Bella Gelateria: Hot Chocolate Festival 2014

Hot Chocolate Festival 2014

"Hot chocolate festival? There's such a thing?" 

That's the reaction I get from many of my friends when I am trying to find someone to go with me. It's fourth year running, Vancouver's Hot Chocolate Festival is steadily growing in participants. With an extra hour to kill between watching Frozen and dining at Mosaic Bar and Grill, we took the opportunity to take part in the festival. Bella Gelateria is only two blocks away from Mosaic, so we decided to pay a visit.

Hot Chocolate Festival 2014 menu

The Three Nutty Crumpets came to Bella Gelateria for during the Hot Chocolate Festival last year and since then, the menu of hot chocolate has incredibly expanded. I remember having about three or so choices, and it costing a lot more. I'm extremely impressed with the creative flavours Bella Gelateria has to offer this year; if my stomach was bigger, I would've loved to try more! A gelato bar in hot chocolate? My love for hot and cold food together is calling...

Black Sesame Hot Chocolate ($5.50)

Since dinner was around the corner, I limited myself to having just a cup of hot chocolate. My heart was set on the Black Sesame Hot Chocolate the moment I saw it on the menu. Knowing how ah-may-zing their black sesame gelato is, I was really excited for this drink. For $5.50 (tax included), this generous cup of hot chocolate is creamy and packed full of the flavours advertised. It wasn't overly sweet, as the base of this drink was half white chocolate and half 85% dark chocolate. I drank about half of this and packed the rest to go. As I was pouring it into my paper cup, I saw how much black sesame paste went into this drink. A thick layer of black sesame paste lined the bottom of the cup; remember to stir while drinking. No wonder it tasted so good! 

All Hot Chocolate Festival drinks at Bella Gelateria come with half a slice of Erin Ireland's To Die For Banana Bread. I was pleasantly surprised that this year, the slice of banana bread was of normal thickness. Not exaggerating but last year we got half a slice that was only one centimetre in thickness. That's half of what is seen in the photo! Like seriously, you must be kidding me... -shakes head- However, the banana bread isn't as good as I remember it to be. It was missing the crunchy bits of salt that contrasts the sweetness of the loaf. There was even less macadamia nuts than before (it didn't start off with much in the first place) and it just tasted sugary. Nevertheless, the side of banana bread is a nice treat that, with the drink, will satisfy any sweet tooth.

Italian Honey Moon Hot Chocolate ($5.50)

My other two friends both ordered the Italian Honey Moon Hot Chocolate. "Hazelnut" totally caught their attention. I saw little chunks of honey nougat and hazelnuts floating on the surface. This one should be a little sweeter than the black sesame since it is made with 65% cocoa chocolate. The Clumsy One said that there was a generous amount of hazelnuts in the drink. Our other friend commented that she had to open her mouth a little wider to get the bits in as she drank. The serving size of the hot chocolate here is very large, be prepared to feel very full after gulping down the whole cup! (And a experience a bit of a sugar rush as well) Both drinks are well worth the very reasonable price. A specialty drink at Starbucks costs just as much, if not more, and they just use flavoured syrups and blech.

I'm very glad we decided to make a stop here, as it is probably one of the best places to join in on the Hot Chocolate Festival. Bella Gelateria's menu contains more flavours than most of the other participating cafes, making it a good choice for larger groups that may have different preferences. And ice cream bars in hot chocolate sounds insanely cool. If I get the chance to come back to try more of their Hot Chocolate Festival offerings, I have my eye on the London Foggy, Black Magic, and Extra Dark Chocolate drinks. Peanut Crumpet had the extra dark chocolate last year and it's not sweet at all. Those that love a true dark and bitter chocolate should definitely try Bella Gelateria out!


 
Love from Coconut Crumpet & Co.

Date Sweetened Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Date Sweetened Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin pie, one of my favourite desserts. As seen from my various other pumpkin recipes, I am quite fond of gourds. Pumpkin pie is already one of the healthiest pie choices available, even the ones from the supermarket aren't terribly bad. But of course, homemade is better. And naturally sweetened ones even more. 

Don't mind the little burnt blotches along the crust; that's filling I got on there :P

Every year, I attempt a pumpkin pie. Usually it is the hard crust that my family complains about. I've tried traditional full-of-butter pie crusts to super fast olive oil pie crusts, but they just never worked out as advertised. Finally I experimented with making pie crust in the food processor (and using coconut oil!) and discovered the perfect pie crust. Flaky, tender, and delicious even on its own.
 
At Thanksgiving early this year, I made a pumpkin pie that was covered in cracks and wasn't sweet enough. Note to self: a quarter cup of honey isn't enough for an entire pie. Pumpkin pie filling isn't difficult to make, in fact it's pretty fail proof. But making one that isn't laden with refined sugars and one that is crack-free is the challenge. I think I have found the solution!

Date Sweetened Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Unlike most pumpkin pies that are sweetened with granulated or brown sugar, this pie is sweetened with date paste. Dates are fat free 'jewels of the dessert' that are a great source of fibre, iron, and potassium. Fibre keeps your intestines clean and happy, iron is especially important to incorporate into women's diets, and potassium is an energizer! Eat a few dates before exercising for a boost of energy. They also double up as a post-work out snack. When my mom first joined hot yoga, her instructor told them to eat a banana (which also has high amounts of potassium) to re-energize the body after sweating buckets. Yes dates are really carb heavy because of the sugar content, but they are very nutritious and make for a great dessert too! Medjool dates are the sweetest, largest, and plumpest variety; I used them in this recipe to make the date paste. Date paste can easily be made at home using dates and water. Blend blend blend away until the texture resembles that of pumpkin puree. If you have any leftover date paste, use it up in a batch of Healthy Carrot Morning Glory Muffins! 
 
Eggs are not part of this recipe, as this pie is vegan. Having egg whites in a pumpkin pie filling may contribute to surface cracks because the proteins in the egg whites will shrink and pull apart as the pie cools, leaving valleys and canyons in the middle of the pie. To combat this problem (as well as make it vegan), cornstarch is used as the thickener. Without a thickener, one would be left with a pile of mashed pumpkin instead of a 'custard'. This recipe of pumpkin 'custard' does not rise at all during baking, which also reduces the risk for cracking. As a heads up, the filling pulls away from the sides just a little bit as it cools. Other than that, the surface of the pie remains crack-free. 

Date Sweetened Vegan Pumpkin Pie

In my photos, the pie looks pretty short. I would prefer the filling to reach the top for cosmetic purposes. Maybe my pie pan is just too deep..? I may add half a recipe more of the filling the next time I make this. Taste-wise, I have no complaints. The excess crust on the top makes for a delicious 'cookie' to munch on! My vegan pie crust is fragrant from coconut oil, flaky, and crunchy and makes for the perfect vessel to spread the pumpkin filling on. The way I like to eat my pumpkin pie probably sounds ridiculous, but hey. Don't judge. Just make the pie and taste for yourself ;)

This pie is essentially guilt-free. It's pretty much just dates, pumpkin puree, coconut oil, and flour. I am not ashamed to say that I've eaten this pie for breakfast on several occasions. This is how I like to get my fruit and vegetable intake.

Find the healthiest vegan pumpkin pie that is crack-free after the cut!

Pumpkin Chocolate Swirled Mini Cheesecakes with a Spiced Graham Crust

Pumpkin Chocolate Swirled Mini Cheesecakes with a Spiced Graham Crust

Another belated post...my apologizes we've been rather absent on the blog. The days are flying by faster than I can bake everything on my autumn bake-list. Since squash is the flavour of autumn, I wanted to incorporate pumpkin into the Halloween treats shared with Fat Rats. And everyone likes cheesecake right? I beat The Clumsy One at making these, mwahahaha~

Pumpkin Chocolate Swirled Mini Cheesecakes with a Spiced Graham Crust

-Insert ranting here- 

I actually put that in my draft... but there isn't much on my mind today, so you're in luck! Reduced amount of nonsense in this post.

Pumpkin Chocolate Swirled Mini Cheesecakes with a Spiced Graham Crust

The spiced graham crust can be substituted with gingersnap cookies, as that is what I was aiming to copy. The hint of extra spices amps up the volume of the spices already in the cheesecake batter. I admit, the chocolate swirl doesn't do much for the cake, other than make it look prettier. Feel free to leave the extra step out if it is going to be topped with whipped cream (coconut whipped cream, anyone?) or decorated with other methods. Either way, it'll be sure to impress and satisfy~

The gradual cooling of cheesecake is a vital part of the procedure, especially when making larger sizes. I still experienced a little bit of cracking on these mini cheesecakes and felt that they were just a tinge on the over-cooked side. If that is a concern for you, stop the oven about two minutes earlier and begin the process of cooling.

Pumpkin Chocolate Swirled Mini Cheesecakes with a Spiced Graham Crust

Yield: 12 muffin-sized cheesecakes

Ingredients

For the crust

• 5 graham crackers (the long rectangular shaped ones)
• A pinch each of ground ginger and nutmeg
• ⅛ tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted

For the filling

• 8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature (low fat is okay) 
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ⅛ tsp each of ground ginger and nutmeg
• 1 egg
• ½ vanilla
• 2 tsp coconut milk
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line a standard muffin pan with twelve paper liners.
2. Blitz your graham crackers in a food processor to make crumbs. Add the spices and pulse a few times to combine. Add the melted coconut oil to the crumbs and mix until a wet sand texture is achieved. 
3. Press 2 to 3 tsp of the crumb mixture firmly into the bottom of each paper liner, I recommend using the back of a small spoon.
4. Bake crust in the preheated oven for 4 minutes.
5. In a mixing bowl, cream the cream cheese and brown sugar together until homogenous and fluffy.
6. Add the pumpkin puree and spices, mix until smooth. 
7. Add egg, vanilla, and coconut milk and mix again until smooth.
8. Reserve about 3 tbsp of the cheesecake batter in a separate bowl. Add cocoa powder to the reserved batter. Set aside.
9. Divide pumpkin cheesecake batter evenly between liners. Place dollops of the chocolate cheesecake batter on top and swirl with a toothpick.
10. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. When done, prop the oven door open slightly and allow cheesecakes to cool in the oven for about 10 minutes. The cool completely on the counter in the pan before chilling in the fridge. Bringing the cheesecakes gradually to room temperature will prevent cracking. 
11. Once completely cooled, store in refrigerator. They last for quite a while, around a week or two?

Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡

A Long Weekend of Birthday Baking

Gaaaah, this post is about one month late but I still wanted to share three recipes I had tested out during the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. Over that long weekend, I baked goodies as presents to three birthday girls: a childhood friend, a church friend, and my beloved grandmother. Without further ado, some eye-candy for you to indulge in.

Building the Vegan Chocolate Pumpkin Pie Layer Cake

Once I confirmed that my childhood friend, Tiff, was a fellow fan of pumpkin, I decided to go all out for her birthday cake. We were celebrating her 'entrance into adulthood' with a 'baby turkey' (aka Costco rotisserie chicken) dinner, Disney movies, and a sleepover. Sounding epic? Just wait until you hear about this Vegan Chocolate Pumpkin Pie Layer Cake I made her. Alternating layers of chocolate pumpkin cake and crustless pumpkin pie, glued together with whipped coconut cream. I could eat the whole cake and feel [almost] guiltless. I just got some teasing from my best friend, looking down on the cake just because I mentioned it's vegan. Whoa whoa now, don't hate on vegan food! Vegan food can be de-lish, as proven by this cake.

Completed Vegan Chocolate Pumpkin Pie Layer Cake

It was my first time using and eating whipped coconut cream, oh my goodness, Coconut Crumpet went on a vacation to heaven. I stuck a can of Rooster Brand Gold Label Coconut Milk into the fridge overnight for the vegan whipped cream. I highly recommend using this particular coconut milk because of its high, high, high fat content. It's super rich, thick, and coconutty. All the coconut whipped cream recipes I've seen online use the 'full fat' cans of coconut milk, which yield about half a can of whip-able coconut cream. The Gold Label Coconut Milk yields more than 3/4 can of coconut cream!! It was enough to frost this loaf-sized cake. 

As for the actual cake part of the cake, I used a pumpkin chocolate brownie recipe and adapted this crustless pumpkin pie recipe. While the brownie turned out fine, I took my Rachel-ifying a little too far for the pumpkin pie layer. It was bubbling in the oven like a cauldron and rose about five times the height that it should have, then I almost burnt it, and all that height collapsed as it cooled and some batter stuck to the sides of my loaf pan. Thankfully, the taste was fine and it would be ready to become a cake with a bit of a trim.

On the same day as I decorated this cake, I baked up two more birthday presents. Some Cranberry Orange Ricotta Muffins for my grandma and Soft Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies for a church friend, who is a lover of peanut butter and chocolate.

Cranberry Orange Ricotta Muffins

These muffins follow the same recipe as this Blackberry Lemon Ricotta Muffins I already have on the blog. This ricotta muffin recipe yields the fluffiest muffins ever; it is a must-try! I replaced the blackberries with cranberries, lemon zest and juice with that of an orange, and sprinkled the tops with turbinado sugar before baking. The raw sugar gives a beautiful sparkle and delicious crunch to the finished muffins. It's just unfortunate the the sugar will dissolve by the next day...so no more crunch :(

Soft Baked Peanut Butter Cookies

And finally, a batch of soft-baked peanut butter cookies, packed with chocolate chips and peanut butter chips of course. These were soooooooooooo good~~ Totally my type of cookie: soft, thick, chewy, peanut-buttery... I'm drooling again. You probably want to know what recipe I used right? Well head over to Sally's Baking Addiction; she has a plethora of cookie recipes with a good mix of healthy recipes too! 

I altered a few ingredients as softened (not melted!) coconut oil replaced the butter and Reece's peanut butter chips and chocolate chips instead of M&M's. The base of the cookie can be made vegan with the use of coconut oil. 

Soft Baked Peanut Butter Cookies

Even though many peanut butter cookie recipes recommend sticking to the regular creamy peanut butter stuff that is laden with sugar, I went ahead and used my natural peanut butter. The trick is to make sure the separated oil is very thoroughly re-incorporated (stir it every time you open the jar) and the jar is kept in the refrigerator. By keeping the natural peanut butter cool, the texture becomes creamy instead of runny.

I forgot to press down on the cookie dough before baking, which is why my cookies look a lot smaller and fatter. That isn't really bad at all as there will just be more soft cookie inside to enjoy!

Well, I hope that these little posts of "what I've been baking" is interesting. Halloween is over and now we're charging full force into Christmas. While I had a fun Halloween dressing up as a minion (I have a slight obsession with those yellow pill-shaped creatures), Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. No arguing. I cannot wait for Christmas and all the festive deliciousness that happens during December; hopefully I'll be able to post about my successful recipes! Pumpkin pie anyone? The perfect Vegan Pie Crust can be made by following my recipe here. I'm still working on a perfect pumpkin pie filling so please check back soon! The Crumpets will try our best to post as often as we can between our busy schooling ;) We have lots to accomplish before we wander into the scarier-than-Halloween land of university...dundunDUNNNN..


Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡

Tiki Juice Bar: The Dole Whip

Tiki Juice Bar

Located at the entrance into Adventureland from Main Street USA is this little straw-roofed hut that serves the best ice cream in the park. Don't bother buying five dollar Mickey-shaped ice cream bars from the carts, make a beeline straight to Tiki Juice Bar instead!

Coconut Crumpet and the Dole Whips

I don't have a photo with just the dole whip, so one with my face in it will suffice. Sorry... Evidently my family was too eager to get something cold into our systems before we overheated.

The Dole Whips (just the soft serve ice cream) are $3.69 each. There is also a Whip Float for $5.19, which is pineapple juice, topped with the pineapple soft serve, then decorated with a paper umbrella and such. It's very pretty and totally 'instagram-worthy' but we were on our way to grab lunch at French Market and didn't want to use up too much stomach room. 

So..are the famed Dole Whips worthy of their rave reviews? YES! This tall swirl of soft ice cream is creamy and full of fresh, tropical pineapple flavour. I can understand why Dole Whips are a must-get at Disneyland. Sometimes the line up at Tiki will be long, sometimes there is no wait at all. There is no need to fret as the line up goes really fast. You must stop here to get ice cream, or the float! But..I'd skip purchasing any fresh fruit in Disneyland. A small chunk of pineapple for $3? I could buy a whole pineapple for less than that!

Reviews on Yelp



Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡

Ghiradelli Soda Foundation and Chocolate Shop

Ghiradelli is a San Fransisco based chocolate company; they are the Lindt of America. My mom and I had our eyes set on dessert from Ghiradelli the second we walked past it while looking for lunch, which we later found at Flo's V8 Cafe.

Golden Gate Banana Split ($9.95)

Named after San Fransisco's iconic bridge, this luscious boat of ice cream and all the fixin's was heavenly. I surprised myself and liked the chocolate and strawberry ice cream most. The chocolate ice cream was rich and chocolately, not just sugary like that fake stuff sold in the aisles of the grocery store. Comparable to Bella Gelateria's chocolate gelato. I haven't had strawberry ice cream in ages, no exaggeration used, mainly because it usually tastes too fake and sugary. But this was totally different, there were chunks. of. fresh. strawberries. Ehmagawd. The crushed pineapple topping was an uncommon but delicious addition. I didn't care much for the bananas, as it wasn't very ripe. But the ice cream was gorgeous, beautiful, made in heaven. Three scoops for ten dollars isn't that bad when the quality is as phenomenal as this. Guys, this is the real deal. Oh, sorry for the melt-y looking sundae photo, we ran three minutes from Ghiradelli to Fiddler Fifer & Practical Cafe in the 30+ degree sun. There is only a handful of tables outside the ice cream parlour, which 1) isn't very pleasant to sit in the hot weather, 2) you may cry watching your delicious ice cream melt before your eyes, and 3) the tables are probably all full in the afternoon.

Mint Bliss Dark Chocolate Sundae ($8.95)

Since my mom's favourite ice cream is mint chocolate, that is the flavour of sundae she chose. Before I begin the rest of my ranting, this dark chocolate fudge. Oh. My. It was sinful, and so good. Dark chocolate has never been this amazing before and this sundae just took it to the next level. One scoop of chocolate ice cream, which was also in the sundae and I've mentioned that it is ah-may-zing, and one scoop of mint ice cream. The mint ice cream is okay, very creamy and smooth but I don't love mint ice cream as much as my mom. The mint ice cream (that isn't dyed green) from Coconut Bliss is probably just as good. The highlight of this sundae is the dark chocolate fudge. The cold ice cream turns this hot, liquidy chocolate sauce into chewy fudge. I felt naughty eating this stuff.

Although the prices at Ghiradelli inside California Adventure are a bit steep, it's well worth the splurge and the portion sizes are acceptable and can be easily shared with another person, or two if you're kindhearted. I will dream about these decadent ice cream treats. Did I mention you get a free square of chocolate each time you step into the store? Oh yes, we went in twice. Once to see the menu in the morning and once to actually purchase ice cream. We left the park with a total of eight squares of melted caramel-filled chocolate, whoot whoot!

Reviews on Yelp 

Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡

Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Cafe: Starbucks in California Adventure

Being my dad, he had to get his Starbucks fix even in California Adventure. I didn't oppose to this at all because I wanted to see the cup design exclusive to Disneyland. I know, it's a weird reason but doesn't everyone want their own 'instagram-worthy' photo of Starbucks in Disneyland?

Which characters can you spot?

Perhaps the only unfamiliarity for Starbucks regulars is the name of the cafe. It isn't given the name 'Starbucks' and you'd only know it serves the usual frappuccinos and goodies if you read the description on the map.


We'd been at the park since 7am and needed to hide away from the blazing California sun at around 2pm. With some Ghiradelli ice cream in hand, we ran from Paradise Pier into this cafe to cool off and maybe even take a nap. My dad claims that spending 14 hours in Disneyland is more tiring than a 7 hour drive from Fresno to Anaheim, hence needing a caffeine charge up. I strongly disagree.

Dad got an iced coffee for the family. And this is no regular iced coffee, it's a mega sized iced coffee. Thought venti was big? At California Adventure, there's an even larger size! I'm not sure what it's called but when my dad made his order, he told the cashier "I want the largest size!" and the cashier told him they had a size larger than venti. It's also very cheap too, I believe until $5 for a towering cup larger than my face (and I don't have a small face). Perfect afternoon refresher.

My parents also got a scone and croissant for dinner before going to see the World Of Colour show. The pastries are exactly the same as any other Starbucks location.

Reviews on Yelp

Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡

Porto's Bakery & Cafe

Porto's Bakery & Cafe in Burbank, California

Between every two or so hours of driving from Fresno to Los Angeles, my dad would need to take a break. We happened to be in Burbank at the end of our second last leg (before we got stuck in the horrendous Los Angeles rush hour traffic for two hours). Porto's is very highly ranked on Urbanspoon under the 'cheap eats' category as most of their pastries cost anywhere between $0.50 to $5. My mom was attracted my the mass amount of people hustling in and out of the bakery and my praise of how cheap it was.

I was astonished at the large display of desserts and the array of bread loaves for sale. My eyes shone while my the nerves in my brain zipped back and forth trying to make decisions. A dozen or so employees went to and fro from the cashier and filling customer's boxes with sweets. This large bakery is a busy and evidently popular place, but service is quick and friendly. Got time to kill? Grab a drink to pair with your meal or afternoon snack and enjoy some chatting time at one of the tables inside or do some people watching outdoors (if it isn't blazing hot).

Desserts from Porto's Bakery & Cafe

It would be unlike myself if I didn't leave the bakery with a box of sweets. This time, it was also because we were getting hungry and our eyes began to get bigger than our stomachs. My mom allowed me to pick four things, one dessert per person. We actually took like three days to finish these because we kept over stuffing ourselves during meals and had no appetite for dessert when returning to the hotel. Due to my lack of research and reading of reviews on this particular bakery, I wasn't sure what to purchase. My mom and I chose according to what looked appealing and what sounded special. Here is what we tried and our thoughts:

Pina Colada Mousse ($2.95) - The mousse had bits of crushed pineapple and was topped with shredded coconut, which delivered the a heavy pina colada flavour. It was one of the less-sweet desserts of the bunch and Dad liked this best out of the four we bought. The fresh orchid flower was a pretty decoration.

Parisian ($2.75) - This was a very dark chocolate cake. I, like Peanut Crumpet, prefer dark chocolate and really liked this dense and mildly sweet devil's food chocolate cake. The chocolate whipped cream was a lighter option than using buttercream icing (which I don't really like anyways). My only suggestion is that this cake could be more moist.
 
Cappuccino Mousse ($3.50) - Compared to the Pina Colada mousse, this mousse was much thicker and very sweet. The texture was almost cake-like. Due to the sugary-ness of the dessert, this individual cup could be easily shared between three people. Although it was just decoration, the chocolate coffee bean was the highlight for me.

Mango Cheesecake ($2.95) - Cheap cheesecakes usually don't do justice to the cheese part of the name but this one was pretty well made and a good amount of cream cheese could be tasted. The mango flavour is also strong enough, though a bit artificial.

Our total came to roughly $12 for four items, which is a good value in my opinion. My mom expected it to be cheaper, but since I'm used to paying almost $10 for a single serving cake at some fancy patisserie in Downtown Vancouver, Porto's is very cheap. There is such a vast variety of pastries and goods to choose from; everyone will be able to find something that is of interest. The serving sizes are generous for the prices and quality is acceptable. According to what I tried, many of the desserts are too sweet for my Asian family's sweet tooth, although some better than others. Porto's Bakery is not a must-do in greater Los Angeles but it's definitely a popular spot amongst locals and is worth dropping by if in the vicinity. 

Reviews on Yelp



Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡

Soirette Macarons & Tea

My brother always hears about my eating adventures in downtown, about all the yummy food, and everything we can't get our hands on near home. Summer is the perfect time to walk around the streets of downtown, so I agreed to take him on a day trip.

Soirette Macarons & Tea storefront

After a heavy brunch at Cafe Medina, our mouths were all salty and desperately called for something sweet. But our stomachs were waving their hands saying "no more food!". We compromised and by walking around a bit to assist our digestion. I saw the Soirette pop-up store inside Holt Renfrew but none of the macaron flavours appealed to me. After my brother showed interest in trying macarons, we continued our walking to Soirette instead of taking the bus. I couldn't quite recall if Soirette was located on West Pender or West Cordova, resulting in extra walking to be done.

This isn't my first time visiting Soirette, but it was my first time trying their food. Papaya Crumpet once dragged us here on one of our foodie adventures. The distance in my mind seemed a lot longer than it actually is. Probably because all I remember is Peanut Crumpet barely making it to Soirette because of a full bladder. "It's around here!" "We're close!" said Papaya Crumpet.

It's strange that my brother would be interested in macarons. Macarons are usually a 'girly' thing at tea parties or given as gifts. "I thought your brother was into manly foods like burgers and bacon.", Peanut Crumpet said to me. "He just eats everything.", I replied. If he is willing to pay for these delicate cookies, then I can't complain.

Desserts and Sweets at Soirette

I expected to see fashionably dressed women chatting over high tea when I arrived on a Friday at 3pm. However, there was absolutely no other customer to be seen. My brother and I stared at the colourful assortment of macarons in the display case, tried a few macaron samples, and admired the other beautifully presented pastries and cakes beside. I picked out 6 flavours of macarons to try and we took our little box outside. We selected almost all the summer seasonal flavours. The summer flavours are s'mores, cherry pie, blueberry pie, charred corn, pandan, basil & strawberry, apricot & fennel, and mango.

Plant decoration at the colourful tables

We took a set at one of the three brightly coloured garden tables right outside the entrance. I really loved the colour combination of the tables and chairs, it is adorable! Makes me happy to be sitting at a pretty table eating pretty macarons.

My brother and I had a taste of each macaron; I would take a bite or two and he'd eat the rest. Here are our (mostly mine, because he's not quite the foodie yet) thoughts:

Half a dozen of macarons from Soirette

Hatley Gelato Scoops

On past vacations to Whistler, my family would only get ice cream from COWS Ice Cream, sometimes even twice in a day. But after seeing the small vendor stand for the Whistler-made Lucia Gelato earlier in the day at the Sunday Farmer's Market, we wanted to give the local gelato a try. Hatley's Gelato Scoops is one place Lucia Gelato can be found.
 
At 9:30pm, my family decided to go out for a stroll before jumping into bed. Suddenly mom said she was in the mood to have ice cream so we dropped by Hatley's to get some. Even though the store opening hours stated they closed at 9pm on Sundays, the doors were still wide open and employees didn't look like they were cleaning up anytime soon so we walked in.

Lucia Gelato at Hatley Gelato Scoops

There wasn't any of the cool flavours from the Farmer's Market like panna cotta or coconut cookie dough. Instead, mom chose Strawberry Guava and Pineapple Coconut Peach, both were sorbets. Most of the available flavours were fruit based sorbets and there were a few richer flavours like peanut butter, mocha, and chocolate. The pistachio was completely sold out, too bad...

Strawberry Guava and Pineapple Coconut Peach Sorbet

The Strawberry Guava was the better flavour of the two. The texture was smoother and both fruits could be tasted in each bite. Guava being the stronger flavour. The Pineapple Coconut Peach was more icy. Peach was the dominating flavour in this scoop. Next was the pineapple and the coconut was like non-existent.

This two scoop medium cup of sorbet cost $5.50, which is a very normal price for ice cream in Whistler. However I don't really like sorbet as it tastes like a popsicle than ice cream. Even though COWS doesn't serve the most amazing ice cream on earth, I'd rather use my $5.50 at COWS Ice Cream than at Hatley. 



Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡