Kouign Aman from Tiong Bahru Bakery

Usually, once I find something I like from a restaurant, I tend to stick with that "something" for a bit and it usually takes a while before I'd try out something new from the restaurant. It's the same with bakeries, cafes and hawker stalls.

However, it was upon my second visit that I decided to try the Kouign Aman instead of buying a croissant.

Oh, I wanted to order their croissant, which I think is the best I've eaten in Singapore. But my colleague insisted I try this pastry instead.

It was VERY GOOD.

Very sinfully buttery and sweet.. but oh.. so good.

It was crispy, even more crispy than their croissant because of the caramelised sugar coating all over the pastry. It was also more buttery than the croissant and much sweeter.. but it went so well with a cup of hot, strong tea without sugar.

The pastry is crispy and flaky all around the sides and as you bite into the centre, it gets more pillowy and moist. It is also slightly (very slightly) salty and that balances up the sweetness of the pastry.

This pastry is called Kouign Aman (Or Kouign Amann, with a slightly different spelling). I later on learnt that Kouign Amann is not strictly a pastry but a crusty cake. It is made with bread dough containing layers of butter and sugar folded in, similar in fashion to puff pastry albeit with fewer layers. The resulting cake is baked slowly until the butter puffs up the dough and the sugar caramelizes.

This blog details out how this cake is made.. it is really a complicated cake to make.. and the amount of butter and sugar used is slightly disconcerting. This cake is from Brittany and ‘Kouign’ means cake and ‘Amann’ means butter. Well, considering the amount used, it's a very good name for this cake.

Tiong Bahru Bakery by Gontran Cherrier

252 North Bridge Road #B1-11/12
Raffles City Shopping Centre

Chocolate Trovana from Chef Icon

Ever since I read Petunia's post last year on Chef Icon's Trovana Chocolate Cake, I knew I wanted to try this cake.

I went by the shop a few of times and failed to get a cake - they don't open on Sundays, public holidays and they close at 8pm. And they don't always have the cake available if you didn't pre-order.

We went to Kampong Bahru on Saturday evening for some xiao long bao, and I thought of trying my luck with this cake again.

The chef was around that day and when he said, "Hmph.. let me check, we might have a 500g one still in the fridge", I held my breath. After all, it was 730pm on a Saturday, so the possibility of having any cakes in a bakery that was almost empty wasn't high.

But he came out with a cake on his hand and finally, I get to try this elusive chocolate cake. The trovana chocolate cake comes in an assortment of flavours - pure, blueberry, black forest, banana or strawberry. The pure chocolate one was the one available and that was the one we brought home.

The cake looked really basic (As Petunia said, "non-descript appearance") but it was really quite good.

"Pure" is a very good way to name this chocolate cake. The chocolate was smooth and rich yet just subtly so. You really do feel like you are eating a very pure and basic piece of soft chocolate with every bite.

The chef mentioned that he uses a blend of cocoa beans from France and recommended that we eat the cake with a cup of unsweetened red tea to complement the taste of the chocolate. He was right. It went perfectly with the red tea and leaves you wanting more, which is what every good chocolate cake should make you feel.

This bakery uses only all natural ingredients and does not add any preservatives, artificial ingredients, or hydrogenated fats into their products. 

The Chocolate Trovana cake is one of the 2 signature cakes from Chef Icon. The other one is the New York Cheesecake, which I'd love to try next time. Both cakes are available only as whole cakes (500g, 1kg or 2kg).

Chef Icon Nature Bakery

Add: 5 Kampong Bahru Rd
Tel: +65 9337 3900

Blueberry Cookies from Cookies Quartet

Cookies Quartet is a shop that specialises in handmade cookies. It is based in Hong Kong and is located at Kowloon City.

I love their cookies and most of the flavours in their assorted mix box are good. Their "Devil Chocolate Cookies", "Almond Butter Crisps" and "Hazelnut Pepper Cookies" are the most popular flavours and usually the first to finish in the assorted box.

The Husband also like their Palmiers.

I like their Blueberry Cookies a lot. These crisp cookies come with a tinge of lemon taste in the background and very chewy dried blueberries. You have to buy these separately as they do not come in the basic Cookies Quartet assorted box. I find these quite hard to stop eating and usually eat 4 - 5 each time. (Actually, I don't usually like cookies that very much so I can't quite understand why these appeal so much to me..)

I was reading an old post of mine on Cookies Quartet when I suddenly had cravings for these blueberry cookies. I posted my cravings for these cookies on Facebook and a few days later... guess what? Dear, sweet Ting messaged me to let me know that she has a packet of these for me! All the way from Hong Kong! CH was in Hong Kong and his friend knew how to get these... and so they got a packet for me.

Wow! It was such a lovely surprise to receive this yummy gift! I was really touched by this gesture. Thank you again, Ting and CH!

I like the gold paper clip used to seal the packaging..

Cookies Quartet

Add: G/F, 9A Lion Rock Road, Kowloon City
Tel: +852-2382 2817