This Valrhona chocolate cream puff ‘Christmas tree’ is the only croquembouche worth eating
Baristart’s luxe limited-ed choc cream puff tower offers good value at $68.80 as it feeds up to 15 pax. Bad news: it’s selling out fast.
While Japanese cafe Baristart Coffee is known for its plain Hokkaido Biei Jersey milk custard cream puffs, it’s their seasonal chocolate puffs that folks get really excited about. Earlier this year in May, the cafe offered huge choc cream puffs in collaboration with luxe Swiss chocolate brand Läderach — it sold out in less than an hour after being launched on their website despite the hefty price tag ($62.50 for three pcs). Now, they’ve released a similarly chocolatey limited-edition creation in partnership with fancy French chocolatier Valrhona. But this time, they come as smaller puffs, part of a Christmas croquembouche (say “kraw-kahn-boosh”, a French dessert of an elaborately constructed pyramid of mini cream puffs).
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Chocolate Croquembouche, $68.80 for 15 puffs
Now, we usually find most croquembouches pretty to look at but rather dull to eat. The puffs are often too tiny, filled with too little cream, and overly sweet as they’re glazed with caramel or some other sugary concoction. This Baristart-Valrhona version, however, is one hefty tower studded with plump, sizeable orbs. Each choux pastry puff is pumped till bursting at its seams with a deeply dark bittersweet chocolate custard filling blended with Baristart’s signature Hokkaido Biei Jersey milk and Valhrona’s Caraïbe 66% dark choc. Each piece is sprinkled with cocoa-dusted crisps and glued together with melted chocolate, and finally adorned with chocolate ornaments like stars and snowflakes.
We think this towering croquembouche is good value for its looks and flavour, and would make a tempting dessert centrepiece at your party. But if you’re looking for a more affordable option for gifting, there’s the less glamorous but still yummy box of six Chocolate Cream Puffs ($32.80). 
The Valrhona puffs are available till 26 December. While the box of six can be pre-ordered at both Baristart’s Tras Street and Wisma Atria outlets, you can only collect the croquembouche at the Tras Street shop.
Unsurprisingly, stocks for the croquembouche are running low, with no slots left for collection between 22 to 25 December. But hey, you can still snag some for that pre-Christmas or Boxing Day bash.
Given their popularity, we can’t help but wonder why Baristart doesn’t offer chocolate puffs as permanent menu items? Their PR rep tells us they “want to create exclusive products to keep things exciting so that customers have something new to look forward to”.
Order from Baristart Coffee via WhatsApp at 8299 7365 (Tras Street) and 9836 9113 (Wisma Atria) till 26 Dec. More info via their website and Instagram.
Photos: Florence Fong, Baristart Coffee
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