Delicious Assorted Cakes For My Christmas Cocktail Party

Review submitted by: Jane Ong

As I mentioned in my previous post, I hosted an early Christmas cocktail party a week before Christmas.  Being an extremely busy professional who doesn't have much time to spend in the kitchen, I had chosen to not make my own desserts but to pay $52.08 to get a dozen mini cakes from one of my favorite Japanese bakeries.  These cakes were a great hit at my cocktail party.  They tasted richly delicious and were such a joy to eat.  Everyone at the party loved the good clean sensation from the cakes. These cakes just didn't leave a sickly and stuffy feeling in the chest or throat.  They were rich, yet smooth and they felt so light and comfortable after the last bite was gone.  They were really great with coffee.  I could have spent days in my kitchen and watched all the baking shows on TV but I don't think I will be able to make cakes like these. May be I can, but I just don't have the time.  According to my friends at my party, these were actually the best cakes they ever had in their lives. Of course, these cakes aren't made of vegetable shortening, and there is no food coloring in them. The ingredients are real chocolate, real cream, real fruits, and this is why these cakes don't come with too many color schemes, which I don't care. Because most of the colorful cakes that I had before from grocery stores and other American bakeries just made me feel so sick afterwards and all I tasted was food coloring. I personally hate the taste of vegetable shortening, and I don't like the taste of food color which is so strong in all cakes in a lot of American bakeries... and the fondant that is so widely used. Yuck. To me, cakes and desserts aren't about the color, the price or quantity, it's all about quality.  I would never want to eat cakes again if there were no Japanese bakery in the USA and if I couldn't find time or the money to bake them myself.

Bakery: Mammoth Bakery
Address:Inside Marukai Gardena Pacific
              1620 W. Redondo Beach Blvd. Gardena, CA 90247
Tel: (310) 538-9031

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The Best Tasting Decadent Little Chocolate Cake

Review submitted by: Jane Ong

Set on a little gold plate, this is one of the best tasting mini chocolate ganache cakes I'v had.  Covered under the deliciously rich chocolate ganache are layers of light and fluffy regular cake and chocolate cake layered with real delicious whip cream and chocolate butter cream.  Dusted with coco powder, topped with rich chocolate truffle ball, chocolate pieces and a flake of gold (which is edible light sugar that melts in the mouth like cotton candy).  This mini individual size cake is so divinely delicious.  What I like about this cake is, it tastes so rich and so good and yet it feels so light. This is made by one of my favorite Japanese bakeries.  This cake doesn't give me a sickly and stuffy feeling. It's just a pure enjoyment to eat this cake because it's not overly sweet, and yet it's appropriately sweet, and indulging.  I just like the after feeling when I finished my last bite. I just felt great and I didn't feel stuffy and sickly like I always felt after eating a donut or a cheap cupcake from the average American bakeries, or something baked by my dear friends and colleagues from the mass market baking mix.  For people who think their cup cakes are good or the baked goods in the typical grocery stores are actually edible, just try this cake and they won't be able to go back and taste those craps again.  

This cake is $4.29, yes, it's not cheap because this isn't made of cheap hydrogenated anything or artificial chocolate powder cake mix and crisco, this is the real cake made by Japanese bakers using the real ingredients. This is how cake is supposed to taste like.  This cake is totally worth my time to eat and the possible extra calories that I added to my slim body. (My family and I  have been eating cakes like this all our lives, never the cheap disgusting baked goods in grocery stores. We don't eat cakes every day, only once in a while and we are still slim.)

Bakery: Monte Martre Bakery
Address: 2525 Pacific Coast Hwy, Torrance, CA 90505
Tel: (310) 326-2783

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