What's after donuts?

How about homemade muffins and scones?

And I'm not talking about chains like Mrs Fields and Famous Amos, those are just too sweet for my liking. Neither are they able to tweak their recipes to reduce the tons of sugar they put in.

So it is a great to find an independent shop like Wooden Spoon which makes uniquely great muffins that are moist, dense but fluffy and full of flavor. Plus, it tastes of less sugar and more of the ingredients. The sweetness comes mainly from natural ingredients like raisins and bananas, just the way the health conscious would like them. No more having to deal with muffins loaded with tons of sugar! Another feature I like is the absence of the paper cups, so no more peeling off those cups and you can just eat everything.

Particularly, their banana walnut muffins, when broken open, reveals the generous amount of banana mashed into the little package, like banana walnut bread.

Also try the scones. Bite onto the crunchy exterior to reveal the buttery and soft insides with a zap of natural sugar from the raisins baked into it. Goes perfectly with your favorite warm, caffeine-laced drinks.

Besides their muffins and scones, Wooden Spoon also makes a variety of cookies, brownies, cakes and so on. However, note that everything here is produced in limited numbers and they will close shop once everything is sold out. It was already closed when I came by just past 6pm on a weekday. So if you are interested, do come by earlier for a true homemade fix.

Wooden Spoon 100 Beach Road #01-24 Shaw Leisure Gallery Singapore 189702 Tel: 6297 8839

Tom's Palette

Tucked in a quiet corner of Shaw Leisure Gallery is a little surprise called Tom's Palette which sells home-made ice cream.

When curious me entered their premises for the first time, I was greeted by sincere counter staff who are really proud of their little ice cream parlour and their flavours. That pretty much scared me away, plus I had no intention for ice cream that day.

So a few hours ago, I decided to go for it. I stepped in to the ice cream parlour, got greeted by the rather sweet lady boss (I think), tasted the Oreo Cheesecake flavour, which was good, but settled for their Pisang Honey Walnut and Horlicks flavours in a small cup. You get to taste 2 flavours in a small cup at no extra charge and each cup is $2.80, which is considerably cheaper than other ice cream places. I thought it is a good tactic, to create a sense of value that the customer can taste 2 flavours for the price of one. It definitely helps those who can't decide between flavour 1 and flavour 2.

Their ice cream is definitely one of the better ones I've tasted. Rich in flavour and really smooth texture, slightly creamier than the Japanese ice creams. I really enjoyed their Horlicks flavour which I believe had extra amounts of the ingredient to pack the extra punch. The Pisang Honey Walnut though only managed to leave a mild impression with a weak banana flavour. But at least they were generous with the walnuts. The Cherry Almond was a refreshing mix which I really enjoyed. The Apple Pie lived up to its name with real chunks of apple, pie crust and a rich undertone of cinnamon. And if you love cheesecakes, their Blueberry Cheesecake and Oreo Cheesecake are to die for.

Anyway, overheard a conversation between the staff and a customer, there was apparently a batch of cockles flavoured ice cream... see-hum ice cream? Ice cream mai hum? mai hum, mai hum, hai hum...

Address: 100 Beach Road, #01-25 Shaw Leisure Gallery Singapore 189702