Sweet Lil' Breakfast at Tedboy Bakery, Bangsar

I am not a regular brunch person; reason being I am always an early bird and I always start off the day with breakfast at the start of the day which is pretty much in the rising hours of the sun.

I take my meals according to the old-fashioned way where breakfast precedes the day followed by lunch, and that is the reason the concept of brunch did not seem to fit in, in any way with my personal lifestyle.

Typically when it comes to breakfasts, I have my regular favorites; particularly on weekends and it always, well, almost always, comes back to dim sum on the weekends. This round, for a change, I thought of trying out something else and there is just this place I have been wanting to check out personally for quite sometime.

Tedboy Bakery, located in the busy and hip neighborhood of Bangsar; along Jalan Telawi 4, is this much-talked about bakery and having heard of this place, I was keen to try and just enjoy something different for my first meal of the day fora change.

It was not hard to find this bakery cafe; facing the side of Bangsar Village Shopping Center, and the design of the cafe was kept to a simple minimalistic concept, though with that studio-inspired design in their interior.

The front of the cafe is the very heart of their business; which is the bakery while the tables and chairs are located at the back of the shop where patrons can just make themselves cosy while deciding on their options from the menu.

The O.J (Freshly squeezed plain Orange Juice - three oranges in total) (MYR7.90) was my choice to sweeten up the day. The juice was not overly sweet, and to my liking, with that hint of slight bitterness that you get from fresh orange juice in the aftertaste and I was quite amused with the adorable bottle they served the juice in.

I also liked that little extra thought they put in to serve with a glass with ice cubes and a straw, for one to slowly enjoy the juice in a more, let's just say, ladylike manner rather than gulping the juice in a rush and lose track of the bittersweet taste of the fruit juice.

Green Tea Latte Ice (MYR10.90) is a sweet blend of green tea espresso with milk; and was quite a good combination though it was tad a little too sweet for my liking. The strong taste of the green tea is testament that the drink was not diluted in any way.




Carrot Cake (MYR6.90) is boasted to contain more carrots than anything else in their menu, and with such a description, I was pleased to find that they could keep that to their record.
This slice of cake is not to be simply underestimated for its size tells nothing of the condensed and well-compressed amount of carrot slices packed in its every bite. If you are a fan of walnut, you will be delighted with the pea-sized walnuts found in the cake too. It was quite a firm cake, layered with the light cheese in between and decorated with a cute little icing in the shape of a carrot atop the cake to indicate that this is their carrot cake.





Salmon Mix Green (MYR17.90) is a satisfying toss of fresh greens varying from lettuce, cabbage, cherry tomatoes laced with generous slices of slightly smoked salmon (the way I like it) then lightly drizzled with a sweet honey dressing. The sweet dressing could be minimized in its amount although the naturally salty taste of the salmon slices countered that in a graceful manner.
I simply could not get enough of this salad, and I must say this is by far, one of my personal favorite salad with them smoked salmon.





Chicken Wrap (MYR12.90)
The winner here is the soft and freshly made crepe wrap with that light hint of eggs complementing the chicken slices and ham inside, served with a serving of fresh garden salad on the side.







A simple but gratifying way to kick start the way and after my experience here, I can see why they made their way to the hearts of their fans.

 

Simple, homey and made with love are just the humble offerings of Tedboy Bakery,

I can see definitely see myself coming back again soon....

Ola to Portuguese pastries from Chipmonky

Say Ola (or Hello in Portuguese) to the newly opened bakery, Chipmonky in the happening neighborhood of Pulau Tikus in Penang.

The new bakery, which was officially opened on a Sunday, the 27th of April 2014, welcomed their customers to visit the newly renovated place (formerly Maxim's) and to sample their bread and pastries on the opening day.

There is much reason for Chipmonky to be proud with their products; which hailed all the way from Portugal as the owners are excited to introduce their specialities in bread, cakes, pastries from the country. It would definitely be a first; as the closest we have probably gotten to with Portuguese pastries were the famous egg tarts, and with a whole bakery dedicated to making all these specialties from Portugal, it is something Penangites can look forward to.

While I was not there on the opening day, I dropped by on the following Sunday in the evening and it was fortunate I did, as I had the opportunity to meet up with one of the friendly owner; Luis, and his wife, Fatima.
Started by Luis and his Malaysian friend as a joint venture, Chipmonky strives to deliver the best cakes and pastries with most of their ingredients being imported from Portugal, and their products are guaranteed to be fresh every day; a promise that they made to keep up the reputation of this trendy new bakery.

It was his passion for baking which led Luis to take the step to move towards owning this bakery, following his stay in Malaysia for the past two years. As they were deciding on the location for their first outlet, Luis knew that he would want it to be in Penang, an island which stole his heart during his stay here since he moved from Portugal and it would be the perfect location, close to home.
There would be further plans to expand their business, of course, and the owners are definitely pumped with energy and enthusiasm to make Chipmonky a success.



The shop was still undergoing minor renovations; all proudly done by Luis and his team while simultaneously keeping the shop up with the daily operations since its opening. Minor touch ups and re-design can be seen in the shop, which was formerly a Maxim's bakery, to inject a fresh image and an identity which is truly Chipmonky's very own.

It is interesting to note that there were many cakes, pastries and even bread available in the outlet; many of which are unique and branded as Chipmonky's very own creations.
Chipmonky had even started to take orders for their cakes, and Luis was busy delivering and making cakes for his customers; which is definitely a promising start to the bakery which was only opened a week ago.

I was there in the evening on a Sunday, and many of their items were already sold out by the time I was there. Luis took his time to share with me his story, and also introduced the famous items from his country.







The famous Portuguese Egg Tarts were one of their recommended items; priced at MYR2.80 each





Portuguese Chocolate Muffins (MYR6.80)



Portuguese Homemade Rice Cakes

We bought their recommended items; which were reputed to be famous in Portugal and proudly Chipmonky's.

The Portuguese Egg Tart was truly one that was rich with the dense egg custard and firm yet flaky crust. It does not crumble easily, and was a delightful treat; unique from the usual Portuguese egg tarts we get. Well, one can definitely raise the bar when this is made by a Portuguese himself, right?







The other item which Chipmonky is proud of, is the Portuguese Sponge Cake.
Gigantic in size compared to the usual sponge cake, this version packs a soft fluffy version of the usual sponge cake but with a sweet sticky cream in it as well.



According to Luis, the weight of the sponge cake can determine the amount of cream in the cake. Some may prefer more of the cream, while some may not want too much of the cream which can be deemed to be a little too sweet.






Generally, the Portuguese have a sweet tooth which can make most of their pastries a little sweeter than that of the local Malaysian taste.
Luis is aware of that and he is customizing his pastries to suit the local taste; while at the same time maintaining the authenticity of the Portuguese origins.

Chipmonky do take orders for cakes, and you can bring your desired designs or photos to the shop to request for the cake to be designed to your preference.
Prices may appear to be slightly on the high side, but this is due to the fresh and imported high-quality ingredients from Portugal, Belgium, and other countries in alignment with Chipmonky's mission to deliver the best for their customers.

With a unique, not to mention catchy name like Chipmonky and the interesting arrival of Portuguese pastries to our shores, it would be definitely something to entice the taste buds of the Penangites.

After all, Penang island is the first location selected by the owners to introduce this interesting spread all the way from Portugal, and that is indeed something we ought to be proud of :-)

I look forward to the success of Chipmonky, for hail Penangites, we have something different to look out for in our local bakeries!~

(With Luis on the right, my special thanks for his time in explaining and sharing about his passion and pastries)





Note: 
This is not a sponsored post and I am not affiliated with Chipmonky.
This is based on my personal experience and opinion.

Cranberry Chiffon Cake

I like the light, soft and fluffy texture of chiffon cakes, and it is a great thing that they come in so many different flavors and available almost everywhere.
I have gotten used to the usual flavors; such as pandan and orange, and they now have coffee too.
These are the common flavors for chiffon cakes found almost everywhere; in markets and bakeries; except in Singapore, where I fell in love with the mini healthy chiffon cakes with a selection of lovely flavors. I promise to take a photo and blog about them when I go to Singapore again ;)

Anyway, I was recently delighted with the discovery of a new flavor of chiffon cake, and the bakery is just like near my place! In fact, they have branches around everywhere, but I think this flavor of chiffon cake is only found in certain branches.

Yup, that's the Cranberry Chiffon cake (MYR5.90), which I found in the fridge in Bread History (they are a chain of bakeries with outlets all over Malaysia and Singapore)



Now, first of all, I already like chiffon cakes and then cranberry, oh my gosh, I just could not resist this!:)
I am the biggest fan of anything berry-related, really!:)

The chiffon cake was filled with cranberry bits, but too bad it was quite limited. I wished they were more generous though.

The chiffon cake was pretty simple; and just a plainly made of eggs and the cranberries adorned the whole cake.

I was kind of expecting a cranberry flavored cake; like it was made of cranberry flavor or fruit/juice or something like that, then it would be oozing with cranberry goodness.
I thought it was supposed to be like that, that's what they did with the pandan, orange and coffee chiffon cakes, right?

Anyway, this is not really that way, but it still tastes good and fresh!

Maybe they did use a tinge of cranberry in the baking, but it was quite faint, in my opinion.


It was still a really nice chiffon cake nevertheless, honestly, and I really liked it :)
It's a change, from the usual flavors of chiffon cakes.


Oh, they even have oat/wholemeal chiffon cakes, maybe I will try it someday?

A slice of cranberry chiffon cake, anyone? :)

Pineapple Muffin, anyone?

I have heard of blueberry, raspberry, apple, apricot, raisin, banana and even orange poppy seed muffins for a whole load of fruity-themed muffins, but honestly, this is the first time I have heard of a pineapple muffin.
Have you? (just to confirm I am not totally muff-ed out)

When I saw this in a bakery just the other day, I was torn between the kiwi, blueberry and this, and though I narrowed it down to the match between the kiwi and this, I eventually picked this, as I have tried a kiwi muffin before and this sounded really interesting.


It had a really strong buttery smell that I really do not like about muffins, and I was skeptical that I am going to enjoy this (lactose intolerant).

I took a small bite, but truly, that bite made a difference as it had a really soft texture and the best part is, the light and lovely scent of pineapple which did not seem to exist when I held the muffin, oozed its way into my taste buds when I took that bite.
I tell you, I can even taste small chunks of pineapple bits in the muffin!
It was quite surprising and the aroma of pineapple was not even overwhelming.

Too bad I don't have the recipe to share with you guys, but I am sure the enthusiastic and lovely cooking talents out there could try this out?:)

Main setback for this muffin, to me, was the strong buttery smell, oily, and also, almond chips (sorry, almond fans!)

Oh, in case anyone is interested and you're in Malaysia, you may get this at the famous Continental Bakery in Penang. (RM5.00 for 3 pcs)


If you are not in this region, I am sorry, but your oven could be a help, right? :p (hope it gave you a new idea with your muffin baking!;)

Japanese Green Tea with red beans in a slice of cake

I am not a big fan of cakes; crazy I know, because I don't really have a sweet tooth BUT, big but here, I do enjoy the decorations and sight of pretty cakes when they are all dolled up!

That being said, we were wandering and checking out some bakeries, when I remembered reading reviews from other local blogs about a bakery which bakes better cakes and pastries than some renowned cake specialist chain outlets (not going to mention names here). I have always wanted to check out this little bakery which looked quite exquisite from the outside.

Ritz Cakes & Pastries is not located in a large shop lot nor is it marked by a huge sign with blinking neon lights shouting the name of the shop, and some may even miss this particular bakery.
At a glance, everything that was on sale was already displayed and honestly, there was not much in the bakery (maybe they were all sold out)

We ended up getting a slice of cake, which I have read from various reviews as one of the top selling and highly recommended ones.

Look at the packaging, isn't it just so sweet??


I took a few shots of the pretty little box (I love English country details like these:)



So, what's the best selling cake inside the box?
As the title revealed, it is the Japanese Green Tea sponge cake with creamy red beans.


I have always liked sponge cakes, and this cake was filled with the strong green tea on top of the cake with intermittent layers of cream and creamy red bean.

The sponge cake obviously exceeded that of the cream; which for a first, is better than most cakes (other bakeries).
I don't like cream as they tend to make me sick, really.

I am not in any way singing praises for the cake or the bakery, but the cake was not too bad and it kind of had a very unique taste; whereby there were three tastes detected - bitter (top layer), salty(mid layer) and sweet (in between layers)


The cake was definitely fresh, and the combination of the three tastes gave the cake a really unique (yet alluring) taste.

It is no wonder the cake is one of their best-selling, and the bakery also claimed that the cake is freshly baked daily (it runs out fast, I guess)

Priced at RM6.20 (~USD2.07), it may be a little pricey for a slice of cake (although the price is still better than other bakeries).
The cake was definitely fresh, and is one of the most interesting green tea cakes I have ever tried; I think it's worth a try, what do you think? :)