pare /pɛː/ We live to present interesting, handcrafted experiences to discerning palates.
Inspired by the romanticism and youthfulness of Spring, we created a gift box filled with earthy, floral, and fruity flavours.
Featuring fresh, hand-kneaded sweet potato mascarpone, mochi and 3 flavours of mascarpone macarons.
Each flavour was painstakingly pureed and cooked manually, ensuring that you only get the smoothest and creamiest of fillings made from the best of ingredients.
Raspberry cream - Tangy lime and fresh raspberry puree made from scratch.
Red date - Handmade red date puree sweetened with brown sugar.
Chrysanthemum nectar - Chrysanthemum nectar made from over 3L of fresh, homemade chrysanthemum tea.
As part of National Suicide Prevention Week, we created a box of desserts to advocate for self-care- one that spells comfort, security, and nostalgia - a small reminder of happy times to help our audiences melt their troubles away, even if it's just for a fleeting moment.
Dark Chocolate Mocha Molten Lava Cake.
Browned Butter Sable, Dark Chocolate Molten Cake, Espresso.
A rich decadent cake that is reminiscent of a warm, comforting, chocolate hug.
Raspberry Ripple
Cheesecake, Raspberry White Chocolate Crunch, Raspberry Sauce, Pate Sucree.
A throwback to simple, joyful days where we would run to the void deck upon hearing the bells of the ice cream van, and bite down on an ice cream sandwich with rosy cheeks in our sweat-drenched singlets.
What we really wanted to share with this box was that nothing lasts forever - not even the worst moments. And when things get tough, always remember that not only your friends are always there for you - but most importantly, you are here for yourself. Self-love is a complicated lesson to learn, but definitely one that will be worth it.
Lastly, if you would like to learn more about the cause, do follow @hopethroughthenight, a social initiative by SOS that shares stories of support and empowerment. After all, every bit of positivity shared may give someone hope through the night...
Spain is a country of passion, of warmth, and...really good peaches. On one of our recent trips there, we were so inspired by the people, culture, and gastronomic possibilities that we've decided to sneak back some of their delicate flavours and create a box dedicated to the amazing country. As there was a limit to how much we could ship, this box will be a one-time limited edition featuring honey, coffee, rose, and peaches from Spain.
Café con leche
An ode to Barcelona, the Café con leche is a medley of butterscotch-glazed hazelnuts, roasted chestnut puree, dark chocolate ganache, brownie, sweet tart, as well as a deep and complex latte mousse made from a special boutique caramel roast by Satan's Coffee Corner.
El melocotón
Inspired by the elegant Alhambra gardens, the El melocotón embraces light floral and fruity flavours. Roasted spanish peaches, elderflower crème pâtissière, acacia honey mascarpone, white chocolate, rose, and hand-rolled pâte feuilletée inversée.
As the year draws to a close, we wanted to contribute back to the society in the best way we can - through a small bake sale. We brought back our classic tiramisu and amped it up with 4 different types of alcohol - Marsala, Baileys, Kahlua, and...Cordon Bleu.
Tiramisu 2.0 featured a layer of baked sponge doused in espresso, kahlua and cordon bleu, dark chocolate ganache, baileys mascarpone, latte mousse, and cocoa powder. ALL proceeds from this bake sale went to Room To Read, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving literacy and gender equality in education in developing countries.
With your generous help, the tiramisu charity bakesale raised a grand total of SGD $721.88 in donations. That’s $311 above our goal, and our final donation of USD $528 will be able to support a young girl through school for the next year and a half!
Thank you for helping us achieve our little dream of bringing education to a young girl who needs it.
It all started when one day I sat Geraldine down in a Thai restaurant right on Exeter road.
Out of a whim, really, I asked her “Do you want to start something with me? Nothing big or serious. But maybe something to do with baking.”
Throughout the conversation I peppered my sentences with “If you don’t want to, it’s okay, you can just let me know.”, afraid of pressuring her into doing something she might not be keen on. Surprisingly, she said yes. At that point in time, I was facing a crossroad in life (as my boss terms it - a “millennial crisis”) and truly wanted to expand my horizons and life beyond 12 hour work days. I wanted to spend my time on building something I could own. It didn’t have to be anything big, but I coveted something I could express myself with, something I would be able to have complete control over, something that would mean much more to me.
Hence began the months of crafting the pare concept. From the name, to the logo, to the actual product. We wanted to have something pared down, yet of extreme quality. I definitely wasn’t going to serve anyone anything that I am not absolutely in love with. We debated the idea of having monthly subscription boxes to dessert tables and finally landed at something we both like. More than just the regular brownies, cupcakes, and fondant layered monsters, we wanted to show people our creativity, influences and inspiration, as well as feature the freshest ingredients of that season. Which brings us to the star of this month: Berries.
Since young, I always saw berries to be strongly intertwined with the idea of summer. Having authors such as Enid Blyton regale me with adventures of children stumbling into blackberry brambles and emerging with sticky cheeks and deep purple stains on their pinafores. There is also nothing quite like sticking your thumbs into raspberries and biting them off each finger one by one. But when in bakes, what better way to enjoy berries than with a smooth creme patissiere and a crumbly and nutty pate sucre? You also don’t need me to tell you that every single component is painstakingly made by hand with the best ingredients I can possibly lay my chubby fingers on.
Thanks for reading, and even being on this page, really.
Up in the mountain of MaoKong you’ll find an oasis away from the hustle and bustle of Taipei city - acres of tea plantations, the freshest air, and 六季香茶坊 tea plantation. It was manned by the most passionate tea cultivator, also more affectionately known as 村长. He harvests and roasts his own organic tea, and even makes delicious tea cuisine out of them.
Every single roast of each harvest teases a different flavour profile out of the same tea leaves, so you never really get the same cup of tea twice - even if you buy them from the same cultivator.
It was then, that he brought out his secret stash of Oolong that he roasted just the week prior. He said there was something curious about that particular batch - the leaves had hints of caramel flavours, something that has never happened before. Being opportunistic as I am, I persuaded him to sell me the one and only jar that he had - and you probably guessed where that jar of tea leaves ended up.
We created tea macarons, in hopes to bring across a sliver of 村长’s passion, and the warmth and tranquil I experienced at the tea plantation.
The macarons comes in 3 variations, each teasing out a unique flavour profile of the tea and providing you with a different textural experience. The creaminess of the milk tea jam lets you taste the depth and slight bitterness of the tea, the crispness and nutty savouriness of the Praliné aux Noisettes complements the tea’s light caramel flavour, and the refreshing and fruity warmth of the spiced pear jam brings out the tea’s sweet maltiness. All made even better when paired with a nice warm cup of the artisanal tea itself.
Milk Tea & Spiced Pear
Tea infused Zephyr ganache, handmade spiced pear jam
Milk Tea
Tea infused Zephyr ganache, handmade milk tea jam.
Milk Tea & Hazelnut Crunch
Tea infused Zephyr ganache, crunchy Praliné aux Noisettes.
Raspy Citrus
Vanilla macaron shells with pistachio white chocolate ganache, homemade raspberry jelly and yuzu confiture.
Tropica tart
Pâte Sucrée tart base, lemon curd, torched meringue, homemade passionfruit and basil gel, and just the tiniest sprinkling of coconut.
We've spent 730 days with you, dreaming of desserts.
That's 730 days spent sifting flour, flipping through recipe books, searching up “why is my sponge cake flat” on google. Days spent sitting in front of the oven, stalking the bakes as they rise, while folding packaging boxes. And many days of joy as we watch people savour what we make. And this month, we wanted to celebrate our birthday with you by showcasing our dreamiest creations of the past year.
Pistache - an off-shoot of our Christmas release for 2018.
It starts from roasting raw pistachios, caramelising it, and grinding them into a smooth paste - forming the nutty base of our pistachio mousseline cream. It is then complemented with fresh berries for a nice fruity twang.
青 - The moment of biting into a refreshing green apple.
Featuring a green apple jelly made of fresh apple compote and cold-pressed juice, a soft greek yogurt mousse, and the floral aroma of champagne, all set atop the crunch of our signature tart pastry.
Satsuma-imo, our bestseller from the Spring 2019 Cake Collection.
Fluffy hojicha sponge, sweet potato and mascarpone cream gently sweetened with raw honey, chewy handmade mochi, and finished with chantilly cream, a dusting of hojicha and gold flakes.
PASSIONFRUIT PINEAPPLE TART
A farm-to-table tart, we source our pineapples from select farms in Ulu Tiram, skin and process the fruit by hand, before stirring the jam tirelessly for hours on end. Our passionfruit pineapple tarts takes 12 hours to make, and just a second to finish.
CHINESE NEW YEAR SPECIAL GIFT BOX
We are also introducing a limited edition gift box for your gifting needs, with 4 types of cookies.
OOLONG CEREAL COOKIES
A craggy cookie that packs a crunch, followed by a gentle Oolong fragrance. Insanely addictive, you're bound to be looking for a spoon to scoop up the leftover crunchy bits after all the cookies are gone.
HOJICHA SHIROI SHORTBREAD
Classic hojicha shortbread sandwiched with creamy Callebaut Zephyr White Chocolate. Reminiscent of Shiroi Koibito, the shortbread is best enjoyed with a hot cup of tea.
SMOKED CHEESE COOKIES
Cheese cookies made from 36-month aged cheddar, and manually smoked with applewood. Smokey and cheesy, this cookie is for when you crave a savoury respite from sugary Chinese New Year treats.