12), tempura style calamari rings. Limon did a thinner version using less batter which allowed the taste of the squid. But the amazing thing was the strawberry yoghurt dip which came along with the calamari!

Tartar sauce? That’s so last season. Mayonnaise? That’s so passe. Try strawberry yoghurt dip!

Tapas has many similarities with our Chinese Dim sum; it’s the communal way of sharing food. Both encouraged people to try out more varieties, and at the same time shared the food with others. The Patatas bravas ($10) was essentially Spanish fried potatoes.

A little bit of this, plus a little bit of that

No I’m not talking about our saliva! We get to share food and try a bit of everything without getting full, isn’t that a brillient idea? There’s no beef in the Moo curry ($12), instead there was pork & potato cubes pan-fried, with the red curry sauce being a tad strong.

How come the sausage tasted like brinjar?

It was hilarious when we mistook the eggplant for sausages at first bite, I’m never a fan of the purple plant. The fusion aspect was on display by preparing the Spanish Bibao (sausages) with Thai green curry sauce. Chorizo con curry verde ($14)

Honey, they shrunk the prawns!

I was sceptical when the “king prawns” that they’d mentioned was so tiny, but for what was lacking in size, the prawns more than made up in taste. The “tiny” creature was so prawny and crunchy! With ingredients like olive oil, lemongrass, black pepper, garlic, nameko mushroom; it was a mixture of flavours.

The Gazpacho con vino blanco ($12) was a traditional Spanish cold soup, with the novelty level upped by serving it in a baby coconut husk. The white wine flavour was subtle, but the experience of drinking soup was redefined into drinking coconut!

Tom-kha Guy ($10)

Besides the “coconut soup”, Limon has a few other soup available for selection, and you know I never like such soups, so use your own imagination how it would taste like.

Pumpkin fusion soup with strips of Serrano ham ($13)

Tomato, Orange and lemon soup ($10)

Paella. This was THE dish besides churros that I was looking forward to. And I had problem pronouncing it the whole night, so I came up with a simple way of remembering it, paella (my own pronunciation: Pie-ya). It was done with a Thai twist; incorporating tom-yum with the Spanish paella, there was plentiful of mixed seafood. It was delicious, every grain of rice tasted so good. Since I did not have paella before, there was no way I could make comparison, but it was good enough for me. And the tom-yum flavour wasn’t even strong (at least to me). Paella de tom yum ($20 for main size)

You like fish?

You will definitely love the Bacalao ($36)! The blue cod fillet was so fresh that it seemed alive on my plate, but I would prefer it to be slightly more pan-fried on the surface. Every piece of flesh was so delicate when our utensils touch it, oh baby, I’m gonna eat you up!

The lomo de cordero ($35) was a perfect sight to behold. There’s something about the Rack of lamb, which always make it so sexy! But somehow the ingredients like rosemary, oregano, mint, white wine, lemongrass sauce did not manage to cover the gamey taste.

Lobster, I love lobster! And I’m not going to share with you. No, get your hands off, it’s mine, it’s all mine! I was freaking excited when the Live lobster krapow ($38) arrived on our table. Every bite of the oven-baked lobster was so good, but there wasn’t enough meat for me! Taking a fork, I tilted the lobster head upside down, and dug at the shell beneath it, and yes, there was more lobster meat there!

On first look, I thought it was panna cotta, the Italian dessert. But it wasn’t. The dessert in picture was a Lemon caramel egg custard flan ($10). The texture was very similar to panna cotta, but I couldn’t quite figure out what was the difference.

And yes, I know chocolate cake has nothing to do with Spanish or Thai, but apparently the pastry chef at Limon does such a good chocolate cake that they decided to put it in the menu. And boy, it was true. The Homemade Chocolate cake ($9) paired with vanilla ice cream was a delight! If you could look at the plain chocolate cake up there, there’s the lava-flowing chocolate on top of the moist chocolate cake. Even though it was a pity there wasn’t any vanilla bean ice cream, but a scoop of cold icy one was enough to bring out the best of the chocolate cake.

I love to share food. But somehow the evil twin in me took over when we had the Crema Catalana con frescas ($10). There are times where you eat something that was so good, yet you couldn’t tell what it was, so you just ate, and ate, and ate. This was what I did, I took a spoonful of the egg based cream, put it in my mouth, and I couldn’t taste what it was. And the second bite became even better. So I simply took up the whole glass, dug, and dug further into, until the whole dessert was finished.

* * *

It was a medley of flavours when the Spaniards and the Thais come and play together. This was my first time trying Paella, and I’m glad I tried it! My appreciation to Towie, the owner of Limon, and Nicole for hosting us for the food tasting session.

And now for the good/great/terrific/fantastic news, I’ll be doing a food outing event (yes finally), at Limon on the 10th August for dinner. It would be a public holiday so I hope to see all of you there. The details of the outing will be in my next post.

Limon restaurant
7 Purvis street #01-01
Tel: 6333 9004

Rainy days are good for sleeping in, but if you are not, the weather makes you sleepy and gloomy. Sunny days are best if you are at the beach, otherwise you probably will be cursing at the blazing sun! I like windy & cloudy day, the breeze simply cheers me up; just like a slice of that very delicious cake.

It took a while before the first of the lot arrived on our table, and everybody focused on the pretty decorations before returning our gaze back to the beautiful cake. The patissier’s hands must be a gift from god – they make everything so pretty!

Honey, would you like some honey? Oh yes honey, I’ll like your honey!

One particular word stood out in the description, “layers of HONEY chiboust cream and strawberry jelly sandwiched within crispy almond dacquoise.” Baby, I was attracted to you, just like bees to honey. And lovely name too, Nid d’abeilles ($7.90).

Why is a black forest call a black forest? Is it because the cake was first created in a forest so black and depressing that it was a shining beacon that brightened up everything? This, was my kind of black forest cake ($7.90); it had very little kirsch soaked cherries. I always wondered why nobody did a black forest without any cherries.

My dear, would you do one for me, pretty please?

The red velvet ($7.90) was completely opposite from its name, it was red but nowhere velvety; the cake was overly-dry. It was definitely a bimbo; pretty to look at, but no substance inside. A real pity – I was eyeing the cherry ganache with much interest.

I always had a thing for rose, you know she’s pretty, cute and even her name sounds so sexy! Even though she got together with lychee, but I’m happy for the sweet couple. They tasted good together, so dreamy, blissful and pleasant! And Oh, how I wish there’s more of the Valrhona ivory chocolate glaze; I’m on cloud nine after having the Lychee rose ($7.90)!

Mango cakes are typically the type of cake that I used to have for my childhood birthdays. For the Mango Mascarpone ($8.90), there was hardly any cake since the composition was made up mostly of the mascarpone cheese cream. It came slightly disfigured, personally I felt that it would taste better if not for the addition of the coconut crumble.

And I will like the cake to have a bit of cake.

And this, was totally my-kind-of-cake! The breathtaking of her beauty seemed to suck the air out of the room, and to complete this vision of perfectness, there was the cute chocolate-film decoration. It would be divine if there’s more of the hazelnut praline feuilletine; I just couldn’t get enough of it!

If there’s a dessert to define me, this would be it, the chocolate praline cake ($7.90).

When the dessert-holics come out to play, there’s only sweets and more sweets! I love desserts outing, we get to try so many cakes just by paying one slice of cake each! Are you a dessert-holic? Join us for more sweets next time!

Add me as a friend: Twitter here, Facebook here, & FB group here to find out about the next dessert outing.

Read my fellow dessert-holics below (the rest don’t have food blogs):
Catherine @ Camemberu
Evan @ Bossacafez
Pamie @ Girlpersonified

And the other adventures of the dessert enthusiasts here.

1 Caramel Patisserie
6 Handy road
#01-01 The Luxe
Tel: 63383282

Dear diary,

I have sinned. I have a confession to make: since the start-of-don’t-know-when, I found myself deeply enthralled by her, I just couldn’t stop thinking about our past encounters – all the more needless to say, to take my eyes off her. I’m head over heels, so deeply in love, with..

Desserts!

As sinful as they are, I couldn’t stop myself; every time after we are done, I rested on my back and sworn not to get involved with you again. But it happened again, and again, and again. Our messy affair, the love-hate relationship, oh dear.

You speak torta alla gianduia? No? How about crème brulee, panna cotta, charlotte aux poires, or mille-feuille aux fraises? Come on, I’m sure we have a common language.

I don’t know about you, but I always, always have problems passing by a patisserie without trying to splurge my monthly allowance there. The beautiful shop-front attracted and suck me in like a magnet; I couldn’t bear to leave without saying hello to those pretty and delicate desserts!

And remember the time when something terrible happened? One slice of mousse will wash those tears away. It can even heal all your scars! When you are with your loved one, even a spoon of the simplest cheesecake would do wonders, creating memories for eternity.

You know that thing when you see a cutie and she smiles; your heart skipped a beat and your legs go wobbling like a jelly? Well that’s what feels like whenever I see a dessert.

I’m a dessert-holic.

* * *

The carrot cake came across as rather dry, like I’ve mentioned before; I’m not a good judge of carrot cake since I’ve not tried Queen cedele’s, yet. What’s there not to like about a slice of really good strawberry cheesecake? Big, bright red strawberries sitting prettily on top of creamy thick cheesecakes! And my weakness, chocolate cake. Heat it up and you got the molten texture, paired with a scoop of chilled icy cold ice cream, ding, the elevator reached level heaven.

Note: Sweet nibbles column will be a regular fixture every Monday, I hope some sweets can help to chase your Monday blues away

AllanBakes
3 South Buona Vista road
#02-13 The Village centre
Tel: 6774 7100

I need some chocolate, I need some sweets; to cure my oh-so-painful-heartache. I need a patissier to cheer me up: Tiramisu, mont blanc, creme brulee, macaron, le royale; give it to me, give it all to me.

“A slice of everything on display, and a cup of hot chocolate with extra chocolate.”
“Everything?”
“Yes! Which part of every-thing do you not understand?”

The patissier is my best friend, he will know how to make this go away. Stepping into the patisserie, a tiny part of the gloominess was lifted, at the sight of the so-many-pretty-and-petite desserts.

I sunk my teeth into it, and oh-boy, it was good, I already felt better! The richness of the cake was soaked and immersed in the essence of the espresso, brandy & white rum, I was literally intoxicated.

Bittersweet. It’s all about chocolate. The first taste, so sweet and rosy, followed by the slightly bitter taste from the dark chocolate; the perfect analogy to life, the bitterness, the happy times, it depends on which part you want to taste – I want sweet now!

* * *

(1) The above is a largely exaggerated story on my part, no doubt sweets and chocolates helps when you are feeling down, but it is only a temporary measure. A heart-to-heart chat with a good friend does wonders, and the best part: we had it over desserts.

(2) The two slices of cake are Tiramisu and Chocolate Amer. The latter was a half-price promotional item for Bakerzin in the month of May. The current dessert that is on half-price is the New York cheesecake.

(3) As much as I do not really fancy Bakerzin, and the fact that I’ve tried almost every cakes there, the half-price promotion on a slice of cake was too tempting, read my previous visits here, here, and here.

Bakerzin
9 Raffles Boulevard
#01-23 Millenia Walk
Tel: 6837 2422

The-sight-of-it is enough to excite me. The flowing chocolate – like water plunging down from a magnificent waterfall: wonderful, sweet. The cute white marshmallows beckon to me. The puffs – baked for the sole reunion with the delicious chocolate. The big juicy strawberries, oh my. What’s there not to like about a chocolate fondue? I love it!

Now, I don’t really like buffets. When I see food laying out, exposed, I think they are not exactly very tasteful. The food left out in the open air becomes unprotected from the passing fancies of everybody. BUT, but, the current Citibank credit card 50% promotion for 10 @ Claymore is simply too good a deal to miss, so I decided to go for it after all.

How does $29++ for buffet lunch sounds? On top of it with a 1-for-1 promotion, and we are talking about Pan Pacific Hotel, not some dubious twenties-odd range buffet (you-know-where-I-am-referring-to). Given, the variety here cannot compare with other international buffets who have more spread, but what I like about 10 @ Claymore is the focus.

Instead of giving a lot items to choose from, they decided to give just enough. For those who inherited our Singapore-kiasu-genes, my apologies. But this is one buffet where I actually don’t feel guilty trying to gorge myself silly. I ate a bit of everything, and rushed to have my desserts.

Chicken & Seabass in lemon sauce

Lamb & Beef

Seafood Saffron

The chocolate truffle was terrific – sweet, smooth, refined, yet unbelievably simple. I had mutiple helpings of it, until my stomach decided to do a red-shirt-alike-protest to me.

I love the chocolate tarts too; each nicely craft and so delicate. One bite, it’s gone.

Total bill was $34 for 2 person after the citibank credit card promotion. The current good deal last until 30 April, 2 person are entitled to a 50% discount. For $17 bucks per person, buffet lunch at a classy environment, enough said! And oh yes, I forgot to mention that the service was top-notch; the staffs were attentive and always happy to help out when you need anything.

10 @ Claymore
10 Claymore road
2F Pan Pacfic Orchard
Tel: 6831 6686

I, Willy Wonky, have decided to allow three children, to visit my Research facility this year. These lucky three will be allowed to see all the secrets and the magic of my facility. Then at the end of the tour, as a special present, one of them will be given enough chocolates and sweets to last him/her for the rest of the life! So watch out for the Choc Tickets!

The Chocolate room. An important room, this! This is the heart of the whole research facility. And so beautiful yes! Below the melting chocolate wall, are bars and bars of chocolate, 100 different flavours! There, it’s all chocolate!

The inventing room. All the most secret new inventions are cooking and simmering in here. The connoisseur, exotic, double fruit series are some of the ones which will make your saliva-gland start working. Not to mention there’s the classic, nut, coffee and tea series.

Only Brad Brat left. The winner, with enough chocolate & sweets to last him for the lifetime! The dark chocolate 70% from Saint domingue in the spotlight.

***

Chocolate Research Facility (CRF) is a chocolate boutique, which comprises of a retail store and a cafe. The interesting layout of the shop, the unique packaging of the chocolate bars, the intriguing combination of flavours available, meant that you need to grab a bar here! The chocolate are priced at $8, 10, & 12 for different flavours. I brought one bar, guess the flavour!

This post is inspired base on the story, Charlie & the chocolate factory by Roald Dahl. I have made some changes to parts of it, no intention of misusing the author’s right.

Chocolate Research Facility
9 Raffles Boulevard
#01-30 Millenia Walk
Tel: 6338 5191
Website here

It wasn’t merely a coincidence when the seven of us stepped into Nectarie Patisserie, fate has brought us together. The group of us; all dessert enthusiast, were looking for more after our previous encounter. Our eyes literally light up at the mention of desserts, our saliva flows at the thought of desserts, and our imagination run wild at the sight of desserts.

Just like the number 7, while some sees it as their lucky charm, others dismissed it as pure speculation. Things could gone either way, and our adventure was just the same. Some people could have feel that the place was great with its nice ambience and pretty cakes, while others might have given their verdict that it was crap and terribly expensive for the petite slice of cake. But for us, the company’s was all that matter, even though the cake didn’t exactly deliver, to our lofty expectations.

We were supposed to be in Seventh Heaven, but that failed to materialise, & we found ourselves in Nectarie instead. While the core of us were the original members behind this, we found new friends who shared our common interest.

Choices. Often people had to make their decision in an instant flash. Inside and outside. We were torn between both sides, until reality stuck. The sun had decided for us.

The inside was a long narrow streak, quite unlike what you’ll normally see. The use of mirror and glass to elongate the place, plus the tall table and chairs were clever, and necessary.

We started with the Pistachio white chocolate ($7.50) eagerly, egged on by one of us who was a fan of pistachio. For the pistachio purist, this was unacceptable. The taste of the nut wasn’t strong enough, and the whole cake was sweet. However for the neutralist, the cake was not bad. The green layer did taste more like kaya than pistachio, but the cake was very smooth, i like the thin layer of raspberry jam which contributed to the sweetness of the cake. Althought some might have felt the cake was too sweet, but personally i like the overall subtle taste.

We favoured the Parfait of dark & white chocolate ($7) over its chocolate cousin, the double chocolate mudcake. There was dark chocolate, white chocolate, and the rather chewy layer. Everything seemed perfect, chocolate with chocolate is after all a fail-proof option. But somehow, the whole dessert couldn’t click, something was amiss.

Whether the Granny smith apple crumble ($6) was created by the granny or not, we do not know. But what we know was the crumble skin was crispy and flaky. Served warm, this dish wouldn’t disappoint you. The only gripe, the apple fillings were too little compared to the thick crumble skin.

I have been told that the Caramelized bananas with chocolate ($7.50) here is good. In fact, it ranked among the top 50 cakes by Sunday Times. Undoubtedly the best cake Nectarie has to offer, the banana and white chocolate mousse was velvety and rich. But that wasn’t the best part, eaten together with the crunchy base, the taste was divine. And all of us unanimously agreed it was the star.

If the caramelized banana with chocolate was the best, then the Dark chocolate Opera ($6) would definitely be on the other end of the score sheet, the worst. Even before we got started on this, our dessert enthusiasts already noticed the cake was too dry. Indeed, the texture and taste was almost dehydrated. Disappointing.

We can’t possibly neglect the unique combination of chocolate and coconut in the form of the Chocolate terrine with coconut mousse ($6). I’ve no idea what’s a terrine, my best bet would be chocolate layers. The whole cake was on the sweet side, just like how desserts are supposed to be. The chocolate actually covered the taste of the coconut, so the others were actually eating them layer by layer to discover the coconut mousse.

I have a love-hate relationship with the Tiramisu ($7). I adored them, and they are definitely listed as one of my favourite desserts. Thus I’m always easily satisfied by the simplest and often i ain’t a good judge between an excellent tiramisu and the normal one.

Nectarie’s rendition was unusual for the fact they didn’t have the the typical layers found in others. The sugar & coffee icing were very beautiful indeed. The finger biscuits soaked in kahlua and espresso were right in the middle of the mascarpone cheese. I thought they were too soggy, a fairly average one, just as we suspected.

Total bill was $73 for 7 people, 7 slices of cakes, & 7 beverages. The promotion of 50% off per slice of cake with each drink meant that we need to get 7 beverages to enjoy the discount for our 7 cakes. This is only applicable during weekdays 1-3pm. With most the drinks fairly expensive, it made it seems like we were still paying for the cake, only that it came with a “free” drink.

I’ve noticed one thing, most of the cakes are decorated with raspberry dips on the white plate which made the whole dessert looked pretty. But while it’s nice as a decoration, to have it on every plate of dessert is a tad too much. Simple is beautiful. Yes?

Nectarie Patisserie actually wasn’t that bad, their desserts were generally okay, but for the prices you are just expecting something more, and they failed to come up with that x factor. The ambience is nice. Check. The cakes are pretty. Check. But somehow the taste failed to surprise us. I ain’t sure whether i’ll go back again, but for you people who hasn’t been there, this might just be one cool place to check it out, once.

Nectarie Patisserie
3C River Valley road
#01-05 The Cannery, Clark Quay
Tel: 6305 7628

Check out the rest of the dessert enthusiast entries:
Fen @ sgcake.com
Evan @ bossacafez
Sihan @ Fundamentally-flawed
Vicki @ herlittleblackdress

Until our next dessert enthusiast outing.. Seventh Heaven & choupinette’s calling!

Sometimes it is a hassle to cook up a meal, and especially so if you are talking about a three or four course meal. But all of us can’t live without desserts, well at least i can’t. So when i saw this simple and “instant” recipe by Nigella Lawson, i immediately wanted to try it out. Chocolate mousse is a great dessert to serve to your guests since it is pretty, everybody gets their individual serving, and you can prepared it in advance in one two hours (if you do it correctly).

But it isn’t easy to make chocolate mousse, that is at least for the “normal” recipe, which needs to incoporate egg yolk into the chocolate. Therefore, her recipe solved this tricky problem, since it didn’t use any eggs at all. Instead, we used marshmallows, to provide the texture. Well, my first attempt didn’t exactly went according to plan, the chocolate mousse was a tad watery as a result of adding too much water. So as a last resort, i put it into the fridge, and after chilling, it was not too much, just not fluffy enough. Other than that, i thought it was acceptable for the first try.

Since i wasn’t preparing for many people, and after my first attempt, i decided to half the recipe instead. But still, there was too much chocolate mousse leftover, since it was extremely sweet and we couldn’t finish everything.

Ingredient (the original amount)
Mini marshmallow 150g
50g Butter
250g choc chips
4 tbsp water
284ml cream
1 tsp vanilla
Small slad of white choc

Directions
1. Put in the mini marshmallows, butter and chocolate chip into a pan, added in 4 tbsp of water, stir and let it melt under fire.

2. The marshmallow will take longer to melt, but after everything melt, leave it to cool for a few minutes.

3. Meanwhile, Add in a tsp of vanilla to the cream and whisk. Fold the melted chocolate into the cream, and mixed.

4. Served in a glass, and grate white chocolate on the mousse for decoration.

I made some extra butter pastry skin while doing the pineapple tarts, and the chocolate mousse taste great together with the tart too!

While it took Nigella Lawson very fast to make the chocolate mousse, i’m a slow baker and it took me quite a while to prepare this fuss-free dessert. I’ve made try making some cupcakes last night too, will be posting it soon. Stay tune!

Cheers,
Brad

This was my first time baking, and i finally did it after thinking about it for so long. There was the problem of oven since i didn’t have one at home. Had been pestering information about baking from Evan, Sihan & Vicki, who are all excellent bakers and was deciding between getting Rowenta or Delonghi oven. But in the end i decided to borrow a Tefal one from my aunt first, its better to try out before splurging on an expensive oven. I was looking at Nigella Lawson cooking video, and boy she made baking seems so easy!

Right, considering the fact that i didn’t know how to bake, i guess the muffin tasted all right, there was some mistakes made though. As it was my very first time, i took quite a while, adjusting between reading from the recipe and preparing the ingredients. There was one particular moment when i was pouring the flour, 300g needed, so i was looking at the weighing scale and thinking i need to stop after the 3rd needle. So i poured slowly until i realised 3 needles was only 30g, not 300g! tsk tsk.

Other than that, i didn’t mix the batter fully, because the recipe asked to mix lightly so that the muffins won’t be too heavy. This resulted in the bottom of the batter not mixed properly, and when the muffins were baked, there were a few tiny white spots of unmixed flour. The recipe called for 300ml of milk, but it turned out to be a mistake as i ended up making 17 muffins instead of the stated 12. After finish baking, the end product muffins were rather sticky, i just realised it was because i ate it immediately when it came out of the oven last night. When i ate it today, it wasn’t sticky anymore.

Ingredients (Makes 16)
80g unsalted butter
2 eggs, lightly beaten
300ml (use half will do) whole milk
300g (2 1/2 cups) plain flour, sifted
2 tsp baking powder
150g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
40g unsweetened cocoa powder
120g dark chocolate chips

Directions
1. Melt butter in pan, remove from heat and pour into bowl.

2. Add the eggs, milk, followed by flour, baking powder, sugar and cocoa powder, and mixed lightly. Fold in the chocolate chips.

3. Place 16 muffin cases in a muffin tray, fill each case three quarters full with mixture. Bake in a preheat oven of 180C for 20-25 min.

4. Leave the muffin for a minute, and turn out onto a wire rack to cool before serving.

Baking is really tiring, but fun! I’m going to try baking other stuff tonight, so watch out for them soon! And wasn’t too pleased with the photos of the muffins, looks like i need to re-learn how to take photographs at home, since the lighting and setting is different from the places i take outside.

ps: I brought the book Small cakes by Roger Pizey from a site, Opentrolley