Pink Charlotte

It does seem that the Lorong Ah Soo neighbourhood is one that often sees new hipster establishments move in every now and then — whilst the ‘hood was being noted to be where Ciel Patisserie had first established its presence within the local F&B scene, the neighbourhood had also welcomed the likes of Lickers, Creme by LELE Bakery and then now-defunct Flavour Flings just to name a few. The neighbourhood had seen yet another recent addition — this time being Pink Charlotte that takes up half the usual size of a single shop unit there. Pink Charlotte had previously operated as Charlotte Patisserie — the re-branding being part of its conversion from an online-based business to a brick-and-mortar shop. Pink Charlotte shouldn’t be too difficult to spot — the facade of the shop space is painted in a shade of pastel pink; it is also located along the same line of shops at Blk 124 Hougang Avenue 1 where one can also find establishments such as Creme by LELE Bakery and Lickers. The use of pink for the establishment extends to the interior; the space of Pink Charlotte can be described as one that is rather dainty considering the colours and the type of dine-in furniture used — the dining chairs coming in a shape reminiscent of seashells even. Still being a patisserie at heart, Pink Charlotte’s core emphasis would be on their variety of macarons, cakes and other bakes that are stocked in the display chiller around the counter area. For those looking for a beverage to pair with their dessert orders, one can opt for the lineup of espresso-based specialty forr and tree that they offer.

Skimming through the selection of cakes that Pink Charlotte has to offer on the day of our visit there, one of the cakes that had caught our attention fairly early on would be the Muscat Yoghurt Cheesecake — perhaps due to its two-tiered aesthetic. Pink Charlotte does not describe on the elements that comes with their cakes, though it can be observed from our order of the Muscat Yoghurt Cheesecake that it comes with a layer of jelly that comes with the seedless Muscat grapes, while the layer of yoghurt cheesecake sits beneath that above a graham cracker crust that forms the base of the cake. Considering how the Muscat Yoghurt Cheesecake is essentially a yoghurt cheesecake, this also means that the Muscat Yoghurt Cheesecake is actually less heavy in its texture — the cheesecake mousse layer coming without that much of a tanginess from the cream cheese, whilst coming with a smoother and creamier texture almost akin to that of a tofu cheesecake with milder flavours that would suit well for those with lighter palates that find New York-style cheesecakes to be easily jelak. The jelly layer carries a slightly firmer texture that slices down fairly neatly; itself carrying a very light note of sweetness from the muscat grapes although it is also the muscat grapes that provides a good, juicy bite for a contrast of textures. The graham cracker crust adds a crusty, almost nutty taste and mouthfeel to the dessert — all that whilst not crumbling into a mess.

Meanwhile, the Lemon Cake Roll is pretty much like a Swiss Roll — seemingly featured vanilla sponge, pastry cream and lemon curd. Despite the lemon-infused elements being solely the lemon curd that is piped on top of the roll cake, the lemon curd does carry quite an intense zippiness that was sufficient to flavour up the entire slice of the cake; we also liked that the cake carried a hint of vanilla aroma and was suitably sweet without overly so even in the pastry cream itself. While there was nothing much to shout about the espresso-based specialty coffee here, it does seem that the folks at Pink Charlotte had included cute touches to the iced Americano that we had ordered — it does feature an ice cube shaped in the form of a bear seemingly trying to escape from the glass; definitely something worthy for the ‘gram. One thing we note about Pink Charlotte is the affordability of the cakes that they are serving up — their slices of cakes are priced below $5; a price that we wouldn’t quite expect for a shop specialising in cakes and bakes considering how a slice of cake would easily cost us upwards of $6 at cafes these days. This makes Pink Charlotte’s offerings rather value-for-money; the quality of the cakes at Pink Charlotte being even better than what some cafes serve up as well. With such affordable prices within the heartlands, Pink Charlotte is probably yet another establishment that the folks residing around the Lorong Ah Soo area will appreciate having in their neighbourhood — yet another convenient spot for them to settle their sweet tooth cravings without breaking the bank!