More birthday cake

Saturday was my husband's birthday. I totally mean to go out and grab some cupcakes for him, but this whole weekend was a bit crazy with the opening of the lantern festival and his big design competition win. In the end, it was he that surprised me with Sift cupcakes at home one day.

Being mildly obsessed with with banana, he brought home one banana/chocolate and one straight up chocolate cupcake. Being us, we cut both in half and shared. Despite having sat in the fridge for a day and a half (which Sift expressly says not to do on the box), the cupcakes were still delicious. Sift is totally worthy of its fame.

The chocolate was a little too much chocolate for me (is that even possible), but the banana definitely stole the show. One day I need to make it to sift before closing time so that I can actually chose from their huge selection of cupcakes. Happy Mid-Autumn festival and Happy Birthday to my husband!

Today's Cake Rating (on a scale of 5 cakes)
Taste          

Presentation          (the special cupcake box is key)

Service  N/A (although the previous time we were there, the girl behind the counter was a bit of a dud)

Price           (I didnt buy them, but I think they're around $25 per cupcake)

Overall Satisfaction         

Sift Patisserie
G/F Dominion Center, 49-53
Queen's Road East, Wan Chai 

Cake on Friday

Finally, we got back into the swing of things with a Friday cake.
Well, some of us. Half of the team is away or "sick."
And one member of the team developed a hangover at about 2pm today and the sight of cake is making him sick. Though not as sick as someone else who threw up in our boardroom earlier today.

Anyways, today we headed just down the road over to Christina's Creation. But the logo says, "for every occasion," so Cake Friday it is.

Christina's Creation popped up out of nowhere a few weeks (months?) ago? So many stores and restaurants in Hong Kong come and go so quickly, its hard to keep track. Anyways, this store is small with maybe 10 different types of cupcakes to choose from, but also sells lollipops and other candies.

I chose the Chocolate Hazelnut cupcake today, and we got Red Velvet, Caramel Banana, Chocolate Crunch, and Rose Lychee for the rest of the team. Today's cupcake stands out for two reasons:

1. The walls of the cup folds down to create a sort of cupcake plate. I like this particularly so that I can pick out the middle before eating the top. Remember that Seinfeld episode about the muffin tops....this is my ideal world!

2. The cupcake frosting wasnt just spread on top - but injected right through the centre of the cupcake. Delicious!

Altogether, today's cupcakes were great. Dense cake with a light frosting both on top and throughout. 

Today's Cake Rating (on a scale of 5 cakes)
Taste          

Presentation           

Service           (The lady behind the counter got a little confused)

Price           ($25 per cupcake is about average, though a little price)

Overall Satisfaction         

Christina's Creation
G/F 31A Wyndham Street, Central
Hong Kong

A Thursday pick-me-up

With half of the team away in Singapore, its been pretty quiet around the office this week so I decided to bring back an afternoon treat for the rest of us left slaving away at work. Today, we had egg tarts. Now, egg tarts are a true piece of Hong Kong baking at its best. Throughout Hong Kong you can find amazing variations of the egg tart - the Portuguese variety being my personal favourite. Now, I was totally shocked when I moved to Hong Kong and tried one of these for the first time. Shocked only in that the egg tart technically symbolizes everything I dislike about most pastries. There's a pie/cookie crust...and some gooey stuff in the middle. Somehow though, these little cookie-egg creations have become one of my favourite treats.

Today's egg tarts came from the ever popular Tai Cheong bakery.

When my colleague first took me here over a year ago I was a little skeptical only because locals in Hong Kong seem to think that every single restaurant, bakery, tea shop, etc. is super famous. Tai Cheong bakes the traditional Chinese type of egg tart.

Today's egg tart was warm, flaky on the outside, and wonderfully soft on the inside. Tai Cheong deserves every bit of notoriety it has gained over the years.

And just so you dont think that all I eat is cake....

I eat several of these every day

For a great article on Tai Cheong bakery, click here. Just dont scroll down and read the ingredients...there's a lot of butter in these babies.

Today's Cake Rating (on a scale of 5 cakes)
Taste          

Presentation           

Service           (I bought 7 tarts to bring back and the sweet little lady behind the counter kept singing about 7-11)

Price           ($42 HKD for 7 is a steal!)

Overall Satisfaction         

Tai Cheong Bakery (Central)
35 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central
Hong Kong