THE cake: tiramisu, a mascarpone cheese concoction from Italy. The price tag: $9.80 for a 6cm-by-6cm piece. The shop: surprise, surprise, BreadTalk.

This chain of shops, famous for its Flosss or pork floss- topped buns, has gone gourmet.

Its revamped outlet at the basement of Paragon shopping mall in Orchard Road has been renamed BreadTalk Silver to set it apart from its other outlets. The store looks decidedly more luxe too, with Italian marble flooring, fresh flowers, and cakes displayed in glass boxes that look like jewellery cases.

The chain's head of brand development, Ms Joyce Koh, 31, said the move was 'part of brand elevation', adding that the chain is celebrating its seventh anniversary in July.

The spruce-up might also be a way to counter competition from other patisseries in the mall, such as Bakerzin on the second floor, and Canele in the basement.

BreadTalk Silver, which opened on May 18, also offers cakes and breads not found in the chain?s other shops.

One example is the Katherina Tiramisu, which costs almost $10 a slice or $108 for a whole cake, making it one of the most expensive in Singapore.

Ms Koh said the high price comes from the ingredients used, which includes mascarpone cheese imported from Italy.

The five pieces on sale each day are usually sold out.

Other cakes include Pleasure, a chocolate-infused orange mousse that goes for $8.80 a slice, and Macha, a mousse cake with powdered Japanese green tea, milk chocolate and pistachios, which costs $6.80 a slice.

Unlike the cakes sold at other BreadTalk outlets, the design and concept of these cakes are influenced by European and Japanese trends. Ingredients used, such as the Japanese green tea powder, are of a higher grade too.

The new outlet has 150 new breads and cakes made by a team of 15 bakers and six chief bakers drawn from the 25 BreadTalk outlets islandwide.

They were sent to places like Japan, Germany and Spain for two to three weeks at a time to learn from top bakers, and came back with new ideas and baking equipment for the store.

The funny names for the buns remain, though, with offerings such as Cures Of The Golden Flower, a white chocolate-coated loaf covered with almond slices that was inspired by the movie Curse Of The Golden Flower, and Naan Da Yo, with edamame or Japanese soybeans baked into naan bread.

Prices start at $1.20 for a cheesestick, and are generally about 15 per cent higher than those in the other outlets.

Many curious shoppers were in the store when LifeStyle visited on Friday. Ms Alice Seah, 37, who works in event services, said: "They're moving a notch up and it's more sophisticated."

BreadTalk Silver is at B1-11/12 Paragon, 290 Orchard Road, Tel: 6733-4434.
Opening hours: 8am to 10pm.