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.

Laurent Bernard's Pure

This is cake is called Pure. Recommended by the waitress at Laurent's. Looks very chocolatey, and that shiny-matte ganache finish on top made me want to grab a slice.




Pure is actually quite simple. Only 3 kinds of textures - mousse, cake, and a thin coat of ganache glaze. The ganache was the same ganache found in Laurent's Chocolate Tart, with a slight acidity that was made juttingly noticable because of the pairing with the more gental mousse and tame sponge.




The mousse was moderately dense, and excellent in its flavour. The sponge had a very dense appearance, yet in the mouth it was light, but not pleasantly light because when chewed it broke into fine little gritty granules that marred the silkiness of the sponge. And there were 3 layers of it.




Pure is chocolatey, and also very huge. I'm afraid its not texturally refined enough for such a large serving to be eaten at one go. One slice of Pure could be a full meal if you like, but then you might tire of the textural monotony that sets in half way through. It's not lacking in textural variety if you eat half a slice. But it is if you take the full slice.



Nonetheless, I think that appearancewise, Pure is a beautiful cake. It's got natural beauty. Like a naturally beautiful girl, it doesn't need any makeup or fancy cake decor. The inner layers of the cake are such an allure onto itsef that one might find it hard to resist.. But thats only for looks. Pure's taste is ordinary, mostly because the sponge turns gritty after a while. And halfway through the cake, I got the 'Jelak' feeling.


Shiokness Verdict: 5/10

Laurent's Pure was $11.50 after 7% GST and 10% service charge. A terribly expensive price for a pretty ordinary tasting cake.

Laurent Bernard Chocolatier
80 Mohamed Sultan Road, 239013
Tel:6235 9007 ‎

Laurent Bernard's Chocolate Tart

In the local food blogosphere there's lots of mention about Laurent Bernard's Chocolate souffle. Some say its the best you can get in Singapore. I went down today to Laurent's in Mohammed Sultan, specially with the aim of trying it, but unfortunately was told that their kitchen was 'not ready yet'. The souffle wasn't for sale. I went in at about 2 pm, and still have no idea when their kitchen will be 'ready'. Nonetheless, theres a prominent blogger who loves the chocolate tarts there, and so with his online recomendation I made the improvised order. "One chocolate tart first please".



The tart was served alongside coin-sized puddles of drizzeled rasberry sauce, slightly tart, with just the right sweetness. See those interesting vein-like bifurcations on the ganache edge above? This pattern is caused the Marangoni effect. When sliced with a hot knife, the heated and exposed ganache melts, and the liquified emulsion with its high surface tensional forces pulls onto itsef. Notice how the branches get finer as we move lower down the ganache. The extent of melting could have lessened as the knife cools as it made its way down. I don't think many pasty chefs know things like this. But if they do, they certainly will qualify in the area of molecular gastronomy. This vein pattern can be easily prevented by using a cold knife, but you need a very sharp one for a clean cut.



The tart crust was good. Crunchy, with good flavour. Just sitting above the crust was a layer of hazelnut praline with cripsy feuilletine flakes splashed around within the layer here and there. This layer was actually better than nutella, with its more intense hazelnut flavour. Then we have a silky smooth ganache filling up the rest of the tart. The ganache was quite unique in that its top notes - those first flavours that come to the nose upon tasting the ganache - was that of indian spice, not any one in particular, but possibly some combination of it. It was only much layer that I tasted the chocolatey notes. I felt that the flavours of the ganache were not well blended together, seperated by time gaps of distinctly foreign flavours. Then the ganache was also slightly acidic, sourish in nature. But I tasted milk in there in the ganache, likely from the cream. Sour, and milk. What do you get? When milk turns sour... its usually past the expiry date. You get the idea... Laurent should aim for a cleaner flavour profile for the ganache without off notes that run against the primary flavour of chocolate (and also hazelnut) for his tart. But what can be done, if ganache is made this way traditionally?



On the whole, it was a pleasant chocolate tart. A little tweaking here and there should make it better.



Shiokness Verdict: 7/10

This tart was $9.20 after 7% GST and 10% service charge. A scary price for ordinary students like me.

Laurent Bernard Chocolatier
80 Mohamed Sultan Road, 239013
Tel:6235 9007 ‎

My Attempt at Chocolate Cake Perfection - Nut Butter

Don't you just love Nutella? I remember eating it directly out of the jar, in those days when the Nutella jar was made of real glass, not the plastic that we get today. And in those days, cocoa butter was in the ingredients list, which has since been replaced by palm oil. Tastewise, I don't think palm oil gives any significant change in the flavour, but theres something at the back of my mind telling me that I'm not getting the real deal.

And so I started a mini quest to make my own nut butter that I can turn into Nutella, or a praline, or a smooth nut-sugar layer that I can incorporate into my chocolate cake. I tried once long ago to make almond butter but it never turned into butter, only a grain-powder like consistency, like what is sold as almond flour. I was wrong, because the internet says that almonds can be turned into a smooth butter without the addition of any oils or sugar. You just have to blend them long enough. Do pulsed blending, and take your time, because I melted my old Braun food processor when I left it to blend almonds continously for 5 minutes. Now I'm using a Tefal 1000Watt food processor.



After 15 minutes of slow, pulsed blending, the oil seperates from nuts. Almonds have less oil, so a pure almond butter will take a longer time before you start to see oil. Hazelnuts on the otherhand have up 50% oil content, and turn into butter more readily. The tiny darker brown specs you see below come from the almond skins, so if you remove them first, or buy almonds without skin, then you won't taste their grit on the roof of your mouth.



This is pure nut butter, without any oil or sugar or salt. I'm using it as a hydrophobic canvas to insulate my water sensitive feuilletine flakes - and get praline fueilletine.

Almonds raw and almonds toasted have very different flavour profiles. Same goes for other nuts. Its up to you to choose what flavour you like. After several years of nut eating, I think the best toasted almonds are made by Camel, sold in metallic red packets. The best tasting pistachios are the green fleshed california pistachios by Tai Sun, and come in blue packets.



This almond-hazelnut butter above was the product of 20 minutes of pulsed blending. Even so, it's not silky smooth, probably because of the almonds. The toothpaste industry discovered long ago, so long as you have particles larger than 40 microns, you feel the graininess. I felt the graininess. A food processor isn't the machine that will deliver the super smooth texture that is ubiquitously availiable with commercial peanut butter. Nonetheless, my Camel brand toasted almond butter gives such an intensely pleasurable punch that I'm glad I'm having it =)

Forward march to having the best chocolate cake in Singapore!!

My Attempt at Chocolate Cake Perfection - Feuilletine

Feuilletine is something I find very pleasing in chocolate cakes. They are crunchy inclusions that create what I call the 'crunchy berry' effect that will make any cake significantly more appealing to the human brain. As I mentioned in some previous post, a long time ago during the course of our evolution, when we were still monkeys, an innate inclination towards crunchy foods with soft centers developed, and this predilection aided in our stuggle for survival by helping us pick the ripest and juciest berries. Like monkeys when we bite into a ripe thompson grape, we feel the resounding pop as the turgid skin bursts, releasing loads of flavour from the grape interior. This floods our brains with dopamine and gives a pleasurable eating experience. Feuilletine when incorporated into my cake will mimic this effect. I will use lots of it =)



In Singapore, you can hardly get feuilletine because it is a french product and not naturally found here. Cocoa Barry sells their ready to use Pailleté feuilletine, which according to forums has been spray coated with cocoa butter for insulation against moisture, so that the tiny bits maintain their crunch for long hours. It is very expensive, and this tiny amount I bought from Sun Lik costs about $6. Many would think of using corn flakes instead, but the difference is that feuilletine gives a very delicate crunch, breaking and releasing sound at the slighted contact with your molars. Cornflakes on the other hand, are glassy and hard, and require considerable molar pressure to crack. They also aren't pre-coated with any form of fat, so you will have to do it yourself. Otherwise, you'll end up with soggy cornflakes.



One think I noted was that the texture of this feuilletine was highly similar to our local loveletters. They're like loveletters with minimal sugar and a faint vanilla flavour in place of the coconut flavour. So you can technically get a simlar textural result with love letters, which I may try using in the future.

Now that I have successfully obtained feuilletine after scouring the internet for locations to buy it, I have to wait until my exams are over before I continue my chocolate cake R&D.

Bakerzin's Chocolate Amer

Bakerzin's Chocolate Amer. Looks simple - 2 layers of mousse with 2 layers of sponge.



The cake was soft, fluffy, and light. The moist dark cake layers were of similar textural density to the mousse and were an excellent match for it. However, because they blended so well together, the overall perceived texture lacked variation and was somewhat monotonous.

Nonetheless, the flavour of these layers were superb, highly enriched in chocolate of a special brand which I presume is Valrhona. Unlike many other cakes around, the chocolate was very clean tasting without undesirable side flavours.



Overall, the cake was good, robust in flavour, but will certainly do better with the introduction of some textural variation, such as those which have made Canele's Le Royale a pure success.

Shiokness Verdict: 7/10

This cake costs $6.95 after GST. Will you skip 2 lunches at school so that you can save enough money to buy Bakerzin's Etiole?

Bakerzin
Vivocity #01-207
Tel: 64558885
http://www.bakerzin.com/

Bengawan Solo's Chocolate Gateau

Bengawan Solo is famous for their pandan cake. Its been a long standing recognition in my family that they make best pandan cake in the country. I remember one of my aunties telling me that their chocolate cake was also nice, a memory that suddenly resurfaced from the hidden recesses of my brain as I thought about the chocolate cakes for this blog. So, I specially made a trip down to Bengawan Solo and acquired this neat little piece - the Chocolate Gateau. Gateau is french ley... how come Bengawan solo is has got french influence one?



This cake was quite simple, only 3 kinds of layers. A very moist and light chocolate sponge, whipped cream, and a tempered chocolate glaze that had a hint of hazenut or nut flavour. Does this cake stand alongside Bengawan Solo's pandan cake in terms of shiokness?

The chocolate sponge itself was flawless. Its an ideal moist sponge that can be set as the industry benchmark when comparing chocolate sponges across various other cakes. It was very pleasant, something I wouldn't mind munching on plain.



The whipped cream on the other hand, was somewhat a failure. Once eaten it would melt and turn into oil that coats the entire surface of the mouth, giving an uncomfortable oily mouthfeel to the whole cake. When it comes to whipped cream, I demand the real thing, meaning I demand whipped cream made from genuine cow's milk and not the vegetable oil kind. The reality is that there isn't enough real whipping cream to go round the world, so substitutes are manufactured from vegetable oil, emulsifiers, and stabilisers that can keep the whipped product as a stable foam for days. Nonetheless, the bottom line is that that long lasting oily mouthfeel from their whipped cream had a negative impact on the shiokness of this cake.



The chocolate glaze and chopped peanuts were fine.



It seems my auntie who recommended this cake has different tastes from me. Or maybe she just hasn't tried the other cakes I've tried.

Shiokness Verdict: 2/10

This cake costs $2.50, the equivalent of 1 canteen meal from school. Would you skip a canteen meal in exchange for this?

Juntion 8 Shopping Centre
9 Bishan Place #B1-K1
Tel : 62582066
bengawansolo.com.sg