Home Baked Cakes and Coffee at Liberty Coffee, Singapore
Liberty Coffee's coffee bar at Rangoon Road is another recent addition to the Specialty Coffee scene in Singapore. As a micro-roastery, their primary focus is on producing artisan-roasted beans for wholesale and retail clients. Thus, their coffee bar does not have regular operating hours and one needs to keep a lookout for updates via their Facebook page and Twitter feed.
Latte @ S$4.50
My first visit to Liberty Coffee was on one of their off-days for tasting a new blend. The Latte made with the new blend was robust and balanced with perfectly steamed milk. On regular days, Liberty Coffee serves the house Speakeasy espresso blend.
Opened by a husband and wife team, Terence Tay is Liberty Coffee's Barista and Coffee Roaster whilst his wife, Pauline, is the domestic goddess behind all the scrumptious cakes that won rave reviews from one of my girlfriends, JT.
Clockwise from top left: Strawberry Trifle in a Jar, Banana Walnut Loaf,
Orange Cake with Lemon Curd, Gula Melaka Pandan Cake
& Liberty Valrhona Chocolate Cake
I must say that Dim Sum Dolly's really lucky to be visiting Singapore this weekend and we were able to catch up for cakes on the rare occasion that Liberty Coffee was open. Convinced that Pauline had to be a fantastic baker, I ordered all 5 items that were available on 25 May 2012. So there we were wondering how we were going to finish everything when 2 other friends walked into the cosy cafe and we invited them to join us.
Here are my thoughts on the cakes, ranked in order of preference:
1) Liberty Valrhona Chocolate Cake @ S$7 - This is far and away, my favourite cake. The luxuriously rich and moist chocolate cake was made with exquisite Valrhona Caraibe (66% dark chocolate) and given a crunchy touch with the addition of Valrhona chocolate pearls. This is addictive and definitely a Must-Try!
2) Orange Cake with Lemon Curd @ S$ 5.50 - Coated with a layer of slightly tart lemon curd, this cake had a refreshingly tangy flavour that left me yearning for more. Also a Must-Try!
3) Gula Melaka Pandan Cake @ S$5 - Topped with chopped pistachios and with the top-layer generously drenched with Gula Melaka (palm sugar) syrup, this cake was a winner at my table largely because we were such big fans of Gula Melaka. The combination of fragrant pandan and smoky Gula Melaka was familiar and comforting. It felt like a throw back to the days when Chendol still had the fragrance of pandan (instead of the bland, radioactive green blobs we get these days) and were enhanced by the smoky sweetness of Gula Melaka. This is also a Must-Try!
4) Strawberry Trifle @ S$5.50 - Comprising a refreshing fresh strawberry jello base, topped with chunks of Valrhona Chocolate Cake, fresh pastry cream and whipped cream, I loved the mix of sweet, tart and creamy flavours in this combination. If only, I had more room for dessert. This is definitely worth a try if you like trifles.
5) Banana Walnut Loaf @ S$3.50 - This is a dream combination as I love banana walnut breads, however it was just a little too sweet for my liking and was surpassed by the other items.
I hope Liberty Coffee opens more often as I've got Valrhona on my mind...
