I have hard time struggling to eat a well balanced meal – what are vegetables?! One of the only ways for me to be happily eating endless sticks of carrots and broccoli is a good dipping sauce. Vancouver based Habibi’s Mediterranean Foods not only focuses in delivering the most traditional hummus, but also other vegetarian recipes that focuses on traditional Middle Eastern cuisine. I only discovered Baba Ganoush this year when some of my coworkers got it in and since then I’ve been after different Baba Ganoush dips! I got to try some of that and more!
Prana Organic Dry Roasted Coconut Chips
Happy Chinese New Year!! Whether I’m at home blogging or behind my screen at work, snacking is a habit I thoroughly enjoy. (Especially during Chinese New Year, I’ve been snacking on those sweet rice cakes morning, afternoon, and night.) Coconut is a flavour I enjoy in Chinese desserts as well as in ice cream. I was sent four bags of Prana Organic Dry Roasted Coconut Chips and I was excited to do some healthy snacking.
Asian Macaroons + Ice Cream = ?
My friend told there were cheap, cookie like French macaroons/macarons at an Asian grocery store so I went to check them out and bought a pack of 6 for $3.95! These were pretty giant macaroons too. Now, for that price at a grocery store, one wouldn’t have too much expectations for it, right?
These were nothing like the French macaroons one purchases at a bakery, they aren’t chewy, the buttercream inside is whipped cream with flavouring. When I bit into it, it crumbled a lot.
However, despite those flaws, they tasted fairly good! They weren’t extremely sweet and I found myself reaching for a second one..and a third. The shell is very thin and crunchy. To me, they’re more like macaroon cookies.
They taste better than they look.
After munching away more than half the box, I decided to eat the macaroons in a different approach. My friend had suggested stuffing ice cream into them. I decided to give that a try. I used a knife, scraped away the whipped cream, and scooped Sara’s Coconut Ice Cream in the middle.
This is one of my most favourite brands of ice cream, founded in my hometown, Vancouver. The coconut ice cream is so fresh and exotic tasting, and it also has coconut shreds mixed inside.
They did crumble a bit when I bit into my ice cream + macaroon creation, but this little thing was a delight! The wonders ice cream can do to make a treat so delectable! I especially liked pistachio, probably because I naturally find pistachio macaroons less sweetening, tasty, and more unique.
This is half a vanilla macaroon + coconut ice cream:
The coconut ice cream chocolate squish:
From blah
To…
I think I will start buying more of these macaroon cookies and stuff different flavours of ice cream now!
Asian Macaroons + Ice Cream = Flavourful surprise!
Give it a try, let me know if you’re surprised!
Snack of the Day: Beard Papa’s Creme Brûlée
Beard Papa (Richmond Centre location) have started selling Creme Brûlée for a while now, and I decided to finally get one and try it. I prefer their other desserts rather than their cream puffs, because I find it too creamy/milky/much for me! To see my previous review on Beard Papa’s Mango Ice shower, click here. It’s one of my favourite desserts, and Beard Papa’s is the only place where I know you can get creme brûlée to go. It costs $2.99 + tax, which is a pretty good price, compared to restaurants that charge $8 plus for a creme brûlée. Is Beard Papa’s Creme Brûlée on par with other restaurants?
It is a fairly small, personal sized dessert- which was fine by me since I could finish it all! I’d say the diameter was roughly 3 inches. The hardened caramel on top the creme brûlée had some burnt bits, which was rendered inedible. It was hard to break the caramel into smaller pieces to eat with the custard part underneath. The temperature was a bit between warm and cold, since they have been putting the creme brûlée in the freezer, but the caramel was warm. So the whole dessert had a temperature inconsistency.
After getting through the hard caramel, time to taste the custard! It tasted great, and in my opinion, I don’t see the difference between this $2.99 custard vs $8 custard inside a creme brûlée. It was smooth, creamy, and had a vanilla taste.
Despite a bit of burnt caramel, I found this creme brûlée comparable to the higher end ones, and much rather pay for Beard Papa’s for more convenient indulgence. I don’t need fancy presentation for a simple treat like this. With $8, I can consume 2 2/3 of Beard Papa’s creme brûlée! It’s hard to find a cafe where you can walk in and just order creme brûlée, so I’m glad Beard Papa’s have that option.
Snack of the Day: Faubourg Treats
Today I went to Faubourg again to indulge on some treats since I didn’t want to eat on UBC campus. (To read my last review on Faubourg, click here.)
I decided to try something I never had before- Blueberry Mille Feuille.
The blueberry filling was very tasty and fresh, and the vanilla cream was delicious. However, it flaked a lot so I wasted quite a bit of the pastry part.
As I was almost finished eating, a lady was going around giving out free strawberry soufflés because they made too many and give them out at the end of the day. I never had a soufflé before so I was eager to dig my cute teaspoon in and try it out. It was hot, soft, fluffy, delicious, and melts right in the mouth! I finished this little thing in 3-4 spoonfuls.
Very happy to try these two new pastries today! Faubourg does not disappoint!