The love for chocolate is universal. And as my blog's all-time favourite recipe is the home-made chocolate, I wanted to cheer your Monday with another chocolaty recipe, this time a cake! Having serious food allergies and not owning an oven, which is typical in Singapore, I have to use some imagination to create my own sweets and desserts. Because who could live without cake? Not me! ;)
This cake is suitable for almost all allergic people, it requires no baking and it's really fast and simple to make. Like with all my recipes, I always cook with a feel, not following any strict measurements. Thus, my recipes can also be modified according to your own liking.
For the crust, mash 4 bananas, 1/2 cup shredded coconut, 5-7 tablespoons of cacao powder, 2 tablespoons of honey and a large handful of cacao nibs or chocolate chips (optional but they add a nice crunch and a chocolaty flavour!).
Pour in a mould and place in the freezer for a couple of hours. Then make the topping simply by whipping coconut cream with sugar or honey. Place in the feezer until very cool (15-30min). I used the fattiest one because it tastes the best and also it chills nicely in the freezer. Take the crust out of the freezer, place on a plate and pour the whipped cream on top. Decorate with fruits, berries, nuts... Done!
The recipe serves 4 people, or two big eaters, like me and my husband ;)
Like I told you in the previous post, a French designer, Axelle Oran of Honoré, let me choose a dress from her collection. A Very Happy Me :)
The dress that I picked, as all the other ones in her collection, is named after a Parisian cafe. My dress is called Square trousseau. This is how she describes the cafe: "We loved this place. A very nice café on a quiet street with lots of
seating outside and beautiful tables on the inside. Large French doors
open to the sidewalk. Beautiful and rich décor and comfortable
surroundings..." You can find the dress here.
Being an absolute cafe lover myself (I could honestly live in one!! Just looking at interesting people, sipping a cup of perfect fresh coffee and reading magazines...), I love the idea. You can read a post about one of my favourite Singaporean cafes here.
The day I wore the dress for the first time was a rainy one. After a couple of shots it started drizzling but luckily I was able to translate that into a hint of Parisian atmosphere in the photos with un umbrella ;)
Then it started to rain...
And stopped again...
The dress is 100% cotton, light and super comfortable to wear even in the heat outside. Plus the design is flattering on the curves. Parfait! My husband's comments? "Very nice, and versatile design. Without the belt you can wear it pregnant too." Was that a hint?? :D
It's also time to announce the winner of the coctails contest. Charlene will win a pair of 15% vounchers to Bartini Kitchen! I will contact you soon :)
Dress: Honoré Paris Belt: Honoré Paris Shoes: Aldo
When I was ten years old, my parents decided to rent a villa from France, very close to Paris, with family friends. Not only that, my dad wanted to drive all the way there from Finland! And so we did. That is still a trip that I remember as a great adventure, even though it happened almost two decades ago. I remember how we built a ship from old bits and pieces of wood with my friend. I remember the smell and taste of fresh, crispy, warm chocolate croissants that we could buy from a closeby boulangerie's car delivery every morning. I remember climbing to the Eiffel tower, trying snails and finding the most amazing pink princess dress from the flee market that any 10-year-old could dream of. I still have photos of me wearing that dress with puffy sleeves and lots of Victorian ruffles. Reading my diary from the trip, the most memorable event appears to be a visit to a Zafari zoo on a car, and that a zebra licked our window! :D Oh, I miss that 10-year-old me.
Anyways, last week I was invited to a new brand launch at Heeren Robinsons. You can imagine how excited I was after I checked the brand's website. A new French women's clothes brand has stepped into Singapore. And I love anything French! France is one of the capitals of fashion and French women are among the most chic in the world, at least in my opinion. Even better, the brand's - called Honoré - all clothes are made of natural materials with a sustanable philosophy that the clothes last wearing and time.
I visited the Brand Launch on the same day as the opening for the entire shopping centre, Robinsons at the Heeren.
The designer of the brand, Axelle Oran, is a very chic lady herself. I had a chance to meet her and ask a couple of questions to make you all know a bit more about the brand.
Here are her answers :)
1. Does the brand's name refer to the famous fashion street "The rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré" in Paris?
The name Honoré was an obvious choice for me. Of course it's related to La rue du faubourg Saint Honoré. Its
an amazing street which is full a incredible shops (big brands and
concept stores are melting there) but also because of the history of the
name. Its a writer, a pastry
and it also means something. And for me clothes are not just something
that you wear but also a message that you give to people.
2. Where can my readers find your clothes worldwide? Which stores sell them in Singapore?
You can find us at: Paper bag princess which is a lovely store at Cluny Court in Bukit Timah. Their team is wonderful. Rockstar by Soon Lee on Orchard 22 and Orchard Cineleisure, they have a great concept. We are also stocked at Tangs Orchard and the new Robinsons Orchard. In Hong Kong too, at Kapok. Which is an amazing store that every one should visit. And our online shop www.honoreparis.com too for worldwide shipping of course! :)
3. What is your long term goal or dream for the brand? Where would you wish to see Honoré in 10 years?
My long term goal is to see this little baby growing up and to be worn by as many people as possible of course ;) And my wish is that the spirit of Honoré will always stay the same.
4. If you could dress one famous person in your clothes, who would that be?
There are so many!!! Some french actress and models of course but im not sure that they are enough famous. But I love their style.. Like Vanessa Paradis, Clemence Poesy, Lea Seydoux.. I also Love Olivia Parlermo, Nicole Richie, Jessica Alba, The olsen sisters..
5. Describe the Honoré woman in five words
The Honoré woman is romantic, passionate, chic, rock and roll and fresh. All at the same time!
The designer was also kind enough to let me choose one outfit from her collection!! I was so happy! :) Here are some of my favourite outfits that I tried on..
Guess which one I picked? :) I will post an editorial entry tomorrow wearing the dress I chose.
I was thinking of introducing a new Instagram-like sequel where I share a few photos of the things that have recently made me happy. The idea of this The Sound of Music (what a wonderful happy film!) sequel is to inspire also you readers to, if not shoot, at least write down or really pay attention to those small beautiful things in life. Our mood is what we decide it to be - and I'm saying this even though I'm not the best example of a person who can simply decide to be happy on a day when you wake up and 1. You decide to make a cappuchino since you slept very poorly and there isn't any milk in the fridge. 2. You look at the sky in the morning and you're SURE it won't rain today and don't take un umbrella (ah, I'm Singaporean enough to know this by now!) and voilà, it's raining not cats and dogs but little uncles when you head out. 3. You pour coconut water over your laptop while blogging and it stops working... I could go on, and yes, all this has happened to me!
I got lost in my thoughts... Anyways, so after all the stuff that makes you think that things can't possibly go any more wrong (they usually will), you can stop for a moment and think. Think what happy, nice or positive has happened today. It can be a very simple thing, or perhaps something larger. You have a part to play in this game too - you have a chance to save someone else's miserable day. Just a small compliment, a helping hand, or simply a smile can have a huge influence on a stranger's mood. And as that person becomes a tiny bit happier, he/she is more likely to spread the joy... And so on. Well, you know what I mean.
Here are a Few of My Favourite Things recently.
I slept poorly but woke up to a beautiful morning and thought to myself how grateful I am to experience living so high up that I can take panoramic shots from my bedroom window.
I love enjoying tea from a pretty pot and especially from a small Japanese cup. The flavor is so much better this way. Just like drinking coke from the bottle isn't even nearly as good compared to coke from a can! ;)
For me the best way to empty my mind before an important day, or to relax after a long day, is to read magazines. My favourites are food, fashion and wellness magazines and I could read recipes and interviews and look at beautiful pictures for hours...
When I got home it was so windly that the curtains were swaying horizontally and all the papers from the bedroom table were on the floor. But what a perfect weather for a cup of hot chocolate! You can find my recipe here.
I heard that my interview appears at www.expatsblog.com frontpage! I was very happy about this :) Please go and take a look here!
My weekend felt exceptionally long. It's probably because I was a bit sick and had to pretty much stay indoors for the week. When the weekend came, I really felt I needed to get out of the house and attended two events, a new brand launch and a Skechers store opening. Besides these two, I pretty much just took it easy, drank some good coffee, ate some homemade yummy chocolate (recipe here) and comfort food.
I will share more about this brand launch with you later on! Right after it, I attended Skechers media event at Bugis. I was with my blogger friend Peiwen and used her as a model ;)
The kids' shoes are actually pretty cute. I tried on one (adults!) pair that suit my outfit ;) - and they we really comfy!
As I still felt a bit weak after being sick, I opted for some soup. Comfort food! :)
Roasted nuts on top of a soup is actually a great idea, I have to try it at home! Just that the soup has to be creamy like this one. Too bad that it's usually so hot that I don't feel like taking any soupy stuff.....
Later on I also cooked some salmon for dinner.
Hope you had a relaxing weekend - we are half way through until the next one!
PS. I had a laugh going through some old photos, especially those failed ones, and I'm planning to share some of those with you. Just to show that being a blogger ain't as easy as it may look like... ;)
