Tag Archives: afternoon tea

Le Canelé D’or

4 Jan

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I had a very exciting delivery last month. After having spent the day between my bed and the sofa due to horrible sinus pains, the doorbell rang and I was presented with a little box of delicious-looking canelés hand-delivered from Le Canelé d’Or.

For those unsure what canelés are (as I was, I must admit), they are unique little cakes from the region of Bordeaux in France. We all know Bordeaux is famous for its wine, but having tasted these canelés, I think it also deserves some recognition for its cakes.

le canele dor hong kong

What’s special about these cakes is that somehow they manage to have a thick, hard, caramelised shell, yet at the same time an unexpected, almost custardy interior.

According to myth, canelés were created by nuns in a Bordeaux convent well before the French Revolution; local winemakers who used egg whites to clarify their red wines donated the yolks to these nuns, who used them to make a version of these scrumptious cakes.

le canele d'or hong kong

Le Canelé d’Or was set up by French-born Florence Lamarlere and her husband. When Florence realised how difficult it was to find canelés in Hong Kong and how fun they were to make at home, she immediately saw a gap in the market, especially given how large the French population is in Hong Kong. They don’t have a physical shop in Hong Kong, but through a very easy to use website, you can order your sweet treats at the click of a button, whether you’re entertaining guests or simply feeling very indulgent. And as they offer free delivery to most places in Hong Kong at only 1-2 days’ notice, you can satisfy that sweet craving nice and quickly!

le canele d'or hong kong

Although some argue that the traditional recipe of vanilla bean and rum should not be tampered with, Le Canelé d’Or have added their own unique flavours to the mix, including Mediterranean (orange liqueur and orange zest) and Irish (coffee and whiskey). I agree that the traditional version is delicious, but my personal favourite is the Mediterranean canelé, which is packed full of flavour and not at all too sweet. We tried them both hot and cold and frankly I can’t actually tell you which way I preferred them as both ways worked perfectly.

These delicious treats come in two sizes: grand size (6 for $150) or cocktail size (25 for $175) to serve any purpose. Paired with a cup of tea or a glass of cold milk, these cakes make the perfect breakfast, afternoon snack or even dessert. Although I told myself I would try and have a healthy January, I’m already trying to think of an excuse to put in my next order!

www.lecaneledor.com.hk

Email: info@lecaneledor.com.hk

Tel: +852 6186 2564

 

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Jean-Paul Hevin

6 Nov

jean-paul hevin hong kong

Chocolate makes the world go round; without it, the world would be a very sad place. Good quality chocolate is even more essential, particularly here in Hong Kong, where, aside from a couple of reputable brands, it isn’t easy to find chocolate of a high standard.

French chocolatier Jean-Paul Hévin is one such brand. Upon receiving an invitation to try the afternoon tea at the newly renovated Jean-Paul Hévin flagship store on Lyndhurst Terrace, I simply couldn’t resist, regardless of the fact I had a big dinner waiting for me at home.

Hévin has been creating chocolate in France for 25 years, but only really became famous when he launched his first shop in Japan ten years ago. The Japanese have always been concerned about having high-quality goods and brands; so for the Japanese to have given Jean-Paul Hévin’s chocolate their seal of approval (he was in fact named the number one chocolatier in Japan in 2004) meant it was indeed an excellent product and helped to make it famous the world over.

jean paul hevin hong kong

The flagship store is designed to reflect Hévin’s concept of his bar à chocolat and cave à chocolat, where customers can either buy their chocolates to go or sit down and enjoy a chocolate treat upstairs. The upstairs area is relaxed yet elegant, with a Japanese hanging garden to reflect Hévin’s love for Japan, where he once worked as a pastry chef.

jean paul hevin hong kong

The tea set ($198), which is actually available at any time during the day, comes in three varieties. Ours contained two cakes, two macarons, two chocolates and four chocolate covered almonds.

jean paul hevin hong kong

You may have heard me grumble about chocolate orange before, as it is one of my least favourite things; so the description of ‘Safi’ as a chocolate mousse cake with orange didn’t particularly excite me. Nevertheless, there was only a mere hint of orange liqueur that wasn’t too offensive. The ‘Guayaquil’ cake was incredible: rich without being overpowering and layered with different textures of smooth mousse, crunchy biscuit and almonds, needless to say this cake won an award in Japan.

jean paul hevin hong kong

The cherry and pistachio macaron is a Christmas special, due to its red and green colours. Rather than being stuck together with sickly sweet jam, Hévin uses a creamy chocolate ganache. My favourite, and clearly also Paris’ favourite as it was voted best macaron in Paris, was the chocolate one. Where some macarons are barely infused with whatever flavour they are attempting to be, this one was so flavoursome that I actually described it as a brownie in macaron form. This was the one thing on the plate that I could not resist polishing off entirely despite the large dinner that awaited me.

Moving on to the chocolates, the fig and yuzu one is also a Christmas special, available from 15th December. Although it had an interesting sweet yet sharp twist, my favourite was the more traditional ‘Caraibe’, consisting of pure, delicious chocolate goodness, encased in a crisp dark chocolate shell. Jean-Paul himself must have good taste, as apparently this is also his favourite!

jean paul hevin hong kong

The chocolate covered almonds again came in two varieties: earl grey and dark chocolate, where again, the traditional dark chocolate stood out for me. Although the chocolate-dusted chocolate might be too rich for some, the flavour of the roasted almond shone through, creating a sweet, crunchy contrast.

jean paul hevin hong kong

Finally, although the set is usually served with tea, we tried one of Hévin’s signature monthly hot chocolates. Aside from the traditional hot chocolate, Hévin likes to experiment and put together combinations you would never before have thought would work, such as tomato and basil, caviar, or oysters. So impressive is his collection that he even put together a hot chocolate cookbook (currently this is only available in French but will be sold in English soon).

jean paul hevin hong kong

November’s hot chocolate, and therefore the one we tasted, was fig and chestnut. Luxuriously rich and creamy, Jean-Paul Hévin’s hot chocolate is the stuff dreams are made of, with an added sweetness and gritty crunch from the figs, and an almost Christmassy-like essence from the roasted chestnuts. I’m very curious to find out how December’s caviar hot chocolate fares…

The best thing about Jean-Paul Hévin’s chocolate is that it is good for you. Seriously. Apparently his cocoa beans contain carotene, vitamins, potassium, iron, tannins….the list goes on. With all these nutrients, plus the fact that his chocolates mostly contain no added sugar and no butter, as Jean-Paul Hévin insists on using only cocoa butter for all his chocolates, it would definitely be rude and foolishly unhealthy not to head on up to Lyndhurst Terrace to indulge in some delicious (and nutritious) chocolat.

Jean-Paul Hévin
13 Lyndhurst Terrace
Central
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2851 0633

www.jphevin.com.hk

(other smaller locations in IFC and Harbour City)

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The Chocolate Library

12 Oct

 

Fully aware of my love of food, and particularly my adoration of chocolate, as my leaving present from AsiaSpa, the lovely girls gave me a voucher for afternoon tea at the Ritz-Carlton’s Chocolate Library. I’m sure you can imagine my excitement at receiving this, an excitement that was intensified when I had actually made the booking, months in advance, for tea a couple of Sundays ago.

I have been to Ozone, the bar at the top of the Ritz, a couple of times and had always been intrigued by the sound of The Chocolate Library. Just this once I will admit that I have been known to be a bit of a geek regarding my love of reading and of books in general, so the idea that this place was home to both chocolate and books, and perhaps even books about chocolate, certainly tickled my fancy.

Though not quite as high up as Ozone, The Chocolate Library is perched on the 103rd floor of the ICC, so if you choose to visit on a beautiful day rather than a nasty overcast day, the view of the skyline is spectacular. I unfortunately didn’t have this luxury as Typhoon Nalgae was still lingering nearby.

The set menu for afternoon tea includes coffee, tea or their signature hot chocolate. I couldn’t resist the latter but after a few sips I wished that I had. Richer than anything you have ever tasted before, this intensely chocolatey drink would be fine on its own, but knowing you have a whole feast of chocolate treats to get through, it is more than a little overwhelming and I couldn’t even finish it – something you can imagine does not happen often for me.

In place of the regular three-tiered plate on which afternoon tea is usually served, tea at The Chocolate Library is carried over to your table in a large box, opened to unveil what looks like a mini bookcase. Of course.

Moving upwards from the bottom of the bookcase, we started with the savoury treats: smoked salmon on mint bread, rosemary ham on curry bread and foie gras on chocolate bread. Whilst the salmon was pleasant, it wasn’t particularly special, as you couldn’t even taste the mint bread. The ham on curry bread however was delicious – a great contrast between the bitterness of the rosemary and the zing of the curry. The foie gras was too salty for my liking although the sweet chocolate bread offered some relief.

Onto the next level, the white chocolate berries shot did not appeal to me at all when I read it on the menu, as I am rather adverse to mixing fruit with chocolate (unless it is banana, I think fruit should be kept with fruit and chocolate kept with chocolate. Chocolate is too special on its own to be tainted by mixing it with fruit). However, I think I have found an exception to the rule as here the sickly sweetness of the white chocolate (my least favourite type of chocolate) was perfectly balanced with the sharpness of the berries to provide a rather pleasing little dish.

The chocolate framboise tart was terrible as it is not an exception to the rule. It started promisingly, but moving further into the centre, the delicious chocolate was ruined by the raspberry goo. But I will not judge those who do appreciate tainted chocolate.

I think the marble cheesecake was my favourite and needs no further description.

Moving onto the next and final level of the bookcase, our stomachs were starting to beg us not to fill them any more and our palates were starting to crave something a little less sweet. Ignoring them however, we took a bite of the chocolate orange confit macaroon. A perfect macaroon which could almost rival Chef Que of TBLS’ macaroon masterpieces…. until you hit the middle and encounter something not too dissimilar to the inside of a Jaffa Cake, perhaps my least favourite biscuit (cake?) in the world. In my opinion, combining chocolate with orange should be the eighth deadly sin.

The chocolate Madeleine was just as it should be – soft, simple and comforting.

I couldn’t handle more than a small spoonful of the white coffee and chocolate tart, not merely because of the strength of the coffee but also due to the overpowering sweetness of the chocolate. I definitely have a sweet tooth, but this took it just a little too far.

Finally, the chocolate mille-feuille, though by no means a mille-feuille as we know it, was a delightful end to this chocolate feast, although I wish I had attempted to eat it before my taste buds began to suffer from an overload of sugar. A layer of brownie under a layer of hazelnut mousse under a layer of chocolate mousse – wow.

Service is very good (something which can certainly not be said about Ozone) and afternoon tea for two will set you back $438, not an outrageous price for the amazing treats and incredible view.

I do have a few pieces of advice for you should you ever venture to The Chocolate Library for afternoon tea: go hungry, drink lots of water and take it very, very slowly, for this is an afternoon tea like no other.

The Chocolate Library

103/F International Commerce Centre
1 Austin Road West
Kowloon
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2263 2263

Date visited: Sunday 2nd October 2011

 

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