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