“We only pick round yams from Thailand - after testing out many varieties we found that these gives us the best texture and flavour for the puree.” It takes one hour to steam the yam, and a total of about two hours if you add the time needed to blend, sieve, season and taste the puree. “We tried frozen yam paste and frozen yam when we first stated, but fresh is still best,” shares the duo. What you will find though, is a sable crust holding a layer of airy coconut cream chantilly, sugar-glazed ginkgo nut halves, and topped with a velvety, elegant yam puree that is only very lightly sweetened.
If you are hoping for a tart filled with old-school, lard-enriched Teochew yam paste, you will be sorely disappointed. The tart was an instant hit, and one of the first items they put on the menu when Patisserie Clé started.
“It was for a business event hosted by the Singapore embassy, and we created an halia choux, a pandan financier, three types of macarons - kaya, bandung and pineapple tart, and the Orh Blanc tart,” recalls the duo. But only time will tell if this continues after the government's circuit breaker measures kick in tomorrow (7 April).Ī riff on the classic Mont Blanc made with yam instead of chestnut puree, Germaine and Joy - both Teochews - first created this in 2016 at the request of the wife of Singapore’s ambassador to France. Just as well, seeing as how the ladies are currently inundated with orders. At the back part of the narrow shopfront is an island counter space, which was intended for intimate baking workshops for four to six persons - which isn’t happening now, obviously. Any more than that in the shop and they will need to ask you to queue beyond the door. Tucked within the compound that is newly converted from the 91-year-old site of the historic Paya Lebar Fire Station near Paya Lebar MRT station, the compact takeaway unit is a minimalist space that can at best fit two customers in front of the display case in safe-distancing times. Their customers must really like this idea, for in the first two weeks of operations, they were constantly replenishing items to fill the display case, which was rapidly being wiped out of wares from enthusiastic office-workers and residents in the area. The idea is to sell miniature versions of their large 6 – 8-inch tarts and whole cakes to a wider audience. The fully self-financed brick-and-mortar shopfront and production facility was always within their business plan. Apart from new dessert items, Joy is also experimenting with savoury quiches - simply because she needs to feed herself something apart from sweets while working nonstop at the shop. Today, their repertoire has expanded to more than 20 items spanning cakes, tarts, choux puffs and cookies. Colour us impressed.īaking from a rented home, Germaine and Joy started with a menu of just 10 items. The business’s chic branding design and website was also done by the duo. The rationale for the name? The hope for their wares to be the key to their customers’ heart. The duo thus joined hands and launched online business Patisserie Clé (pronounced as “cleh”, meaning “key” in French) in September 2018. Coincidentally, Germaine had just returned from her trip around France and had the same idea too. When Joel Robuchon closed down, Joy toyed with the idea of setting up shop. Joy, on the other hand, joined the now-defunct Joel Robuchon as commis chef in the pastry kitchen, and stayed for almost a year, until the restaurant shuttered in June 2018. After completing the year-long course at Ferrandi Paris, Germaine went to work in the pastry kitchen of Les Amis for six months, followed by a two-month inspiration trip to France. While Joy spent more time watching instructional videos and websites than doing her course work, Germaine has been baking pineapple tarts for sale since she was 15 years old. Joy (right in pic) was a fresh graduate from Nanyang Business School in NTU who completed her tertiary studies only because that was the condition her parents set for paying for her pastry course in France.
Germaine (left in pic), who has a diploma in IT engineering and a degree in finance, was previously in the corporate sector for more than 10 years. The duo met as roommates while studying pastry at Ferrandi Paris - dubbed "the Harvard of gastronomy" by French broadsheet Le Monde.
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