Laurent's version of the Plaisir sucré

Laurent's version of the Plaisir sucré

I couldn't resist not trying Laurent's Pleasure after reading the comments posted by Ice and Evan. Believe it or not, I didn't know that plaisir sucré is the French name for Pleasure and if you want to know more about this creation, please use plaisir sucré instead of Sweet Pleasure (for obvious reasons) in your internet search engines.

Pleasure is not available everyday at Laurent and thus it is better to call up to check their stock.

Anyway, I realized that Plaisir Sucré is created by the famed French pastry chef Pierre Hermé but I suspect since this is not easy to make, it didn't cause as much stir as macarons.

Made of five elements, namely: (1) hazelnut dacquoise, (2) hazelnut praline, (3) milk chocolate ganache, (4) milk chocolate whipped cream and (5) thin sheets of tempered milk chocolate; this indeed presents a chocolate sensation with varying texture and taste.
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Fen's comments

This looks lovely on the plate and to be frank, it was a mental torture to wait for Yuan to finish snapping this baby. The moment he is done, I simply digged in.

Comparing with my first encounter of BakerZin's Pleasure, this was indeed incredible. It has what I will describe as crisp (from the chocolate sheets), rich (from the chocolate ganache), crunchy (from the hazelnut praline) and chewy (from the dacquoise) all in one bite.

When rich chocolate with moderate sweetness pairs with milk chocolate-hazelnut praline and dacquoise, it is simply what we call a match in heaven.
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Yuan's comments

I guess I do not have to say much about Laurent's chocolates. The thin sheets of chocolate on the pleasure was just the right thickness and smoothness. This is a must try. (I must warn that it is rather expensive at $9.60)
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Laurent Bernard Chocolatier
The Pier at Robertson Quay 80
Mohammad Sultan Road #01-11
Singapore 239013

Tel: 6235 9007
http://www.thechocolatefactoryonline.com/

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Laurent's cheesecake

Laurent's cheesecake

Chocolate boutique, Laurent Bernard Chocolatier has always been known for their chocolates but one of our unexpected orders for the afternoon is their cheesecake.

Pardon me for my poor description with cheesecakes, I am not very well-versed with cheesy terms but generally this cheesecake is extremely rich with a firm and springy texture. The cream and water content seems to be lower than New-York style cheesecake with its after-taste tipping towards the sweet side (i.e. not sour).
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Yuan's comments

As Fen pointed out, I guess its never easy to describe a cheesecake. (It would be kind of wierd to say that a cheesecake is cheesy right?) This cheesecake on first bite really tasted like eating a block of chedar cheese. However as you slowly indulge in this cheesecake, you will feel slight sweetness. On the whole - worth a try.
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Laurent Bernard Chocolatier
The Pier at Robertson Quay 80
Mohammad Sultan Road #01-11
Singapore 239013

Tel: 6235 9007
http://www.thechocolatefactoryonline.com/

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Puteri Mas' Durian puffs

Puteri Mas' Durian puffs

Puteri Mas has become a household name when it comes to durian puffs. Located at the food paradise along Joo Chiat Road. Yuan and I have once travelled all the way to the East to pick up these yummy-licious babies but came to a conclusion that the ones from Goodwood Park are better.

Since they have opened a booth @ Suntec City, this makes traveling much easier and thus have decided to pick up a box of 20 for $11 to share with my family.

The winning factor of their durian puffs is the petite size which makes heavenly small mouthfuls. However, when it comes to the amount of durian pulp in its filling, Goodwood Park Hotel and Emicakes win hands down but gets cloying after eating 1 or 2. Puteri Mas, with a smoother and sweeter filling, (when chilled) seems to be more addictive as we couldn't stop as just 2 puffs.

I know that non durian lovers aren't going to like this entry... I promise a good entry for the weekend.

Puteri Mas Pte Ltd
Suntec City Mall
#01-187B
Tel: 6235 8768
Operating Hours: 10am to 10pm (daily)
Website

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Matcha Tea-rimisu

Matcha Tea-rimisu

It has been ages since I have eaten Matcha cakes.

Decided to drop by Ochacha for a quick Matcha fix and I realize they have a new product, matcha tea-rimisu ($4.20+).

The nicest thing of this dessert is the green tea flavoured sugar sprinkled on top of the dessert but apart from that, it is relatively sweet. The mascarpone portion tasted like matcha whipped cream while the cake portion is alittle thin to bring out the differentiating layers.

Sun with Moon will be a better bet when it comes to Matcha Tiramisu for its light and refreshing mascarpone layer.

OChaCha
252 North Bridge Road
#B1-44F, Raffles City
Tel: 6333 5886

Do note that Ochacha @ Raffles City has closed but there is another branch at The Paragon (290 Orchard Road), #B1-25. The telephone number for the Paragon branch is 6737 3889.

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Happy 牛 Year!!!

Happy 牛 Year!!!

As the year of the Ox begins, Yuan and I wish everybody a Happy New Year.

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Girls nite out @ Brotzeit

Girls nite out @ Brotzeit

According to their website, "Brotzeit" is a typical Bavarian expression which means bread-time (i.e. "Brot" = bread in German and "Zeit" for time). In short, the restaurant aims to provide customers with a cozy meal complemented by fresh beer.

I am one that don't frequent Vivo and even so, I will often prefer to eat at Food Republic. Hence, when I first saw the name of this restaurant, I was definitely curious with what they offers.

Reservation is definitely a must, given that it was packed on a Thursday night and the place is very dim, so it is pretty bad for photography. Adopting the use of brown and black, the restaurant attempts to provide a Bavarian feel for its beer traditions.

For a first visit, the menu can be confusing and thus the dishes ordered were random but in short, with 10% UOB discount and a $262.40 bill for 8, I thought the spread was huge completed with drinks and desserts.

Home-made Bavarian specialty, Käsespätzle ($14.90) was a simple German pasta created using a luxurious spread of assorted melted cheeses and spätzle (aka a type of egg noodles and small dumplings found in the cuisine of Germany). Such dishes are nice at first bite but gets too cloying.

From my understanding from the reviews from HGW, the pork knuckle is a must-try. The moist and well-seasoned meat with its crispy crackling is just right.

Mozzarella Salat was a huge bowl of freshly tossed salad but was also the most neglected dish since we were so famished and vegetables just don't satisfy.

One of their platters, Würstelplatte is one that most won't miss, given the reputation of sausages in German Cusine. However, it gets boring eating so many sausages ranging from spicy chicken, lamb, mini pork cheese, weisswurst and garlic-flavoured ones.

Schwammerl mit Semmelknödel, on the other hand was just merely mushroom with sauce and carbohydrates which I thought was not worth $21.50. It just tastes too ordinary.

Petersfisch was too salty but its winning factor was the thickness of the filet.

I didn't know that Germans has their version of pizza which is called brotzeit fladen (i.e. special baked thin crust dark dough bread with toppings) and the Brotzeitflade Vegetarisch we have ordered is one of our favourite dishes, apart from the Pork Knuckle. The dough is not overly thick and the portobello mushrooms are rich in its taste.

Although the main course did impress, the desserts were a complete disappointment. Apfelstrudel has a strong cinnamon taste and a chewy, thin filo pastry. Not bad but fail to impress all the girls. The vanilla ice-cream that came with it was also ordinary in my opinion.

Weissbier Tiramisu tasted more like vanilla chiffon sponge and chantilly cream. No coffee nor liquor after-taste.

Schokokuchen is the most well-received dessert but I thought that there are better warm chocolate cakes out there...

In short, it is a nice place to chill out and catch up with old friends but I would suggest ordering a wide variety and share since it gets cloying after several bites.

Brotzeit, VivoCity
1 Harbourfront Walk
#01-149 to 151
Singapore 098585
Tel: 6272 8815
http://www.brotzeit1516.com/

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An indulgence at BakerZin

An indulgence at BakerZin

It was another memorable desserts meet-up at Bakerzin with Evan, Brad, Sihan, Yingyan, Elaine (Etel), Vicki, Weili and Claire and this would not have been possible without BakerZin being so accommodating to our request. My sincere thanks to BakerZin's senior marketing executive, Ms. Alison and the warm hospitality given by Ms. Janet, the area manager who was stationed at Bakerzin United Square branch to ensure everything was in order.

BakerZin needs no introduction and being around for more than 10 years (since 1998), Pastry Chef Mr. Daniel Tay has never fail to curb our dessert cravings.

Before I continue, I would also want to thank Brad for his suggestion of sitting outdoor, the experience would never been much enjoyable if we have chosen to sit indoors. Not only will there be many restrictions, we might end up disturbing other Bakerzin dinners.

From the array of cakes on the display, Janet highlighted that bakerzin bestsellers are none other the Chocolate Amer (also featured in the 50 yummiest cakes) and the all-time favourite, the Strawberry Shortcake.

For those who have tried the Bakerzin's Chocolate Amer, you will enjoy the heavenly combination of the chocolate mousse and flourless chocolate sponge. The springy texture of the chocolate sponge and the smooth milk chocolate mousse simply blow everybody's mind away. Definitely a love on first bite. Bakerzin's Strawberry Shortcake, on the other hand, only satisfy a handful of us but having found the Strawberry Shortcake from Rive Gauche, this is pretty pricey even though there is no doubts about the quality of this Japanese fresh cream sponge cake.

It was my entry on Bakerzin's Fraisier and Evan's comments on Sweet Pleasure that tempted everybody to come for this bakerzin dessert outing but alas, the latter was sold out for the day. Fraisier, on my personal note, has always been an interesting combination of pistachios, tangy strawberries, fruity liquor and almond essence but to pistachio lovers, the pistachio flavouring was way too mild.

Ambrosia was also another cake which I have blogged before and similarly to our previous entires on bakerzin, we didn't like this as much as the rest due to the weak banana taste. In fact, there was a debate whether coffee has been included in the cake or a cross-contamination from Sumatra. Bottom line, the nicest part of the cake is the top thin layer of chocolate which was a unanimous vote.

Foret Noir aka Blackforest is another liquor concoction which will appeal to those who fancy a chocolate and alcohol combination. In addition, the brandied cherries were juicy with a strong alcoholic punch.

Having tried so many cakes in BakerZin, there are also a handful which I haven't try too, namely Bloom Cheesecake, New York Cheesecake, Sumatra and Coeur Noir. The 2 cheesecakes are silky smooth with a light cream cheese after-taste. The good thing about BakerZin's cheesecakes is the sufficient cheesy taste but not being overly sour. Both cheesecakes are good with Yuan preferring the highly recommended New York while me liking the Bloom for its lemon zest and the refreshing after-taste.

Bakerzin's Sumatra has a wow factor on its first bite but became pretty ordinary in the subsequent bites. The coffee mousse is pretty strong and is a better bet over Roulade if one favours coffee-flavoured cakes.

Coeur Noir shared some similarity with Foret Noir with an additional layer of dark chocolate glaze and hazelnut dacquoise at the base.

Of course, with the existing promotion on the warm chocolate cake, everybody got to savour it as the last cake. However, some felt that the chocolate was not rich enough to their liking and has a burnt chocolate after-taste. For me, it is just right.

Warning when you are out with paparazzi-dessertarians, one might end up salivating (in a prolonged manner) when looking at the cakes yet they are unreachable to your mouth due to the (ah hem) dangerous, intensive, massive firing session... Of course, with such dramatic actions, the cakes are warmed-up in the process (OMG!!!)...

To view my fellow blogger friends' entries, here are the links...
1. Bakerzin: Cakes & Desserts Fiesta by LadyIronChef
2. A Lazy Sunday Afternoon at Bakerzin by Evan
3. Food Blogger Gathering at Bakerzin by Elaine
I can't find the direct link to your entry & thus I linked to your flickr instead)
4. Coffee and a slice of cake, a prelude by Vicki

BakerZin, United Square
101 Thomson Road
#01-07/60 United Square
Singapore 307591
Tel: 6251 5550

Operating hours - 10:30 am - 10 pm (Sun to Thur)
10:30 am - 11 pm (Fri, Sat & Eve of Public Holiday)
http://www.bakerzin.com/

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Black Sesame Gelato & Milk Soft Serve

Black Sesame Gelato & Milk Soft Serve

One of the features in the Michinoku & Hokkaido Fair (9th to 19th Jan 09) is Cream Dowa from Hokkaido. With flavours ranging from green tea, blueberry, milk, etc and that a single scoop will cost $5, double $6.50 and triple $8.

Since I am into soft serve and that Hokkaido milk seems to be famous for its quality, I simply can't give this a miss. By the way, each milk soft serve costs $5 too.


Anyway, Yuan has decided to order a scoop of black sesame ice-cream since that is his favourite flavour when it comes to japanese gelatos.

I think the key feature of the Hokkaido ice cream is this strong milk scent. Texture wise, I guess it is pretty similar to most Japanese Gelatos which you can find in Singapore. The down side is that it melts pretty fast hence it can get messy. As for the black sesame gelatos, the fragrance of the black sesame is distinctively stronger than the Singapore equivalence and to compare with the soft serve, it has a less creamier texture.

We do love the taste of both ice-cream but because the ice-cream melts so fast (the 2 pictures are taken with a 2 minutes interval), we end up in quite a pathetic state and a terrible brain freeze while trying to eat it as fast as we can.

Michinoku & Hokkaido Fair
Isetan Scotts Supermarket, Basement 1
9-19 Jan, 10am-7pm

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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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P.S. cafe, an introduction...

P.S. cafe, an introduction...

In a city like Singapore, I am pretty surprised by the surrounding greens found near P.S. cafe. It all started with the 50 yummiest cakes article, followed by readers' comments and my email to P.S. cafe that leads me to this place.

Sitting in a cab searching high and low, the humble sign of P.S. cafe caught Yuan's attention, forcing the cab to a complete halt and surrounding us are tender green tufts with trees (no chirping of birds with occassional whirring of vehicles passing by), total simplicity.

Walking along the path leads us to a simple glasshouse that is glowing sedately in the rays of unadulterated sunlight but what is behind those doors was a pleasant surprise for cameras.

Every single corner of the cafe is carefully decorated, making this place a comfy place to chill out and unwind. The entrance of the cafe has sofas and cushions while a further walk-in leads you to a crowded and bustling Saturday afternoon. The wooden tables and mirrors to provide a rustic feel, while the outdoor seating against the tranquility of the surroundings provides an open feel of alfresco dining.

Those red-painted walls with scribbles of today's orders are painstaking written by the P.S. crew and I simply adore them. What surprises me was that they were cleaning the walls in the later part of the afternoon to replace the writings with the dinner special. How thoughtful...

The ornaments left on each table are different for lunch and dinner and we were simply amused by their presence, can't resist snapping a couple more pictures.

The ambience is similar to what we got at the Line @ Shangri-la and Brasserie Les Saverus of St. Regis. Those high ceilings sure make a strong impact.

All this photos won't be possible without Ms. Choo, the operations manager of P.S. cafe and Wayne, the duty manager for that afternoon. I sincerely expressed my greatest thanks to you and I am looking forward to my next visit, probably at the Palais branch.

For our reviews about P.S. cafe's desserts, here they are... the DOUBLE Chocolate Blackout Cake & Mango and Banana Crumble.

PS Cafe
28B Harding Road
Tanglin Village (Dempsey Road)
Tel: 6479 3343 / 9070 8782

Operating hours -
11:30am to 4pm [Lunch (Mon to Fri)]
9:30am to 4pm [Brunch (Weekend & PH)]
6:30pm to 10:30pm [Dinner (Daily)]
http://www.pscafe.sg/

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Banana and Mango Crumble...

Banana and Mango Crumble...

Although the array of cakes at the entrance looks tempting, our second order was Banana and Mango Crumble, which we thought it might be a refreshing alternative.

P.S. cafe's presents this hearty, warm dessert in a delightful manner; stewed mangoes and bananas with a layer of streusel topping, served with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.
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Fen's comments

So far, I have come across a couple of streusel-topped desserts with only 2 leaving a deep impression, namely the Strawberry Vanilla Streusel Cake from the Line @ Shangri-la and Granny Smith & Aloe Vera Crumble from Mykii. What makes these 2 good is the light and crunchy strusel toppings with a good mix of fruits.

P.S. cafe has its crumble warm, not overly sweet and of the right texture. However, the mangoes were sliced too thickly and were pretty fibrous, thus the fruits fails to have the "melt-in-your mouth" effect.

Don't ask me about the bananas, I was talking to the duty manager when Yuan finishes the entire dessert so I didn't get to eat the bananas.

Anyway, during the conversion with the duty manager, I understand that this dish has received a number of feedbacks particularly the use of mangoes. P.S. cafe wanted something different from a conventional apple crumble and thus they have sticked to this recipe and have been pretty well-received.

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Yuan's comments

The Banana and Mango crumble is really a unique combination for the adventurous. However I must warn readers that mango really isn't suited for a crumble. Mango is simple too smashy when baked. Further I really dislike the spice taste on the crumble.
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PS Cafe
28B Harding Road
Tanglin Village (Dempsey Road)
Tel: 6479 3343 / 9070 8782

Operating hours -
11:30am to 4pm [Lunch (Mon to Fri)]
9:30am to 4pm [Brunch (Weekend & PH)]
6:30pm to 10:30pm [Dinner (Daily)]
http://www.pscafe.sg/

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No. 30. Double Chocolate Blackout from P.S. cafe

No. 30. Double Chocolate Blackout from P.S. cafe

I have split the entries on P.S. cafe into 3 so that it will help in the classification while using the dropdown window...

So, first and foremost, how can sgcake missed out the most famous cake in P.S. cafe... or also known to be the Most Chocolately in the 50 yummiest cakes

Listed as No. 30. Double Chocolate Blackout, with the following description,
"This sinful, mile-high chocolate fudge cake is made for serious chocolate lovers. Eat is topped with New Zealand Vanilla ice-cream"

If one were to screen through the reviews written at HGW, most have recommended this cake, so how do we cake gurus find it.
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Fen's comments
According to one of the reviews posted by HGW (posted by Petite Mummy), the ice-cream served with the chocolate cake is from Movenpick. However, we didn't like the ice-cream so much because the one served with the chocolate cake has ice crystals and in terms of the strength of vanilla scent, it is pretty weak...

2 things I will look out for a chocolate fudge cake, namely the texture of the chocolate sponge and the richess of the chocolate fudge.

For the chocolate sponge, it is sufficiently moist and is no doubt rich. However, when the chocolate drizzle cools, the cake will also lose its softness, so do eat it when it is served warm.

Chocolate fudge, on the other hand, is pretty creamy, closer to what choc.a.bloc. offers.

Overall, most would have known that this is an insane portion which needs to be shared. If not, it is just too cloying.

One of my colleagues has it back to back with Lana chocolate cake and she felt that the double chocolate blackout wins hands down in terms of chocolate richness.
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Yuan's comments

Been working late for the past 2 weeks to type my comments. Anyway here are my views towards the Double Chocolate Blackout cake.

Despite, the generous serving of the cake and chocolate fudge, I find that this cake reminds me of the apollo chocolate cake. It has that chewy texture and the chocolate fudge tasted a little wierd. Not sure if I was getting picky with my chocolates.
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PS Cafe
28B Harding Road
Tanglin Village (Dempsey Road)
Tel: 6479 3343 / 9070 8782

Operating hours -
11:30am to 4pm [Lunch (Mon to Fri)]
9:30am to 4pm [Brunch (Weekend & PH)]
6:30pm to 10:30pm [Dinner (Daily)]
http://www.pscafe.sg/

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Crepe-y Tarte Tatin from Canelé

Crepe-y Tarte Tatin from Canelé

It is rare that Yuan and I will stop at one dessert so the other item we have ordered is their crêpes and frankly speaking, I took quite a fair bit of time to decide which flavour I want.

First, I don't want another chocolate dessert as it would be just too rich for me to stomach and second, I was worried about extreme sourishness caused by either strawberries, passionfruit or cherries. In the end, I have settled with the Tarte Tatin which its name refers to an upside-down apple tart in which the apples are caramelized in butter and sugar before the tart is baked.

Tarte Tatin
Flambéed caramelized apple with toffee, crème chantilly and caramelized filo pastry.
$12.50++ per serving

P.S. Alvinology managed to capture the process of making sweet crepe, Nougatine while Never Trust a Scrawny Foodie has the photos of sweet crepes , Nougatine, Mont Blanc, Tarte Tatin and Chic Choc.
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Fen's comments

I like the texture of this thin pancake made from flour, eggs, milk, butter and salt but when eaten on its own, it can be pretty plain and blend. What came with it was a nice scoop of Vanilla ice-cream which has a strong Vanilla pod fragrance. Though it is nice, but it was no way where Haagan Dazs and the Line.

The caramelized apple has a bitter after-taste which makes me ponder whether they were burnt and thus I didn't enjoy the bitterish sour taste. As for the caramelized filo pastry, it was nice and crisp with a good tint of caramelized, sugary exterior.

As what I always comment about Canelé's dessert, it is always good at the first bite but gets to cloying towards the end. As usual, the excess calories always go to Yuan...

Damn, I regret not ordering their macarons... ___________________________________________________________________

Yuan's comments

This crepe is really not worth the price. It totally lack the fragrance and simply taste like flour with egg and sugar. No flavouring at all. The toppings did not make the crepe any better, the caramelized apple tasted like burnt apple.
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Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie (Raffles City Shopping Centre)
252 North Bridge Road
#B1-81/82
Raffles City Shopping Centre
Singapore 179103
Tel: 6334 7377

Operating hours - 11am to 10pm daily
http://www.canele.com.sg/

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Jupiter from Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie

Jupiter from Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie

After reading Brad's entry and have seen Evan's photos on Bistro Sense, I have the sudden urge to try this Italian restaurant @ the Singapore Flyer but alas, due to some hiccups, I have decided to settle with a quick meal and drop by Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie.

There seems to be some debate between BakerZin and Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie but both have their hits and misses and personally I would prefer the sweet treats from BakerZin. Since I am reluctant to walk a distance for the former, that explains my next 2 entries on Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie.

As usual, we will usually admire the array of desserts displayed at the entrance of Canelé and I have to admit that Canelé has a better ambience than BakerZin. We have tried a fair selection from Canelé so it wasn't hard for Yuan to settle down with Jupiter. One of the chocolate creation which we have yet to try. So here is our reviews...



Jupiter
Parfait Manjari, exotic caramel and pecan nut nougatine on a flourless chocolate sponge with exotic coulis.
Priced at $7.00++ per slice
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Fen's comments

Canelé has always impressed me with its generous use of premium ingredients and this is no exception. We were captivated by its esthetically appearance and what do you expect from this luxurious dark chocolate mousse with flourless chocolate sponge and pecans. The end result is simply overpowering, in a similar manner as the Grand Cru Alpaco from Peaberry and Pretzel.

The tempting blend of crunchy pecans and smooth, creamy caramel provides an additional richness to this cake. What I like about Jupiter the most is the introduction of bitter flourless chocolate sponge to make it less cloying.

For those who have tried this cake, one wouldn't have missed out the sourish tint of the chocolate mousse, some felt that passionfruit was introduced into it while others thought that is the nature of Majari chocolate (i.e. As described on Valrhona's site for Manjari, it is supposed to be fruity Dark Valrhona Grand Cru chocolate of 64% cocoa content from the Indian Ocean).

Whichever case it is, you will never go wrong with chocolate at Canelé.
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Yuan's comments

I chose this cake as I really needed some chocolate to curve my craving. Choosing a dark chocolate mousse at Canele can't be wrong. Although I really liked their chocolate mousse, but it has this layer of salted caramel and this sourish raspberry taste which puts me off. But eating it separately, the chocolate mousse is really good.
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Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie (Raffles City Shopping Centre)
252 North Bridge Road
#B1-81/82
Raffles City Shopping Centre
Singapore 179103
Tel: 6334 7377

Operating hours - 11am to 10pm daily
http://www.canele.com.sg/

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Mango Mania from Froyoo

Mango Mania from Froyoo

Ah... I mentioned about Froyoo yesterday but those who know me would have guessed that I don't stopped at just one order. Since we have decided the waffle to come with the Vanilla soft-serve ice-cream, we ordered a Mango Mania smoothie with frozen yogurt ($6.80++ with 20% discount).

Don't ask me why there is a 20% discount since Yuan paid in cash and the receipt reflected a discount. In fact, I only realized it when I re-confirming that 7% GST and 10% service charge is included.

Despite being in a Korean theme dessert outlet, the soft serve from the waffle tasted like a typical japanese soft-serve ice-cream. The dense, rich and creamy taste is distinctive and I tend to prefer soft-serve than gelatos and ice-cream (except the Macademia Crunch from Haagan Dazs and Lychee Martini from 7th Heaven) for its lighter and not so cloyingly sweet taste. The most important thing is that it is not watery and full of icy lumps, unlike gelatos.

Since it gets alittle boring just talking about whether this is nice and that is bad, I did a quick read up on soft serve ice-cream. According to wikipedia, the 2 main difference between soft-serve and ice-cream is the milk-fat content (3 to 6% for soft serve and 10 t 18% for ice-cream) and the temperature (−4°C for soft serve and −15°C for ice-cream)at which it is served.Its lighter and smoother taste is due to the introduction of air at the time of freezing (i.e. overrun). Lastly, why Japanese soft-serve? Apparently, Hokkaido milk is well-known for its high quality dairy, thus ice-cream made from it tends to be smooth, rich in flavour and creamier.

As for yogurt, it is not fantastic as I want it to be. it is not about its characteristic tang but rather it didn't have sufficient milk proteins curd to my liking. It tasted like an extremely mild sourish ice-cream. I have a feeling that it didn't contain sufficient Lactobacillus acidophilus to denature the milk.

As for the smoothie, the plus point is the right amount of ice blended into the drink, the minus point is that it has a strong artificial mango after-taste.
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Yuan's comments

Simply put, this is a yogurt drink. Nothing fancy, ordinary tasting and suitable if you wanna chill out. Rather large cup and you can take your time to slowly sip this drink.
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Froyoo (under the same roof as Seoul Yummy) Novena Square
210 Sinaran Drive
#03-68
Singapore 307506
Tel: 6397 6939

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Froyoo Waffle

Froyoo Waffle

When I first saw Froyoo at Novena Square 2, the overall concept of this dessert outlet reminds me of Ministry of Food - My Izakaya but somehow or rather it is only after a few months after its opening before we dropped by our first visit...

I haven't really found a liking to korean food due to its extreme taste of kimchi... Basically sour and spicy food don't appeal to me...

Anyway, decided to drop by Froyoo for a dessert fix and we sat near the entrance of the store... Playing Korean drama OST, it seems to be a nice place to unwind but the air conditioning can be quite cold... This place also serves the main course from Seoul Yummy which is adjacent to Froyoo so occassionally you will smell the hotstone bibimbap and hotplate BBQ meat...

Fruity Froyoo Waffle, served with either Frozen Yoghurt or Vanilla Soft Serve and assorted fruits ($9.80++ with 20% discount)

The seats we were on overlooks the dessert bar and interestingly, we saw the Korean staff whisking and mixing the waffle batter on the spot.
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Fen's comments
Hmm... Based on the smell diffused from the waffle iron, we deduced that this is going to be an eggy one... True enough, unlike the light and thin crisp cake, this was a chewy and springy waffle...

Since I am a fan of Liège waffle, I felt that the waffle offered by Froyoo lacks the fragrance and the syrup drizzled on the waffle was too much thus making it plain springy and overly sweet.
For a price of $5.80 with only syrup and butter, I would prefer to drop by Sun Moulin, U.d.d.e.r.s or Gelare (on Tuesday) for curb my cravings...
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Yuan's comments

Having seen the pastry chef prepared the platter, i thought that it would be impression. Alas, this was not to be. It simply lack the fragrance and is way too egg-y. I guess if you like Gelare's waffles, you would be find this terribly disappointing. On the other hand, if you compare to the egg-y sort of New York New York, this is simply too plain. Overall I would only recomend this if you are like us, doing a waffle special :)
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Froyoo (under the same roof as Seoul Yummy)
Novena Square
210 Sinaran Drive
#03-68
Singapore 307506
Tel: 6397 6939

Note that Froyoo has been renamed as Seoul Yummy Korean Casual Dining.

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