Favs必食推介: Crunchy Lemon 檸檬脆脆、Midori Mont Blanc 栗子貓貓

6/10 plates emptied!

[Written by Carly]

Another birthday celebration for our Gang member – our beloved photo designer Lorling <3. Gobay is a fan of macarons yet in general dislikes sweets. Lorling and Dvd are both diehard fans of dark chocolate and Lyoe likes any dessert that is not-so-sweet. Carly as the dessert guru of the group, thought long and hard but struggled a while. Finally Carly concludes it’s time to try out the currently popular online bakery stores. Valérie has been featured in a couple of local magazines, and the founders, a young couple, started this bakery recently due to their devotion to desserts cookery. Carly always admired pastry chefs for their wholehearted dedication on endless creations and innovation in making delectable and dreamy desserts; for one’s passion and hard work can be explicitly discovered by enjoying their heavenly sweets.  Not to mention the owners of Valérie was very welcoming and friendly, called back to confirm and follow up when she was too busy baking cakes. She does not forget that the phones cannot stop ringing, as snowflakes of orders is a proof of solid customer base, and she cannot let it stop.

What is better than having one alluring beautifully decorated birthday cake plus mini ones on the side to satisfy Lorling’s sweet tooth. Carly knew that instant she didn't make a wrong decision. 

Valérie店主的態度都很親切，不但獨力經營生意，又要整餅，又要顧及物流送貨。知道開一間網上餅店也絕非易事，Carly更加欣賞靠一雙手闖天下的年輕人，特別是甜品師傅。同樣是朱古力，雞蛋，糖，牛奶的幾種基本元素，在有心人手中，平凡亦會顯見不平凡。我們吉碟幫親愛的Lorling生日將至，差不多吃遍香港有名甜品蛋糕店的Carly苦惱了良久，要怎樣挑一個不是慕絲的黑朱古力蛋糕給Lorling，另一方面，也要形合不嗜甜的Gobay，蛋糕必須重質又重量。在不少雜誌見過Valérie Pastry被專訪的報道，Carly與Lorling都「心郁郁」（心動）想試很久，最後訂了一個五吋蛋糕，另外特意訂了四個迷你蛋糕，像Gobay說道，『眾星伴月』的為我們的壽星女賀生辰。



【CocoCoffee 可可咖啡八層蛋糕| 5 inch cake HKD223】

Very appealing and glamorous just by sight as coffee brittles and gold glittered white chocolate decor garnished the cake very professionally along with gold patterned chocolate thins around the corners. Lorling was a fan of dark chocolate yet does not like mousse cakes in general, this did give Carly quite a headache as dark chocolate cakes are often in mousse form. Valérie’s CocoCoffee cake has layers of coffee cream and dark chocolate sponge cake altering evenly, finishing it off with a layer of crunchy chocolate flaky crisp as the cake base. Everyone acclaimed this as this was not sweet and very rich and dense in coffee aroma. Dark chocolate sponge cake was tad too dry, creating this huge contrast compared to the buttery coffee cream, the light flaky crunch highlighted the cake, often Carly’s favorite part. Petite Amanda’s Plaisir Sucré is still by far the best in town in terms of opera-like pastry for its flawless balance and angelic textural crunchiness & creaminess combo of hazelnut, milk chocolate ganache, and chocolate crunch. Valérie’s CocoCoffee may not be the best in town, yet for its price and well-decorated garnishment, Carly did not complain further. 

Valerie自家制的八層蛋糕是傳統經典Opera cake的變奏版，用上牛油狀的咖啡慕絲和黑朱古力雪芳蛋糕，一層夾一層形成口感上的強烈對比。咖啡慕絲濃滑帶點厚實，朱古力雪芳蛋糕則太乾身。咖啡味特別香濃，眾人都盛讚整體味道不太甜，就算是男士們亦吃得津津有味。裝飾亮麗精緻不在話下，加上Lorling不喜歡吃慕絲的關係，這款生日蛋糕就正合我們心意，不是一般常見軟滑的忌廉。只是略嫌海綿蛋糕偏乾。朱古力味也不太突出，偏淡，Carly猜想應該不是用上高級的Valrhona朱古力。5吋蛋糕，價錢很公道，這蛋糕質素與味道雖然不及agnès b. Café， Petite Amanda或Tony Wong，但絕對值得一試。看得出店主非常用心的製作，誠意十足，值得一讚。

【Salute to Rocher 向金莎致敬|HKD36】

眾人一看見dome圓頂形狀的蛋糕就想知道金色的包裝紙金光閃閃，能否吃下肚。哈哈，吃這一個要反轉蛋糕徒手拆掉金色手工紙，就會看見貌似金莎的放大版蛋糕。吃一口，雲喱拿慕絲軟滑輕盈，看見點點的新鮮雲喱拿豆種子，雲喱拿味不重，配上中間流心的榛子ganache，整體都太甜了。但終究榛子朱古力這配搭始終是魅力沒法擋，很邪惡呢。

Everyone glared at the golden packaging wrapped around the dome shaped cake, wondering if it was edible. Luckily no one tried, and you will have to flip around the cake to remove the golden foil to reveal the enlarged version of Rocher chocolate cake. Velvety and over-the-top smooth vanilla mousse was scrumptious, just that the relatively watery hazelnut paste was a bit overly sugary. *munch* a nutty roasted hazelnut is hidden in the cake to complete the cravings for dessert lovers out there who loves Rocher to the end of the world. 

【Crunchy Lemon 檸檬脆脆|HKD30】

Refreshing and fruity pastry! Gobay liked this most out of all the cakes for its energizing tutti-fruity lemon zest and relatively lighter version of cream mousse, it was a bit bouncy compared to the rest of the cakes. White chocolate coated corn flakes were crunchy and crispy, mildly sweetened without going over-the-top. Lorling even noticed that the lemon cake was decorated like a cat’s paw, very lovable and delightful summery cake indeed!

清甜之選，檸檬慕絲有些微Q彈的口感，不是一般朱古力或雲喱拿的流心軟滑狀，而且不會過甜，帶點微酸，亦很討好。Lorling留意到蛋糕面的裝飾似是貓爪的圖樣，很可愛！最難以抗拒的是鋪在最底層的脆脆，甜甜的白朱古力粟米片，吃完一口又一口，細過掌心、迷你的檸檬脆脆蛋糕極速地消失於無形！

【Passion Fruit Valrhona 64% 熱情果香濃巧克力慕絲|HKD30】

Valrhona dark chocolate glazed dome shape cake was very rich and dense in chocolate flavor, the only thing that could have been improved is the passion fruit jelly which was a bit too solid, creating this rather vast contrast on the palate when you take a bite into the smooth mousse. The jelly was separated apart, falling out from the dome, not the most ideal form of filling. Passion fruit scent was rather pungent; if you are not a great fan of passion fruit, feel free to opt for other chocolate-themed cakes from Valérie. 

Dome圓頂形的朱古力蛋糕真的吃不少，Valérie的黑朱古力慕絲味濃，豐盈香滑，不算太甜，是中上質素的巧克力慕絲，第一口已經嚐到果味突出的熱情果甜蜜。唯一美中不足的是中間的熱情果啫喱有點過實，與外層香滑的朱古力慕絲相對上有太強烈的對比，不太合得來。吃到中間的時候，果凍還掉了出來，與慕絲蛋糕分離了。

【Midori Mont Blanc 栗子貓貓|HKD35】

非常可愛的造型，Carly不知道從何時開始喜歡上貓貓，誠然，Carly媽媽常說女兒性格像貓，心情不好的時候，怎麼找都找不著，「無晒影」。有美食的時候或者肚子餓的時候，就自然會「浦頭」。大家想知多點，這隻Midori綠子貓貓在facebook上有自己的粉絲專頁，真實的貓貓超萌，非常可愛！獨愛栗子蛋糕的Carly，覺得Valérie的栗子蓉打得頗出色，軟滑香濃，可惜味道有點偏甜。Carly吃過很多Mont Blanc，至今仍是覺得Passion by Gerard Dubois 的Passion Fruit Mont Blanc，配搭做得出色，味道亦有驚喜，大家不防一試。Valérie的栗子蛋糕則是造型和質感取勝，配上內裡帶點白朱古力的慕絲，軟滑甜蜜，加上實脆的餅底，整體算不俗。



Midori cat has its own fanpage on Facebook, and this has been so far the cutest Mont Blanc Carly has ever had (even though the real Midori cat is cuter :P). Carly’s mom often complains that her daughter has a “cat temper”, she hides and scowls away when she’s in a bad mood, and only when she needs good food for hungry tummy, then she will curl up next to you and go purring. Mont Blanc has to be one of Carly’s favorite and she is still in search of the best chestnut based dessert in Hong Kong. Valerie’s Mont Blanc was ultra creamy smooth and exceptionally delicate, though tad sweet, the cream mousse was profoundly smooth on the interior too, rum cream was too subtle and she hardly tasted any. Carly still votes for Passion fruit Mont Blanc at Passion by Gerard Dubois as the passion fruit mousse was very well-blended with the creamy chestnut mousse. Valerie’s own twist was not bad for its adorable design and exquisitely demonstrated skills in making intriguing chestnut mousse.