Mia's Review: Velvet Confectionery [Media Invite]

Over the weekend, I was really glad to be stuffed with nothing else but cakes, along with my blogger-buddies, Janel, OYHZ and Andrea over at Velvet Confectionery.

 Located at Watermark Condominium, near Kith Cafe, it's a pretty simple looking, 'no gimmicks' kind of bakery cafe that can give you a river view with pretty simple alfresco seatings. 

But I do agree that the nearby construction works and buildings are a big distraction to a potentially awesome chillax weekend, sipping a cup of coffee 'by the river'. 

With minimal decorations to the cafe, patrons are directly shown the best of what they've got to offer upon stepping into the cafe. Their selection of cakes for the day!

But of course, they do serve pretty good coffees, tea and even some sparkling sodas to quench your thirst on a hot day.

Floral Berry & Passionfruit Sparkling Soda

It's a pity the cute straw didn't work out very well, as it kind of melted down in the drink for it's actually a layer of paper wrapped over plastic.

The icy soda was truly a saviour in the unforgivably hot weather and the taste is actually very light and with just a slight sweetness of the berries flavour and with a hint of floral. 

And... here comes the cakes!

Nutella Cheesecake

This definitely has to be my favourite of the lot with it's soft, creamy texture of nutella flavoured cheesecake seated on top of a generously thick later of cookie crumbs based that tasted just like the oh-so-yummy caramalised biscuits. 

Plus, there's even a Ferrero Rocher to up the omph-factor. Can you imagine that?

Carrot Cake

One of their best sellers, this carrot cake is truly of a monstrous serving size! Not a fan of carrot cakes at all, because I believe they're savoury (Andrea did mentioned she has tried a carrot cake elsewhere that's more savoury than sweet too), this carrot cake did kind of surprised me for they're pretty sweet! Stuffed full of carrot bits, raisins and chopped walnut, this will indeed be a popular choice for those who love a sweet carrot cake!

Red Velvet Brownie

A layer of densely packed, moist and slightly chewy brownie with an equally thick cream cheese layer with beautiful red velvet swirls that's chocolatey and yet not overly sweet. A good choice for those cream cheese and red velvet lovers out there. 

Lemon Olive Oil Yoghurt Loaf

Baked without any butter, but substituted with olive oil and yoghurt, this is indeed their more diet-friendly choice for those ladies who's keeping a tight watch on their waistline and yet is losing a battle against their sweets-craving. The omission of butter has given this cake loaf a pretty dense and moist-crumbly texture while it's taste is very lemony, light and not too sweet.

And that's not all, for we also have some cute cupcakes!

Devilish Chocolate Cupcake

I had this with a cup of coffee (they have pretty good coffee too) the previous time I visited and it was a true comfort to my pretty bad (and rushed) day at work earlier. I mean, chocolate and coffee, how can this combination not lift up your mood, huh? 

The cake can be pretty dense when it's just served straight out of the fridge, so do leave it sitting around for a while before digging in. The chocolate cake is actually pretty light in taste by itself but makes a good match when paired up with the rich chocolatey frosting. 

 Blue Velvet Cupcake

This is just like a red velvet cupcake, made blue. Just like the chocolate cupcake, the cake itself taste really light while the cream cheese frosting packed in all the sweetness you'll need for a cupcake. 

Well, kind of sick of looking at a red velvet cake, why not have them blue instead? 

And just a behind the scene shot....

Oyhz came without the mother of my Samsung NX Mini (her big, pink samsung camera) and had to use her trusted iPhone to snap pictures instead. 

For the month of July, Velvet Confectionery will be giving a promotion for all my lovely readers out there. All you have to do is to follow them on Instagram (@velvetconfectionery) and quote "MollyMia" to enjoy your choice of cake with a cup of hot coffee (latte or cappuccino) or hot tea for just $10 on weekdays. 

Velvet Confectionery is located at 7 Rodyk Street, #01-30 Watermark @ Robertson Quay

Opens 1030am - 630pm (Closed on Tuesdays)

For more information, visit their Facebook HERE

Till then,

Mia Foo

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Mia's Review: Nine Thirty by Awfully Chocolate

A while back, I posted up a pretty short review of the chocolate cupcake from Nine Thirty by Awfully Chocolate and since that visit, I've revisited their branch at Greenwich V a handful of times and tried out a some other goodies. 

Butterscotch Milk (Hot) - about $7

I first tried this when D told me that it has got some good reviews. I got the hot one while she took the iced version. My advice is, take the hot one. The iced one was made by pouring the hot concoction over a cup full of ice, so it'll be served to you horribly diluted. 

As for my hot butterscotch milk, it was definitely yummy. The rich and smooth milk was deliciously sweetened with a strong dash of butterscotch flavour, topped with chocolate powder and a melting marshmallow. 

White Chocolate Butterscotch Block - $7.90 per 100g

A thick block of creamy, rich and sweet white chocolate moist cake of mousse-like texture with a swirl of chocolate sponge cake centre and topped with a thick layer of butterscotch cream on top. 

This has to be the richest, sweetest, most sinful (white) chocolate cake you can ever find. 

Not recommended for individual consumption, unless you can get the staff to sell you a 50g piece. 

Flourless Chocolate Cake - $6.90

Other than their original chocolate cake and the chocolate cupcake I've reviewed in my previous post (linked above), this has to be the other cake they have that is true to their shop name, Awfully Chocolate. Being flourless, the cake naturally will be more moist, sticky, gooey and richer in taste. It's really like a fudgey brownie that's done over the top. 

For more information on Awfully Chocolate, visit their website HERE

For more information on Nine Thirty by Awfully Chocolate, visit their website HERE

Till then,

Mia Foo

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Mia's Review: Crystal Jade & My Bread Mini Snowskins & Konnyaku Mooncakes

Yes, the Mooncake Festival (AKA Lantern Festival) is literally around the corner. 

And this year, I do have a couple of bakeries to go through, hence doing a 2 part mooncake review for 2014! 

Just from Crystal Jade, I have 2 boxes to savour this year. 

Assorted Mini Snowskin Mooncake - $42

Flavours include: Red Bean Paste with Cashew Nut, Almond Paste with Almond Flake, Cranberry Paste with Red Wine, Red Date Paste with Dried Longan & Pine Nut.

And I love the Cranberry Paste with Red Wine one most. 

And nope, it's not entirely because it's pink. 

While the others are really just delectably sweet (I can't say for the Almonds because I dislike almond paste and hence I didn't even try any), this pink cutie has successfully combined the sweeten, tangy flavour of cranberry with the distinctive earthy, solid and slightly tannic-bitter fragrance of red wine. I have no idea why, but the snowskin of this pink cutie, albeit more on the thicker side, is also the softest of the lot, perhaps due to the fact that its filling is more moist and gooey as compared to the rest. 

This is definitely something worth trying from the mid-market snowskin range, for individuals, like me, who used to shun from snowskins due to the overpowering sweetness and thick skin of play dough consistency. 

Another point to note is that, these snowskin doesn't really harden up badly in the fridge. Our family (my mother) doesn't really ship snowskins mainly because they harden up considerably while stored in the cooler and need to be thawed before consumption. But for Crystal Jade's minis, it's just a grab, cut, eat in matters of 10 seconds. 

Well, you can shorten it to 5 or even 3 seconds if you don't need to halve them. 

Floral Effulgence (Floral Tea Konnyaku Mooncakes) - $22

There are 5 flavours available: Roselle & Hawthorn, Chrysanthemum Honey, Osmanthus & Plum, Rose & Red Date, Snow Lotus. 

And while I was at My Bread, they ran out of Rose & Red Date, so naturally I got the other 4 flavours in my assorted box. 

Clockwise from top left: Roselle & Hawthorn, Chrysanthemum Honey, Snow Lotus, Osmanthus & Plum. 

Frankly speaking, I was totally drooling (and lusting) for the Osmanthus & Plum, with the idea of the light and sweet taste of all those osmanthus cake/jelly I've tried before at different dim sum places. 

But this was kind of disappointing. The fragrant, refreshing sweetness of osmanthus was hardly tasted, if any at all, for it was totally overpowered by the salty-tangy taste of plum. The taste of those preserved plums bits scattered among the konnyaku was so strong and distinctive, that it might be better to just call this Preserved Plum instead. 

There's nothing unpleasant about the taste, but I was just sorely disappointed with the serious lacking of Osmanthus fragrance. 

And so, what emerged as the most delectable of the 4 turned out to be Roselle & Hawthorn, It has to be this, for the flavours of both Roselle & Hawthorn was exceptionally well combined to have both pretty strong flavours to complement each other pretty well. The tangy flavour of the roselle will first greet you before the distinctive sweetness of the hawthorn washes over. 

The other two flavours were pretty decent, going by the safe route of a 'sweeten jelly' taste. 

Even though these aren't truly mooncakes at all, but really just konnyaku made in mooncake moulds, I believe that this Floral Effulgence range will be pretty popular among the ladies (like me!) who wishes to escape from the high calories of the fattening mooncakes and yet, still felt that the yearly Mooncake Festival will be incomplete without biting into some mooncakes. 

This shall be your perfect cheat. :) 

For more information on availability and card promotions, visit their website HERE

Do stay tune for part 2 on Baker's Well Mini Snowskins, Thye Moh Chan Teochew mooncakes and Tai Chong Kok baked skins. 

Till then,

Mia Foo

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Mia's Review: Lady M

It was a pretty impromptu visit as I was craving sweet treats after my gym session, and I basically googled up cafes & bakeries in Marina Square (since I'm heading there with T) and Lady M just caught my attention. I love how the cafe is so bright and white (clean) and very spacious.

My usual favourite of Cafe Mocha.
As you can see at the bottom of the mug, there is a generous amount of chocolate added in so the chocolate taste is pretty rich and gave the mocha a very sweet taste. Too sweet for me.

 Banana Mille Feuille
A gorgeous composition of flaky, golden puff pastry, whipped cream kissed with just a touch of triple sec, layers of vanilla sponge cake and perfectly ripe bananas.
-credits to Lady M-

And of course, it tasted just as delicious as it sounds. However, too much whipped cream for my liking. Like, way too much! Compare the thickness of the yellow (vanilla sponge cake) to the white (whipped cream)! There's even times I ate nothing but just whipped cream with flakes of puff pastry. The generous topping of puff pastry flakes also made this yummy cake a pretty messy eat. Oh well, the taste is pretty awesome but the overall texture is kind of lacking IMO.
I'll prefer more sponge, less cream.

Checkers Board
(photo bombed by a partially eaten BMF)
Striking black and white in appearance, our popular Checkers Cake weaves together a precise and tender checkerboard of vanilla and chocolate sponge cake. The lightest fresh whipped cream comes tucked between the squares, all outfitted in a silky dark chocolate ganache.

-credits to Lady M-

And obviously it wouldn't be that striking a black and white when served on your plate. First impression and I was pretty disappointed because the cake really looked kind of ruined. I had the picture of this in my mind as I ordered this cake.

But what came to my table was far from it. Even the outer layer of chocolate ganache wasn't evenly coated. Mehhhhh....
But taste wise, it was really good! The sponge cake was soft and fluffy, the whipped cream within kept to bare minimum in order to stick the checkers together, and the chocolate ganache was so rich, it was simply decadent.

And with merely 2 cakes out of the so many tried, I'll definitely be returning to Lady M some other time for more yummy sweet treats.

Miroir Caramel and Cateau au Chocolat, I'm watching you. :)

Till then,
Mia

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Mia's Review: Nine Thirty by Awfully Chocolate

Earlier this month, YS and I re-visited the newly opened WTF cafe at East Coast Rd because she misses Lola too much. *aww* Maybe I'll do a 2nd post on them because they've changed their layout quite a bit. 

But first, let me bring in this awesome chocolate dessert place located just further down the shophouses, opposite Katong I12. 

Nine Thirty by Awfully Chocolate

I've been eyeing one of their dessert for quite a while, ever since one of my colleagues told me that it's superb. 

Rich Chocolate Cupcake - $5.50

I know $5.50 is really pricey for a cupcake, but this is truly worth every cent of the money you paid for it. Well, that's coming from a chocolate addict like myself. :)

The cupcake, significantly bigger than a usual cupcake you get from other cupcake franchises, is topped by a thick layer of chocolate fudge, which is then topped with a glob of rich chocolate sauce. Once you get pass the fudge layer, be prepared for some soft and very moist, rich chocolate cake.
Truly decadent, simply divine.
Not for people with just a mild sweet tooth, though.

For more information, visit their website HERE

Till then,
Mia

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Mia's Review: Stay Home Mum Cafe's Cake In A Jar

Just yesterday I visited this really pretty restaurant at Clarke Quay area with the FP girlies and since SHM Cafe is just nearby at The Central, I decided to pop by for a look. It was already pretty late when I got there and they seem to be clearing up for the night so I quickly picked one flavour out of the many yummy-looking ones and paid for my purchase. 

The cafe was really simply and clean, with a display fridge set out at the front of the cafe displaying all the pretty cakes in a jar and a few metal tables and chairs set out at a corner of the small cafe for customers to dine in if they wish. 

Their cake in a jar ranges from $4.50 to $7.90, typically falling between $6.50 to $7.90 ranges. 

Choco Monkey - $5.90

I think the name speaks it all, chocolate with bananas! It has a relatively thin (comparing to the rest of the chocolate cream/mousse) chocolate sponge cake topped up with a generous layer of rich chocolatey mousse cream, with slices of banana stacked within. And the fragrance of fresh bananas mixed with chocolate that came out of the jar upon popping open the lid simply put this on my (longggg) list of Happy Food. 

Just showing off the amount of banana slices you can find inside the chocolate mousse layer. 

And also giving you a better gauge of how big the jar is going to be. :) 

And I've already created a small list of must-try from their Cake in a Jar flavours:

Lychee Martini

Bailey Tiramisu

Cherry Brandy

Chocoholics aka Crunchy Choco

French Style Ichigo

Those who've tried them, do comment and let me know how were they, yeah? :)

SHM Cafe is located at The Central, #B1-27C

For more information, visit their website HERE and their Facebook HERE

Till then,

Mia

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Mia's Weekend Getaway: Mia Eats Australia - Sweet Treats!

As I've mentioned so many times in my previous Australia trip posts that I'll do a separate entry about sweet treats, here it is! Just in case you haven't noticed, I have a major sweet tooth! 

And my current obsession?  Macarons, AKA French Macaroons. 

Yup, these 3 macarons were from The Acland Cake Shop at St. Kilda, and they were at $2.50 AUD per piece if I'm not wrong. I've gotten them in Chocolate, Coffee, and Earl Grey (a flavour I always wanted to try). These macarons were somehow rather disappointing. Very sweet, especially the Earl Grey, which has this medicine kind of sickening sweetness to it (yikes!), and the macaron shells were all the way crunchy and very airy. IMO, a good macaron shell needs to be crunchy on the outside yet turns chewy on the inside. These macarons has failed to make the cut. Taste wise, were mediocre as well.

Next up was the oversized macarons at Queen Victoria Market, obviously selling at $2.80 AUD per piece unless distressed. I only bought one, and also my favourite salted caramel, to try out. Frankly speaking, they didn't look like a macaron at all because they're so big! They looked more like a mini-burger or a melting moment biscuit. Eating it was pretty tough too, because i couldn't crunch down in one bite. In the end I gotta bite off the top shell first then bite the bottom shell and felt like a kid eating a Big Mac, no joke.

Taste wise, they were definitely better than those at St. Kilda. The texture was more similar to macarons at Pique Nique, more solid and more 'cakey'. Taste wise, it's a pretty standard salted caramel taste. However, due to its size, I'll say it's pretty worth the money. *rofl*

Finally, my last macaron from the trip, La Belle at Chadstone Shopping Centre. 

 

The store reminded me of Laduree, very similar! 

 If i'm not wrong it was $3 to $3.20 AUD per piece (YS's treat so I didn't know how much it was!) and I got their Raspberry Chocolate. Selection of flavours wise, they were pretty similar with Laduree as well. And the taste too! A little too sweet (just like how Laduree is, to me) but texture wise was perfect. As you can see from the picture the outside of the macaron shell was crunchy and slightly crumbly while the insides were dense and slightly airy, moist and chewy. 

But then again, $3.20AUD/$3.80 SGD per piece? I'll rather go back to Canele, no doubts about it.

Then there's the melting moment biscuit from Hope Bakery at Sovereign Hill. I couldn't quite remember how much it was, but it should be $2+ AUD. Have always heard of this Australian sweet treat (along with their Lemington Cake) but couldn't seem to find any in Singapore. I'll say they tasted pretty good! It's like a layer of lemon-flavoured cream sandwiched in two pieces of buttery, crumbly shortbread biscuits. Rather filling for a sweet treat, too! I wouldn't mind having them again if I ever find them in SG. :)

And then, more Churros! This was the churros from the Spanish Doughnuts franchise with one of the branch at Southern Cross Station. They had a wide range of selection of churros (at different prices) and I just went for the simple, glazed churros at about $2+ AUD. This churros is definitely a better churros than the one I had at L'Olivio. I can definitely taste that it's made from a Choux pastry, and they were fried until crispy on the outside and still slightly moist on the inside. However, the sugar glaze was too much and it felt like my churros was totally drenched in sugar syrup. Would have better preferred a cinnamon sugar one, but I didn't seem to find it there.

Lastly, this was my final sweet treat/meal I had in Melbourne. French Crepes! The small cafe was located at a small alley near Flinder's Station, just 5 to 10 minutes away. Can't remember the name of the cafe nor their price listing, sorry about that. 

 First up, their coffee. I remembered ranting about their bad coffee standards and finally I found a better one.  But that's because I went for a strong brew (double shot, perhaps) of their Mocha, and comparing this to any other coffee in Singapore, they're still bad. I really gotta taste it really carefully to find the coffee taste 'hidden' within this strong brew. Else, I'll just think of it as an unsweetened hot milo. Melbourne is definitely not my coffee place. 

 My choice of crepes for the day, Chocolate Banana crepes! There's definitely a generous serving of sliced fresh bananas and a huge drizzle of good chocolate sauce. However, I'll very much prefer those Japanese style crepes with a much thinner crepe skin. These french crepes are made very very much thicker, about 2 to 3x as thick, and so feels kinda 'mushy' and 'uncooked' in the middle. Well, I'm definitely not much of a crepes person and YS insisted that this was a very well done french crepes. I could hardly finish the crepes in the end because the texture of the crepes just got increasingly sickening to me. 

And that's YS's plain butter crepes, which really looked like a badly made roti prata to me.

And this basically concludes my entire series of entries for my weekend getaway to Australia. :) 

Till then,

Mia

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