guess wad i found in the refrigerator compartment? Canelé snow-skin mooncakes! i wonder how they'd taste like. looks yummy. there's green tea & macadamia nuts, rose & raspberry jelly, chocolate walnut & fudge brownie, roasted walnut & sesame praline, coffee with irish creme ganache and lastly, dark chocolate with crunchy pearls. cant wait for mid-autumn festival to approach. its just round the corner!!

edited/
it's gone! no idea where it is, but definitely not in the fridge!! gone. overnight! there goes yummy mooncakes, and have to settle for the traditional kinds (with double/single yorks!). high cholesterol stuffs.

Earl Grey Ice-cream with Milk Chocolate Shards & Raspberries ($8.50) [*****] - A perfect infusion of earl grey tea and vanilla ice-cream, leaving a lingering finish of earl grey on the palate. The ice-cream had good 'longevity' in my opinion - it took its time to melt - allowing you to savour this delightful dessert. There's a nice balance of flavours here with a mildly sour tinge of raspberries, sweet milk chocolate, and sufficient earl grey to satisfy tea-lovers.  A definite must-try for ice-cream fans.

A warm, hearty concoction from Canele, this Rustic Bacon & Pea Soup ($8.50) [****.] has pieces of bacon, baby corn, chicken, peas and mushrooms. The essence of each ingredient can be tasted with a mere spoonful of soup. It's light, definitely no MSG and such, and made with fresh ingredients that makes it a tasty start to a meal. The soup is served with Canele's bread on the side, so dip away...

Now this is what I'd call a cure to a cold. 

The I-wanna-know[s]:

Taste - 8.5/10
Price - $ to $$
Service - 7/10
Ambience - 7/10
Accessibility - 8/10

Legend:
[$]-cheap like peanuts: ($10 & below/person)
[$$]-average Jane ($15-$25/person)
[$$$]-you might wanna tke tht card out..($30-$60/person)
[$$$$]-extremely exorbitant ($70 & above/person)
[* to *****] - rating(s) for individual dishes

Locations:
Paragon

B1-25 Paragon, 290 Orchard Road

Telephone : (65) 6733-8893
Opening Hours : 11am to 10pm daily

Website: http://www.canele.com.sg

Other branches: Raffles City Shopping Centre | Shaw Centre | Robertson Walk

From a nice lady at Chanel who arranged to have it delivered on Friday. So ends my erm, little ordeal.

Fast forward to yesterday evening, when we walked into a rather packed Canele. Approached one of the counter staff anyway, when Norman asked if we could have a table. The bespectacled young man behind the cash register looked up, turned his head and looked over his shoulder (check blind spot??), and then.. "Err, no."

I'd love to meet your hiring manager! *clears throat* How does a simple "We're currently full at the moment, but if you don't mind waiting for a while.. Perhaps we can seat you in 15 minutes" sound? And of course, checking with your colleagues before you tell us no.. Not just check blind spot ah!

I have heard about this famous Bak Kut Teh at Balestier for quite a while but I never got to try it until recently.

The boss is an interesting character, I think he should be quite an egocentric man :P His walls are plastered with photos of him and celebrities. The time when Lai Wah and I were there, he was sitting on this shabby swivel chair (not very befitting of his fame though), and overseeing the whole operations in an impassive manner. I wonder does he do that everyday, it must be quite stuffy and hot to sit near the kitchen entrance.

I came with quite high expectations because it's supposed to be famous. I think it taste ok, nothing to drool over or a must to come back again. The kiam chye (preserved vegetables) surprisingly is an attention grabber. I like the way it's prepared with garlic, gives it more depth in flavour.

Another famous place, Canelé. It started off as a dessert place but now has branched to serving meals at Shaw Towers.

I forgot what this is, something chocolate and hazelnut. I have visited Canelé twice and both times, I feel that the dessert was too rich and I shuddered to finish it. I love desserts. It's quite a tragedy (for the dessert anyway) if I dread to finish my desserts or feel sick after that. And in Canelé, I have experienced such trauma. It will take me a lot to go back again.

扬枝干露 (Mango with Pomelo) at IMM Crystal Jade is one of my all-time favorites even though it does not carry a name of fame. And it has to be this restaurant at IMM; the other Crystal Jade restaurants don't make it quite like this one. I love it so much that I can eat few bowls of it, which I never did...yet. The puree is tangy and taste like mango. I have tasted many which either taste starchy, artificially flavored or taste like condensed milk overload. Here, their mango cubes are firm and they are quite generous in the amount. There is enough bite to their mango cubes and pomelo bits and the temperature of the dessert is just right. I like the tartness of this dessert, it just refreshes your palate, unlike many which is more sweet than tart.

I was so eager to eat it that I almost finished it till I remembered I want to take a picture of it.

Canele is located at:

#B1-81/82 Raffles City Shopping Center

Yuan: Friday 25 April 2008, we ventured to Robertson walk to try Canele's Le Royale. Appearance wise looks a bit like the typical hazelnut chocolate cake. It has a layer of hazelnut. It is suppose to have some alcohol content according to other reviews but I could not taste it all. Chocolate wise, the chocolate is rich and nice. However the down side is that the cake is a little rough. Thus at first bite I felt that the one from the Line (Shangri La) and Bakers' Inn is better. However as I tried more chocolate cakes, it turned out that I had a 2^nd opinion of the Le Royale. It seems that the dark chocolate mousse is one of the best around. 

Fen: When I first see the description on the Sunday Times article (50 yummiest cakes, April 06, 2008), I knew I got to try this cake. To refresh, this cake was described as

"Made of 64% dark chocolate, this deep, dark cake has a touch of rum to give the eater a nice buzz"

This cake didn't come easy. Yuan and I waited for 15 min outside the Raffles City branch and was told that it will be an additional 30 min wait for a table. Thus, we made our way to Robertson Walk. For people for are directionless like me, we took 174 to OG (Chinatown) and switch to 143 (i.e. reached in 10min without a long wait for the bus).

Alright, this cake has a crunchy hazelnut taste and frankly speaking, there is no rum taste at all. The chocolate, no doubt is really rich but it doesn't give a heaty after-taste. The cake is not as smooth as some of the other chocolate mousse cake I have tried.

I would say, smoothness is pretty important for cake as so, my rating for Le Royale would be 8/10. I don't mind coming back for a 2nd visit but definitely not my first choice. Sold at $7 per slice, not including GST or service charge

Alors depuis que j'ai en ma possession le bouquin incontournable sur les cannelés, je n'ai pu m'empêcher de commencer à tester chaque recette de Chefs. J'ai choisi celle de Thierry Marx pour une raison bassement prosaïque : il ne me restait que 3 œufs et peu de beurre. Or, celle de Thierry Marx est d'emblée calibrée pour 10 cannelés. J'ai opté, comme toujours, pour des moules en Teffal, je trouve le résultat inimitable par rapport aux moules en silicone moins adaptés au côté craquant-moelleux qui fait le renommée du cannelé. S'il faut une autre règle d'or, c'est :utilisez des ingrédients de qualité! J'ai pris par exemple une gousse de vanille de Tahiti que l'on m'a ramené et le résultat était extrêmement parfumé.

Le bon rhum est également bienvenu. Thierry Marx doit même en abuser puisqu'il déclare à propos du cannelé: "il possède la rondeur douce et sensuelle d'une bitte d'amarrage du port de Bordeaux"... Bien sûr, bien sûr...

Ingrédients :
Pour 10-12 cannelés

1 gousse de vanille de Tahiti
1 cuillère à soupe de vieux rhum
1 œuf
2 jaunes d’œuf
½ litre de lait
200 g de sucre semoule
125 g de farine tamisée
20 g de beurre pommade
1 cuillère à soupe d’huile d’arachide

Préparation:

Préparez la pâte la veille, idéalement.

1) Mélangez les jaunes d’œuf et l'œuf entier avec les 200 g de sucre semoule à l’aide d’un fouet (un p'tit coup de KitchenAid par exemple...). Ajoutez ensuite le lait.
Versez dans une casserole avec la gousse de vanille fendue en 2 dans la longueur, portez doucement à ébullition tout en remuant régulièrement à l’aide d’un fouet.

Versez ensuite la préparation (sans enlever la gousse qui continue d'infuser) dans un récipient, et la laisser refroidir à température ambiante. La crème prend une consistance épaisse et un peu "granuleuse" en refroidissant.

2) Une fois la "crème" refroidie, ajoutez la farine, fouettez, l ’huile d’arachide, fouettez et le rhum.

3) Beurrez généreusement vos moules à cannelés à l’aide d’un pinceau, puis entreposez-les au réfrigérateur le temps que le beurre durcisse. Préchauffez le four à 200°C.

4) Enfin, remplissez au 2/3 les moules et laissez-les cuire 45mn à 200°C . Démoulez assez vite et mangez-les assez vite pour éviter qu'ils ne ramollissent...

Pour la première fournée plus croquante, plus caramélisée, j'ai moins rempli les moules pour en réaliser de plus petits... :

Idéal pour les pique-niques... ;)

Be sure to check out this terrific baker during your next visit to Bordeaux. The house specialty is the Canelé de Bordeaux, a rum, vanilla and cinnamon flavored custard surrounded by a thin crispy shell...sort of like a crème brulée to go. Baillardran boutiques are scattered throughout the city.

As published in Art du Voyage's Travel Notes, Spring 2008

Un auteur(e), Isabelle Bunisset, a décidé de répondre à ces questions en interrogeant un grand nombre de chefs cuisiniers au sujet de cette petite pâtisserie toute simple, à la forme originale, mi croquante mi moelleuse. Chacun apporte son anecdote et sa recette avec sa propre patte. Un régal de lecture.

Ainsi, grâce à Hélène et Elisabeth, Joëlle, Mercotte, Anne et moi avons participé à cette avant-première gourmande: la présentation du nouveau livre des Editions Feret : Le cannelé, ce mystère nommé désir ! Anne et Mercotte avaient pour l'occasion confectionné moults cannelés. En voici 3 Mercottiens sauvés à temps de la fringale insatiable des blogueuses :

Pour le lieu, nous avons choisi notre QG , le restaurant Chez Jean, dont l'accueil et le service était d'une gentillesse égale à la qualité de la présentation (disposition des canelés sur des ardoises, avec un fondant au chocolat en guise d'accompagnement) ! L'auteur(e), très simple, était passionnante (merci à Hélène pour la photo):

Prix : 29 €

Déjà testée : les cannelés rhum-vanille de Thierry Marx.

 

You got to pay a little more to gain the benefits because mass produced chocolate only has a little tiny amount of real chocolate as it is usually a mixture of poor quality fats, sugars, additives and vegetable oils. Thus, to enjoy the burst of benefits go for the high quality gourmet chocolate because the cocoa bean is the key ingredient here.

Real cocoa contains natural ingredients like flavonoids (flavan-3-ols) and phenols (phenyl ethlamine) that are known antioxidants. Antioxidants offer protection against heart disease and also slow down the oxidation of Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL), also known as bad cholesterol. (Source: ezyhealth&beauty, Mar 2008)

I only eat dark chocolates which is a good thing because not all types of chocolates provide the same kind of benefits. Milk chocolates contains more fat and sugar but less cocoa and fewer antioxidants than dark chocolates. As for white chocolate, it contains mixture of fats like cocoa butter, milk and sugar, so it is not really chocolate because there is no percentage of cocoa.

To have a healthy chocolate treat, select chocolates that list chocolate, chocolate liquor, cocoa, cacao as the first ingredient. Alternatively, select chocolates that contains 60% to 70% of cocoa, with the remaining 30% to 40% containing no oils other than natural cocoa butter. (Source: ezyhealth&beauty, Mar 2008)

I ate one that is 86% cocoa. It was very bitter but I could taste the real cocoa and the taste linger on for a while. It was heavenly!

Ladies, have you ever craved for chocolates during your premenstrual syndrome (PMS) period? It is a very common sight among my group of girlfriends to grab chocolates just before and during our period. It is implicit that eating chocolate makes one feeling happier!

There is a reason behind it. As mentioned earlier, chocolates contains phenyl ethylaminem, a happy substance for the mood and is naturally produced in the body when one is in love. (Hoo... isn't this wonderful?)

Some gourment chocolate brands in Singapore are Sins, Godiva, Canele, Prestat, and many more. I read that Sin have their own range of tea chocolates that are infused with a choice of either Earl Grey or Green Tea. Gosh, being a tea-lover and chocolate-lover, I have to try it!

Godiva sells the Dark Chocolate Pearls (see picture below) at S$12. Oh, I am so going to give myself a treat for that. :D

 (Source:

Godiva) 

Here are the winners and runners-up:
PIZZA: Pizzeria Bianco, Phoenix (WINNER); DiFara Pizza, Brooklyn, NY; Pizzeria Mozza, Los Angeles
STEAK: Peter Luger Steak House, Brooklyn (WINNER); Cut, Los Angeles; Doe's Eat Place, Greenville, Miss.
TACOS: Taco Taco Cafe, San Antonio (WINNER); Taqueria del Sol, Atlanta; South Beach Bar & Grill, Ocean Beach, Calif.
Hamburgers: Bobcate Bite, Santa Fe, NM (WINNER); Taylor's Automatic Refresher, St. Helena, Calif; The Meers Store and Restaurant, Lawton, Okla.
FRIED CHICKEN: Willie Mae's Scotch House, New Orleans (WINNER); Price's Chicken Coop, Charlotte, NC; Blackberry Farm, Walland, Tenn.
RIBS: 17th Street Bar & Grill, Murphysboro, Ill (WINNER); Charles Vergos Rendezvous, Memphis; Jaspers, Plano, Texas.

IN THE NEWS: The Los Angeles Times' S. Irene Virbila awards two stars in reviewing Bar Marmont (8171 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, (323) 650-0575; www.chateaumarmont.com), while Jenn Garbee reports the opening of Santa Monica bakery Grateful Bread (1518 Montana Ave., Santa Monica, (310) 394-7178, gratefulbread.org). latimes.com ... City Beat's Don Waller reviews Pailin Thai (5621 Hollywood Blvd., L.A., 323-467-7715). lacitybeat.com ... LA Weekly's Jonathan Gold reviews Earthen Restaurant (1639 S. Azusa Ave., Hacienda Heights, 626-964-1570) and takes a first bite at Tanzore (50 N. La Cienega Blvd., Beverly Hills, 310-652-3838). laweekly.com ... LA.Eater.com notes the opening of Nonna (9255 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, 310.270.4455). ... La.Foodblogging.com reviews Bistro 45 (45 Mentor Avenue, Pasadena, 626-795-2478). ... The Delicious Life visits i Cugini (1501 Ocean Ave, Santa Monica, 310-451-4595, www.icugini.com). thedeliciouslife.blogspot.com ... FranklinAvenue.blogspot.com notes the closing of Silver Lake's Flor Morena and reviews Canele (3219 Glendale Blvd., Atwater Village). ... EatingLA.blogspot.com visits Tokyo Table (50 N. La Cienega Blvd., Beverly Hills, 310-657-9500).