Cream Puffs

We tried their Matcha and Black Sesame ones, and as good as they sounded both were unfortunately exceedingly disappointing. For one the choux was dry, limp, and stale — basically lou hong so it was honestly a struggle to finish it. A good cream filling would’ve helped salvage the situation, but sadly both cream fillings were overly stiff and lacklustre in flavour. The matcha cream was way too bitter (not in the pleasant way mind you), the powder not completely dissolved so there was a very unwelcome grainy texture. The black sesame one had a much better flavour, but it wasn’t as rich and luscious as I would’ve hoped for.

As the self-proclaimed cream puff queen, I decided to venture outta my usual haunts to check out this Milk Pie ($3.80) by Tokyo Milk Cheese Factory. Their take on the classic Japanese custard puff sees a part-choux-part-pie-pastry dough encasing a filling of Japanese mascarpone cheese and cream. Verdict: meh I’d rather hit my daily dairy consumption elsewhere. I was envisioning somewhat of a cross between a cream puff and fruit pie, with a buttery tender pastry and some mega smooth and rich filling. What I got instead was an extremely dry, stiff, off-the-rack sorta puff pastry, holding in an extremely tiny amount (bordering on stingy really) of rather tasteless and lacklustre cream. It actually looked rather curdled in fact, so you can imagine the texture being quite lacking.

I wanna yell this out loud but I can’t, so please just layan me here lol. I bit into Pantler’s cream puff with a good dose of skepticism, not because I don’t like their pastries and bakes (en contraire I think they’re fab), but cause I’ve been so enamoured with Baristart’s I can’t imagine anything else even coming close. I’m very pleased to say I was proved wrong. Just cutting it apart, the generous amount of smooth, glistening and thick pastry cream was quite the sight to behold. Unlike Baristart’s, Pantler’s pastry cream is a lot firmer and holds its shape better (read: no ooze ooze, but still good good). Texture wise that means a slightly heavier cream, and flavour wise that means it’s a lot richer. I loved it. Especially when you get those little crunchy, nutty bits of nougatine hidden in the luscious cream 🤤 While I do like myself the light and airy sorta cream puffs, I love how assertive and intense the flavours were here and I dare say it’s now a good contender for the first place in my heart 🥰

Since KOKI Tamagoyaki ended their operations, I’ve been struggling to find a kickass cream puff that can fill that void in my heart left by their shuu puffs. Well friends, I’m glad to say my search has ended at Baristart. Baristart’s larger-than-life (no actually just larger than my palm) light puffs come studded with little crispy bits and pearl sugar — very much like a classic chouquette, just way way bigger. Each puff’s freshly prepped to order so you gotta wait a little, but trust me it’s so worth it. The puffs are filled so generously with Baristart’s special Hokkaido BIEI Jersey Milk custard, to the point of almost overflowing. And when you take your first bite, ooooof: it’s heaven, sheer heaven. You’ve got that fantastically crisp and airy puff, holding in a wonderfully cold, creamy, rich, and thick custard’s that’s so decadent it reminds me of melted ice cream. It’s sweet but not diabetic, and enjoying this with a cup of joe will balance it out just right. But the best thing? This bauble of deliciousness costs only $4.50 🥰🥰🥰 Sigh just take my money.

Was a wee sadded when I found out that Dulcet & Studio's lovely Matcha Puff wasn't a mainstay on their dessert menu. Turns out though, that the lovely pastel puffs everyone's been seeing at Clipper Tea are made by them. Earl Grey, Matcha, Milk Tea, Rose, and Vanilla — we've tried them all, and I'm finding it hard to name a fave. Great choux, luscious custard, and fantastic flavours! Matcha aside, the Milk Tea's got my ❤️ it's rich yet subtle enough. If you like stronger flavours, the other two tea puffs would prolly hit the spot.

Focus not on the ugly fingers, but that luscious matcha custard. So good my tongue's tied. It's more "matcha latte" than "green tea", so it's got a good balance of bitter and sweet.

This was a total mood lifter after the terrible lunch. Was a tad wary of being disappointed, especially noting the hefty $3.50 pricetag. But nope, no regrets. Choux pastry was flawless, and the generous earl grey custard that poured out was decadence at its finest. Smooth, luscious, bursting with the floral fragrance of the tea.

Huge palm-sized profiteroles, filled with either black sesame cream, orh née paste, or salted egg custard - very naughty indeed. You can't really tell what's what so each bite's really quite the surprise! The choux pastry was done very well, light while boasting a lovely bite and crust. I especially loved the coconut caramel brushed on top! Utter decadence. It is a huge portion though, best shared among 4+ pax.