Kki

Having heard only rave reviews about Kki, I knew I had to try their pretty looking cakes one day. My original plan was to try it with one of my best girlfriends, when we are out for one of our exploring "trips" to Ann Siang Hill. Alas, our session was almost always postponed due to various reasons, and so, my trip to Kki was also always delayed. Then again, the place is within walking distance from my office. So one fine day, Allie was saying that's she's gonna drop by Kki during lunch and did I want anything from there... Sorry girlfriend, but I hear the cakes beckoning me...

Kki at Ann Siang Hill

Pretty Kki boxes

Kinabaru; Café Dumo

It must be fate that I had my camera with me that day as I was going out that night to meet my friend for dinner. So of course I had to lug it along to the shop for some "snap snap" action. There were limited selections that day we walked over during our lunch hour. Allie and I decided to get two cakes to share - the Kinabaru and the Café Dumo. 

The Kinabaru - a combination of coconut mousse, passionfruit curd creme and coconut chocolate dacquoise. The passionfruit curd creme layer was awesome - the taste of passionfruit really pops in your mouth. There were bits of chewy coconut in the chocolate dacquoise layer so I can see where the coconut part of the cake refer to. However, the light coloured mousse was too bland that I couldn't decipher whether it was coconut or passionfruit flavoured till I googled to see what others had to say about the cake (it's coconut by the way). I couldn't tell it was made of coconut, the mousse was that light and airy! 

The Café Dumo - a chocolate coffee mousse cake with a chocolate ganache centre enveloped in coffee mousse, sitting atop a layer of chocolate praline feuilletine and chocolate dacquoise. Caffeine buzz alert! When slicing the cake in half, I could already smell the strong smell of coffee. A bite of this rich dessert gives a straight caffeine rush. The coffee mousse was very airy and slightly bitter probably due to the use of good quality coffee? Love the taste of the mousse. I wonder how they make their feuilletine layer cos it doesn't taste similar to what I make, it's lighter somehow. Hmmmm.

Little Red Riding Hood

The girlfriend and I finally managed to make our way to Ann Siang Hill two weeks back and we met up at Kki first for tea break. It was a Saturday afternoon, and the CBD was looking a tad quiet, however, Kki was bustling with activity (it being a small place to begin with). Unfortunately again, the shelf was looking a bit bare when we walked in around 3pm (the place opens at 12pm and closes at 4pm on Saturdays). I had been lusting over Mont Blanc (which I read online is one of the popular choices) and when I reached the place and took a look at the display, I was excited for like one second when I saw a lone Mont Blanc peeking out at me. But I also noticed that it was placed at a corner with two other cakes and this sorta positioning always mean something. I was right. When I asked the lady behind the counter, she said that those pieces were already reserved. :(

Girlfriend chose the Little Red Riding Hood to share. I was still thinking, when Delphine (the lady behind the counter, aka the wife of Kki's baker) mentioned to us that the Strawberry Shortcake will be ready in a while and would we like to give it a try. I. Love. Strawberry. Shortcake. Do I need to even think about it? Nope. I'll have one of that please!

The Little Red Riding Hood - a decadent chocolate raspberry treat (one of my favourite combinations). A lustrous chocolate glaze hides a mass of light chocolate mousse on a chocolate sponge. Sandwiched between is a sour/sweet raspberry gelee layer that brings the cake's sweetness level down slightly. I love the shiny chocolate glaze that's the outer shell. How do they achieve such shine? Frickin' brilliant folks! The mousse was a tad too soft as you can see from the above shot as girlfriend and I were busy snapping photos of the cake for quite a while. Ha!

Strawberry Shortcake

The Strawberry Shortcake - Lightly whipped cream and strawberries amidst a vanilla sponge. This probably ranks as one of my top few favourite strawberry shortcakes in Singapore. The best (technically not a strawberry shortcake) is Tampopo's Matcha strawberry cake. The cream for that one is simply heavenly. Divine stuff I'm tellin' you. But hold on, we're here to talk about Kki's Strawberry Shortcake. So back to the topic. I like how the cream was lightly whipped so that it tasted really of cream and nothing more. The cake wasn't overly dry, and complemented the cream. For me, the cream is a major factor in the taste of a strawberry shortcake. I don't like whipped cream most of the time, so the cream cannot be too oily, buttery or sweet. Kki's version is perhaps second or third (a tie with Canele perhaps?) to Tampopo (number 1!!!).

Overall, I felt that the cakes at Kki were really good. I heard that no preservatives are used in their cakes, so it's best to consume them the day they're made. The mousses were really really good - all light and airy as mousses should be (I wanna achieve such texture too! :( ) However, for these good quality stuff, be prepared to pay slightly more than what you will pay at a mass market cafe (think Canele, Bakerzin). A slice of Kki cake averages around $8. Then again, judging by the number of customers I saw walking in and out of Kki that late Saturday, people are certainly willing to pay the difference for their Kki goodies. ;)

I'll be back. Just for a taste of the elusive Mont Blanc...