All new Cakelings @MOD

Mad Over Donuts introduces Cakelings – a range of premium cupcakes deliciously designed in 8 different flavours to satisfy any sweet tooth. These gourmet treats are freshly made and crafted from scratch at Mad Over Donuts every day by their very own pastry chefs, using the highest-grade ingredients & baking methods. The Cakelings are packed in an irresistibly cute take-away box.

Whether you’re a chocolate or an Oreo fan, or simply love bananas and strawberry or you relish the refreshing flavor of lemon, Mad Over Donuts has a Cakeling for every one! Cakelings are available in the following flavours:

• Chocolicious: Dense chocolate cupcake with a swirl of rich chocolate ganache 
• Rich Crumble: Chocolate cupcake with Oreo buttercream frosting – creamy, crunchy & utterly addictive
• Nutella Frost with Snickers: Rich chocolate cupcake topped with Nutella buttercream and garnished with chopped Snickers chocolate! Contains nuts
• Coffee Cream: Chocolate cupcake with a creamy coffee buttercream frosting, dusted with cocoa powder
• Strawberry Chocolate: Chocolate cupcake with strawberry buttercream frosting, topped with choco chips
• Berry Bliss: A vanilla cupcake with blueberry buttercream icing, garnished with blueberry filling and silver candy sprinkles  
• Lemon Swirl: A vanilla cupcake with refreshing lemon buttercream 
• Caramel Banana: A vanilla cupcake with caramel & banana buttercream icing, with caramel drizzle 

Available in beautifully designed boxes of 1, 3 or 6, Cakelings are the next generation cake to celebrate any occasion. They are glorified cupcakes really, but when they look so pretty, who really cares?

Packaging: Box of 1, 3 and 6
Price: INR 65/ Cakeling. Buy 5 Get 1 Free at Rs. 325.
Website: www.madoverdonuts.com

Theana's Little Den

Take a little gander through Facebook and you come across scores of chocolatiers. Their pages are colourful places where they are either sharing pictures of their latest creations, taking orders, sharing recipes or simply their love for chocolate. This growing community is passionate and is trying in its own little way to add to this sweet industry. I came across one such, called Theana's Little Den, and was charmed by its cute logo and earnestness.

Theana's Little Den is a home-based chocolatier, who believe in 'creativity, uniqueness and surprises'. They offer a wide range of chocolate bouquets and make customised chocolates and cakes. I think the alphabet chocolate squares are particularly cute and will make great gifts for little ones. Also, look at the diaper cake, will ya? :D

Their other offerings include chocolate-dipped marshmallows, muffin bouquets, cupcake bouquets, wafer/chocolate/food bouquets, cold-drink can cakes and all kinds of assorted chocolates. What's more? This all-in-one chocolatier also makes Indian sweets like kaju katlis, barfis, and gulabjamuns!

This Mumbai-based chocolatier can be reached on theanaslittleden@gmail.com or 022-23812766/ 9820149913

Baking Magic, Khargar, Navi Mumbai

The joy of chocolates apart, Chocosophy is beginning to get sweet new acquaintances into my life. I got in touch with Baking Magic through my dear friend, Reema, and was asked to come over and review the place. Although Khargar was far and I did curse the traffic on my way there, my tryst with Baking Magic was worth all my time and effort.

L-R: Dorothy, Yuga Sreejeev and Nalini Sreejeev

Baking Magic, a cafe & bakery in Khargar, Navi Mumbai, is the kind of place where people go for a quick bite or to satisfy their sweet cravings. The business is a joint venture by Nalini Sreejeev and her partner, Manju Daryanani. It started out as a hobby for the two women, but as orders grew, they decided to turn it into a full-fledged business. The first outlet was opened in Bandra in 2007. They eventually moved to Seawoods in Navi Mumbai and finally to Khargar, where they are currently located. Daryanani moved to Dubai in due course, where she runs a sister outlet called Cake Story. In Mumbai, Sreejeev not only handles the business, but even does some baking firsthand. She is, of course, helped by her lovely daughter Yuga, who helped design the space and looks after some of the marketing. A design student, Yuga also designed the cafe's lovely logo.

The pastry showcase and the wall shelves with breads

I was met by these lovely people at the cafe and then some wonderful sights. A shelf full of desserts greets a customer up front, to the left are shelves of breads and savouries and to the right are specimens of cutomised cakes and boxes of chocolates. I couldn't help but admire the handiwork on the cakes, imagining the possibilities. There were wedding cakes, baby shower cakes, themed birthday cakes, festival cakes... you name it!

Custom and themed cakes

These cakes are the superstars of Bakin Magic's repertoire, but Sreejeev also takes up a lot of corporate orders for chocolate. They've delivered to companies like Jet, Wipro, and Ernst & Young among others. They also make custom chocolates for private events (in bulk orders, obviously). A specimen made for a bridal shower is seen here. Inventiveness is the key word for Nalini and her peers at Baking Magic.

Custom chocolates

After a while came the difficult task of choosing goodies for the review. Trust me, a chocolate reviewer's job can be a hard one when it comes to making choices. Undecided, I threw down the gauntlet to Nalini and Yuga and asked them to pick their bests for me. Over a cup of some lovely hazelnut coffee (a Baking Magic specialty), and a tasty chicken roll, they suggested I try their Chocolate Cup Mango Mousse, the Chocolate Overload Pastry, Chocolate Waffle and Chocolate tarts.

The Chocolate Cup Mango Mousse was one of the most interesting-looking things on the menu, so I went for it first. The mango mousse is served delicate rose-shaped chocolate cups, which need to be inverted to be served. Interestingly enough, Baking Magic serves only eggless desserts at the cafe. They include eggs in their recipes only if a custom order so specifies. The mousse was quite fluffy and delicious by itself, but with the chocolate, it acquired a different, more brilliant personality. 'Embellished' with edible glitter, the mango mousse-filled chocolate rose makes for a very tempting dessert.

Mango mousse in chocolate cup

Next up was the Chocolate Overload, a chocolate pastry true to its name. Made from alternating layers of chocolate cake, chocolate cream and chocolate icing and topped with chocolate bars like Kit Kat and 5 Star, this one sure is the right indulgence for chocoholics like me. Soft textures and rich chocolaty flavours make this one great dessert.

Chocolate overload

I was almost dying of overeating at this point when Nalini suggested I try their chocolate waffles. And who can say no to chocolate waffles? Since the chefs had left for the day, Nalini herself whipped up a waffle for me and boy, was it lovely! Filled in with chocolate and topped with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce, the waffle was a decadent treat. The waffle itself was a tad thick (I like mine much thinner), but when there is so much chocolate to go with it, who cares?

Chocolate waffle

Since I was almost dead from a chocolate OD, I decided to take the chocolate tarts home rather than stuffing my face some more. When I tried them later, I found the chocolate filling to be creamy and not-too-sweet and the tart crust nicely crumbly. I was one happy girl at the end of the day. :)

Baking Magic is making magic with its baked goodies and confections in Khargar and if you are any place near, it's a must-go-to place. Chocosopher recommends.

RATING: 3/5

Baking Magic

Shop no.9, Regency Gardens, 

Sector 6, Kharghar, 

Navi Mumbai

9819819932 

9769619932

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BakingMagic

Chocosophy product launches: McVitie's, Valrhona, Tayto

McVitie's launches The Big One - a Jaffa Cake that really is a cake

McVitie's world-famous Jaffa Cakes, that the company started selling as long back as 1927, now has a much bigger twin. Called the Big One, these Jaffa Cakes are really 'cakes' with the characteristic chocolate top coat and orange jelly layers in a sponge cake base. The recipe, named after Jaffa oranges, is replicated and sold by many other brands such as Cadbury's and Tesco. Typically, Jaffa cakes are biscuit sized and are also sold as bars or small packs.

The Big One is priced at GBP 7 apiece and is being sold in the UK in Asda and Morrisons. Importers in India, do you hear me?

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Crisps maker Tayto introduces limited edition chocolate

The more I learn about chocolate, the more I'm convinced that the possibilities with chocolate are endless. Here's an example that may sound like sacrilege to some. Renowned Irish crisps maker, Tayto, has turned their popular Cheese & Onion crisps into a limited edition chocolate bar!

Images such as these of plain chocolate bars with a typical Tayto packaging have been doing the rounds of the Internet for a while now, but the real thing was made and put out in the market for sale only recently. This milk chocolate bar is infused with bits of the company's famous Cheese & Onion crisps.

The company is reportedly making only 10,000 such bars, which are much in demand and are expected to be sold out soon. Would you like crisps in your chocolate?

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Valrhona's Dulcey is world's first blonde chocolate!

Love it or hate this, this is one chocolate innovation you gotta sit up and take notice of. French chocolate company, Valrhona, has introduced the world's first 'blonde' chocolate as the Dulcey bar in what looks like a wonderful union of the sweetness of white chocolate and the smoothness of milk chocolate. Blond chocolate was discovered quite by accident by Frederic Bau when he left white chocolate in a boiler for 10 hours. The long roasting gave the chocolate a unique colour, aroma and flavour. The creamy chocolate smells like roasted almonds and tastes like mildly salted shortbread.

Although just introduced, Dulcey has already won two distinguished awards: Le Grand Prix de l’Innovation (Grand Prize of Innovation), at the world renowned SIRHA food trade show in Lyon, France and the Readers’ Prize from La Toque, a magazine for artisan bakers, pastry chefs, chocolate makers, confectioners and ice-cream makers.

Presently, a 2.99 oz. bar is priced at $7.99. I sure want to try this one.

Deliciae Patisserie

The first week of April was a week of many firsts for Chocosophy. After reviewing my first exclusive chocolate store, I went on to review my first patisserie. It was the dessert cafe of the now-famous Out of the Blue restaurant at Carter Road in Bandra, Mumbai. While not much of an establishment by itself, Deliciae Patisserie can hold its own with a varied menu and offerings.

Out of the Blue is one of the more popular eateries amidst the throng that lines Carter Road. Their off beat menu has made a name for itself, and going by Deliciae's standards, the desserts are going to be talked about very soon too. The tiny patisserie/ dessert counter if you will, is placed near the entrance of the Le Sutra Hotel building (where OOTB is by the way) and unmissable with its colourful selection displayed in the showcase.

The showcase is quite arresting with cupcakes, mousses, cakes, pastries, tarts and pies calling out to sweet-toothed customers. Some of the sexy things on their menu include Blueberry cheesecake, Tiramisu, Frozen Mud Pie, Meringue and Chocolate Truffle among other things. There is a wide enough selection for pukka vegetarians too with things like Banoffee, Blueberry Lemon Flan, Broadway Brownie, and Choco Cherry Mudcake.

Among savouries, I spotted only sandwiches and what looked like quiches. But who cares for savouries in a patisserie, right? A few chairs are also placed opposite the showcase for those who are looking to quickly dig into a dessert and not go in for a full meal at the restaurant.

My eyes, however, were glued to the showcase, wondering which of these beauties I should sample. I decided upon one egg-based dessert and one eggless variety based on their most popular items. Their highest selling offerings are Death by Chocolate (egg) and the Belgian Chocolate pastry (eggless).

When the first dessert arrived (served with ice cream no less!), I must have looked like the cat that got the cream. :D Who would not want desserts for dinner, afterall!? Death by Chocolate is a heavenly combination of mousse, chocolate, meringue and cake. And if my tastebuds weren't lying to me, there was some awesome liqueur in it too. The rosette on top was made of mousse and tasted like pure heaven. When contrasted and combined with the slightly chewy meringue and soft cake, it flooded my mouth with delightfully varied textures. As if these weren't enough, I scooped in some vanilla ice cream too. The mildly bitter chocolate and the basic sweet of the vanilla took it to another level.

Next up was the eggless (almost sounds racist, no?) Belgian Chocolate pastry, which looked as promising, if not more with dark, sinful chocolate flowing right into my heart and yeah, the waistline. This one came with a scoop of vanilla too and looked like a more fitting complement. I tucked into its creamy richness and nearly died of pleasure at the sight of its gooey insides. Soft, melting dark Belgian chocolate can kill, okay? So, that was a 10 on 10 for texture. The taste was great too, despite the egglessness, but it was one dimensional.

Perhaps, it seemed that way because Death By Chocolate was such a profusion of flavours. But since no mad person will eat these two desserts one after the other like I did, there is no scope for disappointments by comparison.

So, I was saying, don't go overboard like your friendly neighbourhood queen of cacao excesses, but definitely try the desserts at Deliciae. They're ace.

Deliciae also makes customised cakes for weddings, birthdays and all such.

They can be contacted on:

Email: info@deliciaecakes.com

Website: www.deliciaecakes.com

Phone: 9029023000

FB: facebook.com/deliciaecakes