Shopaholic in Tokyo - May 08

Here's sharing some of my prized purchases. Shop details were all provided in the travel journal already.

Assorted tea and accessories from Karel Capek and Afternoon Tea.

Onigiri Box from Shinzi Katoh.

Kitchen timer and bento box from Afternoon Tea.

Body wash and hand soap from L.B.C, Raconte-moi and Afternoon Tea.

Essential Oil from Raconte-moi. Love this aroma, but used up very quickly :(

Earrings from Jam Cover. So sweet!

Bracelet from Jam Cover.

Ring from Hotch Potch. Love this ring.

Assorted fruit cakes from Patisserie Qu'il fait bon. Yummy!

Didn't know that Shiseido Parlour also sold cheesecake? I love the loud blue colour of the box. Cheesecake was slightly heavy, similar to texture of New York Cheese Cake. Bought this at a basement counter of the Seibu department store at Ikebukuro.

Bought this at the Mont-Blanc shop at Jiyugaoka. Totally fell in love with the financier!!! The financier was fragrant, tender and the caramelised chopped nuts were addictive.

It was a perfect financier! I'm craving for this now. Although I can make my own financier, it just wasn't the same.
The brownies were so-so only though. The financier won hands-down.

Were these the only purchases? Well there were more, but only managed to take photos of these. At least my luggage wasn't overweight or bursting at the seams this time. LOL.

Frolick Frozen Yogurt, Holland Village

Always passed by this eye-catching store located next to Crystal Jade when I go Holland Village but never try it before. Love the refreshing concept and design, esspecially the naughty and loud 'dare-to-be-different' slogans.

Since it was a hot and humid afternoon, decided to give it a try! Didn't think much of frozen yogurt until I tried Frolick. While I eat yogurt, I usually like those with some fruits e.g. Meiji Mixed Fruits/Aloe Vera/Coconut Jelly, to balance the sourness of the yogurt.

Decided to go for plain yogurt (the flavoured one is Peach) for original taste and opted for Cup A (smallest cup) at $3.50 as I didn't know whether I would like it. Decided to add strawberry topping for a dollar as the toppings looked so irresistable (there were other choices like nuts, marshmallow, rasberry...). Then I realised that if I order Cup B at $4.80, I would get a free topping -_- And I also realised that they usually give out free buttons with every purchase but ran out of stock -_- Well...

Would think that plain yogurt is rather sour; it wasn't. In fact, the sourness came more from the strawberry than the yogurt. The yogurt was smooth, a little creamy, not too sweet with just a nice tinge of sourness. I like it because unlike ice cream which is too creamy and rich, this is light on the palate. Perfect quencher for a sunny afternoon :)

Love these two pictures... don't the colours just pop?

Check out Frolick's uber cool website as well at http://www.frolick.com.sg/

Frolick
241 Holland Ave#01-02 Holland Village

Christmas Special Workshop: Holiday Candy Shop

We are in the last quarter of 2008, which means that Christmas is not too far away! Yes, my friends and I were already talking about our annual Christmas party. I have to start thinking about Christmas presents and naturally Christmas bakes! Remembered I was in a baking frenzy last year so got to plan early this year to prevent a mad rush again.

Chef Joycelyn Shu introduces 2 new Christmas Special Workshops at Shermay's Cooking School this year - Holiday Candy Shop and Baked Treats with all new recipes!

Just attended the Holiday Candy Shop and will be attending the Baked Treats next month. Can't wait!

For the Holiday Candy Shop, 5 recipes were shown in the demo class.

• Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Bean Marshmallows
• Honeycomb Crunch
• Mocha Walnut Fudge with Valrhona Jivara Lactée 40% Milk Chocolate
• Spiced Fig, Pistachio & Valrhona Manjari 64% Dark Chocolate Logs
• Graham Crackers

And surprisely, all are non bake, except for the Graham Crackers. In addition, several bonus recipes are included in the pack for us to explore different variations in flavours.

Can't imagine I could make my own marshmallows at home. The recipe looks simple enough but the key is synchronising the beaten egg whites with sugar syrup. Shall try this! Can even vary flavours such as peppermint and strawberry. Baby pink strawberry flavour marshmallows anyone?

Was surprised that the ingredients for Honeycomb Crunch are short and sweet. Again, key is in the sugar syrup. It may not look impressive in liquid form but once hardened, it was really really crunchy and yummy!

There they were, the marshmallows which were set overnight, cut and dusted with potato starch and icing sugar mixture. No samples for us to try, but can imagine the creamy and melt-in-the-mouth texture.

Didn't think much of the Spiced Fig, Pistachio & Valrhona Manjari 64% Dark Chocolate Logs. Was more impressed with the Honeycomb crunch which was very crunchy and addictive. There were samples to try and I couldn't resist munching one after another :d

The Mocha Walnut Fudge could make very nice and presentable Christmas giveaways, I think.

My favourite park of the workshop - food tasting! Each participant got a plate of S'mores with a piece of Honeycomb crunch.

The S'mores was delicious with crunchy crackers, intense chocolate and creamy melted marshmallows. But I was completely sold by the Honeycomb Crunch.
Each participant also brought home a cute little Chinese takeaway box with 2 pieces of mocha fudge and 1 slice of the spiced fig and chocolate log. What a great Christmas gifting idea :)

For Christmas, probably I will prepare 3 jars (if I have the time) - 1 jar of marshmallows, 1 jar of fudge wrapped in golden foil, and of course 1 jar of honeycomb crunch! Wish me luck in making them!

Joycelyn's blog entries on this workshop:

http://brandoesq.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html

http://brandoesq.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html

Coconut Heaven Layer Cake with Luxurious Coconut Buttercream

Promised a birthday cake for 2 of my good friends' joint birthday celebration. Having attempted Chef Joycelyn Shu's Coconut Cupcakes with Luxurious Buttercream with success last month, I decided to take the plunge in attempting my first ever layer cake. Was actually quite ambitious since I have never baked a layer cake before and I dared make such an offer for a birthday celebration! (I was sure my gang would be very forgiving :p)

In fact, I wasn't even sure I could make it, as I worked late for the past work week and had no time to purchase the ingredients. Had to scramble on Friday evening to grab the essential stuff, rushed to another gathering for a while before finally starting prep close to 11pm.

The plan - just bake the cakes and let them chill in the fridge for a night (so that they would be easier to handle). The buttercream would be churned in the morning; then completed with decoration in the afternoon as the celebration was in the evening.

The cake batter is designed for 2 x 9 inches round cake pan. Both cakes would be levelled and split into 2 halves each to make a 4-layer cake. Initially was thinking that if I wasn't confident or there wasn't enough time, I could simply do a 2-layer cake and skip the levelling. But silly me forgot that my cake pan is only 7 inches. In the end, both cakes turned out taller which made more sense to split them into halves otherwise each layer would be too thick. (Later on after the cake was assembled, hubby gave me a deadpan look and told me I could just do 3 layer cake which didn't occurred to me then. Uh-huh.)

Anyways, by the time the cakes were cooled to room temperature and all washing done, it was already close to 2am. Blame it on my puny convention oven which could only manage 1 cake pan at a time plus silly me used 7 inch pan which meant that baking and cool down time had to be lengthened. Time to upgrade the oven! (hubby, can you hear me ;p)

The interesting and tricky part was on Saturday. While churning the buttercream, the 2 cakes were carefully prepared for the levelling (toothpicks inserted round the cakes at 2 inches interval, small paring knife to cut a track and finally a serrated knife sliced the cakes into halves). Although tedious, this was quite a useful method for rather equally levelled halves of the cakes. Then modest amounts of buttercream (didn't want to have overdose of buttercream) was slathered on the cakes, layer by layer, finally combining to a tall 4-layer cake! After priming the full cake with a thin layer of buttercream and let it set with the crumbs in the fridge for a while, came the most tedious and difficult part - slathering and smoothly the buttercream. No matter how carefully I smoothed the buttercream both top and sides, it just wasn't even. I guess it must take copious patience and time to achieve Chef Joycelyn Shu's stunningly simplicity.

In the end, I gave up and had to rush to Bunalun at Chip Bee Gardens to fetch some toasted coconut to hide my less than adequate buttercream decoration. Voila! The toasted coconut certainly did the trick and my cake instantly turned into an atas looking cake which could possibly pass off as a store-bought!

Proudly presenting my first ever Layer Cake! The toasted coconut looked a little like sliced almond, didn't they?

During the celebration in the evening, was really anxious to find out how the sliced cakes would turn out.

The cross-sectional view. Cake turned out a little too dense and crumbly. Cut wasn't clean and neat enough as I forgot to bring my serrated knife and had to make do with a plastic knife (given free along with store-bought cakes).

Nevertheless, my friends liked the cake! A big thank you to them for becoming my guinea pigs :p

I realised that baking a layer cake involves much more labour and patience as compared to cupcake which requires less effort. With this successful trial, I believe I would be inspired enough to attempt more layer cakes. More to come, hopefully.

Shopaholic in Tokyo Apr 08 - Strawberry Cheese Cake by [Gramercy] New York

Gem of a find during my Tokyo April 08 trip.

Chanced upon it at [Gramercy] New York, an over-the-counter store at the basement Food Hall of Takashimaya Times Square, Shinjuku.

Was first attracted by the hot pink box packaging. So pretty! Immediately I thought of recycling the box to contain bills, receipts, small stuff etc. Couldn't recall what else was sold other than this Strawberry Cheese Cake and another New York Cheese Cake in pale yellow box (original flavour). I suppose the Strawberry flavour could be a Spring edition.

Each box came with 5 pieces of individual wrapped cake. Bought only one box to try as I wasn't sure if I would like it; it was not cheap; it was prior to my flight back home, had already packed my luggage and didn't want to hand carry too many stuff.

Imagine the combination of creamy cheese cake with tartness of strawberry? Surprisingly the cake wasn't too sweet or heavy on the palate; texture was moist, dense but lighter than pound cake. One of the best cakes I have eaten and don't think can find this in Singapore. Regretted not buying more. Had to ration and savor the 5 pieces preciously between hubby and myself. Alas, gone in 2 days.

Tokyo 11-16 April 08 - Asakusa & Ueno

Back in April this year, I brought my mum, aunt and youngest brother to Tokyo for a 6 day 5 night tour. My mum, like me has an affection for Japan (inclination towards Japanese merchandise/packaging/groceries :p). My younger and youngest brothers are both fans of Japanese manga, animation, games (too bad my younger brother was having exams then and couldn't make it for the trip). My aunt, I don't know, probably just to 'look see'.

It was my first time ever acting as a 'tour guide' without hubby, bringing along 3 family members who have never been to Japan, don't speak or understand the language and have not tried such free and easy trips before. It certainly wasn't easy as a tour guide, since I have to take care of the different needs and budget. Pace was relatively slow so that they could shop to their hearts' content but I also added a ryokan stay at Lake Kawaguchi so that they could experience a bit of unique Japan culture. Chose to stay at Shinjuku Washington again (same as the previous trip in 2007) due to its convenience and price.

Didn't take many photos for this trip (quite tiring as a tour guide), so shall just blog about some highlights.

Itinerary

Day 1 - Singapore to Narita Airport, Tokyo. Shinjuku.
Day 2 - Asakusa - Sensoji, Ueno - Ueno Park.
Day 3 - Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko (Fuji Five Lakes).
Day 4 - Kawaguchiko to Shinjuku. Harajuku - Takeshitadori, Omotesando.
Day 5 - Ikebukuro, Shibuya, Shinjuku
Day 6 - Shinjuku. Narita Airport, Tokyo back to Singapore

Sensoji, Asakusa
I guess all first-timers to Tokyo must visit Sensoji (Asakusa Kannon Temple), a Buddhist temple located in Asakusa. And it is almost customary to enter through the Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate), the outer gate of the Sensoji and popular symbol of Asakusa. Upon entering Sensoji, most people would already be mesmerise by Nakamise, a shopping street of over 200 meters which leads from the outer gate to the temple's second gate, the Hozomon.
A large variety of traditional Japanese souvenirs like yukata, fans and snacks like Ningyoyaki (Japanese Red Bean Pancake人形焼, ‎にんぎょうやき), Senbei (Japanese rice cracker) are sold along Nakamise. We could spent like 1-2hrs shopping even before reaching the temple proper!

Sensoji was really crowded being an immensely popular, must-visit attraction. I think there was a 50th Anniversary (to mark completion of the main temple hall in 1958) celebration during our visit.

Omikuji. Fortune telling paper slips found at many temples. Be sincere in your prayers, randomly draw a stick and retrieve the paper slips according to the number drawn. Predictions range from daikichi ("great good luck") to daikyo ("great bad luck"). Tie the piece of paper around the provided structure, good fortune will come true or bad fortune can be averted. Brother had a go at it.

Ice-cream sandwiched between wafer biscuit. Yummy!
Agemanju - deep fried dough with red bean paste filling.

The sesame flavour was not bad.
Ramune ラムネ! (弹珠汽水, 波子汽水) A carbonated lemon-lime flavoured soft drink. This is so nostalgic! The bottle is made of glass and sealed with a marble. The marble is held in place by the pressure of the carbon dioxide in the drink. To open the bottle, a device to push the marble inward is provided with the bottle. The marble is pushed inside the neck of the bottle where it rattles around while drinking. Two little glass nodes inside the bottle allow the drinker to hook the marble in place while drinking. Source: Wikipedia.



Ueno Park, Ueno


Since Ueno is quite near Asakusa, we made a trip to Ueno Park after Sensoji to catch the remaining of the sakura bloom.



Besides sakura, lots of lovely flowers in full bloom as well.

Street busking.

And during this season, some eatery stores would be set-up near the large pond in Ueno Park, drawing some crowds.
Steam potato, steam till soft and fluffy, complemented with butter and mayonaise.
Grilled cuttlefish. Smelled and tasted really good but expensive!
One of Japanese favourite activities during the sakura blooming season - picnic gatherings among friends, family members or colleagues to eat, drink, sing, dance and admire the sakura (hanami - cherry blossom viewing). It is somewhat a culture, with people going to the parks in advance to 'reserve the best tree/view.