Where to get chocolate in Malaysia [Valrhona, Barry Callebaut, Cacao Barry, etc]

Right at the start, I think I should qualify the title to state that it's mainly just Johor Bahru (which I'm most familiar with) and a little bit of Kuala Lumpur. I'm not familiar with the other states/baking places, so I really can't definitively say. For details of shops and prices of ingredients in Singapore, check out these two links. For shops in JB, here's the link.

Also, I thought there might be some confusion about the chocolate brands, so a little history might be helpful here.

Barry Callebaut is perhaps one of the world's largest chocolate manufacturer. When I was in Belgium, Callebaut was THE brand to buy, and with good reason too. The chocolate really is good, although I'm not sure how it compares to Valrhona since I didn't taste them together. The name "Barry Callebaut" actually comes from two companies - Cacao Barry and Callebaut. Cacao Barry was the French company and Callebaut was the Belgian company, and both of them merged in 1996 to form Barry Callebaut. Ironically, Barry Callebaut is now based in Zurich - neutral territory perhaps? 

To add to the confusion, Barry Callebaut, after merging, decided to come up with a new brand, SICAO, presumably to cater to the Southeast Asian consumers, retailing it as a cheaper alternative. So you can probably visualize this as a three-tiered thing, with SICAO being on the lowest tier (the cheapest brand of chocolate), followed by Cacao Barry and then Callebaut right at the top - with price and quality being the top too. 

Valrhona on the other hand, is still located in the same town it was founded in - Tain-l'Hermitage in Hermitage, near Lyon. I wish I could say I've been there before, but the most I did was to bypass Lyon twice, once on my way from Paris to Geneva, and other from Paris to Nice. Oh well, there's always next time! They also hold classes at the same place, although they have set up schools in Tokyo and Versailles as well. 

PS: Did you know that there is a Chocolate Academy in Port Klang which run chocolate-related classes and which is owned by the Barry Callebaut group? :] (and no, I am not paid to say all these)

Where to get baking chocolate in Malaysia (mainly Johor Bahru)

Common brands in Malaysia

• Tulip
• Nona
• Van Houten
• Hersheys
• Beryl
• SICAO
• Cacao Barry
• Felchlin 
• Barry Callebaut

The first three brands I have listed are the typical brands you can find in any supermarket - relatively cheap, and not exactly 'real' chocolate since it's a compound chocolate. What do I mean by compound chocolate? Well, 'real' chocolate is made with cocoa butter and cocoa solids, but compound chocolate uses vegetable fat (like coconut or palm oil) as well as sweeteners and emulsifiers :/ Call me elitist but there is a difference in quality and taste okay! 

Anyway, something to be proud of as a Malaysia --> besides Tulip which is manufactured in Indonesia and maybe Callebaut or Cacao Barry which might be manufactured and packed in Europe, all other chocolate brands above come from Malaysia! Malaysia does have quite a number of cocoa plantations, and I hope to visit one in the near future! The chocolates are listed in increasing price. As you can see, if the chocolate retails for less than RM30 per kilogram, it is most likely chocolate compound - so don't be fooled yeah!

Now, as far as I'm aware, Valrhona is almost impossible to find in JB, but available in KL. I've listed a couple of places in JB (and KL) where you can find the chocolates:

1. Perling Indah

• Perling Indah has the largest variety of chocolate available in JB that I know of. You might notice that I might be a little biased towards Perling Indah as compared to other baking shops in JB, but that's really because I stay near this shop and I can't say for the prices in the other shops!
• Here are some prices: 
• Van Houten - RM9.20 for a 150g 'baking chocolate' bar
• Beryl white/dark/milk chocolate compound - RM15.80/kg
• Beryl 62% chocolate buttons - RM50/kg
• Tulip - RM16.50/kg
• Tropica chocolate compound - RM15/kg
• Le Bourne chocolate compound - RM16.50/kg 
• Selbourne milk/dark chocolate compound - RM18/kg
• Callebaut - RM140 for a 2.5kg pack (53.8%)
• Cacao Barry - RM58/kg
• SICAO milk/dark block - RM62 for a 1.5kg pack, RM72 for a 2.5kg pack
• Cacao Barry amber cocoa powder - RM78/kg

2. Aeroshield JB

• Aeroshield has its headquarters in KL at Pandan Indah (check out its website here). If getting it in  JB, contact Mr Danny Lai at 010 6623542.
• Here are some prices: 
• Callebaut dark coverture - RM97.50 for a 2.5kg pack
• Callebaut cocoa powder - RM40/kg (available only in 5kg pack)
• Cacao Barry extra brute cocoa powder - RM50/kg 
• SICAO 70% chocolate callets - RM45 for a 1.5kg pack 

3. Pastry Pro

• Pastry Pro is located in Kepong. Check out its website here. 
• It only carries Felchlin, which is a Swiss brand. Felchlin Maracaibo 65% retails for about RM22.35 for 250g pack. 
• Just as a comparison, Felchlin retails at ToTT in Singapore for $72/2kg, and this is the smallest size available. 

4. Gourmandines

• This is an online only retail shop, which provides free delivery for purchases above RM250. If I'm not wrong, it is the only place in KL to get Valrhona chocolate. It sells a whole lot of other things too, such as gourmet cheeses and pasta, at pretty cheap prices. 
• Here are some prices: 
• Valrhona Manjari (64%) / Jivara (40%) / Ivory Buttons - RM25/200g; RM108/kg
• Valrhona Guanaja (70%) also available but prices not online. 

5. Classic Fine Foods

• I also found this website which appears to retail Valrhona chocolate, but the e-shopping website is under construction for the longest time, so erm..call them if you really want to know if they sell Valrhona?

6. Artisan Supplies

• Pei-Lin graciously provided details of this shop she frequents in KL, where you can get quality branded chocolate (no Valrhona) as well as frozen purees. 
• Their fb page is here. See her comment below for more details! 

And last but not least, I have received a number of queries and am glad to announce that if you are in Malaysia and would like me to help you in getting any chocolate products (in Singapore or in JB), I would be more than happy to help you to get them in my own time. You will have to, of course, pay for my transport, the price of the item you want to get, as well as postage fees (preferably registered/pos laju) for mailing it to you. I don't really want to discuss details here, but just email me if you have any queries!

Travel Tuesdays: Levain Boulangerie and Patisserie, Kuala Lumpur

I can’t believe this is only my 9th instalment of Travel Tuesdays! I first started this to make sure that I was diligent about uploading and sieving through my travel photographs, but I’m afraid I’ve yet to stick to that goal. I have to admit that sometimes, when I do look through my photos, I too am surprised by what I see - photographs do tend to record things that you never did notice ;p

As I have alluded to here, I went up to KL on a short impromptu trip over the Vesak Day holiday weekend, and the aim of the trip was to stuff myself silly with good food. And that I did. I always have this ‘list’ of places to eat at for almost every destination that I want to visit, so it’s no surprise that I’ve got a very lengthy list for KL, which I regard as my third home, after JB and Singapore.

High up on the list was two places – Levain Boulangerie for the breads, pastries and cakes, and Les Deux Garçons for their French entremets. I was not disappointed at each place. Maybe it’s because I’m looking at the prices with a ‘Singaporean’ eye, but everything was so darn cheap! Cakes per slice in Singapore cost anything from $6 up, so for a cake to cost in the vicinity of RM10 was a pretty good deal for me.

Sadly, I didn’t get too good photos of LDG’s cakes or the place itself, because it was pouring cats and dogs and I didn’t take my camera with me. The cakes didn’t make it back well either, but suffice to say that they are really good! I was very impressed with the care they took in the packaging and the entire look of the place, although I do hope that they come up with some new cakes by the time I return to KL in August because there were probably about 10 types of cakes and tarts in the counter and when I asked, they said that this was all the variety that they had and the flavours don't change. Huh.

So back to Levain. Levain is my kind of bakery. It's one of those large homey refurbished colonial houses, or 'cottages' as I would like to call them, and the entire place has been renovated (for a cool million I heard). It actually reminds me of MANY such places in Australia, which have these types of bakeries in abundance, and not so much European/continental bakeries. I was half expecting for Levain to let me down in some aspect, because it sold everything – warm food, breads, pastries, cakes, and even macarons! But...I must say that I am pretty impressed on the whole! I went with a huge group of relatives, so I was able to try just about everything. Their beverages, pastries, pizzas, spaghetti, soup, cakes, macarons, breads – ALL CHECKED! Everything was more than passable, and I was very impressed with a few items.

Let’s go down to the nitty gritty shall we?

When you first walk into the bungalow cottage, (you first have to get pass the problem of very-hard-to-find-parking), you will be greeted by the cashier and the bakery proper on the left. On the extreme left, lies the bakery which contains the stone oven which they use for their breads. Mind you, I see normal commercial ovens too, so I suspect only pizzas and the crusty continental breads get their baking in the stone oven.

I liked the self-service aspect of it – if you're just getting the breads to go, you can grab a tray, then head to the cashier to pay up. If you're looking for a seat, I'll recommend you looking for a seat first, noting down the number and going down to order. There's seating downstairs and upstairs, inside and out. The view differs from room to room, so take your pick! You can (or have to) ‘chope’ your seat with a ‘reserved’ tag before making your way to get your food. As for warm food and beverages, they’ll be served to you, so be sure to remember where you are seated. Water and other cutlery are available at counters in each room.

Onto my review proper. For the clueless, levain actually refers to a starter that French bakers used in their baking. And this is perhaps the selling point of this bakery, that all their breads make use of this special levain, or natural yeast as they like to call it. I personally prefer the term sourdough, but well, to each his own. Admittedly, because I was there for the 'levain' items, I was quite disappointed to see a very small variety of actual European-styled breads. I guess that's mainly because Malaysians still like their soft and sweet buns, so European breads, which tend to be crusty, can be pretty hard to sell. Besides, other than the usual baguette, I'm sure more than half of the patrons probably have no idea what European breads I'm referring to.

I tried the 'natural yeast' baguette, which I asked them to slice and toast for me. I didn't quite like it - although it was nicely crisp and all, I expected a slight tinge of sourness or at least some complexity in the taste of the baguette but... nothing. It was a very flat taste, and very reminiscent of normal yeasted baguettes, so I was disappointed that their levain didn't taste good enough. But mind you, I am comparing to the baguettes that I had the privilege of eating in France, so it is perhaps an unfair comparison. The baguette was good, just not great. 

As for the other breads, I read that the bakers actually come up with at least 4 new items each month, which is really impressive! I managed to snitch bites of a couple of other breads, such as the walnut ring thing that you see in the background in the photo above, as well as other 'japanese' style soft sweet breads. The breads were pretty much standard, and the prices were quite hefty (at least RM 3) for each, but I guess we're paying for the experience? A good bet however, would be their sandwiches. They have quite a few varieties available, and the portions are enough for one for lunch.

As for the pastries, I liked them :] I had the croissant, the almond croissant as well as the danish pastries (the sultana one). I liked that they used the yeasted versions of these pastries, and that each layer/lamination was very crisp and well done. The almond croissant was really good - I liked the almond paste on the inside - it didn't reek of almond extract, and the sweetness was just right. Same with the other pastries.

As for the macarons - MAJOR GRIPE. WHY WHY WHY do they spell them as macaroons? For a bakery to name themselves after something French, it is unacceptable that they got the spelling of MACARONS wrong! It’s not macaroons for goodness sake! GAH. I certainly felt that it was incongruent to sell French confections and not know how to spell them properly >.<

I can't remember the exact price of each macaron, but I was told by my cousin that the macarons here are quite costly as compared to other places. However, they are also one of the best. So I guess you're paying for good quality stuff! Levain has approximtely 15 flavors on sale each day, and out of those I tried, I was pretty impressed with the strawberry, which had fizzy candy to give it an extra pop. The other flavors were good as well, not overly sweet and overwhelming, and all very well done. I was impressed also with the fact that the feet were nicely frilled for most of the macarons and the sizes and filling quite uniform across the board. Thumbs up!

As for the cakes, I had the Noisette (Hazelnut Dacquoise, Dark 62% Mousse, Chocolate Flourless Cake, Pralinosa Mousse), Mango Passionfruit tart and Raspberry Pistachio Cake. I'm not sure if those are the exact names for the latter two, but I can't seem to find them on the website any longer. They probably are out of season by now. In any case, no loss if you want to try them because out of the three cakes I tried, I was most impressed with the Noisette. You can probably give the other two a pass since the raspberry tasted very sugary and fake, as did the pistachio (there just wasn't enough real pistachio) and the mango-passionfruit quite normal. I tend to prefer a crispier and more well baked pate sucree, so the tart crust was below par for me. Nevertheless, I think each cake cost me RM7-9, so it was pretty cheap and value for money! Do try the noisette - I really enjoyed the praline mousse and the hazelnut dacquoise - I thought the layers were very well balanced between chocolate and hazelnut.

As for the other hot meals, we had two pizzas, which are available from 12pm to 8pm, and we had spaghettis and soups as well. The pizzas start from RM14 for medium sizes and RM20 for large sizes. The large is probably enough for two people for a meal. Very decent prices, and you get to choose whether you want a thin crust or a 'roman' thick crust. The bottom pizza picture shows the thick crust. Really pretty good stuff!

As for the soups, I had the minestrone and mushroom, both to dip the sliced baguette in, nothing too fantastic to rave about, but nothing below average either. Their spaghetti was pretty good - I had the spaghetti in arrabbiata sauce, and the sauce was nicely hot with chilli padi and the spaghetti nicely al dente.

So all in all, Levain gets my two thumbs up! Definitely worth a visit if you're in the vicinity, and if you're a tourist, the place is just off Jalan Imbi, but it's quite a fair walk (especially under the harsh sun) and I'd certaintly recommend taking the taxi there if you can afford it. It's a great getaway in the middle of the city, and definitely a novel experience :]

Details

Levain Boulangerie & Patisserie

Address: 7 Jalan Delima, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Contact: +603 2142 6611

Opening hours: Mondays to Sundays, 0730h to 2100h

Website: http://www.levain.com.my/

Price: $ (starts from RM3 for a bun)

Eating in Orchard Road

Because my friends and I stay at far flung corners of Singapore, Orchard Road remains the most convenient place for us to meet because it is central. And everytime we meet at Orchard, we are met with the age-old problem. Where to eat?? We always end up eating at the same few places, and I always end up googling for new places to eat. The same thing happens when relatives come from overseas and I’ve to bring them to Orchard to shop and to eat. I have to rack my brains to think of good places to eat at in Orchard especially if say, they don't want to eat Japanese. 

So I’ve decided to make things easy for myself and list down places that I frequent and like to eat at and keep it on my blog as a point of reference. Now, I can direct relatives to this page and they can choose where they want to eat from the list below :] win-win!

I won’t say that this is a comprehensive list, because it isn’t. In fact, it does not even encompass the whole Orchard Road shopping belt. I’ve limited the restaurants to those which are not too expensive (around S$20 per person or less), and I’ve only included shopping centres on a very short stretch of Orchard Road, mainly ION, Takashimaya, Wisma Atria, Mandarin Gallery, Paragon, Heeren, Shaw House, Lucky Plaza and that’s about it. These are shopping centres around Orchard MRT itself, and yes, I do know that 313, Orchard Central and 311 Somerset might have lots of food offerings, but that’s a list for another day.

I’ve also left out the Plaza Singapura and Dhoby Ghaut area, because there's a whole lot more food over there and it's unlikely that someone in Orchard Road around Orchard MRT would walk all the way to PS, unlike you're young and energetic or you're a tourist. I know I can't and probably won't do the long walk so this list is limited.

Only after I did a thorough google search did I stumble upon this. Neverthless I'm still keeping this here so that I can access it easily via my phone should i need it. The other website requires flash, which as many know, can't be accessed on the iPhone yet. It has also listed other places which I might have left out.

• Brunch
• Wild Honey, Mandarin Gallery, 03-02; Scotts Square, 3rd floor
• Super long Q and they don't take reservations at Mandarin Gallery. They do take reservations at Scotts Square though. Be prepared to wait up for 2 hours during busy periods but love their "all around the world" concept. I especially like the Tunisian eggs but other than that, so-so food only.
• Jones the Grocer, Mandarin Gallery, 04-21
• Try their big breakfast. Love their selection of cheeses and other gourmet items too. 
• Antoinette, Mandarin Gallery, 02-33
• Their mushroom gnocchi is awesome! and i love their cakes :]

• Bubble Tea
• Share Tea, Wisma Atria, B1-45
• Each-a-cup, Ion B4; Heeren, B1-12
• Gong Cha, *Scape, 002-39
• Sweet Talk, outside Far East Plaza
• KOI, outside Lucky Plaza

• Chinese
• Canton-i, Ion, 03-14
• Taste Paradise
• DIM SUM is yummy and so is their beef brisket noodles!
• Paradise Dynasty, Ion, 04-12
• Crystal Jade, Takashimaya, various outlets on 4th floor
• I like their la mian.  
• Din Tai Fung, Wisma Atria, 02-48; Paragon B1-03
• Imperial Treasure, Paragon, 05-42

• Desserts
• Awfully Chocolate, Ion, B4-50
• Marmalade Pantry, Ion, 03-22
• TWG Tea Salon, Ion, 02-20 (and various outlets)
• TCC, Ion, B2-49
• Cedele, Takashimaya, B1-37; Wheelock, 03-13
• Bakerzin, Paragon, 02-09
• Canele, Paragon, B1-K8; Shaw House, 
• Projectshop Cafe, Paragon, 03-41
• Honeymoon Dessert, at Central
• Sweets Garibaldi, Mandarin Gallery, 02-26
• Dessert Story, Heeren, B1-02
• Music Cafe, *Scape, 03-02
• Raindrops Cafe, *Scape, 02-38
• Nothing too special, but they open till late. 
• A Curious Teepee, *Scape, 02-24

• Food Courts
• Takashimaya
• Food Republic, Wisma
• ION
• delicious dimsum and everything else!

• Finger food
• 4 Fingers Bonchon Crispy Chicken, Ion, B4-06A
• Very good korean fried chicken! do try the spicy ones!
• Best Fries Forever, Cineleisure Orchard, B1-06

• Ice cream/gelato
• Gelatissimo, Shaw House
• Takashimaya B2
• Ben & Jerry's
• Marvelous Cream, Ion, B4-8

• Japanese
• AOBA Ramen, Ion, B3-25
• Watami Japanese Dining, Ion, B3-23
• Cheap lunch sets available!
• Tampopo, Takashimaya, 04-28, B2-33
• The Ramen here is not bad!
• Sushi Tei, Paragon, 05-04
• Sakae Sushi, Wheelock, 02-18
• If you want a cheap sushi buffet, here's the place to go.
• Tonkichi, Shaw House
• Ippudo Singapore, Mandarin Gallery, 04-02
• This is still my favorite ramen out of all the authentic japanese ramen places. 
• Tonkatsu by Ma Maison, Mandarin Gallery, 02-35
• Seriously the best tonkatsu in town. I prefer the one at Central @ Clarke Quay though. The ambience is better. 
• Waraku, Heeren, 05-04

• Others
• Ayam Penyet Ria, Lucky Plaza, 01-42
• Grandma's, Paragon, B1-41
• Say hello to cheap beer!
• Lucky Chicken Rice, 02-111
• Pepper Lunch, Shaw House
• Vietnamese Cafe, Heeren, 03-06
• Chicken Rice at Far East Plaza (don't know the floor and name though)

• Thai 
• BALIthai, Ion, B3-24
• Love the crispy tofu with peanut sauce! The panggang seafood is not bad too, and so is their pad thai. 
• Sabai, Takashimaya, 04-23
• Kaffir & Lime by ThaiExpress, Paragon, B1-45
• Try their black pepper crab meehoon - really good!
• Thai Express Bistro, Heeren, 05-10

• Western
• Meatworks, Ion, 04-12
• The Soup Spoon, Ion, B3-18; Paragon B1-K4
• Seoul Garden, Takashimaya, 05-10
• BREEKS cafe, Takashimaya, 05-11
• Love their burgers and various other meats 
• Big O Cafe, Paragon, B1-08; Wheelock, 02-04
• nydc, Wheelock, 02-19
• Skinny Pizza, Wheelock, 03-04
• TGI Friday's, Heeren, 01-K5
• Lawry's The Prime Rib, Mandarin Gallery, 04-01
• Fish & Co, Heeren, 05-02
• Cheap lunch deals for a quick fix
• Jack's Place, Heeren, 05-06
• Pastamania, Cineleisure, 02-23
• Billy Bombers, Cineleisure, 01-16

Homemade Granola - Food Revolution Day

I will be talking about revolutions today. When anyone talks about revolutions these days, you think about the 'Arab Spring', or the year of Arab revolutions that began in Tunisia in December 2010 and resulted in a wave of uprisings across the Arab world. And when you actually think about it (and it's been credited in many newspapers and other media around the world), then one catalyst for this widespread revolution was the act of one man. One man, by the name of Bouazizi, who decided one day to set himself on fire to protest, not against his government - no, it was not such a noble act, but it was specially against the confiscation of his goods and the humiliation he suffered under the government officials who came around his street to harass him. This then led to widespread public anger and violence, which led to the fall of the Tunisian government. This of course spread to other countries around Tunisia, most notably that of Egypt and Libya. 

This of course brings to mind a very often quoted phrase these days, that repression is the seed of revolution. 

On this note, I want to talk about Food Revolution Day. What is it you might ask? Well, if you're an avid fan of Jamie Oliver, you will know all about his series, Food Revolution. Basically, it’s about creating a movement to educate children about food and to fight against obesity. Honestly, if you look at the food that the American school children are eating, you won’t be surprised why obesity is such a great problem there. Children there are served sodas, pizzas, huge burgers, fries, and mystery meat – basically the epitome of a great American meal. The revolution has gained momentum in many states in America, and I particularly watching the series and reading the toolkits that Jamie has provided to empower parents and children to make a change in their schools.

This brings to mind a quote by Marianne Williamson “Personal transformation can and does have global effects. As we go, so goes the world, for the world is us. The revolution that will save the world is ultimately a personal one." Jamie Oliver made food education his personal revolution, and I would like to think that he has succeeded somewhat in impacting the world. Food Revolution Day is perhaps a culmination or an extension of what has been done, it goes beyond food education to school children – it is slated on 19 May 2012, and it is a day for people to recognize that we need to start thinking about where our food comes from. It is a day for parents to realize that food habits are cultivated at home, and they too have a part to play in improving the lives of both themselves and their children.

Anyhow, I’m not sure if my own consciousness about food began before or after I watched the series or heard about it, but I have been increasingly conscious of what I am eating of late. One reason is because after starting work, I’ve been eating lunch at hawker centres and elsewhere, and this, coupled with a lack of exercise, has resulted in some weight gain. What I am about to relate is probably the story of many.

Often, when I eat at hawker centres (Lau Pa Sat and Golden Shoe for example), I can’t help but feel a tad sick at the amount of oil, salt and MSG that’s going into my body. So why not eat salads you might ask? Salad shops are abundant where I work, mainly because all of us here are white collared workers, but the cost of these salads are astronomical! A bowl of bak chor mee or wanton mee will probably set me back $3 - $3.50, but salads start from at least $8! And that’s the most basic salad with NO meats! Being the cheapo that I am, I can’t help but think that for $8, I can buy buttercup, arugula, tomatoes, cucumbers enough to feed my entire family of 5! Trying to eat healthy in Singapore really is expensive! And because of my work hours (I often work till 10pm), I really don’t have the time to prepare salads or other homecooked food myself. Enter my mother. Sometimes when I don’t make it back for dinner, I get my mom to pack my dinner for lunch tomorrow, so that I can not only save money, but know that I’m eating healthy home cooked food. These are the small things that I have been doing in order to have a healthier lifestyle. For those who don’t have such nice mothers like I do, don’t fret – you can make a huge batch of pasta sauce and freeze it into meal-sized portions – I do that with my Spaghetti Bolognese which I pack to the office and heat up with the microwave in the office. You can also fry rice (not so much mee hoon and kuay teow since they don’t last long) and store it in the fridge. On weekends, I bake breads or steam paus, and these are very easily stored in the fridge or freezer.

Another thing I also do is to make batches of granola which I keep in airtight containers, and this, along with the steamed paus, makes up my breakfast for the week.

Like I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve been experimenting with many granola recipes, and I have come to realize that the beauty of granola is that there is no fixed recipe. Using the granola formula as your base, you can play around with as many add-ins as you want – some think that rolled oats are a must-have for granola, but I’m telling you that I’ve used rolled barley and rolled spelt and the granola tastes equally good. You can make yourself a chocolate granola, or a nutty granola, or a fruit & seed one – the world is your oyster when playing around with granola recipes! That said, I’m still working on a foolproof granola recipe that I can publish on the blog, so please be patient while I work out the kinks :]

This recipe below is the first granola recipe that I tried, and one that I didn’t tweak too much because I knew that the sweetness would be pretty much okay for me.

Granola Recipe with Molasses

Adapted from Cook with No Books who adapted it from Melissa 

240g rolled oats

1 cup assorted nuts/seeds (I used a combination of almonds, pecans, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, millet grains and quinoa)

½ tsp sea salt  

½ tsp ground cinnamon  

50g unsulphured blackstrap molasses*
10g honey

35g unsalted butter

30g water

½ tsp vanilla extract

Optional: dried fruits such as raisins

*You can find blackstrap molasses at organic food stores – it retails for about S$5 or less per jar.

Method:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine together the rolled oats, assorted nuts, sea salt and ground cinnamon. I am far too lazy to chop the nuts, so what I do is to take the nuts and give them a quick whirl in the food processor to get huge chunks. At the same time, I also take a quarter of the rolled oats and blend them in the processor until I get an almost fine powder. This helps to bind the rolled oats together so that you can get granola clusters.
2. In another bowl, combine the molasses, butter and water together. Microwave on high for about 30 seconds, or until the butter has melted. Stir in the vanilla extract.
3. Then, pour in the liquid ingredients into the large mixing bowl, stirring well until every dry ingredient is slightly moistened. It will appear as if the liquid is insufficient at first, but continue mixing and it’ll be okay. Rest the mixture for a few minutes while you prepare a baking tray lined with baking liner or a non-stick liner.
4. Pour the granola mixture on to the tray and evenly distribute it. You should also try to flatten and compact it. Try to leave gaps in the layer so that you can easily turn over the granola layer for even baking later. Bake it at 150°C on the middle rack for about 20-25 minutes, or until the granola turns a dark golden brown. (The mixture is already a golden brown before baking because of the blackstrap molasses.) If you are afraid that the bottom of the layer is not evenly brown, remove the tray at about the 15-minute mark and gently fold over the layers from the gaps you have created earlier. Be careful not to break up any granola clusters.
5. Remove the tray from the oven when it is a dark golden brown and allow the granola to cool thoroughly. If you desire, stir in the dried fruits at this juncture.

Janine's jots: 

• Taste: I actually found the recipe not sweet enough, because I reduced the sugar amounts a little. I would recommend increasing the amount of honey or sugar at least 10% more. Also, if you're new to blackstrap molasses, you might wish to reduce the amount a little because the 'iron-like' taste takes some getting used to.
• Texture: In order to get clusters, one way is to grind up some of the oats so that it forms a powder to bind the other oats. I usually grind up about 50g of oats. If you want more binding powder, do add in some flax or linseeds.
• Serving size: This recipe makes approximately 500g of granola, which is sufficient for a fortnight's worth of breakfasts for a single person.  
• Modifications: I have made many more modifications to this original recipe since the first time I made it - you can change up the amounts of fruits/seeds/nuts as well as the type of rolled grain - I have used rolled spelt and barley to great success as well.
• Storage: Once thoroughly cooled, store in airtight containers in a cool and dry place. Try to consume within a month.
• Would I make this again?: Definitely!

So anyway, the purpose of this post is not to stop you from buying cornflakes or cereal (unless I figure out a way to make them myself) or even granola right this moment, but I'm reminding you to be aware. To be aware of what you're putting in your bodies, whether it be refined products or not. And if you're interested to know what Singapore is doing on 19 May 2012 for Food Revolution Day, do check out the Singapore Food Revolution Movement here!

A to Z of Australia: B is also for Black Star Pastry

Now I truly know the meaning of TGIF. It should really be "thank God it's Friday night so that I can sleep till late on Saturday morning" because never have I been so glad for the weekend. And in a blink of an eye, the weekend is over. For want of a better word, I truly have been continually stimulated at work. Stimulated in the sense that I'm discovering new things every day, learning the ropes to one of the noblest professions in society ;) I can't say I'm thrilled to be working, because the hours are really long and I don't get home till late every day but I'm excited for the new things that I'll learn. I know that this will eventually plateau, so I'm absorbing as much information as I can now!

Since I'm drained by the time I reach home, I can't muster strength to do anything else besides eating and bathing, then straight to sleep. Which explains the dearth of blog posts because I haven't had time to bake anything, although I more than made up for it by baking 1kg worth of cookies (butter cookies and experimental pineapple tart cookies :D) as well as my rye hearth bread. I just finished a few hours ago, and I couldn't be bothered to take photographs because the light's so bad and it's been raining cats and dogs. Anyway, since I haven't baked anything this week, I decided that I shall blog about Australia instead.

That's the Newtown courthouse in the reflection. 

Technically I should be onto D already, and although I have an entry for D thought up (but obviously not done up yet), I decided to skip back to B since you really can't afford to give this place a miss if you're in Sydney!

I know it's been a long time since I lasted posted about this, and ironically, the A-Z series was meant to be a travelogue series of my May/June trip to Australia, but instead, photos for this post are taken from my recent trip to Sydney - hence the wonderful light - it is spring after all! Many Sydneysiders will of course know of the fickleness of Sydney's weather in spring - I had my fair share of rain and shine (thunderstorms resplendent with lightning, ever so reminiscent of Singapore's thunderstorms) and lovely spring weather. It was on the latter that Jon and I headed to Black Star Pastry - I'd been dying to head there ever since he got me the watermelon cake as my birthday cake. 

Black Star Pastry is the brainchild of Christopher Thé, who previously worked in Quay, Claude's, as well as Sonoma and Victoire (both of which have nice breads and pastries). It is also highly rated on urban spoon, with 93% of reviewers recommending it. One of their signature desserts has got to be this watermelon cake. I bet most of you have never heard of such a combination, but trust me, it works. The cake consists of two layers of almond dacquoise, fresh whipped cream, watermelon, strawberries, Iranian pistachios and rose petals. It's an absolute delight, because there are so many textures in a single bite, and the flavors of rose, strawberry, watermelon and almonds just go so well together.

They have varying sizes of the cake for order, and if I'm not wrong, this is the 10x12cm cake costing just $24! Since it was just 2 of us, we couldn't finish this in one sitting, and had it the next morning. I've to say that the watermelon leaches water terribly in the fridge, and this caused the dacquoise to be soggy - so I'd advise anyone to finish this all at one go! I apologize if the 2 cake photos above don't' look particularly enticing - it was taken under the light of a study lamp and it had already spent a day in the fridge, hence the misshapenness and sogginess!

The shop is very small, with seating for less than 20? people, but I like the fact that even though it is small, it produces good food with quality, thus garnering the attention it so deserves. During the hour I was there, I saw all sorts of people visit the shop - from regulars getting their cuppa, to the occasional foreign tourist. 

Having had their watermelon cake before, I wanted to try their macarons, amadei cake, ninja, and so many other things, but there was only so much my stomach could handle (having already ate La Banette's millefeuille earlier), so I only could manage the chocolate tart and the orange cake. Check out the full list of their offerings here.

An extensive range of Phoenix's organic sparkling juices are available, on top of the usual caffeine offerings - I can't take caffeine, and after having Phoenix's lemon & lime bitters as well as their cranberry -lime juice, I was drawn to the blood orange. If only Singapore carried them - they were cheap (<A$4) and most importantly, organic and delicious! I felt good drinking something which I knew was organic. 

I think this is perhaps the most photo-heavy entry ever, and very minimal editing was done on the photos because yes, the light was really that awesome. It was such a good day that we sat outside, people-watching while enjoying our desserts. They had these cute goblin stools which are used to place your food on - not a comfortable height to eat with, but the cakes were so good the plate remained in my hand and I didn't need to use the stool at all. 

Best thing about the cakes they offer is that a great number of them are gluten free, such as the strawberry watermelon cake with rose-scented cream and their other famous dessert, the amedei chocolate and hazelnut torte. 

I had the Zokoko choc-caramel tart, which was crazy good. It had a chocolate tart crust which was filled with caramel and chocolate, and topped with Murray River pink sea salt flakes. That was the seriously the icing on the top because the saltiness went really well with the rich chocolate. It got a bit too much for me though, because I found the caramel a bit too sweet, so luckily I could offload it to my human rubbish bin :]

After I shared my tart, (the watermelon cake was his), I decided that I wanted another dessert, but something lighter on the palate this time. The orange cake had caught my eye previously, so I decided to give it ago, even though it looked rather plain for $4.50. Boy was I glad I got it! It's a flourless orange almond cake, made with whole boiled oranges. It is then garnished with persian figs, cream cheese icing, as well as pistachios and rose petals. I absolutely LOVED it! The cream cheese icing was not overly sweet, and complemented all the other garnishings perfectly. It was honestly the best thing I ate the entire trip (and I ate a LOT of things during the 2 weeks I was there). 

Here are a few more photos I took in the shop - they had macarons which were slightly larger than the usual size, but I was really full by then, and the $3.50 price deterred me from buying some back.  And check out the orange cake, with a lemon myrtle chiffon cake in the background. I absolutely love the flavor combinations over here at Black Star Pastry - they utilize very Australian ingredients such as lemon myrtle, while combining Middle Eastern flavors like pistachios and rose petals in French confectionaries. 

And here's a last look at the interior of the shop. This, together with Zumbo, Gelato Messina (my favorite gelato place), Bourke Street Bakery and Baroque Bistro, are my most-gos in Sydney. Even before I land in Sydney, I've already planned my schedule around heading to these places. And with Zumbo and Gelato Messina now open in The Star Casino, it's so near where I stay that I can't justify not going! 

I've to admit though, for the tourist, Newtown might not be high on the list, especially if you're in Sydney for a few days and you want to hit the touristy attractions However, Newtown's probably about less than half an hour by bus to the city, and it does have its own charms. Many quirky and vintage shops line both sides of King Street, and there's tons of good Vietnamese food, as well as interesting bars. It's definitely a suburb you should check out if you're into alternative culture. So do make a trip down to Newtown (and to Black Star Pastry) if you're in Sydney one day!

Details

Black Star Pastry 

Address: 277 Australia Street, Newtown

Contact: (02) 9557 8656

Opening hours: 7am-5pm, daily. 

Website: http://www.blackstarpastry.com.au/

Price: $$ (starts from $6-$15)

Pizzas in Singapore #2: La Nonna

This is yet another long overdue post. Like I mentioned earlier, I was on a hunt for good pizzas in Singapore, and one of the first places I stumbled upon was this place recommended by Brad, called La Nonna, which according to him, had the best lunch promotion in Singapore. The best thing was, it was located in Holland Village, which is relatively near to where I live. Since then, I've visited La Nonna more than 3 times, mostly during the lunch period (so that I can take advantage of the $10 pizzas!) and for their lovely balsamic vinegar. 

Being the bad food blogger that I am, I only had my camera on one of the occasions that I went, so I only have two pictures. I realized that I'm really quite bad at this restaurant blogging thing, because I believe in eating my food hot, so once the food lands on my table, I just go 'snap' once or twice before digging in. This is why I admire those food bloggers who make the effort to lug around their huge-ass cameras to restaurants and to take proper good shots of the food so that they can entice others to go. 

Alright, the best thing about the promotion is that all pizzas and pastas are 50% off. This 50% actually applies to anything on their ala carte menu and they also have 3-course meal offers for about $22/++, which includes complimentary tea or coffee too. This might not sound impressive, but let me tell you that their pizzas are generally $19 and pastas around the same. This means that after 50%, pizzas are super duper cheap, about $10 or so! Plus the fact that they also serve complimentary bread with the traditional olive oil and balsamic vinegar - this place is really a steal! (Gosh I'm using so many exclamation marks!) And if you're a typical girl eater, you probably can't finish one of these pizzas yourself, so if say you stick to plain water and order a pizza, pasta and dessert for 2 to share, it'll be definitely less than $20 per person after taxes. 

La Nonna signature pizza

Only caution though - this lunch promotion is an open secret, so La Nonna is really quite packed for lunch, especially because they don't sit too many people on the inside. There are a couple of tables outside, but unless it's a cool day, I won't advise sitting outside. Good thing is that they accept reservations, even during lunch :] So do try to make reservations if you don't wanna wait! You can also access their website to make an online reservation - it is an instant reservation system, so it's akin to calling in if you can't call ;p

The pictures of the pizzas you see are both $19 before discount, which amounts to $9.95 after discount, before taxes. If you're unsure what to order (they have a few pages worth of pizza and pasta choices), you might want to try the La Nonna signature pizza. It's a tomato based pizza, topped with Mozzarella, Parmesan, Asparagus, Egg and Black truffle. Best thing is, they are really generous with their truffle and parmesan, and if you think you need more parmesan, just ask them for more parmesan - they will provide you with the freshly grated stuff, and not those packaged parmesan you get at plebeian places, heh.

My friends and I love salty food to bits, so the other pizza we ordered was the Caprino, which was also tomato based, but had mozzarella, goat's cheese, pancetta and rucola salad. In this pizza, the goat's cheese and rucola takes the limelight, as the goat's cheese they use is pretty mature, and tastes rather tart (or what Singaporeans might terms as 'sour'). Just a tip I picked up in Italy - you can combine an equal part of balsamic vinegar together with the olive oil (that they provide for every table), and use your fork to mix them together, then drizzle over your rucola. The sweetness of the balsamic vinaigrette goes perfectly with the rucola and goat's cheese :] This is not a pizza I'd recommend for anyone who doesn't like the taste of strong cheese. But if you are a lover of strong cheese - ORDER THIS!

Caprino pizza

We also ordered their Linguini ($19), which was served with crab meat in a tomato cream sauce and fresh basil, and again, they were really generous with the crab meat. I also loved the tomato cream sauce, which was a lovely orange color. On other occasions, I have ordered their Spaghetti ($19) and Capellini ($20), which were in mixed seafood cooked in aglio olio style and scallops in fresh tomato sauce respectively - I didn't like the spaghetti too much because I tend to prefer seafood in a cream-based sauce and I found the spaghetti a little dry (not enough olive oil used). The Capellini was perfect, as once again, they were very generous with the scallops. 

I've never ordered any of their secondi (main courses), so I'm not sure how those fare, but as for other pizzas, I have had their Diavola ($19), which is a tomato-based pizza with mozzarella and spicy italian calabrese salami. I found this pizza quite plain - because there just wasn't enough mozzarella, and overly oily, because the salami oozed too much oil after being baked. I had to use the paper towel to soak up the excess oil before I was willing to eat it, although my bf had no issues with the pizza. I did however, like the spiciness of the salami, which was an interesting change from the normal run-of-the-mill salami.  

And I've probably ordered La Nonna and Caprino like a couple of times after that first, and these are probably my two favorite pizzas out of the lot :]

So if it's lunch and you're thinking of pizza, don't order Pizza Hut or Dominoes or Sarpino's, give La Nonna a try and you won't be disappointed! It's cheaper too (after the discount)! FYI though, the pizzas are the thin-crust Italian type of pizzas, and not the American thick-crust pizzas. 

Details
La Nonna
Address: 26/26B Lorong Mambong
 Holland Village, Singapore 227685
Contact: +65 6468 1982
Opening hours: Everyday, 12-2.30pm, 6-10.30pm
Website: http://www.lanonna.sg/
Price: Pasta and Pizza starts at $19

They have another outlet at 76 Namly Place.

Pizzas in Singapore #1: Sole Pomodoro Pizzeria

When I think of pizza, I think of Pizza Hut and Domino's. I remember fondly the days when I would anticipate the birthday of a family member, not because of their birthday itself, but because I knew I would get to go to Pizza Hut. Back then, our family didn't eat out much and were not that well off, so pizza was a special treat and was only reserved for birthday celebrations. Fast forward to today, it's rather sad that my tastebuds have gone gourmet on me, and though these American-style pizzas do fine for a meal, I'd much rather spend that money and waste those calories on a true-blue Italian pizza. 

I guess you could say I underwent a pizza revelation when I was in Italy. As many would know, staples in Italy are pizza and pasta mostly, coupled with good wine and lots of olive oil. There, I had all sorts of pizzas, from any place imaginable - highly raved ones to those hole-in-the-walls, where you buy a slice or two of pizza just to fill your tummy when you are walking around the city. Some were good, some were not so good, and some made me realize how awesome pizza can be. The revelation came in Naples really. I’ve talked about it before, so I won’t go into great detail, but suffice to say, I never knew that pizza could be made so simply with just 3 ingredients – tomato, mozzarella and basil AND could taste so darn delicious. Having being brought up with the idea that pizzas with lots of toppings taste awesome, my first thought of having a pizza magherita was - how on earth I can stomach a pizza with just 3 ingredients? Anyway, in my mind, it was just 2 ingredients because basil is a herb and doesn't really qualify.

Well, you can. With ripe tomatoes you can make an awesome tomato paste, on which you break portions of buffalo mozzarella, which taste so rich and creamy that it's heaven in a bite. Not to mention the crust. Different parts of Italy serve different variations of pizza, but Naples is well-known for their thick crust and relatively thin pizza, and I dare say that nowhere in Italy is the Pizza Magherita better than that in Naples.

Pizza Magherita at Sole Pomodoro

Alright, long story aside, my point was that I started to appreciate good pizza, so when I came back from Italy, one of my first objectives was to recreate the Italian experience by having the best pizzas Singapore could offer. Suffice to say, I have been working through a list of pizzerias I've collated, and I've decided to start off with Sole Pomodoro, because it's still fresh in my mind and I can still remember how the pizza tasted. 

I went with my bff to Sole Pomodoro on a weekday afternoon, for a rather late lunch and lo and behold, besides ourselves, there was nobody in sight. That was awesome for us, because it meant that we could have our pizzas asap. We each ordered a pizza, I went for the basic Pizza Magherita (S$15.90) whereas my bff went for the Funghi (S$17.90), which was basically the magherita with mushroom toppings. We didn't go for the pasta, because both of us were there for the pizza really, but I can say that if their pasta used the same tomato sauce as the pizza, you can't go too wrong with that.

Since we were the only ones there, we chose a table close to the entrance of the kitchen, so that we were able to observe the chef. The main chef is Italian, but as you can see from the picture, his sous chefs are mostly Filipinos. The pizza was prepared very quickly - using dough that was resting under a cloth and within minutes, it was made into the usual disc-shape and tomato and mozzarella slathered onto it. The pizzas here are baked using a wood-fired oven, which is the brick thing you see in the background in the photograph. It probably takes about 5 minutes or less from when the pizza goes into the oven and to when it is taken out, ready for consumption.

I didn't get a nice photograph of the interior - but I love the vibrant colors used in the pizzeria - they have panels of orange tiles for the kitchen, which is an absolute delight against the bright blue furniture that they use for the chairs and tables as well as the place mats. Everything screams HAPPY :] I also loved how they attempted to go with a relaxed atmosphere, which is perfect with a pint of cold beer and delicious pizza. 

Having been to l'Operetta, I can safely say that both bff and I prefer Sole Pomodoro's tomato sauce, because it's richer and has a natural sweetness to it. Nevertheless, I found the crust overly thin, which perhaps suits the preferences of most Singaporeans who prefer thin-crusted pizza. I was hoping for a thicker pizza, one with a thick cornice and thin centre, but suffice to say, this hit pretty close. I read on Dr Leslie's blog that you can request a thicker crust, a Sole Pomodoro special - perhaps I'll ask for that the next time I head down! I also found that the pizza on the whole was slightly salty, but my bff didn't think so, so I guess to each his own! Of course, I've to add that for my pizza magherita, the mozzarella used wasn't the buffalo mozzarella - for that, you have to opt for the more expensive version which costs around $28 if I'm not wrong.

Mind you, my bff and I are rather huge eaters, so between the two of us, we managed to demolish almost an entire pizza each, leaving about a slice or two leftover. If you're a small eater, as are most girls here, you can probably share a pizza between the two of you, and at $15.90 for a more than decent Magherita pizza, I'd say it's real value for money. Alternatively, you can probably get the waitress to pack your remaining pizza - that's what we did with our remaining slice and it was nicely packaged in a foodsaver bag. What's even better is that they have lunch deals and daily specials for $15.90. As you can see, lunch is from 12-3pm, and you get a choice of 3 different set lunches - that's a main and a dessert for $15.90! Considering that Pizza Hut and Domino's pizza can cost more than $20 for a regular pizza, this pizza which is equivalent to a large pizza is definitely a steal!

Also, when I was there, I saw them packaging a number of pizzas for takeaway, so do call and ask for takeaway if you wish. They don't deliver! Like I mentioned earlier, the waitresses are also kind enough to pack up your pizza if you can't finish. And speaking from experience, the pizzas taste equally delicious, even when they're cold! :]

Oh, and just to forewarn you if you're heading down by car - parking's relatively easy to find, but getting there can be a bitch if you're coming down from the west side of Singapore because not only will you have to pass through an ERP gantry to get there, you have to do a U-turn near Bencoolen and traffic's a pain! But trust me, it's worth it! :D

Details

Sole Pomodoro Pizzeria 

Address: 12/21 Mackenzie Road #01-01, Singapore 228678
Contact: 68843671
Opening hours: Opens 12pm till 11pm daily, closed on Mondays.
Website: www.solepomodoro.com
Price: starts from $15.90 for a pizza magherita. See their menu here

A to Z of Australia: C is also for Cakes!

I was thinking about cakes the other day. (Who am I kidding? I think about cakes all the time!)

Anyway, as I was saying, I was thinking of chocolate layered cakes, or entremets for my dad's upcoming birthday and a few cakes that I tasted whilst in Melbourne occurred to me. I decided to take a look at them once again, and naturally, I started salivating and mooning over them, again. During my short stay in Melbourne, I think I consumed at least 3 servings of cake and macarons per day, all in the name of 'research'. And this was on top of my daily meals, where I scouted out the best food that Melbourne could provide!

I decided that these exquisite cakes (and bakeries) required a post all of their own, so this is yet another C for my A to Z of Australia, in addition to the one about Chokolait. Do scroll down for more details on the stores!

A common sight outside the bakery.

Remember the cup of hot chocolate I had from Chokolait? Well, after that cup of hot chocolate, I found myself wandering further down Little Collins Street, and lo and behold, I found myself in front of a slate-grey, nondescript storefront which bore the words Le Petit Gateau in cursive grey writing. It really reminds me of the French bakeries, which are similarly located in buildings with straight boring lines (office buildings) and surrounded by other similar buildings.

You can't see from this photo on the right, but there are huge panes of glass for you to peer inside the bakery to see what goodies they have for the day (which are the same everyday actually).

Having seen quite a few bakeries in my trip so far, I wasn't too impressed with the prices of the cakes - each slice retails at $8 and tarts around $5-6 (I can't remember exactly). Because I was so full from the hot chocolate, I decided on having just one cake, and I decided on the brownie and passionfruit chocolate gateau even though I'd just consumed a copious amount of chocolate. This was because I'd seen rave reviews on urbanspoon. And mainly because I also fall prey to any chocolate cakes in display cases. Seriously - at any bakery - the cakes which never fail to draw my attention are the chocolate ones, especially those chocolatey-nutty-praline type of cakes with just the right amount of fruit. I'm predictable that way.

Anyway, back to the cake.

As its name suggests, it has a brownie base, followed by a layer of crunchy praline, passionfruit custard, chocolate mousse and finished off with a chocolate ganache topping with a passionfruit jelly. The flavour combination was phenomenal. I've to admit that till now, I've never had a passionfruit-chocolate combination anything, be it a tart or bread or any other dessert, so I was really very impressed with how well this combination went. The tanginess of the passionfruit went perfectly with the richness of the mousse and the brownie. I also liked the fact that they didn't go with the normal jocondes or dacquoises here but went instead with a walnut-laden brownie, which provided a lovely contrast to the other textures - especially the mousse in the cake.

Le Petit Gateau's Brownie and Passionfruit Chocolate Gateau

Look at how gooey the mousse is. LOVE.

Of course, my dessert journey doesn't end there although it was a darn good start. The next day, I mapped out my route pretty precisely because it was my last full day in Melbourne! After visiting some markets and other touristy attractions, I headed first to the Parisian Patisserie Boulangerie (where I had the best almond croissant outside of Paris) and then to Burch & Purchese followed by LuxBite. I'll write about PPB another day, since I'm not sure where those photos are. Anyway, all these places are slightly North of the city centre, and are not exactly accessible by foot from the city centre. There are however many bus services that ply the area of South Yarra.

So, I'd read quite a number of blog posts on this place - Burch & Purchese, which is essentially the surnames of the 2 patissiers who decided to open a sweets wonderland. Like with many other bakeries in Melbourne, they have a very inconspicuous outside, but walk in, and be impressed. It was the first time I saw a wall of ingredients in a shop. I didn't count, but their blog states that there are more than 250 ingredients there where you can choose to go into your made-to-order cake. B&P is a lot about molecular gastronomy as well, so you also see cool things like edible greeting cards, sprays in addition to the traditional offerings of cookies and meringues.

Yet another normal shopfront. I like their logo colors though!

Check out this wall! It's only 25% of their wall because well I only had my 50mm lens and this was all it could capture without me stumbling into some shelves. 

Some bloggers have described B&P as akin to Willy Wonka's, but since I wasn't privileged enough to go behind the doors, I can't say much for the magic that goes into the sweets, except to say that I was really really impressed with the clean layout of the 'studio' and with the desserts. In fact, I found it really really really hard to make my decision, but I had to make do with just one, because I was so full from consuming so many other goodies before (think Lebanese pizza, etc). I was also very happy that they were very nice about taking photographs in the bakery, very unlike other bakeries which have staff staring down at you like a hawk.

Part of where the magic happens!

These are edible flowers in edible soil!

I was seriously wowed by all the cakes they had on offer because they had really traditional ingredients in unique combinations and unique presentation. In the end, I chose to have the  vanilla-pistachio-lemon-green tea, which is essentially "white chocolate & vanilla mousse | crunchy green tea meringue | lemon cream | pistachio cake | green tea macaroon | brilliant white chocolate spray" (copied verbatim from their webpage). I have to admit that in retrospect, I should have bought a few more cakes, because I kinda regret not having them after I tasted a bite of the cake when I was back at home with my friend. Beware though that a trip to B&P will not be easy on your pocket - each slice costs $9 apiece, but I think it's really worth it for the quality ingredients that go in, and the number of layers in each cake!

Oh look, that's my scarf in the background ;p

After purchasing the cake to-go at B&P, I then drove myself to LuxBite (yes I had the luxury of having a friend's car on top of staying with said friend) and got myself some macarons. I really like the image of the shop - apparently the owners of LuxBite were so enamoured of the Pierre Herme macarons that they decided to open a shop selling macarons themselves. Pretty cool huh? Good thing was that they decided against the sweet, floral French patisserie theme and instead went for French understated elegance, from their black and white finishings to white furniture and backlit macarons in a beautiful glass case. 

Today's macarons selection. 

At any one time, LuxBite has more than 16 types of macarons available, and each and every one of them look delicious! Adjacent to this display case is another storing the typical French desserts and sweets, including some unique ones, but none of them caught my eye, having been to B&P prior. I did like their macarons though - there were some pretty innovative flavors - like kaya toast and watermelon yogurt. Each macaron is uniformly in size, and cost about $2.50 each, I think. They also have tea sets where you can enjoy your macarons with tea, but I was buying them back to share, so no tea set for me!

Some of the macarons I had were the kaya toast and the raspberry&white chocolate, as well as the salted caramel. I've to say that the latter two were not too memorable - of course the shells were the right amount of crispness and chewiness, and the fillings right on the money, but I very much preferred the caramel from Baroque and these combinations were just, well,  run-of-the-mill. The one that left a really really deep impression on me however, was the kaya toast macaron. It's an absolute treasure! The shell had little bits of toasted bread mixed into it, so you not only have the taste of having kaya with bread, you also have the mouthfeel! The house-made kaya is perfect too, tasting as delicious as the kaya that I usually have at home, with the right amount of pandan scent. On top of that, there's  a surprise bit of butter sandwiched between the cookies. Absolute heaven. I really felt like I was having kaya toast back in Singapore - the only thing missing was my teh.

So if you ever hop by Melbourne, do give these places a visit. I assure you that you will not regret any minute trying to get there.

Details


Le Petit Gateau
Address: 458 Little Collins Street, Melbourne
Contact: (03) 9944 8893
Opening hours: 7.30am-5pm, weekdays only.
Website: http://www.lepetitgateau.com.au/
Price: $ (cakes from $8)


Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio
Address: 647 Chapel Street, South Yarra, Victoria 3141
Contact: (03) 9827 7060
Opening hours: 10am to 6.30pm everyday except Monday
Website: http://www.burchandpurchese.com/ and http://www.burchandpurchese.blogspot.com/
Price: $ (cakes from $9)

LuxBite
Address: 38 Toorak Road, South Yarra
Contact: (03) 9867 5888
Opening hours: 8am-8pm, Wednesday to Monday
Website: http://www.luxbite.com.au/
Price: $ (cakes from $7. They also serve hot meals)