The Lana Choc Fudge Cake came in a white box tied with a peach-colored ribbon. Very minimalist and simple, nice.
Many many thanks to L (and wife GP) who hand-carried a Lana Chocolate Fudge Cake all the way from Singapore for us. I'm told that Lana Cakes is a legendary Singaporean cake shop started by a Mrs Violet Kwan 4 or 5 decades ago. The lady'll be 80 or 90 by now. From what I hear, Singaporeans have fond memories of Lana's Cakes which were the 'it' cakes for birthdays and special occasions. The most popular Lana cake is the Chocolate Fudge Cake, CFC. Apparently, Awfully Chocolate's choc cake and others are newbies and copycats inspired by Lana's Cakes. Just like Awfully Chocolate (or Awfully Chocolate is like them), Lana's Cakeshop (at 36 Greenwood Avenue, Singapore) offers few choices but the cakes fly off the shelves because their customers are willing to pay for quality cakes.
The cake was minimalist too, with no embellishments yet looked elegant, just the way I prefer my cakes thank you. It looked so simple that I thought hey, I can make it too.
The texture of the cake was perfect, a 10/10. Moist, delicate, soft, heavenly. I wish I could get my cakes right like that. Then, just as I opened my mouth to say it, both Hub and Yi said "Salty". We were confused. Like how I was confused when eating desserts in Bangkok because apparently the Thais like their desserts very sweet and salty. We weren't sure if it was our lack of sophistication regarding chocolate fudge cakes because this one was distinctly salty. The choc fudge melted silkily on the tongue and was very delicious, smooth, rich and not too heavy or sticky. Another wish that I could make fudge such as that. However, the chocolate flavor didn't hit me like Awfully Chocolate's choc cake did. I ate another piece of the cake the next day, after it was well-chilled and again, the texture and moistness outshone the flavor. I am puzzled that such a famous cake is not more chocolaty in flavor. If the cake is not as salty and the chocolate flavor better, I'd say Lana's CFC is a fantastic cake.
Still, we all (including my in-laws) cherished the cake, keeping half of it so that we could go home (we were eating at Sushi Tei) and have coffee with it.
The next time I visit Singapore, I will eat the Lana CFC and the Awfully Chocolate choc cake at the same time and decide which is better.
What about you, if you've eaten Lana's CFC before?
I've had Lana's CFC on several occasions, albeit many years ago, and I never got why they were held in such high esteem.
ReplyDeleteThe texture and mouth-feel of the cakes were too soft, moist and insipid for my liking. They also lacked the rich, velvety, chocolatey flavour that their name conveys.
Roughmetaphors, you are correct. I have tried the said chocolate cake and didnt think it was anything great. The cake is too soft and moist, the frosting was just FAIL. no chocolate taste, not velvety like it should be.
ReplyDeleteSuch cakes usually have a lot of improver or softener or enhancer added and for me, that is NOT GOOD AT ALL as my girl cannot take such thing.
The cake didnt give me that Ooomph feel whenever I eat a good chocolate cake. I rather eat a not so great home made chocolate cake anytime..
I've compared Lana, Awfully Chocolate and Jane's Cake Station during a very short period of time.
ReplyDeleteLana's came out middle of the road in terms of richness, but many of my friends prefer Lana's precisely because it is not deathly rich. It's lovely, moist, with delicate flavors which is pleasing. One doesn't feel like having just consumed 1,000 calories after a slice, and the "guilt factor" isn't as strong. In fact, some people would happily have 2 slices of this whereas they have only have 1 slice of a richer cake.
My personal preference is for Jane's, which I found richer and sweeter. Awfully Chocolate never left much of an impression on me...
That cake looks delicious even if it looks plain. I don't think it can be disappointing if it's so famous LOL.
ReplyDeleteroughmet, bunnies: i enjoyed the texture but agree tt the flavor shd be better/stronger:))
ReplyDeletepeech: high 5, about the cake not being overly sweet. all of us ate 2 slices the first time n we didn't feel uncomfortable. the sweetness was just nice. too bad about the salt tho.
i think lanas's cfc has it's place among the better cakes. however, the newer bakers are prolly using newer better choc than lana since lana is based on a recipe over 40 decades old.
Very tempting! I love these kinds of cake. So delicious-looking and perfect.
ReplyDeletei'm looking to arrange a cake to be delivered to my son who is working in Singapore.
ReplyDeleteHe adores chocolate Fudge cake so very interested in your comments.
How do I find these shops and do they deliver?