Rating: ★★★★☆

Address: Unit B&D, 88-102 Ivy Street, Tai Kok Tsui 大角咀埃華街88-102號B&D舖

Telephone: 2789 1330

www.blacknwhite.com.hk

一天放工後和幾位朋友到了black n white吃晚飯加甜品。black n white的老闆Chef Koo最近邀請了兩位國際甜品大師各自設計一件蛋糕，有由日本糕餅大師勝間建次設計的異國風情，和由法國知名朱古力大師Bruno Pastorelli設計的鳥結朱古力蛋糕，前者輕盈清新，後者香濃，口感豐富。最特別的是新出的Cake Cup，意指“Cake in a Cup”，蛋糕杯。Cake Cup除了外貌可愛及可讓客人欣賞蛋糕的層次，亦十分方便，不論是在街上閒逛、或是和一班朋友在沙灘上享受陽光，都可以隨時品嚐。

I haven’t seen some friends for a while, so the most appropriate thing for us to do was to catch up over some cakes and desserts at our usual hang-out spot, black n white.

(1) I ordered an Iced Straberry Rose Tea ($38), a refreshing drink made with rose tea and strawberry purée. The drink wasn’t very sweet; the rose tea gave off an enticing, flowery aroma and the strawberry bits added fruity flavours and chewy textures to the drink.

(2) The Iced Chocolate Sparks ($40) was lovely – the iced chocolate was smooth and thick, and there were some popping candies that unexpectedly popped and cackled in the mouth!

(3) Chef Jeffrey Koo, the mastermind behind black n white and CHEFS cooking school (see my review here and here), has recently collaborated with world-class dessert chefs in creating some unique desserts to be sold at black n white. This Nougat Choco Cake ($48) was designed by French chef, Bruno Pastorelli. The chocolate mousse and nougat cream provided rich and sensuous tastes, the creamy texture was nicely broken up by some hazelnut dacquois biscuit and the level of sweetness and bitterness were perfectly balanced.

(4) This cake, called EXOTIC ($48), was a collaboration with Japanese dessert chef, Kenji Katsuma. The passion fruit cream and rum mousse were light and fluffy, and tasted distinctive and invigorating – it was a truly memorable dessert for me!

Those who have tried black n white‘s desserts will know that Chef Koo is very serious about the layering of ingredients in his cakes – his products are always multi-dimensional, consisting of a range of different textures and tastes. In order to share his passion for layering with customers, Chef Koo has recently introduced a Cake Cup Collection – cakes that are contained in little plastic cups, so that you can see all the layers of ingredients in each dessert. Not only does a Cake Cup look cute, it is also very neat and convenient so that you can eat one on the run – whether you are shopping around or at the beach, all you need is a spoon and you can dig in!

(5) We managed to wolf down over half a dozen of these Cake Cups amongst the four of us! The first one we tried was the Green Apple Mousse ($48), consisting of green apple purée, green apple mousse, green apple jelly and sponge cake. This dessert looked utterly adorable, and the green apple flavour was light and refreshing.

(6) The White Peach & Lychee Mousse ($48) followed, which was also a very light and summery dessert. While I liked the sugary, distinctive taste of Japanese white peaches, my friends thought that the delicate taste of peach was overpowered by the strong taste of chocolate.

(7) The Dark Sesame Mousse ($42) was a job well done – dark sesame can be scrumptious when properly used in a dessert, but not everyone manages that and sometimes the dessert might have a bitter or burnt taste. This dessert, however, was fragrant and flavourful without any burnt or unpleasant taste at all.

(8) I would recommend the Taro Jasmine Milk Chocolate Mousse ($42). The taste of taro was perceptible, and it was completely complementary with the gentle flavours of the milk chocolate mousse and white chocolate.

(9) I personally wasn’t the biggest fan of the Lime Chocolate Mousse ($42). While I adore yuzu, orange or tangerines in desserts, lime is a tad too acidic or harsh to be used in these rich, creamy cakes.

(10) Lastly, the Praline Hazelnut Mousse ($42) was well received at our table. The hazelnut chocolate mousse was a spoonful of sensuous, beautiful goodness, which was contrasted with some sponge cake and chocolate chips – you can’t go wrong if you order this!

I think these Cake Cups are a fantastic idea – I’ll definitely get these next time I have a barbeque!