While shopping at one of Hong Kong's newest malls Elements, I discovered PETiTS by Deschamps. It was packed with customers inside and congregating all around the store front were people with forks digging into plastic cups and little boxes filled with cupcakes.
Store Front Display
I really wanted one, and my sister Jess wasn't one to pass on sweets. We ventured in and browsed through the cupcakes, cakes, cookies, and chocolates on display.
Green Tea Cupcake on Stand
The store itself was quite dark and very modern. The sales associates were very friendly and allowed me to take photos. I don't think they baked the treats onsite since the store didn't smell of baked goods. The cupcakes on the cupcake stands which are the ones featured on their signage were just for show.
PETiTS' Display Case
But we were definitely more interested in the cupcakes for sale. There were three fridges filled with cupcakes and cakes. The flavors included tiramisu, coffee, mango, lychee, Bailey's, white peach, s'mores, cinnamon apple, cookies and cream, caramel, eggy, and many more.
PETiTS' Display Case
They all looked delicious, and it was so hard to decide. Then we saw a chalkboard that listed mini cupcakes 3 for $48 HKD, regular cupcakes 1 for $25 HKD. Well, even though the choices for the minis were less, but they looked just as good, plus this way we could share 3 instead of 2. How could we go wrong with that?
PETiTS' Display Case
Jess immediately decided on the Bailey's, and the Eggy was too cute to pass up. Our final choice was Shaddock. We didn't know what it was, but it had on a chocolate hat and that sealed the deal.
Back at the Hotel
The sales associate boxed our treats in a fancy box and placed it in a fancy bag with a fancy sticker, but all we wanted to do was rip the whole thing open and dig into the cupcakes. We rushed back to the hotel and immediately dug in.
Eggy, Shaddock, and Bailey's Mini Cupcakes
Well, once out of the box, they definitely looked better than they tasted. The cakes of all three were quite dry and the flavors were bland but sweet. Now I'm sure they didn't bake onsite.
Eggy Mini Cupcake
The Eggy Mini Cupcake, though extremely cute with the sunny side up egg frosting on top, didn't have much flavor. I assume it's suppose to taste like eggs, but it just tasted like a sweet white cake (not even vanilla) with a marshmallow topping. There was a custard filling, but it wasn't very creamy.
Shaddock Mini Cupcake
The Shaddock Mini Cupcake was the best out of all three. We weren't sure what the flavor was suppose to be. We just assumed it would be a chocolate cupcake, so we were surprised to find it filled with lemon custard with lemon peels. It also had the non-flavored cake base as the eggy. The frosting was marshmallowy (not as sticky as the eggy), which was lighter than buttercream but heavier than meringue, but it complimented the tart custard fairly well.
Bailey's Mini Cupcake
The Bailey's Mini Cupcake was our least favorite. It might have something to do with the fact that we thought it was topped with crunchy sugar crystals instead it was gelatin cubes. We didn't taste any Bailey's and once again it was the plain white cake, but with no custard to cut down the dryness.
All in all we were disappointed with the cupcakes, but then we also didn't let any of it go to waste. And if I ever get to visit them again, I think I will try their regular size ones and give them one more chance to change my mind. All those customers couldn't be wrong!
PETiTS by Deschamps
Shop 2004, Level 2, Elements, Union Square,
1 Austin Road West, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 2882 7477
2 comments:
The cupcakes look really good. A shame that they didn't taste good. I do like the concept of a cupcake shop. One just opened up in Mill Valley. I have to wait until after my diet.
I have tried the cupcakes from this bakery in the past... and the fresh ones are to die for!
the lychee is my favourite, followed by kaya ones... give those a try the next time.
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