We Tried Nasi Lemak Macarons And They Were Better Than You’d Think [Review]

Elevete Patisserie’s latest special offering for the patriotic season is a homage to our national dish.

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We were invited to try out a special new flavour at Elevete Patisserie, which regularly offers interesting new flavours of desserts for festive seasons.

This time, they are running a Merdeka & Malaysia Day Special that features 3 new desserts: the Milo Dinosaur Mini Cake, Macaron Gemilang, and Anak Malaysia Fatcarons.

Elevete Patisserie is pretty well-known for making gorgeous and probably the best macarons and fatcarons in town, but this time, head chef Edwin Chan is breaking boundaries and making a savoury, spicy Nasi Lemak fatcaron.

Yes, you read that right. It has homemade sambal and everything.

The Taste Test

The Nasi Lemak fatcaron is unassumingly nestled with other more reasonable flavours such as Milo Dinosaur, Sirap Bandung, Ondeh-Ondeh, Rose Lychee, and more.

Can you guess which one is the Nasi Lemak fatcaron?
(Credit: Anne Dorall/TRP)

The special flavour may seem entirely at home in the middle of the fatcaron box with a Malaysian flag printed on fondant, but it hides an unexpected secret: it’s filled with spicy sambal, anchovies, and peanut bits.

You thought we were joking.
(Credit: Anne Dorall/TRP)

‘Fatcarons’ is a portmanteau of ‘fat macarons’, in the sense that it has two layers of thick buttercream filling instead of just one and enough space in the middle for extra fillings.

This savoury macaron uses a lemongrass-and-ginger infused buttercream piped into two layers, then filled with anchovies and peanut bits, and finally squeezed with a generous amount of spicy homemade sambal into the remaining space.

The fragrance of nasi lemak hits you as you bite into the macaron, full of savoury tastes and interesting textures. The nasi lemak bits actually go super well with the earthy-and-bright flavour of the buttercream, while the macaron shell lends its crumbly yet chewy texture to create a solid base for the entire dessert.

We also got a chance to try their adorable Milo Dinosaur Mini Cake, which features little chocolate dinosaurs made of chocolate ganache on a bed of crushed Milo nuggets.

The cake itself is a naked moist chocolate sponge cake with a thick messy layer of condensed-milk-and-evaporated-milk buttercream in the middle, much like the real drink.

Three little chocolate dinosaurs trooping away.
(Credit: Elevete Patisserie)

Unsurprisingly, the cake is a sweet treat that will satisfy your sweet tooth (and get the kids excited!), but it’s not abhorently sweet enough to make your jaw ache.

Instead, it tasted very much like an actual Milo Dinosaur drink in solid cake form, though you might need to pair it with a cup of hot tea to cut through the rich chocolate.

The Verdict

Despite the eyebrow-raising combination of flavours, I must admit that the Nasi Lemak fatcaron is a very pleasant surprise that I truly enjoyed.

Most people know macarons as very sweet desserts, but Edwin has made a bold decision to turn it savoury. Not only that, he made it with spicy sambal, not even sweet sambal, to be worked into the saccharine petit four. And it worked.

Head chef Edwin Chan shows us the Merdeka specials available at Elevete Patisserie.
(Credit: Anne Dorall/TRP)

This Nasi Lemak fatcaron is a gamble that he took and it certainly paid off.

Try it for yourself on Elevete Patisserie’s website, or browse their selection of desserts for a more traditionally sweet dessert.

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