Yummy Malaysiana: Hanging around Rockefeller Center, NY: Magnolia Bakery and La Maison Du Chocolat

Hanging around Rockefeller Center, NY: Magnolia Bakery and La Maison Du Chocolat

At present, I am plagued with essays. I think I must have used this phrase a million times in my blog! In the future, I might write: "At present, I am plagued with case studies". That is, I happen to end up becoming a clinical psychologist.

Despite needing to work on a 3300 word dissertation, a 2000 word lab report and one 1100 word archives project, I am in the mood to write about the Rockefeller Center and post up some of the nicer pictures from New York. Not that I am not over New York. I think I am very much over New York because the words Hong Kong keep popping up in my mind. It isn't really helpful when my mom phoned me to say that she's got the tickets and hotels booked, and my sister keeps pestering me to bring her to Cuisine Cuisine, Caprice and the place where I had my cart noodles.

There are lots to do at the Rockefeller Center apart from going to the NBC studios tour (YOU MUST DO IT) and going to the observatory deck to catch the sunrise. First, you can go shopping. There are huge shopping lots such as Chanel, Christian Dior, Juicy Couture, H&M, Tommy Hilfger and A&F not too far away because the Rockefeller Center is strategically located near Madison Avenue. Also, there is a ginormous Hermesbuildingthat every Hermes lover must catch. They have one section for ladies and another for men. I've never seen an Hermes store that huge!

Apart from that, you can catch something to bite. When in New York, Magnolia Bakery is a must. I know it's bad for the waistline but you must be kidding me if you're skipping Magnolia Bakery. It has been feat! ured in so many popular TV series, like Sex and the City, and the famous Devil Wears Prada, that I consider it an American icon.

Girlish decor
Magnolia Bakery has a girlish decor. You can't really dine in Magnolia Bakery. It's a little like a kiosk selling cakes and you have to bring your food somewhere else. Magnolia Bakery offers a range of cakes. All of them are kosher and there are some gluten-free options. I have this feeling that Magnolia Bakery has just a thing for everyone.

The famous Magnolia Bakery
There are many options to choose from but amongst all of them, I picked the Red Velvet Cheesecake. I know I should have gone for a cupcake but I am no huge fan of cupcake. Plus, I loveeeeee cheesecake. I could have gone for the peanut butter cheesecake or oreo cheesecake but I opted for the Red Velvet because I have not had a Red Velvet Cheesecake in my entire life. Since Red Velvet has its origins from the States (some say Canada), I think that my decision to enjoy a mini Red Velvet Cheesecake from Magnolia Bakery is not a bad thing.

Red Velvet Cheesecake with dark chocolate baseAs you can see, the red velvet cake is one really red cake. It looks pretty scary for some who does not know where ! the red is from. The red colouring can come from beetroot powder or edible food colouring. I suspect that Magnolia uses red food colouring because beetroot has a purple hue to it. Purists may revel in this because beetroot powder is a New Age thing.

The red velvet cheesecake at Magnolia Bakery is divine. It is the best cheesecake I've ever eaten. Okay, I think I've said this a lot to many cheesecakes, including the raspberry tofu cheesecake I had at Kyotofu, New Yorkand the yam cheesecake I had at Niji Bistro, Hong Kong but I think Magnolia Bakery's Red Velvet Cheesecake deserves a spot in my heart.

The red velvet cheesecake is luscious. Upon first bite, I am hooked. Initially, I wanted to just have half of the cheesecake but I walloped the entire thing. I just loved the dark chocolate crumble that works as the base of the cheesecake. The grainy texture of the base was a nice contrast to the velvety cake. The slightly bitter taste offered by the crunchy base tips the sweetness scale towards the moderate side.

What I did not like about the cake was the cream cheese frosting. Considering that the cake is really rich, the cream cheese frosting was for me, a decorative item. Yet, the paper wrap totally ruined it, as you can see from the picture. Also, this cake costs me nearly 6 USD. It is pretty pricey for a cheesecake. I guess that's because Magnolia is really popular. However, it is worth a shot. No regrets really. At least, if someone asks me if I have been to Magnolia, I can say, "Yes, and I've tried the red velvet cheesecake".

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Another place to p! ay a vis it is La Maison Du Chocolat. They have one at Hong Kong but I skip it most of the time because I had better places to be. However, after trying their macarons and pralines, it would be stupid to miss it again.

La Maison Du Chocolat, is like the temple of chocolates. Yes, I am not kidding. I mean, Godiva is really popular and everything but La Maison Du Chocolat, is of a different league.

I had fair bit of experience with chocolates. I was introduced to a world of chocolates through Ferrero Rocher. Not only that, my dad would bring home Neuhaus pralines. I first had Neuhaus pralines when I was 8 or 9, I think. I remember the brand Neuhaus because they have the nicest chocolate boxes. Not only that, they have odd shaped pralines. I remember one of them was a sphinx with liquer inside. As I grew older, I had a taste of Leonidas and there was a period of time when my life had no chocolates at all.Until, I came to Melbourne. When I was in Melbourne, I bought so much of Valrhona bars that I think I am going crazy. I also bought some Austrian chocolates from the market. They were certainly Austrian because they were Mozart for chrissakes.Now, I am trying out chocolates from Brazil and Mexico.

For some individuals, all chocolates are the same but I can assure you, they are not. My many experience with chocolate bars tells me that there is a difference in terms of the smoothness, richness, ratio of bitterness, acidity and sweetness, how fast the chocolate melts and the sound the chocolate bar produces when it is snapped. It is quite the same with pralines but pralines are a bit trickier. I usually measure pralines based on the authenticity of the flavour (i.e. Fennel pralines SHOULD taste like fennel), and the t! exture.< br>
I am not a huge fan of pralines. I am a dark chocolate bar sort of person but after sampling some from La Maison, I am a convert. I bought the 28 pack one. It comes with a beautiful Hermes-typed box, except it is cacao in colour. The box is useful because it protects the chocolates. I got every flavor into the box. I tried to avoid the milk ones because my sister and I hate milk chocolate like nobody's business. However, I did end up snucking 2 milk chocolate pralines into the box. They were not too bad but dark chocolate still triumphs.

The pralines, were the best I ever had. I never had high regards for pralines. Even the ones from Godiva never made me into a convert but the ones from La Maison left me smitten. As I type this, I can imagine the wonderful perfume of chocolates from the box. They smell so good that they made all of my clothes smell like chocolates. Maybe it's just me but the chocolates have a floral accent to them.

I cannot point out a favorite from this box of 28 but what I am certain is that all of them are really smooth and would just melt in your mouth upon consumption. And the feeling of having both chocolate and filling melt in your mouth is a very hard to describe but pleasurable sensation. I even got my sister to become a praline lover. Man, I hope La Maison du Chocolat will reach Pavilion or KLCC someday!

Apart from pralines, La Maison du Chocolat has really good chocolate macarons. Almost as good as the ones from Jean Paul Hevin. Its not too chewy or too crispy. The centre is slightly moist from the beautiful chocolate ganache. Some of the shells are slightly lopsided but the texture and taste made up for it. :)

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