Eating Out: Crepes & Macarons

Went to the CBD today. Haven't been there in months! I miss the array of awesome food you can get there, and I've been wanting to try this creperie for ages. It wasn't hard to find, even with my ability to somehow always wind up lost, I found it easily. And it is so so small.

The painting below is an accurate interpretation of the salon. It's so tiny, but cosy at the same time. But that's how alleyway eateries are. Homey. =DDD

I ordered a White chocolate crepe with raspberries and coconut. They had sweet and savoury crepes, but with my sweet tooth, i just had to venture for a sweet crepe, hands down. So what if it was lunch time and I should really eat something nutritious instead of dessert? I could eat these for all my meals, haha. The prices weren't bad either. The sweet crepes cost a maximum of $7.50. The savoury were a maximum of $9.

Amanda obviously had the same thinking as me, a kindred spirit who believed in flexible meals. She had a Double cream chocolate crepe with hazelnuts.

And what I really loved about the crepes that they just oozed out chocolate when you cut into them. It's practically sinful.

Eating these were like 10 minutes of complete bliss. I was sure the other patrons were looking at us weirdly as we sat there eating with pure pleasure on our faces.

Even after that cavity growing session with crepes, I still couldn't pass by the Cupcake Family without buying something. Have been wanting to try macarons, as I've never had them before. I picked a Green Tea Macaron. ($1.50)

Macarons are a French pastry. It's like a meringue, delicate and airy, but with a filling in the middle. Some flavours go well with these type of confectioneries, like strawberry. And some don't, like green tea.

I would pick another flavour next time. Green Tea was... interesting. I should have just stuck to green tea ice cream or bread. I ate the whole thing anyway because the texture was beautiful, soft and chewy.

Chocolate Cake & Prawn noodles

A perfect way to use up leftover chocolate from fondue: bake a chocolate cake! I used wholemeal flour, brown sugar, yogurt, less sugar, trying in vain to make up for the very unhealthy amount of chocolate I was putting into this cake. I was attempting to balance out the unhealthy factor with healthier options, i guess. But this 'healthy' chocolate cake isn't as good as the rich, moist, full of butter chocolaty cake. Some unhealthy foods really do taste better...

The cake does taste good though. It's light, and you can taste the subtle dark chocolate, plus it's not that sweet. And i added in some frozen cherries which made it sweeter when you bit into the cherry bits. The top was hard, very tempted to cut it off and heap it with icing but than it is even more unhealthy... T^T

And dinner tonight was prawn noodles with snow peas. On Masterchef the contestants were battling each other, and one of the challenges were peeling prawns! They peeled it really fast too, working like machines. Whenever I peel a prawn, i'll eat it immediately. That's why my mum doesn't trust me with prawn peeling, haha.

Japanese Cheesecake & Chocolate Fondue

I baked! Finally. Now this blog is official, hahaha. What's a dessert blog without cake? Plus baking is a stress reliever, can't seem to stay away from the kitchen. It's like it's calling out to me, with all these recipes to try...

So I've been waiting to bake this cake for a long long time. Ever since I started craving Breadtalk Japanese Cheesecake, I've been searching the internet for a decent recipe. And I found it! Then when my mum said her cell group was coming over, I jumped up at the chance. A reason to bake! And here it is:

Strawberries are so expensive at this time of year. But fondue is not the same without strawberries.

The cake was really light, soft and fluffy. It was like eating clouds! I was so happy with it, another thing i don't have to eat when i go back to Singapore, haha. I can save up stomach space for other foods.

Here is the fondue! It's almost like Max Brenner's Classic European Chocolate Fondue for two? Hahaha. Nothing can beat the taste of warm, melting chocolate paired with the gooey softness of marshmallows... My mum had to drag me away from it....

I can still smell the chocolate... Will make it again next week.

Green Tea Mochi + Chicken Pot Pie

Before you go "Mochi again??", I must tell you I used green tea powder this time, so it has a nice healthy green glow to it in a nonradioactive kind of way. Oh, and i used milk instead of water.

I had to mash these red beans like crazy, good arm exercise and stress reliever, hahaha. Pieces are half chunky.

And they still look clumsy, like jellied mushrooms or something. I'll have to practise more...

Here are the chicken pot pies! My mum has been making me cook more, but i want to make desserts instead... Pastry is used in desserts, so i'm happy. ^^

Nice fluffy pastry with hot chicken filling in the middle. Yummy~! I simply cook the filling, pour it in a cup, place puff pastry on top and chuck it in the oven for 20 minutes. Easy and yummy dinner!

Will have to make the filling more saucy next time as the pastry absorbs it like sponge. Plus cut the chicken into smaller bits.

Anko Mochi/Daifuku

First post! And first attempt on the red bean daifuku/mochi. Turned out pretty well! I was surprised at how easy it was to make. It was done under 10 minutes.

Mum cooked a lot of red beans, hehe. She was appalled at how little I actually need to wrap it up. "What should I do with all these red beans??" She cried. Don't worry Mum, i'll use it to make more for Friday. Red beans should be mashed up so you get a smooth consistency when you bite into it.

Mochi was so sticky! The dough kept sticking to my hands even though they were coated with three layers of corn starch. Stickiest things ever. That's why they weren't smooth after i rolled them up... looks so wrinkly... =(

I used warm green tea instead of water, as i do not have any matcha powder. I could not really taste the green tea, so next time i would either have to soak the tea bag for longer or buy matcha powder.

The recipe called for 150 ml of liquid, but i only added 100 ml because the mixture got too runny. Maybe 100 ml should be fine.

Tasted really nice, like store bought ones. Presentation was lacking, but the stickiness of the mochi, the subtle sweetness of the red beans, brother commenting on how weirdly shaped it is, and i was in heaven.

I want to try to make ice cream mochi next time. I'll have to use hard ice cream and wait for the mochi to cool down before stretching it. But yea, it doesn't look like store bought ones, haha.