“Quality desserts, kindly priced”
Cream and Custard adopts a very chic, minimalistic décor; white walls all around with lavenders decked in light bulbs. It borders quite a bit on the pretentious, but the glam factor does help make the place a lot more inviting.
My first step into the place and I could already envision myself spending a weekday afternoon here – with a cup of coffee, typing away on my macbook clearing emails.
Cream and Custard is only five minutes from the Tiong Bahru MRT, located opposite PSB Academy. You will have to take a shortcut and exit the mall from the lift area or end up walking around the renovation works, in which case you would have to take an entire 15 minutes. Do not end up being that person.
If you are looking for something savory, they do serve a croissant with scrambled eggs and smoked salmon ($8.90) Eggs were nice and fluffy, croissant flaked nicely with a hint of butter and it came with a rather generous serving of smoked salmon. It was good, not particularly amazing but very kind on the wallet.
Cream and Custard diversify their desserts into 3 sections; mousse, cakes and tarts. Their desserts are where they really shined.
We started off with the triple chocolate devil ($6.80), Cream and Custard’s signature and deservingly so. The description was quite a mouthful – a 66% Valhorna chocolate mousse, 70% Varlhorna ganache soaked in baileys with a dark chocolate glaze topped off with a raspberry jelly in the middle.
The concept is not unfamiliar, I have stumbled across something similar elsewhere; raspberry core with a chocolate mousse, what is amazing though is how they have managed to deliver the same quality at a fraction of the price.
The different chocolates blend together nicely where the mousse and ganache tease in their slight differences, I love how the raspberry jelly is there to balance the heavy tastes out.
The praline chocolate crunch ($6.80) felt a lot like a deconstructed ferro roche. It does however come with a cake base in the dome, an extra play on textures. The hazelnut in the mousse comes right through, strong without being too overpowering.
I was quite hesitant breaking the chocolate dome in fear of creating a mess. The intended method of eating is to break it into a generous serving of bits and scoop it up with the hazelnut praline and cake bits.
Presentation wise, it was definitely one of the more stunning bakes of the lot. Taste wise, I did not find it particularly interesting. As much as I loved the hazelnut praline, the dark chocolate bits were a bit overpowering, covering the nutty flavours.
The sundae ($6.80) in the middle was my favorite dessert of the lot. A sponge cake base with a layer of strawberry mousse smacked between 2 layers of mascarpone cheese. I loved how just a kiss of syrup at the cake base ensured it does not dry up. The layers mesh nicely together, with the caramelized bottom giving an added oomph.
I could do without the milk chocolate ganache though. It tasted too rich, the mascarpone is good enough on its own. Soft, fluffy and comforting; it tasted like a classier version of the raspberry ice cream you get at $1 pushcarts. I am a fan of lighter desserts like these, a bite good enough for you to taste the sweeter bits but not too jelak that it keeps you going for more.
The sticky date pudding ($5.80) was not particularly exciting. The cake was sufficiently moist with a toffee sauce that was distinctively home made. It lacked character and was one of the more disappointing bakes of the lot.
Their tarts though are especially redeeming, you have got a try their passionfruit meringue tart ($5.60) and crème brule tart ($5.80). Most cafes choose now to source their desserts from a central kitchen.
What I loved most about Cream and Custard Is how they are able to consistently take these regular desserts and make them distinct on sheer standard alone.
I may not have been a fan of their date pudding but the in-house tart base was exceptional, thick with a crunch reminiscent of tea biscuits, not digestives. The curd was nicely done, stings of sweet with a kiss of sour.
The custard was smooth, rich without being overly eggy. The caramel, rich enough to taste while still thin enough to mix with the custard. Most of the time it ends up being too thick and being a awkward chunk in the middle of nowhere.
In these little details did the bakers’ skills shine and helped elevate these typical tarts and make them more special. These little details are what I will pay good money for, making it exceptional when it is already priced so cheaply at Cream and Custard.
While Cream and Custard may not be in the business of making flashy desserts, rainbow cakes drenched in coloring or whatnot, they distinct themselves by sheer quality. I cannot stress this enough because it was the one thing that kept recurring to me throughout the meal – The impressive quality of the bakes tied with their price.
I am still shocked that nothing in their desserts menu goes past $6.80. In fact, I find it magnanimous they price their baked goods so cheaply – for the quality you are getting, hence the title caption. This will definitely be one of my top recommendations for good desserts for a very long while.
Expected Damage: $6.80/pax
