Antoinette is a Parisian style tea salon, helmed by chef Pang Kok Keong, who is arguably one of the most talented pastry chefs in Singapore. His fourth outlet at Palais Renaissance, Le Jardin d’Antoinette, is modelled after Versailles’s expansive outdoor garden. It is the perfect place to go with your girlfriends to enjoy a quiet afternoon.
I’ve tried the whole collection at Antoinette’s, and below is a complete guide to their cakes.
Let me eat cake.
From front to back: Violette, Versailles, Charlotte.
Violette ($8.50)
Our cake party started with the Violette, which consists of violet buttercream, violet flower cake and homemade raspberry marmalade. Dense yet not too heavy, it’s a very cake-y cake. I love the smell of the violette extract which perfumes the cake sponge, akin to rose with a tinge of raspberry.
Versailles ($9.0)
We also had the Versailles, a simple flourless chocolate sponge with 58% dark chocolate. While the flavour was intense, we liked the fact that it was not too overwhelming.
Charlotte ($8.50)
Named after Chef Pang’s older daughter, Charlotte — as its name suggests — is a princess-y cake made up of finger sponge soaked with strawberry syrup, strawberry jelly, and a plain vanilla cake base.
Le Royale ($8.0)
Le Royale, one of the most popular cakes at Antoinette, is also something not to be missed. If you like chocolate and hazelnut, this is definitely a winner.
Saint Honore L’amour ($8.50)
Easily the prettiest cake on Antoinette’s dessert menu, Saint Honore L’amour is a choux pastry filled with rose petal cream, and accompanied by strawberry compote, fresh raspberry, and adorned with fresh rose petals. Light, smooth and easy on the palate.
Antoinette ($9.0)
The namesake creation, an earl grey tea chocolate cake, is one of my favourite desserts. Trust me on this, it is that good. If this is your first time trying their cakes, you cannot leave the French patisserie without having it.
Strawberry Baba ($8.0)
One of the few desserts that I do not enjoy is the Strawberry Baba – which comprise strawberry baba baba pastry, citrus rum syrup, vanilla crème chantilly – as I find it to be an acquired taste.
From bottom clockwise: Kyoto, Chloe, Framboisier.
Kyoto ($9.0)
A very Japanese-esque cake. I liked that the chestnut cremeux was very light, and it added a nice finish to the green tea mascarpone mousse,
Chloe ($9.0)
One of the newest additions to Antoinette’s repertoire, Chloe is the latest crowd pleaser. After trying the cake, it is easy to understand why. The combination of yuzu cremeux, white chocolate vanilla mousse, light sponge cake and almond sable was brilliant. The Chloe is definitely one of the must-try cakes at Antoinette.
Framboisier ($8.50)
Antoinette’s take on cheesecake. The graham cracker crust is usually at the base of the cheesecake, but in this instance, Chef Pang has opted to place the crumble cubes on top cream cheese vanilla mousse cake. All in all, it is a very pleasant rendition – you can’t go wrong with it.
Mont blanc ($8.50)
If you like chestnut, you should go for the Mont Blanc. For me, it is decent, but with so many other choices, I would probably not opt for this. That said, I am not a big fan of the chestnut dessert, so don’t take my word for it.
From front to back: Religieuse Café Caramel, Tarte exotique.
Religieuse Café Caramel ($8.00)
This is the profiterole version of chocolate éclair. Essentially, it is a fluffy and light choux pastry filled with coffee cream. A chocolate dome filled with caramel sits atop on the choux pastry, and it provides a good balance to the bitter coffee taste.
Tarte exotique ($8.50)
If I were to simply describe the tarte exotique, it would be: Mediterranean with a local twist. This tart has many interesting and contrasting flavours like almond tart, gula Melaka cremeux, finger sponge with gula melaka, coconut mousse, exotique coulis – which managed to come together very harmoniously.
Strawberry shortcake ($8.0)
Fans of Japanese strawberry shortcake will be happy to see it on Antoinette’s menu. That said, while I have included it in my list of the best strawberry shortcakes in Singapore, I think it is good, but not extraordinary.
Forbidden fruit ($9.0)
The forbidden fruit is unanimously our favourite pick of the lot. This is a reconstructed apple tart in the form of a cake. Built with a financier cake base, green apple mousse, maple cremeux, vanilla caramel apple slices and green apply jelly; it tastes as good (or even better) than it looks.
Antoinette
390 Orchard Road
#B1-08/09/10C Palais Renaissance
Tel: +65 6735 6392
Daily: 11am to 10pm
Note: This was an invited media tasting.
Forbidden Fruit, Le Royale and Antoinette are my picks. Really a pleasure to take time and savour the different textures provided by Forbidden Fruit. Who would have thought a simple apple can be so good?! The texture of Le Royale is realy spot on and Antoinette, oh so rich and satisfying! Only thing is, I wish they’d pack the cakes nicely, as in really secure each one. So far I have brought the cakes home twice and both times, they had not kept their shape. I guess it would be ok if I had hopped straight into the car or taxi, but I took the mrt and bus so that would mean a bit of bump and shaking here and there. Still, if it was secured well enough it would have survived the journey
versailles, definitely a MUST try!