Tampopo (Takashimaya)

Tampopo (Takashimaya)

Most of us remembers chiffon cakes as the old school pandan available in neighbourhood confectioneries. Perhaps the more expensive ones would be those offered by Bengawan Solo. Lately, Yummi Chiffon made its appearance by introducing over 12 flavours. But, do we actually realize that Tampopo (Deli) upmarket their chiffon with chantilly cream and flavours such as coffee, chocolate, matcha and cheese?


When I started the blog not long ago, we tried Tampopo's Cheese Chiffon, Matcha Chiffon and the Scoop Cake all in a go and my impression for the Cheese Chiffon has not changed. In fact, we notice the browning at the sides and bottom and also a gradual increase in cake density as you reach to the bottom.

If I were to write about the Cheese Chiffon last year, I would flame it since a slice costs $5.80++ but after my sister attempt to bake a chiffon cake, I realize the browning at the sides and bottom is important for a good chiffon. Apparently, chiffon cakes collapse easily and has difficultly holding its structure during baking. Thus, it relies on 'clinging' onto the pan to achieve its height. In addition, the cooling of the cake needs to be done inverted and this can be done with the use of a tube pan hanging upside down onto a bottle immediately after removing it from the oven.

Anyway, setting aside the browning and the incomplete triangular shape, I thought the cake is dry to my liking so anytime a slice of pandan chiffon cake will satisfy both my taste buds and pocket. However Yuan likes the combination of the shredded cheese with the chantilly cream. A good contrast of sweet and salty.


I have mentioned that Tampopo's matcha chiffon ($5.80++) is worth a try in both "our preference" and an old entry. The strength of matcha is reasonable but the chiffon is not as moist as Tampopo Deli's Scoop cake. If you look at the picture closely for both the Scoop cake and the Matcha Chiffon (see above), there is alot more cream in the Scoop cake so it is no surprise why the Scoop cake is alot more moist than Matcha Chiffon.

With Tampopo having a branch at Takashimaya, enjoying Tampopo's chiffons and Scoop cake becomes alot more convenient. However, to enter a restaurant for just 2 slices of cakes, we thought it might be alittle awkward. Hence we ordered the follow ramen.


Tonkatsu Ramen


Miso Ramen
Prior to starting the blog, tampopo's ramen used to wow us with their pork katsu. However today's katsu was somewhat salty. Hence this lead us to walk alittle further to enjoy a sandcake at Arinco King (ION Orchard).

Tampopo (Takashimaya)
391 Orchard Road
#B2-33 Takashimaya Shopping Centre
Singapore 238872
Tel: 6235 2218
Website

[ ... ]

Chocolate Chiffon

Chocolate Chiffon

Personally, I thought Arinco King's vanilla sponge goes better with salted caramel or chantilly cream due to a distinct fragrance. Since chocolate has a stronger taste, the chocolate fudge and chocolate cream incorporated over whelms the taste of the vanilla sponge.

All in all, the chewiness and springiness of Arinco King's sponge is their niche.

Perhaps fellow foodies or bakers can give me some insights. Based on daddy's experience with baking a sponge cake, it seems that the chewiness and springiness of a Japanese sponge is often due to the addition of cornstarch. Despite layering with fluffy whipped cream, Arinco King's sponge isn't as soggy as other strawberry shortcakes we have come across. Not sure if this is an effect of cornstarch in cake chemisty.

Arinco King (Closed)
2 Orchard Turn
Ion Orchard Food Hall
#B4-60
Singapore 238801
Tel: 6509 8640

4th April 2010: Arinco King and the adjacent food stalls seems to be closed for good. The stall looks cleared out without much kitchen utensils nor boxes.
12th April 2010: Dropped a call to Arinco King and apparently there is no one on the line
Initial hypothesis: Is Arinco King closed for good?
13th April 2010: They are not listed in ION store directory anymore.

[ ... ]

Pleasant surprise for Arinco King fans

Pleasant surprise for Arinco King fans

More known for their salted caramel roll, Arinco King, has some pleasant surprises.

First, there is 50% discount for all items till 28th Feb 10, so Salted Caramel Roll is now priced at $9, Maccha Roll at $7.50. Do note that Vanilla Roll ($7.50) and sandcakes ($1.50) were sold out by I reached there at 8pm. Note that my sister visited Arinco King today and was told that 25th Feb 10 is the last day of promotion. Also all the items except the Salted Caramel Roll are sold out already.

Arinco King also launched a couple of new products such as the Strawberry Shortcake, which comes in 2 sizes, $20 for a large-sized cake as shown below; and 2 more flavours namely, the Chocolate Cake and Berry Lite Shortcake in smaller sizes (priced at $5).


Judging from my previous experiences with their sandcakes and salted caramel roll, Arinco King's vanilla sponge is uniquely springy and soft. Unlike the conventional chiffon which is porious, the vanilla sponge has a slight chewy texture. Its fluffy whipped cream with no use of egg yolks is pretty close to Tampopo's Scoop Cake.

Although the same vanilla sponge and whipped cream is used for their sandcakes, rolls and whole cakes, the main difference lies in how long the cream has in contact with sponge. Somehow or rather, refrigeration with the cream, make the sponge more moist and dense slightly wetter but yet springier than other Japanese cakes (i.e. Tampopo Deli, Yamazaki, Patisserie Glace).


Arinco's Salted Caramel Sandcake
Arinco King (Closed)
2 Orchard Turn
Ion Orchard Food Hall
#B4-60
Singapore 238801
Tel: 6509 8640

4th April 2010: Arinco King and the adjacent food stalls seems to be closed for good. The stall looks cleared out without much kitchen utensils nor boxes.
12th April 2010: Dropped a call to Arinco King and apparently there is no one on the line
Initial hypothesis: Is Arinco King closed for good?
13th April 2010: They are not listed in ION store directory anymore.

[ ... ]

Profiteroles by DeSté

Profiteroles by DeSté

Pistachio, chocolate and vanilla profiteroles with ground chocolate on a base of chocolate cake ($9)
The taste for this creation is predictable. Profiterole with vanilla custard, drenched with chocolate, sitting on a dense chocolate cake meringue.

What caught my attention is the golden cube of chocolate sitting on top of the profiteroles. From my understanding, Chef Deuiri has a technique of injecting air into pure chocolate to develop air pockets, thereby making it light like a styrofoam. My guess is that this golden cube is made in the same way.

Alright, these are the 3 cakes we had for that weekend and for those who are familar with DeSté's creations, one would have noticed that we have missed out their signature cake, the Candle cake that features different textures of chocolate, cream scented vanilla, caramel and crunchy praline with a base in rock chocolate. This was not available during our visit. Apparently, for that day, we were told that the store was expecting their delivery of cakes at 3pm. Although the selection is decent during our visit, it was alittle disappointing not being able to try their signature cakes and we notice that the whole cakes were also not available during our visit at 2pm.


Note that DeSté Confectionery at The Riverwalk doesn’t carry the individual cakes as that is an atelier (aka pastry laboratory) where all the creations are produced so only their chocolates and a few whole cakes are available at DeSté Confectionery at The Riverwalk. Also note that DeSté chocolate boutique at Mandarin Gallery is a take-away counter. For dine-in experience, drop by Chocolate DeSténation at 313@Orchard.

There is a 40% discount for their cakes after 8:30pm (for DeSté chocolate boutique at Mandarin Gallery) but please call to confirm this as I am not sure if I have recalled wrongly.

DeSté chocolate boutique at Mandarin Gallery
#02-26 Mandarin Gallery
333A Orchard Road
Singapore 238859
Tel : 6737 3247

Opening hours - 11am to 9.30pm daily
http://www.deste.com.sg/

[ ... ]

Blackforest by DeSté

Blackforest by DeSté

Chocolate cream, cherries in brandy, flourless chocolate sponge and lots of chocolate ($9.40)

This cake is really dense, the overall impression that I got after taking my first bite was "Did I just ate liquor chocolate?" Those that love the chocolate liquor combination will love this. My only complaint is the blend cream used in this black forest.

DeSté chocolate boutique at Mandarin Gallery
#02-26 Mandarin Gallery
333A Orchard Road
Singapore 238859
Tel : 6737 3247

Opening hours - 11am to 9.30pm daily
http://www.deste.com.sg/

[ ... ]

Han`ei by DeSté

Han`ei by DeSté

Silky white chocolate & wasabi, black sesame sponge & rich yolk custard scented with yuzu ($8.80)
DeSté, a pastry lab that specializes in handcrafted chocolates as well as bespoke confections, surprise us with this creation. Imagine having wasabi in a white chocolate cake.

Award winning pastry chef, Stefano Deuiri combines the art of traditional pastry making with new molecular techniques and brings in the concept of physic-chemistry of various ingredients into his creations. For instance, in one of the Business Times articles "Creating cakes as light as styrofoam", it was mentioned that Chef Deuiri adopts the use of modern cooking techniques to lyophilize ingredients such as fruits to give certain characteristics for his cakes.

In the case of Han`ei, Chef Deuiri uses a siphon to puff up the cake, which is then baked in a microwave. In addition, he is also able to reduce sugar levels but yet retaining its light texture by dehydrating it first. In this way, the natural colour and flavour are retained unlike the old-fashioned way of baking that modifies the taste and colour.

This cube-shaped creation is amazing if one pays attention to the different textures and flavours within a single cake. Within the smooth white chocolate cake shell, one can expect smooth yuzu-scented custard in its core and a thin layer of black sesame cake on top of the cake. When eaten together, the overall taste is refreshing but accquired in my opinion.

For those who are concerned about the wasabi, that is almost undetectable.

My overall opinion towards Han`ei is both love and hate. Not sure if this is due to the sophiscated molecular techniques are adopted while cooking baking or the unorthodox combination of ingredients. In any case, if it stirs your curiousity, trying this may give you the best answer.

In case, it is not the cake that interests you but rather the post-processing done to this picture. The instructions can be found on sitting.wishing.eating.

DeSté chocolate boutique at Mandarin Gallery
#02-26 Mandarin Gallery
333A Orchard Road
Singapore 238859
Tel : 6737 3247

Opening hours - 11am to 9.30pm daily
http://www.deste.com.sg/

[ ... ]

BLIC Blogger Outing

BLIC Blogger Outing

Ice-cream parlours are making appearance at every part of Singapore. Thus, in order to outshine the rest, it must be something very outstanding. For instance, Häagen-Dazs has been known for its rich and creamy texture while Ben and Jerry for its chunky filling. For homemade ice-cream, there are a few well-known ones such as Island Creamery, U.d.d.e.r.s, Tom's Palette, Ice-cream gallery, etc; each with distinctive flavours and texture.


Making its debut appearance in the heart of Tampines, Ben and Larry decide to share their creations to all the foodies out there. Since the name resembles a particular ice-cream company, they called themselves BLIC aka Ben and Larry Ice Cream. According to Ben (co owner of the store), they chose the location due to rental as well as the lack of good ice cream palours in the east.


Invited by Ben, Harris brought the whole gang down to check out this newly opened ice cream parlour in Tampines.


Here we see the bloggers totally indulged and totally focused on the ice cream. So what did we eventually settled on?


Fen has always been a fan of lychee-flavoured desserts and she made no exception with her choice. So far, her favourite has been the Lychee Martini from Seventh Heaven while the version U.d.d.e.r.s offers was too icy to her liking. Rose and Lychee from Tom's Palette didn't leave much impression as their other flavours are awesome. For Blic's version, Fen actually likes it since the lychee is strong enough and the texture is acceptable. However, I am one that hates mint, thus associate it with the mint sauce that is served in Indian stalls.


I have a liking for rum and raisin and unlike other rum and raisin ice-cream, this one has additional rum-soaked raisins mixed in before serving to provide the additional punch. Overall, the ice cream is slightly on the sweet side with slight tint of rum taste.


The bloggers weren't contented until they tried all the flavours, despite the amount of bowls, we went on.


Larry prepared tiramisu which is presently still at the R&D stage. This isn't really a tiramisu as it replaces the mascarpone layer with their in-house Tiramisu ice-cream. The liquor and ice-cream made it similar to the taste of their rum and raisin except with the addition of cocoa powder. To Fen, since these tiramisu weren't kept overnight, the sponge fingers were pretty dry and rough. Moreover, the goodness of a tiramisu weren't felt due to the absence of the mascarpone layer, closer to a mudpie (IOHO).

Overall, the texture of the ice-cream varies depending on the flavour and special mention to the Baileys, Double Chocolate and Green Tea since the texture were not compromised and its flavour is strong enough to appeal. However, there are some flavours such as the Vanilla Bean and Bird Nest with Almond are icy and coarse. Well, Blic is trying to improve their ice-cream and are experimenting different waffle recipes. Give them some time, enthusiasm and passion often bring a cafe to a different level.


Before signing off, we would like to thank Ben and Larry for their invite to this ice cream tasting season as well as our organiser, Harris.

Blic Ice-Cream Cafe
Blk 802 Tampines Ave 4
#01-23
Singapore 520802
Tel: 6786 0860
http://blic-sg.blogspot.com/

[ ... ]