Back to Sugarloaf~

We had our lesson at TCA again. And we just couldn't resist the temptation of the amazing desserts displayed in the sugarloaf display counters.

I really couldn't decide between the gourmet sandwiches and the sushi as they all looked delicious. In the end I went with sushi and I think I'm glad I did. They were generous with the salmon sashimi and there were relatively many ingredients. However, since it wasn't wrapped with nori, the sushi kinda broke up when I picked them up with my chopsticks.






For dessert, I chose the passionfruit chocolate mousse. The bottom later is the mouse, the middle layer is some while chocolate cream and its topped with passionfruit puree. The dessert is elegantly finished with a piece of white chocolate.

The first spoonful was amazing. The rich chocolate flavour of the mousse, the creamy and sweet white chocolate cream was balanced with the acidity of the passionfruit puree. However, the more I ate, it did start to get heavy and a little too sweet. Perhaps it would have been great with a warm cup of tea!

Sugarloaf @Temasek Culinary Academy

My classmates and I hopped of to Sugarloaf at the @TCA after food science and product knowledge class. For some of them, it is already their second time there but it was my first so I was a excited bouncing thing xD

Anyway, Sugarloaf is a casual dining cafe run by the CCM (my course!) year 2 students(me next year!). They bake and cook the food sold there under the guidance of the chefs. The front of the house is handled by the students doing service management module.





Now to the important part! -- The food!
I was spoiled for choice as we walked past the counters. The purchasing works in a way that you walk down a "series" of counters and display shelves and you are assigned a number. So as you walk you just choose the food you want and you get billed at the end. The counters are roughly divided into cakes and tarts, desserts and sandwiches, pastries and main course, then cashier and drinks.

In the end I went for the apple crumble and the thai grilled chicken. The thai grilled chicken was nice and tender and a little burnt on one side as you can see from the picture. Maybe its intentional? heh. The sauce that came with it was sweet and spicy and had a strong taste of coriander. Overall, pretty good! Though the portion was a little small.
The apple crumble was really good. The crust is crunchy yet light and not too sweet. The filling though, was a little sweet for me. The meringue (which I thought was whipped cream at first sight), was good too! Not too sweet and melts in the mouth.

Eugenia and Whitney also kindly let me sample their deserts. The lemon curd of the lemon meringue pie was a little too sour for me and there seems to be an overload of meringue. But I suppose that is serves to balance out the acidity of the lemon curd. Nicely browned peaks and sweet and simple presentation tho imo!

The creme brulee was awesome! I really liked it. The satisfying part is always tapping and breaking through the sugar surface. I think the colour of the "brulee" is really nice and I like how it is topped some fruits!

Definitely going to sugarloaf again and looking forward to making these myself next year!

A 3-course lunch by the Culinary Institute of America Students

Quite a while back, say in February, my friends and I attended a banquet lunch service prepared by the CIA. The CIA occasionally organises such banquets and meals are at an affordable price of $10-$16 depending on the number of places booked and whether you opt to have wine as part of your meal.

While waiting for the appetizer to be served, baguette slices and brioche slices were provided. Breadsticks were offered to us as well. A refreshing drink was also served. I didn’t quite catch what the drink was but tasted like a sparkling mix of lime and guava.



Seasonal Mix Greens Salad

The appetiser was a seasonal mixed green salad with mushrooms and quail egg, topped with a guava dressing, if I remember correctly :p The endives made it quite bitter though. And if i'm not wrong there mizuna in there too. I liked the onions, which were really sweet and tasty and eased the bitterness of the salad. There is also some sort of citrus peel, which made it a little more refreshing.
                             

And heres the main course: Pesto crusted salmon on pumpkin mash with beans and beurre blanc and garnished with a sundried tomato.

Pesto crusted salmon on pumpkin mash with beans and beurre blanc and garnished with a sundried tomato

To put it simply, this was the best salmon I have eaten so far. (though I probably haven’t really tried that much salmon dishes apart from fruit salsa salmon, teriyaki, garlic-ginger, steamed, sashimi)
The pesto was tasty and aromatic and pumpkin mash smooth and sweet. was great and the beurre blanc was light.

                                        

Then heres the desert!
I was especially looking forward to this. This is a cheesecake with oreo crust served with raspberry coulis and raspberry cream. I think that’s a tuile on the side?
Surprise! As I dug into the cheesecake and had my first ‘forkfull’ of the treat, I realised that hidden within the cheesecake is tiny pieces of white chocolate! With the cream cheese and strawberry/raspberry flavours, its quite divine :) not too sweet, and just the right portion not to be too heavy.

Overall, it was a great meal and value for money if you don't mind eating food prepared by trainee students. Still, they are of high standard and quality. I apologize for the inconsistent placement of pictures, Im still struggling a little with the image insertion functions. :x



Oreo Cheesecake with Raspberry Coulis