Sparklette Magazine » Ferrero Rocher

Fairmont Singapore Hotel – Mooncakes from Szechuan Court

Veron Ang — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 03:00:18 +0000

After being wowed by the rice dumplings from Szechuan Court, Fairmont Singapore, I was really looking forward to trying their mooncakes. Those dumplings had been the best we have had during the Dragon Boat Festival. Would the mooncakes be as impressive?

Hotels and restaurants usually make both snowskin and baked skin mooncakes available to cater to various palates. The former range is where you would see the most interesting, unique flavours.

Assorted mini snowskin mooncakes
S$53 for a box of 8 (4 flavours)
Rating:

The snowskin mooncakes at Fairmont sports a chocolate theme, with these delicious dessert flavours:

- Dark Rocher chocolate
- Rum & raisin chocolate truffle
- Champagne truffle & chocolate ganache
- Baileys chocolate

The pretty in pink dark Rocher chocolate mooncake is my personal favourite from the quartet for its silky smooth couverture chocolate and crushed almond nuts.

The packaging is most memorable. The cheongsam-inspired mooncake box is patterned with motifs, and even has actual fabric where the buttons are. Who can deny just how adorable it is?

Assorted baked mooncakes
S$55 for a box of 4
Rating:

For traditionalists, the baked mooncakes are filled with subtly sweet white lotus paste, available in these varieties:

- Olive kernel
- Double yolk
- Single yolk & macadamia nuts
- Roasted pine nuts

The mooncakes are available at Szechuan Court until September 12, 2011.

Have Your Say!

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

What mooncakes are you buying this year? Share with us in the comments!

Szechuan Court
Fairmont Singapore, level 3
80 Bras Basah Road
Singapore 189560
Tel: +65 6431 6156 | Website

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http://sparklette.net/food/fairmont-szechuan-court-mooncakes/ | 4 comments

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Ferrero Rocher – Here Comes the Garden Edition

Veron Ang — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 07:35:52 +0000

Ever seen Ferrero Rochers in nutty flavours like pistachio and almond? No? Read on!

This is one of the things I picked up at the Chiang Mai International Airport on the way back to Singapore — Ferrero Garden. The classic Rocher always bears a gold coloured wrapper. So the Garden series which has more unusual colours like green and bronze caught my eye immediately.

I have never seen the Ferrero Garden in local supermarkets. Have you? A box at the airport retails for 390baht, approximately S$16. Not exactly cheap, but for curiosity’s sake, I bought a box just to get a taste.

Unboxing the Ferrero Garden

The set of 18 Ferrero Garden sweets come in 5 flavours. The packaging is entirely in Italian so it takes a while to figure out what the flavours are, namely coconut, hazelnut, pistachio, walnut and almond.

Ferrero Garden
390baht

Except for the walnut, there are four candies of each flavour.

Unlike the Ferrero Rocher chocolate sweets that are spherical in shape, these Garden varieties are hemispherical, wrapped in an airtight foil.

Apart from the different coloured foils, each candy is contained in a sweet paper cup of a matching colour.

Snowy seems to have taken a liking to the Ferrero Garden. If you are a fan of Snowy the Ragdoll cat, check out his cameo appearances on Sparklette.

Ferrero Garden Flavours

Seen here from foreground to background:

Almond: a half almond surrounded by almond cream and flavouring, and topped with an almond icing cap with a caramel drizzle
Coconut: a half almond, surrounded by coconut cream, encased in wafer coated with coconut flakes, and topped with a white chocolate icing cap
Pistachio: a half almond surrounded by pistachio cream centre and flavouring, and topped with a pistachio icing cap. This one tastes a little bitterish and just plain odd — my least favourite of the lot.
Hazelnut: a half almond surrounded by chocolate centre, and topped with a white chocolate icing cap. Taste-wise, this comes closest to the classic Ferrero Rocher.
Walnut: a half almond surrounded by walnut cream centre and flavouring, and topped with a white chocolate icing cap

Apparently, there is an even more colourful series of Ferrero Garden elsewhere in the world, with fruity flavours like strawberry and lemon.

But if you were to ask me, I do prefer the original Ferrero Rocher over this any day.

Have Your Say!

What are the more unusual Ferrero candies you have tasted? Share with us in the comments!

View the original article and join the discussion at:
http://sparklette.net/food/ferrero-garden/ | 15 comments

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Christmas Tree of the Day #4 (2009 Edition) – Ferrero Rocher Chocolate Tree

Veron Ang — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:26:53 +0000

Ferrero Rocher chocolates are probably amongst the most popular and versatile gifts that you can give or receive at Christmas. Romantic boyfriends present it to their sweethearts in the form of a Ferrero Rocher bouquet. Friends give it to one another to show that they care.

(Just between you and me though, Royce’ is my preferred choice when it comes to chocolate. The calories are totally worth it!)

Now, here’s something that is quite different. Have you ever seen a Christmas tree made out of Ferrero Rochers?

This golden chocolate tree can be admired (but not eaten) just outside Ngee Ann City. It’s certainly a show-stopper!

Amongst the golden balls are small disco balls, arranged in the shape of snowflakes.

Source

What a great product placement! It comes at just the right time of the year, too! German brand Braun Büffel did it one Christmas. So did Mercedes-Benz the year before that.

Update: The Ferrero Rocher chocolate tree is back in Christmas 2010. You can find it at The Heeren.

For more Christmas trees, check out the Sparklette Christmas Tree of the Day series.

View the original article and join the discussion at:
http://sparklette.net/lifestyle/holiday/christmas-tree-4-2009/ | 4 comments

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Sapore Italiano – Welcome to Gourmet Paradise

Veron Ang — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:25:02 +0000

Sapore Italiano has opened on our island with style. Whether it’s espresso coffee in the morning, a pizza for lunch, or a nice after-work aperitivo (with a free buffet spread!), you can enjoy gourmet food all day long at the Raffles City Shopping Centre caffé-bar. Welcome to gourmet paradise!

Update on November 15, 2010: Sapore Italiano has moved to the National University Of Singapore along Bukit Timah Road.

With over 20 outlets worldwide, their goal is to spread Italian culture and provide diners with a true Italian experience. There are specially imported Italian beverages and authentic Italian food. Many of the staff are Italian. Even the flat-screen TV screens show Serie A football!

A meal here comprising various gourmet food reveals that this is so much more than just a bar.

Pizza

Order pizza! That is my first advice to any customer here. You can’t go wrong with the house specialty of Pizza SI SI, which is the squid ink pizza.

Pizza SI SI
S$22++

I’ve had black pasta before. As for black pizza, that’s definitely a first.

The pizza is smothered in a succulent tomato gravy with a good spread of seafood such as octopus, squid and prawn. The marvellous seafood flavour that fills the mouth bite after bite easily makes this the most enjoyable pizza I’ve ever had. Mmm… And that’s not all.

Check out how thin the crust is! Minimal carbs! Yes, you can indulge in this pizza without taking a guilt trip or ditching that Atkins diet.

Pasta

Tagliatelle Dello Chef
S$19++

The chef’s special pasta of tagliatelle with a mild-flavoured sauce comes with slices of chicken breast meat. The accompanying cheese wafer is crispy and delightful, and adds much taste to the dish.

Soup

Asparagus soup
S$12++

The chilly days ahead are the perfect occasion to warm up to some cream soup. The zuppa di asparagi is good comfort food. Instead of the usual bowl, it’s served in a tall glass! While the texture is mostly creamy smooth, some small chunks of asparagus remain intact, providing that characteristically tender chewiness.

Next, we sample the house brand coffee and specially imported cocoa, as well as the designer gelati.

Coffee

“Your cappuccino with one litre of milk and a bit of coffee — this is not cappuccino, it’s café latte,” says founder Pietro Mazza.

Well, I have to agree. I can’t really tell the difference between the cappuccino and café latte we get at most coffee chains. Can you?

Here, coffee addicts enjoy a wide range of fresh coffee from the house brand.

Marocchino
S$6++

The marocchino, not available elsewhere in Singapore, comes in a delicate glass cup. This is basically a shot of espresso coffee garnished with frothed milk and a light sprinkle of cocoa powder on top. The fresh coffee aroma certainly makes this a nice morning pick-me-up!

Gourmet Chocolate

For cocoa connoisseurs, a wide range of gourmet chocolate beverages from the Italian gourmet chocolate brand Cioccoliamo is available.

Gourmet chocolate
S$7-9++

There, cocoa in a cup! These come in 12 exquisite flavours including White Chocolate, Gianduja Chocolate and even Chocolate with Chili Pepper!

Gelati

Aside from the pizza, what I find most impressive on the menu is definitely the gelati that are made in-house. It’s not only the common gelato scoops that you can get here, but entire sculptures of culinary arts! Adorned with fruit slices or rocher, these look more like elaborate floral displays!

Chock-full with low-fat gelato and assorted fruits like kiwi, orange and strawberry, this is certainly more healthful than your typical ice cream dessert. Perfect for sharing with someone close!

Coppa Della Casa
S$20++

If you look closely, the pink gelato in this bowl of colourful delights has been shaped to resemble spaghetti. It reminds me of the spaghetti with meatball ice cream at Icekimo!

For more gelato art, check out these restaurant menu designs:

If we aren’t already stuffed, we would have gone for the Coppa Rocher, too. Filled with Rocher candies, it is every chocolate lover’s dream!

Aren’t these awesome? Every one of these gelato sundaes is so huge and impressive!

Abbondio soda drinks

Have you ever seen these cool soda drinks? They are from the Abbondio Vintage range, with soda labels featuring beautiful pin-up girls.

Colourful! And totally appealing to at least half the population in the world.

Aperitivo

One huge draw of Sapore Italiano is the free buffet spread of appetisers and finger food at Happy Hour (6-8pm daily). Feast on mini pizza, raviolis and fruit cocktails for free with any purchase of an alcoholic drink.

Now you know where to go for an authentic Italian experience!

Sapore Italiano
National University Of Singapore (NUS)
Li Ka Shing Building
469B Bukit Timah Road
Singapore 259771
Service:

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http://sparklette.net/food/sapore-italiano/ | 13 comments

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Icekimo – Eat Like an Eskimo!

Veron Ang — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 04:43:29 +0000

For Part 2 of our dessert-tasting excursion (Part 1), we visit Icekimo, an ice creamery and café just off Upper Thomson Road. Ever had pasta with the Ferrero Rocher chocolate in it? No? Well, read on!

Decked out entirely in hues of girlish pink and white, this cute little place provides a bright and cheery spark to the otherwise lackluster Sin Ming Centre.

Cute cartoon characters of Eskimos, penguins and seals adorn the walls and glass windows. One cannot help but feel young in this cheery café!

Indulge in the dessert while sitting in these sweet little white armchairs!

All ice cream here is freshly made in-house with lots of love, reduced fats and sugar. Actual fruits are used to make the fruity flavours, including mango, durian, chempedak and strawberry.

Besides eating out of cups, you have the choice of crunchy waffle cones or waffle bowls. Of course, there is also a range of toppings to choose from. My favourite is the colourful rainbow sprinkles!

You can discover some unconventional ice cream flavours here. There’s the Blueberry Cheesecake! Yum!

Blueberry cheesecake

Ever licked bandung (milk flavoured with rosewater) or teh tarik (“pulled” tea) before? Yes, I said “licked”! Well, you can now! These, plus Nutella with Hazelnut, Horlicks with Malteses and Dino Milo are some of their most unusual flavours. Ever a fan of the popular Milo Dinosaur drink, I fell in love with Dino Milo the instant I had it on my tongue!

They even have meatball pasta! Or is it really? Look again!

Rocher spaghetti
S$6.50++
Rating:

Well, this is yet another thoughtful creation! Chocolate Rocher meatballs! The tomato sauce is strawberry syrup! And get this — the spaghetti is made entirely out of vanilla ice cream! Didn’t see that coming did ya? It is the single most sinful pasta I’ve ever had! But with the Rocher chocolate, I have no complaints!

Obviously I’m not the only one who’s a fan. Check out all these colourful notes left behind by customers! A couple of these have really cute messages.

The next time you’re in the area, be sure to drop by for some dessert! I’m sure you would leave it feeling cheery for the rest of the day.

The Rocher spaghetti is a definite must-try!

Icekimo
Sin Ming Centre
8 Sin Ming Road #01-03
Singapore 575628
Tel: +65 6455 7585 | Website

Opening hours: 11:30am – 11pm

View the original article and join the discussion at:
http://sparklette.net/food/icekimo/ | 27 comments

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Rocher & the Candy That Doesn’t Make You Fat

Veron Ang — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 16:27:56 +0000

Do you love the Ferrero Rocher? I sure do. Not only is the Rocher sinfully delicious, it’s actually fun to eat. Once you carefully peel open the gold foil, there are so many ways to eat this yummy piece of chocolate. You can savour the Rocher layer by layer, or pop the whole chocolatey goodness into your mouth and chew it down greedily at one go.

I am not blogging about the Rocher, however, but a distant cousin that looks good enough to eat, and I promise would not add anything to your hips.

Say hello to the crocheted Rocher!

Aren’t they yummilicious? Unless you have an appetite for yarn and felt, the crocheted Rocher by Amigurumi Kingdom doesn’t make you fat.

Fancy a cupcake, anyone? There’s lemon & strawberry creme available!

Puppy lollipop in vanilla raspberry flavour. Guaranteed to put a smile on your puppy’s face!

A new playmate for your kitty? Look, it even comes with a cute little heart charm!

Bon Bon candy comes in blueberry, orange, cantaloupe and raspberry flavours!

Dango bears! Dango is a popular Japanese treat made out of rice powder.

A pink cherry blossom candy shaped like a bear. It even comes in a floral heart box. Perfect for your sweetheart!

My, my, these are just too cute and too pretty! My Wanroom set just don’t look as cute anymore. Perhaps it’s time to take up crocheting!

View the original article and join the discussion at:
http://sparklette.net/lifestyle/product/the-candy-that-doesnt-make-you-fat/ | 19 comments

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Hong Kong (Day 5)

Veron Ang — Thu, 04 Aug 2005 10:17:54 +0000

I vaguely remember waking up at 10am before deciding to snooze for a couple more minutes. The next thing I know, it’s 11:40am! And I have to get my butt out of the hotel by 12! Fortunately when I call up the hotel reception, they agree to give me an additional hour to pack.

That’s my brunch at Starbucks before leaving Hong Kong. At the airport, I realise I still have a thick wad of Hong Kong currency, so I go around looking for ways to spend it.

This pretty box of special Ferrero Raffaello is a perfect buy!

Of course, you can never leave Hong Kong without these wife’s biscuits:

Then, it’s time to say goodbye to Hong Kong. Let’s look at my economy-class food!

Instead of a low-calorie meal, I ask for regular food this time round. There’s pasta and ice cream and all. I gotta say, it’s very good!

So, my thoughts on Hong Kong?

The best times I’ve had over the four days were at Lan Kwai Fong, Lantau island and the neighbouring Macau.

The nightlife at Lan Kwai Fong, where you can buy a drink from one place and bar hop to another, is simply fantastic. My only regret is not having paid it a second visit, or seen anyone famous there since it’s a popular spot for stars.

Lantau island and Macau provide several eye-opening experiences, beautiful scenery and architecture, and interesting cultural sights. Visitors that haven’t ventured to Lantau island have definitely missed the most beautiful part of Hong Kong.

When it comes to food, I really love the desserts. What a wide plethora of choices from fruits, cakes, puddings, breads, pastries, bubble teas, and so much more!

Frankly, I find that shopping in Hong Kong is overrated. Their famous shopping malls like Timesquare and Harbour City are somewhat similar to what we have in Singapore. The prices and brand names they carry are almost exactly the same as what we have here.

Ladies’ Market fares better, but I definitely had a better time at the chatuchak market in Bangkok.

Would I go travelling alone again? Yes! And for my next destination, I would like it to be completely different from Singapore and Hong Kong, with a rich culture and more diversity.

View the original article and join the discussion at:
http://sparklette.net/travel/china/hong-kong-day-5/ | 6 comments

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Ferrero Garden Flavours

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Pasta

Soup

Coffee

Gourmet Chocolate

Gelati

Abbondio soda drinks

Aperitivo

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Sparklette Magazine » Ferrero Rocher

Fairmont Singapore Hotel – Mooncakes from Szechuan Court

These posts may be related

Ferrero Rocher – Here Comes the Garden Edition

Unboxing the Ferrero Garden

Christmas Tree of the Day #4 (2009 Edition) – Ferrero Rocher Chocolate Tree

Sapore Italiano – Welcome to Gourmet Paradise

Pizza

Icekimo – Eat Like an Eskimo!

Rocher & the Candy That Doesn’t Make You Fat

Hong Kong (Day 5)