12 cupcakes from Twelve Cupcakes

First thing first, I may offend some of you for what I am about to state, and what I am about to state is  none other than the fact how some Indonesians are easily influenced with, what so called, the booming trend (in almost every aspect). 'Food fever', what I like to call it, is one of the examples how some of us may turn ourselves into this bias-judge-it-from-the-cover consumers. Take rainbow and red velvet cake for instance. Some of the people hasn't really moved on from that trend and up to this day, some are still crazy about it.

BIAS.. When the cake itself is basically an ordinary cake but with a lot more

of coloring. Due to the crazy off the charts demand, it is simply overrated.. and over priced. Get my point? Maybe, you are one of those people who are still crazy for red velvet and rainbow cakes, hey, I'm not saying that you can't. I'm just saying this to enlighten you with a little bit of a sensible perspective.

Okay enough of that..

Now, it is the part where you might throw some sentimental-senjata-makan-tuan comments. A while ago, I have been given the chance to try out what supposed to be the number one cupcake from Singapore. Twelve Cupcakes, bringing you with the best quality of cupcakes. Freshly made everyday, they guarantee you with a moist fluffy little sweet treats.

Starting from the left : Rainbow Vanilla, Strawberry Chocolate, Vanilla Chocolate, Cookies and Cream, Chocolate Vanilla, Peanut Butter Jelly, Mocha

My instant reflect was to try their Vanilla Chocolate and Peanut Butter Jelly. 

They do keep their promise for a fresh moist and fluffy cupcake. It is so moist that it can make crumbles from each bite. The icing itself fulfills the expectation for what it is named after and for the flavors that you'll expect from hearing that name. The icing for Peanut Butter Jelly, for example, has a really nutty scent and sweet sour blueberry jam in the middle, perfect combo to be put on the moist vanilla cupcake. Both cute and practical, not forgetting yummy.

Starting from the top left to its right, then the next row : Lychee, Chocolate Salt Caramel, Strawberry Chocolate, PB Chocolate, Strawberry Vanilla, Red Velvet, PB Jelly, Rainbow Vanilla, Chocolate Chocolate, Mocha, Chocolate Vanilla, Vanilla Chocolate

12 cupcakes from Twelve Cupcakes

Pardon the photos taken at my home, it was night time and since I have worked, all of my bright sun shiny days are spent at the office. 

Anyway, I have tried a bite out of all the cupcakes. Even my Mother, who is an expert at pointing out flaws out of anything, said it was good. My siblings ate it in no time. The verdict : they really give you for what they promised you. One cupcake will cost you Rp.20k. They also take special custom orders for private events. From what they have to offer, everything sounds great.

Going back to the first real deal, cupcakes has once been a 'food trend' in Indonesia, and they have submerged to a downfall cause I think people started to think, for that kind of price, it just doesn't address enough satisfaction for the belly. For 20k, we can get a simple lunch set worth of meal. Therefore, the cupcake eating trend has ended. 

Since it was originally established in 2011, maybe Twelve Cupcakes has gotten on the train a bit late, but with their strategy for custom made orders, I think they still can survive. The cupcake eating trend might have died, but people still order custom ones as substitutes for birthday cakes (and many other events). 

By the way, even after days of staying in the fridge, I still can feel the moist texture from the cake, aside from the fact that of course, it has turned a bit firm. Well, money talks, doesn't it? Now you know why such a little sweet (also cute) treat may cost you a price of a simple lunch meal. 

Twelve Cupcakes

Central Park LG #156

Website : http://twelvecupcakes.com

Twitter : @12cupcakesID

Facebook : TwelveCupcakesIndonesia

Sweet Treats for a sweet tooth : Le Sucre Du Patisserie

Hush! Picture and imagine it with me. It's a black and white French setting with a presence of a lady, for the first time, realizing that, what's in front of her, makes her really happy. She found her passion. To find that enlightenment brought that sweetest smile on her face. In my case, it brought me the sweetest treats..

Entrer Le Sucre Du Patisserie, an online patisserie specializing in macarons, which offers you with high quality desserts. All of their products are made with no preservatives and some ingredients are imported to bring the best out of the flavors. The lady behind it made quite a keen turn from studying chemical engineering to studying at Le Cordon Blue, Los Angeles. She realized that she has fallen in love with the French sweet delicate and decided to pursue her passion and turn it into a career. A convenient blessing it is to have finally discover what you love and make a living out of it. I have to agree that sometimes, in life, we have to stop every once in a while, take that courageous distinctive turn, and find out where that turn will take you.. Who knows, it might take you to a better place. For me, that turn is to stop being so cynical about macarons, oh.. and hello kitties..

I am definitely not a Hello Kitty or a macaron lover, but to open a black box of Hello Kitty macarons can't erase the fact that I am still in bound to the normal girly reaction. Aside from being amazed at the first sight, I found them surprisingly neat and very pretty. Let alone the skills needed to make normal macarons, these are CHARACTERIZED macarons! I assumed it takes more than just needed skills to have revolutionized normal macarons to another whole level.

The kitties are coffee flavored while the ribbons are chocolate and the strawberries are red velvet. So much for thinking the strawberries will be flavored as strawberries..

Unfortunately, the Hello Kitty seasons are over. To order these cute babies, you have to make a pre-order and they have different characters along the way.. Right now, they are having a Rilakkuma pre-order.

Moving on! The classic good ol' traditional macarons!

There were 12 of these inside the box and if you pay good attention, there were only nine on the plates. Pardon the greedy moi. I just couldn't help myself not to take a bite while taking it out! ;p

Le Sucre offers you with a variation of yummy flavors. They have blueberry cheesecake, pistachio, red velvet, lemon, green tea, coffee, salted caramel, nutella, chocolate, rose and Reese's Peanut Butter! I haven't tried the cheese and durian flavors and very intrigued to the unique idea of tasting it.

Can't find Reese's Peanut Butter macaron anywhere else, can ya?

This is the rose flavored, which I found extremely lovely. Light and fragrant. One of my favorites!

I have to say several flavors have definitely became my favorites! Starting from rose, blueberry cheesecake, which tasted like heavenly blueberry gum, to the good Reese's peanut butter ones. However, I still can't manage to finish all in one seating. I only dare to take one bite out of each to make my verdict. As much as I enjoyed the tasting part, after several bites, I was back to the cynical me who thinks that macarons are just too sweet. Five of those and I started to feel my body rejecting the idea of how I might have turned into a macaron lover. Don't get me wrong, I am a sweet tooth myself but gah, blame that cynical me! I thought my courageous turn has brought me somewhere new when I realized it was the same old, same old path. I even thought that another reason macarons get to be so expensive is because you are not meant to have so many of it at once, aside from the ingredients and expertise to make it.

If you are as cynical as I, then don't worry because Le Sucre also offers you with cakes..

Red Velvet cupcake with little red velvet macaron on top!

Salted Caramel Cupcake. Look at that oozing melted caramel! 

Truth to be told, I only got to try the red velvet cupcake. When I went back home, the salted caramel has managed to gone M.I.A (read: eaten by either my brother or sister). Both cupcakes were okay. The red velvet has cream cheese icing which I found crucial! I know I said that I am cynical towards macarons but somehow I had more fun gobbling the macarons. Maybe that turn I took left me more open minded.

Just like the story of the lady  behind Le Sucre Du Patisserie, I hereby declare that yes, sometimes in life, we have to stop for a while, look around for that potential turn, with a kick of being a bit reckless, a bucket of bravery, and a ton of optimism, you might find yourself in a better state..

Visit their facebook for more info!
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/LeSucreDuPatisserie
Phone : 0812-8181-833
BB pin : 276BB354

1 box: 12 pc 120.000 IDR (mix up to 6 flavors)

Halo.. Halo, Bandung..

Okay sorry for the delay.. It's been a hectic week.. I spent half of my day with no internet, so it's kind of hard to get my hands to update you with a new blog post.. So anyway, last Sunday, my family and I had a quick family trip to visit my grandma in Bandung, but before that, we went to Puncak for little culinary stops..

Without further ado, let me just tell it to u (it rhymes well.. :p)

We woke up at 5 a.m, hoping to avoid the traffic. We left Jakarta at 7 a.m after picking up my aunt at her house. BAM! We were stuck on a one way traffic at Puncak, so we were just sitting inside the car till 10 a.m..

Without stopping, our first target : The famous Gemblong Ibu Juju.. a.k.a GEMBLONG BPK. HUSEIN.

Yes, her son officially has changed the name because of so many fake Gemblong Ibu Juju.. She was long gone, but her Gemblong stays so yummy! Here is the real thing, the best Gemblong I have ever had in my life. How to differentiate the fakers with the real one :
1. The real Gemblong Ibu Juju a.k.a Bpk. Husein (his son) has a yellow square box like in the pictures below. The fake ones has blue rounded shape box with the name of Gemblong Ibu Juju..
2. The real one is worth for Rp 3.000 a piece while the fake one isn't that expensive
3. The colour of the real Gemblong Ibu Juju is slightly lighter compared to the fake ones..
4. The taste, of course, you can smell the coconut fragrant on the real ones..
5. They usually stay put in famous restaurants and they will ran out of Gemblong like really fast. If you were looking for them at 3 p.m above, they'll be at home already counting all the money they made.. or maybe making more Gemblong for tomorrow..  Usually in front of Amen Restaurant, but we found none that day. We found this one in front of another famous restaurant which I will show you later..

Yummy!

Bought a Rp50.000 worth of Gemblong, this is just my portion.. Wuiiii

The next destination is a legacy.. My Dad has been going there when he was still very young.. Before he dated my Mom.. Before I even exist in this world.. The name of the restaurant is Kalimantan. The funny thing is it has no relation with Kalimantan at all. The owner isn't from Kalimantan, unlike my Dad who was born there.. This is the second time I ate there. They have the best noodles EVER! The owner still recognizes and greeted my Dad. He asked why my Dad didn't come as often as the olden days and were glad to see him..

It was a warm simple vintage restaurant. It's not very large.. I took pictures and the staffs were like "this kid is crazy!"

Chinese family ambiance..

I wonder how many years that old man has been working in here..

Can it be more vintage?

Nasi Tim Ajam and Air Djeruk.. lol.. vintageeee

I ordered the Nasi Tim Ayam.. It has a different twist and a slight different taste than usual Nasi Tim. The chicken wasn't cut into little pieces but into chunks and were buried in the middle of it.

The last time I got the thighs, this time I got the wings.. And the brownish top part is really salty in a good way. I think they also use fish sauce unlike the usual Nasi Tim. It gives the right fishy fragrant. It is so YUMMY!

The best Noodle I literally have ever had! They made their own noodles, it's paler compared to the noodles I usually see.. It's so fragrant and savory. I think they use lard.. I am willing to wake up at 5 a.m just to get this for my breakfast.. Even my aunt, who can't eat much, finish the whole thing.. 

Go to Cipanas! All the fancy cars parked in front just to eat in here.. Don't underestimate the  looks of the restaurant..

 We walked a bit and visited this little shop that sells traditional snack. It was only a few houses away before the Kalimantan restaurant. My Mom had been buying semprong from this shop when she was still dating my Dad.. She was craving for some so we went there. Unfortunately, they don't stock it anymore so we ended up buying other things..

Before I took this picture, he was busy combing his hair several times.. Lol.. I fancy the white spot of his hair.. Very dalmantion evil Cruella.. Oh the thing in front of him is traditional palm sugar. I never seen a palm sugar still wrapped like this..

I love mochi sukabumi! I bought two stacks of it! One is Pandan flavor and I finished it in two days.. 

Done with our speedy culinary adventure, we headed to Bandung to visit my Grandma.. I still have relatives there. My other aunt, who lives there, took us around Bandung to fulfill our culinary curiosity..

First stop at Bandung, disini Bakery. This bakery is owned by my very very farrrrrr relative. He doesn't even recognizes us.. We were told to go here by one of my cousins whose husband or somebody else turns out to be his family.. If this is the case, is it right if I consider him my very very farrrrrr relative?

Cute place indeed., It's not very spacious on the first floor, but you can enjoy the cakes and coffees on the second floor..

Drink Menu

Other breads and pastry products..

Next to me is my coolest and funniest Aunt, she is my Dad big sister and I can see they have the same taste of humor. She's really funny. Next to her is my Aunt who lives in Bandung. Then my Mom.. 

Mocha fudge cupcake

Red Velvet cupcake. It is Yummy! Unlike other cheap cupcakes, they use real cream cheese, like the original red velvet, instead of butter cream.. 

Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcake.. I think they use cream cheese as well for the icing..

Their cupcake is worth for Rp 12,5k each.. quite cheap if you think of its quality

Kue Sus with Rum fillings.. It is good! The outer part is a bit crunchy as you can see from the picture.. and the inside is soft and creamy.. Just like how I like it.. And it's only Rp7,5k unlike the expensive beard papa who robs me blind..

Cappuccino.. Their coffee is quite strong..!  

My Americano.. Stronger than bucks..

An unfinished rainbow cake and blueberry cake.. We wanted to order a slice of red velvet but they ran out of it. It was still 1 p.m and they ran out of it.. Seriously Red Velvet, it's yummy, but it's overrated.  My cool aunt bought us the rainbow cake before and sent it to our home, but for me, all rainbow cake is just like an ordinary sponge cake, but with food colourings.. I am not into that, as well as Red Velvet. 

Other cakes

I ordered this in the end, it's pudding caramel. I think I have to flip it upside down on a plate, but I barbarically scooped it out.. It's just okay.. The same like other caramel pudding I've had before.. It's only Rp5.5k

We bought some more of the cupcakes and gave it to my sister's friends.. She was like "Oh my God! Where did you buy this red velvet cupcake? it's so yummy! It almost tastes the same as the ones in the States.." Well, it is good.. If you tasted the Goods Dept red velvet cupcake, they are quite similar but this one is half the price of the Goods Dept cupcake..

I think for this kind of price and this kind of quality, I think disini bakery managed to satisfy their customers including moi.. A couple of things lacking from this place is the staff hospitality. The owner never smiles.. Really scary. The cashier lady is very slow and doesn't know the products so it's quite confusing if you have questions about the products.. Maybe it's because this place is still quite new.. Give them time, I think they will blow! Go to their facebook page HERE to get some more info. They also have a twitter account..

Okay.. it's 1.15 a.m and I gotta wake up early tomorrow morning.. I will update the second part of my Bandung trip very soon.. so stay tune~