Macaron
(Different flavour Macaron from Pierre Hermé Paris G floor The EmQuartier)
This tiny confectionery is very expensive is due to the complicated process in making it. It has an origin since the French revolution that every commodities are expensive, so 2 missionaries from Italy that have take care the foster home has created a recipe made out of almonds, white egg and sugar. At that time it wasn’t consider expensive ingredients but quite nutritious. Macaron on the early ages are made out of flour only but there’s a confectionary chef have used this recipe and put in some filling in between the flour. After that people started to create their own recipe. The tough part of making this confectionary is the ingredients portion and the temperature in baking it and preserving it must be right. For the taste really depends on the chef.
Eclairs
(Vanilla eclairs and caramel eclair from Fauchon G floor The EmQuartier)
This confectionary has a history more than 100 years. Please understand a little bit that the ‘eclair’ I’m mentioning is a long cute confectionary, not the small tiny eclair that Thai people developed on their own. They have a saying that eclair means lightning, which is a metaphor for it easy to digest and very delicious that it’s all gone in just a blink of an eye but there is no confirmation yet. But what I can confirm that this confectionary started from King Rama III (that is a long time). It developed from chu cream because they use the same flour but make in a size of a long stick. When finished baking the outer bread will look puffy and smell nice but the inside will be hollow so that the chef could put custard or chocolate fillings. And laminate the whole thing with liquid sugar.
Cupcake
(Cup cake in the shape of flower pot Audrey Cafe & Bistro
8th floor on The Helix Quartier at The EmQuartier)
The name already said it. It’s a “Cup”+”Cake”, the origin of it has 2 hypothesis. The first one is that it named after the physical look of it that is a cake in a cup. The 2 hypothesis is that it came from measuring the ingredients by using measuring cup which is still unclear of the intention of the first creator of this menu. But we know that it happened in USA during the19th century. It was first discovered in a cooking book called “Eliza Lesilie’s Receipts Cookbook” published in 1828. They assume that this menu become popular because of easiness and time required is convenient than bigger cake. At first they used ceramic cup as a mold then they use an aluminium cup and now we are using stencil paper.
Red Velvet
(Red Velvet cake from Dean & Deluca G floor at The EmQuartier)
Red velvet cake is invented by accident, if you take it from “American Cookery” (1972). This sweet red cake came from a confectionery chef that want to make a chocolate cake but found out that by adding vinegar to the mix will make the cake fluffy and appealing and it also turn into red too. So he tried his idea and use the sourness of cream cheese to cut the sweetness of the cake. During the WWII other chefs that continued this menu has added beetroot juice into it to make it more red and more appealing. But the word “velvet” came from a soft fabric which is not a coincident but the chef want to compare the texture of the cake to a velvet fabric because it so soft every bite you take.
Scone
(Scone and afternoon tea set from Harrods Tea Room G floor The EmQuartier)
So ok, we don’t count scone in the “Dessert” category because the flour and the baking method is different and should be in the “Boulangerie” category or bread” But this tiny scone got to be be in the tea set alongside with other confectionery and also go well with cottage cream and jam. Scone is originated from the Scottish and was invented during 1500. At that time scone size was as big as a plate which is a lot bigger than our present scone. Now, it is considered a classic bread that every bakery, cake store or even coffee shop should have. Because it is easy to eat, the size is perfect and can add other ingredients like dried fruits and chocolate.
Taiyaki
(Croissant Taiyaki a shop that uses croissant flour to make Taiyaki, super delicious and have many fillings to choose from. G floor The EmQuartier)
One of the national confectionery from Japan, “Taiyaki”. It made out of flour in a shape of tai fish and have sweet red beans filling. Nobody knows the true origin of it but this confectionery has been for more than 100 years. A reliable hypothesis said that during the winter fish are expensive to buy so the Japanese invented this fish shape confectionary as a substitute and they use the tai fish as a symbol because the word resonate with lucky and the yaki part means roast, which is the method of cooking this confectionery. Taiyaki has boomed in the 1976 and comes in many shape. Later they invented a frozen taiyaki for easy to store for a long time then it just went out to all other country.
Bingsu
( Bingsu with juicy fruits from Hanbingo 8th floor on The Helix Quartier at The EmQuartier)
Do you believe that ‘bingsu’ the Korean style ice-shaved dessert has a history more than 100 years or more. The word ‘bingsu’ comes from ‘patbingsu’, which the culture of eating ice shaved cover in red beans is a mixture of Japanese and Korean color. But there is a record that during the Shoson era (1392A.D. – 1919A.D.) there is a menu that use shaved ice and decorate with topping 2-3 things like fruits, rice cake or grounded peanut, which became the topping of this dessert. After the Korean war, bingsu has evolved exponentially from topping only red beans and fruits, people starting to use ice cream, cereal, sugar water and whip cream. Now, the popularity stills continues and dessert shop in Thailand start using Thai ingredients like mango, durian or creating new style to get attention from sweet lover. But as you know Thailand is a hot country and people still always want cold confectionery to satisfy their needs.
