Grey sky, boring day, long wait to next tutorial class, half-drunk cappuccino. C’est ennui! Who says you can’t dream about sweets in the early afternoon…I’m thinking about Oriole.
Short post and so I’m outta here. Have a good day folks.
I’ve been feeling the need to rejuvenate myself lately in every way possible. Even as I type this post, I’m listening to my favourite electro remix playlist on iTunes and am literally replaying each taste of cake in my head. It’s kind of a funky experience. Maybe future tastings of cake for me should be in a soundproof room, ALONE for maximum satisfaction, with professional headphones stuck on blaring house music as I clink clank away on plates and chomp down on petite gâteaux. No? Ok, I’ll hide that thought somewhere else along with my deepest darkest desires.
Royal Copenhagen. A proper noun that sends pleasurable shivers down my spine. And of course, makes me think of terribly feminine and beautiful vintage china. I miss the utter decadence and quirky pop eccentricism at Sketch with their vintage china unembarrassingly showing signs of use. Royal Copenhagen is a little more slick but the cakes were delicious! The service was level-headed and friendly. The room, an oblong-shaped space tucked away awkwardly into a corner of the ladies’ department nonetheless was a nice respite from manic Christmas shoppers. With a backdrop of glass-clinking and delighted chatter soft and bubbling like a glass of Möet, a room awash in crisp sunlight inducing you into a state of airy-fairy frou-frou lightness much like the kiss of a butterfly, afternoon tea begins on a carefree note (plus, you start to realize that size doesn’t matter at all – this is in reference to this oddly shaped tea lounge/cave)…
“There was an Old Person of Rheims,
Who was troubled with horrible dreams;
So, to keep him awake,
they fed him with cake,
Which amused that Old Person of Rheims.” ~ Edward Lear
The past week, my sleep was a tad bit troubled. I was (and actually am still) having a few odd dreams, those that leave you waking up puzzled and constantly mulling about what it meant. My latenights were also giving me unsightly dark eye circles, pale skin and a general lethargy about me. Someone mentioned, who cares about latenights when you’ve got cosmetics?! That’s true. I’m none too bothered about the amount of concealer I go through in a week but oh, something was just missing in my day to day goings-around. So when a friend suggested a cake day-out, I jumped at the chance. I was so glad to go to tea! It felt like ages since I had a good tête-à-tête with those things magically made from flour, fat, eggs, sugar and cream. Ahhh…What better to make one feel a little more alive than the sugar high petite little cakes provide?!
If I could, I would’ve eaten my weight in everything sat behind the cake counter. That’s me talking some crazy I know. Although it sure is hard to be sensible when one has a severe case of sweet teeth (plural or singular?). Imagine if one fine day all cake maniacs were to let themselves go and you saw me right at the frontline of this lets-eat-all-the-cake-in-the-world campaign, I’d make the tabloids in the most disgusting way known to humankind.
We managed four cake slices on our visit to Royal Copenhagen. I thought that was pretty impressive. Each mouthful was slowly savoured but not without wishing that each taste could go on forever. I’m blushing now as I’ve just realised my own greediness – 2 out of 4 cakes were chosen because I insisted I must have matcha cakes or something that’s green. I’m glad my cakemates humoured me. Bless ‘em. Here’s what we had:
Key Lime Pie ~ creamy and melt-in-your-mouth
Chocolate Earl Grey Mousse with Caramel Ganache ~ rich. dirty rich.
Matcha & Morello Cherry Cake ~ this was simply beautiful; gorgeous flavours with a moist denseness from possibly ground almonds & polenta
a personal favourite whatever the rendition ~ Matcha Tiramisu
The last two were of course my favourite. I’m drawn to anything green, purple and black sesame flavoured. I’m fairly simplistic that way I suppose. The key lime tart was also something real jazzy, resulting in a party in my tummy. Delicious, smooth with a good mix of sweet and tart.
Once the final crumb was licked up, I felt like an old car with a fresh engine, purring away and all revved up for the next roadtrip. All I had to do really was give my heels a quick polish, pop on some pearls and off I go. If you hear me complain about tiredness this week, remind me that it’s time for cake! It sure is the best fuel to keep me going for a while.
Royal Copenhagen Tea Lounge
Takashimaya Level 2
391 Orchard Road
S 238872
Singapore
Open Mon-Sun 10:00-21:00
Why a picture of dry-looking toast? And toast of all things. And toast that I didn’t even prepare myself. Before you lay into me, I assure you I’m not going whack. Neither is this blog going bust, nor have I lost my skills to cook or bake.
It’s just I thought I’d mention that one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover (or a toast sandwich by its dry exterior). This toast isn’t dry. In fact, it is sublime, especially when the portions of butter are totally out of this world. I mean it ain’t about spreading the butter for this one, but slabbing it like a deejay on crack.
Kaya toast is such a simple delight, very often taken for granted and overlooked, because it’s a breakfast easily prepared at home. I remember my dad used to pack this in my take-to-school lunchbox untoasted so it stayed fresh and soft until lunchbreak (sometimes he got a little experimental and mixed it with peanut butter. woah, funky.). It isn’t glamorous, it isn’t pretty and it surely isn’t expensive. It’s homey and old world. Some might shoot darts at me for choosing to reminisce the old days and breathe in some local flavours at a coffee/breakfast chain of all places, known as Ya Kun Kaya Toast. But I ain’t a fussy hussy and I actually think this place is pretty good.
But what on earth is a kaya toast anyway? It’s thinly sliced soft brown bread toasted til airy and crispy, spread with nyona kaya jam or coconut jam then pressed together as a sandwich with slabs of salted butter between the bits. Bite into it, it starts to crumble like good pastry; it’s creamy where the thick custardy jam is, crispy at the edges but smooth and buttery with a good depth of flavour from the salt. Me describing it does it no justice. But that feeling of sitting on a stool at a coffee stall with a coffee/tea and a plate of fresh kaya toast? A quintessential Singaporean thing to do in the morn’. No doubt about it, I slowly realize how I’ve missed this. It’s a truly unique breakfast experience.
And yea, the coffee (although not the best and not exactly wonderful or powerful enough) is fairly decent. I just love that local coffees, when you ask for it iced, comes with a bit of froth at the top. Froth….purrrrr~~~
