Amanda FooIf you are deeply in love with chocolate, like most of the world’s population, you could lock yourself in 3 INCH SIN and throw away the key.
Well, that’s if you can find it.
But it’s very much worth the quest because locating it means that you have discovered what may just be the best molten chocolate cakes in Singapore made fresh by no less than the top graduate from the internationally-lauded Le Cordon Bleu’s patisserie diploma program. The best part is that you get all this quality for only $5, which is a steal considering that Bakerzin’s molten chocolate cake is twice that price.
That’s what inspired UrbanWire to trek down to Cluny Court, behind the more prominent Island Creamery and get slightly confused by the layout of the second floor before chancing upon the establishment.
There, we found Valrhona chocolate, regarded the finest chocolate in the world, formed into molten chocolate cakes that are 3 inches in diameter, thus the name.
The irresistible confection is the result of a talk over drinks between siblings Celine and Kevin Yeo, the former being the top graduate from the world’s most famous cooking school in Paris. Before 3 INCH SIN was conceptualized, Celine was running an online business selling cakes before she chose to specialize in this.
There are 8 flavors available and of those, UrbanWire sampled 4: Original, Hazelnut, Bitter Orange and Peanut Butter.
The Original ($5) was the first flavor to be savoured, because UrbanWire is a purist that way.
It was brilliant. Words will fail you as you slice open the dark brown dome and release the fluid chocolate. The cake is fluffy and light, a great partner to the heavier bitter chocolate at its core. While it may be too bitter for the generation that grew up on M&M’s, the quality of the 70% chocolate won’t be lost on those who prefer dark chocolate.
The other 3 flavors were served in the mini version ($5 for 3), which are about an inch across to allow customers to try more flavors, as explained by Celine.
Hazelnut can be easily mistaken for Nutella and it’ll definitely suit fans of milk chocolate. It’s a classic flavor combination, tried and tested, and put on the menu to provide something familiar for customers who are less adventurous.
Peanut Butter is an acquired taste, if you ask us. The filling was generous, but as a result, the peanut butter was overly salty and it drowned out the flavor of the chocolate, which was a sin, no pun intended. Perhaps it would have been better had there been more chocolate to balance it out.
Finally came Bitter Orange. The filling was orange marmalade with chunks of bitter orange. There‘s a difference between the mini and original sizes for this particular flavor. The original size has orange zest grated into the batter, which changes the taste slightly. In the mini version, the zest is too big and too much bitterness is introduced with it, however, this can be balanced out with the chocolate sauce that comes with every cake.
Bits of roasted cocoa beans are also sprinkled onto every cake and they provide a textural counterpoint to the velvety chocolate. Although cocoa beans are the raw material for chocolate, they’re rather devoid of flavor, so don’t expect too much of a tasty boost from them.
The décor at 3 INCH SIN is another thing that adds to the experience. There’s a constant orange theme throughout the shop and the quote on the wall from Oscar Wilde will make you smile. It’s also flooded with sunlight during the day, thanks to huge windows, which relaxes you immensely.
There are drinks to accompany your dessert, like Gryphon tea, coffee, iced and hot chocolate (though you have to be a hardcore chocolate lover to have that as well) and milk, which will be the perfect partner to the chocolate.
3 INCH SIN is the sort of place you want to keep to yourself and yet rave about to 15,867 of your Facebook friends at the same time because while you know they deserve to have all 15,867 of your friends patronizing them, you want the place to yourself.
The best solution is just to bring a few close friends and bond over molten chocolate cakes so good you’ll think you’ve died and gone to heaven.
Address:
501 Bukit Timah Road
Cluny Court Unit #02-27
Telephone No.:
6314 1217
Opening Hours:
11am – 9pm daily
Rating:
★★★★✩
All photos taken by Jasmine Chong from Klix Photography.