Taipei is one of the few places in Asia other than Tokyo and Hong Kong
where you can find a few genuinely good patisseries. Sweet as Hope, opened by Chef Robert Hope, the former Head pastry
chef at Savoy and Executive pastry chef in Futian Shangri-la, is definitely one
of the best among the competitive Taipei patisseries.
I visited Sweet as Hope immediately after landing with an empty stomach
expecting a rather sweet lunch. In fact, the lunch consisted of only sweets,
but one has to keep the pretence when travelling with CM, who clearly lacks the
imagination to eat just sweets for lunch. To ensure that I would miss nothing, I
pre-ordered Scottish Trifle
and Whole Candied Lemon, both signature desserts of Chef Hope.
A freshly baked
cinnamon roll marked the beginning of my noontime-feast of sweets. Compared to
the one I had at Nordic Bakery in London that was sinfully rich in flavour,
Chef Hope’s version was lighter but no less pleasant. The edge of the roll was
crispy as chips and the centre was soft as marshmallow. Chef Hope’s roll was
definitely better baked.
I also ordered a glass of iced coffee. Compared to the superb specialty coffee shops in Taipei, this did not stand out.
As that was CM’s birthday, I ordered the strawberry almond cake for him
(a prelude of my Victorian sponge for him when we were back to HK). He claimed
that the cake was the best he had since our honeymoon trip. Apparently the
cakes in HK could not satisfy him. The almond cake was moist and dense, with an
optimum degree of sweetness to complement the strawberry without overshadowing
it. He was glad that he agreed to skip the
lunch to have all these desserts with me – see, always listen to your wife!
The Scottish
Trifle was my favourite. It contained several layers: chocolate, whisky-infused
custard cream, hazelnut custard, fresh raspberry, jam and sponge cake soaked
with whisky. The chocolate layer became even creamier when you eat it with the super-moist
sponge cake. The richness of the chocolate and whisky complemented with each
other while the lightness of custard cream and the sourness of raspberry both
gave a healthy dose of balance. I put the spoon deep down into the bottom to
get all layers in a bite - what a complex mixture of taste and texture! Each
layer may be ordinary when alone, but together they made a complex and
sophisticated experience. I would definitely come back for this dessert.
Apart from the Scottish trifle, the Whole Candied Lemon was another
signature dish that has to be pre-ordered. The lemon was hollowed and candied
with syrup – the process alone consumes the better half of an hour even for
masters like Chef Hope. He then filled it in with lemon custard and grapefruit.
One could hardly forget the glorious moment when it was sliced open with lemon
curd oozing out. The lemon skin was very aromatic but the custard was a bit
less sour and lemony than I expected.
While we were still enjoying our desserts, the lady owner asked us if we
wanted to try their soufflé. It must be pre-ordered and ordered for 2 portions
minimum. We were lucky to share it with another customer. The soufflé was fresh
from the oven behind us. Its golden crust reminded me of what I had at The Ledbury in London.
This one was less sweet and a bit floury. Speaking of texture, the one at the
Ledbury was better, but the one here was also excellent.
I keep only a short “must-visit” list for Taipei, most items on it are
cafes. Sweet as Hope is one of the
few patisseries that is on my list. Perhaps I should consider taking Chef
Hope’s class when I visited Taipei next time!
Sweet as Hope Bakery
新北市板橋區中山路一段158巷17號
Food: wwwwwww1/2w
Service:wwwwwwww
Environment: wwwwwww1/2w
手沖咖啡用上蜜處理的La Fany，濃郁的酸梅味，混和蜜糖甜，味道很豐富，是很成功的一支蜜處理豆子。特別喜愛這店用來盛載手沖咖啡的白瓷杯，手工細緻，感覺優雅，可惜售價有點高，當時我不捨得買了，現在倒有點後悔。 
