Brunchelona Barcelona - Cup&Cake L'illa Diagonal

Brunchelona, Cup&Cake's new branch, opened yesterday afternoon in Barcelona's mall L'illa Diagonal. It's the first of their shops to be located in a shopping mall, and I think L'illa will benefit tremendously from this new addition. As with all Cup&Cake branches, decoration is looked after till the last detail, resulting in a young, cozy cafe. Stunning as this may sound, some tables here are even smaller than a seat, allowing for plenty of sitting spots in the outer area.

Cupcakes are served at an incredible speed, yet luckily there's always replenishments coming from the kitchen :) Yesterday we had a red velvet, a croccanti and a lemon one. There's no doubt Cup&Cake's cupcakes are the best in all Barcelona.

I like the name of this place: Brunchelona, Brunch + Barcelona. Who knows, it may be an omen and this will become the best branch of them all for a perfect Sunday brunch in Barcelona! 

Visited on: March 16, 2015

Overall Quality: 4.5* Trendy and pretty as they may be, seats without a backrest aren't comfy for too long!

Price: Unbeatable: 1.5€ for a cafe latte and 2.5€ for a cupcake

Value for Money? 5*

Would I recommend it? Certainly. This and Escribà (also recently opened) are the best places for afternoon tea at L'illa Diagonal.

Liam was exactly 200 days old in this pic :)

Brunchelona

L'illa Diagonal

Av. Diagonal, 557
(1/F next to Zara)

Snickers Cupcakes Recipe

It was the hubby's birthday yesterday and I was planning on making a cake, but he said he didn't want me to spend time in the kitchen on the weekend which is when we actually get to do things together. So I decided I would bake something today, since we were going to the in-laws' to celebrate the birthday. For some reason I decided I would be baking cupcakes instead of the traditional cake. Lots of birthdays nowadays are celebrated with cupcakes, even weddings have cupcake towers instead of a wedding cake, so why not! I immediately knew which recipe to go for, the one Alma Obregón, one of my favorite bakers, made for her 29th birthday. Alma's website, Objetivo Cupcake Perfecto, is a must if you speak Spanish and like to bake. Her recipes are absolutely amazing, none of them have ever let me down.

These particular cupcakes turned out so great I almost cried. They are definitely the best cupcakes I've ever baked, and they are totally at cupcake-shop level! I'm so proud!!! I made them with lots of love because they were for J's birthday, so this plus the perfect recipe made for the PERFECT cupcakes! Woohoo!

These cupcakes are made with chocolate and Snickers, the chocolate bar with peanuts and caramel, so the result is a chocolate-peanut-caramel gift from heaven. I couldn't just post all these lovely pics and then leave the ones who don't speak Spanish without the chance to try them out, so here goes the translation of the recipe!

Snickers cupcakes by Alma Obregón

Yields 12 cupcakes:

• 60 ml light olive oil

• 170 g sugar

• 115 g flour

• 50 g of cocoa powder

• 3 tablespoon of peanut butter

• 1.5 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 egg

• 75 ml of milk

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 75 ml of boiling water

• 8 snickers diced (For easier cutting , put them in the refrigerator 30 minutes before)

For the icing:

• 6 tablespoons peanut butter

• 200g butter at room temperature

• 200g icing sugar

• 150g dark chocolate melted and and room temperature

Preheat oven to 180 Cº. Prepare the cupcake tins.

In a bowl, sift flour, cocoa and baking powder. Reserve. Mix olive oil, sugar and eggs until fully integrated. Add the peanut butter. Incorporate the flour mixture and cocoa. Once the mixture is homogeneous , incorporate the milk and vanilla and beat again. Finally pour the water, freshly boiled . Beat again. Throw into the mixture the chopped snickers .

Put the mix into the tins. Bake for 20 minutes or until you insert a toothpick and comes out clean.

To make the icing, sift the icing sugar and beat in the butter . First, one minute at low speed and then five minutes (minimum) at maximum speed, or until the mixture is whiter and has gained volume. Add the 100g melted chocolate and beat two or three minutes. Add the peanut butter and beat for another minute.

Once the cupcakes have completely cooled down, decorate them with a piping bag, from the outside toward the center, clockwise.

Please do let me know how you like the cupcakes if you try the recipe, I hope you love them as much as we did!!! In my opinion, there were too many snickers. Next time I'd rather go with half. I'm looking forward to try this recipe with Twix instead of Snickers. Twix is my favorite chocolate bar EVER!!!

Radi Cafe - Bangkok

J and I are just back from our marvelous pre-wedding trip in Thailand. I'll be telling you all about it soon, but today's post is for Radi Cafe, our last stop in Bangkok before coming back to Hong Kong yesterday. Radi Cafe is a cozy cupcake cafe in Thong Lo, Bangkok, owned by charming Fin, the master baker of all the delicacies served there. I told her we would be visiting, so she was waiting for us when we arrived.

Fin's cupcakes were truly delicious, and so was the coffee, which comes from Fin's parents own coffee plantation in northern Thailand! How cool :) It's a strong Arabica coffee, which they call aRADIca :D

I was so happy to get to see Fin and chit chat with her during our visit, she's probably one of the nicest and prettiest girls in Thailand!

One thing I loved about Bangkok is it's filled up with cafes serving all kinds of sweet treats. And even though cozy cafes abound in Thailand's capital, Radi Cafe is one not to be missed :)

Radi Cafe

Thong Lo soi 11

Bangkok

Thailand

Sift Patisserie @ Prince's Building, Central

Yesterday my colleague and friend Marie joined J and I on our sweet treats quest. You may remember I blogged about Sift Patisserie in Wan Chai not so long ago. Since that time we only got to try two cupcakes and one petit four, I had to go back to explore some more! So we headed to the branch in Prince's Building, Central, which has pros and cons compared to the Wan Chai one. The Wan Chai branch has way more food variety, but there is no sitting area. The one in Central has less to choose from but 4 convenient tables are available.

It was great that Marie joined us, we had a great time and we got to order more food too!

This time we had four cupcakes and two petit fours, what a feast! We had the Strawberry, Red Velvet, Lemon, and Salty Caramel Chocolate Cupcakes; and the Chocolate Hazelnut Crunch, and Strawberry Muffin with Cream.

As I said on my previous review about Sift, their cupcakes are highly overrated. Specially the Red Velvet one, I still can't understand some people agree on it being THE Red Velvet Cupcake in town. NO WAY. I liked the Strawberry Cupcake (4.5*) and the Salty Caramel Chocolate Cupcake (4.5*) the most. Those were truly delicious. The Red Velvet (3.5*) and the Strawberry Muffin (3*) were average, while the lemon cupcake (1*) was well below average. The Chocolate Hazelnut Crunch was good (4*).

Sift Patisserie
Shop 240 - 241, Prince's Building, 10 Chater Road, Central

Sift Patisserie - Wan Chai

After having heard people raving about Sift's cupcakes and claiming Sift's to be THE Red Velvet Cupcake in Hong Kong, I had to go and give it a try.

So last Thursday I made my way to Sift's Patisserie in Wan Chai and got my Red Velvet Cupcake. While in the store, I found out Sift not only has cupcakes but also all sorts of gorgeous petit fours. Well, what was my delightful suprise on this first-ever visit to Sift when I discovered a small tag on the counter saying "Ispahan: Homage to Pierre Hermé". You should know that my favorite treat in the whole world is Pierre Hermé's Ispahan. I couldn't believe my eyes! Even if there was nothing behind the label (the Ispahans were all sold out), I still couldn't keep my joy just at the thought of knowing the Ispahan existed in Hong Kong! I decided to go back as soon as possible to get hold of this divine treat, so there I was back again on Sunday. There were three Ispahans left!!! I got one and a Hazelnut Chocolate cupcake.

Now here is my review for these three delicacies:

Sift's Red Velvet Cupcake: (4*)

A perfectly moistened cake, however lacking flavour. A cream cheese frosting that is not as tasty as it should be. Very good texture for both the cake and the frosting, but overall lacking chocolate flavour.

Sift's Hazelnut Chocolate Crunch Cupcake: (3.5*)

A very good cake with enough chocolate flavour. A frosting with strong hazelnut flavor, yet a bit too creamy. About the crunch part, I'm guessing it was the Valhorna chocolate pebbles that topped the cupcake. I personally would not repeat on this one.

All in all, Sift Cupcakes feel very light. After eating one, you feel as if you hadn't eaten any, so two cupcakes per person for an afternoon treat is definitely the way to go.

Sift's Ispahan: (5*)

 

Finally, the masterpiece: this is heaven! It may not reach the perfectionist level of Pierre Hermé's, but it's certainly very close. Ispahan is one of Pierre Hermé's astonishing creations, consisting of a 7-cm wide rose macaron, filled with fresh raspberries, rose petals buttercream and lychee, topped with a fresh rose petal. Nowadays other patissiers offer this on their repertoire, but the creation is to be attributed to Pierre Hermé exclusively. I was so lucky to live in Paris for a whole year and get to eat this so often. I probably had an Ispahan twice a month, and was always looking forward to go back!

I would be so grateful if someone can tell me whether other patisseries in Hong Kong offer this exquisiteness called Ispahan. Meanwhile, until Pierre Hermé decides to come to Hong Kong, let me tell you, you can't miss out on this showpiece, so plan a short visit to Wan Chai, and pray for Sift to have an Ispahan left! UPDATED: I found another Ispahan in town! Check it out here.

Visited on: 09 August, 2012 & 12 August 2012

Overall Quality: 4.5*

Value for Money: 5*

Price: 1 Cupcake: $25, 1 Petit Four: $40

Would I recommend it? Totally. The cupcakes are very well priced, and the petit fours are delish!

Sift has 4 locations in Hong Kong. The one I visited in Wan Chai is the Patisserie were only take-away is available, but I believe the rest have at least a couple tables, with the one in Ap Lei Chau being the biggest with several white leather sofas for an unforgettable cupcake experience!

Pomme Wan Chai - The Cake Set

I have the habit to, whenever I'm walking on the street and I happen to notice what seems like a nice place, write it down (name, location, food type and size of the venue) so that whenever I'm around again and wonder where to eat, I have a list to choose from! This has proven quite handy as this is exactly how we decided on Pomme last Sunday. Pomme is a tiny and cute cafe with a capacity for 20 people. They serve all sorts of tarts, cakes, cupcakes and cookies, all in a very cozy ambience.

I was not really feeling hungry after all that dim sum we had for lunch, but as soon as I stepped into Pomme and my eyes landed on the Red Velvet Cupcake, I knew I had to have it. You should know that I'm totally crazy about Red Velvet Cupcakes. They are my all-time favorites, and if I go to a place where they have it, it's hard for me to choose any other sweet over this one. Besides, I like to rank them and see which venue offers the best one, so that I make sure to go back. At HK$63 + 10% charge, Pomme has a "Cake Set" from 2pm onwards including a cake and drink of your choice (The Cake Set represents a $5 in your bill, since a cake and drink without set = $35 + $33 respectively). Both Jeff and I went for it, and we had lattes (4*) which he decided to accompany with the lemon cheesecake. It was a French cheesecake with a crumbly biscuit base, which was not very appealing to me, since I am a fan of the much richer, thick and dense New York cheesecake. This being said, for a French cheesecake I must admit the quality was very good (4.5*).

My Red Velvet Cupcake was divine. It's one of the best I've ever tried, and the best (and prettiest) in Hong Kong so far. Both the cupcake and the frosting were delish. I found the sponge texture could be improved since it could have been more moist. All in all, a hidden gem! (4.5*)

N.B. Pomme closes on Mondays

Visited on: 05 August, 2012
Overall quality: 4.5*
Value for Money: 5* for the cakes, 4* for the drinks
Price per head (Cake Set): HK$63 + 10% service charge
Would I recommend it? Definitely, do not miss the chance to visit Pomme when in Wan Chai!


Pomme, 11 Luard Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong, 2527 9933

VVG Bon Bon - Afternoon tea - Taipei

When in Taipei, I decided to visit VVG Bon Bon to escape from the afternoon heat. I had the rose tea and the cupcake with raspberry-marshmallow frosting. The tea was nothing special (4*) and the cupcake was bad, I just couldn't finish it (2*). The cupcake was filled with a rather distasteful red syrup that could only have been originated in a chemical lab. I know cupcakes aren't organic food precisely, but some natural ingredients are highly appreciated. Forget about that with the raspberry-marchmallow cupcake. The cupcake dough had no special taste and you could tell it was but a eggs-flour-milk mixture.

It was such a shame that on my visit they didn't have a lot of cupcake choices, as compared to pics of a counter filled with rows of cupcakes that I've spotted online. I wouldn't mind going back to try others just to see if it was a matter of bad luck on my pick, or they are all more of the same.

The highlight of VVG Bon Bon is without any doubt, the venue per se. Just by looking at it from the outside, you already realise this store doesn't quite belong to the 21st century. It's more of a reminiscence of the grandeur in Versailles during the Marie Antoinette era.

Visited on: 23 July, 2012
Overall quality: 3.5*
Price/Quality relationship: 4*
Service: 3.5*
Price (1 pot of tea + 1 cupcake): TW$286
Highlight: The venue
Would I recommend it? Yes. VVG Bon Bon is a must see for pink-candy-cuteness lovers.

N.B. VVG Bon Bon has a minimum charge of TW$140 per person. Free wifi.