Even on a weekday morning, it doesn’t take long before every seat in The Baking Xperiment is taken up. But despite the bustling scene, this café still feels like home.
On the menu, a variety of desserts including croissants, pain au chocolat, brownies, cakes and cookies, as well as sandwiches, lasagne and Irish beef stew, instantly make your mouth water.
The real stars of this “morning show” are the “schwirls” or cromboloni. For the unfamiliar, a crombolone is a fusion between a croissant and a bombolone, which is an Italian stuffed doughnut.
Here, patrons can look forward to five flavours: Earl Grey dark chocolate, Biscoff, matcha, pistachio, and Milo dinosaur.
Speaking with FMT Lifestyle, Aaron Chan, who founded The Baking Xperiment with his wife Amanda Quah, said they were the first to introduce crombolini in Malaysia in September 2022.
It took approximately two months, he added, for them to perfect the recipe. The cromboloni are made in-house daily and are available from around noon until they are sold out.
Chan, 36, told FMT Lifestyle that the process of making the cromboloni takes two full days before they are ready for sale.
It begins with the lamination process that involves folding the dough and rolling butter into it to create very thin layers. Then comes shaping. Next, the dough is left to proof for approximately four hours before being baked. Each baked crombolone is then filled with custard.
“Everything we do is from scratch, so it’s a lot of work,” said Chan, adding that they are particular about using good-quality ingredients such as French butter and Japanese matcha.
Chan and Quah have come a long way, having started their business from home in the mid-2020s.
Previously working in the education sector, the couple initially sold only brownies and named their business The Brownie Xperiment. When other baked goods were introduced, they renamed it The Baking Xperiment and opened the café in March 2022.
The Baking Xperiment may be the first to introduce cromboloni, but do they deserve the title “King of Cromboloni?” Absolutely.
Since the cromboloni sell out fast, FMT Lifestyle pre-ordered a few the day before. Was the effort worth it? Once again, absolutely!
The matcha cromboloni, although slightly bitter, have a fresh, smooth custard that contrasts well with the flaky texture of the pastry.
For those with a sweet tooth, the Biscoff cromboloni will be right up your alley! If you close your eyes, it’s easy to differentiate the crunch of the cromboloni from that of the Biscoff biscuits.
Meanwhile, the Milo dinosaur cromboloni, topped with Milo nuggets, sure pack a chocolatey punch! And the Earl Grey cromboloni with dark chocolate sauce offer a burst of flavours in one’s mouth – the earthy flavour of the tea accentuated by the bitter chocolate sauce and sweet custard.
However, the pistachio cromboloni are the ones that steal the show. The topping of light whipped cream and crushed pistachios makes it a case of love at first bite.
Filled with cool pistachio custard, each bite is flaky, creamy and crunchy. No surprise, then, to learn that this is a favourite among regulars!
Not a fan of custards and creams? You can always opt for the plain croissants: they are also flaky, buttery, and free of any creamy mess… although you might have another type of mess to deal with – a flaky one!
Enjoy all the buttery goodness with a hot cup of Americano or cappuccino brewed from hand-picked coffee beans by local roasters. All in all, a trip to The Baking Xperiment is a wonderful, relaxing and lip-smacking café experience!
The Baking Xperiment
5, Ground Floor, Wisma Dicor,
Jalan SS17/1A,
47500 Subang Jayam Selangor
Contact: 011-6102 3004
Business hours:
10am–7pm (closed every third Wednesday of the month)