The Sugar Bar

The greedy pigs needed a cake fix Take II, badly. S had watched me lust after the cakes in the display for weeks so it was time for Diva’s self-indulgent maiden voyage in this well-furnished patisserie but not one without her equally sugar-crazy sidekick S. Told mum I was meeting S for lunch and mum politely asked of us and our choice of restaurant for lunch. Whoops. Cake for lunch it is! Oh bless S and her gorgeous lunch ideas. After our trip to 1 Caramel Patisserie, we were about to learn from our mistakes. If you’d followed that post, you’d know that S and I only ordered a cake or tart each and horror of horrors, neither of us thought to share. I mean there’s greedy and selfish. And then there is this – greedy and selfish.

The problem with sugar fanatics is, sometimes, there just ain’t no middle ground. We swing from one extreme to the other. It’s cake or no cake. It’s dessert or forget the main course. And although we were definitely not taking the piss, we decided to share and why not go for 3 cakes? Surely we could handle only 3 perfectly small and well-formed petit gâteaux? So taking the cake we did. But not with the after-effects of sweet bloatedness, cloud 9 dizziness and general inability to walk. And mind you, I suffer from sugar highs so spouts of giggly laughter and slurring are inevitable. Embarrassing.

There are quite a number of Canelé patisseries in Singapore and I quite fancied heading to the one located at Shaw Centre as they’ve got these lovely white garden furniture. Eating cake al fresco in the sun sounded lovely but then again, the weather just wasn’t cooperating. It was scorching and hot enough to cook eggs on my forehead alone. The patisserie in Paragon instead was air-conditioned and located in the basement. Very lush ambience and decor but somehow lacking in good lighting – which explains the horrific lighting of these pictures. Being in the basement sorta made me feel a bit like a blind mole rat which I didn’t particularly fancy. I gather that lack of sunlight too caused a general bout of slowness and delayed reaction in the waiting stuff.

Nevertheless, the cakes were dreamy and one was tempted to sneak a few (or chocolates, or their range of cookies) home for some midnight snacking. And should you decide to do so, the packaging and the little paper carriers are just as sweet and lovely as their cakes. 

Knowing how obsessed I am with matcha, S knew the Matcha (S$7.00/petit cake) was a definite on the list of to-try. She didn’t need to ask. A delicate green tea mousse and chestnut cremeux layered with green tea biscuit and almond crumble. It was lovely and so melty, my heart melted a little with it. Very creamy and so delicate, it literally turned into liquid gold on my tongue. Considering I have a great taste for bitterness though, the cake could’ve been more matcha-y but I could fault it for nothing else. 

Second on the list was the Raspberry Cheesecake (S$7.50/petit cake).

A chocolate fudge cake, velvety smooth vanilla cheesecake glazed with raspberry jelly and rosemary-infused creme chantilly. I couldn’t really taste the rosemary but the raspberry jelly was lush and pretty much cut through all that lovely creaminess, courtesy of the creme chantilly which was very light on the palette. Kinda like a bit of a fluffy cloud of cream. The flavours worked together really well and wasn’t too heavy on the stomach which I usually find is my problem with cheesecakes. I can never stomach the whole slice as it naturally leaves me with an unsightly digestive problem. 

Although we only tasted 3 cakes, the final one was highly recommended by quite a few I know – the Black Forest (S$8.00/petit cake). S and I agreed that it was the best out of the ones we tasted and easily the most visually appealing out of all of Canelé’s cakes on display. A chocolate genoise with kirsch, layered with 66% dark chocolate mousse, chocolate crumble, kirsch chantilly and dark cherry. Sounds like a piece of heaven? It certainly was. Very moist and chocolatey, very rich and creamy but still fairly light with a generous helping of lovely boozed up dark cherries inside. If I’m not wrong, the little cake is garnished with a booze-infused and gold-blinged red currant which I managed to call dibs on. Fantastic addition to the cake although a tad bit lacking since a red currant is such a tiny little berry. I would’ve fancied something more like liquor-filled chocolate truffle on top but I suppose that’s just cause I get the booze itch and it ain’t exactly classy enough for such a lovely little petit gateaux, now is it?

Although some may find Canelé’s selection of cakes nothing fancy, I’d beg to differ and say this is tops for affordable luxury and little light, moist clouds of sweet heaven. The service was a little frustrating and the location a little odd which took away from the general ambience. Nevertheless, I enjoyed my first visit with S and am sure it won’t be my last. Just yesterday, I made another trip down and packed away a little meringue for an after-dinner nibble. Like the cakes that are so well-formed and romantically designed, the packaging is beautifully done which is perfect for those wanting to purchase some cakes as a gift or as a little treat to share with a loved one. It’s an indulgence worth the calories and a feast for both the tastebuds and eyes.

Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie
290 Orchard Road
#B1-25 Paragon
Singapore 238859

Tel.: 65 6733 8893
Website: www.canele.com.sg

Being surrounded by amazingly intellectual and witty characters, the conversation can veer towards subjects dangerously complex (sometimes, unfortunately crude, stupid or superficial as well; don’t mean to shock you either but the mundane is included in our list of worthy conversation topics such as Hollyoaks and the weather). And of course the witty ones are always the victorious few left standing in the bloody massacre of English banter. So I must admit, I like sounding a teeny bit clever. Sounding, and not ‘being’, clever comes in handy now and again and I unabashedly adopt the use of jargon and my own eclectic mix of jazzbangmatastic (this word an example in itself) self-coined vocabulary to stun, bedazzle and confuse. Think I’m cheating? Doesn’t matter. It gets the job done.

But I won’t attempt to do that here. Instead, I will say it as simply as I can – that one undeniable truth:

I heart cakes. And most importantly, I heart beautiful cakes (which are more often that not, not made by me) and so where else better than to go to the professionals who do it best? Also, beautiful cakes mean there is no need for silly banter to fill the silence at the table at all because they are beautiful to look at and to taste and shall therefore, need your 100% full attention.

What do we do, then? We shut up and eat. Human nature. 

An old friend of mine, S, and I decided to meet up after about a year or so of not seeing each other. She’d just gotten back from LA and we really wanted to do something that required little effort, involved air-conditioning, something pretty and a friendly laidback ambience. Every time we meet up, we do a bit of a gift exchange to make up for missing each other’s birthdays, etc. So a fairly nice place was preferable. I did a little bit of research over at Ladyironchef (thank you Brad!) and found out about 1 Caramel Patisserie, where the cakes looked so lush I was almost moved to tears.

The research paid off. Away from the noisy traffic of the main road, tucked into the snazzy embrace of The Luxe, this little patisserie • café • atelier was a gem of a find. Modernly furnished with an almost zen-like feel from the dark wooden tables, bar stools and mustard yellow seats, it provided the perfect relief from the outside heat and humidity. It sure made my day to see handmade cakes of Singapore’s landscape (it was Singapore’s National Day the day before we visited) and waterfront set up at the bar next to a couple of jars of cookies and a tray of fondant cupcakes. It was something like a cross of posh bachelor’s pad, a bar and a traditional sweet shop. Enchanting, welcoming, delightful and real joy to be in. The friendly and attentive staff were a great bonus too.

S and I took some time ordering. 1) We’d not seen each other for a very long period of time so there was quite a lot of gossip, bitching and just general animated observation and chatter to get through before we could mull over the menu, 2) the cake list was very comprehensive. We were spoilt for choice and it was frustrating to have to decide on only 1 to spare our hips the morning-after guilt, 3) I was determined to taste one of the offered teas on the menu and so, harsh as it was to my cake calling, I went for a cake and a pot of tea instead of 2 cakes! *Can I just comment on the service at this point as well? The waiting staff were very patient with us. We bounced back and forth the menu, hmmed and hummmed loads before making the final decision but they were all smiley and friendly. Amazing!

I (after much deliberation) ordered the Fraise Pistachio Tart (S$8.90/slice). Ok, don’t get your panties in a twistie just cause I didn’t order real cake. I wanted the Opera Cake and the Lemon Roulade. But I’m a girl and I really didn’t want to put S through the whole ‘oh my god, I’m so going on a diet tomorrow because 3 plates of cake will induce immediate thunder thighs and chubby cheeks!’ scenario. Besides, I love tart. And I was well in the mood for tart. To me, this was very aesthetically pleasing because of the green and pistachios is way up there on my fav list. The strawberries were to-die-for. I mean, these buggers were fat, sweet and juicy. Yes, they were glazed with those sweet gelatin concoctions but they weren’t fluffy on the inside or 98% sour like some of those horrible stuff you find out there. It was bright red, it was fresh, well-shaped and beautiful. The pistachio frangipane was gorgeous and moist. I wasn’t too sure about the colour of the mixed berries cremeaux. From certain angles, it just looked kind of brownish purple to me but taste-wise, it was spot on and worked very well with the pistachio. Tart still had bite in it despite the general moistness of the tart. One thing I would improve upon would be the crunch and flavour of the roasted pistachios. They were just a tad wet and chewy and hardly seemed like the roasting had done it any good.

Ok, so here’s the real shocker: we did not share our cakes. Each to their own, ya know? S had the Hazelnut Pear Torta (S$6.90/slice) and from where I sat, it looked very moist and oh so good! It was glistening golden, beckoning me over. What a tease, that damn cake. I could see hazelnut pieces in the tart layer and the top layer was made up of caramelized pear slices. I didn’t taste it but S said it was delicious. And I take her word for it. S doesn’t lie when it comes to food and she knows her food. I sort of wished we had ordered more cakes to taste or that Caramel did a platter for 2 of littler versions of their cakes. Never mind that as S and I are deciding on a date to make a second trip down for the real deal – the cakey, chocolatey kind. Opera Cake, fear not, I will be back! Red velvet, stay where you are. And if you can, switch the dark chocolate you’re paired with to a cream cheese frosting?

The cakes polished off, our drinks sucked dry, we continued our catch-up in a dreamy sugar-induced state. And it was lovely. It was fine as. The tarts may not have looked very impressive but they held up well. These simple delights certainly made our reunion a whole lot sweeter, even if we did do very naughty things like gossip and bitch. 

Conclusion? We heart 1 Caramel. Such a laidback chilled out spot in a swish setting, how could we not like it? Am already eagerly waiting for our next trip down.

If you fancy it, check it out at the address below. While you do that, eat cake and have fun. S and I are headed to the beach for some sun and ice cold beers.

1 Caramel Patisserie
6 Handy Road
#01-01 The Luxe
Singapore 229234
Tel.: 6 338 3282
E: info@1-caramel.com