Tuesday, April 24, 2012

SweetSpot, Singapore

SweetSpot is located at the flashy Marina Bay Sands hotel, opposite Ku De Ta, the "finest entertainment destination in South East Asia". Right.

                                     

SweetSpot has a wide array of pretty-looking treats. Their macarons, mille-feuilles and sacher tortes didn't quite appeal to me, so I opted for something more down-to-earth: a chocolate and hazelnut cookie.


At $2.80 a piece, this is considered expensive by Singapore standards. And boy, was it a waste of money after taking the first bite. The cookie was limp and lifeless. It tasted as if someone had left the lid off the cookie jar for too long. The cookie wasn't freshly baked.

 Sad cookie.

Happy salesman.

After this experience, I don't think I'll try any of SweetSpot's other offerings, no matter how pretty-looking they are.

SweetSpot
Marina Bay Sands Hotel
10 Bayfront Avenue
Lobby Level, Tower 3
Singapore
http://www.marinabaysands.com/singapore-restaurants/quick-eats/sweetspot/

Monday, April 16, 2012

Kisses Cupcakes, Hong Kong

Kisses Cucpakes, opposite Kau Kee beef noodles on Gough Street in Hong Kong.





 Smores and Red Velvet cupcakes.


Kisses Cupcakes
G/F, No. 24, Gough Street Central
Hong Kong
www.kissescupcakes.com

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Everything but the kitchen sink

I've finally found a way of getting rid of my unwanted snacks and tidbits in the house. I've been wanting to try out this recipe for awhile but always chickened out at the last minute due to failures I've read about and the strange addition of potato chips in cookies.

Nonetheless, I gave it a go and the cookies turned out to be pretty good. They were crispy, not too sweet and had a pleasant caramel-ly aftertaste.

My version of Momofuku's Compost Cookies had chocolate-coated peanut brittle, rocky road, Coco Pops O's, ready salted potato chips, smokey capsicum flavoured grain crisps and pretzels.


Momofuku Milk Bar Compost Cookie
(Adapted from Momofuku for 2 and Amateur Gourmet)
1/2 cup Butter
1/2 cup Sugar
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp Light Brown Sugar
1/2 Tbsp Corn Syrup [Note: I left this out; not because I'm against corn syrup, I just didn't have it. The cookies came out fine, though may have had a nicer sheen with the syrup.]
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Large Eggs
3/4 + 2 Tbsp cups AP Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Kosher Salt
3/4 cups of your favorite baking ingredients
3/4 cups your favorite snack foods
In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter, sugars and corn syrup on medium high for 2-3 minutes until fluffy and pale yellow in color. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.
On a lower speed, add eggs and vanilla to incorporate. Increase mixing speed to medium-high and start a timer for 10 minutes. During this time the sugar granules will fully dissolve, the mixture will become an almost pale white color and your creamed mixture will double in size.
When time is up, on a lower speed, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix 45-60 sec just until your dough comes together and all remnants of dry ingredients have incorporated. Do not walk away from your mixer during this time or you will risk over mixing the dough. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.
On same low speed, add in the hodgepodge of your favorite baking ingredients and mix for 30-45 sec until they evenly mix into the dough. Add in your favorite snack foods last, paddling again on low speed until they are just incorporated.
Using a 6oz ice cream scoop, portion cookie dough onto a parchment lined sheetpan.
Wrap scooped cookie dough tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour or up to 1 week.
DO NOT BAKE your cookies from room temperature or they will not hold their shape.
Heat the conventional oven to 400F. (350F in a convection oven)
When the oven reads 400F, arrange your chilled cookie dough balls on a parchment or silpat-lined sheetpan a minimum of 4″ apart in any direction.
Bake 9-11 min. While in the oven, the cookies will puff, crackle and spread.
At 9 min the cookies should be browned on the edges and just beginning to brown towards the center. Leave the cookies in the oven for the additional minutes if these colors don’t match up and your cookies stills seem pale and doughy on the surface.
Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pan before transferring to a plate or an airtight container or tin for storage. At room temp, cookies will keep fresh 5 days. In the freezer, cookies will keep fresh 1 month.

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