In today's outing with my girlfriend, I chanced upon Canele's Le Royale. This cake had a stunning resemblence to the reknowned long cakes produced by Sadaharu Aoki. I can imagine Sadaharu Aoki frowning at the boss of Canele after seeing this cake, and saying: "kore watashi no design jia nai ka!?" :P In Singlish, "isn't this my design!?" Anyway, that long black streak stretching across the cake looks like one of those from the bamboo.
I was terribly hungry when the cake came to our table, so immediately after taking these photos I whisked out my fork and began attacking the cake.
Naturally, the first thing that I tried to taste was that reddish brown powdery stuff on top. Alamak, it had a medicinal taste, somewhat artificial in nature. But then, if you eat it with the other layers, it doesn't really affect the overall flavour because its only a small part of the cake. I think Canele should cut this unpleasant tasting powder coating and replace it with something else. Usually, pastry chefs use a fine spray of warm chocolate droplets to cover a cake surface with this powdery texture. Or they can simply dust the cake in cocoa powder for a similar look.
Canele's description of the cake was " 64% dark choc mousse, almond succes hazelnut feullitine, chocolate ganache."
This cake melted nicely in the mouth, had the perfect density, a wide array of textural variation, and very strong and pleasant chocolate and caramel notes. Hidden somewhere inside the feulletine layer in the middle was the unique flavour of caramel, the kind that you can only get when you heat sucrose above 180C for a brief moment. It was pure shiokness. Very very very shiok. If you need to fly to heaven for a few minutes, this cake has enough power to provide you the wings.
Crunchy in the middle, smooth on either side, this cake was packed with the intense flavour of chocolate. Its designed to release a torrent of flavour molecules with every bite you take. To create such a sensation, you need to craft layers that weakly bind to the flavour molecules such that they get desorbed from the cake surface upon slight agitation. I'm guessing the brilliant chef that came up with this cake must have had some insight into the chemical interactions taking place at the molecular level within the cake. He deserves a promotion!
The crunchy feuilletine brought a new dimension to the smooth and rich chocolate layers, adding lots of extra shiokness. We humans have evolved to appreciate crunchy textures in foods, especially when the crunchiness comes alongside soft and smooth textures. When we were still monkeys, this innate sense had helped us pick the ripest berries, crunchy on the outside, and soft and juicy on the inside. The Le Royale has successfully mimicked this 'crunchy berry' effect so it will naturally appeal to the brains of all humans. You will smile with your very first mouthful of this cake.
So, this is pure chocolate goodness with a hint of burnt caramel. I think it beats many of Sadahu Aoki's own pastries, and even many of those found at Le Maison du Chocolat. Perfect, except maybe for that wierd tasting powder on top.
Shiokness Verdict: 10/10
Very very shiok. Possibly the best chocolate cake in Singapore!
$7.70 after GST ($8.20 after service charge). It's totally worth it skipping 3 canteen meals in exchange for the Le Royale!!
Canele Patisserie Chocolaterie
Shaw Centre
1 Scotts Road
Tel: 67389020
www.canele.com.sg
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