Chocolate Mousse in Verrine

Chocolate Mousse in Verrine

This is one of the recommendation made by Chocolatier Then. The meaning of verrine is glass. Hence all 3 chocolate mousses, is presented in a see-through glass.

A combination of white chocolate yogurt mousse, 40% milk chocolate mousse and 66% Alpaco dark chocolate mousse, served with praline feuilletine (an ingredient where almond is been roasted with sugar and caramelized to make a smooth paste; with biscuits added for crunch), almond crumble, sesame crisps, macaron, chocolate twirls and berry compote.

This is a must-try at Jewels. With so many ingredients incorporated in one dessert, we are very surprised that it not confusing nor contaminated. The various toppings brings out the distinct characteristics of each type of mousse. For instance, the dark chocolate mousse was enjoyed with the crunchy praline feuilletine, white chocolate yogurt mousse compliments nicely with the berry compote while the milk chocolate is good on its own.

A nice symphony of the varying taste incorporated in each mouthful.

Jewels Artisan Chocolate
Orchard Central
181 Orchard Road
#02-31/32
Tel: 6509 8998

Operating hours: 11am to 11pm daily
http://www.jewels.com.sg/

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Chocolate Truffle @ The Line Shop

Chocolate Truffle @ The Line Shop

The Line Shop's bestseller and also the hotel's recommendation for a chocolate cake. This dark chocolate sponge base with chocolate mousse, coated in smooth dark chocolate and raspberries, will impress most chocoholics for its velvetly smooth dark chocolate mousse. With a layer of chocolate fudge and chocolate sponge, the entire experience was like eating a superior chocolate ice cream cake.

Each slice of chocolate truffle costs $6.75+, a 0.5kg cake $24+ (can serve up to 6 people) and a 1kg cake $48+. Although the 0.5kg cake is available off the shelf, The Line Shop would need 3 days in advance for cake booking.

There is no credit card discount but a 30% discount for whole cakes and 50% discount for sliced cakes after 6pm everyday.


The Line Shop
Shangri-la, Singapore
22 Orange Grove Road,
Singapore 258350
Tel: 6213 4377
Website for The Line Shop

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Choco Renga from Pâtisserie Glacé

Choco Renga from Pâtisserie Glacé

According to the owner, Mr Kay Boon, the chocolate creations presented at Pâtisserie Glacé are made in-house. Since my knowledge about chocolate is not strong, I am not sure are they made from scratch or he is refering to the tempering process. For more chocolate information, here is a link that might stir your interest.

Anyway, Kay Boon recommends Choco-Renga for chocolate purists.

Choco Renga ($5.10)
In Japanese it means Chocolate Brick, this heavy hitter is chocolate sponge with ganache. It's hard to decide to attack it from the top or the bottom.

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Fen's comments

Although this is a chocolate sponge sandwiched by ganache and topped off with a chocolate mirror finish, it didn't impress me as much as the other creations. Why so?

The chocolate sponge lacks the light and springy texture like the ones found in other Pâtisserie Glacé's creations. Moreover, the chocolate was just plain bitter with not much fragrance nor uniqueness in its taste. Like Canelé's Gateaux Chocolat, the chocolate layers are close to a chocolate bar (but smooth) and the layers were peeling off into blocks of chocolate and sponge.
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Yuan's comments

As a fan of chocolate cakes, this one fails to curb my chocolate craving. It reminds me of eating those dry and tough flourless chocolate cakes.
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Pâtisserie Glacé
34 Craig Road
#01-10 Chinatown Plaza
Singapore 089673
Tel: 6400 0247

Operating hours -
11am - 6pm (Mon-Fri)
11am - 5pm (Sat-Sun)
12 Gopeng Street,
#01-33/34 Icon Village
Singapore 078877.
Tel: 6400 0247

Operating hours: 11am to 7pm (Mon to Fri)
11am to 6pm (Weekends and P.H)
http://cakeglace.com/

Do note that Patisserie Glace has relocated to Icon Village. It is on the ground floor of the Icon Condominium which is next to Tanjong Pagar MRT, behind Amara Hotel.

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Chocolat Grand from BakerZin

Chocolat Grand from BakerZin

What happens when Fen and Yuan are deprived from cakes for 3 days? Tired after walking for 4 days... Been on the bus for 5 hours... Do we rush for our beds to rest or the nearest bakery to curb our craving... Well, if it is the former, this entry would not have exist.

Since we are so exhausted after all the walking and long journeys, we have decided to pop by BakerZin to grab a cake or two. Yuan was curious what will his verdict be after all this cake spree and thus stick to the Chocolate Amer while I am curious to try another Christmas special of theirs. This time round, Chocolat Grand was my choice as I insist that it is the equivalence of Chocolate Amer based on their description... "Flourless chocolate sponge layered with bitter chocolate mousse"


Each slice of Chocolat Grand costs $6.20 (excluding 7% GST and 10% service charge), the same price as Chocolate Amer.
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Fen's comments

When compared to Chocolate Amer, this is no where near when it comes to its texture of the chocolate mousse. Although its chocolate content is higher than Amer, the texture is relatively coarse, just like how it is portrayed in the photo. The flourless chocolate cake is the same as Chocolate Amer and instead of having one type of chocolate mousse like the Amer, Chocolat Grand has a layer of glossy dark chocolate glaze with crunchy milk chocolate layers. Hence, despite having 4 types of chocolate layers in this cake, too much just makes it cloying instead of addictive.
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Yuan's comments
Effectively, this is simply the harder and less moist version of the chocolate amer. Not sure is it meant this way or its simply left in the fridge for too long. Well the main difference is this layer of chocolate fudge. I always felt that chocolate fudge with mousse is a really good combi but in this case, I found the texture of the mousse rather disappointing.
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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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Chocolate Truffle from Sweet Indulgence

Chocolate Truffle from Sweet Indulgence

After browsing through HungryGoWhere, this is one of the newer additions to their dessert menu. There are only 5 desserts served and that is warm chocolate lava indulgence, durian cheesecake, New York cheesecake, tiramisu and the chocolate truffle.

Since one of my friends don’t like durian while another don’t fancy tiramisu, we settled with another chocolate dessert. This is basically a chocolate mousse in which its chocolate content is not as bitterly sweet nor rich than their warm chocolate lava indulgence. However, I have to give credits to the smoothness of their chocolate mousse. The downside of this dessert is that it lacks a different contrasting layer such as a flourless chocolate cake or hazelnut praline, thereby can be alittle blend when eaten as an entire piece.

Sweet Indulgence
2 Stanley Street
Singapore 068721
Tel: 6223 7707

Operating hours -
10am to 10pm (Mon to Fri, last order at 8:45pm)
12 noon to 10pm (Sat, last order at 8:45pm)

According to the staff, sometimes if there is no dining guests after 8:30pm, they will close early.

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Chocolate Decadence Cake From Seah Street Deli

Chocolate Decadence Cake From Seah Street Deli

Alright, Ah Teng's bakery didn't satisfy our cake carvings and thus we finally settle our Friday evening at Seah Street Deli. Many blogs have mentioned about this place, including the LadyIronChef and Camemberu.

Didn't expect to find such a light-hearted restaurant in the heart of Singapore CBD area. Opening the doors really bring a very light-hearted feeling, the waiters and waitresses presents their broadest smile with their red caps and jumper suits. Wow, with the jukebox and the typical New-York style setting, you just can help but to Rock and Roll ONLY IF the music is louder. I guess Friday was after all a good time to drop this restaurant a visit.


Had the TriBeCa which contains a beef patty, broiled with parma ham, cheddar cheese, tomato, portobello mushroom and lettuce (180g, $18.40) and the Broadway, a combination of quarter roasted chicken and half a rack of baby pork ribs ($19.90). But since this is a cake or rather a dessert blog, I think I will not post the pictures until I have more burgers to compare. Generally, the portobello mushrooms in the burger is solid but I thought the burger from Oh Carol! at biopolis is better. As for the ribs, just too tough but the chicken is tender and juicy.


Anyway, claims to be the all-time favourite dessert, how can we resist not ordering the chocolate decadence cake ($11.90).

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Fen's comments

After eating so many cakes and attempting to pay to the finest attention to all the lovely pastries, Yuan declared that the cake is not going to be good. Haha, prove himself wrong.

Recall our definition of haunting desserts, this cake is gigantic but it didn't stop us from clearing every single bit of it. Know what is the pros of this cake, it is not very sweet.

With alternating layers of chocolate mousse and chocolate cake with a thin layer of raspberry puree, this chocolate mousse has a texture which is in between the creamy chocolate mousse of Aroma's Valrhona Chocolate Mousse Cake and the rich + smooth chocolate layer of Canele's Gateaux Chocolat. I purposely highlight these 2 examples is to show the extremes between high chocolate content and the texture of the chocolate mousse. So in a way, this cake has the best of both, with a rich and relatively high chocolate content but not compromising its texture. Not a bad deal huh?

But it wouldn't be the best chocolate mousse I have ever tried despite my praises as the chocolate sponge lacks the springy and soft texture like the Chocolate Amer of BakerZin.

This is what happens when you go into so much details... Hai, since when eating cakes has ended writing a lengthy comment...

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Yuan's comments
First look at this cake and I concluded that this will be similar to the typical flourless chocolate cake. Indeed it does taste like the flourless chocolate cake except that it is actually softer than Canele's Gateaux Chocolat. It has a slightly chewy feeling as well. I guess this cake would be better than most other flourless chocolate cakes as I actually finished it with ease. I think the main reason would be that Raffles Hotel Cakes are generally not sweet thus you will not feel so sin after eating the whole cake. I would say it deserve something like 7/10.
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Seah Street Deli
Raffles Hotel Singapore
1 Beach Road
Singapore 189673
Tel: 6412 1816

Operating hours -
Sunday to Thursday - 11.00 am to 10.00 pm
Friday, Saturday and eve of public holidays - 11.00 am to 11.00 pm

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The Chocolate Amer of Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie

The Chocolate Amer of Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie

The main difference between the chocolate creations of BakerZin and Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie is the chocolate content. Generally, Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie tends to have a very high chocolate content, thereby providing a very rich texture.

Le Royale did impress Yuan, let see how this chocolate baby fare...

Gateaux Chocolat
Dark chocolate cream, flourless chocolate sponge decorated with triple chocolate shards

Looks like there is still lots of improvement for my "pointing and shooting" skills... Whole cake presentation obtained from Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie's website...

The sliced version...

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Fen's comments

---------------------------------Warning, non-cake reviews-----------------------------------

This cake was my dinner just before gym. Yes, that is how unhealthy females can be but anyway, Yuan was amazed I wasn’t hungry. Actually just before I sleep, my stomach was reminding me about the short-changed dinner…

Curious how much calories I have gotten from yesterday’s junk food…
Let me see,
Breakfast was Sausage McMuffin (370g), Fresh milk (165g) and Hashbrowns (140g)…
Lunch was Root Beer Float (170g + 120g) and Carbonara (about 600g?)
Dinner was Gateaux Chocolat…

Hmm… excluding Gateaux Chocolat is already 1565g. Geez, lucky I did gym yesterday…

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Anyway, I have been curious about Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie’s version of Chocolate Amer (BakerZin’s description of their Chocolate Amer was a flourless chocolate sponge layered with bitter chocolate mousse) whereas the description of Gateaux Chocolat is dark chocolate cream, flourless chocolate sponge decorated with triple chocolate shards. Fair competition huh?

Out of curiosity, Amer doesn’t mean anything, wonder is it a short-form for America?

I guessed I still prefer BakerZin’s chocolate amer. This is just too rich. The chocolate, no doubt, is very smooth but that’s not cream. It is so rich that I think it is close to a milk chocolate bar. This chocolate cream as you can see from the photos is about 60-70% of the cake and since Le Royale is about 64% dark chocolate content, I won’t be surprised if this is close to 70% chocolate content. I am not kidding you; this is how rich the cake is.

I do like the flourless chocolate cake and would prefer it being thicker; I was practically peeling it off from the cake and enjoying every single bite of the cake. I think I will only like it if only there is more flourless chocolate sponge.

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Yuan's comments
This cake taste pretty much like flourless chocolate cake from Aroma. Generally dry and a little tough. (Probably due to the chocolate content) The mousse portion of this cake is pretty nice but i would prefer it to be slightly more creamy and the sponge a little more wet. I guess it depends on what you look out for in a chocolate cake. If you are like me who prefer wet sponge and creamy mousse, this one definitely fail. But if you are into thick and rough chocolate, you will probably like it.

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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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58% Dark Chocolate Truffle Mousse (Dolci da paolo)

58% Dark Chocolate Truffle Mousse (Dolci da paolo)

Da paolo is one Italian restaurant which I have only heard when I started working and thus it gives me an impression that it is an expensive place to dine in. In addition, I dread non-English menu alot so...

Oh well, back to some cakey biz, da paolo is one that has many outlets (i.e. restaurants (La Terrazza & Il Giardino), Pizza and Bistro Bar, Gastronomia and a bakery (Dolci refers to desserts in Italian)) so do check out their website for more details.

This place offers quite a wide selection of cakes ranging from cakes (i.e. carrot, chocolate, cheesecake) to tarts and mousse and are priced between $7 to 9 (approximately). Due to the layout of their glass display, it is hard to take a picture and I tried to ask for their permission but alas, they didn't allow. According to them, they are still in the midst of creating an entry in their website so you might have to drop by to see what they offers.


As for seating area, there are 3 tables with 2 chairs each and this place is dead quiet on a Tuesday night (approximately 8pm) so I do find it a little spooky if I were to dine alone.

They have several chocolate variations (chocolate mousse with varying percentage of chocolate content - 50% to 68%, flourless chocolate cake, traditional baked french chocolate cake, chocolate truffles and tartlets) with varying percentage of chocolate content. To be on the safe side, we settled down with a 58% truffle mousse to see their texture.

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Fen's comments

The problem with high chocolate content is the loss of the texture and therefore I always thought it taste better when it is equilibrated to room temperature. At least the fats has melted alittle and the smoothness will be obvious. Since we are dining in, the cake was fresh out from the chiller and from the picture, I don't deny the fact that it is a little rough.

In terms of sweetness, it is just right and this is basically a cake with alternating layers of chocolate mousse and cake (2 each). The cake is more to the harder side and I can't help it but to think that it might be due to the fact it was kept in the chiller for long judging from the amount of cakes left in the display at 8:30pm unless there is some hidden promotions which I didn't know about. Having eaten several hard cakes, I start to miss chocolate fudge cakes. The moist and rich after-taste.

Apart from chocolate mousse, there is also crunchy chocolate biscuits bits to enhance the texture but because the mousse is relatively rich and that the cake is more tuned to the hard side, the contrast is not big.

Generally, I would say it is not bad but to ask me to sacrifice some calories for this, I would think twice since I personally felt that the chocolate mousse is too rich for me to handle and that I generally prefer a more creamy chocolate mousse.
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Yuan's comments

Having eaten so many chocolate mousse, it appears to me that the higher the chocolate content the harder the mousse will become. This is the case for this chocolate mousse as well. The chocolate mousse taste similar to the mousse used in the le royale. But instead of hazelnut praline in most typical chocolate mousse, you will find "smarties" (chocolate candy) in between the layers of the chocolate mousse. I would say this mousse is worth a try but like fen I prefer a more creamy chocolate mousse.
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Dolci da paolo
43 Jalan Merah Saga
Chip Bee Gardens
#01-68
Tel: 6479 0336
http://www.dapaolo.com.sg/
Operating hours: 8 am to 7 pm daily

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No. 6... Chocolate Amer from BakerZin

No. 6... Chocolate Amer from BakerZin

"This is the ultimate chocolate indulgence, combining a flourless chocolate sponge with bitter chocolate mousse. The dark side has never been so alluring".



As seen in our other reviews, this is the “KING of chocolate mousse. I personally felt that this is the best chocolate mousse that I have eaten in my cake adventure. It is made of 2 layers mousse and 2 layers of cake. The top layer of mousse is scattered with chocolate powder and the center layer of cake is made with dark chocolate similar to those of chocolate fudge. The overall combination is heavenly. Each slice of chocolate amer costs $6.20++.

Verdict: 9.5/10 (9.5 just in case if I did find a better cake)

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Fen: You will appreciate this beauty even more when you eat this with Lavande. I always thought that this cake is the best because of the smooth milk chocolate mousse but having eaten together with Lavande, you will notice that the nicest thing about this cake is the dark chocolate cake sandwiched between the mousse. This thin layer of cake enhances the taste of the chocolate mousse due to its rich chocolaty and chewy after taste, thereby giving an ultimate texture if you leave it to melt in your mouth.

As mentioned, I treat this as a female counterpart of Lavande due to a smoother and lighter experience. My female buddies felt that the best thing is that Amer is infused with Lavender but yuan, being the only guy, felt that it is so good on its own...

On second thought, I think my analogy of a male and female seems to fit into this picture even more.

I wouldn't give a score for any of them as it would depend on individual preference and mood of that day but if I were to rank it, on normal days I will go for Amer and if I am stressed or moody, I will prefer Lavander for the extra chocolate boost. As for the Roulade and Sweet Pleasure. Neh, I don't really fancy "contaminated" chocolate, apart from alcohol.

Bakerzin [http://www.bakerzin.com/]
Takashimaya Food Hall
(Takeaway Counter)
391 Orchard Road
#B2-08-04
Takashimaya Department Store
Singapore 238872

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