Canele's Charlie Brown

It's christmas in a few days and I happened to pass by Canele. So I went in and this cake caught my eye. Canele named it the charlie brown, what a name. It was the thick layer of goody caramel on top that made me buy this cake. It wasn't cheap at $9 dollars. It's even more pricey that Canele's shiokness-10 star cake, the Le Royale. However, this cake wasn't a good cake. I wouldnt't like to say it was a bad cake, but I didnt finish it. My girl friend took 2 forkfulls and left it alone. I tried to get the staff to swap it for another cake but the manage said no. In my restaurant, if I had one, the answer would always be a yes. I would only be happy with a satisfied guest, and sell what I truly believe in.

To my brother, this cake would be perfectly fine, because he isn't a discerning eater and says nice to everything. But me, I demand perfection and look forward to michellin star meals. If I made this cake, I would be embarassed to serve it to pastry chef Sadaharu Aoki. The caramel on top had very poor flavour impact for its sweetness level. By comparison, Sadaharu's caramel eclair uses just a thin layer of caramel fondant, but the taste of the caramel is superbly strong and very pleasant. Canele's caramel on the Charlie Charlie brown, had barely detectably hint of butterscotch, with a weak tasting and mediocre flavour profile with some off-notes. It's not something I would like to eat plain. And, and, and, there was a whole lot if it on the cake! If only the chef that made this cake had tasted a Werther's original sweet, then he would know what a good caramel is like. With a really good flavour, only a thin layer would suffice, and the cloying sweetness that plagues this cake would have been resolved.




Then next, the ground nuts in the caramel layer were exeedingly soggy, and felt like they were "lao hong". They stuck to my teeth and made the eating experience very unpleasant. Then there was a ganache layer, a salted and very thick and crunchy peanut butter fuelletine layer, and a pretty ordinary chocolate sponge below.



Overall, the poorly done caramel and sticky-soggy peanuts made cake feel somewhat like a snickers bar, which I can get for a mere $1.50. What's worse is, I would rather eat the snickers bar, because the snickers bar is much much more shiok, and much much less sweet.



Canele, your chefs are ruining the luxury image of the brand! Send your chefs to paris, make them taste Pierre Herme's pieces, and show them whats the standard for a luxury brand!

Shiokness Verdict: 3/10

$10.60 after 10% service charge and 7%GST.