Saadeddin's Golden Plates of Excellence

I had three cakes during three separate celebrations on my birthday week. Guess where my cakes came from? Better yet, guess what it is... because it was the same kind of cake all throughout.

WE LOVE THIS CHEESECAKE!!! Notice the "golden plate"? It's more than just color.

Yes, blueberry cheesecake from Saadeddin Pastry! It's the most popular kind of cake among expats. I hardly understood the fascination until I had my first spoonful of this creamy cheesecake. It tasted like ref cake! Haha! Which is a good thing. It has thin layers of chiffon and I really like the crumbly crust. It's not too sweet too, a characteristic of most cakes found in Arabic bakeshops here in Riyadh.

I visited the Saadeddin Pastry in Thalateen Street the other day and was surprised to see so many products on display. In my four years in Riyadh, I think this is the first time I'm setting foot inside a Saadeddin store (not counting the kiosks they have in Granada Mall and Kingdom Mall's food courts). I was amazed with the displays of cakes, ice cream, nuts, chocolates, and lots and lots of desserts. What a sweet store!

One of the branches in Riyadh is located in Thalateen Street.

Saadedddin started in 1935 in Akka City in Palestine. It now has over 50 branches throughout Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain. Saadeddin's golden rule of striving to offer the best products and services to its customer has made it one of the leading bakeshops in Saudi Arabia. Their passion for excellence is symbolized by the "golden plates" they use for their cakes. The golden plates don't only talk of finely-made, high-quality products but also of the excellent taste of Saadeddin in giving their consumers a classic and elegant way to show off their bought goodies. Saadeddin also successfully brought Arabic and Western desserts together in one store.

Saadeddin Pastry offers a lot of products from cakes to chocolates to coffee to nuts to ice creams to pasta... they're overwhelming! If you come to their store with no particular product in mind, you'll find yourself yourself staring for minutes and asking "what's this? what's that?" and undergoing a major case of indecision. (I know I did!)

Because I'm hardly familiar with Arabic desserts, here is another photo dump for you. Don't blame me if you suddenly want to grab a box of their luscious cakes and a tub of their ice cream rolls. ;)

Welcome to the land of cakes and candies and chocolates and so much more!!!

The cake display... look at that gorgeous "fruit cake"!

Ooooooh, so chocolatey!

Did I mention there are a LOT of choices?

If you can't decide what to order, grab these slices first.

Eclairs and tarts

Chilled desserts

More chilled desserts! Haha! Ice cream you scream? Here yah go!

And if you can't decide what flavor to have? Go for the ice pops!

And hey, the sweets never ran out. Chocolates!!!

Perfect for gifts.

Are you nuts for nuts?!  

Ready for take-out; and Arabic pastries too.

I also took one of their fliers and was bombarded with gorgeous photos of Arabic pastries like Baklava (honey/syrup soaked layers of filo pastry filled with chopped nuts), different kinds of Kunafa (syrup soaked cheese pastry), assorted Mamoul (small shortbread filled with dates, pistachios, and other nuts), Qatayef (sweet dumpling filled cream and nuts), Dates pies, and assorted sandwiches. The choices are endless and I want to taste them all!!! But alas, with all the sweet stuff in there to taste and try, I'll probably go out a diabetic. But hey, a little sweet now and then can't hurt, right? ;)

Saadeddin Pastry has five branches in Riyadh and they have an active Facebook account, which hopefully introduces an English translation of their status updates so we, expats who can't read Arabic, can understand. ;)

What's your favorite from Saadeddin Pastry? Can you recommend so I can trim down my list of cakes and pastries and chocolates and nuts and ice cream to try? :) ~ Sundrenched

Saadeddin Pastry
Click for branches here (maps included).
T: +920017070
www.saadeddin.com

Sweet Treats By Cielo

A friend once said that I look like someone who bakes. Maybe it's the way I carry myself or my mannerisms perhaps or just my love for anything baked. I don't get it either. Unfortunately, as much as I want to invent a "Sundrenched, the baker" persona, I'm not a kitchen person. I just go there to get food. And eat food. That's why I have so much respect for women who cook and bake, on top of being housewives/mothers and/or career women. Salute!

One housewife and baker I admire is Cielo Algaeed, a Filipina married to a Saudi and has two daughters. She began baking months ago and she's venturing out into a small home business now. We met her in one of the coffee shops in the city last Eid vacation so we can ogle at and sample the pastries she baked. 

50 of these, please!

Among the pastries she presented, the coconut macaroons won my and Eyecandy's hearts. WE LOVE THEM! The macaroons are moist, chewy, and sweet. It's packed with grated coconut but it's not crumbly. It has traces of the famous Goldilocks' butter macaroons but Cielo's are not too sweet and it has that raw, undercooked taste to it. In a good way, because it doesn't taste commercial. It tasted and looked fresh underneath its thin plastic cover. Even after a day (because, yes, we got to take home most of the stuff), the macaroons remained moist and yummy.

Mango cheesecake

Oreo cheesecake

The cheesecake bites were delicious also. It was just the right size for one, just enough to enjoy the creamy and cheesy consistency without being cloying. The Philippine mangoes used in her mango cheesecake was the highlight of the cake for me. I wouldn't have probably enjoyed it as much if she used the kinds of mangoes available here in the city. We like the Oreo version too.

Cream puffs

The cream puffs were good but I find the pastry used different from what I am used to. It's almost like soft bread instead of the crunchy, hollow one I am familiar with and where are the hardened caramel strings on top? Hehe. The cream tasted like the Bavarian filling of donuts. It was a little bit fragile too as it can lose its shape with a slight of the hand. This is not to say we didn't like it. We did! It wasn't too sweet and we lost count on how many pieces we finished in one sitting. 

The Toffee Bars

Chocolatey, nutty

The Toffee Bar was the weakest link of the bunch. It was too sweet and the base was a little bit bland. I'm also not fond of nuts in pastries so I might be a little bit biased on this. A tweak in the amount of sugar might make this one a winner.

Cielo has more stuff in her pink Celine mini luggage that we wanted to steal haha kitchen that you might want to try. We recently saw her chocolate cake in her blog and it was a sight to behold. She offers tarts, mousse, and other baked goodies. She can also make dessert and candy buffets for your parties. Check out her blog for more details. 

TPT xThe Algaeed ladies

If you want something really home made and made with love, then try Cielo's Sweet Treats. She's one of our featured home bakers in The Pink Tarha Marketplace (that we will formally launch soon). A bonus when you order from her is the chance to meet her equally adorable and pretty daughter, Rania. Oh my goodness, you have to meet the little girl! She's sooo cute and witty! Her husband, Abdul, is nice and friendly too. We were honored to meet such a lovely family. :) ~ Sundrenched

Cielo's Sweet Treats
cielo.p.algaeed@gmail.com
thefashiondomain.blogspot.com

Disclaimer: Pastries were all provided free of charge by Cielo Algaeed. Comments and opinions in this entry are mine (Sundrenched) with input from Eyecandy.