Lunar New Year Goodies From Carlton Hotel

Lunar New Year Goodies From Carlton Hotel

-Introduction-
Caramelized walnuts aren't very common and I recall this is a favourite snack of my parents and grandparents and we used to get it from medicinal halls. It was during our 2009 trip to Hong Kong that the F&B manager of Eaton Hotel recommends this snack once more as the restaurant, Yat Tung Heen prepares them in-house.

Since then, I realized this is not only a favourite for my family but also my in-laws. I bought this last year from Peony Jade as a gift for them and it turns out that the caramelized walnuts were sticky and not crunchy, leading to a huge disappointment.

This year, I was oh-so-glad that Carlton Hotel is selling them for this Lunar New Year and since the Wah Lok Cantonese Restaurant is quite popular in Singapore. This shouldn't be disappointing.


If you are looking for an alternative snack for Lunar New Year, consider the caramelised walnut from Carlton Hotel. ($23.80+ per bottle) The walnuts are well defined and the sugary coating is thin, evenly coated and not sticky. Most importantly, the walnuts are very crunchy and has no doubt made the top of my highly recommended and addictive snack for this Chinese New Year.


Signature Pineapple Tarts, sold in a bottle of 20 pieces ($23.80+) turns out to be Yuan's favourite. With a generous serving of homemade pineapple paste, the cookie crust stands out from most of the tarts we had so far. The pastry melts delicately in the mouth and shares the same effect as eating the shortcrust pastry of the Hong Kong egg tart.



Carlton Hotel Singapore
76 Bras Basah Road
Singapore 189558
Order hotline: 6349 1292
Order hotline operating hours: 10am to 9pm

For more information, click here

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Prosperity Pineapple Tart From Hilton

Prosperity Pineapple Tart From Hilton

The Lunar New Year is round the corner and you may be wondering which goodies to buy.

Hilton Singapore's creation this year is the Prosperity Pineapple Tart ($58+). This is a western variant of the pineapple tart. Essentially this is very similar to Hilton's lemon meringue tart except that it is pineapple filling instead of lemon. Nonetheless, it still contain the sharp sour taste coupe with the sweet meringue. Each mouthful is full of flavors, from the crisp buttery tart pastry, the tangy fibrous pineapple filling to the smooth meringue. In addition, the white chocolate, shaped like a Chinese Coin, gives an oriental feel and the texture of the white chocolate is of no doubt. Further since it is the Lunar New Year, the tart is topped with a carp and mandarin oranges.

An ingenious twist to this classic pineapple goodie.


Special thanks to Yen Lin, Marketing Communications Executive for the complementary pineapple tart.


Purchases are to be collected from 3 January to 6 February 2012 only at Checkers Deli located on the lobby level of Hilton Singapore.
Advance notice of 3 working days is required for all orders.

For queries and orders, please contact
Checkers Deli
Hilton Singapore
581 Orchard Road
Singapore 238883
Tel: 6730 3392
Email: sinhi.checkers@hilton.com
Operating hours - 11:00am - 9:00pm (daily)
Website

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Pineapple Tarts from Crust n Flour

Pineapple Tarts from Crust n Flour

No special reason to purchase our last tub of pineapple tubs from Crust and Flour Bakery Cafe but it happens to be a gift from some events.

Our last pineapple tart entry for the year is from Crust and Flour Bakery Cafe and this is a typical type of tart you will find in most households during Chinese New Year visiting.

The most outstanding part about this is the huge ball of pineapple jam and after eating truckloads worth of pineapple tarts, it gives us the impression that factory-made or pre-packed pineapple jam are usually sticky and chewy, thereby making the pineapple filling of Freshly Baked the most outstanding.


Before we end off, we realize most would have define a good crust to be a buttery one but not knowing how to define a buttery taste, we baked a batch of cookies that uses only flour, egg yolk, icing sugar and butter.

The pineapple tarts that resemhles closest to what we have in our oven is Mirana (Note: not 100%) and it seems that most has replaced butter with shortening (of varying degree), thereby lacking the fragrance that butter often provides. The other thing we observed is that butter is not the component that makes the crust attain a melt-in-your mouth effect but rather a texture that is closer to a shortbread. In other words, most of the available pineapple tarts in the market are not made 100% butter and that oil or shortening has been introduced.

Crust n Flour Bakery Cafe
164 Bukit Merah Central #01-3625
S150164
Tel: 6272 0105

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Pineapple Tarts from Hans

Pineapple Tarts from Hans

Hans made it into our list of pineapple tarts this year as we have eaten these tarts year round (i.e. These tarts are available throughout the year, sold at $4.20 for 10 pieces).

Apart from selling 30 pieces in a container at $13.80, these tarts are also available at $6.80 in a bag with 15 pieces or the standard take-away pack of 10 pieces at $4.20.

Note that the take-away pack of 10 pieces is smaller in size and our vague impression is that those tasted better than the ones sold in 30s.

In terms of appearance this one probably trumps all the ones we have eaten. Each tart has a nice golden glaze over the top.

Before our pineapple tarts spree, this has always been an alternative to desserts when we lunch at Hans and personally, we can finish all 10 in a go.

However, we were pretty surprised that comparing these back to back with the rest, we were a little disappointed. First impression does make it slightly similar to Mirana but the subsequent few rounds of comparison will make one notice the thicker crust and the chewier filling. In fact, the tart crust tasted closer to a butter cake and is slightly oily.

Though Freshly Baked by Le Bijoux, Mirana Cake House and Crystal Jade seems to be more outstanding, Hans definitely taste better than BreadTalk and Bengawan Solo (not blogging it as we had them in office). For its convenience and pricing, this would be above average in our humble opinion.


Han's Cafe and Cake House
Various outlets around Singapore
http://www.hans.com.sg/hans.html
For Enquires call 6438 2488

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Mirana Pineapple Tarts

Mirana Pineapple Tarts

I noticed through our pineapple spree, our parents actually prefer the open filling for its appearance being closer to a tart. In addition, the ancient version (which I haven't even seen before) is supposed to be in the form of a tartlet.

Between open or closed, it depends on whether one's preference inclined closer to the crust or the filling and for those who love buttery crust. Mirana Cake House ($14.00 for a 500gm tub) is one that is highly recommended on the internet.

Among the pineapple tarts we have tried this year, the crust will melt in your mouth. The fact that the tart left little traces of oil on the fingers, I guessed that is the niche. Butter as the main ingredient.

However, the filling falls short on expectation for its chewy pineapple filling. Personally, we prefer our pineapple tart to be more fibrous and less chewy.

Mirana Cake House
1 Raffles Place
#B1-05/06 One Raffles Place (Former OUB Centre)
Tel: 6533 8302

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Pineapple Tarts from Crystal Jade

Pineapple Tarts from Crystal Jade

4 days more to Chinese New Year Eve and surprisingly, my pineapple carvings have led my tummy to munch more pineapple tarts from 5 different places.

After finishing the tub purchased from Freshly Baked by Le Bijoux, I am pretty curious to find out that has a good crust and while passing by Crystal Jade, My Bread, the poster of their Chinese New Year goodies caught my attention.


With the "Best Seller" screaming right into my eyes, the packs of 8s caught my attention and these aren't cheap as a pack of 8 cost $8.50. What makes is interesting from most is the top of the tart as it is the same "cap" that a 菠萝包 (i.e Pineapple Bun) will have.

For those who are not familiar with these buns, the top is made to resemble like a pineapple and shares a similar dough as sugar cookies.


The entire taste is very close to a cookie as the top is crunchy and sweet. Although the filling is hand-grated like Freshly Baked by Le Bijoux, the filling is miminal to leave an impression.

Something different from a conventional tart but may disappoint alittle if you are looking for good pineapple filling. As for fans for pineapple fans, this might be something interesting to serve during Chinese New Year.


Crystal Jade offers a mooncake-like packaging where the tarts are packed in 8s. Probably to emphasize on fortune and wealth since 8 sounds like 发财 (rich) while pineapple in Hokkien (i.e. Ong Lai) is similar to 旺来 (welcoming wealth).

Anyway, these packs are sold as individual, 2s (Double Happiness Pack) or 4s (Happiness Quartlet Pack).

Crystal Jade, My Bread has several branches, listed on their website.

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CNY favourites: Pineapple Tarts & Kueh Lapis

CNY favourites: Pineapple Tarts & Kueh Lapis

Freshly Baked by Le Bijoux has been recommended by some of my readers but our visit has been shelved aside due to our busy schedule. Within walking distance from Somerset MRT, this place was bustling with lots of people on a Saturday afternoon and it seems that their breads are very popular among the Caucasians.


No sign of their recommended macarons but their pineapple tarts and kueh lapis caught my attention. Priced at $20.80 per tub, the fibrous tangy pineapple filling is definitely different from the usually sweet ones I have tried. Normally I would have paid more attention to buttery base rather than the filling, this time it was the pineapple filling that stands out as it is hand-grated.

Haven't eaten enough pineapple tarts to justify a strong recommendation but this is definitely the better ones I have come across. Well, Le Cafe is sold out for the New Year and I am not sure should I risk a few more inches for Mirana pineapple tarts since the recommendation is made by a reliable source.


I have always fancy the oily type of kueh lapis and hence Smiling Orchid has always been my favourite. Freshly Baked's Kueh Lapis on the contrary is not oily but yet the taste of it is not compromised. In fact, Yuan gave it a thumbs up over Smiling Orchid and like the pineapple tarts, I have not tried popular names like Fullerton Hotel (said to be the hotel's signature) and Layer_S (recommended by the 50 yummiest cakes) to jump into conclusion.

Freshly Baked by Le Bijoux
57 Killiney Road
Singapore 239520
Tel: 6735 3298

Operating hours:
8am to 8pm (Mon to Fri)
8am to 6pm (Sat)
8am to 2:30pm (Sun)
Website

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