Desserts are like temporary stitches for a shattered heart

Desserts are like temporary stitches for a shattered heart. Well, it is to me anyways, but with every breath I take, the stitches keep snapping. Perhaps it’s not really a good permanent solution for a heart that’s battered and bruised, but for now I guess it’ll suffice as a temporary balm..

One of the places that i loved to go to is Antoinette at the Mandarin Gallery. My favorite drink here is the Royal Hot Chocolate, a thick hot chocolate, spicy with dashes of cinnamon, orange, star anise, cloves and vanilla. An aromatic treat for the senses! Antoinette serves one of the yummiest Crépes Sucrées or sweet crépes. You’ll never be disappointed by the Chocolicieux. The crèpes are served with a 66% dark chocolate ice cream, chocolate pieces, vanilla créme Chantilly and warm chocolate sauce. Chocolate overload! But in a oh so good way!

If that doesn’t satisfy your chocolate cravings, go for the Versailles cake a delightfully dark chocolate flourless sponge. Studies have shown that dark chocolate is rich in antioxidants, reduces blood pressure, improves blood flow and prevents plaque formation in your arteries. All the more reasons to continue eating dark chocolate.

Oh and if you’re at Antoinette be sure to try their macarons. My four favorite flavors are Charlotte, Brittany, Antoinette and Grand Cru. The Charlotte is filled with vanilla cream and strawberry coulis whilst the Brittany oh how I loved thee, a Beauty thats filled with caramel and fleur de sel. I like anything with caramel and salt, I just think it’s genius! The Antoinette is a macaron that’s filled with a milk chocolate Earl grey tea ganache and raspberry jam. And of course the Grand Cru, a dark bitter chocolate is used as a filling. I’m a dark chocolate fiend!

Jemput-jemput Pisang

My parents never came to visit me whilst I was studying in Perth. When mom and grandma finally did come over, it was during convocation week. I guess all the times my mates family came over and spent time with them, I was a tad envious and wished my family was there too.

Anyways when mom and grandma came, they started cooking on the get go. I was a senior resident advisor in Trinity a residential college in Perth, I had the choice of spacious rooms, but I chose to remain to my good old Hull Wing where a beautiful old oven and stoves resided. I had two rooms, a tiny room and another room filled with all sorts of spices and herbs and belacan which i used as a lounge.

Mom and grandma cooked up a storm that week in Perth. Cooking Asian home style favorites like Assam Pedas Ikan, Singgang Serani, Sambal Tumis, Fried Vermicelli and the most memorable of all the jemput-jemput udang(prawn fritters), that week my mates were always in my lounge room eating. We’d all pile up on the mattresses on the floor and watch bollywood movies on my Compaq Laptop. Memorable times! Home cooked food in a long while soothes homesickness. One of my kids Raj, still can’t forget mom’s jemput-jemput udang and when he finally came down to Singapore, he was hugging and gushing to my mom how he missed those jemput-jemput.

Mom made jemput-jemput pisang (banana fritters) today, and it made me remember all these memories and how much I missed my friends.

Friday Rituals

Every Friday, from 1pm till 2pm, mom and I will have our tea time together. Well we don’t really have tea, more like a grande caramel macchiato or a double shot caramel latte and cakes..it’s either that or we go get books or DVDs. There’s a cafe nearby where we go to when it’s pouring cats and dogs and we’re feeling too blah to walk in the rain. TCC is what it’s called and last week we tried their dark devotion, a molten chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and berry coulis, as well as a banana parfait. The banana parfait as the name implies had layers of stuff, lots of bananas, whipped cream, chocolate cake, crushed cookies and chocolate sauce, pretty nice IMHO. The molten chocolate cake was divine! Especially when you mix the ice cream with the oozing inner realms of the cake…delightful! The berry coulis cuts the cloyingness of the chocolate, not like that’s a bad thing. Chocolate is always good I wonder where we’ll go this Good Friday, chocolate eggs and hot cross buns sound pretty good to me right now!