Craving: Something Sweet

Last week, I was really jonesing for something sweet. I guess you can say I was in a chocolate frenzy, a mood some women get at least once a month.

First I had some of those lovely chokkies from The Peninsula.

Then I had lunch out with some girlfriends and we shared this luscious Valrhona chocolate souffle beauty, but more on it and the lunch later.

I had some chocolate cake for dessert at work. This one came with the chokkies, don't you love the fondant icing and the iced roses? It looks like a wedding dress.

Then I went out and bought this little treat from around the corner:

There seems to be a trend in Japan where they fill cream puffs, eclairs and other choux pastries with freshly made cream, such as Beard Papa and this place, Happy Cream Puff.

At the counter, you choose from a variety of pastries then once you've made the ultimate decision, the staff pipe in the fluffy cream. There is even a disclaimer on the sticker the closes the bag shut that the little black specks you see in the cream come from the vanilla bean. 

Do they have to specify this to countries that think vanilla comes from a bottle? In the store, they even have a sample of real vanilla beans to show you what they look like. Unless the black specks have feels and legs... Maybe they should have called it the Happy Vanilla Bean instead....

I prefer Dulcinea's eclairs much better. I feel the Happy Cream Puff pastry is too crunchy, I prefer mine chewy.

And the cream is too light, I prefer it a little more dense. It was more like unhappy cream that was de-puffed...