Crème De La Crème

Beauty booster you can lick 

October 10, 2019

Lio Lim and Dr Steve Chia at the launch of Beauty Elixir

Good food, health and beauty… the things in life we should not take for granted. And now, they come together in Crème De La Crème’s latest creation, Beauty Elixir, an ice cream designed to give beauty a boost.

Beauty Elixir and some of the ingredients that go into its making

Beauty Elixir is sugar free and the sweetness comes from maltitol. Not only that but it also has plenty of benefits from ingredients that include Gluthathione, Collagen, Vitamin C, Rose Water, Lychee and Cherry Blossom.

Dr Steve Chia

To create Beauty Elixir, the CDLC team worked with Dr Steve Chia, medical director of Sliq Clinic. At the launch, Dr Chia conceded that while he was not expecting people to eat nothing but ice cream for its beautifying properties, Beauty Elixir is the perfect dessert to indulge in without guilt.

I must agree. If one is looking for a frozen treat, don’t lick empty sugar-laden calories. I’d rather have a scoop of Beauty Elixir, a dessert treat with benefits. 

The idea of food for beauty is not new. Today, we consume pills, tonic brews and organic produce. In the past, women in particular, sipped ginseng and floral brews as well as desserts made with peach resin, red dates, goji berries and what not.

For CDLC managing director Lio Lim, his double-edged passions, beauty and ice cream, started his quest for an iced treat that was not only guilt free but also lusciously delicious. He’s totally chuffed about Beauty Elixir and is proud to have come up with “the first ice cream in the world with beauty properties”.

The ingredients in Beauty Elixir (RM12.90/scoop) come together in a delightfully delicious dessert treat. Each ingredient is picked for what it has to offer in the beauty equation.

1. Gluthathione is an anti-oxidant that helps to even out skin tone and brightens skin to give it a glow.

2. Vitamin C works to neutralise free radicals as well as detoxifies and boost the immune system. Also known to work on melanin (dark skin has greater amounts of melanin) and inhibit the production of tyrosinase (key enzyme in melanin synthesis) Vitamin C performs best in collaboration with Gluthathione for the best skin whitening results.

3. As for Collagen, it’s not only important for skin elasticity and firmness but is imperative to prevent ageing. It can also repair skin damage caused by acne and lightens blemishes, scars and freckles.

Essence of Beauty

4. Cherry blossom or Sakura is an antioxidant with anti-inflammatory and anti-ageing properties.

5. Rose water, commonly used in beauty treatments, is traditionally popular in Europe and from India to Persia. 

6. Lychee adds a lovely aroma and is also rich in antioxidants, Vitamin C, fibre and phytonutrient flavonoids.

Apart from ice cream, there’s also Essence of Beauty (RM18.90), a drink scented with lychee and rose. It’s topped with two little scoops of Beauty Elixir. Just stir to mix the ice cream into the drink for cool, creamy sips.

Petits Gateaux (from top) Longevity, Bomb, Beauty & The Beast, Ondeh-Ondeh and Cappuccino

Meanwhile, I am delighted to see new additions to the range of Petits Gateaux (RM22-RM25). These pretty mini ice-cream cakes include Longevity, Ondeh-Ondeh and Cappuccino.

Perfect for celebrating birthdays, the longevity peach is made of matcha and black sesame ice cream with mango yuzu compote, lemon curd, matcha sponge and coated with a white chocolate dip.

Ondeh-Ondeh comes in 4 balls of pandan kaya ice cream with ginger sorbet, gula Melaka sauce, white chocolate dip and rolled in dessicated coconut.

Cappuccino of course, is a triple ice cream combination of coffee, salted caramel and Madagascar vanilla with cookie crumble, coffee joconde (sponge cake), chocolate dip and topped with torched marshmallow.

Celebrer la vie!

phoenixbee@gmail.com

Crème De La Crème 

35 Jalan SS21/60

Damansara Utama

Petaling Jaya

Malaysia

Telephone

+603-7494 0735

Opening Hours

Daily: Noon to 11pm

Friday & Saturday: Noon to midnight 

Vasco’s @ Hilton Kuala Lumpur

Taste of Royal Cuisine 

April 15, 2019

Char Kway Teow a la minute

This Ramadan, the chefs at Hilton KL are dishing up a buffet “fit for royalty” at its all-day dining restaurant, Vasco’s. The break of fast buffet will be available daily from 6pm, starting May 5 to June 4.

Popular dishes, nostalgic dishes and mum’s cooking will take centrestage on the table alongside western cuisine, Indian specialties and Chinese fare.

Chilled drinks or hot tea/coffee to start your meal

Start with hot tea/coffee or a nice iced drink (there are 6-7 flavours to choose from). Then head for the seafood on ice to pick up mussel, prawn, lobster and clam. There’s also a variety of kerabu (salad), acar (pickle) salted fish, salted egg and salad greens.

Poached prawns

Cold mussels

Crayfish

I fill my plate with green mango kerabu, prawn with four-angled bean kerabu, salted fish acar, talang fish with fried onion kerabu and squid with glass noodle kerabu. I can be happy to just fill my belly with these but the other sections of the buffet spread are calling.

Kerabu prawn and four angle beans

Grilled Red Snapper

Chefs at the carving station offer grilled whole lamb and chicken

The Santapan DiRaja (Royal Meal) section is alluring. I love them all, parcels of marinated fish wrapped in banana leaf, stuffed squid in creamy gravy, whole grilled giant red snapper, chicken/beef satay, masak merah tiger prawn, stirfried spicy asparagus, chicken curry, chili padi chicken rendang and my Ramadan favourite, siput sedut which is cooked in a scrumptious masak lemak (turmeric-coconut milk) gravy.

Siput Sedut in creamy gravy

Chilli padi chicken rendang

Tiger Prawns masak merah

Chicken satay

Meanwhile, at the action station, the chef is stirring kway teow (flat rice noodles) in a huge wok as customers wait patiently and next to him, two chefs are busy carving a whole roasted lamb and spicy roasted chicken.

In the Indian corner, chefs are continuously baking skewers of chicken in the tandoori oven and making roti to go with the various curries.

The Chinese section has stirfried vegetables, roasted duck and steamed fish. For me, it’s always a pleasure to have a bowl of hot noodles prepared a la minute. 

Indian-style roti and tandoori chicken

Chinese-style roasted duck

Choose from 3 types of gravy at the Noodles Station

Customers choose vermicelli, yellow noodles or kway teow which the chef will blanch and then add condiments such as prawn, fish cake, egg, vegetables or beef and chicken. There’s always a choice of gravy. The mee rebus gravy is smooth and fragrant. A real treat!

At one end I spot a red snapper and barramundi which the chef will steam in small batches to ensure the fish fillet is not overcooked.

Pizza, loaded with cheese

If you want a bit of western fare, the pizza, with oozy, melted cheese is popular as are the two pasta choices.

But do keep space for dessert. Although I see chocolate cake, cheesecake, pandan cake and Swiss roll, I am more excited by the local kuih muih. 

Variety of Malay-style kuih muih

Kuih Cara with minced chicken filling

Tapai ubi and tapai pulut seem popular while I prefer the cendol jelly, kuih bakar, kuih ayu, kuih koci,  kuih ros, akok, cek mek molek, kuih keria, bahulu, kuih bangkit and serimuka. 

Kelantanese royal dessert, jala mas

I am intrigued by the Kelantanese royal sweetmeat of jala mas, looking like thickly spun golden thread. Not often seen or sold, it’s basically made of egg yolk and sugar, a delicacy when slowly savoured.

Cendol jelly

Marble cheesecake is popular

Badak berendam or soaking hippos

There are also hot dessert items, claypots filled with taufu fah (soya bean pudding), bubur kacang (sweet green bean porridge) and bubur pulut hitam (sweet black glutinous rice porridge). You can even catch badak berendam (soaking rhinos), a dessert comprising glutinous rice balls in a thick sauce made with coconut milk.

Or have fried banana/sweet potato and apam (I hope they put more peanut filling) and crullers as well as ais kacang (shaved ice with condiments).

Diners will also be treated to silat and gamelan performances during the Santapan DiRaja buffet.

 
Vasco’s @ Hilton Kuala Lumpur

3 Jalan Stesen Sentral

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Telephone

+603-2264 2264

Opening Hours

Buka Puasa Buffet

May 5 to June 4

6pm to 10.30pm

Promotion

RM188 nett; RM100 nett (child aged 6-11)

Crème De La Crème

The art of ice cream

March 18, 2019

Artisanal ice cream has totally spoiled my tastebuds and now, Crème De La Crème (CDLC) has pushed the benchmark even higher. The café is hip and stylish, with an Instagrammable neon-lit unicorn on one wall, plain grey walls and black tables set off by white chairs and cement benches.

18 types of ice cream and sorbet, crafted from scratch

Lio Lim and Evelyn Choong

At the front, glass chillers carry trays of sorbet, ice cream and mini ice cream cakes. At the far end, one can watch chefs at work through a glass window.

CDLC is the brainchild of Lio Lim who says: “I love ice cream and I want to share the finest handcrafted ice creams with Malaysians.”

Heading the kitchen team is Evelyn Choong who had trained under celebrity dessert chef Christy Tania of Australian MasterChef fame. Working closely with owner Lio Lim, she is the mastermind behind the creations.

“We make all the ice cream and confections in-house, from scratch,” says Lio, adding that most of the ingredients are sourced locally and even the cream comes from a local supplier. “That’s the only way to ensure it’s really fresh.”

Heading the kitchen team is the petite Evelyn Choong who had worked and trained under celebrity dessert chef Christy Tania of Australian MasterChef fame. Working closely with Lio, Evelyn is the mastermind behind the many flavours and the cakes.

CDLC offers sorbet in six flavours. Apart from fruity delights such as Raspberry and an amazing Mango Passion (made with creamy Alphonso mango), there are kopitiam-inspired sorbets. I love the Barley Lime (inspired by barli limau ais and made by boiling pearl barley and adding freshly squeezed lime juice) and Limau Assam (made with calamansi juice and assam boi) with a hint of saltiness from the salted plum to bring out the best side of the citrusy limau kasturi.

Barley Lime sorbet

DragonFruit Strawberry Sorbet

DragonFruit Strawberry Sorbet is a fruity treat rich in fibre, antioxidants and Vitamin C from the red dragonfruit and strawberries.

Meanwhile, the 12 flavours of ice cream beckon. One can even start the day with ice cream as Evelyn has crafted three breakfast-inspired ice cream: Cerealicious, Cookies & Cream and Pandan Kaya Toast.

Pandan Kaya Toast (front) and Cookies & Cream

I’m not too keen on Cookies & Cream (made with house-baked cookies) and Cerealicious which reminds me too much of breakfast cereal but Pandan Kaya Toast reminds me of a childhood licking fragrant kaya off toasted Hainanese bread. To achieve this, Evelyn grinds dehydrated pandan leaves into powder which she bakes into a crumble with santan and eggs. This is swirled into ice cream to get that rich kaya aroma with an added crunch.

French Earl Grey Boba

Another worthy mention is French Earl Grey Boba. I love boba. This one has all the quintessential Britishness of Earl Grey milk tea with the right hint of bergamot. So, where are the boba pearls? Right inside the cone, so you can end with a satisfying chew after lick the ice cream. Definitely for boba lovers.

There are many alluring names in the ice cream section, including Chunky Monkey (pureed fresh banana with salted butterscotch, walnuts and dark chocolate crumble), Black Forest (dark chocolate, Morello cherries and Madagascar vanilla), Yin & Yang (swirls of white and black sesame) and Musang King (with 100% pure MK durian).

But what claims a place in my heart are Madagascar Ash and Miso Caramel.

Madagascar Ash has to be the smoothest, creamiest ice cream to ever pass my lips. Lim assures me it’s guiltless too as it’s a low GI, sugar-free treat that even diabetics can indulge in. The secret’s in using maltitol, a sugar substitute, with Madagascar vanilla pods while bamboo charcoal is added for its detoxifying factor. The glistening deep silver hue is enchanting, mesmerising even.

Smooth, velvety Madagascar Ash

The Miso Caramel leaves me in tears of joy and sorrow. Joy over the “eureka” moment – this trumps all salty caramels. Sorrow as I can never settle for ordinary salted caramel again. Using miso is an inspired touch as it gives the caramel a salty edge with an umami kick.

The seven types of Petit Gateau

The second glass counter at CDLC makes me feel like a little kid in candyland. The seven mini ice cream cakes are works of art, handcrafted by Evelyn and her team.  They look too pretty to demolish and I feel a little pang of guilt when I cut into one.

Beauty & The Beast before and after slicing

For instance, Beauty & The Beast is a velvety rose in a glass bell with little dew drops to bring it to life. Rose “Beauty” is a combination of 63% dark chocolate and vanilla ice cream, mixed with Morello cherry sorbet to offer a bit of bitter, tangy and sweet. At the base, “Beast” is a layer of dark chocolate crumble, chewy chocolate brownie and almond nibs to provide a crunchy contrast in textures.

The very elegant Lady Pearl before and after slicing

Women will swoon over Lady Pearl, an elegant raspberry pink and white ring topped with a lace collar in white chocolate, with edible pearls and diamantes. Under the raspberry and white chocolate glaze is a mix of Strawberry and Madagascar Vanilla ice cream as well as Dragon Fruit Strawberry sorbet. Contrasting textures come in little crumbles and red almond sponge while passionfruit crémeux kicks in with a tartness to cut through the richness.

The limited edition Bunny, before and after slicing

How can one not love Bunny? Available only till Easter, this is a cute take with a coconut meringue rabbit on its back and feet showing instead of its eyes. This is a tropical burst of flavours with coconut, mango, calamansi, pineapple, lemongrass and passionfruit. The base is a crunchy chocolate hazelnut feuilletine base with almond sable. 

Da Bomb is a chocolate bomb with hazelnut ganache

If you love chocolate, Da Bomb is da bomb! Imagine this: 63% dark chocolate ice cream and creamy Madagascar Vanilla in a soft, melt-in-your-mouth hazelnut ganache.

For cakes in bigger sizes, the Celebration Cakes require pre-order of 1-3 days in advance and are priced from RM170-RM250.

CDLC also offers coffee, tea and a drink with the intriguing name of Bloop! Bloop! Bloop! which turns out to be dragonfruit sorbet in lemonade and tinted with blue pea flower.

phoenixbee@gmail.com

Bloop! Bloop! Bloop! served with matching
paper straws

Crème De La Crème 

35 Jalan SS21/60

Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya

Telephone

+603-7494 0735

Opening Hours

Daily: Noon to 11pm

Friday & Saturday: Noon to midnight

Price

Ice Cream Cones

Single scoop: RM10.90; Double scoop: RM14.90; Triple scoop: RM18.90 (additional RM2 for waffle cone and additional RM2 for premium flavours)

Takeaway Tubs

200ml: RM15.90 each or RM59.90 for 4 tubs (additional RM3 for premium flavours)

600ml: RM29.90 (additional RM6 for premium flavours)

Degustation of 4 mini cones: RM16.90.