Cake Side Trip 20.5: Aristocrat Beehive Cup

This is not exactly a new episode but a side trip from this episode’s main star, “The Black Forest”. While the Black Forest was a planned purchase, this beehive cup was bought based on a whim. Seeing it made me realize how long it has been since I have last eaten a brownie with faux cream on top.

Visual: It does look like a beehive but the first thing that came to mind when I saw it was a cupcake due to the faux cream on top. Having tasted something like this before, I knew that it was not really cream, rather it is made of some sort of soft sugar that melts upon reaching your mouth.

Taste: Too sweet! The inside of the chocolate top beehive is already made of frosted sugar and the chocolate coating made it even more so. Well, this bakeshop sure has a reputation of making its products too sweet as compared to its contemporaries who would rather balance out an overly sweet layer with nuts, complement with a not so sweet ingredient like dark chocolate or simply not compete with it by just using plain white cream.

Share your thoughts;) They are always welcome.

Cake Run 20: Aristocrat’s Black Forest

Welcome to the 20th episode of Cake Run. Wow, this is like my 3^rd cake visit at Aristocrat. They just offer so many selections that one cannot help but “attempt” to try them all out. No sweat though, fellow cake runners, for I will always ensure that I feature a different cake or a different experience per entry. God help me if I feature a cake from a certain bakeshop twice.

While the featured cake for the day is something we are all quite familiar. The taste and methodology of baking and choice of ingredients varies per baker. Having the pleasure of tasting different Black Forest Cakes throughout the years, none so far tasted or even looked exactly the same as another. Eating Black Forest feels like a new experience each time.

Visual: Camping Site. It looks like a clearing in the middle of the forest surrounded by white tents with the chocolate cylinders serving as piled wooden logs. The campers must had a field day traversing the wilderness with no clear walking ground as it is littered with woods and rocks that looks to be dangerous and is not recommended for inexperienced campers.

Taste: Good and surprisingly not sweet! It has the right mixture of cream and breading that the taste blends perfectly well. You get to taste the classic Black Forest which is composed of cherries, chocolate bits, chocolate bread and the goodness of the white cream (drools). I am already left wanting just by writing about it. Usually, I am not in the mood for another cake for two consecutive days; there has to be at least one (1) day of spacing in between but for this one, I am starting to consider treating myself again despite having my cake fix yesterday.

I am already happily satisfied that Aristocrat, surprisingly was able to pull off a successful Black Forest. I was already expecting it to be good but also sweet and heavy which is the usual case for most of their cakes but this one turned out, different and amazingly so.

Just when I thought that I have been surprised enough, the white cream that makes up half of the built of this cake takes on a slight different form as you dwell inside the layers. It has a sort of pinkish hue left by juices from the cherry giving it a fruity flavor. What better way to conclude a perfect cake by adding more perfection in it.

Have a Cherri-ful Day!  Feel free to share your comments and insights.

Cake Run 17: Aristocrat Bakeshop: "Chocolate Velvet"

Welcome to the 17th episode. After finding out how to commute efficiently from my place to Aristocrat, which was a bakeshop I frequent with my family when I was a child, I seem cannot get out of my head the fond memories of their chocolate cake. On my second visit, I was tempted to go for the classic chocolate cake but I resisted and instead opted for another chocolate cake called the Chocolate Velvet just to try something new. After all, we cannot always stick to our comfort zone, right?

Visual: Is that a bonnet with a ribbon? It does appeal to my childhood as I am reminded of one of those fairy tale characters who frequents a bonnet on their regular getup. The character's hair is curled tied into a ponytail while using a large ribbon hairpiece to keep it in place. The ribbon tresses are neatly tied leaving no strands of hair amiss.

Taste: Fabulously Unique! It is chocolate but it is truly one of its kind. It does not taste like your usual classic milk or dark chocolate that is usually used in cakes. Gunned down with a spoon, it is sticky and chewy but smooth like silk to the taste and once swallowed, it never fails to create an impact as it does not melt easily <insert picture>. It is strong till the very end. However, it does not differ from the taste of their classic chocolate cake. I was hoping that naming it "velvet" will spell the difference.

Composed of two layers of chocolate bread held together by the very same chocolate used for its exterior coating, it is indeed a cake that every chocolate lovers must try. You will appreciate that the chocolate bread do taste like one as opposed to other chocolate cakes that has the taste of their breading pale in comparison with the overpowering taste of its own icing or cream. 

Topped with ribbon tresses of swirling whites and blacks, I cannot help but commend for not skimping off the chocolate even with just the ornaments. The so-called tresses is not just made of candy but is also chocolate. 

The chewiness of the chocolate is further emphasized as you try to eat the ribbons separately, the chocolate just sticks to it, leaving you no choice but to eat it at the same time. I really love how clingy and protective the chocolate coating is, as it ensures that for every bite you take, you will not be left wanting with just the bread. Don't you just hate it when you are forced to eat cake that is like only 20% cake and 80% bread? I mean if I am going to eat bread, why would I buy cake in the first place?

The downside however is that the cake itself is too sweet. Usually the ornaments are your usual life saver in contradicting the overpowering taste of the main cake such as adding nuts, sprinkling with really thin swirls of chocolates or just stick with dark chocolate, but for this, the ribbon ornament is even sweeter than the cake itself. Only at this level do I see a slight difference from the classic chocolate cake, the topping or the ornaments for the classic one are roses with green leaves which tasted like chocolate mixed with icing. Perhaps I might do a separate episode for that one. Let's see.

Have an Aristocratic Tuesday. Feel free to share your  comments and insights.

Cake Run 14: Aristocrat Bakeshop: The Checkmate Cake

Welcome to the 14th episode of Cake Run. From a simple family restaurant that expanded its wings to cater to the modern taste of the masses, Aristocrat remains an all-time favorite for family gatherings and special events including Father's, Mother's and even Grandparents' Day. It is a dining option wherein everyone is sure to enjoy given its lifespan of 3 generation (nearing 4 generations) standing of offering one of the best local cuisine.

As a child and even in my later years when my grandmother was still alive, we frequent this restaurant and fond memories of this restaurant made me revisit after a long time to once again have a taste of my childhood.

My all-time favorite is their chocolate cake but after becoming a certified cake lover, I have to expand my horizon and accommodate other flavors and designs. Allow me now to introduce the game of cakes called Check-It-Out.

Visual: Check Mate! No wait, a Rubik's cube perhaps. I cannot help but feel guilty for having to eat it soon as I have this urge to preserve its shape and save it as a decorative ornament in the house. Sadly, I have to focus and think that this is a cake and it is meant to be eaten or disposed of if not eaten after a couple of days. Boy, I do hate food wastage. It just goes against my principle.

Point aside, this cake's appearance reminds me of a chessboard not to mention the makers intent for it to be thought of that way, given how they named it. Instead of black and white like your usual chessboard, it is composed of light brown which I think is mocha and dark brown which looks to be chocolate flavor.

Slice through the outer layer from the top to the bottom until it resembles a fountain, you will end up with more playful alternatives. I then got the idea, "What if I try opening up all four corners and see for myself what colors it would reveal?" It sounded ridiculous but I gave it a shot and turns out, all four corners have different color combination. Each corner is composed of two layers with a brown icing to connect the two layers of bread similar to chiffon.

Outer Corners	Top	Inside Top	Inside Down
2 Dark Browns A	Light Brown	White Bread/Chiffon	Dark Bread/Chiffon
2 Light Browns A	Dark Brown	Dark Bread/Chiffon	White Bread/Chiffon
2 Dark Browns B	Light Brown	Dark Bread/Chiffon	White Bread/Chiffon
2 Light Browns B	Dark Brown	White Bread/Chiffon	Dark Bread/Chiffon

I actually had fun doing this.

Taste: Mmmm....savory and smooth. It is your classic cake that is just pure icing and breading inside. The bread's texture is not dry which is a plus, but the taste pales in comparison due to the sweetness of the icing. The light brown icing is actually mocha and the dark brown is chocolate. 

Delving inside, it is difficult to distinguish if you are eating the chocolate (dark bread) or the mocha (white one) bread as the icing's taste is overpowering. Actually, the sales staff was even saying that the breading is like a play between chocolate and lemon but I just assumed that the white bread is mocha, following the logic that the flavor of the icing is similar to the flavor the breading. I compared it to chess wherein the board is just black and white and the pieces are nothing more, nothing less than that.

  

  

Have an Aristocratic Tuesday. Feel free to share your playful comments and insights