I didn’t mean for two months to lapse since my last post but so much has happened in between. I decided to move from Tokyo back to Singapore permanently after days and nights of deliberation and was occupied with the logistics of it all for the past several weeks. Up till the point I boarded […]
Category: tarts and pastries
new updates (recipe index + newsletter) // vanilla praline tartlets
Finally the most torturous 365 days in recent history can be referred to in past tense and humanity has stepped into what one can only anticipate to be a more smooth sailing chapter. In short, happy new year! In conjunction with the new year and the accompanying notion of a fresh, clean start to old […]
in pursuit of style // apple band tart
The re-questioning of personal style seems to be an annual affair at this point. It’s hard to definitively say if the broadly sombre atmosphere of 2020 and the somewhat shaky prospects of the upcoming year play a substantial role in this shift, but my stylistic preferences are becoming increasingly monochromatic and very much less sunlight […]
arcane // red wine poached pear tarte tartin
I watched the hazy morning glow streaming in through the windows give way to tiled rectangular shadows on the wall like the black and white keys of the piano. I counted the seconds as I watched them slowly and gradually grow fainter. …seven, six, five, four, three, two, one… and they were gone.
pierced hearts // apple rose tartlets
Occasionally there are moments where my eyes land upon an image so strikingly beautiful that it feels like its beauty is collectively crystallised into a long, slender icicle, gliding through the air seamlessly, like an arrow through the heart.
smokescreens // spinach and bacon quiche
Lately I’ve been learning that many things are not what they seem to be when you look a little closer. I knew clouds cast shadows, but I should have known the shade conceals dirt and ugly truths. We shape our own perceptions of reality by selectively taking in that which bolsters the ego and protects […]
i’ve been thinking about // grapefruit cheese tart
I hope you are blessed with a heart of a wildflower. -Nikita Gill
fresh // lime, mint, white chocolate & blueberry tart
I suppose I imagined a garden blanketed in the most luscious green, the kind that glimmers in the sunset-tinted evening light as a sporadic breeze brushes gently over the leaves, causing them to give ever so slightly. Over the layer of greenery the sky infinitely stretches on and on without an end in sight, the […]
human error // apple walnut praliné tart
It occurred to me as I was handling the mandoline slicer – a nifty godsend of a kitchen contraption designed to transform (or personally, magick!) homogeneously tracing paper thin slices out of some fruit/vegetable/hard cheese? – that in an alternate dimension without said device I would be having dramatically less fun making this tart. These […]
in another world // apple rose custard tart
I imagined a world in gradients of pink. A dusty rose, a powdery faded pink, sweet pastel, an electric fuchsia bordering on cherry. I imagined them all together, like roses planted side by side in a flower bed.
transient fairytale // sweet potato coconut mont blanc
For the longest time ever I visualized the epitome of truly living to be hopping on a flight to an unexplored destination when the urge to go somewhere struck. Definitely somewhere with stunning blue waters running parallel to the whitest softest sand. Someplace where the locals spoke a different language, or at least speak a […]
sweet summer // chocolate praliné tartlets
“The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning. The weeks that come before are only a climb from balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the chill of autumn, […]
a quintessential summer’s day // blueberry passionfruit cream cheese tartlets
Sun rays on bare skin. Cloudless cerulean skies. Crickets punctuating the muggy summer air with their unwavering high pitched cries. Afternoons so blindingly bright that everywhere you look is an overexposed picture. Flushed cheeks, floaty cotton dresses, long hair swept up in ponytails. Leaves a verdant green. An occasional breeze whooshes by. Sighs of relief. […]
dream world // cherry almond tartlets
To be embraced by the warm aroma of caramel and butter and the music that is beautiful, reposeful silence – that’s my happy place, my dream world, the dimension in which my consciousness resides that is hazily tethered to reality solely by a strand of silken thread. It’s where I go to disconnect, this crystal […]
burn with the fury of a wildfire // strawberry praline mille-feuille
The first year of elementary school during an English class, my teacher posed us students a question that went something along the lines of, “Which is most important in discerning a person’s true feelings when he speaks – his body language, his words, or his tone of voice?” Majority of the class picked ‘body language’. […]
bring back summer // english scones
I saw a jumble of thoughts unravel into half-finished sentences in my head then suffocated the mental delete button before they could even materialize into black spots of digital data juxtaposed against the bright white of the wordpress editor. “Going back to basics…”, “I’ve not updated this blog in 5 months but hey how’s it […]
flowers make everything look better // vanilla kiwi tarts
So as you can tell from the very innovative title, today’s post is going to be all about waxing lyrical about the beauty of edible flowers and how they elevate a rather plain appearance to something that looks a thousand times more gorgeous.
merry christmas // wreath tart
A belated Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all! Just casually sharing this year’s Christmas dessert on the 28th of December – a fruit tart imitating a wreath, an idea I found on Instagram a while back – because as I like to believe, Christmas isn’t just a day, it’s a frame of mind. Tragically, the […]
setting sun // fig and cinnamon honey scones
These wintry days, at 3pm my living room is already awash with orange-y gold rays that are occasionally mixed with a tinge of pink, if I’m lucky. It’s a gorgeous sight, but now I have a precious few hours to work with before the sun retires for the day during which the lighting seems to […]
cool lava // chocolate tea creme brûlée cocoa tartlets
It’s finally a week till Christmas! The holiday of presents wrapped with sheer sparkly ribbons, when strings of lights illuminate the streets in festive hues wherever you go, of familiar tunes sung by the most angelic voices, trees with their forest green branches decked out in glittery elaborate baubles of red, gold, and silver, and […]
contrasts // fig and cream cheese cocoa tarts
I quickly scrolled though my recent blog posts lately and I realised to myself that it must seem like I am oddly constantly busy, although I assure you that that is not exactly the case, since I had a two-month summer break over August and September yet I didn’t bake at all. It keeps happening […]
the little details // strawberry cheese caramelised almond tart
I never knew that exploring the fruit section of a supermarket could be such fun until I came to Tokyo, and so full of surprises too. Sometimes you’ll find row upon row of apples sectioned by variety, which amounts to no less than five, and sometimes you’ll find these – baby strawberries of a vibrant […]