California berries series Mini berry tart @ Maxim's Bakery

Maxim's has introduced a summer berries series which uses berries as a theme for their products.
The berries used in this series are: blueberry, strawberry, raspberry and blackberry which sourced from Driscoll.

I was attracted by their California berries series which has four items:

- 8" berries tart with Frangipane
- Summer angel [angel chiffon cake topped with berries]
- Berry mousse dessert
- mini berry tart

I wanted to try the 8" tart but as it was too big I bought the mini version.
The difference is that the mini version does not have Frangipane and blackberries.

Anyway, the tart was light, and the berries were not sweetened which was refreshing, but it was not too sour because there was a thin layer of clear sweet jelly masking the fruit together, and the cream and tart was sweet enough.
A light and refreshing tart that reminded me of strawberries n cream @ wimbledon.

Since, the smaller version was nice, I intend to try the bigger version and the berry mousse dessert.
The Summer angel is basically the angel chiffon cake topped with berries, but the chiffon cake did not taste that nice, so I will not try this cake.

California berries series: Mixed berries dessert cup @ Maxim's Bakery

Maxim's has introduced a summer berries series which uses berries as a theme for their products.
The berries used in this series are: blueberry, strawberry, raspberry and blackberry which sourced from Driscoll.

I was attracted by their California berries series which has four items:

- 8" berries tart with Frangipane
- Summer angel [angel chiffon cake topped with berries]
- Berry mousse dessert
- mini berries tart

After trying the mini berries tart, I wanted to try the bigger version but it was sold out, so I got the berry mousse dessert for $16.
The berry mousse dessert consists of layers of chocolate sponge cake in between blueberry mousse and blueberry sauce topped with blackcurrant jelly cubes and fresh strawberries and blueberries.
The mousse, sponge and fruit was nice, but I didnt like the blackcurrant jelly as it tasted artifcial.

Mini berries tart:
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2191018

California berries series: 8" berries tart with Frangipane @ Maxim's bakery

Maxim's have introduced a summer berries series, which uses berries as a theme for their products.
The berries used in this series are: blueberry, strawberry, raspberry and blackberry which sourced from Driscoll.

I was attracted by their California berries series which has four items:

- 8" berries tart with Frangipane
- Summer angel [angel chiffon cake topped with berries]
- Berry mousse dessert
- mini berries tart

After trying the mini berries tart, I wanted to try the bigger version so I finally found a store that had it.
When I paid, I was asked if I had a certain credit card because there was a 10% discount, so I ended up paying $142.2.
The tart had already been pre-packed in their fridge, so all they did was bring it out of the fridge and showed me the tart inside.
The box for the cake was HUGE!!! It could fit about three of those tarts stacked horizontally!!!

When I took it home, I realised the tart was firmly attached to the base, it didnt seem to shift when the box swung!
It was good because it kept the tart intact, but it was a nightmare to serve.

I realised it was so hard to cut, and nearer the centre there was hard chocolate between the tart and the paper plate.
So I ended up breaking the slice nearer the centre and when I was lifting it because it was stuck to the bottom.

thick base

Anyway, there was only four blackberries on this tart.

From the pictures you can see how thick the tart base is, it is about the same thickness as the cream.

I believe that they made the tart base thicker in order to use less fruit and Frangipane.
I felt that if the crust was not so thick and instead if they had used a thin layer of sponge or cake on top of a thinner made crust, it would make the texture much better and easier to cut, and of course, not firmly attaching the base with chocolate.

The Fragipane was nice and creamy, sweet enough to compensate for the thick crust.
Overall, I would say the berries tart is better just as Spicygal said.
The berries tart was very refreshing after it had been chilled properly in the fridge.

Chocolat-ier the new confectionary craze

Walked past and saw this cute shop selling confectionery and skin care products made of Chocolate.

 

 

It reminded me of LUSH and SKINFOOD.

Although they specialise in chocolate skin care, they have chocolate confectionery too such as chocolate and nuts, a big range on yoghurt covered berries, chocolate covered nuts and gift sets.

 

Gift sets

 

 

For the yoghurt-covered fruit, there were cranberries, strawberries, pineapples, cherries, blueberries, raspberries and nuts too.

The ones that had real dried fruit were pineapple, blueberry, cherry and raspberry, the strawberry and cranberry were like a berry version of maltesers.

They are said to be able to keep for a year without going off, but Hong Kong is a hot and humid place, which makes it difficult and the fact you cant stop eating them!
Yoghurt covered dried fruit and nuts are very common and cheap in the UK, infact you can get them at Pick and Mix stalls.

The staffs at the shop had pretty eyes and spoke good English.

Chocolate almond:
This was very impressive, there was a good ratio of chocolate and almond, and it was not too sweet, I was told it had a slight savoury taste. It is a good one to start off with, because the taste isn’t so intense.

Chocolate covered nuts:
My favourite was the brazilian nut, they had chocolate sunflower seeds too!

Yoghurt covered fruits:
Overall they were good, the texture of the yoghurt coating was a bit like marzipan, and sugary icing.
The taste was not too sweet or overpowering and it complements the fruit.
The pineapple was nice, but I found the texture of the pineapple bit too moist and soft.

L:cherry R:blueberry

 

The cherry and blueberry were the best, especially the blueberry because it had a strong taste, and it was slightly chewy too and the berries are not freeze dried.

 

For the raspberry it was a whole freeze-dried berry inside which gives it a different experience and the coating was decorative too. It is similar to the Japanese versions.

raspberry

 

The cranberry and strawberry ones were like berry maltesers!

L:cranberry R:strawberry

 

Anyway the white yoghurt covered ones are a must try, because the yoghurt covering is different from the Japanese sugary ones.

I was quite surprised there hadnt been any reviews and it wasnt listed, despite it is right next to Crumbs, Kami Teapresso, that new taiwanese grilled cakes and Roll across the road.

Bought them previously as written in the review below:
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2154243

This time they had coconut mushrooms from the pick n mix shops from UK.
Since I was homesick, I got some.

The rest of the chocolates tasted as good as before, I got the blackcurrant one which wasnt there before.
It is good to see that they are getting popular in Hong Kong.

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Price: Bit expensive
Service: OK
Yummy factor: OK
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They also had coconut mushrooms which you can get from Pick and mix shops in the UK.