Chocolate cake

Recently, I have a sudden craving for chocolate cake. As I get older, I seem to crave for more unhealthy food! Anyway, I usually take a piece or two to sate my obsession and it would go away for a month or two. Each time I get myself a cake, I would take some pictures. And these are some of my collections.

A piece of chocolate cake

This cake was from Bengawan Solo - reputed for their nonya kuehs rather than cakes. It looked good on the outside but unfortunately its interior was just the normal sponge cake with little mousse. The toppings on the outside was a little buttery - much like those cakes that I had when I was a kid. Not much to shout about.	Chocolate mousse cake
I had this cake for my birthday. It was from Swiss Bakery, a supposedly European-styled bakery. I loved this cake - it was good with much cream and mousse laden on the outside, as well as inside. But it was buttery and heavy. Not very heart friendly...	Chocolate truffle cake
Stricly-speaking, this cake would not be counted as a chocolate cake. I bought this from Polar Cafe - not really reputed for their cakes - more reputed for their curry puffs. But I was pleasantly surprised by the cake. It was light and not too sweet nor buttery. I did not feel too guilty when I had my second helpings.	Blackforest cake
Well, I loved this cake though it was not a chocolate cake. It was a Japanese-styled cheesecake where the dough was fluffy and rich with cheese. More surprisingly, I bought it from Crystal Jade Cakery, a Chinese restaurant confectionery. This restaurant chain supposed to have good dim-sum and other Chinese delicacies. So, I was pleasantly surprised with this cake. Yum, yum...	Cheesecake

Japanese tit-bits

Japanese tit-bits

By merely looking at these beautifully-wrapped packages, it was hard to imagine that they were all foodstuff - tit-bits such as mochi and cookies and stuff like that. One of the things which impressed me a lot during our holidays in Japan was their customer-oriented culture. This was especially evident in their food and their packaging. One could see that a lot of thought processes had gone into the presentation and packaging of food with the ultimate objective of pleasing the consumer. As a customer, I need not worry about getting my hands dirty or having sugary stuff dripping all over my body. Cutlery, in the form of a fork or chopsticks, can usually be found inside the packaging.

A fork can usually be found inside the packaging	Sometimes chopsticks are provided

A more ridiculous example was the mochi which I bought in Osaka (bottom picture on the left). Upon opening the package and seeing the mochi for the first time, I wondered why there was an indentation on every piece of mochi. It was unlike the Japanese to sell the stuff with such an obvious defect. But I disoovered later that the dent was meant for the syrup that came with the mochi. Without such a dent, most of the syrup would have flowed down the side and the mochi would not have tasted sweet enough! Such was the punctiliousness of Japanese!

Mochi with a dent	Mochi with syrup