[Review] Colette & Lola

Hello! Sorry for the MIA, but we're back! We're currently both busy with exams and work but we'll try our best to keep the blog updated! :) 

Any requests is always welcomed :)

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With cake shoppes, tea houses and macarons receiving the limelight, Ismaya Dining presents us with their take on desserts with Colette and Lola, located at the busy street of Senopati.

 

The decor is very whimsical and fun, in shades of pink, blue, green and yellow with wooden finish. Every inch of their decorations would earn lots of likes on instagram. We are however, not a fan of the cake display, but can't exactly pinpoint why. Probably too low, which made it hard to have a front view which we're used too.

 Gotta give them props on their innovation on the flavours and presentation! They definitely thought out of the box. Where else can you eat your lego? And in 4 different flavours! We thought that was really smart! Other than cakes, they offer a few selections of gourmet sandwiches ranging from 55-75 thousand, and some dry goodies to bring back for your special someone.

Rose Berry - 28thousand

 Pink chiffon sponge with rose cream and raspberry marmalade. What attracted Le Sister was obviously pink, and being a fan of roses, who could reject such a pretty looking dessert. Taste-wise however, we were let down, the rose flavour came off too artificial and overwhelmed the raspberry marmalade which we could barely taste. Texture-wise, not much of a fan either.

My Lady Grey -  28thousand

Valrhona "caramelia" chocolate and lady grey tea infused Bavarian cream. It's association with tea reminds us of TWG, probably an inspiration? Isn't it pretty? Almost too pretty too eat. You could really taste the tea and goes really well with the chocolate. Though tad too sweet to our liking.

Salted Caramel Cupcake - 25thousand

A simple cupcake topped with salted caramel infused whipped cream and nuts. This was a crowd favourite, much to our surprise. Although it was tad too salty, it was the only 'cake' that we managed to finish. It is on the pricier side though considering it's size.

Macarons - 10thousand

We tried Coffee & Kahlua and Spicy Beef. They were well made, though not the best. The Coffee tasted good, while the Spicy Beef is probably something you would eat out of curiosity or  as a dare.

As expected of Ismaya Dining, and every other new restaurants popping up, it is another 'pretty-decor-subpar-food', in this case desserts. It is a pretty place for the girlies to get together, and even though the cakes were pretty, they tasted very artificial and too overwhelming, props to anyone who could finish a slice on their own.

Colette & Lola

Jl. Senopati Raya No. 64

Jakarta 12190

Telephone : (021) 2900 7997

Operation Hours :

Monday - Sunday : 10AM - 10PM

[Recipe] Devil's Food Cupcake

Hiya! Le Sister here. I was felling for something light the other day, so I decided to make these Devil's Food cuppies, since they are said to be in lighter texture. Mind you, my mixer still isn't working, I was worried sick it wasn't gonna be good. Since it works out well, more cuppies to come!

I had the ingredients prep in the morning, then I had to rush out, so I just left the egg and coffee to chill to room temperature, and only got back to them at night. 

Makes 9

Ingredients:

- 34gr cocoa powder

- 98gr cake flour*

- 1/4tsp salt

-1/2tsp baking soda

- a pinch of baking powder

- 57gr butter, at room temperature

-  120gr granulate sugar

- 1 large egg

- 32ml strong coffee**

- 60ml milk

Steps:

1. Sift together the dry ingredients; cocoa powder, cake flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda

2. Beat together butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. I just whisked them together for a while until they're well combined.

3. Beat in the egg to the butter mixture.

4. Mix together the milk and coffee.

5. Stir in 1/2 of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, when it's well mixed, add in the coffee and milk. Stir in the rest of the dry ingredients until it's well combined. Don't forget to scrape the sides of the bowl.

6. Line cupcake tins with cups, and fill them in halfway. 

7. Oven at 175'C for 23-25 minutes. It's is ready when you poke a toothpick and it comes out clean.

I dusted the top lightly with icing sugar using a sieve. You could use ganache, buttercream or anything really. Without a mixer, not much choices left for me is there?

*I bought my cake flour in Singapore, I'm not sure where you can find it in Jakarta. There are substitutes for cake flour, but I'm not sure how reliable they are since I've never tried it before.

**The recipe calls for strong coffee, but I just used an instant mix. You can taste a hint of coffee, but since Le Family and Cousins are avid coffee lover, next time I'll try to make another batch with an espresso from a nearby cafe.

 They came out better than what I expected, tried them straight out of the oven, literally, and they were light, fluffy, airy and the flavours were easy on the taste bud. Tried another one the next morning, and they were moist, denser and chocolate-ier. So I suggest eating them when it's still warm, or warm them up for a while; I very much prefer the light, warm version of it.

If you decide to try this recipe out, let us know how it goes :)

[Recipe] Chocolate Brownie Cuppies

Hiya! Le Sister here! Made these babies last Saturday and they were awesome!! If I could say so myself :p Brownies are my favourite to make, as they are super easy to make, almost foolproof, and it doesn't require a mixer. My mixer still needs some fixing. It's been too long since I've last baked I couldn't take it anymore.

Makes 5
Ingredients needed :
- 57gr butter
- 57gr chocolate (milk or dark)
- 1 large egg
- 30gr granulated sugar
- 30gr brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- a pinch of salt
- 27.5gr all-purpose flour

Steps:
1. Melt butter and chocolate together.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg.
3. Add in sugar, vanilla, salt to the egg; whisk together.
4. Add in the melted chocolate/butter to the mixture; whisk together.
5. Add in flour and gently whisk/fold.
6. Scoop them into cupcake tins, I divided them to 5. Make sure they contain the same amount so they'd bake evenly. And don't forget to coat each tin with butter, so they'd be easier to remove.
7. Preheat the oven at 175'C. Put them in when it's hot, for 25 minutes. Lower the heat to about 160'C and turn up the top fire of the oven to low for another 5 minutes. It's ready when you poke in a toothpick/knife and it comes out clean.

My pretty baby! Crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside! Seriously one of The Best Brownies I've ever made. Next time I'll get some vanilla ice cream to go, and have it with a warm brownie :) I'm already happy thinking about it. 

I purposely used cupcake tins as the amount would be too little to use on a normal regular cake tin. Also to limit to 1 piece per serving, but i still end up eating 2 in 1 seating /fail.

If you decide to try this recipe out, let us know how it goes :)

[Review] Caprese

The first time we dined here few months back, we were impressed. App was good, pasta was good, pizza was good, so it deserves a second visit.

 Creamy Mushroom Soup - 29thousand

Such a disappointment. It didn't taste like mushroom at all. Just a microwaved cup of brown liquid smelling like herbs. We only managed to swallow half of it. A pack of instant Campbell's would've tasted way better.

 

Spaghetti Aglio Olio - 45 thousand

 Looks good no? 'Our famous aglio olio style topped with fresh chili, crispy garlic and parmesan cheese' - quoted from their menu. For real? What crispy garlic? They were soggy even though the pasta was dry. With a handful of crispy lemon zest and parmesan cheese, it tasted nothing like an aglio olio,. How could it be famous? 

Chocolate Melt - 45thousand

The only saving grace! The chocolate melted so beautifully! So soft and fluffy in the inside, if only it was tad crispier outside. We'd definitely come back for this! This shall be crowned The Best Chocolate Melt until we fine a better one.

Taken off Le Sister's instagram. Isn't it pretty!

Overall, we were definitely disappointed with their soup and pasta. It was only 2 months ago, we were raving about their pasta. Such a vast difference since we first tried it. In addition to the disappointment, the waiters weren't attentive too. We had difficulty in trying to call them, and it wasn't even crowded. We'll only be back for their chocolate melt, and since it's far from us, it's not gonna happen any time soon.

Caprese Restaurant

Kota Kasablanka F65-02

Jl. Casablanca Raya Kav. 88

Jakarta Selatan 12870

Telephone : (021) 2946 5333

Business Hour
Weekdays : 10AM - 12PM
Weekends : 10AM - 2AM

[Recipe] Chocolate Oreo Truffles

Le Sister made these little balls of yummies some time ago. The mixer wasn't working so she hasn't been able to bake for almost a month now, and her hands were itching. These were sooo easy to make, it's a no brainer, even if you have never baked before, it'll be a challenge to mess this one up. 

You'll need :

-oreo cookies

-cream cheese

-chocolate to melt (milk/dark/white)

-sprinkles (for decoration)

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1. Crush you cookies! Le Sister used the stone thing you'd normally use to make chilli, or you could put them in a ziploc bag and crush them with a rolling pin or anything heavy. Make sure there are no big pieces, so your truffles wouldn't be lumpy; or don't bother if you like some crisp in it. ;)

2. Add in the cream cheese! Add them bit by bit, mix them well before adding more so you don't end up with too much cream cheese in it. Use the back of the spoon the mix them together.

3. Roll them into balls! Being slightly OCD, Le Sister weigh them10 grams each before rolling; but you could just roll them to any size you like, and place them on parchment/baking paper. Store them in the freezer for at least 30 minutes, so that it'd be easier to coat them with chocolate.

4. Melt your chocolate! Pop your chocolate into the microwave, or put your chocolates in a bowl, placed in another with hot water. Confusing much? Youtube 'melting chocolates' and you'll get it ;) Dip the truffles in the melted chocolate, with 2 spoons or a toothpick, and place them back on your baking paper. You could stop here and freeze them back like I did, or continue decorating them. 

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There are no exact measurements for them as Le Sister made them with a roll of oreo, and add cream cheese until it's about the right taste and consistency, not too crumbly and not too gooey, they should stick together and not fall apart. Fret not if you added in too much cream cheese, it's still bound to taste yummy!

If you try this out, do let us know in the comments, how it goes and if you like it! 

Have fun :)