Litchi de Sampaguita

Litchi de Sampaguita

Apart from the lychee ivory chocolate mousse, the core of this cake deserve some attention. A combination of real lychee chunks, jasmine cremeaux and vanilla dacquoise makes this different from a regular log cake. The overall taste was refreshing but too much of it can be cloying.

Apart from Caprice de Banana featured in our previous post and Litchi de Sampaguita, Apple Riveira is the third alternative available at Gourmet Carousel (which we did not try). The latter consists of Granny Smith’s apple mousse with milk chocolate cremeaux and apple compote on chocolate Victoria’s sponge.

Each slice of log cake costs $7+ while a 750gm log cake will cost $48+.

Gourmet Carousel
Royal Plaza on Scotts, Singapore
25 Scotts Road
Singapore 228220
Tel: 6589 7799
http://dining.royalplaza.com.sg/

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Caprice de Banana

Caprice de Banana

After the mooncake spree, I presume our fellow readers will be curious about our choice of log cakes. Frankly speaking, we are reluctant to blog about them as hotel changes their selection every year and so far we have not come across a good log cake (Note: specifically log-shaped) to rave about.

The problem with log cakes lies in their texture which are often sandy and coarse so as to be able to support the weight of the decorations. Moreover, samplers won't be accurate as eating a small bit is so much different from having an entire slice. Hence, we shall have a disclaimer indicating that the log cakes' entries for this year are our random guesses and are uploaded to tell you what are available for this year.

Gourmet Carousel do have their log cakes served in slices. Caprice de Banana is generally a banana chocolate mousse layered with salted caramel, chocolate feuilletine and chocolate roulade.

Unlike most log cakes that uses cake sponge for support, the bulk of Gourmet Carousel's log cakes uses mousse. Chocolate banana mousse was fragrant, apart from it being too creamy but the disappointment comes with the centre block of bitterish mousse which we can't make out what it is. Chocolate feuilletine and chocolate roulade was ok but not evenly spread throughout the entire slice. Hence the crunch could not be felt in every bite.

Each slice of log cake costs $7+ while a 750gm log cake will cost $48+.

Gourmet Carousel
Royal Plaza on Scotts, Singapore
25 Scotts Road
Singapore 228220
Tel: 6589 7799
http://dining.royalplaza.com.sg/

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Pineapple Ispahan

Pineapple Ispahan

Apart from tempting me to try soft-serve made from Hokkaido milk, Ice has vaguely mentioned about the New Year flavoured macarons offered by Gourmet Carousel. Since I was already at the Hokkaido fair for the ice-cream, my curiousity led me to the stall managed by Gourmet Carousel...

What surprised me was a different look of the Isaphan, adopting the auspicious colours such as red and yellow to signify luck and prosperity. Not only that, pineapple flavoured!!!

By now one should know that one of the highlights of Chinese New Year is “festive cookie”, the pineapple tart.

Why so?

Because the word pineapple is translated to “ong-lai” (in Hokkien dialect) which mean wealth come, thus it is a must to have pineapple tart during Chinese New Year. Also, pineapple in Teochew dialect sounds like 'Wang Lie', which means imminent luck.

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Fen's comments

The appearance of the pineapple isaphan simply catches my attention. I can imagine the striking yellow shouting "try me" and I simply succumb to my temptation.

On the other hand, Yuan wanted to have get their new flavours macarons ($2.30 each) to contrast the size of the Isaphan and thus explaining our purchase.

The pineapple isaphan is refreshing, with the sweetness from the pineapple cubes and a slight sourishness from the raspberries, this is indeed a perfect combination of the two. What makes it unique is the filling, which has the texture of a custard enveloping shredded pineapples. Indeed an expensive alternative to traditional pineapple tarts.

Mandarian orange macaron with chocolate ganache was alittle diappointing as fruity flavours generally don't gel with chocolate. On the other hand, the pineapple macaron was not bad, something similar to Amande's passionfruit macaron but the isaphan definitely fair better.
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Yuan's comments

Fen and I have been quite fond of macarons hence when we saw the CNY series from Carousel, we felt that we simply must try. What's surprising is that the pineapple Isaphan tasted pretty similar to a conventional Pineapple tart. Apart from the usual macaron crust, there is this layer of custard which tasted like the crust of a pineapple tart. Overall, I would say that the pineapple isaphan is rather refreshing and deserve a try. The mandarin macaron too is not bad except that I personally do not like chocolate ganache in my macaron.
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Michinoku & Hokkaido Fair
Isetan Scotts Supermarket, Basement 1
9-19 Jan, 10am-7pm

Gourmet Carousel
Royal Plaza on Scotts, Singapore
25 Scotts Road
Singapore 228220
Tel: 6589 7799
http://dining.royalplaza.com.sg/

Note: These product will be available from Wednesday 14 January, 2009 to Monday 9 February, 2009.

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No. 26 - Desire from Gourmet Carousel

No. 26 - Desire from Gourmet Carousel

Wanted to get a circular and small cake for Yuan as his birthday cake. Since my first attempt at St. Regis failed. I decided to purchase the cake that I originally had in mind.

Ranked 26 on Sunday Times' 50 best cakes... presenting Desire ($6.50, excluding of 7% GST)
"Awaken your desire for dessert with this sinful cake that has rich milk chocolate mousse, chocolate sponge and a vanilla creme brulee filling studded with raspberry pieces.


Apart from the Black Pearl, this is the other signature cake of Gourmet Carousel and their description on the web is "Jivara milk chocolate mousse on chocolate sponge crème brulee of vanilla with raspberries, nougatine of cocoa bean nibits."


I am amused by the tag as our last purchase of Royale Noisette didn't come with this. We were wondering, could it be because this is their signature creation?


The photo of the 1kg version of Desire obtained from their website.


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Fen's comments

Personally, I didn't like it. I thought the chocolate mousse was too milky, can't feel the chocolate. Maybe because I have higher expectation of this one since Royale Noisette was much better and that the latter was not featured on Sunday Times, neither was it termed as Carousel signature.

In addition, I thought the cocoa beans nibits didn't complement nor enhance the taste, but kind of spoils the smooth texture of the mousse. If you are looking for chocolate mousse with vanilla crème brulee, I would strongly recommend Valrhona Chocolate Mousse Cake from Hotel Intercontinental.

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Yuan's Comments

Don't be mislead by the reddish colour of this cake, it barely has the raspberry taste. In fact the outer layer of this cake taste like chocolate fudge jelly. The chocolate mousse beneath is more to the creamy sort and is generally not bad. What I didn't like about this cake is the vanilla cream and nuts. The vanilla cream taste closer to fresh cream while the nuts taste bitter. Overall I think this cake deserve something like 6/10 but I doubt I will give it another shot.
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Gourmet Carousel
Royal Plaza on Scotts, Singapore
25 Scotts Road
Singapore 228220
Tel: 6589 7799
http://dining.royalplaza.com.sg/

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Dining at Carousel, presenting their desserts

Dining at Carousel, presenting their desserts

Went for buffet lunch and I am going to present you the desserts we have tried this afternoon...

Presenting you the dessert bar... apart from this, there were also Chocolate Fountain, Ice cream, Mixed Fresh Tropical Fruits, Bread and Butter Pudding, Crumble and Nonya Kueh, a total of 3 stations of this scale.

Starting from the left, Pistachio Crème brûlée, Apricot Crumble, Apricot Tart


Starting from the one with a pink layer of jam (clockwise direction), New York Cheesecake with strawberry mirror, (unidentified), Jasmine Chocolate Gateaux, Jivara chocolate mousse with crispy feuilletine, Raspberry Yoghurt Chocolate Mousse

*I might have gotten the names wrong but generally this plate contains a mixture of cheesecakes, chocolate, blueberry and vanilla mousses


Desserts in shooter glass


Starting from the left, Sea coconut pandan pudding or Chendol (not sure), Green tea mousse with Azuki, Mango and Apricot sago

Starting from the left, Lychee Tiramisu, Apricot and Vanilla mousse, (unidentified)

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Fen's comments

Nowadays, buffets are not about eating alot but a place to chit chat and enjoy some of the new or signature dishes whipped out by the restaurant. I would say it is a pretty good buffet since we only paid $39++. In addition, this is one of the international buffets which is halal and has been ranked together with Melts, the World Cafe and the Line. Thus, I expect abit more from this place. However, to compare with Melts, the world cafe (Oriental Mandarin) and the Line (Shangri-la), there is still a difference as Melts has a better selection in terms of Western dishes while the Line has just too much selection.

Generally, the service is good. The water was refilled regularly, the plates were cleared pretty fast and best of all, they kept my cake nicely in the concierge despite it being from another hotel. The dining place is spacious and well-lit, thus giving a very pleasant dining experience.

For the main course, some dishes that leave a pretty deep impression were the traditional Hainanese Chicken Rice balls. The rice has a very nice fragrance and the texture is just right, not too soft nor hard. The sashimi was good given the amount of salmon sashimi we have eaten throughout the entire buffet. The cream of chicken soup was rich and creamy but the second serving was just too creamy with little chicken broth.

On the whole, the dishes served were mainly Indian and Malay food with pretty much beef selection and of which, the mashed potato, roasted duck breast and the lamb cravings tempted Yuan for a second serving...
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Yuan's comments

This buffet offers a wide range of variety. Though not as much as The Line or Melts, the food quality here is good. What left the deepest impression was the chicken rice balls. Seldom would you crave for rice but this one will leave you wanting to eat more. The other item that left a deep impression was their selection of shell fish. I am amazed that the taste can vary from sweet to salty. (I always thought shell fishes are just chewy and do not fall into either salty or sweet unless you dip them into sauce)

Anyway moving onto desserts, it seems to me that buffet desserts are usually sub standard. All those cute glasses of pudding you see are either too sweet or too sour. What was worth trying are the Apricot tart and Apricot Crumble. I must say that Carousel's crumble and tarts are really not bad.

For the buffet on the whole, I think it is worth the $41(Including GST) which I paid. But I would say that Carousel lose to The Line on variety.
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Carousel
Royal Plaza on Scotts
25, Scotts Road
Singapore 228220
Tel: 6589 7799
http://dining.royalplaza.com.sg/

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Royale Noisette from Royal Plaza Gourmet Carousel

Royale Noisette from Royal Plaza Gourmet Carousel

Dark chocolate mousse on a crispy hazelnut biscuit and feuilletine with a vanilla custard insert.
It always stirs my curiosity whenever I come across similar pastries names used in different cafes and frankly speaking, I have never pay attention to these names until I started this blog. Since I intend to share my cake experience with others, I feel that I must at least get my definitions right.


Since I have come across the term "noisette" a couple of times, I decided to google this word out. Truly indeed, Beurre noisette is actually in French means "hazelnut butter", or loosely translated as "brown butter". So don't be surprised if you come across this term as it is frequently used in French pastry production.

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Fen's comments

I do like this creation but having ate so many chocolate mousse these few months, I have to admit that I am alittle tired of this. Most of the hotels gives pretty smooth chocolate mousse and I really don't have much to comment. In short, this is nice, rich and creamy. Also, I like the crispy hazelnut biscuit that goes along with it. If you are like me that goes for smooth texture in a chocolate mousse, I guess this is worth a shot. I thought this was better than Le Royale but I guessed Yuan thinks like-wise.
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Yuan's comments

I would say that this cake taste similar to the Valrhona chocolate mousse cake from Hotel Intercontinental. Has a higher cake content as compared to other chocolate mousse. It is sort of moist and has a layer of hazelnut biscuit coated with caramel. For me, i prefer higher chocolate content over smoothness. Thus i would prefer the Le Royale over this.
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Gourmet Carousel
Royal Plaza on Scotts, Singapore
25 Scotts Road
Singapore 228220
Tel: 65897799
http://dining.royalplaza.com.sg/

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A La Pierre Herme's isoform

A La Pierre Herme's isoform

Bisquit macaroon a la rose, crème au beurre a la rose With lychee and fresh raspberries


In fact, earlier on this week, Yuan and I decided to drop by Carousel to get some macaroons. This is what you called curiosity. Once we spotted a shop or recommendation, our taste buds just transmit a signal our brains and send a new directive to our legs...

Anyway, we tried the Matcha and Lavender macaroons and we realized it was not as sweet as Centre Ps, not as chewy as Centre Ps, more to the crunchy crust which is pretty similar to BakerZin. Bottom line, we prefer Centre Ps's or Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie's macaroons. Took a picture of the Isaphan with the Pistachio and Rose + Raspberry macaroons. Yuan is just amused by the 小巫见大巫 (when a dwarf met a giant) concept.

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Fen's comments

The raspberries are not sour nor sweet but unlike the BakerZin's Isaphan, this has more buttercream and thus has a bigger contrast from the crispy rosy shells. In addition, they are more generous with their lychee, at least they are not minced. I thought it was nice but nevertheless, macaroons cannot be consumed in large quantities due to the extreme sweetness. Nice in small bites. Anyway, each Ispahan costs $6.50+ each.

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Yuan's comments

This is the other Ispahan which I have eaten apart from Bakerzin. I always like to take photos of Ispahan when placed next to the macaroons. It sort of shows how small a macaroon is. Anyway, like what Fen mention, the taste of the Royal Plaza Macarons is sort of similar to the Bakerzin ones. Very crispy crust, not too chewy. The main difference which makes Royal Plaza better is the filling. They are more generous with their lychee which sort of takes away the sourness of the raspberries. Overall I would say it is worth a try.
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Gourmet Carousel
Royal Plaza on Scotts, Singapore
25 Scotts Road
Singapore 228220
Tel: 65897799
http://dining.royalplaza.com.sg/

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