KUALA LUMPUR: IT’S Christmas time again and Malaysians are spoilt for choice with chocolate Yule logs, stollen, gingerbread cookies, fruit cakes, Christmas pudding, macaroons, whoopee pies, cheesecakes, panettone and a whole host of other delectable items being sold at hotels and speciality outlets.
This year, durian or sour sop Yule logs, durian cheesecakes, sugee fruit cakes and pineapple tarts are much soughtafter.
Streets checked out some of the best places to buy delicious items for Christmas.
At Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur’s Toastina Café & Bar, you know that the desserts are going to be interesting when the hotel’s pastry chef is called Orange Chong.
The young and talented Huay Ling, or Orange, said Toastina had a staggering variety of over 40 tasty treats for as low as RM22.
“Our specialty item this year is Christmas trio Yule log which comes with different mouthwatering flavours such as chocolate, vanilla, blueberry or our very Malaysian durian Yule log.
“Make sure to check out our white chocolate giant snowman that is sure to bring a big smile to everyone at home.
“Our 1kg durian cheesecake (RM108) has durian paste for filling and whipped cream as well as more durian paste on top of the cake along with chocolate garnishing, fresh strawberries and a sprinkle of blueberries. Each of our Christmas trio Yule logs is also priced at RM108 per kg.” she said.
“Our Christmas fruitcake is also another best-seller. It is chock-full of fruits such as apricots, raisins, red cherries and cranberries. The cake is topped with apricot slices, guava slices, walnuts, pecans and for decoration — Santa Clause and Christmas tree plastic figures.
“If you are looking for something unusual, try our giant snowman (1kg for RM170) and giant Santa (850gm for RM170). The giant Snowman is made from white chocolate while its scarf, hat and buttons are made from milk chocolate,” she said.
“We also offer six types of festive cookies such as cinnamon stars, basler leckerli, mailanderli, brunsli, almond gingerbread and lebkuchen at RM22 for every 100gm.”
For details, call 03-2717 9900.
Meanwhile, a huge gingerbread house has emerged in the lobby of Berjaya Times Square Hotel Kuala Lumpur.
Set up specially for the festive season until Jan 15, you can order ginger bread Santa Face (50gm) for RM11++, gingerbread Christmas man (60gm) for RM11++, Christmas stollen with marzipan (300gm) for RM27++, Christmas pudding (400gm) for RM35++, chocolate house (400gm) for RM46++, snowman fruitcake (500gm) for RM55++, ginger bread house (1.5kg) for RM90+, Christmas tree fruitcake (1kg) (with icing or without icing) for RM95++, cookies like cinnamon star, brunzli, mailanderli or raspberry sable (200gm) for RM22 and more.
All the pastries are made fresh by the hotel’s pastry chef Khairul Izzat and his team.
At the hotel’s Big Apple Restaurant, you can find an array of cakes, chocolate Yule logs, vanilla Yule logs and other delicacies that you can pick from the chiller where the desserts are displayed.
For details, call 03-2117 8000.
Over at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Kuala Lumpur, guests can pick their favourite Christmas sweets and cakes from the Festive Desk on the lobby of the ground floor.
While cookies and hampers can be bought here, cakes and Yule logs have to be ordered a day in advance so that executive pastry chef Frank Braun can prepare them for you.
The “homemade chocolate CD” (RM22) is just one of a number of unique edible items on offer.
The festive pralines comes in three sets (6, 15 or 25 pieces) and boasts flavours like mint, orange pickle, dark chocolate, white chocolate and strawberry and make great gifts. The full 25 piece set costs RM96.
The Marzipan dried fruit stollen (500gm) for RM68 and festive fruit cake (1 kg for RM128) are crowd pleasers. For orders, call 03-2330 8797/8798.
If you are looking for homemade cakes and other Christmas delicacies, founder of Heavenly Cake Creations, Angeline Stanley, is a master at baking and whipping up desserts.
“If you want gingerbread cookies which are non-decorated, they cost RM4 per piece whereas the same cookies with decorations or icing are RM6 per piece. Macaroons come in boxes of six pieces for RM30.
Customers can order by calling 012-284 1103.
At Seri Pacific Hotel KL, the specialty this year is their best seller, cranberry cheese cake. For a local flavour, guests can opt for sour sop Yule log.
There are more than 10 varieties of items at Seri Pacific. Two days’ advance notice is required.
For details, call 03-4042 5555.