What's in the name of a cake?

What do you think of when you read the name of a cake in the display unit? What kind of drool worthy image comes into your mind? i am really curious.

for me, the name of the cake, because it is short - gives me the idea/summary as to how the cake will taste like and if i'd be promised a yummy treat when i read their names. i will not be able to imagine how sweet, or how soft or how tasty it will be, but i gather i should be happy after eating it. Afterall, i'd only buy stuff which i have previously experienced a certain level of good feel after trying out the ingredients etc..

i posed the above question coz of my recent trip back to Pan Pac Atrium deli. Apparently, they have new cakes. it was a surprise and the names of the cakes i bought looked rather promising and pretty unique.

two names made me confirm my purchase. Caramel Pear and Pumpkin Cheese cake.

i like caramel and am interested how well caramel goes with pear. Pumpkin i love, and i have yet to taste how pumpkin with cheese taste like. Pretty simple names, pretty basic thoughts came into my mind when i got these two cakes. for the former, i expected only caramel and pear. the the latter, pumpkin and cheese.. well, i was wrong. the two turned out to be more complicated than i have imagined. good or bad, i guess one have to taste it for oneself to come up with the conclusion. for me, they didnt make it although i must say that effort have been put in to conjure up these flavours hoping that they match.

First the caramel pear. i don't know if you noticed but 2/3 of the cake is surrounded by kuey lapis (i didnt until i started eating the cake). i think the idea is cool, but if only this was a simple cake. the top layer is caramel mousse i think (erm if there's something like that) mousse i am not sure, but definitely caramel. dusted with icing sugar and topped with a goosenberry without the dried leaves. a wavy white chocolate deco makes up the whole design of the cake.

Let's then look deeper into this cake. it's more than just meeting its name.

inbetween the top layer of caramel mousse and bottom layer of sponge cake and sandwiched by lapis, there is this custardy layer where you find the cubes/slices of pear. it's a lot for a cake. complicated flavours, i have no sense of what i was eating. it definitely wasn't just as simple as tasting only caramel and pear.

anyone who has eaten kuey lapis will know that it has a strong flavour by itself. i'm not sure of the ingredients in kuey lapis (KLP), i gather there's erm cinnamon? (upon googling, seems like it's this rempah mix is what gives the KLP it's flavour) anyway, the KLP overwhelmed everything this cake had to offer. it's another one of eating the cake by its layers to derived the different tastes of the cake experience. i also think it's a tad too sweet for my liking. using goosenberry was appropriate, but i would think a few more would be better. At the same time, the KLP wasn't a single piece used to surround the cake, it was cut into different pieces to surround the cake, so sometimes, i end up getting a whole of KLP on my fork, leaving a portion of this cake erm somehow, naked?

so this caramel pear was quite a disappointment.

the next day, i had the pumpkin cheesecake. looked simple enough and i guess it should meet my expectations of its name. when i first took a bite, the taste awkwardly seemed very familiar. it tasted like something i have had recently. in fact, somehow the flavour tasted like what i ate yesterday. gosh, it actually had the smell and taste of the KLP again. that's the reason why i thought cinnamon was in play here. though the cheesecake was smooth, firm with good texture, i tasted no pumpkin. i'm only being reminded of KLP, cheese and cinnamon.

sadly, i wasnt awed by it. i think it will be sometime before i visit Pan Pac Atrium Deli again.