London (UK): Harrods

London (UK): Harrods

Harrods is described by the Londoners a must-visit place for this is one huge and posh shopping mall. Although most of the items sold in this mall are branded and expensive, the food hall is worth a visit for it being ornately decorated with its wide range of gourmet items. However, one huge flaw about eating here is that there is no sitting area except some benches or the Hype Park Corner within the vicinity.


However for those who are keen to find a place to sit down and enjoy some sweets, Harrods Chocolate Bar, located at the second level of the mall, sounds good for chocoholics. Alternatively for those who are into coffee, Italy's oldest cafe, Caffe Florian has a branch at the third level of the mall. And for macarons lovers, Laduree is at Harrods but located outside the mall.


Anyway, I didn't visit any of the above for I was combing the food hall for interesting finds and what screamed for my attention was the huge selection of cakes by Harrods bakery and I have to say that each of them are visually tempting in their way. This bakery offers a number system, meaning to say, grab a number, wait for the number to be reflected on the screen and your orders will be taken.


Salted Caramel Chocolate Mousse (3.95 GBP, SGD$7.90) caught Yuan's attention and surprisingly, the chocolate cake is very moist. The outer couverture-like layer is actually a thin layer of jelly and the bulk of the cake is salted caramel mousse. Taste-wise, it does resemble like coffee just like the same way we felt towards Pierre Herme's salted caramel macaron.


Red Fruit Flan (3.95 GBP, SGD$7.90), is basically a frangipane tart topped with fresh fruits. There isn't any pastry cream and the frangipane layer is relatively small in comparison to the sweet pastry base. This is nice but maybe too common to justify a trip to Harrods.


That is pretty much the pastries we had during our trip and we hope you have enjoyed reading them. Time to work on our regular buffet and desserts entries.

Harrods Bakery
Located at ground floor of Harrods

87-135 Brompton Road

Knightsbridge

London Swix 7XL

Tel: 020 7730 1234

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Paris (France): Macarons

Paris (France): Macarons

Macarons have always been a must-have in Paris so we took away two boxes of macarons and consumed it on the very night. Frankly speaking, these have to be consumed on the very day of purchase to do justice and the reason for saying this is due to our previous experience with Laduree which the macarons were only consumed 3 to 4 days later.


We bought similar flavours from both Laduree and Pierre Herme, namely Rose, Pistachio and Salted Caramel for we prefer our macarons to be simpler and surprisingly both are unique and distinctive in their own way.


While Laduree's macarons (12.10 EUR, SGD$21.45 for 8 macarons) are clearly softer and chewer, Pierre Herme's macarons (11.39 EUR, SGD$20.20 for 7 macarons) tends to have a crispier shells. From the picture, Laduree's macarons can be distinguished from the thinner filling while the buttercream in Pierre Herme's macarons are extremely generous.

Flavour-wise, rose was subtle between the two for both were outstanding and just right in its flavour despite the big difference between the two Ispahans we had earlier the day.


Laduree's pistachio, though more crisp than its rose macaron, retains the distinctive chewy interior. On the other hand, Pierre Herme's macaron is surpringly softer than its rose macaron. Comparing both back to back, Laudree's macaron has a stronger nutty aftertaste with its buttercream almost negligible while Pierre Herme's buttercream turns out to be more outstanding than the shells.

Lastly, setting aside the chewy and thin buttercream Laduree's macarons and crisp and rich buttercream Pierre Herme's macarons, the salted caramel of Laduree has a slight saltiness of the buttery caramel while Pierre Herme's salted caramel disappointing resembles the flavour of coffee.

In general, we thought that the entremets of Pierre Herme's was memorable but Laduree seems to satisfy better when it comes to macarons. Anyway, Yuan and I concluded that regardless of what one reads from a blog, trips to both Laduree and Pierre Herme is definitely an experience for any dessert lovers and we will for sure not miss a French cabaret show, Laduree and Pierre Herme for our next visit to Paris.

Pierre Herme
72, rue Bonaparte
75006 Paris
Tel : +33 (1) 43 54 47 77

Ladurée Champs Elysées
75, avenue des Champs Elysées
75008 Paris
Tel : +33 1 40 75 08 75

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Paris (France): Pierre Herme

Paris (France): Pierre Herme

It was a tough choice choosing between Pierre Herme and La Nouvelle Eve. On one hand, Pierre Herme was one of the reasons that got me excited to come to Paris but on the other hand, missing the French cabaret show seems like a taboo. Well, the fact that you see this post means I have forgo the latter. Question is, is it worth it?


Definitely, desserts lovers should not give this Pierre Herme a miss. My only complain was this is only a take-away outlet, thus explaining why we took a cab back to our hotel to enjoy them. Anyway, the location of Pierre Herme is slightly off the city centre and it seems to be a heartland and less crowded from Champs-Élysées.


In terms of shop space, it is distinctively smaller than Laduree at Champs-Élysées but the cakes displayed is simply mouthwatering. Since we had 3 pastries previously at Laduree, we have decided to get 3 from Pierre Herme as well. However, since they all looked so good, we just seeked for Pierre Herme's bestsellers and signatures.


As expected, Ispahan (6.90 EUR, SGD$12.25) is one of our orders for this is the signature of Pierre Herme. Having ate Laduree's version on the same day, this was fabulous. Although it is just the same old combination of rose macaron biscuit, rose petal cream, whole raspberries and litchis. This was simply outstanding from the rest for most ispahan has slices or chunks of litchis, while this one has its rose cream flavoured with litchi and the cream is so smooth that is spreads like molten butter. Simply divine!!!


Tarte Infiniment Vanille 6.90 EUR, SGD$12.25) was another amazing creation of Pierre Herme. Described on Pierre Herme's website to be a sweet tart crust with a very rich, dense filling of white chocolate flavoured with vanilla ganache and vanilla-flavoured mascarpone cream and a biscuit moistened with a vanilla juice. One can expect a contrast in textures yet great lightness from the vanilla-flavoured mascarpone cream. In addition, Pierre Herme defines an ideal vanilla to be a combination of vanilla from several different provenances (Mexico, Tahiti and Madagascar), thereby creating his version of "house vanilla".


So in layman terms, what is our degree of likeness towards this one? If 10 is our max, this hits a 11. We have never come across something that gives such beautiful surprises. Don't underestimate its simplicity, this tart will tell you how real vanilla is supposed to be like. The overall is very soft and light; despite being kept in shape for an 1 hour at room temperature, the vanilla mousse and marzipan-like layers (seems to have a almond-icing sugar effect, not sure if that is the effect of a vanilla juice-moistened biscuit) just melt in the mouth, releasing the fragrance of Pierre Herme's house vanilla. There is no word nor photo to describe it, the moment you put that in your mouth, the omph factor will magically comes. But having eaten this after the Ispahan, this is sweeter than the former.


Carrement Chocolat (6.50 EUR, SGD$11.50) was another memorable pastry we had for the entire trip and coming from Pierre Herme, this is no disappointment. Although this is humbly described to offer tender, creamy and crisp textures of intense bitter chocolate, this is made of delicate layers of chocolate cake, chocolate cream, chocolate mousse, chocolate crisp and thin wafers of crisp chocolate.


Surprisingly, the chocolate does not melt instantly and has a distinctive woody aftertaste. With a slightly sweeter converture layer, the entire combination, including the cake, releases the goodness of the chocolate slowly and this is followed by crunch derived from crushed hazelnuts and cocoa beans to have a slight bitter aftertaste.

Although our comments towards Laduree isn't that positive, these two pastry makers are definitely a legend for we wiped clean our plates clean for all 6 cakes without feeling the slightest cloyingness but in fact, craving for more.

Macarons' entries is coming soon, stay tune.

Pierre Herme
72, rue Bonaparte
75006 Paris
Tel : +33 (1) 43 54 47 77

Operating hours:
10am to 7pm (Mon to Sun)
10am to 7:30pm (Sat)
Website

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Paris (France): Laduree

Paris (France): Laduree

Warning: This is going to be a lengthy entry so for those who are only curious about Laduree, please pull your mouse to the right scroller and drag it down until you see the picture of the celadon green Ladurée pastry shop at Champs-Élysées.

Having visited Prague, Budapest and quieter cities / towns such as Bruges, Burano, etc., I can’t help but to describe Rome and Paris to be touristy. Most of the attractions are filled with people and I agreed with the guides that these are the most visited cities in Europe. However, having said that it was only when I came back sorting my photos that I appreciate the beauty of these two cities.


Just when I thought the crowd at the Vatican was bad, Paris was flooded with people as our stay coincide with a long weekend in Europe, so the Seine river cruise, the Eiffel Tower and the Palace of Versailles, were extremely packed with people.


Anyway, the word “Habsburg” would be the highest frequency word to be heard throughout the entire trip for they ruled the "Austrian Empire" from 1804 to 1867 and "Austria-Hungary" from 1867 to 1918; and it is amazing how the attractions of Paris get associated with the Schonbrunn Palace and the Imperial Crypt in Vienna. There were two marriages involving the Habsburg and the French and it all started with Maria Theresa (female ruler of the Habsburg) who believed in making love, not war.


Picture is obtained from a CD, Schonbrunn Photo Gallery
To cut long story short, Maria Theresa married her daughter, Marie Antoinette off to Louis XVI and this family was living in the Palace of Versailles until they were brought to the Tuileries Palace during the French Revolution. While we have heard about the art museum, Musée du Louvre (perhaps through the novel and movie, The Da Vinci Code), this art museum was a former royal palace, Louvre Palace. Tuileries Palace, on the other hand, was subsequently built for the wife of Henry II of France and when Tuileries Palace was expanded in the 17th century, the southeast corner of the Tuileries get connected to the Louvre Palace.


During the invasion of the Tuileries Palace to capture Marie Antoinette and her children, the Swiss Guards were massacred during their attempt to protect them. This brings the lion monument (in Lucerne) into picture for it was constructed to dedicate the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss. Hence, the lion was portrayed to have been impaled by a spear and was covering a shield bearing the fleur-de-lis of the French monarchy. Beside the lion lies another shield bearing the coat of arms of Switzerland.


Although Place de la Concorde (in Paris) is known to be the largest square in the French capital, this was the execution ground for Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution.


Lastly, as Marie Antoinette was part of the Habsburgs, the portraits of Marie Antoinette can be seen in both Schonbrunn Palace (in Vienna) and the Palace of Versailles (in Paris).


Photo is downloaded from Wikipedia
During the later stages of the French Revolution, Napoleon I married Marie Louise, a great niece of Marie Antoinette, and had Napoleon II. However, after the collapse of First French Empire, Marie Louise and Napoleon II were exiled back to Austria. Hence, there is a room in the Schonbrunn Palace that is dedicated to Napoleon II for he was not allowed to have any contact with the outside world and sad to say, the poor chap died at the age of 21 due to tuberculosis at the Schonrbrunn Palace which the Habsburgs felt that it was the best way to end this.


Picture is obtained from a CD, Schonbrunn Photo Gallery
Although Napoleon II was first buried in Vienna, Adolf Hitler transferred the remains of Napoléon II back to Paris as a gift and both the father and the son are buried in Les Invalides.


Since we are on the topic of Napoleon I, there is a distinctive arc, called Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel facing the famous glass pyramid of Musée du Louvre. Right on top of this arc, there are four horses sitting on it. This bronze statues of the four horses are also known as the Horses of St Mark's. Napoleon I marched on Venice, ending the 1,100 years of Venetian independence by forcing its surrender in 1797 and he had these horses forcibly removed from St. Mark’s Basilica and carried off to Paris, where they were used in the design of this arc to mark his victory on the Venetian.


History-aside, being dessert-lovers, how can we miss out the flagship store of The Macaron Inventor and The Picasso of Pastry?


Since there was no metro lines linking Laduree, Champs-Élysées and Pierre Herme (along rue Bonaparte in the Saint Germain des Prés) directly, we have decided to walk from the Eiffel Tower to Laduree, Champs-Élysées (2.2km) and then to Pierre Herme via Boulevard Saint-Germain (4.1km) and the reason why I blah blah so much in this post is that we passed by Les Invalides on our way to Laduree and we spotted more Laduree(s) while we were in the Palace of Versailles and on our way towards Place de la Concorde.


Laduree seems to be the Louis Vuitton of macarons. Upon entering the store, we were surprised by the twin long queues. One for take-away and the other for dine-in. There were so many tourists buying macarons in bulk and I am dead serious about it. Imagine spending more than 200 EUR on macarons. We noticed that was how the Chinese spent while we were queuing for our take-aways.


The restaurant is worth a visit for the different sections of the restaurant and bar were decorated elegantly. However, we were disappointed how close the tables were placed and there was clearly some bias in their service for the Caucasians that came later than us got their orders taken promptly while we waved for their attention for a good 10 minutes.


Plaisir Sucré, Strawberry Napoleon and Isaphan were our orders and frankly speaking, we were disappointed, considering how much raves we have heard about the place. It might have been good if we have not set such high expectations and I could easily list the good alternatives we have back home.


Plaisir Sucré (7.70 EUR, SGD$13.65) was the best pastry we had during our trip (till that point, you will know why when you read my post on Pierre Herme tomorrow) for the smooth and creamy milk chocolate whipped cream but what was disappointing was the thick tempered milk chocolate and that the crispy praline and almond meringue sandwich cake with crushed hazelnuts weren't contrasting. It was good as a chocolate treat but this creation was supposed to have 5 distinctive layers, which was not in this case.


Millefeuille Fraise (8 EUR, SGD$14.10), generous servings of strawberries, sweet and ripe; caramelized puff pastries with nice sugary fragrance and vanilla fine mousse of the right consistency and sweetness. With such fabulous combination, what was it that was disappointing. The puff pastries were soggy so imagine having your fork piercing through this slice of creation, yes, everything collapsed or got mashed up. It was good but minimally I expected the puff pastry to retain a certain level of crispness.


Isaphan (8.60 EUR, SGD$15.25) was a sore disappointment all together, the rose macaron shells were hard, lacking the meaty crust and the rose petals cream not being smooth at all. We are not sure if such thoughts came because of the high expectations we had since Paris is known for their pastries and Laduree has been quoted by many to be one of the best. I checked with my colleague who visited Laduree last year and she is no food blogger. She was very frank with me to give me a thumbs up for their macarons but not their cakes.

Now where are the macarons? Well, we wanted to save some room for Pierre Herme so we bought some macarons for take-away and raced towards Pierre Herme which is more than 4km away with less than 2 hours before they closed.

Ladurée Champs Elysées (within walking distance to Arc de Triomphe)
75, avenue des Champs Elysées
75008 Paris
Tel : +33 1 40 75 08 75

Ladurée Versailles (in the courtyard of the Palace of Versailles)
Château de Versailles
78 000 Versailles
Tel : +33 1 30 83 04 02

Ladurée Royale (within walking distance to Place de la Concorde)
16, rue Royale
75008 Paris
Tel : +33 1 42 60 21 79

Ladurée Bonaparte (within walking distance to Pierre Herme)
21 rue Bonaparte
75006 Paris
Tel : +33 1 44 07 64 87

Ladurée at Harrods (for this is a must-visit mall in London)
87/135 Brompton Road
London SW1X 7XL
Tel : (0) 203 155 0111
Website

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Lucerne (Switzerland): Confiserie Bachmann

Lucerne (Switzerland): Confiserie Bachmann

Our first encounter with Bachmann was a box of macarons bought by Yuan's parents after their Switzerland holiday and frankly speaking it was just average in our opinion. This time round, having been in Lucerne, we can understand why they bought us a box of macarons.


Bachmann is one place you will not missed for it is almost found everywhere in Lucerne. On our way to Museum of Art early in the morning at 6am, most of the Bachmann outlets which we came across are already opened and the display is filled with sandwiches and bread, with very little cakes available for sale. Hence, Yuan couldn't help but to associate Bachmann with our local BreadTalk.


It was in the afternoon when we decided to pop by a visit and were welcomed with a delightful selection of cakes. Not knowing what to order and that the names are in German, we asked for recommendations and here they are...


Since Bachmann is very famous for their chocolates, it is obvious why we have chosen Truffesschnite (CHF 3.90 (SGD$5.70) for takeaway and CHF 4.50 (SGD$6.65) for dine-in). Setting aside the dry chocolate sponge, this is akin to eating Toblerone. To a certain extent, we thought it was disappointing as the chocolate did not have a melt-in-your-mouth effect.


Toblerone Mousse (CHF 3.90 (SGD$5.70) for takeaway and CHF 4.50 (SGD$6.65) for dine-in) is the other recommendation and as the name has suggested, this is the lighter version of Truffesschnite. This light chocolate mousse accompanied with vanilla mousse, in general is creamy, so much so that the amount of chocolate present is negligible.


Schwedentorti (CHF 3.90 (SGD$5.70) for takeaway and CHF 4.50 (SGD$6.65) for dine-in), a strawberry tart turns out to be my favourite for the refreshing pastry cream. Served in a tart shell made of puff pastry, the entire combination is similar to a Strawberry Napoleon. The strawberries are juicy and sweet; and unlike the previous two desserts, the various components are distinctive in its own way.


Bachmann publicize their macarons greatly and our curiousity leads to taking away two of their macarons. Charged by weight (CHF 2.75 (SGD$4.00) for 4 pieces), these bite-sized macarons are good for its meaty crust and light butter cream but the flavour falls short in intensity, leaving a strong almond fragrance in both the vanilla and pistachio macarons. .


Lastly, since Bachmann's chocolates (CHF 2.75 (SGD$4.00) for 3 pieces, charged by weight) are highly recommended by our tour director for they are hand-crafted in some of their bigger stores, we have decided to try their plain, hazelnut and champagne chocolate. Texture is good with it melting slowly in the mouth and not sticking to the teeth with a slight woody aftertaste. Champagne chocolate caught us by surprise for the core of the chocolate is the liquor itself.

In general, the place offers a nice ambience to chill out and given how expensive the stuff are in Switzerland, we won't be surprise if this is a "BreadTalk" for the Swiss as the demand for their sandwiches seems to be alot greater than the cakes and pastries.


Lastly, Lucerne is the most beautiful and scenic city we have came across for the entire trip but the weather was quite drastic during our two nights stay. With the first day, scorching hot at 31°C, the entire afternoon for our second day was freezing cold (16°C) with heavy rain. Lastly, be it rain or shine, who can resist the charm of Chapel bridge?

Confiseur Bachmann AG
Viktoriaplatz - 6002 Luzern
Tel: 041 227 70 70
Website

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San Gimignano (Italy): Gelateria Di Piazza

San Gimignano (Italy): Gelateria Di Piazza

San Gimignano is an amazing town in the sense that this town is quite inaccessible and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This used to be a fortress with more than a 100 towers but most of the towers have been brought down due to wars, catastrophes, or urban renewal and through these years, only fourteen towers of varying height have been preserved.


We were even more amazed by the fact that this small walled medieval hill town actually houses the world famous home-made gelato and are world champions in 2006/07 and 2008/09.


Like Vivoli, the gelato melts fast but has more interesting flavours such as Malaga, Amedei Chocolate, Pink grapefruit with Sparkling Wine, Vinsanto Eggnog, Saffron Cream, etc... Yuan has sticked to Amedei Chocolate, Caramel and Hazelnut while I took Pistachio, Pink grapefruit with Sparkling Wine and Wild Berries.


The fact that we can remember the flavours more clearly than Vivoli indicates that the flavours were more intense. While Amedei Chocolate is indeed a potent smooth chocolate gelato, Caramel is the favourite for Yuan as the buttery fragrance is strong but yet lacks the burnt sugar effect. On the other hand, popular Pink grapefruit with Sparkling Wine is icy and tangy when compared to the other 5 flavours and hence Pistachio and Wild Berries outshine in both texture and sweetness for my combination.


Setting aside the ice-cream, should one has the chance to visit this place, one should attempt to climb the bell tower of 218 steps for the view offers after the climb is breathtaking. Imagine being at the top of the hill with a miniature bird-eye view of the small town, the background stretches till infinity with the fields and greenery which is so serene.


And like all small towns like Bruges and Burano, one can expect lesser people with ample walking space. With a good gelato place and a nice town to walk around, have we tempted you enough?

Gelateria di Piazza
di Dondoli Sergio
Piazza della Cisterna 4
San Gimignano
Tel: 0577 942244

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Florence (Italy): Vivoli Gelato

Florence (Italy): Vivoli Gelato

Our introduction to Florence started with a bird-eye view overlooking the medieval city with River Arno in the middle. After which, it was an interesting drive-in to the city square as the coaches are not allowed to drive within the city square for the streets are very narrow, in fact about the same width as most tour coaches. However, having said that, our coach still drove into the city square to drop us right in front of Grand Hotel Cavour and interestingly, Grand Hotel Cavour will pay the fine imposed on our coach. Since coaches are not allowed in the city square, one can imagine the astonished look some of the Florentines or tourists were giving us when our tour director came down to move away some of the obstructions and barricades.


Anyway, Michelangelo and Galileo are the names commonly mentioned by our Italian guides for the former contributed to the magnificent paintings done in the Sistine Chapel and the famous statue, David while the latter was an amazingly mathematician, physicist and astrologist. A trip to Florence will allow one to hear more of their stories as these two great men are buried in Santa Croce, a church located in the city square of Florence. And one of the things highlighted is that the year which Galileo was born is actually the same year when Michelangelo died so when one genius leaves, another genius is created.


Ok, setting aside the blah blah on our tour, gelato is a must-try when one comes to Florence but surprisingly our local guide told us to avoid gelato that are beautifully presented, the higher the gelato is, the more chemical and preservatives are present in them, making them not as nice. Hence, we were told to drop by Vivoli which is in a quiet corner of Florence, between Piazza Della Signoria where David is and Santa Croce. Anyway, ask the shopkeepers and they will be able to lead you there and when you see many eating ice-cream outside a humble looking shop, you are on the right one.


As what the local guide has described, the gelato are "ugly" and flat. To order, one pays at the cashier, pick up your receipt and order from the counter.


Apart from ice-cream, cakes and pastries are available which we didn't try.


2.50 EUR (SGD$4.40) for a cup with 2 flavours. In general, the gelato is light and the sweetness is within acceptable range. Vivoli focus alot on the flavour and hence each of the flavour is distinctive. The gelato melts fast and are generally "thin" for the milk or cream content is low.

Vivoli Jl Gelato
Via Isola Delle Stinche, 7r
50122 firenze/italy
Tel: 005 292334
Website

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