The Sugar Bar

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

The last couple of days in London I spent café hopping. Absolutely love the cosy ambience of cafés, the smell of brewing coffee, the tins of imported tea leaves, the displays of fresh cakes and breads; and strangely, even folded paper napkins, sugar cubes and little milk jugs are a comforting sight to behold. But that’s just the outer layer of the lure of cafés. It’s the fact that time stands still. That everything beyond its walls (if it’s got any) ceases to encroach upon your space and your mind for a while. When you step into the dim interiors of one, with that soft lounge or jazz music playing, you shed the dusty coats of worry at the door. You enter a time capsule where you can be perfectly still or perfectly alone. With a book, with a hot cuppa, with something to eat, you are at ease and calm. I like that. Or maybe I’m just lazy and overly indulgent.

Bea’s of Bloomsbury
It was early morning. I had egg cravings. This was beaute. Buttery & creamy. Also, there’s a shelf of books, magazines, newspapers and flyers by the stairs. A cookbook on rustic fruit puddings kept me busy during my wait for food.

a smooth cappuccino and a curried egg & celery toasted muffin

Stopping by to admire Ladurée
The Burlington Arcade is quite a magical place. Placing Ladurée at its entrance is like icing on a cake. Stunning to look at and so enchanting, like a unicorn, you can almost not believe that it’s there. If everything were so pretty and gold-embossed!

Tapped & Packed
Dropped in to meet (finally) the groovy Supercharz. She was funny and so friendly, I almost forgot how good my coffee tasted.

love having all my stuff go ‘plonk’ on café tables

a final refresher – mint tea

Just before I left, a bespectacled dude joined me at my table. He flipped out a shiny macbook and ordered a cappuccino. Eyes trained on his laptop screen the whole time, he proceeded to dunk 5 heaping teaspoons of brown sugar into his little cuppa coffee. Stirring done, lick foamed milk off spoon, sip. Eyes still on laptop screen. I wasn’t sure if that was an artful and coordinated demonstration of a coffee-trained hand vs. attention distracted by laptop or a scene which made me feel a little too sickly sweet in my mouth.

The English weather can be described here in one word, or rather one sound – a big fat SIGH.

My Monday blues can be summed up in one word, or also one sound – a big fat SIGH.

But both can be resolved with a brunch date, with a gorgeous friend of mine (and fellow Ferragamo fiend) to boot? Sorted.

So here we shared a lovely pot of coffee, sweetening it with shiny crystals of brown sugar straight from a recycled black treacle tin, stirring then sipping them nice and slow despite the gathering grey clouds. What I love about Albion Cafe, Bakery and Food Store is definitely the fact that you can sit outside on the tables and red chairs lining the street. It faces some quaint little shops on the peaceful and rather dignified Boundary Street. During the summer, it is simply wonderful to sit out in the sun on their glossy red coffee shop chairs next to wooden crates of fresh cauliflower, cabbages, etc. A great spot to leisurely have brunch whilst people-watching fellow East Londoners drifting through from Shoreditch High Street or Brick Lane. And remember my post on Fried Eggs & Sage? Yep, you’ll find Albion just turning the corner from the infamous Leila’s Shop.

Portobello Mushrooms on Toast

Mushroom Omelette

My lunch mate and I both ordered mushrooms. I admit it isn’t in the least bit exciting especially when the menu offers so much more, like great British caff food and even some pub classics (crackling & apple sauce, duck eggs on toast, bangers & mash, etc). It was very tempting I’ll tell you that though. Their drinks menu is extensive and impressive, especially the elderflower cooler which is a must-try IMHO. Anyhow, P and I are mushroom fanatics. And we strangely have similar cravings at the same time. Can’t understand that? Me neither. We’re as similar as night…and later that night (quoted from Monica of Friends, guilty as charged). We both have unhealthy obsessions with Ferragamos, long brown hair of nearly the same shade, even ugly spots in the exact same places on our faces come that funny time of the month, share a passionate love for red Chanel lipsticks and full-fat salted butter. And we both love to brunch! A friendship made to last.

Our gorgeous and friendly hunk of a waiter came with hot coffee pronto. Lunch followed fairly swiftly. My portobello mushrooms were very flavourful and juicy on brown toast, generously drizzled with olive oil and garnished with chopped parsley. P’s omelette was at least an inch thick and uber creamy, which she ate with brown toast and oodles of butter. Albion boasts quality ingredients and straightforward food. It is exactly that and more – soul-warming food, the type that makes you forget your daily worries, the wintry chills of autumn and the impending ugly of rain clouds.

It started raining in a bit. Grey, wet, nippy and generally miserable with a capital M. Felt a bit like wet dogs getting rained on en route to Brick Lane where P lives. But shortly before that, we had had some awesome food action. And so we were still happy and pretty mushroom-smug, no doubt about that. When you’ve got good food in your belly, it’s nearly impossible to be grumpy. Don’t you agree?

Albion Cafe, Bakery and Food Store
2-4 Boundary Street
Shoreditch
London
E2 7DD
• http://www.albioncaff.co.uk •