Late past the midnight hour, when most of us are sound asleep, The Night Owl's Oven Treats embarks on a labour of love, whipping up a storm of luscious cakes and gooey cookies to satisfy fantasies of indulgent desserts.
The founder of The Night Owl's Oven Treats went from making sweet music to baking sweet marvels.
She had been a cellist in the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra since 2015, until it ceased operations indefinitely last year.
Encouraged by friends in the orchestra who missed her treats, she turned her pastime and passion of baking into a business, The Night Owl's Oven Treats, birthing a distinctive range of Basque burnt cheesecakes and New York-inspired jumbo cookies.
These wee hours have inspired no fewer than 10 different flavours of burnt cheesecakes in her repertoire - perfect if you love this genre of cakes but crave more varieties.
Purists can pick the Original Basque Burnt Cheesecake, with a centre so softly creamy, it nearly oozes like lava, encased within a beautifully smoky-dark, caramelised exterior, all the hallmarks of a confident burnt cheesecake.
If you're a Japanese tea enthusiast who adores the toasty-roasty mellowness of houjicha, check out The Night Owl's Houjicha Basque Burnt Cheesecake, relying on Niko Neko Matcha’s TSUBAKI / Houjicha powder, artisanally roasted to lower the bitterness and caffeine, leaving behind a smoky, nutty sweetness that makes this cheesecake extra-memorable.
Being a home baker, it's natural for The Night Owl to tackle homegrown influences: The Gula Melaka Basque Burnt Cheesecake promises the delicious depth of local palm sugar, evoking hints of butterscotch within a uniquely Malaysian creation that shines in its elegant simplicity.
The Banoffee Crumble Basque Burnt Cheesecake is more elaborate, a notably fun makeover that combines cheesecake with the beloved banoffee pie.
Have we saved our potential favourite cake for last?
The S’more-gasbord kicks things up a notch, punching in s'mores into the cookie, its 60% Belgian dark chocolate flecks finding worthy companions in whole Graham crackers and a sticky-soft marshmallow core. Munch on this and feel immediately transported to a campfire.
Green tea makes a comeback for the cookies too: The charmingly monikered Matcha-m Hulk melds the compelling earthiness of YURI / Matcha with the citrusy buoyancy of yuzu, making magic out of two quintessentially Japanese elements. If you want a cookie to impress a discerning diner, this is the one.
Jammin’ Nuts is nostalgia in a cookie, reinterpreting the schoolyard PB&J sandwich into a for-all-generations peanut butter cookie, stuffed with peanut butter and strawberry conserve, while the scarlet-hued MasqueRed can't mask its Red Velvet roots, with whiffs of chocolate and vanilla swirling around pillowy marshmallows.
The Night Owl is certainly worth hooting about. Its cakes should be ordered three to four days in advance; cookies require one or two days.
The Matcha, an increasingly popular flavour, has been a mainstay of The Night Owl for more than a year.
Crafted with Niko Neko Matcha's Japanese YURI / Pure Matcha, the choice of top patissiers, this showcases the aromatic richness of fine-grade green tea, with a gentle umami, clean and mild vegetative notes, low in tea astringency - the ideal uplift to balance out a burnt cheesecake.
If you're facing a dilemma about whether to order the Original or the Matcha, since both seem irresistible, The Night Owl empathises with your predicament!
Thankfully, they've created the double-layered Orijinaru-Matcha, playfully bringing together the Original and the Matcha for a marriage made in dessert paradise, a two-in-one special that will look photogenically striking on the table for any birthday, anniversary or special occasion.
Prefer Earl Grey tea? Try The Night Owl's Earl Grey Basque Burnt Cheesecake, infused not only with Earl Grey black tea flavoured with bergamot oil, delicately conveying citrus and floral scents, but also a subtle grittiness from tea leaves that add texture to the cake's smooth sumptuousness.
It's the most tempting tea cake for your tea break!
There's a lot going on here - a decadent cheese filling infused with plenty of pure bananas and a bit of salted caramel toffee, crowned with a classic streusel crumb topping. A terrific treat for the young at heart, this might be our best bet for a child's birthday celebration.
Chocoholics aren't neglected by The Night Owl: The Belgian Dark Chocolate ups the ante with 70% Belgian dark chocolate, swoon-worthy and sensuous, its luxurious flavour complementing a texture that's not too dense, not too cakey, just right for a burnt cheesecake.
The Dark Chocolate is also part of The Night Owl's Black Forest, another two-tier triumph.
For those of us who've long loved Black Forest cakes, this is a delightful way to usher a cherished staple into the era of burnt cheesecakes.
With The Original on top and Belgian Dark Chocolate at the base, a juicy strip of house-made cherry compote is sandwiched between both, paralleled by a generous garnish of fresh red cherries and chocolate shavings on the surface. Sweet cheesecake, slightly bitter chocolate and ripely tart berries, harmonious in one captivating cake with shades of light and dark, yin and yang.
Have we saved our potential favourite cake for last?
The Tiramisu is The Night Owl’s single alcohol-laced cake, true to the timeless tradition of Italian tiramisu, its creamy-cheesy, melty centre infused with espresso and Kahlua, finished off with boozy Kahlua-tinged mascarpone whipped cream and a dusting of cocoa powder that accentuates the charred top.
A perky pick-me-up that'll bring instant cheer, hitting us with both a caffeine boost and a lick of liquor.
If you're ordering cakes from The Night Owl, you'll need to check out the cookies too, baked to order.
The Night Owl's jumbo temptations seize inspiration from New York City's epically chunky breed, simultaneously crunchy and tender. These cookies measure about nine centimetres in diameter, brimming with premium ingredients.
The Ooey Gooey is the deluxe equivalent of a chocolate chip cookie, with a crisp edge and well-tuned, wonderfully rounded flavour, drawing from 60% dark chocolate callets and chunks that dramatically dot each craggy cookie, yielding thick, melt-in-the-mouth comfort.
Absolutely not your average chocolate chip cookie.
The Double Trouble is equally fudge-tastic, a double dose of chocolate that concentrates brownie brilliance into a cookie, coupling 70% Belgian dark chocolate callets and chunks with a dark cocoa exterior that tempers the sweetness of the cookies. It's an awesome example of how The Night Owl has carefully calibrated every recipe, so you get something great no matter which cake or cookie you order.
Ultimately, our heart might belong to The Night Owl transformation of familiar faves into cookies.
The Night Owl is certainly worth hooting about. Its cakes should be ordered three to four days in advance; cookies require one or two days.
The Night Owl’s Oven Treats
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Tel: 019-342-7991
instagram.com/thenightowlsoventreats
facebook.com/thenightowlsoventreats
Tel: 019-342-7991
