Lemon cream cake

Our thoughtful baker used low-fat milk in this recipe and lemons cos she, too, can tell that I'm losing something fast - my waistline!
Anyway, although our perfectionist baker wasn't too pleased with her own creation, picking on the texture of the lemon cream, I found it pretty yummy and appetising. Four others who tried it agreed with me!

Our Baker's Tip: Who says butter cakes have to be boring? Slice the cake in half, fill with lots of lemon curd, slap lemon butter cream on top and jazz it up with lemon slices and you've got a brand-new cake!

Ah Yat Abalone

Ok, the pastries and bird's nest with mango sago (below) at Ah Yat were not bad, but get real. Who goes to a Chinese abalone restaurant for desserts?


So I'm gonna make an exception on this blog and include some savoury stuff for once.
Well, it was my birthday dinner after all. So, indulge me la.
Anyway, I'll just let the pictures do most of the talking.
For $78++ per person, we had:


Super yummy soupy xiao long bao (Chinese dumplings).


Double-boiled shark's fin with chicken and Matsutake mushroom. No tiny shreds of crab meat disguised as shark's fin, but chunks of the real thing!


Stewed South African abalone with Japanese sea cucumber and mushroom.
Cooked to perfection, the sea cucumber literally melts in your mouth, and the abalone was tender and fragrant.


Deep-fried smoked duck with red wine.


Pan-fried cod fish in XO sauce. Love the fried garlic and shrimp that were added as toppings.


Stir-fried shrimp paste with broccoli.


Baked pork rib with honey sauce.
The meat was extremely tender, yet not too fatty. The sauce was a tad salty though.


No birthday meal is complete without noodles, so we had Japanese vermicelli soup. In all, it was a super satisfying birthday meal.

Sweeet factor: 5/5

Ah Yat Abalone Restaurant
Allson Hotel
101 Victoria Street

Chocolate Walnut Cake

Check out our fudgey yummy gorgeous chocolate walnut cake! We're mighty proud of it cos the aroma of the chocolate was absolutely heavenly, it was jammed pack with fresh walnuts, and the cake was dense and sweet.
Yikes, there goes my DIE-T!

Our Baker's Tip: This chocolate ganache (ie. the cake topping) was a little of an experiment, combining a recipe for icing and a recipe for frosting. It's just cream, bittersweet chocolate and icing sugar!

Drinks at Aerin's

Ok, all those sweets have put my waistline in serious trouble lately, and so, I'm declaring the start of my DIE-T from today!
Anyway, was at Aerin's today, and despite the to-die-for spread of desserts (including their signature die die must-try baked apple and rhubarb pie, their recommended carrot cake and double chocolate fudge cake), I resisted and had only a mint hot chocolate.
Just a drink, but it was good - topped with thick froth and not too sweet, with a hint of mint. And palatable despite the strange greenish hue!
Will work on that waistline and be back for more real sweeet stuff!

Aerin's
252 North Bridge Road
Raffles City Shopping Centre
#B1-11/12

Peaacchy!

Fruit pastries are the best way to satisfy our craving for something sweet without going over the edge. Not too rich, not to sweet, yet not too tangy.
We didn't feel a tad guilty having this right after dinner!

Our Baker's Tip: A simple twist to a simple butter cake - arrange peach slices just before the cake is fully baked, and then scatter a mixture of brown sugar, cinnamon and ginger on top and you get a lovely caramelised texture.

Bittersweet Chocolate Cake

We're in love with a chocolate-coffee combination, so this recipe was right up our alley. Our mocha cake smelt heavenly out of the oven, and was rich, moist and soft.
We preferred ours more bitter and less sweet, so instead of chocolate, we were piling on the coffee powder!

Our Baker's Tip: To make it even more bittersweet, you can use espresso powder instead of instant coffee powder (which I used) to give a more bitter taste.

Chocolate Ginger Cake

We've been baking mostly brownies and cookies lately, so thought we'd go back to basics and bake a real good old fashioned chocolate cake.
Our chocolate ginger cake turned out nice and moist. The bits of crystalised ginger also gave it some extra ooommpph!

Our Baker's Tip: Instead of ground ginger, you can actually finely chop up a ginger root (skin it first, of course) to get a richer ginger flavour.

Cookies!

After a two-week hiatus, our happy baker is back! And boy, is she back with a vengeance - making up for lost time with a MotherLoad of cookies in one day!
The first tray out of the oven contained crunchy rich chocolate peanut butter cookies.
Comfort food that will take away all your blues.

Our Baker's Tip: If you want extra crunch, toast the chopped peanuts on an aluminium-lined tray in the oven for about 5 to 10 mins before putting them in the batter. Alternatively, you can use chopped up honey-roasted peanuts for a little caramel sweetness.


The second tray out of the oven - yummilicious chocolate almond cookies, which has both dark and white chocolate, plus plenty of crunchy almond slivers.

Our Baker's Tip: It's amazing how rich and fragrant unsweetened cocoa powder can be, especially if you're using a good brand like Hershey's - which is what I used here. But it's good news for chocolate lovers all round!


The third and final tray out of the oven was a tangy zingy citrus delight - our favourite orange cookies. Definitely a nice break from all the rich chocolate and nutty stuff.

Our Baker's Tip: Fresh oranges are such versatile building blocks. From bars and brownies to cakes and the simple, unfussy orange cookie. The tiny candied citron pieces as decoration add a little zing.

Cedele by Bakery Depot

Must admit I'm not much of a pancake person, but the caramelised banana pancake at Cedele was so irresistable, I actually had the whole thing for dinner.
The bananas were not just added as toppings but were mixed with the batter and cooked with the pancakes, so that they were slightly burnt and crispy on the outside.
Drizzled with rich sweet chocolate sauce, and topped with yummy ice cream, it was a sweeet and satisfactory meal-cum-dessert indeed.

Sweeet factor: 4/5

Cedele by Bakery Depot
501 Orchard Road
#03-14 Wheelock Place

Chocolate hearts

Who says you can't find good desserts at kopitiams? And I'm not talking about the usual hawker fare such as ice kachang or cheng tng.
Chocolate Hearts - situated in the same Toa Payoh coffeeshop as Botak Jones and Il Piccolo - serves waffles with belgium chocolate, brownies, and chocolate fondue complete with marshmallows, kiwis and juicy fresh strawberries.
The waffles are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and the generous serving of chocolate sauce is thick and rich.
But don't expect too much in terms of presentation - they're small on frills but big on taste.

Sweeet factor: 3.5/5

Chocolate Hearts
970A Toa Payoh North

SwissBake

Famous for their puffs and pastries, SwissBake is one confectionary that I'm glad to say, hasn't compromised in quality despite having expanded to seven outlets islandwide.
One of my favourites is their beef pie. The pastry is fragrant and not too thick or hard. Plus, the pie is chock full of ingredients such as carrots, mushrooms, onions and beef. The filling is not too dry, and the gravy, absolutely fragrant.
And don't leave the bakery without buying home some mini curry puffs and sticky chocolate puffs. The Takashimaya outlet offers a one-for-one deal in the evenings!

Sweeet factor: 4.5/5

SwissBake
Takashimaya
Ngee Ann City
#B2-04-07