Sweet Endings and Other Desserts

We all know that all that first two hours of eating is merely foreplay for the greatest course of all – dessert.  Tease your guests by choosing one of our pies and pop it into the oven just after the main course and let the seductive smells of caramel and buttery pastry waft through your home.  But whatever you choose there’s nothing more impressive at a dinner table than a beautiful dessert centrepiece.

Listen as the ‘coos’ turn to ‘mmms’ as your guests taste the buttery, melt-in-your-mouth pastry melding with the soft and rich and sweet and gooey.Then in the silence at the dinner table, watch as they purse their lips, eyes glazing over and closing softly.  Congratulations, you’ve just served up a happy ending

All-Prepped Pies

Just re-warm slightly in the oven or serve as it is

Hazel the Dirty Tart

Hazelnut chocolate crust with chocolate ganache filling.  And you know chocolate dirties everything it touches.

S$42 for a 10-inch tart.  Recommended for 10-12 persons

Sticky Date Tart

Let’s just say the pun is intended.  Tart comes with salty caramel sauce.

S$32 for a 9-inch tart. Recommended for 8-10 persons

Ready-To-Bake Crumbles

Hot, gooey comforting. Serve alongside our new age ice cream flavours for a twist on the classic.

[Oven/microwave/toaster is required, skill is not]

Banana + Mango + RumAlmond crumble

$25 per casserole. Recommended for 8 persons

Apple + Cranberries + Cointreau

Walnut Crumble

$25 per casserole. Recommended for 8 persons

No Bake Pies

Flourless Chocolate Cake

As light as a cloud, as rich as Hugh Heifner.  Serve this adults-only indulgence with crème fraiche and berries.

S$42 per 9 inch pie. Recommended for 8-10 persons

Mascarpone and Salvadori Biscuits in Coffee Liqueur

You got us there, yes, it’s Tiramisu. And yes, this the Tiramisu Fabrizio’s Nonna taught us when she was in town to help set-up the Trattoria.

S$42 per tray. Recommended for 8-10 persons

The Spanish call it Flan

The French say creme caramel.  We know it as the prettiest manifestation of eggs. Delivered to you in individual ramekins which you can invert table side to show off your mad plate flipping skills.  Accompanied with a mint and berry compote

S$5 per serve

Our Signature Mains

Beef Cheeks - Seriously Sexy

Wagyu beef cheeks in a 24-hour red wine braise

Served with gravy to die for

[Just re-heat and serve or fry-em up like steaks, but careful they're super soft and tender]

S$16 per hunk

Those Two Skanky Chickens - Carmen and Josephine

Comes stuffed with couscous, black olives and red peppers

Marinated for 10 hours and seasoned with a very special rub

[Oven required, skill not necessary - just pop into the oven for 90 minutes]

S$38 per birdy with the couscous stuffing

Thunder Thighs - But Who Can Resist Them

Better known as duck confit, our duck thighs are cured in a unique blend of salt and spices then poached for God knows how long till it's meltingly soft

[Pan-frying skills required, follow our method for crispy skin every time]

S$16 per duck leg

Nice Legs - I Mean, Shanks

Fall-off the bone lamb shanks prepared in our special black nut braise

[Just re-heat and serve.  You don't even need to plate a fork and knife]

S$16 per shank

Nice Racks - Lamb Racks, That Is

8 gorgeous rib bones come crusted with with spiced bread crumbs and truffle mustard

Served with our signature onion and tamarind jam

[Oven required, skill not necessary - just pop into the oven for 30 mins. No oven?  Watch our video for pan-roasting methods]

S$54 per rack

The Perfect Sidekick

Every hero needs a sidekick, every star a mascot, every... ok you get it.

For maximum impact, pair our signature mains with the perfect sides like truffled mac and cheese or black nut mash potatoes.  See our note on our signature sides for more.

The Perfect Ending

In a perfect world, you will end every wonderful meal with 2 desserts.  But it's not that's why you can choose to have more if you like.  Mousy over to our note on our signature desserts for an idea on how to make your guests remember you forever...

Cooking Your Way to His (or Her) Heart

Surely, you've heard it before, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach."  And yes, it's scientifically proven that men look for mates not only for love but also for food.  I speak from experience.  The day I decided she was the one was the day I tasted her Hainanese Lamb Soup which she prepared from a collection of family recipes.  I'll spare you the details, but yes it was one of those rare life changing moments, that eureka moment that sparks in your mind, "hey, I think I can spend the rest of my life with this person."  (Uh-huh, some of you are nodding, you know what I'm talking about)

For the rest of you, don't lose hope, that moment is coming.  The best thing you can do is to increase the probability of that moment happening.  I'd say, cook for your man (guys you hang in there I'll come to you).  Don't know how to cook?  No time?  Don't fret.  We'll help you plan and prep a meal that you'll finish cooking and plate yourself so you can proudly say, "yes dear, I cook this specially for you."

Go easy, set the stage with some romance.  We choose a Moscato with light bubbles (sure a Sauternes, but you don't want to come across as high maintenance).  No beer, this is not soccer night.

Of course, no cocktail nuts.  To start the mood right, we look to D'La Mer. Nothing evokes romance like The Sea - American Bay Scallops, Chilean Cod and Atlantic Salmon (you can request for starter or main portions).  We slow poach these in extra virgin olive oil flavoured with lemon, chilli and thyme.  The result is an exquisite nutty flavour with floral and spicy notes, not to mention, melt in your mouth texture.  You'd imagine your first kiss to be like this.

But baby, when it's love, if it's not rough it isn't fun (Oh, uh-oh, oh, oh).  That's right baby, bring on the meat.

Yea ok, I hear you, it's not easy to cook a steak to medium rare.  No problemo, the Half Baked Chef uses the sous vide method just like in professional restaurants.  This means that the meat is sealed in a vacuum pack and cooked to the exact doneness.  So when it comes to you, all you do is heat some butter in a pan, and sear off the steak for 30 seconds on each side.  Just make sure your pan is hot and you'll have perfect steaks with the perfect crust (we assume you can count to 30 fairly quickly).  If you want something unusual, try the braised wagyu beef cheek.  You can sear it off like the steaks or just serve it as it is.    For sides, go luxury with the potato puree with white truffle oil or spice things up with the black nut version.  By now, he should already be putty in your hands.  Read on if you need dessert, otherwise, we'll be happy for you to create your own happy ending.

Guys, your turn.  If she's as sweet as she looks,  I'll make a hasty generalisation here and say she loves dessert.  So why not have two desserts and skip the apps?  For dramatic effect, order the peach soup which you will serve in a soup plate, garnished with some thyme and a sprinkling of ground parprika for colour (like a good wingman, we'll prepare that for you).  You will set the soup plate in front of her and then in dramatic fashion, whip out a bottle of Jouet-Perrier (or champagne of your choice, you won't be stinging here) from behind your back.  With resemblance to a seasoned maitre-d, you will pop the champagne without taking out her eye.  Then you will pour a generous serve of champagne into the peach soup, making a full circle and reciting a haiku you just made up (if she's that sort).  She will gasp at your manly theatrics and pause to admire the subsiding bubbles before looking up at you. And with her eyes, tell you she's yours tonight (we can't help you with forever).

But she's not yet impressed, don't worry, there's still the second dessert - Chocolate.  No woman can resist chocolate.

Making Hosting Simple

They say birds of a feather flock together and that cannot be more true with people who like to eat.  In food crazy Singapore, it seems we are a nation born to love food.  Maybe it's our heritage, too, that we also love to host friends and families and cook for them.  (Hands up if you're one of them. Woot!)

Of late, many people have come up to us with questions like, "I want to host my girlfriends over for dinner, but other than pasta, I don't know how to cook anything else.  What's easy to prepare but impressive?" There's also the "I'm throwing a cosy dinner party for overseas family visiting but don't have time to prepare a full buffet by myself, where can I buy dishes that will reheat easily?"

Sure a private chef takes all the hassle out of it, but sometimes it also takes away all the fun.  Sure cooking is fun, but there are bits of it that are tiring, like having to run from shop to shop to buy different ingredients, while your kids are waiting in the car.  There's also the tedious bits like peeling potatoes and dicing carrots.  But then there are the fun bits, the reasons why we cook.  The aroma of a frying steak, the creative process of plating a grilled vegetable platter, interlacing roasted red capsicum with tender courgette coins.  Then there's the satisfaction of watching your guests orgasmic faces when they eat.  The coos and ahs echoing around the dining table.  This is why we slave all day, running around like a mad dog and ruining our nails in dishwater.

If only we can do away with the tedious parts and just do the fun bits.

Well, enter the Half Baked Chef.  We do all the work and you have all the fun.  Not to mention, claim all the credit.  We peel, chopped, prep and you can choose only to assemble, fry and serve.  You can even improvise on the dishes, add a crust to the fish, or add mon au beurré to the boeuf bourguignon.  It's all up to you.

So what is the Half Baked Chef all about?  Simply, it's a food prep service that helps you to plan menus and does the cleaning and cutting for you.  You can even choose the level of preparation done for you.  For example, if you like to order our signature Roast Chicken with Cous Cous Stuffing, you can choose to have it arrive stuffed and trussed and ready for the oven, or you can choose to stuff and truss it yourself adding some of your own secret ingredients and personality along the way.  

Whether you're a kitchen noob looking to execute a 3 course meal or a seasoned party planner with no time (and only one pair of hands), the Half Baked Chef is your invisible cook in the kitchen, your wingman in your campaign to claim back the domestic goddess title.

To know more about our services, or if you like more ideas for your dinner party, email us at thehalfbakedchef@gmail.com.  There's nothing we love more than seeing friends and family gather around the dinner table.  Cos ultimately, that's what good food is really all about.

ps/ We made a list of our popular dishes which range from the chichi duck confit to the comforting braised lamb shank (we've added an exciting black nut version).  If you have something in mind that's not on the list, we'll be more than happy to oblige you.