My Pain Relief

I think I might have slept on the wrong side of the bed last night. My neck is aching terribly and I am feeling miserable. My good colleague bought me a relief package during lunch.  Ta-Da! Its none other than Champagne Nama Chocolate from Royce! Oh boy, I am going to have them as desserts after my meal.

I was beamed with joy. At that instant, I forgot about the pain I had in my neck.I unwrapped my pain relief package immediately.

Oh boy!! The sight of these Nama chocolates has tantalized my taste buds. I can't wait to sink my mouth into these luscious pieces.

Nine pieces of gems. Wow!! So sweet and divine. It was an instant pick-me-up and works wonders on me because I have forgotten about my aching neck. As I placed one in my mouth. Oooh!!! These Champagne Nama chocolates taste so good. The beautiful harmony of champagne with raw milk chocolate is one of the best Nama chocolates I have eaten.

Nama chocolates tend to be very rich but this contain champagne so it gives a subtle delicate after taste. The champagne was not too strong as I have expected but the it gives a flowery flow to the texture. As I sinked my teeth into these pieces, they were absolutely lovely and divine. My heart has just melted together with the pieces of Nama chocolates in my mouth. I love them!!

Before I knew it, I finished the whole box! Okay, nine pieces wasn't that much yeah! Besides I was in pain and these gems made my day. They were my pain relief and I have to thank my good colleague for that. I am all pump up now. Back to work! Oops, I forgot to rub my pain relief cream over my neck!

Jewels Artisan Chocolates

It was a hectic morning at work and I was feeling peckish. I decided to treat myself to some chocolates. Remember, the salted caramel chocolate mooncake from Jewels I had previously. I love their truffles and was craving for them. I was even thinking about them during work so I decided to head there during lunch.

This time, I brought my friend along to prevent myself from buying the whole range of chocolates available. As  you know I am a chocoholic and I cannot resist my temptation for good chocolates.I decided to be disciplined today and get 3. Why 3? Oh well, I decided not to be so greedy this afternoon. Otherwise I would be feeling the sugar rush in the afternoon. I think 3 was a decent treat for myself.

When I was at Jewels, I was tempted with the array of chocolates on display. Luckily, my friend accompanied me. If not, I would purchase more than 3 chocolates and probably a box back. The chocolates at Jewels were very tempting. Probably, I was really hungry, the sight of these handcraft gems tantalize my my senses and has charm my eyes. It sure made me an excitable lady!

I had a hard time choosing and with my friend's help, I decided on Chrysolite, Cornelian and Kyanite. I can't wait to savour them immediately. Of course, I ate them immediately after my purchase.

Chrysolite (the front white truffle) is actually a champagne truffle, made from fresh cream and dark chocolate dipped in white chocolate.
I was craving for the champagne truffle mooncake I had preciously so I chose this. This was good because the champagne in the truffle was generous and it was oozing out from my mouth as I pop this truffle in.

Next, I tried the Cornelian ( the top left brown truffle). Its a caramel ganache coated with dark chocolate topped with caramel nibs. As you know, I love salted caramel, so I decided to give this version a shot although the caramel is not salted. Surprisingly, the caramel truffle was too sweet and it has a nice crunch to it as you bite the caramel nibs. However I think I still like salted caramel better as the salty-sweet pairing excites my taste bud.

Lastly, I had the Kyanite ( the top right white truffle with dark chocolate dirzzle). This is so divine and its my favourite among all. Its a melting pot of pandan, coconut and white chocolate. Jewels has expertly melded exotic Asian ingredients into their chocolates. This version reminds me of kaya toast we have in the morning. Kyanite taste almost like that except there was no toast. It was decadent and definitely excites my taste bud for the day. I am going back for more!!!

I definitely enjoyed my little treat during lunch. It was a journey of decadence. I am fully pump up for work now. My taste buds and eyes has been charmed and excited by the tantalizingly chocolates at Jewels. I can't wait to grab more of these gems after work.

Sweet Gula Melaka

During my tea break, I was craving for cake. I overheard my colleague's conversation that there was a gula melaka cake at Cedele which was really good. I figured it was time for me to get there to satisfy my craving. I was curious how Cedele is going to put gula melaka into their cake.

Gula Melaka is a a palm sugar normally used in Malay desserts like chendol, ondeh ondeh and a few to list. I love gula melaka. The taste of palm sugar is similar to brown sugar but this tastes better. It has a butterscotch and caramel flavour with a good rich flavour at the end when you savour it into your mouth. I have gone on countless tasting of cakes at Cedele and I have to declare this gula melaka cake is one of my favourite.

The cake is frosted with gula meleka cream cheese frosting and finished with coconut shreds at the side. Its so lovely. The frosting was not overly sweet as you would expect it to be because gula melaka has a very rich flavour. Surprisingly, the gula melaka blends well with the cream cheese and went perfectly well with the coconut shreds. I was already extremely excited with the first bite.

With the second bite, you can taste the soft fragrant pandan cake sandwiched with pandan egg custard(kaya). Cedele is known for baking their cakes with organic produce so I am rest assured that this cake is baked with organic unrefined sugar and grapeseed oil. Now, I can indulge without guilt. The pandan leaves are freshly squeezed daily and the kaya is made by them.

I really love their sweet-salty kaya spread on the cake. The kaya is not too sweet and has a nice salty flavour at the end when you taste it. It was unexpectedly good with the gula melaka cream cheese frosting.

Initially, I was skeptical about this cake because the ingredients used to bake this is often used in our local Malay dessert. However after tasting this, I change my mind as the taste was familiar and comforting so close to our Malay desserts. I think this it really good. Probably I can say its a good new creation  of a Malay dessert.

How I wish they sell the gula melaka cream cheese frosting and the kaya in tubs. I am sure I will buy a few tubs home and spread a generous portion of gula melaka cream cheese frosting with kaya on my toast in the morning. I am pretty sure they will make a good spread during breakfast time. Gula Melaka and kaya toast anyone?

Salted Caramel Mooncake

When it comes to salted caramel, my knees will go weak. I have a soft spot for salted caramel because the pairing of sweet and savoury makes me drool. I feel the salt will not make the caramel overly sweet especially when good quality salt is used. Moreover, it makes an interesting kick to your taste bud.

I was overjoyed, when I found out Jewels created snowskin mooncakes with salted caramel truffle. Jewels is recognized for their hand made chocolates so I believe their salted caramel truffle mooncake will not disappoint me. Immediately, I picked up the phone to reserve a box of these salted caramel mooncake.

When I collect it the next day, I could not resist the temptation and opened the box on the spot to taste. Yes!! I am crazy!! I am totally obsessed with any dessert which has salted caramel. My first bite of this salted caramel mooncake, blew my mind away. Its totally sublime. As my teeth sink into the truffle center, the salted caramel oozes into my mouth and you can feel the saltiness of the caramel balance well with the sweetness from the lotus paste. Totally fantastic!

This gave me a tremendous pleasure from tasting the sweet and savoury combination of this dessert. The salt gave a good kick to the caramel. Later, did I know the salt was actually volcanic sea salt. Thumbs up to the chef!!  The chef has not made the truffle too salty or too sweet. Its a good balance. Sometimes, you may find certain salted caramel dessert either too salty or sweet but this was just perfect. I have to complement the chef's refine skill of crafting this creation together.

She is totally ingenious. The salted caramel paired very well with the lotus filling. When eaten as a whole, the mooncake was not overly sweet. On top of that, the chef has added melon seeds in the mooncake to give a good crunchy bite to the mooncake. The taste is so good that I feel as though I am floating over the moon. The whole experience is wonderful and addictive. After your first piece, I  reached out for another piece. I know I am not going to share this box with anyone.

This is a must try for salted caramel lovers. The salted caramel mooncake contrast very well between the salted caramel and lotus paste. The salted caramel snowskin mooncake has stole my heart. I am definitely reserving another 2 boxes for myself.

Sweet Yam

I have been tasting various baked skin and snowskin mooncakes lately so I decided to give my palate a change. This time round, I am going to try the Teochew
"Oor Nee" mooncake with golden Japanese pumpkin.
"Oor Nee" is actually made of yam and this creation originates from the Teochew dessert.

Normally, "Oor Nee" is served in a Teochew restaurant. It is made up of  sweet yam paste mixed with ginkgo nuts and topped with coconut milk. Now the chef at Peony Jade has turned this dessert into mooncakes. The "Oor Nee" mooncake paste made from yam differs from the traditional lotus paste filling. Even the pastry is different from the traditional baked version. These " Oor Nee" mooncakes are flaky as the dough is made rolling together alternating with layers of dough and stir fried in oil, not baked.

Poeny Jade " Oor Nee" mooncake taste like yam pastry rather than mooncake.  I would give thumbs up for the chef's combination of the Japanese pumpkin together with the yam filling. The Japanese pumpkin gives a nice edge to the yam and it is not overly sweet for my liking. On the down side, eating these delicacy can be a little messy as the pastry flakes tend to drop as you bite them. If you leave them for a few days, the pastry becomes soft.  A solution to this is warm them up in the microwave for a minute before eating. It will taste exactly the same as the "Oor Nee" dessert you have at a Teochew restaurant.

I think this "Oor Nee" mooncake will appeal to the older generation as they are not too sweet or dry and resembles very closely to the Teochew " Oor Nee" dessert you have at the restaurant. They make good gifts for your parents and grandparents.

Durain King

Since the previous durain mooncake did not satisfy my cravings I decided to explore other versions. During lunch, my friends were discussing which mooncakes were good and he mentioned Peony Jade durian mooncake was one of the best he has eaten. Since my cravings were calling me, I decided to give it a shot, .

The next day, I head over to Peony Jade restaurant to try these treat. The durain mooncake tasted fabulous. It is made out pure mao shan wang durain pulp. This definitely beats the taste of D24 durain puree I had previously. The durain pulp is encased in organic pandan snowskin so the skin tasted fragrant and  they blend well with the durain pulp. I had no regrets buying these. Why?

The skin melts in your mouth. The pulp has a luscious texture, like durian ice cream. Absolutely lovely! Its flavour is fantastic - rich with a hint of bitterness for kick and balance. Just what i was looking for. These decadent treat has satisfied my cravings.

Adding to this creation of durain mooncake, Poeny Jade created a golden phoneix butter cream durain in pearl powder snowskin mooncake. This treat boasts a filling made of golden phoneix durain and custard pearl powder in the skin. The pulp is creamy and smooth and the durain flavour packs a punch. However the snowskin is not as fragrant as the pandan snowskin. I still prefer the pandan version as the pandan blends well with the durain filling.

If you are a lover of this pungent fruit, try both of them. I am sure this duarin mooncake is a perfect excuse to indulge in yet more of the creamy luscious delicacy.

Fruity Delights

If you are getting sick of all the lotus paste filling mooncakes or the rich tasting chocolate truffles and alcohol infused fillings. Here's one which is light on the palate.

You see, my palate was getting jaded over the richness of the lotus mooncakes I had the over the past few days so I decided to have something light. Goodwood Park Hotel serves fruity mooncakes which are light and refreshing.They are famous for their fruity range of handcrafted snowkin mooncakes.  These are just what I was looking for.

They serve Apple Caramel , Mango with Pomelo, D24 Durian, Cempedak and Almond Beancurd with Longan snowskin mooncakes. Everything looks enticing and I could not make my mind which one to start first.

I closed my eyes and selected the Apple caramel snowskin mooncake first. This creation  is refreshingly light. It contains chunks of fresh and caramelized green apple amid green apple puree. This creation blew mind away. This is definitely a welcome zesty treat for our tropical weather.

Next I tried the Mango with Pomelo flavour and each bite of this, my mouth is sinked with smooth mango puree with mango cubes and pomelo sac. Totally refreshing on the palate. Its as good as having the fruit on its own. Equally delectaable are their D24 Durain and Cempedak snowskin mooncakes. Every bite is generously filled with the rich creamy paste made from fresh pulp of D24 Durains and Cempedak fruits. I have to say this is slightly richer tasting compared with the previous two as the fruit nature on its own is rich. If you are looking for something light, this is not the one to start off with. However I can say the chef are not stingy with the Durain and Chempedak fillings.

Lastly, the Almond Beancurd with Longan snowskin mooncake is absolutely divine. When I first tasted it, it tastes exactly like our almond beancurd dessert we have at our local dessert stall. Later I found out, that the chef has taken inspiration from our popular Chinese desert which I mentioned earlier on and created in their mooncakes. So ingenious of them. The smooth Almond Beancurd paste is complemented with juicy Longan bits that add texture to the mooncake. I have to complement the pastry chef for their creativity to transform something from our local dessert into a masterpiece.

The fruity creations are a good choice after meal dessert if you are looking for something light and refreshing. Especially after a heavy meal, this dessert will not bloat your stomach. Instead of having fruits, you can indulge in these fruity delights without guilt. What's more, if you freeze these mooncakes, they taste like fruity ice cream. Good to cool you down in this tropical weather. I love these fruity creations because you can have them both ways. Either eat it chilled like fruits or freeze them to have it as ice cream. Absolutely refreshing!