I must be developing a sweet tooth because one fine Monday morning, all I could think about when waking up is those glorious sinfully good cupcakes that was sitting at the counter among the array of sweet bites, haunting me, calling my name and teasing me relentlessly.
How I wish someone could understand the urge sometimes... to really go all the way out there just to get what they want. I swear it wasn’t the Monday blues, neither do I think I was pregnant with sudden special cravings, (although my bloated tummy can sometimes be deceiving, but I swear it was just the beers!) This, my dear friends, is some serious business and to be bugging Crazieapple since the wee morning just shows how far I would go to get what I want, I think the conversation precisely goes like this:-
9.30am on BBM to Crazieapple: “morning!! im craving for cupcakes!!!!”
11.30am on BBM to Crazieapple: “Can you be a sweetheart and help me go tapao some cupcake from slice of heaven pretty please? I’ll be your BFF!! Thanks, Hearts and Kisses!”
3.00pm on BBM to Crazieapple: “Do you think I should go to BSC later after work? I really need those cupcakes….”
5.00pm on BBM to Crazieapple: “Feipoooo, what’s the plan tonight? Cupcake or what??”
6.00pm on BBM to Crazieapple: “I’m OTW home~! Woohoo!! Cupcake awaits!! I need it DESPERATELY”
~At Home~
6.30pm to Crazieapple: “ So what time should we head over to BSC???”
6.40pm to Crazieapple: “I want… I want… I want….” (Merajuk at this point, because Crazieapple was waiting for Mr. W to finish work to go with us)
7.00pm to Crazieapple: “What if the Slice of heaven closes and I cannot satisfy my cravings today???? I’ll DIE” (I was beyond worry at this point)
~8.00pm calls up slice of heaven BSC branch, cannot get through… called Jaya One branch to ask for the outlet to confirm the Opening hours~ Thankfully BSC’s closes at 10pm..”
8.30pm – Finally made it to BSC, with butterflies in my stomach, I walk towards the “Slice of HEAVEN….”
**Note that I carefully wiped out all Crazieapple’s replies, because I detected hints of annoyance and frustrations and some of the replies weren’t very pretty nor polite either…** *Laughs*
So, after one whole day of whining, I’ve got my hands on these babies! Wooooo!
Whilst the coffee cupcake and cherry cheesecake kind of fell short in flavors, with a slightly course texture on the icing for the chocolate cupcake and the overall sour cherry toppings on the cheesecakes, it was the RED VELVET and Sticky Butterscotch that took the spotlight. Wonderfully moist with those to-die-for butter cream. Both choices is my absolute favourite and a must order each and every time.
Then there was also the chocolate durian cake, densely packed with those durian flesh, and minimal sponge coated with sinful chocolate that will make you wish you had burned more calories at the gym before you leave home
Whiny or not, this trip was worth it. Surely they deliver what they preaches, for these desserts tasted “Just Heavenly”
There's just something magical about these colourful petite French darlings. The craze for macarons seems to carry from europe down to south east asia and futher down under back to Augustdiners households.
Luxbite i've heard, was opened by Malaysians (So Proud!!). The brainchild of both experienced pastry chefs (Bernard and Yen), this dessert haven certainly has its fair shares of publicity both in the aussie culinary world as well as foodies like us. People with sweet tooth like us definitely should give this cafe a lookover. From what i've heard, aside from some delishness macarons, eye-popping desserts, this cafe serves some pretty mean breakfast too, care to comment?
The thing about macarons is- people are starting to be innovative with their flavors and that’s what I always looked forward to. Take Luxbite for example, they offer 16 mind blowing flavours, many you would have spotted in Nathalie’s but I do yearn for their kaya toast, peanut butter and jelly, and salted caramel again. Now… now… if only these were not many miles away and out of my reach. It’s easier to indulge in this pretty little thing, but when it comes to making them- hmmmm… let’s just say it takes a while to perfect the art of making the perfect macarons shell (i.e. no cracks, and with happy feet! Crazieapple would be nodding her head away in agreement by now)
Thankfully, the ones in Luxbite were light with a slight chewy bite, although we would welcome a little bit more chewy consistency! You’d also have to be careful of some of the choices, as certain flavors can get too unrelenting sweet and you’ll actually cringe. I didn’t quite like the rose and lychee one which tasted a little bit too much with fragrant and the lychee garnache resemble a very sweet paste. *cringe again at the thought*
Apart from their macarons, I’ve heard plenty of good things about their desserts. It is apparently better than their macarons, unfortunately I didn’t have enough space to stomach it during the day but would definitely make a mental note to visit their desserts soon!
The cafes has a simple layout with predominantly white furnishing, clean cut and comfortable for weekend shoppers to indulge over a cup of coffee while watching toorak’s passer-bys. Needless to say, after this sinful indulgement, we headed over to our favourite shopping street at Chapel for some much more intensive workout (at the shops and credit cards!) *laughs*
I can gush about Levain patisserie for about the longest time. The café scene in KL till now has been not particularly strong, much to my dismay- but I am seeing some improvements in the recent years with several decent cafes developing around towns, Antipodean, Ginza café, just to name a few.
What makes levain patisserie stands out among the rest is their interior and overall café façade. The gorgeous ambiance of French settings with European scenery paintings, flowery sheers, and colorful flowers uplifted the already vibrant atmosphere. The careful use of wood colors and down tones for furnitures make this café warm and friendly, all suited better for both family hangouts and friends gatherings.
Stir to left upon entrance, and you’ll find yourself engulf amongst the freshly baked goodies. Already people were busying themselves with heaping varieties of breads, tarts onto their tray (yes everything is self service here). By the stove oven, an open display of the production of bakeries can be seen and the pastry chefs were happy and quick to assist to recommend their freshly baked items.
Bread aside, there is also a wonderful selections of desserts to indulge in. Cheesecakes, fruit tarts, and macaroons displayed delicately making it hard to resist.
The weather was breezy that afternoon with mild rain drizzles; it was naturally perfect for me to settle myself comfortably at a table by the outside garden. Crazieapple is in charge of the orders, and I gave her free hand to order whatever she wants. It comes to no surprise her pick comes with 5 choices of macarons (what’s with her recent macaron craze and all), mango and passion fruit tart, chocolate truffle cake, mentaiko bun, cheese croissant, and turkey mushroom pizza. I was going to order 4 more desserts on top of this but was restraint by Crazieapple as we were going to head to a Ramadan Bazaar after this. But the desserts were so sinfully good. AUGUSTDINERS WORDS. Go try them.
Chocolate Truffle cake was a delight to eat. The taste was rich and semi-sweet, with what we suspect to be some grounded coffee beans hidden inside. I love it, love it, and love it!
Mango and passion fruit tart was equally visually appealing. The fruits were mildly sour (in a good way), and I like how the tart is slightly dense but easily forked though at the same time. I’m not much of a fan of flaky, crumbly tarts.
What frustrates me, however is their coffee. It took forever to arrive, I think It was 20-30 minutes and by then my chocolate truffle cake has melted and the texture became gooey. (I always save my desserts to pair it with coffee as I enjoy the bittersweet taste of mixing both together). It was unfortunate that the coffee did not flair as well as i'd have liked, the temperature was too hot, and lacks aromatic flavours.
Macaroons- the context of augustdiners household this month. We talk macaroons, buy macaroons as gifts, learn to make macaroons, and planning to sell macaroons for charity later! Hahaha, talk about being obsessive. Definitely we were anxious to try the ones in Levain and compare. Unfortunately the ones in Levain did not flair as well as Nathalie's. The macaroon shells were too soft, the garnish within is too unrelenting sweet. Definitely a NO-GO with the macaroons here, we didn’t even finish it.
All the bakeries picked were satisfactory with no complaints.
P/S: For those doggie lovers looking for a place on doggie day out- i believe Levain is a dog friendly place (outdoor)!
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