J’aime Bakehouse

Got to know about the opening of J’aime Bakehouse in the basement level of Changi Airport Terminal 3 recently; these folks are located in the publicly-accessible retail area that is connected to the bus stop of the terminal around the same area where one can find a number of food kiosks around. J’aime Bakehouse takes up a space that is situated right beside the outlet of Mr. Coconut there. Whilst they are a fairly new name to the local F&B scene here, these folks are actually by the same folks behind La Levain that is based at Hamilton Road — this becomes quite obvious when one skims through the various items that they carry within the display cases which is wrapped in La Levain’s packaging. J’aime Bakery operates primarily as a spot for takeaways — that being said, there are communal areas in which patrons may use to dine-in. Offering a somewhat similar line-up of pastries that La Levain offers, J’aime Bakehouse carries a variety of buns, danishes, Caneles, pastries and cakes for its lineup; all of which prominently displayed in the display case at the counter.

One of the items that caught our eye very early whilst skimming through the items stocked up in the display chiller would be the Chicken Floss Pound Cake — would be one out of the two pound cake offerings of which J’aime Bakehouse has to offer; the other one being the Chocolate Travel Cake. Both the Chicken Floss Pound Cake and the Chocolate Travel Cake are of similar sizes, which is of a decent size that is manageable for a single pax to enjoy though would be a little substantial if this is to be the case. Taking a bite into the pound cake, the pound cake does carry a substantial bite; aptly dense for a pound cake whilst carrying a buttery and sweet note on its own — that being said, we aren’t quite particularly into the slightly wet base at the bottom, though most of the cake does turn out to be sufficiently moist in other areas. The use of Chicken Floss does seem to be fairly reminiscent to the ongoing trend of Bao’s Pastry’s Xiao Bei Crispy Seaweed Floss Cake; one that sees seaweed and meat floss being rolled onto the cake — the shreds of Nori and chicken floss tops off the pound cake for the Chicken Floss Pound Cake at J’aime Bakehouse. The end result is a dessert-y cake with a slightly savoury touch; fit for those whom like sweet-savoury flavour combinations with the chicken floss and seaweed adding a savoury and umami touch that gives another dimension of flavours to the pound cake.

During the same visit to J’aime Bakehouse, we had also given the Salted Egg Brulee Tart a go as well. This does take the form of a charcoal-infused, danish-based egg tart — as one could observe from the black Danish pastry shell that holds up the salted egg custard and egg filling within. Taking a bit into the pastry, we did find the Danish being light and flaky — all that whilst not feeling particularly greasy, and neatly coming apart without creating too much of a mess all over; that being said, once can observe that the pastry itself does seem to lack a bit of butteriness that one would expect from such pastries. Here, it seems that the Salted Egg custard is applied over the egg filling and creates two distinct flavours that provides a bit of contrast — the salted egg gearing towards a saltish note while the egg curd beneath still comes jiggly and a little molten with just the right hint of sweetness amidst the egginess. That being said, we did feel that the item did fall short against our expectations considering how there is a “Brulee” in the namesake of the tart — perhaps we were expecting a layer of crystalised sugar that is similar to that of the Creme Brulee, though we reckon that the “Brulee” component here might quite be the Salted Egg custard on the top.

Another item that we went for would be the Vanilla Canele — this would be one out of two variants of Canele that J’aime Bakehouse serves up; the other one being the Matcha Canele which was out of stock by the time we made our visit. Still warm when we made our purchase in mid-afternoon, the Canele does come with a crusty exterior that carried a slight hint of bitterness, while the interior comes soft, moist and squishy — comes with a lingering hint of vanilla whilst not being too sweet as well. Overall, J’aime Bakehouse does feel like an establishment that is an extension of what La Levain is all about — offering a similar line-up of pastries as what La Levain serves, it does seem that J’aime Bakehouse does serve up smaller variants of what is available at La Levain to make their bakes feel more suitable to be bought as souvenirs and gifts given its more “portable” format as well as a light snack for those working within the compounds of the airport itself. Yet another establishment to add to the list to try especially for those whom love what La Levain already has to offer!