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.

If you have been reading my food blog for a while, you would know that I love cakes and I am always on the lookout for dessert places in Singapore. With so many new patisseries, cake and pastry shops opening this year, I think dessert lovers are living in exciting times.

Bonheur Patisserie at Duxton road, is a fairly new confectionery in Singapore which specialises in customised wedding cakes. They also have a dine-in cafe where you can order a slice of cake for a nice afternoon high tea.

Currently, they have an on-going Weekday High Tea Set (before 5pm): 1 cake and 1 drink for $8.5. Otherwise, you can always drop by after work and enjoy the Weekday after 7pm promotion: buy 3 cakes and get 1 free.

We were quite fascinated by the dome-shaped Tiramisu ($6.5) which you see in the first picture of this post. Both the Tiramisu and the Light Peach Sakura ($6.5) had a biscuit-like crust base, and we had lots of fun digging into the desserts. If you like tarts, go for Bonheur Patisserie’s Chocolate Hazelnut Tart, which was pretty good with its crisp pastry shell and bitter-sweet chocolate filling.

Amongst the cakes that we’ve tried, my favourite was the Strawberry Balsamic ($6.5). The pretty cake was deceptively light, with a nice touch of balsamic strawberry.

On my second visit, we shared four cakes: Mango Cheesecake ($6.5), Carrot Cake ($6.5), Caramel Opera ($6.5) and Chocolate Pound Cake ($6).

I thought that Bonheur Patisserie’s Carrot Cake was exceptionally ordinary, and so was the Chocolate Pound Cake. Thankfully, the Caramel Opera was not too bad, with the fatal (extremely sweet) combination of caramel, chocolate and coffee.

The Mango Cheesecake was the crowd-pleaser. With a smooth mango flavour and crusty base, the cheesecake was delightful and not too overwhelming.

The Tangjong Pagar/Duxton area really is a mini dessert paradise. Besides Bonheur Patisserie, Kki Cafe, Patisserie Glace and Flor Patisserie are also located in the same area. So if you are craving for cakes, I’m sure you know where to go now.

For more cakes, read my list of Best Dessert Places in Singapore | Best Cakes in Singapore

Singapore Food Blog Review
Bonheur Patisserie
70 Duxton Road Singapore
Tel: +65 6221 1148

Operating Hours:
Mon to Thu: 10am – 8pm
Fri to Sat: 10am – 10pm

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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.

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.

Laurent Bernard Chocolatier
#01-11 The Pier at Robertson Quay
80 Mohammad Sultan Road
Tel: +65 6235 9007
Mon: 6pm – 11pm
Tue to Thu: 1pm – 12 midnight
Fri & Sat: 1pm – 1am
Sun: 1pm – 11pm
Nearest Station: Clarke Quay

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

With the world in it’s current chaotic state, the financial crisis which is turning the world around, the Mumbai terrorists attack, the airport saga in Bangkok, who knows what just might happen next. Banks who are supposed to know their stuff, suddenly appeared, like the amateur on the street, not knowing what they are really selling.

From planting bomb & hijacking planes secretly, they have decided to come out into the open, and sprayed at every happy folk on the street. My heart goes out to the family of the female lawyer, our people.

It’s disheartening when you know there are people struggling to survive and live a longer life, and there are people out there wanting to destroy life, the beginning of everything. And what’s with the people over at the Bangkok airport? Don’t they know that by stopping the planes in, they might have just stopped the future money coming into their country?

Working hand in hand, we try to mix everything, in an attempt to get it right.

In times like this, it is just so difficult to find a moment of peace isn’t it?

Mixing everything together, the sound of the machine goes churning away,

Staring at the square box, watching them grow and turn golden,

I listened to my own heart beat, and i found my calm and peace.

While co-owner and partner Mac excel in decorating the desserts, June enjoyed researching the use of new flavours instead. Perhaps it is the unique combination and strength in the partnership that gave Obolo Patisserie its success. ladyironchef decided to organise a dessert outing there and it went on smoothly with the support that the partners provided.

The interior of Obolo is very small, and could only fit in 15 people. Mac and his team rearranged the tables and did the settings for us, with the print of our dessert degustation menu, Obolo’s christmas catalogue, and a small gift in the form of cookies.

Our dessert degustation menu consisted of 12 desserts platter, namely 7 petite cheesecakes & entremets, 2 petite tartlets, 1 dessert shooter, and 2 les macarons. As always, i requested sampling portions for the menu as it’ll allowed us to try a variety of the desserts available at Obolo. Therefore, the pictures that you’ll be looking at are all mini-size, and does not reflect the actual size of the desserts.

Tartlet filled with milk chocolate & passion fruit ganache. The chocolate-passion was a sourish petite tart, mainly from the passion fruit used. Most of us found it too sour for our liking, and the sourness from the passion fruit completely overwhelmed the milk chocolate. I preferred it sweet.

Dark Chocolate ganache mousse, cassis ivoire mousse, praline feulletine base and moist dark chocolate-almond biscuit layers. Having tried Le Cassis before, i still enjoyed the contrasting taste between the slightly sour blackcurrent and the sweet of the chocolate ganache. I’m a big fan of the crunchy praline feulletine, but i thought that the layer was too thin, and not enough! Nonetheless, Le Cassis is definitely a hit with most of us.

Baked cheesecake infused with mango and passion fruit. While i didn’t really fancy passion fruit as i found it too sour, but in this instance the mango actually provided a better balance in the overall taste. The layer of biscuit crumb base would be nicer if it was thicker. The Mango-passion cheesecake had mixed reactions, with some finding it too sour, and some giving a thumbs up for the creative use of flavours.

67% caramel chocolate mousse, dark chocolate ganache, pecan chocolate fudge cake base. We were debating whether the nuts at the base were walnuts, but it’s actually pecan. The caraibe was one of my favourite of the night with the velvety chocolate mousse, dark chocolate ganache and chocolate fudge base. It was all about contrast and layering, really.

Tartlet filled with dark chocolate ganache. One of the few real chocolate of the night, the Chocolat Noir was better than the one that i had at Cova. One of the main feedback from the rest was, there was more sour than sweet dessert for the night. Mac explained that for decoration purposes, they liked to add in berries. But it ain’t the season for berries, and those that looked nice actually taste sour.

Some would prefer her to be drenched with liqueur, but the purist certainly say no! If you asked me, I’m on the purist side. The light mascarpone creme, dark chocolate ganache & chocolate genoise infused with coffee. Pull-me-up, of sugar and espresso. The tiramisu au chocolat.

Remember Pineapple tarts? You reminded me of Chinese New year, even though its only two months away. Pinada cheesecake, despite given a make-over, I still missed my pineapple tarts. The rum-soaked raisins didn’t help also.

Looking at the pistachio ivoire mousse, your eyes must be green with envy. Not to mention there’s still the cherry-raspberry gelee to deal with. I never like jam, definitely not the gelee in between the way of the dark chocolate ganache mousse, and the chocolate almond biscuit with kirsch. Almost prefect, the Nikta.

All the way from the states, there’s the New York cheesecake. Smooth, creamy, with a hint of lemon. At the pinnacle, seats the stunning strawberry. She’s the one that teased me all right, during our precious encounter. And now that I’ve conquered you, what do you have to say?

Appearance is secondary, they say inner beauty is more important. Nonetheless, the outer beauty sure makes a good impression. Sprinkle with gold dust, the ginormous strawberry garnished the top. There was tangy mascarpone mousse, and there was red berry gelee. Add in some kirsch-mixed berry compote, and i give you Summer Berries.

Miss macha was a last minute substitution, simply we got sick of Mr passion fruit. By common consensus, the shell was very thick, chewy, and a tad sweet. It’ll be better if she was lighter. But you couldn’t deny the fact that the macha macaron’s filling was prettily done.

Always a safe choice, the pairing of hazelnut and chocolate. Certainly a crowd teaser with that fulsome filling. Once my favourite, always my favourite. I don’t care what they say, i’m in love with you.

I’ll like to thank everyone who attended the dessert outing last night, and hope you all had a great time. There were old friends, and new faces, but everybody’s welcome! Also my thanks to Mac and June who supported and hosted us, for without them, this outing wouldn’t be possible.

For the rest of you folks who missed out on this dessert outing, not to worry. Details for my next food outing will be out tomorrow! So do let me know ASAP if you can make it for the lunch.

ps: read fen’s detailed review at sgcake.com
evan’s beautiful photos at bossacafez.com
jia xin at foodies queen

Cheers,
Brad