I always wanted to try this flavor combination of earl grey, milk chocolate & hazelnut and I’m so glad someone finally said, “I like hazelnut/tea.” Not necessarily together, but I did that anyway and it turned out to be one of my new favorites.

Earl grey gives it a citrusy note that pairs so well with hazelnut and milk chocolate. This cake is made with earl grey milk tea cake layers, sweet and salty hazelnut praline buttercream and earl grey milk chocolate cremeux.

2023 has started off busy but fulfilling. I’m always looking to improve things and my goal is to always make things tasty. Call it itchy fingers, but I always like to tweak recipes here and there to make them more stable, balanced, less sweet, improve ingredients, play around with products etc. And I think I’ve finally found a good rhythm.

I used to make all butter sponge cakes (think victoria sponge cake), but the cake would always dry out quickly and it also took a longer time to temper as the butter in the cake solidifies. It’s also a bit rich to be paired with buttercream so we changed our cakes to a light and airy yogurt based sponge cake that is leavened with eggs. I’m really happy with it and honestly it’s something that I snack on if there’s trim. 🤭

After trialing a few kinds of butters (elle & vire, president, the phoon huat range, scs, ETC.) – I’ve finally settled on president butter. The taste is especially apparent in the parmesan sables. The butter feels richer, but as you know prices of everything are exorbitant.
I use a vanilla extract that I cured and transported from living in SF from 3 years ago using Tahitian vanilla beans (the aroma is UNREAL – think cherries). 1kg of fresh beans costs US$1000 :’) That being said though, the vanilla cake is possibly the best vanilla cake I’ve had – reminiscent of a really good scoop of vanilla ice cream. Fresh local eggs, sea salt, president cream, Australian greek yogurt, good cheese, etc.

I was once told that everything I do is labor intensive.. and not cost effective – I make the caramelised cookie crumble for the cheesecakes and they are filled generously with crust (our favorite part). I’d like to say that 99% of our components are handmade – pralines, jams, creams, fillings, etc. BUT, IT’S WORTH IT.

My point is that I’ve come to this formula of ingredients and meticulous testing of recipes to get the best tastes possible, hence the price increment. This model really only works on a small scale and I truly just want to be able to serve delicious food with a clear conscience – that is something I can’t compromise on and I really am pleasantly surprised to see that there are people who appreciate these sentiments. Despite not growing up with a silver spoon, I’ve always had the privilege of having delicious tasty food on the table (thanks mum & dad) – this one of the most important things in life for me and I’m really very grateful for the support and acceptance for people who believe in our desserts and I really hope to spread good tastes to more people.

I do also want to add, that I’ve noticed a new (some not-so-new) wave of very hard working people who have also stuck true to their beliefs in serving up good food. Shout out to JT and crew at puffs & peaks, Madebymin (now relocated to Taiwan :’) ), Yong Chin at C’rius bake (great range of artisan bread at an affordable price) and Chef Yasushi Ishino and crew at Platine Patisserie. These are the places that I recommend and always go back to – uncompromising in quality and flavor.

It’s been 5 years since I’ve celebrated lunar new year in Singapore! Its honestly been heartwarming to be back with family and friends and one of the first celebrations I’ve truly enjoyed. We also very quickly found a pocket of time to make some pineapple tarts and rushed to get this out just before the big day!

Of course, I had to put a spin on it because why not right? So we made parmesan and pineapple linzer tarts. The cookie base is made with a parmesan sablé and the filling is pineapple jam spiced with Tahitian vanilla, cloves and cinnamon. Something familiar, something different. I had so much fun making these and taste testing them.

The cheese gives it a salty umami flavor and the tangy and sweet pineapple filling balances out the flavors.

I hope everyone had a good time celebrating and we wish everyone abundance and happiness this year!

I first tasted this flavor when my friend Jason in San Francisco made this. We’d often have dinner together with his wife, Yoko and we had many delicious meals together. With that said, he knows his stuff. He isn’t a baker/pastry chef or a person who works in the kitchen – he works in tech. Strangely enough, he married his eye for detail with his obsession for dessert and he always manages to outdo a lot of dessert programmes in the city.

Jason’s sakura and strawberry cake had umeshu, salted sakura leaves and strawberries. It’s like spring bursting in your mouth. The sweet and sour umeshu and the delicious flavor bomb of strawberries from Rodriguez farm and earthy nutty flavor of the salted sakura leaves really left a lingering imprint in my memory that I had to remake this.

I didn’t want to use the umeshu that Jason made as it’s my final bottle split between Lih and I so I found some ume tea which works just as well. Floral, nutty, and with the sweet scent of strawberries – this is really one of my favorites. I wish I could make this more often, but the weather here is impossible and also other logistical issues that cottage bakers would understand makes this not “delivery friendly”. I do however hope that one day, I’ll be able to open a small dine in shop and share these bakes.

Until then ◡̈ Happy 2023.