PrimaDéli is bringing you a selection of New Year cookies and pineapple tarts this Lunar New Year; three selections of pineapple tarts – Divine Pineapple Tarts, Pillow Pineapple Tarts and Fortune Pineapple Tarts – are available alongside two new cookies – Pumpkin Seed and Oatmeal Cranberry.

Divine Pineapple Tarts ($14.80 per tin)

The handmade Divine Pineapple Tarts are encased with juicy pineapple pulp that isn’t too sweet. The fragrant tart, boasting a nice golden sheen, has a distinct butter flavour without being too buttery and greasy, thus expecting a dryer texture – probably lower in calories and cholesterol – as compared to butter-loaded tarts that are sinfully rich.

Fortune Pineapple Tarts ($1.60 each)

PrimaDéli’s Fortune Pineapple Tarts are the highlight of the pineapple tart selection; it is shaped like a pineapple, signifying prosperity and good fortune. Filled with pineapple pulp within a soft baked crust, these pineapple tarts are individually wrapped to retain its freshness.

They are so adorable they make the perfect gift! The red packaging makes is no less auspicious!

For those who prefer more pastry in their tarts, you may opt for the Pillow Pineapple Tarts ($14.80 per tin)

PrimaDéli’s Chinese New Year Range is available from 26 Dec 2011 till 22 Jan 2012 at all PrimaDéli outlets islandwide –they have over 36 bakeries under their belt!

For enquiries, please call PrimaDéli at 6276-3333.

About the Author
	Melissa Koh is interior design trained, with a strong passion in photography and food. Her dream is to travel the globe, experiencing different cultures, food and art, documenting every moment on camera. She can be contacted atmelissa@hungryepicurean.com

3 Inch Sin is a boxy dessert café specialising in freshly baked warm chocolate cakes; this outlet at Millenia Walk is an addition to their first outlet at Cluny Court opened in 2010.

They show no modesty in proclaiming having the widest selection of molten cakes in Singapore – currently available in 11 flavours – while they are still exploring more flavours to incorporate into their molten cakes.

Life is too short to commit to one favourite flavour, do step out of your comfort zone and try their unique flavours!

Presented unembellished and straight out the oven in 3 inch ramekins, the cakes boast a molten centre that comes in various fillings such as coffee, mint and baileys –all made with Valrhona chocolate, which is known for their aromatic blends of highest quality cocoas from all over the world.

The Peanut Butter molten cake gets the plaudits for its nice blend of sweet and salty, and its creaminess without being cloying.

I highly recommend the Lemon molten cake for its refreshing lift. I enjoyed the scent of lemon against the rich chocolatey taste.

For those with a sweet tooth, go for the White Chocolate molten cake for an extra dose of sweetness!

For alcohol lovers, the Cherries Jubilee is worth a try. Although alcohol tends to evaporate in baking processes, this dessert will not disappoint as it is redolent of alcohol –almost immense for a non-alcohol lover like myself.

For the less adventurous, the classic favourite, Original, will gratify your chocolate cravings, boasting a warm, unsullied molten core that is rich without being too sweet.

3 Inch Sin is fervent on cutting down on sugar without compromising in taste –although their ice cream is not homemade, they made a request to the supplier to reduce the amount of sugar during manufacturing.

Their French Vanilla Bean ice cream is the best accompaniment to the molten cakes –classic comfort goodness.

Apart from the classic vanilla ice cream, 3 Inch Sin will surprise you with a ‘Flavour of the month’. A scoop of ice cream can take the molten cake indulging to a whole new level.

Sea Salt & Caramel Ice cream

$3.50 per scoop

A personal favourite would be the Sea Salt & Caramel Ice Cream. Unfortunately, they ran out of stock quickly thus I didn’t manage to get a second serving!

Rum & Raisin

The Rum & Raisin is another popular favourite across the table!

Molten cakes are priced at $6.50 for most flavours and $7.50 for alcohol infused molten cakes. You may purchase a box of 6 pieces for $36, with takeaway options available.

Other than 3 inches molten cakes, a selection of other desserts are available.

Magador

$7 per slice, or $42 for 6 inches and $60 for 8 inches.

Dark chocolate mousse is sandwiched between two tiers of moist chocolate sponge and smothered with a deep red raspberry glaze. While I enjoyed the smooth creamy chocolatey mousse and pillow-soft sponge cake, the raspberry glaze is a little too tart for a sweet tooth like mine.

The Dark Side

$6 per slice, or $30 for 6 inches, $50 for 8 inches

The Dark Side is a dessert I can’t resist. The dark velvety chocolate ganache is made with purely Valrhona chocolate, filled in a sweet crumbly pastry tart that isn’t too dry.

3 Inch Sin is an ideal dessert destination, conducive for long conversations, and a great hang out place for chocolate cake aficionados. There are room for improvement but I’m certainly looking forward to indulging in new flavours in the near future!

Note: This was an invited tasting.

About the Author
	Melissa Koh is interior design trained, with a strong passion in photography and food. Her dream is to travel the globe, experiencing different cultures, food and art, documenting every moment on camera. She can be contacted atmelissa@hungryepicurean.com

MakeShake, the first customisable milkshake concept in Asia recently launched its flagship store at City Square Mall in October 2011.

Once you get down the escalator to the basement 2, MakeShake will immediately catch your attention. Its colourful façade with bold logos in shades of rainbow will prepare you for the jovial treats coming ahead.

At MakeShake, you can customise your own milkshake with a variety of Shake-Ins and flavours to choose from, blended with a homemade reduced sugar malted vanilla ice-cream –the less sweet ice cream will appeal to the health conscious. For those with a sweeter tooth, go all out with the add-ons.

Mix and match from a variety of options such as chocolates, biscuits, fruits, sauces and more.

The unadventurous can stick to the ‘Awesome Shakes‘, which include popular favourites such as Strawberries ‘n’ Cream, Bananarama, Simply Marshella, Yuan Yang and Chocolate Addict. For something more unique, opt for the Malibu Shake comprising of coconut and pineapple or the Peanut Butter Sandwich comprising of peanut butter, banana and chocolate fudge. The ‘Awesome Shakes’ recipes are fail-proof. Unless you don’t mind experimenting with unconventional combinations and end up something too bizarre, sticking with the pre-concocted milkshakes is the safest bet.

The Peanut Butter Sandwich and Chocolate Addict comes only in a large size, reason being there are more ingredients added and they didn’t want to affect the ratio of ice cream to ingredients.

One of my favourite is the Chocolate Addict; flavoured with a dose of chocolate fudge, you will also find crunchy bits of Kit Kat and Maltesers in there. If that isn’t enough to satisfy the chocoholics, top up with another $0.70 for additional Nutella for a richer chocolatey flavour.

You won’t find gritty bits of crushed ice; the ice cream and milk are blended into a smooth and thick consistency –no ice added.

The milkshakes are thicker than the norm, thus the slogan ‘Suck Hard’. I prefer a slightly melted down milkshake for easy slurping.

 The Simply Marshella is another addictive shake. Comprising of Nutella and Marshmallows, this milkshake is utterly smooth, with the creamy chocolatey goodness gliding down your throat. Topped with nibble-size marshmallows that are not too soft to a point where it disappears into nothingness, it provides sufficient texture.

The Strawberries ‘n’ Cream wasn’t sweet enough to satisfy my sweet tooth, but I enjoyed the novelty of adding cream cheese instead of plainly vanilla ice cream. This milkshake reminds me a little of my all-time-favourite Ben & Jerry’s Strawberry Cheesecake. Perhaps I would add some graham biscuit crumbs for some texture the next time round!

The Yuan Yang would appeal to coffee and tea drinkers, but it isn’t something I would order again. My companion, on the other hand, enjoyed this.

With so many options of Shake-ins, I’m looking forward to discover more flavour combinations. Reasonably priced at $3.70 for a small cup that comes with 1 shake-in and $5.20 for a large cup (with 2 shake-ins), I’ll definitely return for more.

About the AuthorMelissa Koh is interior design trained, with a strong passion in photography and food. Her dream is to travel the globe, experiencing different cultures, food and art, documenting every moment on camera. She can be contacted at melissa@hungryepicurean.com

Van Houten has been around for a very, very long time.  Its rich history dates back to 1828 when  Casparus van Houten Sr. patented a method to inexpensively process cocoa. Later his descendant, Coenraad Van Houten, created the Dutch Process to make chocolate powder more soluble in water.

Today, in year 2011, they are still one of the top leading brands of chocolate that is sold worldwide.  I am sure for most of us, Van Houten chocolates are one of few chocolates that we grew up with.  I remember melting the chocolate dragee with the almond center in my mouth.  Sometimes I’ll just hastily chew on the whole chocolate to see what I get from a bag of Fruit and Nut mix.  I love the Van Houten Assorted Neapolitan, with Milk, Mocha and Orange flavors.  It’s one of the Chinese New Year Treats I’ll attack, my favorite being the orange flavor.

At some point of times in our life, we have had a taste of the luscious chocolates from Van Houten.

Cocoaphilia aims to reach out to chocolate fanatics like me and tells us that we are not alone.  Below are a few photos from the event and I hope they pique your appetite for a bar of Van Houten chocolate at the end of the post.

Do you like you Van Houten with nuts? Or with Fruits?

The different varieties of Van Houten chocolate bars.

Chocolate, fruits and a glass of Chardonnay – Simple Indulgence.

Some of the cute Canapes served during the event.

Chu Yang walks around with two trusty devices – his Apple iPhone and his Nikon DSLR in search of the pleasures that his gastronomic journeys bring. He can be contacted at cy@hungryepicurean.com

I had first blogged on K-ki in early 2010, February to be exact and it has remained one of my top choices for cakes in Singapore. I continue to stand by to all the comments that I made of their cakes then – that itself is testament to their ability to consistently churn out cakes of quality, and not letting fame get to their heads.

Some bloggers have been commenting on their latest creations recently – Emily (S$9) and Tiramisu (S$9) and I thought it has been a while since I paid them a visit, so why not? Delphine, the affable lady boss a.k.a. lao ban niang commented that it must have been at least 5 months since I last visited.

Did I like the colourful cousin of the Kinabalu or K-ki’s rendition of the Italian classic? Read on to find out more!

I wouldn’t blame you if you noticed some similarities of Emily (S$9) and the Kinabalu. Alright, what was I thinking – the only reason you wouldn’t have noticed is if you have yet to visit K-ki!

The Emily is a unique but all-the-more interesting combination of flavours – of mild champagne and sweetness of strawberries.

With both cakes looking similar, it would not be weird to be making comparisions between them, now would it?

I thought that while Emily was good, and that it would have made an excellent alternative to the Kinabalu if it was not available! Not that it was bad in anyway. Personal preferences, you would say.

Now, what of the Tiramisu (S$9), you ask. A daring dessert choice, considering the Tiramisu being an Italian classic.

Interestingly, between the two cakes that I had that day, I very much preferred the Tiramisu. Arguably that would be an apples versus pears comparison, but the lightness of the dessert won me over.

Some places, Italian restaurants included tend to either under or oversoak the lady fingers, but K-ki’s got their ratios just right! Kudos! (P.s. the lady fingers are hidden right in the middle)

So what is holding you back? “Make a trip to K-ki, you must.”

K-ki

No.7 Ann Siang Hill

Tel: (65) 6225 6650

Opening Hours:
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday: 11am – 9:30pm
Thursday Close at 7pm
Saturday Close at 4pm
Closed on Mondays

A chocolate souffle, as I have come to be acquainted with, is one in a ramekin where it rises with a soft centre. So, you can’t blame me for wondering why this was called a souffle instead of a molten chocolate cake.

In any case, for purposes for this entry, Max Brenner’s Chocolate Souffle (S$16++), was rather good! The cake came out with a perfectly molten center and the ice cream served on the sides was a welcome addition.

And for that extra oomph factor, you are provided with a tube of thick, indulgent chocolate sauce. I say, you’ve already sinned by ordering the dessert, what are a few more calories?

And if chocolate souffles aren’t your cup of tea, there are other desserts too! Waffles, for example!

By the way, if you happen to be at Max Brenner, I hear that the hot chocolate is “to-die-for”.

Max Brenner Chocolate Bar
1 HarbourFront Walk
#01-116
VivoCity

Tel: +65 6278 4218

Hong Kong is place well known for their desserts as well.  Having said that, I’m going to introduce to a dessert chain that uses mango as their main ingredient.  Hui Liu Shan Desserts is a chain with stores located all over Hong Kong, well known for serving their desserts made mainly from Mango.  Mango puree, mango slices, mango dices, mango ice cream – every single possible way of eating mango in a nice and chilled manner, they have it covered.

Glenn and I, sat down at a busy store just opposite Time Square and had 2 desserts.  Mainly the Mango with Ice Jelly and Mango with Coconut.  The desserts are made to order – which means, the puree and the mangoes are freshly cute and pureed on the spot to preserve maximum freshness of the dessert.

On first mouth, you will know the Hong Kongers don’t go easy on the mangoes.   No water, no syrup and definitely no bottled mango juice is added to the puree.  Its pure mango with every bite.  Sweet yet not overwhelming, smooth and silky.  The diced mangoes are firm; And the jelly is not soft, but it has got strength to it.  The mango ice cream – well, its not really ice cream, but rather frozen puree.

I had the Mango with Coconut.  Strips of smooth coconut meat didn’t really go really well with the mango though.  Or rather, the unique taste of coconut was overwhelmed by sweet mango.  Still, if you love mango, you’ll probably forget about how coconut taste like.

This place is a must go for all mango fanatics.  Extravagant amount of mangoes goes into one dessert.

Note: This entry is part of my “Hong Kong Series” and is a combination of the efforts of my guest author, CY, and your humble author.

Hui Lau Shan Healthy Desserts

Hong Kong

http://www.hkhls.com/

A recent food trail with 2 colleagues landed us at Canele, Paragon for some sweet after-work desserts. In all, 3 of us ordered 2 slices of cake and 2 sweet crepes (they have savoury ones too). Do the math and you’ll realize that, for someone who does not take too much to his desserts like myself, that’s a lot of desserts!

Before I begin, let it be known that I am not one too keen on his desserts (Read: I’m not someone who needs a dessert to end off every meal). And, for the record, as of this writing, I am unable to distinguish the difference between a génoise sponge and sponge cake. Desserts for all its technicalities, shall be left to the experts, sgdesserts, skinnier than the original and divinejoybites.

Strawberry Shortcake (S$6.50++)
Fresh strawberries layered with crème chantilly and Japanese shortcake laced with kirsch.

I read from sgdessert‘s that Canele’s version is slightly firmer than say K-ki’s but firmer or not, I actually liked Canele’s strawberry shortcake. The firmness of the cake helps it to hold its form when one knives through it. The combination of somewhat slightly sour strawberries matches (or rather cuts through) the sweetness and heaviness of sugar and cream well.

Raspberry Cheesecake (S$7.50++)
Chocolate fudge cake, velvety smooth vanilla cheesecake galzed with raspberry jelly and rosemary-infused creme chantilly.

Granted, the cake is a sight to behold, (Heck, that was what led us to choosing it in the first place) but the combination of chocolate, vanilla flavoured cheesecake, raspberry jelly and rosemary-infused creme Chantilly did not cut it out for all three of us.

Perhaps, if the chocolate fudge cake was removed (or vice-versa), the resulting more-simple cake could rise up to the occasion. But who am I to suggest?

Chic Choc (S$15.00++)

Chocolate ice cream, warm chocolate sauce, meringue, chocolate crumble, chocolate shards and vanilla crème chantilly.

This indulgent crepe was worth every additional calorie that we had incurred that night. The crisp crepe, when combined with the other chocolate elements just made this dessert, one to yearn for. A word of caution, the sheer richness of this crepe, may hinder one’s eagerness to finish this crepe.

Personally, crepes aside, I liked the chocolate ice cream most. I’m a simple person -  I go for traditional flavours when it comes to ice cream, Vanilla Bean, Dark Chocolate etc. and favour traditional brands (aka Haagen Dazs).

Exotique (S$$12.50++)
Flambéed caramelized banana, chocolate sauce, passionfruit banana sorbet, vanilla tuile and vanilla crème chantilly.

Having ordered Chic Choc, we wanted to try another crepe that was not too rich and heavy. (What were we thinking? Crepes are rich and heavy on their own!)

We looked for something in the direction along the lines of fruits.

Flipping through the menu, we spotted the Exotique. A fruit themed crepe that came with bananas and passion fruit banana sorbet sounded like a good choice. In your humble author’s opinion, the Exotique suited my taste buds more than the Chic Choc, for the mere reasons that it tasted a tad lighter on the palette and that the caramelized bananas were awesome, a delight to savour!

Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie
Paragon Outlet
290 Orchard Road,
#B1-25 Paragon,
Telephone: (65) 6733-8893

Robertson Walk Outlet
11 Unity Street, #01-09
Robertson Walk
Telephone: (65) 6738-8145

Shaw Centre Outlet
1 Scotts Road
#01-01A, Shaw Centre
Telephone: (65) 6738 9020

It was my second day in Hong Kong with Glenn and both of us headed out for some claypot rice (which will be blogged about later) Yau Ma Tei.

So after our dinner we explored the surrounding area for a while.  After passing by countless Chow Tai Fook, Chow Sang Sang and Luk Fooks, we stumbled onto this quaint little place that sells milk based desserts.

Prior to this trip, I have watched some Taiwanese variety show that introduced this milk base dessert.  Basically, its milk pudding made from either steaming or adding a solidifier e.g Ginger juice.

It was after dinner, and we’ve walked around a bit since it was a bit cold outside, we decided to sit down to rest our tired legs and to chow down on some sweets before continuing with our exploration.

There are many varieties of milk puddings to choose from, and all of them come either cold or hot.

I ordered their Famous Double Skin Milk Pudding (a direct translation from the Chinese name) and I had it hot.  The pudding was really really smooth.  Smoother than silken toufu or chawanmushi.  The top layer of skin is actually curdled milk from the cooking process.  On first taste, it was really smooth and sweet.  To compare the taste, it somehow, tasted exactly like Anlene milk.  But then half way into this, I found it a bit heavy because it was a bit too sweet.  If its cold, maybe it would have been a bit different.

Glenn ordered a cold Ginger Milk Pudding . This was a lot more refreshing and tasted a lot lighter than my pudding.  I’m not a big fan of Ginger, but the Ginger taste in this pudding was strong but not overwhelming.  The spiciness of the ginger counteract the sweetness of the milk pudding thus making it a lot easier on the taste buds.

Personally I liked this a lot better than mine.

Note: This entry is part of my “Hong Kong Series” and is a combination of the efforts of my guest author, CY, and your humble author.

Yee Shun Milk Company

513 Nathan Road, Yau Ma Tei,
Hong Kong

Searching through Openrice got us to a nearby French Patisserie near our hotel in K11. A quick Google showed that ‘Paul Lafayet‘, belongs to French expat, Toni Younes and that it is a relatively young upstart, having only opened its doors in February 2010.

To quote Younes’ interview with Luxedining, “We don’t use artificial flavouring or preservatives or anything like that. We just use good quality ingredients: President butter from France, almonds from Valencia, and Valrhona chocolate and so on,” says Youne.”

This was Paul Lafayet’s Mille-Feuilles (Puff pastry layers & Vanilla cream).

Traditionally, a Mille-feuille is made up of three layers of puff pastry, alternating with two layers of cream pâtissière, but sometimes whipped cream, or jam. The top is usually glazed with icing or fondant in alternating white (icing) and brown (chocolate) strips, and combed.

Retrieved 17 April, 2010,  from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mille-feuille

Glenn: While CY preferred this and admittedly, the puff pastry were crisp, I did not quite like the overall taste to this cake. Personal opinion, I suppose.

This Chocolat Blanc Aux Fruits De La Passion (White chocolate Passion fruit cake) had just the right balance of sourness and sweetness.

Glenn: I preferred this over the Mille-Feuille. The texture, the flavours and the appearance of it just agreed with me. Somehow, while eating it, I was reminded of K-ki’s Kinabaru. Yes, they are completely different cakes,but the common denominator being, the passion fruit triggered the memory.

I do like K-ki’s cakes.

According to the (read: very friendly) sales person, the Creme Brulee is Paul Lafayet’s best-seller apart from the Chocolat Blanc Aux Fruits De La Passion. The friendly staff at the counter will actually caramelize the sugar in front of your eyes when you order this lovely dessert. (Read: a-la minute)

And guess what, you can actually bring home the clay ramekin that the creme brulee was made in.  And CY has it siting on hi shelf right now.

CY: I liked the consistency of the dessert, except that it was just a tad too soft.

Glenn: I found it to be a tad light (in the sense of  a creme brulee), but for someone who has a lighter taste bud like me, it was just nice! In addition, I was pleased that it did not have a over-whelming “eggy” flavour undertone, as I do not fall in love with too strong a “eggy” flavour (again, personal preference).

Paul Lafayet Patisserie Francaise

G23, G/F, K11
18 Hanoi Road
Tsim Sha Tsui
Kowloon, Hong Kong

Tel: (852) 3586 9624

Website: www.paullafayet.com

It was purely coincidental that we came across this little ‘English-(ala colonial) looking’ tea/cake shop along Central. Lying directly opposite of Tai Cheong Bakery lies Antique Patisserie & Fine Chocolates.

(P.S. Tai Cheong Bakery is famous for it’s Egg Tarts – More on that in another post)

Glenn saw the wide selection of cakes at the store front and decided to walk in for a closer look. Delicious, tempting cakes lined the shelves. For HKS$70 per person, you get a slice of cake or 3 macaroons along with a selection of Antique’s selection of teas or coffee.

Its a nice and quaint place to take a pit-stop from all the crazy shopping in Central.

The Earl Grey Chinese Mandarin cake was a light cake. However, both CY and myself thought that both the Earl Gray and Chinese Mandarin flavours came across as a tad too light.  Glenn preferred this cake to the Congo Mousse cake.

The Congo Mousse Cake was literally a burst of chocolate.  Chocolate mousse layered with chocolate sponge encrusted with chocolate meringue, every inch of this cake is practically chocolate.  It was a bit too rich to be eaten on its on, but paired with a cup of tea, this would be the perfect fix for a sweet tooth.

The Cappuccino was an excellent perk-me-up, after the long walk along Central.

The English Rose Tea was a great choice to go along with the cakes.  And you can choose to buy their selection tea leaves (which Glenn did) from the store as well.

On the whole, if you happen to be in the neighbourhood and want a cozy English style place to have tea/coffee, Antique would be a place that I would recommend! While the cakes were not as good as I would have expected to to be, the decor, the friendly service and affordable prices more than compensates for it.

P.S. The selection of cakes here is quite wide, some of which can be found on their website.

Note: This entry is part of my “Hong Kong Series” and is a combination of the efforts of my guest author, CY, and your humble author.

Antique Patisserie & Fine Chocolates

Tea Room @ Central
Shop 2, G/F, Oriental Crystal Commercial Building,
46 Lyndhurst Terrace, Soho Central.

Tel: (852) 2542 2816 Fax: (852) 2542-2861

Mon-Sat: 11.00am to 8.30pm
Sun/Holidays: 1.00pm to 8.30pm

Website: http://www.antiquepatisserie.com/

After a food bloggers’ outing to Halia, all of us travelled to Tampines on a special invitation to the preview opening of BLIC.

The very first question I had in mind was, why was the nice cream cafe named BLIC? I later found out that the cafe was named after its two owners, Ben and Larry (pictured above). Rather than sound like a cheap imitation (ala Ben & Larry’s), they chose BLIC – Ben and Larry’s Ice Cream.

The Cempedek was truly an accquired taste – plasure to those who appreciate it and a pain for those don’t.

While the Passionfruit Yogurt ice cream was smooth, all of us present agreed that instead of passionfruit, it tasted reminiscent more of sour plum instead.

Not many can turn Baileys into a good ice cream but BLIC’s rendition did just that!

The Rum & Raisin was great for it contained large raisins and a liberal amount of rum.

Pictured above are the Banana Peanut Crunch, Green Tea, Black Sesame and Seasalt Malt.

The Green Tea, tasted much like Matcha except that it was a tad sweet for my liking. The Seasalt Malt tasted reminiscent of a good cup of Horlicks.

The “SCaM” (a light mixture of soursop, calamansi and martini) was decent. It was a tad sweet for me though.

Admittedly, while the Bird’s Nest with Almond sounded interesting, I was slightly disappointed that it was more more almond-flavoured than tasting of bird’s nest.

Similar to Awfully Chocolate’s chocolate cakes (as claimed by Harris) the Double Chocolate was rich and think.

The Ferrero has bits of nuts in it and tasted almost exactly like the Ferrero Chocolate itself.

The Dino Milo was exactly like how a cold Milo drink would taste like, had it been prepared as an ice-cream.

I loved the Vanilla for it contained, within it, visible specks of fresh vanilla. A Mexican Vanilla variant was also available.

The Mao Shan Wang ice cream had got to be my favourite flavour. Intense and full bodied, just as how I like durian ice creams to be.

The Lychee ice cream (in the background) had lychee bits both inside of it and on top of it.

Being a coffee lover myself, I loved the full-bodied and un[retencious Coffee ice cream.

Thank you Ben and Larry for inviting us to your cafe and I wish both of you, all the best!

Prices
Single Scoop Classic/Premium: $3.20/$5.20
Double Scoop Classic/Premium: $4.80/$7.80
Double Scoop Mix: $6.30
Milkshake Classic/Premium: $5.80/$8.80

BLIC Ice Cream Cafe
Blk 802 Tampines Ave 4 #01-23
http://www.blic.sg/

K-ki’s located along Ann Siang Hill. Coincidentally, there was an article published in the Straits Times’s LifeStyle section today on the Gemmill Fountain and read some history of Ann Siang Hill in that article.

The mysterious fountain (Gemmill Fountain) was a gift donated by Singapore’s first auctioneer and banker, John Gemmill, when he left Singapore for London in 1864.

What is now known as Ann Siang Hill was called Gemmill Hill – he once owned the small hill near Chinatown, until it was sold in 1894 to Chia Ann Siang, a wealthy Malacca-born landowner. It was renamed Ann Siang Hill, but the memory of the auctioneer lives on in nearby Gemmill Lane, which is named after him.

- Historic fountain restored, The Straits Times Lifestyle Section, 08 February 2010.

Anyway, K-ki is owned by a couple of whom Kenneth, is the baker while his wife, Delphine runs the front of house. (Think Sage!) Kenneth, a Self-Taught Baker, learnt the skills of the trade from his mother. When he was younger, his mother, a professional baker herself, would bake cakes and leave them in the fridge. He proclaimed proudly that, a day would not go by without a cake in the fridge.

The cafe opens at 11am, but as all of us (Kaelyn, Harris and Zaylene) did not want to leave without cakes inside our tummies, we reached there before 11am on a hot Sunday morning. And boy, the early bird does catch the worms!

The talk of the town, Antoinette ($8+), much raved by the other food bloggers, was decent. I’m not a fan of white chocolate in general (Pure Dark Chocolate still gets my tastebuds going), but who could resist this cake and its beauty. However, I felt that the mango puree in the middle was too mild for my liking. By the way, Antoinette’s the name of one of the owner’s friends, for whom they baked this cake for at one of his/her birthday.

As with Antoinette, Mona ($8+) was named after, ………… a friend of theirs. That wasn’t too hard to predict? Mona consists of flavours of bananas accompanied by a milk chocolate mousse.

The Strawberry Tart ($6.50), well, looked the prettiest, but when it came to taste, it pales in comparison to Kinabaru! By the way, the base was too hard for my liking.

Chestnut is everything in the Mont Blanc ($8.50+). Chestnut flavoured, with a smooth chestnut puree that goes around the ‘mountain’, and chopped chestnuts found within the cake.

This Kinabaru ($8+) has to be the deal clincher for me! I love passion fruit and this combination of coconut mousse, passionfruit creme and chocolate base was peerrrrfeecttttt! Don’t expect heavy and strong flavours for lightness is name of the game for this cake.  By the way, if you were wondering how did this name come about – Since they already had Mont Blanc, they needed a mountain, or rather hill of sorts. So no prizes for guessing where their inspiration came from!

Coffee and Cakes, they just go so well together, don’t they?

K-ki

No.7 Ann Siang Hill

Tel: (65) 6225 6650

Opening Hours:
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday: 11am – 9:30pm
Thursday Close at 7pm
Saturday Close at 4pm
Closed on Mondays

“A new British survey has revealed that 9 out of 10 people like chocolate. The tenth lies.” – Robert Paul

With that, the 4 of us (Harris from The Simplest Aphrodisiac, Elaine from Divine Essentials and Kaelyn from My Food Sirens) met up for after-dinner desserts at Laurent Bernard, Robertson Quay.

I’ll be first to admit that desserts never really been a my kind of thing but there is one type of dessert that never fails to go out of favour with my tummy, and that can only be – souffles.

Laurent’s version of the Chocolate Soufflé ($16.50++) was definitely to die for. chocolate The souffle tasted of good quality bittersweet dark chocolate. The accompanying raspberry sherbet perfectly matched the souffle, cutting the sweetness, in symphony.

While laurent does put a lot of emphasis on chocolates, there are other dishes on the menu that, surprisingly, does not come with chocolate. For example, the Strawberry Soufflé ($12++) that we had was equally up to the mark. However, one disappointing fact was that the first souffle that we arrived on the table deflated before we could go, “This strawberry souffle looks …” All of us, having had our fair shares of souffles, raised this issue with the waitress, who gladly offered a replacement. 30 minutes later, a replacement was served and oh boy, what a difference  30 minutes make! (Unfortunately, I only have the picture of the replacement. For pictures of the souffle the we sent back, please head over to My Food Sirens.)

Souffles aside, we ordered a cake and a tart to share. First up, we had the Pleasure ($9.80++) Unfortunately this failed to deliver. If you are a fan of “milk-tasting” chocolates, you wil most definitely like this! Having said that, I do like the way this dessert looked when it first arrived to the table.

The other tart we have was the Crispy chocolate tarte ($6.80++). Layered with hazelnut praline, dark chocolate and crunchy almond base.

Laurent Cafe & Chocolate Bar

#01-11 The Pier @ Robertson
80 Mohamed Sultan Road

Tel: (65) 6235 9007

Website: http://www.thechocolatefactoryonline.com/