Out & About #875 | Jinyoung - Chapter 0: WITH, Bluberry Crumble Cake + Torta Caprese

No other work week feels as short as one before a trip, especially with a rush of month-end wrap-up tasks, unexpected spectacle complications, and unfavourable commuting conditions.

When my carpooling partner warned of an earlier departure time, I grimaced. Joint trips often commence early, but terminate far later than desired. To peel myself away from an area of respite even sooner than 6 AM did not align with personal productivity-promoting protocols. I resolved to undertake the grueling drive downtown by myself.

​Monday morning traffic was surprisingly light, but any prospect of arriving early (and leaving early) would be eradicated upon coming face to face with an unexpected TTC delay. Thankfully, the "broken train" issue spanned just a total of twelve minutes. I succeeded in making my arrival at 7:55 AM; the office, much to my relief, was relatively vacant with the exception of two large meetings, one in each boardroom.

​Originally, I had planned to visit the optometrist's office first thing. Delaying the trip to the following day eventually emerged as the better decision, for the lens of one pair popped out while in the office. The remainder of the day was spent working without the assistance of screen spectacles. But, in the very least, I'd be able to service all three pairs in one trip.

​Lunchtime proved surprisingly warm. My westbound trek was accompanied by a picturesque scene of slow-falling snowflakes. Though, "picturesque" may be a debatable term, for construction and precipitation often make for muddy ground conditions and splatters on pants.

On the bright side, many of the construction fences had been removed with the completion of cycle track paving and interlock work. This enabled smoother flow of foot traffic, in spite of snow piled about the curb.

At spotting "Mont Blanc" adorning the online menu of Isle of Coffee, I opted to venture out for a second visit. The cafe's madeleines had been disappointing overall, but the Fig and Caramel Scone had left its mark.

​Obtained in addition to the scone were a small Houjicha Latte and Mont Blanc. While the drink was being prepared, I treaded down a flight of narrow, rickety wooden stairs to the basement. Amidst the dim ambiance were a handful of tables, two incredibly focused ladies seated at those tables, working away on their laptops, and an old movie - complete with subtitles - being projected on an empty wall. Left of the stairwell was a door that read "Employees only", but beyond the limited seating was a second door - the washroom!
The single stall was fairly clean, equipped with a swing top garbage bin, one backup toilet paper roll under the sink, and a toilet with competent flushing capabilities.

Awaiting my return to ground level were my treats were perched on the counter, neatly placed in a brown paper bag. The Mont Blanc resided in a paper box at the bottom, while the Fig and Caramel Scone rested on top in a white paper bag.

The cashier-barista added the finishing touches on my Houjicha Latte and handed the cup to me with grace. The beverage was toasty and positively nutty: warm enough to unleash distinctly houjicha aromas, but not scalding to the point of tongue-incinerating (Looking at you, Starbucks).

I took a few sips of the latte before reaching over to the condiment station for an emerald green lid. Impeccably luscious and downright flavourful, Isle of Coffee had succeeded in satisfying the void that The Social Blend had failed to in their absence of houjicha.

​Unveiled later that evening was the Mont Blanc.

​A wafer-like shard dusted with icing sugar was perched at its peak. Having assumed it to be a white-hued wafer, I bit into the piece without hesitation, then instantly recoiled at its sickeningly sweet qualities. It was, in fact, not a wafer at all, but possibly a flat meringue cookie.

​The sweetness propagated into the rest of the dessert, tainting everything from the chestnut cream to underlying layers of cream and mousse. Frankly, the flavours weren't lacking, but they were simply too sugary, prompting instant headaches. The most enjoyable aspects were the cassis compote and Sablé Breton, which contributed refreshing frutiness and a snappy crunch respectively.
Consistent with findings obtained via sampling of their madeleine assortment, Isle of Coffee pastries can be a hit or miss, but nonetheless worthy of attempting. The Fig and Caramel Scone possesses a profile I shall be retaining near and dear to my heart.

​Despair hit on Monday evening, for I became overwhelmed with the amount of packing yet to done. The feeling of dread is best expressed by an inverted Mr. Buttons nearly toppling off the edge of the bed, barely adhering with one point of contact.

​Some degree of assuagement was obtained the next day, when all three pairs of glasses were fixed and a bowl of iron-rich Pork and Daikon was consumed.

​Creations of the week included:

1) Blueberry Crumble Cake

Propelled by a batch yield of 2 for $6 Driscoll's blueberries, I transformed 360 g of the beady, soul-less berries into freeze-able, breakfast-ready slabs. The recipe source was none other than Sunday Baking's Blueberry Crumble Cake.

Having previously seen tremendous success with the crumble topping and plush, tender crumbs in my two-part Apple Mania series, I faltered for not even a millisecond before bringing up the recipe on her channel.
The components came together with ease; even the batter was remarkably forgiving, still radiating plushness after an unforeseen mid-scaling shutoff.

​The results were tasty, as all of Sunday's creations are. My only words of warning would be resist adding more lemon juice and cornstarch than needed. I had dumped in the remainder of my coating cornstarch used for construction of the Matcha Oolong Mochi Brownie (and fished out some stray pieces of dried mochi in the process), then used more lemon juice as compensation. This led to a watery, tacky centre layer that did not solidify and rather seeped into the cake base. Thankfully, the cake portion remained springy and delicious, while the nutty crumble offset the lack of dimension from the blueberries.

2) Torta Caprese

From the moment Sunday released this formula, I was determined to recreate it.

​Both the ingredient roster and process were as straightforward as could be; my only concern was my lack of an 8-inch aluminum pan. Upon Googling, I learned of Torta Caprese's minimalistic appearance and generally low height. Being a single-layer, flourless creation, the cake was flat as opposed to domed, and was often seen served with a dusting of icing sugar or cocoa powder. Recalling the results of two Victoria Sponge halves, I presumed the use of aluminum instead of nonstick to ensure a flat surface that nixed the need for trimming.

​I would utilize a 6-inch aluminum pan instead, anticipating a taller cake and longer baking time. At the twenty-five minute mark, the surface swelled and gnarly bubbles appeared on the surface. A skewer emerged damp, so the cake was returned to the oven for another fifteen minutes. Within this period, the oven temperature fluctuated constantly, causing me to add ten more minutes, then another fifteen to the ensure doneness. When large cracks covered the surface, the skewer finally emerged clean.

While I had contemplated eliminating the ganache and whipped cream components to conclude my baking mission early, I was curious as to whether the elements would alter the overall palatability of the dessert. Consequently, I followed in the steps of Sunday, compiling them as per her recipe.

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Left: Sunday Baking | Right: Quirky Aesthetics

​Similarly, I also snipped the piping tip at an angle to create the rippled edge. But alas, my Torte displayed some uneven squiggles, and required longer to complete. Sunday's "What happened to me today?" piping would have easily constituted my "good day" piping. A few flakes of edible gold completed the look.

Comparing the creation side by side to Sunday's, my variation is obviously thicker, thus taller. The colour difference from the edges are more prominent, coinciding with a chewy crust within the first few hours of chilling. After several hours in the fridge, however, the texture undeniably witnesses improvement. The edges transform from chewy to sturdy and crisp, while the centre remains moist, veering into fudgy territory. At this point, the extravagant quantity of olive oil makes sense.
Pairing smooth chocolate, gritty almond powder, and traditionally Italian olive oil lends the Torte moistness and depth without extraordinary effort. For any future attempts, I'd like to try rum for a boozy boost of warmth.

​Using the leftover whipped cream, a black sesame mousse is created. Due to the topping being stabilized with gelatin, the mousse emerges stiffer than desired. The remaining amount of ganache is poured on top, yielding an exceptionally thick, chocolatey layer.
The combination is delectable, albeit satiating if consuming more than a few bites.

3) Green Tea Hoddeok

Just short of one year after its acquisition, my - now-expired - Green Tea Hoddeok mix was finally put into action. While I had concerns regarding expired (read: inactive) yeast, results were passable. The dough was both sticky and dry, with floury flakes in the dough emerging at odd corners.

​Directions on the box had been shielded by the English and French label, prompting me to source directions from the World Wide Web. 180 ml of warm water was added to the dough mix, as specified, then supplemented with an additional tablespoon once the dough grew too dry to mix. It was then portioned out into eight pieces, none of which were weighed for uniformity. The brown sugar cinnamon filling was quite aromatic; I used about 90% of the nutty powder, as I was hesitant to overfill the dough balls.

Due to their tacky nature, I resisted shaping them into smoother rounds in fear of tearing the dough altogether. This caused the filling to reside in the upper third of the pancake, rather than squarely in the centre, as observed in the cross-section.

​The process of pan-frying was relatively stress-free, and the entire ordeal concluded within thirty minutes. Despite lacking significantly in the departments of tenderness and grassiness, the toasty essences of brown sugar radiated hoddeok vibes. They were decent: filling but yet not entirely satisfying. For future hoddeok cravings, I'd likely take to Maangchi's tried-and-true formula, or make my way to Koreatown for Hodo Kwaja if convenient.

​Two and a half weeks after the release of Chapter 0: With, I finally receive the shipment notification. Both versions of Jinyoung's first solo EP appear on my doorstep one day later, transported nearly immediately after customs fees are relinquished.

The long-awaited album brings much joy to my monotonous yet stressful daily happenings. For the first time in history, I was blessed with all-Jinyoung everything - from album covers to photobook content, from photocards to posters, I would, at long last, be relieved of album probability homework.

My gaze fell upon a wondrous selection of Jinyoung photos - a selection grander than any stan could ever ask for!

The YOU version adopted a hardcover notebook format, including a window for interchangeable photo covers. A flower bookmark and alluring Polaroid-style card were found within.

​Drastically different was the ME version, which presented darker concept photos in a dark, paper file folder/envelope format. I was none too fond of the barebones CD design, though must admit fondness for the filmstrip photobook and absolutely enticing six-pack bearing sticker and lyric booklet.

​Jinyoung's "Thanks To" was incredibly legible and easy to interpret as a non-native Korean speaker. Embedded within were words of gratitude to those supporting and investing in his journey. The write-up served dual purposes of gratitude towards his surroundings and encouragement towards himself, as he pursues further ventures as an artist, actor, and entertainer.

​Notable was the inclusion of his name as the Producer of the album - an incredibly prestigious role to uphold.

​The albums came with matte-finish paper posters, which, compared to the glossy finish alternatives, offer lower resistance against crinkling but greater resistance against dents.

Leisure time has been limited as of late, therefore it would be premature to extend commentary on the collectivity of the lyrics, musicality, and album content. However, it suffices to say that Chapter 0: With is most definitely reflective of Jinyoung as an artist - the style of song and dance are remarkably fitting. Ahgases would be overjoyed to receive any release, but the ones that are reflective of his development allows Jinyoung to truly shine as a musician.