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Sugared & Spiced

A pâtissière, eating around the world

Category: annecy

2013/04/232015/08/05

[Annecy] Day 2

Categories annecy
[Annecy] Day 2

Day 2 in Annecy started with a morning run by Lake Annecy, which is known to be the cleanest lake in Europe. Now, isn’t this a breathtaking view…

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2013/04/212015/08/05

[Annecy] Day 1

Categories annecy
[Annecy] Day 1

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Some snapshots from my weekend trip to Annecy last September (yes it’s been a while). It’s a beautiful little town about 4 hours train-ride away from Paris, and it’s absolutely lovely for swimming, biking, hiking, or just sitting around doing nothing.

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Sugared & Spiced
Hosted a Christmas baking class for Em and friends Hosted a Christmas baking class for Em and friends last weekend. Wasn't sure what to expect, or if I'd even like teaching 3 and 4-year-olds...but it turned out to be just lovely. Each kid made a Christmas tree using páte-à-choux glued together with pastry cream, topped with a meringue star, and finally, a dusting of powdered sugar "snow". Even the late night testing and prepping, which brought back memories (the sweet and the sour) from old kitchen days, was thoroughly enjoyable. A much welcomed reminder of how rewarding it is to materialize something that was once just floating in my head. Also feeling grateful to the parents of Em's friends, who brought food, drinks, and a bright spirit to fill our home that morning. To be continued, I hope. Photos by @jimmyca1219 @happyanniedidi
September & October snippets. Em being a crazy but September & October snippets. Em being a crazy butterfly, baking chouqettes, splashing in the rain, incredibly delicious mackerel toast and lamb chop, Bagel stealing my wine as usual, etc.
Typhoon days. 颱風天的小樂趣。窗外狂風 Typhoon days. 颱風天的小樂趣。窗外狂風暴雨時，覺得有家真好。
A few good bites & sips for September. @huihui_ca A few good bites & sips for September. @huihui_cave potato pavé & natural wine @cafeparmentier pudding & lemon pound cake @yolomoment.taichung mille feuille egg tart @quelques_p petit gateaux @sushi_okashin mini uni-don @oasis_coffee_roasters_nanjing ice drip w/ cream @meowvelousinc cold noodles @lecep_taipei soufflé omelette @fujintree_petanque natural wines
August dump. The tail end of summer - homemade man August dump. The tail end of summer - homemade mango popsicles, bubbles in the park, delicious things from friends and with friends, escaping the heat at tfam, etc...🌿💦🎨
Sponge art Sunday 🐛 Sponge art Sunday 🐛
June / July dump ✨ They say it's better late th June / July dump ✨ They say it's better late than never.
Today’s afternoon tea: @press.only pop-up at @fl Today’s afternoon tea: @press.only pop-up at @flowapartment. It may look like a funky pastry shop, but Press Only is actually a fragrance brand inspired by food items like ”latte“, ”apple cider“, ”cherry“, ”burnt cookie“...it‘s no wonder that the space smells so decadently sweet. This cute pop-up is here in Taipei for a week, not to be missed by fragrance and dessert lovers. 今日下午茶：Press Only at Flow Apartment。乍看之下是可愛的蛋糕店，但其實是香氛品牌的pop-up，味道都以食物為靈感 - 拿鐵、蘋果汽水、櫻桃、烤焦的餅乾 ...聞起來，嗯...實在是甜美可口。Press Only在台北快閃一週，來逛逛，將喜歡的味道帶回家吧 🥐。
Summer dresses, hydrangeas, afternoon thunderstorm Summer dresses, hydrangeas, afternoon thunderstorms, and bubbles in the heat.
The dreamiest unicorn gathering there ever was. Ha The dreamiest unicorn gathering there ever was. Happy birthday Cleo! Thank you for having us @happyanniedidi @jimmyca1219 🦄
Fangirling because M. Pierre Hermé is in town aga Fangirling because M. Pierre Hermé is in town again, this time for the grand opening of the very first Pierre Hermé café in Taiwan. What you can find here - heaps of macarons, including PH classics like Ispahan and Mogador, as well as a few particular flavors such as Infiniment Praliné au Café and Jardin d'Alep (dark chocolate, pumpkin seed, zaatar). There are also chocolate bonbons (I love the assortiment de croquants au praliné) and slices of pound cakes (Ispahan, Infiniment Citron, Orphéo)...overseen by PH Taiwan's executive chef Hugo Ravier. Also got my copy of M. Pierre Hermé's autobiography signed and that will make me happy for a very very long time. Thanks for having me @pierrehermetaiwan @pierrehermeofficial @starfish_concept #PierreHerme #PierreHermeCafe #PierreHermeTaiwan #PierreHermeParis #starfishconcept
Just a 10-minute walk from our hotel is @neel_jing Just a 10-minute walk from our hotel is @neel_jingumae, a tiny little cafe tucked into a tiny little alley. The weather was that morning was perfect for sitting out at one of the sun-dappled tables, where we shared lemonade, cold brew, katsusando (pork cutlet sandwich), and a sugar butter crepe for breakfast. I heard there can be a wait out the door here later during the day, but at 10:30am, it was just us for the most part, easy and quiet... 距離我們所住的飯店步行10分鐘左右即可抵達neel，一間躲在小小巷弄裡的小小cafe。那天天氣完美，舒適的溫度和濕度，適合坐戶外。早餐是豬排三明治、可麗餅、檸檬汽水、冷萃咖啡，還有透過樹葉稀疏灑在桌上的春日陽光。聽說這裡到了下午要排隊，不過在這個早晨，有好一陣子都只有我們一家人獨享小巷弄裡的安靜悠閒...
@down_the_stairs by @arts_and_science. We took re @down_the_stairs by @arts_and_science. We took refuge here for a few moments while strolling through a rainy Aoyama. It happened to be Vegan Wednesday, and the pop-up by @poskitchen_somewhere was just lovely. Vegan burger assembled from highland barley and chickpea patty, alfalfa sprouts, chickpea mayonnaise, avocado, chilli beans...paired with a glass of sparkling natural wine, an ideal lunch for me any day. The space and the people here were stylish in an understated way, and thankfully the girls behaved accordingly - Em enjoyed her vegan pineapple muffin and playing with ice cubes in her glass, while El was just happy to be out, staring wide-eyed at everything she came across. No one made a fuss. What a perfect little episode. 抵達東京的第二天大雨，躲入Down the Stairs by Arts&Science。正好遇上一週一次的Vegan Wednesday，有 @poskitchen_somewhere 的全素漢堡（大麥和鷹嘴豆做成的漢堡排，堆疊上苜蓿芽、鷹嘴豆美乃滋、酪梨、辣豆...），配上一杯自然氣泡酒，是對我來說非常理想的午餐。店內的氣氛和人皆優雅而內斂，連前來用餐的名人都低調到我完全沒認出（事後才聽A說）。感謝兩小配合，Em吃完vegan pineapple muffin後安靜玩著杯子裡的冰塊，El醒來後睜大雙眼看著周遭一切，不哭不鬧。完美的一刻。 #tokyo #downthestairs #artsandscience #aoyama
It was supposed to be a little me time for myself It was supposed to be a little me time for myself while the little ones napped...but of course Bagel wanted in too. #momlife
Morning affogato and a long overdue dose of @lost. Morning affogato and a long overdue dose of @lost.magazine.
Breakfast at Tiffany's @blueboxcafetaipei, with my Breakfast at Tiffany's @blueboxcafetaipei, with my loves, on the day before Valentine's Day. The decor is striking (all those blue boxes dangling from the ceiling! I wonder how they would be cleaned), and dishes are surprising - much more elevated than what I had expected from a "cafe": corn chowder with kaffir lime, seared threadfin with loofah velouté, French toast in a peanut candy crust...all with the right flair, all by @kin.cooks. Thanks for a posh time.
First Christmas as a family of five (including Bag First Christmas as a family of five (including Bagel). Thanks for all the love ❤️.
Baby # 2 landed. Welcome to this crazy world, hope Baby # 2 landed. Welcome to this crazy world, hope you'll enjoy the ride 🥳.
Finally visited this little gem of a tea house @zh Finally visited this little gem of a tea house @zhaozhaotea_tw in Taichung thanks to @jimmy_limty @jlstudio_tw. A little oasis where Taiwanese tea is roasted and brewed meticulously, then enjoyed in a laid-back atmosphere, perfect even for amateur tea drinkers like myself. Scott, the shop owner, is warm and generous in sharing his tea knowledge, but only when solicited and not at all in an overbearing way. It is all very, very relaxing. I particularly enjoyed a Taiwanese white tea on the menu, full of floral and fruity surprises with each sip, the notes blossoming on the palate like flowers from an early spring...
These photos are from when I received the @ferrand These photos are from when I received the @ferrandiparis French Pâtisserie book early last year and was inspired to relive my pastry school moments by redoing every recipe in the book...huh, I wonder whatever happened to that ambition! But anyway, I stumbled across the photos and they reminded me that winter really is the perfect season for simple pastries like tarte aux pommes and tarte bourdaloue, served warm, their golden aroma permeating the air. It's time to get back to the basics and start baking again. (Photo 5 is a mini tartelette for mini Em.)
Lunch at Holt a few weeks back, a transition of se Lunch at Holt a few weeks back, a transition of seasons. It was already early November, but the temperature in Taipei remained balmy, so it seemed rather appropriate to have refreshing flavors from the lingering summer, like those dainty little smoked marckerel tartelettes with tomatoes and shiso, or that ethereal sliver of sea bream with tosazu jelly and bee pollen. As the menu progressed, we were tenderly swept into autumn by a gently cooked abalone with morels and vin jaune, a porridge of oyster blanketed in dill sabayon, ending with a warm dessert plate of overripe persimmons, charred milk ice-cream and cider sabayon...poetry on a plate. The flavors, temperatures, and textures were handled with precision, as expected from a fine restaurant as Holt, but the whole affair was also endlessly comforting, which made the experience all the more charming... @holtrestaurant @jeffdownss @kuansyi
Cups of delicious Geisha and iced oat milk latte b Cups of delicious Geisha and iced oat milk latte by the sunny window of this stylishly-appointed space...a glorious morning that brought us back to Copenhagen, thanks to April Coffee and VG Living. A moment to savour for days to come 😌☕️. #一秒回北歐 @aprilcoffeecph @aprilcoffeetpe_popup @vglivingtaipei @niu5466 @huanger25
Since Em's baby sister will be arriving two days b Since Em's baby sister will be arriving two days before her actual birthday this year, we decided to celebrate early. It was too last minute to buy a cake, so we made our own Basque cheesecake - simple, delicious, and super fun to make with toddlers (recipe below). Happy 3rd birthday my little munchkin, keep smiling and don't grow up too fast 😌. Basque Cheesecake Cream cheese...300g Sugar...85g Egg...100g Cream...160g Cake flour...13g Salt & vanilla paste...1/4 tsp each Cream together cream cheese and sugar with paddle attachment until smooth. Add beaten eggs bit by bit, followed by cream, salt & vanilla paste, and sifted cake flour, be sure not to overmix. Pour batter into 6-inch cake mold lined with parchment paper, then bake in preheated 200C oven for 35-40 minutes, until the surface obtains a lovely brown color (the center will still be jiggly but will settle once cooled). Cool completely and rest overnight in the fridge. Enjoy the next day!
Collected some leaves from our neighborhood park t Collected some leaves from our neighborhood park the other day as a way to frame this beautiful fall (the colored pompons are rainbow snow, according to Em). Looking forward to having baby girl #2 join us in just a few days, but also taking extra care to cherish these last moments with Em as our one and only... 去公園玩的時候，Em撿了很多葉子，回家我們一起做成了獅子跟刺蝟（她說小毛球是彩色的雪）。當然期待妹妹的出生，但同時也很珍惜Em是我們唯一的最後這幾天...想細細品味這份感覺、定格、然後折疊收起放入抽屜。
For our second night in Yame Fukuoka, we stayed at For our second night in Yame Fukuoka, we stayed at The Washi Room. It occupies a 1800s warehouse of two floors, which has been thoughtfully renovated by @craftinn_te and furnished with beautiful crafts from local artisans. “Washi” means Japanese paper, and the entire space is adorned with different washi paper art, and there is even an entire bookshelf of books curated around crafts - One can easily spend an entire day indoor browsing through these! More details on the blog, link in profile. 在福岡八女的第二晚，我們入住了 Craft Inn 的和紙房。和紙房由一幢獨立的雙層老屋所改造，最原始的建築似乎是19世紀中期就蓋好的，相當有歷史。顧名思義，和紙房裡有許多和紙的元素，一樓起居室的整面牆都由書架組成，上面擺放著各種跟日本工藝、藝術相關的書籍。若時間充裕，能在這裡待上好一陣子慢慢翻書，細細品味。 更多細節在部落格上，連結請看首頁。
A beautiful evening at @akin.taipei, menu #2 by @k A beautiful evening at @akin.taipei, menu #2 by @kin.cooks. A few favorites: ika "noodles" with osetra caviar and sesame dressing; botan ebi and akami with nuoc cham on monaka rice wafer ; duck, boudin noir, tangerine peel jus ; star fruit with sijichun jelly... A meal to remember 🙏🏻
We stayed at 6 different lodgings on our Kyushu ro We stayed at 6 different lodgings on our Kyushu roadtrip, and the two nights at @craftinn_te really stood out as something special. Located in Yame, a small historical town about an hour drive from Fukuoka, Craft Inn specializes in renovating old houses and tastefully decorating them with furniture and tools made using local materials and techniques. It is the perfect way to experience staying amongst Kyushu’s crafts, re-imagined to suit modern lifestyles. We first stayed at The Indigo Room, which is housed in a building that was previously a grocer, a pottery store, and a pawn shop, facing the Main Street of the Yame Fukushima district. As the name indicates, this room features everything indigo – indigo tapestry, floor cushions, pillows, coasters…even the wooden table has been indigo dyed! More details on the blog, link in profile. 今年三月去九州，最驚喜的就是發現了 Craft Inn té 這家非常獨特的旅宿。Craft Inn 位於距離福岡車程約一小時的小鎮「八女」，特色是將當地的老屋進行翻修，並融入九州各地職人製作的手工藝品，讓住客能夠通過親手使用、體驗這些美麗的日常用品，來了解當地的風土文化。 Craft Inn有三個房間，分別以「藍染」、「竹子」、「和紙」為主題。由於看起來都非常吸引人，實在選擇困難，所以我們決定藍染房與和紙房各住一晚。原本有點擔心在小鎮待三天兩夜會不會無聊，事後才發現時間根本不夠用。八女有著豐富的歷史和手工藝文化，從久留米絣、佛台、燈籠、和紙、木工、竹工、陶藝，到八女茶、日本酒…等，實在有太多值得放慢腳步品味和體驗的。 第一天，我們下榻於「藍染房 Indigo Room」。房如其名，空間裡帶入了各種藍染的細節，比如當地著名的藍染絣工房「山村健」所製作的坐墊、被褥、壁毯、杯墊…甚至連和室的木桌都經過藍染處理。我們在第二天也通過 Craft Inn 預約了在山村健工房體驗藍染工藝，非常有趣！這個部分會在另一篇文章分享。 更多細節在部落格分享，連結請看首頁。
@pierrehermeofficial macarons will always be a fav @pierrehermeofficial macarons will always be a favorite. What a pleasant surprise to encounter them at Naha Airport on this last trip, and be able to take home a box of shikuwasa (a citrus local to Okinawa) macarons. It's been a few years since I last had a PH macaron, the texture and flavors are still so...perfect! On a related note, Pierre Hermé's autobiography "Toutes les saveurs de la vie" has been a super fun read, don't miss it if you are a fan of this legend. 在沖繩機場準備離境時，巧遇Pierre Hermé的甜點店。由於店名是用日文的片假名拼寫的，一開始還有點懷疑 - 這真的是PH的店嗎？走近看櫥窗里的甜點，才確認無誤 😍。 搭飛機不方便提太多甜點，只好乖乖收起貪心，僅外帶了一小盒沖繩機場限定的 「shikusawa 香檬」 馬卡龍。小心翼翼地一路提回家（冰袋包裝好，絲毫沒損壞），配著熱茶靜靜享用。 一口咬下去，牙齒所感受到的微阻力和瞬間酥軟的口感，竟然讓我有些感動。以前在巴黎生活時經常去PH買甜點，當時被自己當作理所當然、甚至有點吃到無感的馬卡龍，多年後巧遇，又再度體會到了它的美好。有人說吃不懂馬卡龍的甜，然而對我來說一顆好的馬卡龍的確是甜（配方使然），但絕不是死甜，其中包含了富有層次的小宇宙，有著濃郁風味和與之匹配的美妙口感。這麼多年來，最愛的馬卡龍，果然還是PH家的。 最近正好在看Pierre Hermé的自傳 - 「Toutes les saveurs de la vie」。這位甜點傳奇從自己小時候的故事開始說起，用樸實而真誠的文字敘述了一路走來的歷程，非常精彩。其中他提到的很多甜點創作，比如已經成為經典的Ispahan、2000 Feuilles千層派等，都是曾經在巴黎嘗過、寫過的，現在得以通過書窺探到他的創作過程，太有趣了。也很喜歡看他在廚房裡接受的歷練，不論是挫敗或是成功，都是不停地自我突破的過程，對於甜點師（或其他行業的人）來說能得到很多共鳴... 很久沒看法文書了，進度緩慢，但樂在其中。若要中文版本，書名是「PIERRE HERMÉ蛋糕上的櫻桃：當代甜點傳奇皮耶・艾曼的12堂人生風味課」，甜點人不要錯過啦。
Waking up amidst an ethereal fog at KAI Aso ☁️ Waking up amidst an ethereal fog at KAI Aso ☁️. Stayed here 7 years ago and loved it, didn't take much to decide to come back again. This 12-year-old onsen resort shows some signs of wear and tear, but these did not detract from the overall experience. The most attractive feature for me here, then and now, is the outdoor onsen at each villa, which offers an intimate and uninterrupted conversation with nature. The fragrance of the woods, the caress from the breeze, and the melodious chirping from birds during early morning (do turn on the sound for # 4 clip)...what a treat to be able to soak up all this. 旅行時難免遇到不完美，比如這次在九州的天氣。繼由布院的連環大雨後，我們在阿蘇遇上了大霧，某些路段能見度大約才20m，開車都要格外小心。到了應該很美的景點，即使睜大了眼也看不出個什麼所以然來，於是乾脆一路開到了當晚要入住的飯店 – 界 阿蘇 KAI Aso。 界 阿蘇是個藏在山林里的隱秘之境，僅由12間別墅客房組成。我七年前跟朋友來住時就非常喜歡，這次與A先生和Em同行，沒多想就決定再來體驗一次。 飯店的設計理念為「木と石の溫かさ」，木與石的確是空間內顯而易見的構成元素，比如大廳兩側的巨大石牆與質感溫潤的木質傢具。抵達時，入口處的火爐已點上，噼里啪啦的火焰聲很有ASMR的解壓效果。透過大片玻璃看出去是掛著霧氣的樹林，深入山林的感覺，對於城市人來說無比舒緩、療愈。 跟上一次介紹的界 由布院相比，2011年就開幕的界 阿蘇已有一些歷史了，在硬體上可以看出歲月的痕跡，但不影響整體體驗。設計不摩登炫目，但絕對溫暖舒適，讓人感覺像在自家般放鬆。 其中最吸引我的部分，是每棟別墅都配置的戶外溫泉。阿蘇的中嶽是活火山，所帶來的地熱造就了附近大量的優質溫泉。由於飯店地點僻靜，每間客房都可以獨享無人打擾的森林，是完全屬於自己的私密空間，泡湯時耳里聽著清脆鳥鳴（# 4影片請務必開聲音），和大自然融為一體。 第二天醒來時，窗外的樹林仍裹著薄霧，意境迷幻。可以想象隨著四季更迭，能在這里欣賞到不同的景色...
從Em摸得到廚房台面開始，我就帶著她 從Em摸得到廚房台面開始，我就帶著她一起做甜點，從聖誕限定的薑餅人，到每個週末的早餐鬆餅。她熱愛攪拌、揉捏麵團，我也很享受跟她一起的甜點時光，即使成品亂七八糟也無所謂。   上週受邀參加Lexus的小小星級甜點師活動，原本想帶Em一起去玩，可惜當天因故無法前往...沒想到居然有機會能將食材帶回自家完成，度過了甜美的午後。   Lexus的「小小系列」是辦給車主小朋友的活動，去年邀請到一星餐廳MUME的創辦人林泉帶小朋友一同領略廚藝，今年則是開設「小小星級甜點師」課程，食譜由二星餐廳JL Studio的甜點師韓慧婷所設計。   層次豐富的「紫花塔」結合了藍莓和紫地瓜的風味，「蘭姆葡萄派對」是酥脆的沙布列餅乾與蘭姆奶油霜的組成。紫花塔的擠花難度對兩歲多的小孩來說實在太高（活動是設計給9-13歲小孩的），我趁著Em睡覺時一人安靜完成（很療癒 😌），餅乾就非常適合帶著Em一起做，桿麵、壓模、擠花等步驟讓她玩得不亦樂乎，在烤箱前迫不及待等待餅乾出爐的樣子讓人覺得又好笑又可愛。   經常帶著Em做甜點，不是要女兒跟隨自己的路成為甜點師，僅僅是珍惜母女能的共同興趣，希望她長大後還會願意跟我一起攪和。謝謝Lexus的精心安排，很期待明年的小小系列又會開設怎麼樣的課程呢？ @lexus_taiwan #Lexus #小小星級甜點師
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