The Chocolate Medley!

And now...

2011-02-27T05:57:00.000-08:00

It's rather shameful for me to say this but... it's been over a month since my new blog has started.

www.thecrumbshop.blogspot.com

I sincerely thank all those who has been with this blog and welcomes you to another new beginning with me at the other blog. For better or for worse? Well as long as my appetite and greed matters :)

See you at The Crumb Shop!

Shifting to a new blog

2010-12-14T17:00:00.000-08:00

As much as I love this blog and the name The Chocolate Medley, I've decided to shift over to another blog. Another blog that is slightly more... serious? wonders if thats the right word but anyway. Until that blog is ready to go, I'll still be posting here for the updates. But don't worry about the recipes and stuffs cause this blog will still remain here.

Well... hope it's a good way to start the upcoming year!

Berries and yogurt

2010-11-27T07:18:00.000-08:00

Don't know about you guys but I love... LOVE walking around supermarkets. Yes very aunty... very boring... very unexciting but hell no not for me. Probably because I'm just a typical adult-to-be who dreams about living alone in her own apartment getting chores done laundry done groceries done and paying her own bills. But going to the supermarkets alone just makes me feel somewhat productive and so damn in charged of my own life. Compared to going shopping in town buying clothes and shoes I find shopping in the supermarket so much more relaxing and let's face it... no women is more happier choosing which flavor of Ben's and Jerry's than choosing size M or size L.

Anyway this is no recipe. I always carry home punnets of berries whenever they are on sale and mix them all up with natural yogurt. Sometimes I mix in a bit of cinnamon and rosewater into the yogurt before mixing into the berries for a bit of Arabian feel, or just eat the whole bowl with a bar of dark chocolate. Don't really care if it's healthy full of antioxidants or not, but just the fact that this is so refreshing on a hot afternoon ~~and that I get to go to the toilet and bomb the bowl off the ground like hell as I'm not suppose to eat yogurt~~ it's such a beautiful sight to look at is good enough for me.

Nice weekend to all!

Anyway.

Junk?

2010-11-16T19:05:00.000-08:00

I was thinking of making Wednesday a junk food day but well... I eat junk food for lunch almost on everyday =X

Cheesy Feet (Stars)

2010-10-19T05:52:00.000-07:00

Oh I can't tell you how good and fast these are. They are Nigella's cheesy feet and they it took me like less than 10 minutes to put everything together. I don't own a feet cookie cutter and during times when I couldn't find any chips at home to much on, I make these and just use a knife to slice up the dough. That's how convenient these babies are. The red speckles you see are dried chili flakes that I added in... so in a way, these are not Nigella's cheesy feet. These are Katherine's cheesy stars for adults =P

Cheesy Crackers for Adults (Originally Nigella's Cheesy Feet)

100g Cheddar, grated
25g Butter, soften
50g Plain flour
1/4 tsp Baking powder
1 tbsp Dried Chili flakes (Yea I like it very hot)

Preheat oven at 200 deg cel. Basically just mix everything together until you get a dough. Then roll it in between sheets of plastic and cut out whatever shapes you want. Arrange on a baking tray and bake for 10 minutes till the crackers are slightly brown on the side and crisp.

These keep quite well but if it happens to be a Sat home alone night, you'll probably finish up everything after a movie.

Banana Ice Cream

2010-10-18T05:08:00.000-07:00

Isn't it creepy how time flies sometimes? I kept having the thought that I just posted here not long ago but damn, the previous post was dated 12th September and it's already 18th October! Freaky or what? Time just crept by so silently that you don't even notice... it's like the whole month didn't even happen. What on earth was I busy with is still a mystery...

Haha anyway. I have so much to update about. But let me just starlet you a little with another Less Than 5 Ingredients Recipe. And I kid you not... It's ice cream.

2-3 Ingredients Only Banana Ice Cream

4 large Bananas
1 tbsp Peanut Butter
2 tsp Cocoa Powder (optional for non chocolate version)

It's gonna start out like you are blitzing kidney stones but it'll smooth out

Slice bananas thinly and freeze in a ziplock bag. When frozen, put the frozen bananas in the food processor and wait till you get a thick and soft serve liked banana puree (About 3-4 minutes). Add in the cocoa if using and blitz again till everything is well combined. You may eat the soft serve as it is or let the ice cream harden further in a tupperware.

I came across this recipe on a health magazine few months ago and I can't tell you how many times I've made this. Bananas is like a absolute must have item in my house but sometimes parents bought too much and it's such a pain to see them grow black. You can't be churning out banana bread every week (another post) so it's really a good way to use up ripen banana and to deal with the recent toaster oven weather. it's really unbelievable that you can make ice cream in such a way but damn it really works.

My family prefers the cocoa version as they are not a big fan of peanut butter as much as me and it's really great for people with diabetics or trying to cut down on sugar intake. Especially so in my case when my oven is churning out sweet bakes on weekly basis. Next time, I'll probably use Nutella *evil grins* :P

BAB Flea market aftermath

2010-09-12T07:53:00.000-07:00

.... and the flea market is a great success!! Haha I know this is really silly but yea I am actually blogging about it after the flea market. You probably think that I should have put up a post here about it earlier but yea. I did not.

Anyway, it was really a very nice flea market! The Chocolate Medley participated in the BAB flea market, selling the signature Chocolate Chunk Cookies and Classic O' Brownie. The crowd was good and lots of people tasted the bakes, and I am very glad to say that Everything was sold out! Not a single piece of brownie or cookie left... unless you wanna talk about the samples.

I would also wanna thank those who have tried and supported TCC, and also friends and families who popped by! As for customers who bought and I've chatted with and now looking at this, big Hi from me again and welcome to my humble little blog! Hope you enjoy the bakes =) This would definitely not be the last flea market that TCC is gonna be. As for the time being, I might take part in BAB's Christmas flea market, selling cookies and brownies too (hopefully cupcakes too), but still information to be confirmed.

Anyway, after 2 days of selling and baking I'm really beaten. So now the bed's calling and till then, Toodooloo~! =D

Grilled Cheese

2010-08-22T06:58:00.000-07:00

I won't try to convince you that I am a very health conscious person. Despite the fact that I work in the health care industry, being health conscious sounds kindda sheepish to me. I don't buy into the organic myth and I live with the thought that I live only once. I'm definitely not encouraging this to be a frequent meal repertoire, but it's just those days when you need some trash food to feel more affirm with yourself... especially after a trashy day.

Below is one of those 10 minutes dinner I fix for myself whenever no one is around at home for dinner or when I'm just pure desperate for trash food.

Grilled Cheese (For 1 person)

2 slices of white bread (Don't use wheat bread... life doesn't work that way.)
About 6 thin slices of Mozzarella Cheese
About 6 thin slices of Cheddar Cheese
White pepper for seasoning
Tabasco Sauce / Dried chili flakes for taste

Preheat oven to 200 degree Celsius. Place the bread on a tray and arrange the Mozzarella cheese on top first, covering surface area of the bread as much as possible. Top with Cheddar and season with white pepper. Place right under the oven grill for about 10 minutes till the cheeses are burnished and meltingly bubbling, and the edges of the bread are darken and toasted. Remove tray after baking and add a few drops of Tabasco for a devilishly hot grilled cheese.

Although Mozzarella is a very bland cheese, there isn't any salt as the Cheddar is there for the taste, and please don't even think of using crap like Kraft. I always get proper Cheddar and Mozzarella and I know it doesn't mean something more healthy. If the thought of eating grilled cheese really appalls you, then perhaps you might wanna slice some tomatoes or mushrooms and put them below the cheese, then some basil on top after grilling. If not, eat with a light salad and some fruits after... and perhaps a run the next day.

It's sort of like a quick Margarita Pizza fix for me and goes so good with an ice cold beer. I know about the fats and grease and cheese but... you just have to understand that underneath every lady's heart is a starving animal from hell thrashing itself against that white hot iron cage =)

Old Fashioned Doughnuts

2010-07-30T21:38:00.001-07:00

I love doughnuts. In fact I think there should be some rules or some sort, that if a stranger gives you a doughnut, you gotta make him one of your best friends or something. Doughnut is such a true representation of love, humanity and friendship between all living things. Little golden nuggets of fried soft and fluffy bread interior, wonderful fragrance of yeast and lovely combination of texture and sweetness. A bit of a chew, a bit of crunch from the sugar, totally enjoyable and light. Tell me, what's there not to love?

And hell are they dirt cheap to make. Half a bag of flour and one egg yields you a mountain of doughnuts good enough to spread the joy to the neighbors and even some for the kids to play around with. Before they were fried I was swearing that I will never make doughnuts again cause god... the amount are like rabbits giving birth! But yet it's so freaking easy to make and once they are done, you won't regret.

The process may be long (Bout 2 days for me) and it seem only right that you just pay like 80 cent to a dollar from the confectionery shop downstairs (Those who charge $1.20 for a doughnut are basically murdering the confectionery industry) But seriously, the whole process is just a question of some light mixing and kneading and repeating of steps. Something very very enjoyable to do on a quiet weekend after a crazy week at work. And god how you truly reap what you sow.

Anyway I didn't have those doughnut cutters so I just use a glass, cut out the rounds and made little holes in the middle by my fingers. Well just tear them it won't hurt.

Kitchen towels on the left, cinnamon sugar on the right

The only deal is that well.... it's fried. I hate frying stuffs at home because I do not have a fryer and I do not like the idea of half a bottle of oil gone in just one day. But at the same time I do not approve any forms of doughnut or fake imitations of doughnut by baking. It's worse than sin. Other than the frying part, you really gotta be damn good at coordination because many things will be happening just within split seconds. Not exactly relaxing but well... the enjoyable meter is still running.

But still on the topic of coordination, when I first made these alone I really had a very hard time keeping everything in control. First gotta lay the fermented dough gently into the hot oil, and by the time you are done picking up the 2nd dough, you have to check on the first one that you just plonk into the oil just seconds ago. Before you even consider putting more doughs into the oil cause you really want to end all these real quick, it's time to pick them all out, shake out all those dripping oil droplets and bunk them on some kitchen towels. And because you need them hot so the sugar will stick, you roll them quick around the towels and then into the sugar and now start all over again with the rest of the dough. TIRING. But well you know... I did the mistake of not considering hiring some help.

Icing makes them happy

I tell you they are not going to eat it all

I personally prefer doughnuts rolled in caster or cinnamon sugar only. Those heavily decorated and iced commercial stuffs are really not my cup of tea but according to the terrible twos, they said this recipe is quite good with icing. And apparently, hell lots of it.

This was only one of the many trays...

My Favorite Old Fashioned Doughnuts

180g Soften Butter
3/4 cup Sugar
Vanilla
3 Eggs
2 Cups of Milk
2 1/4 tsp Yeast
1/2 Cup Water
Salt
1kg Plain Flour (Don't be appalled... I told you this yields a village portion)

Don't really have a proper recipe, but here's how I did mine.

First, dissolve the yeast into the 1/2 cup of water and leave it aside. Heat up the milk and leave it warm aside. Cream butter, salt and sugar till they are well mixed and fluffy, then add in the eggs one by one and vanilla till it turns into a batter.

By now the milk should be warm. Pour it in and then the yeast water and stir to combine everything together. It will look terribly like a whole bowl of liquid and that's why you need one whole bag of flour. Add flour and knead till you get a soft dough (Bout 6 - 8 cups) and once your dough has come together, knead till smooth and elastic and no longer sticky. I know it's just more easier to dump in more flour but try not to be tempted or else you get hard fried rocks.

Leave the dough to proof until visibly doubled in size or as long as you can leave it to. I'm not stating a time as weather is so irregular these days so I usually heat up the oven to the lowest degree for a few minutes to get it stuffy and leave the whole bowl inside. Takes me bout 1 - 1 1/2 hour. Knead out the air after that and let it proof again for the 2nd time (I usually leave the dough to proof in the fridge until the next day).

If proofing in fridge, let the dough come to room temperature first. Then roll out to about half inch thickness and cut up whatever way you want cause they'll end up round anyway. Leave to proof again for the 3rd time (I do my oven trick again) Heat up oil in a pan, making sure it is all hot but not smoking. Pick up the dough gently and lie them into the oil. Fry a few minutes each side till golden brown and roll in a tray of sugar.

One thing I learn is that if your oil temperature is not constant, your doughnuts can turn out either too brown or unevenly cooked. So you really gotta know your stove well. Also roll the doughnuts in the sugar while they are hot. Don't bother about draining them or squeezing every single drop of oil out of them. Life doesn't go around this way and worse is the sugar won't stick.

Enjoy!

Let there be a serious amount of alcohol!

2010-07-14T18:04:00.000-07:00

Oh so you think one comment is going to tie me down forever and let my homepage start off with a nasty post? No way! Pfff, that's not even pinching a single tiny bent to my food blogging force. The force of the kitchen is strooooong =)

Still the alcoholic streak continues but not the bling part. I figured I should tone down that bling tone cause I'm turning into a kitchen whore very soon. On the day I bought the spatulas and discovered the $7 baby whisk that I bought over amazon for $20, I saw something very very precious on the counter... a huge ass bottle of Madagascar vanilla pod. I think the lady boss of Pantry Magic was kindda amused by my reaction that day cause I literally screamed with excitement.

So what I did? Grab one and rush to the supermarket, grab a small bottle of cheap vodka and Home made Vanilla extract here I come!!!

I've done extensive research online and discovered that you can actually make your own vanilla extract at home. I doubt I am one of those first few to try in Singapore but seriously, I kindda give up buying whatever extracts from outside. They are expensive and I literally have to depend on their stock availability. Just when you think you found something really special and natural from Madagascar, everywhere and everyone is using it like soap and shampoo everyday. Pfff. I'll make my own. Plus, continuous flow of good vanilla extract for eternity!

It's very simple. Just get a couple of good vanilla pods (Don't bother about the Indonesia ones) slit into half and drop into a bottle of cheap vodka. Ratio wise, you can choose to look up the net but I just go by eye. If the vanilla pods are too little (There's no such thing as too much pods) for my bottle, I'll just get more pods and add on. They said it's fine to do that anyway.

But still that's not all. For the first week, you gotta shake the bottle well every single day. Then subsequently you can shake it whenever possible, up till 3 months. But of course, the longer you steep the bottle, the better it gets. I intend to leave mine till Christmas.

Besides the vanilla extract, blueberries were on sale too and I bought another big bottle of vodka to make blueberry Beauregard for my ex boss at the pub. It's just basically soaking fruits (usually berries) in a bottle of vodka and let the flavor and color fused together for months.

Again, very simple. Grab a bottle of average vodka, pour out about a cup (use that cup to make the vanilla extract if you like, in my case I drank everything with Ribena and coke) Drop the blueberries into the bottle one at a time and when you are done, give the bottle a real good shake everyday for the first week. Then you leave the bottle in somewhere cool and dry for 3 months to a year, shaking it every now and then and let the magic begin....

This, is the bottle just after 3 days. This little project was done on 25th March and I have already given the bottle to my boss like 1 month ago. Man you should have see that deep dark magenta color. He was quite fascinated by this gift as no one would actually steep their own vodka. So basically, this makes a very good gift!

Oh my god just think bout the amount of cookies I can bake with that bottle of vanilla extract during Christmas!!! I did keep a small bottle of Beauregard and can't wait to taste it in August. Next one, Strawberry vodka! Doesn't take a genius to think up with that but keep watching!

The reason why this blog is so not happening

2010-07-05T10:23:00.000-07:00

It's 1.30am in the morning and I'm really having trouble sleeping. Worse is when I know I have to get up by 6am later but I thought heck. Maybe a bit of light browsing wouldn't hurt. Until I saw this via email:

'Hi there

Your blog and your words are really nice and straightforward but don't you think you should get a better camera? Its quite a pity to see a good blog get drowned by lousy pictures.'

Not going to reveal the name or email but dude.... You think cameras only cost 5 bucks only don't you? Let me just reply your question with 5 straightforward answers:

1. I don't know what's up with the snobbishness of very heavily photoshopped pictures taken by bloodily expensive cameras. It happened quite recently and I'm telling you, I don't like it.

2. Reason #1 may sound like I'm just some pathetic poor hippie who can't afford a proper camera. Truth is, I really don't fancy those gadgets and given the chance, I would have gotten the camera. But what's the point of getting one when I got a phone with camera? To me its all the same and I don't care if those bitches with fanciful food blogs condemn me now.

3. I noticed a pattern in some of those very very nice food blogs. They started as pretty humble and simple blog, sharing nice family recipes and a total pleasure to read. Then they begin to 'show off' their new fanciful gadgets for don't know what reasons, and just have to focus shuttle zoom lighting whatever fuck their food and the next thing you know, some advertisements start appearing on the page, and they blog like thousands are flogging down to their blog etc etc. Then next thing you know, from home food like warming stews and simple cookies become blow torched blind bake whatever fuck. Their food doesn't even look like it's home made and so damn not convincing that it's good. More like something you will pay for $100 a plate in a stuck up restaurant. I totally understand how that appeals to those image and brand focus hordes like you but Hey... I want a simple food blog. Not a freaking online Gourmet food magazine alright?

4. If I were to start taking fanciful pictures, I think my focus would end up being on how the pictures turn out and no longer on the food. That totally defeats my purpose of starting this blog. That is just not cool at all.

5. This is a really simple and down to earth blog. I'm not going to persuade you that my food are awesome, I'm not going to convince you that I am so damn a good cook that my food looks like it's worth a 100 bucks but it's just me, at my home, in my plain clothes cooking something comforting and healing in the kitchen. I just don't understand the big deal about food pictures taken as though from the magazines but at the same time I do wanna show you how my food turn out. At least you won't think I'm bullshitting here right? And I hope it will help somehow if there's some sort of pictures if you were to try out the recipes. So a simple and clear photo to show you the whole thing is it.

Kindda pity those poor souls out there blinded by what their eyes can only perceived. What the heck happened to simple home cooking?

Let there be Alcohol!

2010-06-29T01:17:00.000-07:00

I have a thing for alcohol. But the thing about alcohol is that it has bad associations. Tell people you use alcohol all the time, they give you the look like you are some kind of troubled teenager with family issues and developed some alcohol problems. But no. It's very unfair to alcohol... it didn't do anything wrong! It's just merely an edible substance that we humans stupidly devour without much conscience and responsibility (aka ex-me). But of course gone were the days when I can afford to skip a day of school, throw the covers over and say 'Fuck it, I'm gonna stay drunk all night.' Now with a day job, the kid just gotta learn to GROW UP.

Aside from all the awesome effects of alcohol, it really brings out the best of other ingredients in the same pot. Think of wine and I imagine a pot of stew or casserole, with the meat tenderised and sweeten by the sweet concord of fermented grapes. Think of a fruity or nutty liquer like Creme de Lychee or frangelico, I immediately thought of those wonderful creamy puddings in Nigella books. Worse... think of Baileys. It totally spells chocolate eggs and sugar for me.

Yes. 3rd spatula I bought this month *Bling*

As much as I can, I try to bring in the alcoholic element into my bakes. But not because I am a total alcohol fanatic, but I find that alcohol compliment the flour, the eggs, the sugar, the vanilla etc very very well. Make some plain vanilla cupcakes with some fruit liqueur butter cream and you'll see what I mean.

Don't you find the blue contrasting the dark chocolate brown so perfectly?

These, started off as very very simple Texas Fudge from Cookie Baker Lynn's blog. I made this on several occasions and I've got people bleeding chocolate out from it. It's so good, I have this with a scoop of ice cream just as dinner on nights I'm alone at home. But good things can get better, especially with Baileys in it. Oh how I freaking love Baileys. It's definitely one of my favorite favorite liquer in this world other than Advocat and Cointreau. The list definitely goes on but for now, let's just talk bout the fudge shall we?

I made the cake part as usual but added some Baileys to the fudge icing... SO GOOD. You know what, I'm gonna add in some orange zest and some Cointreau next =D

Yeah that's me... in the kettle's reflection =(

Btw, I kindda seem stupid to mention this only at the end of my post but yea... 3 Bling related posts in a row!!! I'm a total spoilt kitchen whore yay!!!!

Pineapple experiment #1

2010-06-16T23:03:00.000-07:00

In continuation of the new blings in the kitchen saga, today's post features something more cheery looking yet more lethal to the hand. That is... my new yolk yellow pastry cutter.

Actually, this has been in my pantry for years. How long? I don't remember but I know it has been sitting in the drawer for quite a while. Heck, I don't even remember when and where I bought it but the color is definitely not very me. It's pretty rare that I would choose something bright like this cause given what I know about myself, I would usually go with normal colors like white or black. But anyway, I remember stating in one of the old post that pineapple tart week was to reroll again. Well, here it goes.

My pineapple tart sale this CNY was a complete fiasco. I don't know whether anyone has the cheek to admit this or not but... I've screw up myself so badly I think there's a huge hole in my pants. Customers were quoted saying "I taste the flour, the pineapple is sour, everything was horrible!" Not exactly the kind of thing you wanna hear during CNY. You can imagine the kind of expectations being shouldered and then with chilling cold water splashing all over like River Nile.

Still I don't think it's time to give up. I may not be selling pineapple tarts for quite a while but still the whole project will go full blast in the kitchen. I've twig the recipe around, adjust the amount of yolks and butter used and made them with leftover pineapple jam froze during CNY.

The dough came out well and fragrant, quite similar to my old recipe but still there are much more rooms for improvement. After baking and after tasting, mom said it's exactly the one I use to make but oh come on... all mothers are encouraging aren't they?

Worse is the how long the tarts can remain fresh. My old recipe yield tarts that remain crunchy (wonder what's the right word) for days but this one completely turns soggy and air out after like 3 days. The filling really suck and all I can say to myself is 'Katherine, please get a proper grater soon!'. But well let's be reasonable... that filling has been stash in the freezer since CNY!

But anyway bout the pastry cutter. Hey it's pretty good! Slice up the cold butter nicely and gives you exactly what you want in a dough within few squirts. But have to be careful as the blades are pretty sharp and I almost cut myself with that.

So yea. This time round's tarts are not as awesome as I want them to be, but still it's considered a good start. At least it has got the texture I want. Anyway, definitely more pineapple tart experiments to come and absolutely more new bling related posts. In fact I already have 3 drafts sitting in my folder waiting to show off =D

Blondies... and a $20 whisk

2010-05-15T07:10:00.000-07:00

Okay so here's the blondie post. But before I go on to that, let me tell you something that I've spent on recently that most of you might... well, frown upon.

What you see above, is the recent purchase. Yes it's just a whisk, nothing special no big deal about it. But I'm telling you, that is the best SGD 21.06 I have ever spent on Amazon.com. WHAT?! THAT WHISK COST YOU $20!!! BUT I THOUGHT YOUR FAVORITE WHISK WAS A CHEAP $2 FROM DAISO!!!! Yes yes I know but hey... people need to upgrade you know. I first saw this whisk @ Youtube while watching Nigella series. That whisk appears in literally all her episodes.... since day 1. Initially I thought... well she's a celebrity of some sort of course she need to use high end stuff (you don't really see Singaporean bakers using that right?) but then I think it is some sort of conditioning, I have to get one too.

Not just any of those little hand whisk... a Nigella one... a Fox Run one. Yes no one here knows what brand is that but I tell you... their stuffs are good. Nigella approved. I realize so many equipments and tools she uses in her series are from Fox Run! I bought not just this whisk but also another one... but that will be another post.

So I got a new ang moh whisk.... I got a blondie to bake.... I got to do something or else this blog will melt with all that torching from the sun lately. And you know what? I am so gonna use that whisk in anything I am making now to make sure that my $20 and all those shipment is truly worthwhile.

I use it while stirring the white chocolate and butter....

I use it to mix the dry ingredients together...

I use it to mix the wet and dry ingredients together.... even though I shouldn't....

And you won't believe how easy and fast everything come together even though a spatula would make more sense for this job....

About 15 minutes later, my first ever blondie is in the oven already. And 30 minutes later there comes my first every blondie. And nope that's a Tupperware, not the brownie tray the blondie was baked in.

Well one thing though... I may have baked gazillions of brownies and cookies and cupcakes and even bread, I have never actually made blondies. Heck, I didn't even know what they were. Though the name is pretty obvious that it is the opposite of the brownie, I thought they were the coffee version of it and well... to dig the minorities or make something sound sexist. Well... blondies, right? (actually I'm not really sure if I should type that down...) But well, things were actually much simpler than I thought... they are just the blonde/white version of a usual brownie that's made of dark chocolate; they are just brownie made of white chocolate. A little racist but erm.... I'll just stop explaining okay?

I'm sorry that I didn't take more pictures but god they were divine. I brought them all to work and came back with like only a few sad pieces left (well not everyone like something called 'blondie' I guess but those who tried love them) A little note though, get proper white cooking chocolates. I bought those cheap ones made from one of the neighboring countries and the sweetness of the chocolate was pure shocking. If you are going to use those chocolates, omit the sugar totally.... no one would notice =)

Recipe from Exclusively Food

100g butter
200g white chocolate chunks
50g (1/3 cup) self-raising flour
150g (1 cup) plain flour
90g (2/3 cup) macadamia nuts, roughly chopped into quarters
200g (1 well rounded cup) white chocolate chopped into small chunks
112g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
2 large eggs (minimum weight of 59g each)
1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 170 degrees and line a brownie pan with baking paper. Melt the butter and the white chocolate chunks in a saucepan over very low heat. Stir frequently to make sure the bottom doesn't dry or get burnt. Once done leave aside to cool and mix all the flours, the other 200g of white chocolate small chunks and nuts together in a bowl. Stir the caster sugar into the melted chocolate and butter saucepan (You were thinking of adding it to the flour bowl didn't you? =D) and beat in the eggs and vanilla. Add in the nuts and flour mixture and stir till everything coheres. Spread the mixture evenly onto a brownie pan and bake in the middle of the rack for 30-35 minutes.

p.s I over baked mine a little by letting the blondie bake for a full 35 minutes, so I suggest start checking around 20-25 minutes since oven varies a lot. But they are still awesome... even though they appears to be cakey but actually they were very chewy and fudgy.

edit: I was shopping @ Pantry Magic last weekend to realize the exact same whisk selling for only SGD $7.00.... $7.00!!!! Well though the brand wasn't state but... Soooo much for being Nigella =(

2010-05-13T05:58:00.000-07:00

heck... i can't tell you when's the last time i baked or when's the last time i let my hair down. ITS BEEN SO FREAKING HOT LATELY THAT I CAN'T STEP INTO THAT KITCHEN!!!!! but oh you know what... i just baked blondies. there are just days when a brownie won't work.

but anyway if there's any of you (like... any) i promise i will come back with proper pics of the blondie. and i hate to break this but...its pineapple tart project 101 next week =X

on search and on trials

2010-02-20T21:21:00.000-08:00

i know that CNY is 'more or less over' and no one would still be baking now, but i had a bit of pineapple jam stash in my freezer left. so while yesterday (after all the hectic visitings, people coming and finally cleared all the trash at home and the fridge) i thought some therapeutic baking might do me some good.

as mentioned in the previous post my pineapple tart sale went terribly wrong this year, i am very determined to get back what i had lost. so CNY resolution no.1: create my own pineapple tarts recipe for the 2nd time. but you can't just create something out of the air right? so i went around to other online baker's blog to try out their recipe. so far, i have tried Aunty Yochana and some other blogs which got no names o.O. i would say Aunty Yochana's one is good when baked, but then after a few days the tarts go slightly stale (limpy, fragrant gone etc). no offence to any of her supporters out there... perhaps i had some mistakes or something.

the next one (which is the one i tried yesterday) was Happy Home Baker's. the dough came out feeling pretty right, i added in milk powder and i made the boring little balls into little Roselle. well simply because i am looking for a therapeutic baking session. it's pretty nice, sitting in the kitchen on a quiet sat afternoon, listening to music and just making little balls of roses. when my mom was the one doing the baking, all her tarts and cookies MUST go through that little picker for extra designs. but of course mine is not as nice as hers lah. i dunno how she can manage to clip so many folds out of a tiny little tart and i just don't have that kind of patience. should have taken pictures of it but oh well, there's always next year =)

anyway back to the tarts... GOD THEY WERE LOVELY! definitely different from my own recipe (which is freakin lost now) this is more on the crumbly and buttery side. the milk powder sadly didn't do any wonders (so i think i will add more) and perhaps like what the original baker said, a bit of icing sugar is needed even when i prefer my pastry skin more on the savory side.

all in all i will say it's pretty good. but still the quest of my own recipe continues....

CNY Bakes 2010

2010-02-13T11:48:00.000-08:00

perhaps the most slowest blogger ever, i am only posting my CNY bakes now. well there's definitely the usual like my Sunflower cookies and my pineapple tarts (or rather pastry or whatever) but this year, i was feeling a little adventurous.

i tried out Nutella Cookies from here and may i say, that it was really superb. i totally omitted the brown sugar and the nutella flavor was pretty strong! very yummy and i really love how home these cookies looked.

another one would be cornflake cookies. note that i have never eaten any store bought or home baked cornflake cookies before and i totally dunno how a good cornflake cookie should be. but then hey... no harm trying something you totally have no idea about right? anyway i tried this recipe and hell it's good! i mean at least to me... love the bit of chew in the middle mingling with the crunchiness of the cornflakes... definitely a keeper! only problem i faced is that perhaps i rolled them a little too big, and because i was using plain flour maybe i had added too much baking soda and baking powder. but still, even my dad who doesnt really appreciate my bakings said it's good.

and before i end this post... well let's just say due to some episodes that occured recently, my CNY bake sale didn't go as smoothly as it was. to those who were disappointed i am truly sorry and i promise next year would be good. but before i go....

GONG XI FA CAI EVERYONE!!!!! =D

planning your CNY bakings

2010-01-24T04:51:00.000-08:00

i wouldn't say i am a total genius or expert at baking, but i would say after 3 years of home baking experience (i mean bake for sale, not bake for self consumption) i think whatever i am going to say below is gonna help those who intend to start home baking business this chinese new year a little.... i hope.

1. PLAN LIKE HELL.

seriously take a note pad and plan the shit out of yourself. don't think it's going to be something just a few hours and you can meet your friends for a game or coffee after that. in baking reality, it never happens. you either end up too tired to move or can't be bothered to go anyway after that at all. but most of the time, it is the process and washing that kills.

what i suggest, is to dedicate one day to buy and gather all your ingredients, then the next coming weekend to prepare the dough (especially CNY bakes like Pineapple tarts). prepare the dough earlier and keep them in the freezer. then dedicate one full weekend (thats saturday and sunday) to really sit at home and wrap and bake. time, date and energy is something you really have to keep track.

2. THERE IS NEVER TOO MUCH INGREDIENTS

the past 3 years of CNY bake sale experiences reflected how moronic i am. each year whenever i am out buying ingredients i just keep thinking 'like that should be enough'. but hell no. it never happens. if you predict you are gonna need 2 bags of sugar, it wouldn't kill to buy 4.

for those doing your own pineapple tarts, this is what i experienced. bout 10 good size pineapples yields you enough jam for bout 7 - 8 bottles of pineapple tarts. so 20 pineapple is good for bout 15 bottles. yes the amount really makes you scream but thats reality. wake up.

3. BE FIRM.

this is probably the biggest problem i face. it is a good sign that the orders are increasing but i realise i can never please everyone. i am going solo and doing everything alone and hence if i can't take in your orders, i really really can't. alot of amateur bakers have the same problem too. then you have to balance out : a nice and comfortable bake sale going at your own pace, or rush orders out like hell and compromising with quality?

4. ORGANIZE YOUR SPACE AND TOOLS

it suck like shit when you are squeezing pineapple juice like hell with all fingers sore, and still have to look around for a bowl to put all the juices. so plan out what tools you are going to need, where you want to do it, whether it is convenient to your other family members (unless you are staying alone) coz lets face it you baking is gonna affect the rest of the family. the noise the smell and whatever might piss them off.

having kids around at this period can cause you to set the house on fire too. so i suggest keep the clever ones around to help you out. the cute and pudgy one can get out.

5. FINALLY, DON'T RUSH, DON'T PANIC

its really no point going through all these like a military operation. just think in the Nigella way: its your kitchen, your lifestyle, your food. Of course there are customers to please, but sometimes the more home made the product is, the more convincing it is in terms of taste and looks. we are living in homes, not fully equipped factory kitchen with huge huge dish washers and ovens the size of a wardrobe. if you have that kind of equipment at home then fine i am jealous of you. but still, going at your own pace is very very important. the faster you do doesn't mean something better; the tarts need time in the oven to bake, need time to cool too. and so do you.

anyway. i hope this post will help some of you out there. preparations for me is still ongoing and i think so far everything is going fine. i did not accept as much orders as compared to last year due to the fact that i have a proper job now. but i do hope that next year i can accept more.

the first thing i baked for the new year

2010-01-01T06:30:00.000-08:00

the very very first thing i baked to kick off my boring life in the kitchen for the new year, is pineapple tarts. not the exact tart type but rather the closed up ones. anyway baked this cause i made the skin earlier and wanted to try out a new recipe for the pastry... cause my old one was gone. anyway the filling was bought from supermarket and got IT WAS HORRIBLE. bloody sweet but the skin is nice.

after that a friend came over to make some domo kun cupcakes. it was kind of last minute and initially i was relunctant to do it cause i thought it's gonna be a slow and hot process in the kitchen. but hey... it wasn't that bad.

anyway. very very tired after all the party and stuff and now typing in a total zombie mode. still wanna wish all my readers a great year ahead and may 2010 be a better year for everybody =)

My Christmas Post

2009-12-25T00:45:00.001-08:00

i swear i wasn't going to deprive my blog any pictures of any of my christmas bakes. end up i really was able to make it... but only this picture:

This year, i had the usual orders of the chocolate chunk cookies. but i added something different to the repertoire... Dark Chocolate mint cookies for colleagues at work. well i don't have a picture of it cause given my current phone's camera megapixel, the picture look more like coals than cookies to me. those cut out cookies up there are baked to give away to the children in the clinic i am working in right now.

whatever it is.... i am glad i am still able to pass something up for this festive season. Merry Christmas people!

Lemon Chiffon Cake

2009-12-11T05:53:00.000-08:00

ask any sane 19 year old to bake something on a friday night after a hell week of work and i can assure you, they will call you nuts. but you know what, that's exactly what i did.

Photo credit to Piccolina @ Flickr.com

next, get a family who doesn't really include lemon in their daily diet (they will have problem to deal with even 1 lone lemon) to buy bout 6 lemons and leave them to hang around, they will call you nuts. but you know what? thats exactly what i did.

then, add in a sweet father who bought a whole carton of really good size egg and a lonely 19 year old girl who has totally got no life on a friday night even though she is damn tired from work and all that lemons sitting around in the fridge... you get lemon chiffon cakes!

*note: that lonely 19 year old girl got a screw kindda loose in the head and she baked a chiffon cake using a recipe that calls for 8 eggs.... when she knows her chiffon tin can only fit 5 eggs MAXIMUM. and hence she was forced to leave the extra chiffon cake batter to sit around for almost an hour before it can get baked.... as the second batch.

it really sucks like hell when you know this is so far the best looking chiffon cake you ever made and yet you got no camera to capture that lemony beauty. the cake really reeks of that warm and tangy scent of lemon and each bite is a bliss. not too sweet, soft and fluffy cake texture with that zest of sourness. and everytime i chew into a tiny speck of lemon zest, i thank god that i made this cake even though i was feeling crappy.

Lemon Chiffon Cake

Yolk mixture

2 cups plain flour flour
1 tbsp baking powder
2 cups sugar
7 yolks
juice of 2 lemon, mixed with 1/4 cup of water to give you 3/4 cups of liquid in total
1/2 cup oil
2tsp vanilla
1tsp salt
zest of 2 lemons, preferably not too fine and more sand-like

White mixture

8 whites
1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar

- put all ingredients for the yolk mixture in a bowl and mix everything up till you get a smooth silky bright yellow paste. leave that sunshine mixture aside

- get cracking on the white mixture by whipping up the whites till foamy. add in the cream of tartar and continue to beat till stiff peak forms but not dry.

- spoon 1/3 of the white mixture into the yolk mixture and like what Nigella Lawson always says, when it comes to this step just beat the hell out of everything. don't even bother to be gentle with the first addition of whites into yolks.

- with the yolk mixture slightly combined with a little white, carefully pour in the yolk mixture into the remaining whites. here do not be rough; fold in gently to corporate everything together, but firmly. the longer you do this step the more bubbles you burst in the whites.

- pour into a chiffon tin and bake for about 30-45 mins. up the temperature to 180 degree to brown the surface nicely for another 10 min.

- allow cake to cool for 5 mins in tin before running a thin blade through the sides and removing the cake from it's tin.

i swear to God i'm gonna bake this again to show you how awesome this cake is once i get a proper phone with proper camera. *grunts*

just for the period...

2009-11-27T08:52:00.000-08:00

this is probably another period of time you wouldn't be seeing any update on this blog.... but no it's all with a good reason.

my laptop... really crash out this time. that happened 2 weeks ago, and there is no way i could come online to blog it out. but thankfully, with the grace of the SITEX IT show at Expo, i'm back to blogging on my new compaq.... let me tell you, it's perfect.

the only imperfection is, all my pictures of the goodies i had baked are gone. yes you may wonder if i had stored it in my camera, but then no. my whole bag was stolen bout 3 weeks ago at Supper Club. so there goes my entry of telling you how great those Banana and butterscotch muffins are, what an oily but still very yummy lemon pound cake my family had last month, how that Bailey's chiffon cake blew my mind away and a bombastic dark chocolate brownie muffins i made for my workmates.

but still, i hope you will still check this little space out! i may not be able to share some self experience for the time being but i will definitely have some thoughts i would love to share with you =)

Bready issues solved

2009-11-06T04:24:00.000-08:00

throughout the whole blogsphere, i am perhaps the most unknown online home baker ever. as compared to those links i have put up in my links, i am so much more of a small little humble fry.

However, i do feel that sometimes as bloggers people tend to 'Bake for show' only. dunno if you understand what i am trying to say but the point is, baking became more like something to satisfy not just the pang of hunger or craving, but rather for phrases and comments which i seriously wouldn't go for such things. those who do keep track of this little humble blog knows that my language knows no limitations and if i think a recipe failed me, i wouldn't hesitate to tell you it suck ass.

before you think this is a complaining post, let me reassure you that this is perhaps one of the most honest post i have ever written. i'll be very very honest with you that i suck at anything called 'Meringue' and 'Yeast'. recipes for meringues are really very specific but it is the idiot in me and the jelly in my bone's fault. however for yeast, things ain't so easy.

most recipes will either tell you 'Put all ingredient into the bread machine and ...' (which i honestly detest) or 'Knead till the dough is smooth and elastic'. now, by what definition you meant by smooth and elastic? rubber bands are smooth and elastic too you know? so is the skin on my face.

until i watch a video by Richard Bertinet's way of kneading a dough, i tell you, all the bread recipes are nothing but just mediocre.

sprinkle flour on your table? spread some oil before kneading? grease hands well? all are nothing but rubbish. i followed the 'hit and wrap' method and i think i won't ever set eye on another so called 'sure work' method again.

think... it does make sense. for what you want to add more flour or oil into the dough just for the sake of your hand when there is already ample flour and fat in the dough? why want to add more to complicate things when just your hand and air will do?

this is perhaps, the most best ever bread i have ever made, and i will never never look on other recipes ever again. my loaves has never been so soft and fluffy, it has never tasted so ever natural and the scent of yeast is really very different from the usual ones i made. the loaf not only stayed soft and fluffy for more than 5 days, the butter smell gets more and more better each day until you don't even want to eat it with jam!

i mean... even the stale breads leftovers made the best french toast ever! so seriously if anyone is reading and had enough of all those crappy bread recipes out there, give that video a go. i don't like to promise things through air but for this, i will.

Cake Post

2009-11-03T06:50:00.000-08:00

quick post. i initially wanted to name this post 'The Butter Post' but come to think of it... it can be a little turn off. so well, cake post it is. basically the following stuffs I've baked requires one whole piece of butter per cake. yes very alarming, very scary and calorie clogging, but hey in the 1970s, the more butter a recipe calls for the more sophisticated it was deemed ya' know?

anyway, this was a hari raya order i made for a classmate Nurul (yes i know it's Nov now). my butter cakes has always been just the chocolate and vanilla combo but she requested for a strawberry factor. and guess what... i think this is how I'm gonna make my butter cakes from now on! dunno how good it is, but i did bake one extra cake for 'just in case' and home consumption. cake was completely consumed within 4 working days (i did cut out squares to chew on during midnight cravings) which is pretty impressive considering how uninterested my family is towards the stuffs i bake. god i hope classmate dear like the cake though.

another cake i baked in oct was nutella pound cake. stupid me left the cake untended and hence you see the little log of tree bark. mom kindly scraped off the burnt top and well, the cake was good. it was moist, nicely and goldenly colors and definitely edible.

but oh come on, what can be ruined with nutella? but compared to the marbled butter cake, this one didn't score as well as the former did. well parents aren't so keen on nutella as i do and also, i did not swirl the nutella jam well. so everything kind of stayed bottom and yea. boooooooo. but I'll try again.

this though... ain't butter cakes but it's actually chocolate buttercream cupcakes i baked for another classmate's father's birthday. butter usage? well everything is nicely fitted within one block of butter. it's daddy's birthday so... let's keep it simple aye?

oh well anyway. i don't give a hoot bout the calories and fats because it's not like i eat like that every single day. it's just during the weekends i bake a cake to last throughout the whole week for breakfast or tea or when i am starving. and oh one more thing... i am very, very, very behind posts.

p.s: ask for recipes if you want! didn't put coz rushing for bed!

baking without measurements = shiok!

2009-10-24T20:47:00.000-07:00

anyway. you can't believe i mean even i myself also couldn't believe when i first saw this recipe in NL's forum. a fellow forum member shared this recipe and it certainly did wreck up a stir in the forum! i mean... who would believe that you can make bout 2 to 3 dozens of cookies using just 3 ingredients and without any flour or butter?

but anyway. as i see more and more other forum members vouching for the recipe and claim how bloody good they are, i thought that's it. nothing is impossible in the kitchen from now on.

all you need, is a cup of peanut butter (i use skippy smooth. basically it is the small size 240g jar), a cup of sugar and one egg to bound everything together. you believe it? no right?

but guess what. is really...seriously... worked. and really very good too. the cookies were very very fudge initially but let them cool a little and everything will be just fine. in fact they are so good, i burnt my 2nd batch while devouring the first. the next time i am making this i will probably cut down on the sugar though. probably instead of one cup i will have half =)

on the other note, i've finally put the hello kitty silicone mold i bought from HK to good use. it has been sitting in the cupboard since feburary and i have been dying to use it. so well it's another simple sunday with nieces over and we did a few kitty cakes.

i dunno what you call it, it's not a muffin nor a cupcake. probably just eggy cake and sis said they were very very nice. i didn't measure anything but i think, i've used bout 50g of soft butter, 4 tbsp of sugar, 2 eggs, a good splosh of vanilla and bout 5 tbsp of flour sifted in with a pinch of baking powder. it's very simple and good but i learn one thing: silicone mold never brown things up. its more like steam cakes.

P.S : regarding my previous post on the cookie plungers, you can actually find them in B.I.Y shop! silly me and how i always take the internet for granted. anyway the price is below SGD 20 which i think is a sure win!

help needed!

2009-10-16T11:59:00.000-07:00

i seriously need help man....

PLEASE CLICK AND HAVE A LOOK AT THIS!!!

if any of you, any of you kind hearted souls out there stumble upon this little simple and humble blog and knows exactly where i could get hold of that, please i beg you to tell me. i've searched high and low, finally got through a website from UK and found it! but then guess what... it will cost me SGD 45 just for that! crazy or what?!

i seriously believe i should be able to get this in singapore or at least cheaper than $40! so i hereby sincerely request and appeal to any of you out there to let me know these mythical plungers whereabouts if you do know them. you know Santa will definitely drop down from the chimney this christmas (or your window) if you are a total angel =D

totally chocolate chocolate chip cookies

2009-09-28T21:20:00.000-07:00

seriously, i don't know what to say about these cookies other than nasty.

THEY ARE SO FREAKING GOOOOOOOD!

it's another NL recipe, but trust me, when it is called totally chocolate chocolate chip cookie, it really is totally chocolaty chocolate chip cookies . so powerful, so dense and like a bomb, every bite and chew is an impact in the mouth.

not to mention, these cookies were the very very first thing i baked with using the new oven =) my apology for the bad pictures thou. quality were kind of bad due to bad lightnings.

Nigella's Totally Chocolate Chocolate chips cookies
* warning: do not even think bout fats or the sugar content here please

125g dark chocolate, minimum 70% cocoa solids

150g flour

30g cocoa, sieved

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

125g soft butter

75g light brown sugar

50g white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg, cold from the fridge

350g (2 bags) semi-sweet chocolate morsels or dark chocolate chips

Serving Size : Makes 12

Preheat the oven to 170°C/gas mark 3. Melt the 125g dark chocolate either in the microwave or in a heatproof dish over a pan of simmering water.

Put the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a bowl.

Cream the butter and sugars in another bowl. Add the melted chocolate and mix together.

Beat in the vanilla extract and cold egg, and then mix in the dry ingredients. Finally stir in the chocolate morsels or chips.

Scoop out 12 equal-sized mounds – an ice cream scoop and a palette knife are the best tools for the job – and place on a lined baking sheet about 6cm apart. Do not flatten them.

Cook for 18 minutes, testing with a cake tester to make sure it comes out semi-clean and not wet with cake batter. If you pierce a chocolate chip, try again.

Leave to cool slightly on the baking sheet for 4–5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to harden as they cool.

chocolate crossiants - Nigella

2009-09-22T00:41:00.000-07:00

when children are really restless at home and you really got no energy to entertain them or conduct a culinary military operation, all you have to do is resort to the convenience of commercial market.

another Nigella recipe, but i would say it's more like common kitchen wisdom that my poor brain didn't possess. since it's another weekend with nieces over and i've conveniently bought a pack of frozen pastry, i know this is what i've got to do.

just roll out the thawed pastry, cut them into little squares and then triangles and fill each one of them with some chocolate. brush on some egg wash and bake at a high oven. what do you get? a kitchen smelling of butter and chocolate and a couple of happy kids. they just have to see something being baked sometimes you know.

Last minute Aglio Olio

2009-09-06T02:32:00.000-07:00

this was really really a very random lunch. was stuck at home for the past few days, no mood to do anything, can't be bothered to cook or even eat sometimes and really nothing much left in the fridge. i was craving for something fast and easy but really good and damn this is really really good and totally hit the spot.

it took me only 10 mins and a wee bit of kitchen therapy. i didn't need any salt or pepper because it's so damn flavorful and really need nothing else but just a television and a couch. someday i'll definitely do a prawn version of this.

My Some kind of Bacon Aglio Olio

-boil about 120g of long pasta (i use linguine) in well salted water

-before draining, reserve bout 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water.

-in a frying pan, heat up some olive oil in medium heat and snip in 2 rashes of bacon with a scissors. let bacon brown up and release those bacony juices to the oil.

-while waiting for bacon to brown slice about 3 cloves of garlic and 2 bird's eye chili. the chili have to be seeded.

-once the bacon have browned up, throw in the garlic and chili and fry till garlic is soften but not brown. add in the drained pasta and toss through evenly. add in the pasta water bit by bit. it moist up the pasta and some sort of sauce for it.

-sprinkle with some parsley and grate some parmesan over. then tuck in with gusto!

some glitches...

2009-08-25T10:49:00.000-07:00

my acer travelmate 800, loyal laptop and my one and only way to connect to the outside world has officially announced it's departure today. with much regrets and pain as i have, the very first fear for me is this blog.

however, sales are still going on. my chocolate chunk cookies or any cheesecake are still available for orders. just sms or call me @ 9222 3864. trust me, this is the period when i concentrate fully on everything i do.

please pray hard for me... may i be able to make it for mooncake festival.

Express Pancake

2009-08-06T10:36:00.000-07:00

you might be a little sick from all the Nigella related post going on in this blog lately... but i am not sparing a single bit. yes this is another Nigella post but you really can't blame it. all that quick quick slow and razzle dazzle done within mere minutes is taking over this household now. and i think it will not be going off so soon like H1N1. i can't help but to start off saying... 'Damn these are easy!!' once my sister bought this packet of pancake mix. well i think she is doing her every part making every meal count for her kids but the thing is... she forgotten about her pancake mix and there goes the expiry date. i know supermarket is the most important place in all women's hearts, but the truth is we cannot trust everything there... especially those with a date. so what i did? i went Nigella.

this doesn't take you long. whenever you are free, just pop in 600g of flour, 3 tbsp of baking powder, 2 tsp of soda, 2 tsp of salt and about 3-4 tbsp of caster sugar into a jar. huge one perhaps. shake all you want. note that i am typing this down purely from memory because i shake that jar every sunday morning as a form of exercise for my fat arms and i can spell out this recipe without failure now. so no preservatives. the jar i made in May is still edible in my cupboard now.

then when the call of hungry stomachs came, just scoop out one cup of that pancake mix, whisk in a cup of flour, a cup of milk and an egg. for something more classical, a drop of good vanilla extract. if you want to be a total junk for breakfast, add in bout 2 tbsp of cocoa powder for chocolate pancake. please don't get me started on how great these are as suppers (whisk one batch, cook as many as you can wolf down and put the rest of the batter back in fridge. cling wrapped of course) go down so well with some cream and maple syrup and may i say, BETTER THAN MAC'S HOTCAKES. i can never finish 3 huge slices of flour dough when all i am on for is that tiny piece of sausage.

there is a blueberry syrup that came along with the recipe, but its just popping 200g of blueberrys with 125ml of maple syrup. i did them, but they went missing... mom took them to work so no pictures. anyway i didn't bother with measurements anymore nowadays. who gives a damn to figures when you are darn hungry and all you want is leisure cooking and pure home food?

TCM Cheesecake sale!

2009-07-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

actually i had been wanting to post this for a long long time... but kept on postponing because i really thought i should venture out to any possible flavors. but oh well. itchy fingers never wait. i think up till today, i've done more than 100 cheesecakes. damn they are SO EASY!!!! gah i hate to say this but they are SO MUCH MORE EASIER THAN COOKIES. bunk everything in and whip up and leave to set in fridge. done within 20 mins considering the washing. how easy!

now i have to clarify this first. i swear i went through lots of hardships, many tubs of cream cheese and gelatin to make this work and claim it my very own recipe. there are thousands of cheesecake recipes out there and i have to say that many of them yield wonderful results, but i am looking for something not like jelly, not like slime and lastly, not soft and sticky like jello. neither do i want anything that calls for bombastic ingredients and amount that screams hell in the ears. these are real hardcore cheesecake, you understand?

Very Ribena Cheesecake : totally inspired by Happy Home Baker when she first did her's last year. now i have not tried her recipe yet, but i came up with this when i came up with my own vanilla cheesecake. simple lah.. just substitude the ribena in lor.

definitely one of my bestsellers among the health driven girls and happy mummies. if you like ribena, i swear you will like this.

Ferreroche & Nutella Cheesecake : i agree it looks very shitty in terms of image but greed outwins everything. i brought it to class and someone immediately recognised the smell as ferreroche once i opened up the box. they even scream as they saw chunks of nutella blob inside the cake. but still please do not get this for a birthday but rather as something to hit the spot.

Whatever Oreo Cheesecake : seriously... whatever. its like one of the most basic cheesecake of the 21st century. somehow in modern baking, adding crushed or chopped oreo cookies has became one of the unspoken law. oreo cupcakes... oreo ice creams... oreo cakes... oreo milkshake... Oreo cake. but whoever's idea was that, it certainly worked.

but for me, it only seriously work when one whole packet of Oreo happening in one single cheesecake. or else, really whatever.

lastly... my very proud Bailey's & Nutella Cheesecake. i think the name explained a lot already man. probably because i am an alcoholic junkie and worked as bartender once, this cake is like a total common sense to me. but of the best loved cheesecake around those who know me and i even helped a friend to successfully win his girl. it's definitely not the alcohol okay.

currently i am experimenting on something that i hope no one has thought bout it. Pear & Vodka cheesecake. yes yes the thought of vodka in a cheesecake might turn some off but TRUST ME. ITS NEVER ABOUT WHAT IS RIGHT AND WHAT IS WRONG WHEN IT COMES TO CREATIVITY!!!!!!

anyway. base are made with the usual digestive biscuits but oreo can be done if you really love oreo. Gelatin i used are fish gelatin so definitely halal. price wise? email me lah. forizon@hotmail.com is your friend =)

caramel crossiant pudding by NL

2009-07-28T07:50:00.000-07:00

when i was making this, i made it with gratitude. being a typical Chinese my parents never like 'ang moh' food like meatloaf, avocado, pasta (so damn what the hell right) raw salads and worse... bread and butter pudding. but its that soft, sweet, custardy and eggy taste that i adore like hell.

it was stated in the recipe but i omitted the whiskey simply because i prefer brandy and didn't think it will work out here. but anyway it tasted wonderful and a total hit on the spot. if not sweet enough just add on a glope of maple syrup and cream for extra oomph. won't be posting recipes since this is so damn obvious that it's Nigella Lawson's Caramel Crossiant pudding. the best sunday morning treat ever =)

people do change

2009-07-12T01:16:00.000-07:00

after looking through the photos of the last 2 cakes i've baked, i realised how much i have changed throughout the years. please forgive me for saying this but may i say so, i think i have improved a bit in cake baking =P

the first cake was inspired by Happy Home Baker. i remember her making a post on a Tiramisu Gateau she made for her birthday and how she covered the sides with sponge fingers. on the top, she covered wiht strawberries and chocolate shavings then as though signing off, she tie a ribbon around the sides to secure the fingers. hey i thought that was a very nice signing off touch! well i didn't have any chocolate shavings and i really really cannot show how horrible i am with whipped cream. truth is, my whipped cream always turn crumbly and bleh.

this cake was meant for a classmate's uncle's 50th wedding anniversary. talking bout real commitment and responsibility!! and it pissed the shit out of me to make this cake cause it was their very very first order from me. I really hate to do this but.... i've got no choice but with get done with that penguin again. but this time round, the penguins are slightly different from the usual ones i made.

verdict?

surprisingly, they said it was good but just a little dry. lol i was actually expecting to hear a tad too sweet as that was a vanilla sponge with ganache filling. hmm guess i should brush some apricot jam on the sponge before assembling the cake in future. i really hope the couple had enjoyed the cake and may many more years of bliss for them.

next... was a very good friend's 20th birthday.

i had been eyeing on this cake since February. it was a cake from one of my cake book, Irresistible Cakes. and i must say it wasn't as stressing as the penguin one as i had been planning it for a really long long time. yes yes go ahead and wow and omg and ask if i really made this cake. that was really everyone's reaction that day =D

so the plan was this: bake the cake today, let cool. tomorrow beat up the strawberry buttercream and sandwich the cake and start on the fondant. i was initially settling on store bought fondant until i came across a super simple marshmallow fondant recipe through youtube.

first, grease every single thing you are using for making this fondant. you need to grease a huge microwavable bowl, a spatula, a table top. yea just grease as much as possible with shortening or butter.

then dump in a whole bag of marshmallows ( i used rocky mountain) and a splosh of water into the bowl. microwave the bowl for 3o sec on high. take out and stir and microwave for 30 sec again. keep doing this until all marshmallows have melt. then take out and stir a bit more for the marshmallow to cool down a little.

while leaving the marshmallow to cool, pile icing sugar on the greased table top. standby one whole bag of icing sugar by the side cause its gonna need hell lots of icing sugar. but really... don't bother to think bout the sugar amount okay? that was one of my biggest problem in this recipe.

next as you can expect, pour and scrape the marshmallow onto the icing sugar. the marshmallow will sort of 'escape' everywhere so using the spatula, keep everything back and try mixing in the icing sugar. keep apply the sugar and 'keep' in the mixture until this happens:

i promise you, it wouldn't take very very long. just probably 2o mins and lots of icing sugar. i did this on a very humid night so i used up almost the whole bag of icing sugar. you can now go ahead and do whatever you like to this fondant but if you are gonna keep this for later use, cover the dough with more shortening or butter and gladwrap it.

so back to the plan. i spent the whole sunday morning coloring the fondants and shaping the cake. wasn't as hard as it seems actually! just a good amount of patience and interest to keep things going.

and then, using the back of the handle of a teaspoon make dents all over the cake and make little seeds out of yellow fondant. i think the only thing i crap up was the seeds. at some point they do look like pimples =X

anyway. THE BIRTHDAY QUEEN DEFINITELY LOVED THE CAKE. we took hell lots of photo of her posing with the cake but erm... think i'll leave that out here yea? anyway everyone was really surprised and amazed by the cake and i must say i was really proud that day. we all enjoyed the cake and loved the strawberry buttercream. i still have some stash in fridge for jam spread =D

really wonder whats my next cake gonna be =P

the touch of nostalgia....

2009-06-19T23:44:00.000-07:00

i have to say that my best companions in the kitchen will be my 2 grown up nieces. i see them born, see them babble anything under the sun, see then coping and adapting to this new world and then growing up into children. just a blink, i had became an aunt for 11 years.

every time when they came over, the very very first thing they say before they even greet their grandparents, will be 'ah yi today bake what?'. sometimes we sought through the net finding things to make. sometimes i am just too tired and say not today. which of course, you see that instance fall off from their face.

donut has been one of the things the 3 of us had been wanting to do. i think i'd postpone making this for almost a year! the kids wants to make those colorful ones ( see how commercials sometimes ruin traditions) i definitely did not agree coz i want them to appreciate the simpler things. but of course. make life easier for myself =P

this dough was mostly kneaded by them simply because i was tired. yes i am only 18, but studies really caught up and i am really feeling very tired. come to think of it, sometimes i wonder how many more times do i get to be with them in the kitchen?

leaving it to proof. of course you hear me screaming again with that tired and lethargic voice to make them stop disturbing the proofing.

and we fry. the elder one is old enough and i let her look after the hot pan for a while with me on supervision. i taught her how to fry things a little too. and i hope it stays with her till future.

little dough fries done! yes very weird looking shape but they were all beautifully rolled by my nieces. i eat them with no complains at all.

next, roll them in the sugar! its definitely the most favorite part for the kids and i added in a hint of cinnamon. of all those doughnut flavors available, my favorite will forever be the good old cinnamon sugared ones. traditions just never fails =)

Doughnuts By Lily's wai sek hong

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups unbleached flour/bread flour
1 1/2 tbsp fine granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 1/2 tbsp butter
1 large egg
130 ml whole milk

Method:

Combine flour, fine granulated sugar, salt, yeast, egg and milk in a mixing bowl. Knead dough until smooth and elastic.
Cover with a clingwrap and leave to rise until double.(i used the breadmachine)
.
When the dough has finished its first rising, punch down the dough and remove it out onto a lightly floured surface.
Cover with damp cloth and let it rest for 5 minutes.

Roll dough out to 1/2 inch thickness.

Cut with a doughnut cutter (i use a tuna can and an one inch lid) and place the dough pieces on a greased tray.

Cover with a damp cloth and leave to rise for 30-40 minutes until double in size.

Deep fry doughnuts in hot-oil. Turn frequently until the doughnuts are golden brown and puffed up.

Coat doughnuts with fine granulated sugar while they are still warm.

some grace needed

2009-06-15T06:17:00.000-07:00

nope these are not baked with the new oven. its been more than a month since i last bought the oven and the tag is not opened yet. it is still inside the box resting within the steorofoams and i dunno how long i have to wait.

i am going through a crazy merry go round in life right now. school has finally caught up with me and there are a few adjustments going on at home. not much of baking has been done except making cheesecakes for occasions. so far i've done ribena, ferrero rocher. baileys and now experimenting on a vodka one. yea we are going alcohol!

well so expect a little more while before i come up with anything new yea? it will not be like tomorrow but i promise it wouldn't be too long =)

2009-05-30T21:13:00.001-07:00

macarons... meringue.... more cookies... more cupcakes. hohoho here i come!!! =D

how important it is to cook....

2009-05-20T10:31:00.000-07:00

i always thought it is good to have some kitchen knowledge. be it man or woman it is important to at least know how to cook the basic stuffs to feed yourself and your family. as i've worked in F&B line before i've seen how those ignorant or lazy cooks who can't be bothered bout what they are dishing out to customers and just throw in all hell of MSG into the pots and pans. i am not dissing restaurants or what, i've definitely had great dining experiences and enjoyed some restaurants. but still i would very much prefer to cook a meal of love for myself and my love ones.

so you imagine my horror when a friend of mine told me she really cannot cook AT ALL. when i say 'at all', it means she wouldn't even open up a packet of maggie mee and boil some water to cook it. she have NEVER EVER fried an egg before as her mom don't really like her in the kitchen (mothers reading this blog, please listen to me. you really have to let your child into the kitchen one day else he/she is doomed for hell in future when he/she is alone).

for all these years she had the blessings of having a stay-at-home mom to cook for her and a father who will hesitate no less to bring the family out for dinner. it was until when she had to go to Australia to further her educations then she realised how important it was to learn cooking. everyday was macdonalds or microwaved food. EVERY SINGLE GOD DAMN DAY. how to live like that ar? so it was no surprised that i received an oversea's call with that little brat crying out to me all the way from Australia.

friend: 'KAT!!!! I'M REALLY IN PAIN!!!! I'M REALLY SICK OF EVERYTHING!!!"
me: *shocked* "what happened what happened??"

friend: "I have been surviving on hungry jack's and macdonalds and takeaways for one full year i cannot take it anymore!!!!!"

me: "ok. view my chocolate blog tomorrow morning. salvation is here soon for you."

so here's the post. to that poor babe reading this please okay you really need to learn how to cook. here's 2 recipes thats pretty simple and i am very sure you can get these easily in the supermarkets over there.

ABC soup

what you need:

3 Potatoes
2 carrots
1 whole onion
about 500g of spare ribs

salt and pepper for seasoning

what you need to do:

put raw ribs in pot. boil some water with salt and pour over the spare ribs to remove the blood, the pour away the bloody water. do it bout 2 or 3 times to remove as much blood as possible so i reckon you better boil bout 500ml of water with 1 tbsp of salt. ribs should look a little cooked and grey.

fill up the pot with water. probably bout 3/4 of the pot and boil under high heat for bout 15 mins.

while waiting for the water to boil, cut the carrots and onion into chunks. once 15 min pass throw in the carrot and continue to boil till the carrots are quite soft. takes bout another 20 mins. best is let boil as long as you can to release the sweetness of the carrots into the soup.

now, cut up the potatoes in chunks and throw into the pot. continue to boil till the potatoes are just cook. bout another 5+ mins depending on how chunky you cut the potatoes. the bigger chunks the longer they will take.

when potatoes are just cooked, lower the heat and let soup simmer for the last 10 or so min. add in salt and pepper to taste.

*you may wanna add in some canned mushrooms or other known as champions into the soup while adding in the potatoes.

My meatball recipe

what you need:

bout 300g of minced meat. pork chicken beef whatever you like.
8 water chestnut *its the crunch factor of the meatballs so add more if you like*
half of an onion
shitake mushrooms
1 carrot

seasonings:

oyster sauce
brown sugar
pepper
sesame oil
pinch of salt
cornstarch

what you need to do:

cut up and cube the shitake mushroom, chestnut, carrot and onion. add into the minced meat and mix well till everything is even. picture doesn't show carrot coz i didn't have carrot that day when i took this picture.

add in the seasonings. i didnt state the amount cause its up to you. my preference would be bout 3-4 tbsp of oyster sauce, 1 tbsp of sugar, lots of pepper, 2-3 tbsp of sesame oil and the pinch of salt. dont add in the cornstarch YET. again mix everything well.

next, add in the cornstarch, preferable bout 2-3 tbsp. if you don't have cornstarch, add in an egg. again mix well.

let meat mixture seat for at least 3 hours or best, overnight. then form into balls using a soup spoon. heat up a frying pan or a pot with bout 1/3 of oil. spoon the balls into the oil and fry, turning them from side to side so that they will be cooked evenly. let each side fry for at least 2 mins. serve with either chili sauce or mayo.

if there's leftovers, just simply freeze them and reheat whenever you wanna eat it. or alternatively, you might wanna cook meatball spaghetti the next day =)

baileys and nutella cheesecake

2009-05-06T05:21:00.000-07:00

i love baileys. i've always thought baileys would make a great deal in cakes and ice creams and been thinking of fusing it with my bakes. since i'm newly in fond of making cheesecake, it doesnt take me long before i decided to try out baileys cheesecake =D

friend who tried it said it was really good and that kick of nutella with baileys was good. so far i've tried the recipe 2 times but find the amount of gelatin use was too much. guess i'll just add on more baileys next time! =D

hmm i guess i won't be sharing recipe for this coz its still on an experimental stage. so wait till i get it better yea? haha guess its time for a cheesecake bake sale!!! =D

panda cakes and something new

2009-04-13T06:59:00.000-07:00

well actually i shouldn't be blogging at now but i really can't bear to leave this blog to rust! so many assignments weighing down my shoulder but i really need to breath. so it will be just a quick update okie?

did these panda brownie cuppies for my classmate's 19th birthday. hahaha i know this looks very kiddy and not very perfect, but was told that she loves panda to the core. hey babe if you are reading this i hope i didnt disappoint you! and opps... one of the panda's eye fell off!!!

and people... i did the unbelievable again. friends who know me well know that I DONT EAT CHEESECAKES. but guess what? i actually made one. oreo cheesecake somemore cause its for a friend's bf birthday.

well it was actually a trial and rehersal coz the sweet girl wanna bake it for her beloved's birthday. the cheesecake itself was no problemo. i look around for a non-baked cheesecake so it makes things much easier. but... i'm kindda worrying for her!!! not that i look down on her culinary skills but i'm worried that she might go gaga in the kitchen! all the pretty make ups and manicure...haiyo. so lesson learnt: never go manicure if you wanna be a kitchen goddess.

nonetheless i called her up today (big day is TODAY) and i was relieved to hear that all went fine. so now its up to her dearest to judge =X

ok anyway i really need to go before the clock hits me hard. shall leave with the cheesecake recipe and till then.... tata!!!

Non Baked Oreo Cheesecake
(recipe originally from Happy Home Baker)

base:
110g digestive biscuits(about 8 pieces), chopped into fine crumbs
40g melted butter

filling:
300ml whipping cream (chilled, I used Bulla Thickened Cream)
1 tablespoon gelatin powder
3 tablespoon boiling water
10ml lemon juice
250g cream cheese, soften at room temperature
50g icing sugar
45ml fresh milk
1 table spoon vanilla essence
8 pieces of oreo cookies (coarsely chopped, with cream removed)
4 pieces of oreo cookies (finely chopped, with cream removed)(1 piece refers to half of the oreo cookies)

Method:

Mix biscuit crumbs & melted butter together and press firmly with the help of a spoon onto the base of a 18cm cake tin. Chill for 30 minutes.

Beat whipping cream with electric mixer until 70% stiff or until mousse-like. Do not over mix. Takes about 2 to 3mins on low speed. Keep in the fridge.

Place gelatin powder, lemon juice & boiling water in a bowl. Heat a pot filled with water until just simmering and place the bowl inside the pot. Dissolve gelatin, lemon juice & boiling water in the bowl. Keep warm.

With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese , icing sugar, milk and vanilla essence until smooth & creamy. Blend in gelatin solution. Blend in whipping cream with a spatula.

Pour half of the cheese mixture into a bowl. Stir in finely chopped oreo cookies. Mix well. Pour the mixture the cake tin. Chill for 15 minutes.

Sprinkle coarsely chopped oreo cookies on top of the first half of cheese mixture which has been chilled. Pour in the remaining half of the cheese mixture. Chill for 3 to 4 hours before serving. Remove from pan and decorate with chocolate shavings or as desired.

Tips:
To ensure easy whipping, make sure the cream is chilled. Chill the mixing bowl in the fridge for 15mins before using it to whip the cream.

To achieve a clean slice, heat up the knife before slicing (eg. soak knife in a cup of hot water or heat over a stove on low heat). Clean the knife after each cut.

a very lazy saturday...

2009-03-28T01:30:00.000-07:00

gosh...what a lazy saturday it was!!! i woke up in the morning and thought of making something today. but really nothing came to mind. donuts...suppose to do it with nieces. bread.... not really in the mood to wait for it to proof. did thought of chiffon but in the end didn't as mom was in the kitchen whole day.

sigh hate such boring days man. anyway just a pic of my most sinful treats not too long ago. spam sandwich!!! i love my spam to be sliced thickly, pan fried till crispy on the edges and finish up with an egg, mayo and chili sauce. ever since my hk trip i've learnt to appreciate ketchup more but sadly there's none at home. i've also sliced a thinner piece of spam as a nibble...heh you dont eat this every day okay? =D

Robyn's Big Fat Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-03-15T11:10:00.000-07:00

its really frustrating when you woke up with a strong craving for something. especially that something that requires baking. and waiting for the butter to come to room temperature. and then mix everything up. and then for it to be baked. and then wait again till its cool enough to eat.

well this was what happened this morning. a bad craving for something sweet and chocolaty. preferably with dough, not too hard and eat it with some tea and honey. so hit the spot. chewy chocolate chip cookies.

when i just started this blog, i swear my name off that i will never use chocolate chips in my bakes. they are tiny, they taste nothing much but oil and cocoa, they make me feel much unhealthy as compared to eating chunks of chocolate and they look like brown breast with pointy nipples. but anyway. i didn't want to open up another block of chocolate just for my sake and i had this packet of chocolate chip from australia given to me by a friend. so well. here we go.

if you see around my blog you would have noticed that i do keep some links on my blog. er i dunno them personally but just kept their blog as reference and let my readers know whose blog i do read up on. i think all of them are great and always provide great informations and i am using a recipe taken from The Girl Who Eats Everything. the picture on that entry looked too good to resist and guess what, they are called Big Fat Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies.

to tell the truth i am pretty sick of anything that is crispy and crunchy. as i age i find myself appreciating anything thats softer or chewier. i never have luck baking anything that claimed to be chewy. be it brownies or cookies coz they just somehow thin out too much when inside the oven. but this one is a pretty straight forward recipe and i'm sure those who bake cookies regularly (and sell it weekly like me) will definitely have no problemo. the batter looks promising and surprisingly, doughie. i was expecting a much moist and wet dough.

and then, its time to spoon them onto the trays. compared to my signature CCC, i think the dough texture were almost the same. i didn't use the 1/4 cup to spoon out the dough. i thought that would make a really big and fat chewy cookie so i just used a soup spoon and plonked down a heapful of dough.

taste?

THEY. DEFINITELY. HIT. THE. GOD. DAMN. SPOT.

its chewy, its moist, its not too greasy, its slightly crunchy (its baked what!) the chocolate was surprisingly good, and melty, not too sweet, and so damn good!!! mom thought those were scones but after she took a bite, she was like... 'Oh. Cookie ar?'

try out the recipe! its been a long long time since i tried out a brand new recipe so if i said its easy and good, it really is. so good that i do not feel embarrassed to give some to my old customers to try. and big thanks to Robyn for sharing the recipe! i think she can really cook and bake =P

Robyn's Big Fat Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
170g unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar *
1/2 cup white sugar *
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 cup semisweet chocolate chunks chopped from a Green & Black's organic bittersweet chocolate bar (any high-quality bar like Vahlrona or Sharffenberger's would do) **

1. Preheat the oven to 335 degrees. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.

4. Bake for 23 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

* - i didn't use any white sugar. just one cup of brown sugar and perhaps bout 2 tbsp more of it. the sweetness was perfectly nice.

** well like i've said, i used some unknown brands of chocolate chip from australia but should be pretty good if we can use some chunk chocolates.

a confession...

2009-03-06T02:12:00.000-08:00

truth to be out... i am such a sucker for macarons.

everytime when i pass by restaurants and patisseries like Canele and Bakerzin, my brain will somehow lit up a bulb and i would find myself wondering if i should just get some. dont get too much. just maybe a few pieces. try out the new flavors or just a little treat for myself. just not too many pieces.

but in the end, i will end up paying for either a dozen or 2 dozen of macarons. once i even ended up with 3 dozens as i was bout to go for lessons and thought i could share these coloful little pieces of joy with my darling classmates.

my top most favorite flavors have always been roses and pistachio. i just love that feminine hint of sweet roses playing around with my senses. its just so delightful and relaxing. then after that comes something nutty and flavorful for me to devour.

sigh i really wonder when i could bake such babies. i do have the recipes (in fact a total of 17 macaron recipes) and i think i understood the ingredients and methods. but i seriously got no faith in my 40 year old oven. i just dont believe my oven wouldn't brown the macarons. plus the process has to be like a heaven : right lightings, clean environment and tools and absolute concentration. guess for the time being i'll just have to continue contributing to the patisseries economy =(

Aunty Yochana's Steam Moist Chocolate Cake

2009-02-13T05:45:00.000-08:00

did i mention that i'm not really a cake person? yes i may have attempted on the chiffon cake for a few times but i still prefer eating cookies and brownies over cake. but the moment i saw Aunty Yochana's Steam moist chocolate fudge cake recipe, i know i definitely gotta make this. one of the main reason is... its not a baked cake and hence no oven! =P

its pretty foolproof recipe i would say. just place the carnation milk, butter, sugar and vanilla essence into a pot and heat it till everything melts. i used cold butter and it took me slightly longer to combine everything.

so after cooling down the butter mixture, just gotta add into the already prepared flour mixture. definitely you can see the chocolate powder used right? this recipe requires a heavy amount of chocolate powder so...make sure you have that at home! so after combining everything, its time for a good steam...

when the cake was done, i was so shocked to see how black it actually was! it was not just brown or dark brown but rather...black! the chocolate aroma was pretty strong too and the cake itself was quite tender.

my poor attempt on cake designing. yea i know you definitely can't tell what it is but i am trying to make a tree with almond nibs. oh well. anyway somehow the fudge doesnt really stay well on the cake, it just keep on dripping so i guess maybe i cooked it a tad too watery. nonetheless it was really good and i think maybe this fudge should go with vanilla ice cream....hmm.....

the moment i'm done with the cake, i immediately cut out a slice and the moment it was in my mouth.... my god. i hate to say this but and please pardon the language...but IT WAS JUST SOOOOOOOOOO FU*KING GOOD!!!!!!!!!

good gracious!!! the cake is not just moist, its pretty light and the chocolate taste just flood over my brains!!! the previous fudge cake i made uses real chocolates but it didn't even hit such a spot!!! THIS IS DEFINITELY THE BEST CAKE I HAVE EVER MADE. it is so good... that i just have to do this... =X

luckily my mom wasn't around. but anyway even mom and all other friends who tried also said the cake was really good. no one could tell it was steamed and i will definitely make this for my niece birthday =D

Aunty Yochana's Steam moist chocolate cake

1 1/2 bar of butter (250 gm + 125 gm) OR Corn Oil **
2 cups of castor sugar
1 can of Evaporated Milk
4 Eggs,lightly beaten with a folk
2 cups of Plain flour ***
1 cup of Cocoa powder
1 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Baking soda
1 tsp Vanilla Extract or 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla essence

*** this recipe can be halve easily

Combine castor sugar,Evaporated milk,vanilla extract or essence and butter in a saucepan.
Stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved and butter is melted,off fire and
keep warm.
Add the beaten eggs into the slightly cold Evaporated milk mixture and stir till well mix.
Sift the flour,cocoa powder,baking powder and baking soda into a large mixing bowl then pour the eggs mixture over the flour and stir till well mix (cake batter should be runny).
Heat up the steamer.
Lined and greased a 9 inch baking pan or 2 9'inch sandwich pan.
Pour the batter into prepared pan and place the pans into the steamer and cover the top of the pan losely with a piece of aluminuim foil.
Steam over medium heat for 1 1/2 hour (45 mins for 1/2 recipe/ingredients).
Cold the cake in pan before turning out for further decoration.

Chocolate topping

1 can of Condence milk
1 tsp of Vanilla extract or 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla essence
1/2 cup Corn oil
1/3 cup Cocoa powder,sifted
1/8 tsp Salt

1. Combine the sifted cocoa powder,condence milk and oil.

2. Stir over low heat till thicken (stirring all the time).

3. Add in salt and vanilla extract or essence.

4. Cold the chocolate topping a little before spreading on the cold cake.

p.s: i will be flying to Hong kong this sunday morning. its gonna be a week's long vacation and do watch out for the post bout the trip! meanwhile hope everyone had a good weekend and god bless! =D

a big thanks

2009-02-01T23:33:00.000-08:00

well on the 8th day of CNY i can really feel the effects of late night sleeping, non stop gorging of cny goodies and over cooking and baking at home. guess what... I SLEPT FOR 12 HOURS STRAIGHT MAN~! shiok la.... but i am feeling very very brainless now. so before i need to run off to find my brains and soul, i would like to say...

A BIG THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO SHOWED THEIR SUPPORTS TO THE CHOCOLATE MEDLEY!!! Thank you for putting confidence in me as this year i had the biggest orders ever. i hope everyone had enjoyed their bakes and lastly... Thank you for purchasing at The Chocolate Medley!!! Hope you see you again and God Bless!!! =D

CNY 2009

2009-01-23T02:16:00.000-08:00

again i was on a long hiatus!!! after 60 pineapples and several nights of non stop baking... i am really very very tired. this year i had the biggest orders ever for new year. i actually got 50 over bottles of pineapple tarts to bake!!! the nightmare will not be over until tomorrow night but meanwhile, just a little update of what i made for CNY this year.

pineapple balls. i never like pineapple tarts (the opened type) as that one is a tad too sweet for me. i am more on the skin side so i sell and make only this type of pineapple pastry. anyway, after making 1.5k of this all alone, trust me you will never wanna pop another one in your mouth again... at least for me to me.

sunflowers. yea i know its not so nice to bake something black during CNY but its time to have a change! i used to bake the vanilla type which is oh so boring! but anyway i hope my customers will like it. its the bittersweet type and very buttery.

sugee cookies. i find my sugee cookies not exactly melt in mouth type. i dont like it to be too 'melty' if you get what i mean. some texture and crispiness appeals to me alot.

lastly... a shot of the sunrise at my kitchen window while i was taking a break. lately it has been very chilly at night so thank god, no sweaty and buttery me in the kitchen. was really tired but the sense of serene came when i saw this view.

though my baking is not done yet and it would be another hellava night tonight, but still wanna thank friend whom came to help out. and lastly, The Chocolate Medley would like to wish everyone a very Happy Chinese New Year!! =)

goodbye and hi again

2009-01-01T23:52:00.000-08:00

just a wink, 2008 has already ended and we are even into the 2nd day of 2009. surprised? well not really. even though i was in the midst of finishing my school assignments and 'recovering' from the major christmas bake sale for 2008, i was well aware of the clock ticking away and the end of 2008 arriving nearer and nearer. nontheless, 2008 has been a wonderful year of discovery for me. especially my improvement in bread baking =)

i have tons of bakes unposted and i guess its gonna be so damn late to post them up one by one. so to sum up...

as usual, i made a batch of butter roll out cookies and let my nieces decorate them. though i try to make this a once a year thing but every now and then they do request for me to make this. trust me they just wanna play with all the icing and sugar sequins. they have no intention of eating at all.

nevermind... as long as they enjoy. and i really have make sure i dont get diabetic =X

and then christmas came and there was the crazy bake sale...

after 3.5 kg of flour, 2kg of sugar and 3 full nights of baking non stop, i really got afraid of my favorite chocolate chunk cookies. my backache didnt go until 1 week later and was totally zombified. thank goodness i have great friends who came over to help out... you know who you guys are! the bake sale was a huge success and comments were all very well recieved. pats pats on my shoulder!

then eldest niece's birthday. we are not really into cakes and hence i made her an ice cream cake. simple and easy and super effortless. i know my frosting skill sucks but really cant be bothered coz i actually have only 1 hour to frost the cake before the celebration starts. and that including the penguins!

it was really a very simple celebration. the cake was a vanilla pound cake with haggen das's honeydew ice cream. nice and hope the little fella like it =)

and yea... i fed her the penguin and she claim that she loves it. hmm sugar mangement very high here =X

yea thats about it for me... my 2008. soon cny's gonna come and i already have orders coming in. as usual, i'm baking my pineapple tarts and butter cookies. this year if time allows i'll kick in some sugee cookies too after i finish all the orders.

i really hope 2009 will be a better year. 2008 has been a year of melamine and mumbai attacks and F1 which i dont like at all. may i discover more things in the kitchen in the new year and blessings to everyone always!

2008-12-24T23:59:00.000-08:00

there's been lots of baking going on but none of them are for christmas. nothing new things year because there's too much cookies to handle. after 30 jars of Chocolate Chunk Cookies and 4 jars of Baci de dama, i fall ill and now my nose is running like never before. all heel the power of butters and ovens and sugars.

anyway above you see is the brownie i baked 2 months ago. yea... it look kindda light in color becoz i forgotten to add in the cocoa powder. its a plain brownie with some chocolate chips and 80% dark chocolate chunk. yummy.

something warming

2008-12-22T00:45:00.000-08:00

being a chinese its not hard to believe that i am an extremist when it comes to soup. yea though i am of hokkien origin, chinese soup has been part of my life. it never fails to warm me up from a tiring day or a cold rainy night. the soups that i make are more on fresh ingredients like meat and veges while the Cantonese who are the real soup makers concentrates on the herbs totally. i love Cantonese soups but just dont want to dominate my fridge by storing all sorts of dried food items like dried squids and fishes.

MY ABC SOUP

1/2 - 1 kg Spare ribs
3 Carrots
1 Onion
4 -5 Potatoes

1) rinse spare ribs with hot water and drain to remove blood from the bones. you may wanna add in some salt while rinsing to remove the porky stench of the meat. ( i did not do this step becoz i love that stench haha =P)

2) place ribs in pot and fill pot with water. fill bout 3/4 of the pot. (depending on how much ribs you use, the ribs should take up bout only 1/4 of the pot)

3) turn on the flame and let boil on high heat. leave to boil for bout 5 mins

4) cut up the carrots and add into the pot first.

5) next chop up the onions into chunks and add into the pot.

6) close lid and continue to boil on high heat for bout 5-10 mins. this is to release the sweetness of the carrot and onion into the soup.

7) chunk up the potatoes and add into the pot. turn down the flame to low as you don't want a pot of mash potato soup.

8) continue to simmer till potatoes are cooked and soft. add in salt and pepper to taste.

9) for a fuller flavor, continue to simmer for the next 30 min. for those who cant wait you can just serve the soup anyway.

* you can twiq the ingredients a little by adding in mushrooms, raddish, tomatoes etc. you may also wanna use chicken instead of spare ribs.

so this is christmas....

2008-12-11T21:05:00.000-08:00

i know this was going to happen for Christmas. its gonna be hellava week for me next week because i have 29 bottles of chocolate chunk cookies to bake and 4 bottles of baci de dama. yea i know sounds very little to some but it is the 29 bottles of chocolate chunk cookie thats going to freak the shit out of me... argh i should have seen that coming!!! >_<

but nevermind... i'll definitely put all my heart and soul and total attention for that full 3 days of baking and churn out great cookies! its gonna be a very very buttery, floury and chocolaty christmas...but not that i am complaining! =D

a very freaking looking bread

2008-11-25T23:20:00.000-08:00

people please believe me that this post was meant to be published at least 4 days ago. i have no intentions of leaving my blog unattended but bloody blogger was down!

oh anyway i better cut things short. i mentioned that i made a pandan loaf 2 weeks ago (hell yes 2 weeks ago) with the everyday bread recipe from Happy Home Baker. well it turn out... you'll see.

the green liquid you see there is basically a concoction of 40ml of coconut cream (cause thats all i have) 1.5 tsp of pandan paste (thats why so freaking green) and top up with milk. a total of 200ml of liquid.

its kindda interesting making something that is not milky white. green dough... green stained fingers... green green green. gotta admit that i was pretty put off by the color but anyway.

the dough was freaking sticky...i dunno why! i realised that 200ml may not always be the answer all the time for the bread! sometimes the dough becomes too sticky to handle and end up me using alot more flour. and again...the green is damn artificial but i have no desire in killing my darling pandan plant just for bread. but anyway the dough is left to proof from this...

to this:

yes a change of bowl will lead to some confusion but those who recongnised my grey mixing bowl will know how freaking high the dough has rised... yup! its freakily proofed becoz i actually left the bowl in the sun for almost 2 hours! i was watching south park and happily surfing away and actually forgotten everything bout it!

now i dunno if over proofing will do any damage to the bread but nonetheless i still shaped it, left it to proof for the 2nd time in the tin and....

baked!

amazingly, the bread this time was SUPER TENDER AND SOFT AND FLUFFY. yes i know the green is really scary...even mom was feeling very skeptical bout the bread. but the good news is... even though i used 1.5 tsp of the pandan paste the bread tasted nothing like pandan at all.

sigh... so much for the colorings and taste. but thats it. from now on i am going to let my everyday bread proof like mad =D

my meatball recipe

2008-11-21T13:57:00.000-08:00

i swear i fried up a lot of meatballs that day but my evil nieces ate everything and left only 9 miserable meatballs for my dad and i. what the hell man =(

ever since my mom got diagnosed with breast cancer, she turned vegetarian and rarely cook as she needs lots of rest. i really wish i can help her as much as i can, but being only 18, its impossible for me to carry the load of the whole family on me now. all i can do is to take care of myself and study well...and also, bake some nice stuffs for her and cook well for the family. but becoz i am only 18... i also need life right? so whenever i prepare dinner, i like to prepare stuffs that requires me to prepare it beforehand like marinated meat or meatballs. in this way i can cook up dinner the next day faster knowing that it will still taste good... and then i can hop out of the door after dinner faster...haha.

ingredients:
minced meat ( half lean, half fat)
fresh shitake mushroom, diced
chestnut, diced
carrot, diced finely
onion, diced finely

marinate:
Oyster sauce
sesame oil
salt
pepper
brown sugar
cooking wine
potato starch (can use one egg too)

prepare at least 3 hours before serving. mix mince meat with diced mushroom, diced carrot, and chestnut well with a spoon. add in all the marinate ingredients except for potato starch/egg. once everything has incorporated well, add in the starch/egg and mix thoroughly. cling wrap the mixture and leave in fridge to marinate.

*no specific measurements or amount of ingredients as you can shuffle around and add more of whatever you like.

i didnt have carrots at home so this time opt out the carrots. wanted to add in some onions but dunno why all the onions went rotten ( raining too much lately?) so yea. anyway its important to have the lean meat and fat meat with the ratio 1:1 or else the meatballs are going to turn out dry and tough.

then after mixing the ingredients together, add in the marinate. i didnt add in the cooking wine because i know its bad for health. i dunno how to tell you how much exactly i added in but all the marinates are roughly 2 tbsp except for the brown sugar. i only added 1 tbsp of that.

lastly, the potato starch. actually egg is better coz it makes the meatballs more tasty. but i left only 2 eggs in the fridge and i wanna keep it for baking cookies. again, its bout 1 tbsp of potato starch. if you can't marinate the mixture overnight, then add bout 1/2 tbsp more of potato starch so that the mixture is sticky and will not be too 'wet' and difficult to shape.

after marinating, shape the mixture into balls and fry them up! need not alot of oil and do not overheat the oil. medium fire will do or else the meatballs will turn brown very fast on the outside but the centre still remains raw.

serve with ketchup or mayonise and best when served hot! if you are frying them in batches, preheat your oven to 120 degree celsius and put the cooked meatballs in it to keep them warm. if got leftovers, then its time for meatball spaghetti the next day! =D

finally!

2008-11-17T01:42:00.000-08:00

yup... in the end i did attempt to make the everyday bread again! i was whinning and squealing alot on my previous failed attempt and swear to never touch this recipe again but well... just get used to it okay? though i always say i wont do it again but somehow... i'll just give it one more try. and boy sure i was glad i did =D

instead of the usual 170ml of milk, i used 200ml instead and before any real kneading even started, i already got this dough. this was only the first 5 mins and the dough was definitely much tender than any of my other old attempts. i'm not sure if 200ml will do the job but i didnt wanna held too much hope. i guess water ratio is really a big issue when it comes to bread.

i started around 9am... gave it a 30 min kneading and sent it for the first proofing. the sun was up and high and i left my dough covered with cling wrap and directly under the sun. boy sure it was a sunny day and the dough was really different as compared to any other previous attempts! after kneading, the surface was indeed much smoother and 'nicer'.

so after exactly 1 hour of proofing...

I GOT THIS!

so happy!!!! mom said if you don't knead your dough well, it would not ferment enough and proof well. so erm... i took that as a compliment? well i did cover the bowl with a wet cloth cause i think it's kindda inhumane to leave the dough directly under the sun. it might get a sunburnt...or freckles... peel skin.......

so i punched down the dough and remove it out of the bowl. can someone tell me how to remove it properly? i dunno if my method is right but i just simply 'tear' and wipe the whole dough out. this time the dough tend to stick a bit to the bowl which i conclude could be due to the water contend in it. oh btw i love the structure view in the pic... like spider webs so complicated and well structured!

so i divided the dough into 3 equal portions... covered with a cling wrap and let it rest for bout 10 mins. before that i did knead each of them. at this point, TLC is very very important...

and shaped and roll them up! yea my rolling skills sucks but the main issue is, for my past 3 attempts on this recipe, it has never proof well or cover the whole tin properly. normally there will be some gaps or what but this time...

it was as good as my milk loaf attempt! very nicely proof and there wasn't any gaps at the corner. not to mention, my everyday bread's 2nd proofing has never reached to this height be it no matter how long it was proof. this dough took only 1 hour to reach this height! feeling really good bout this dough, i sent it into the oven for baking. heck i even make sure the oven was pre heated properly which i normally don't.

and not to mention... it was baked pretty well! the middle portion even toughed the cover of the bread tin a bit!!!! can you imagine how elated i was! never once i got this result and i was truly happy that i gave this recipe my last shot. all was well until when i tried unmoulding it. realised i really should have greased the tin as i couldn't remove the bread without scrapping the sides a few times.

ignore the sides... really very happy!!! the skin was really tender was definitely not those hard rock 'shoes' i once gotten! even the crumbs were tender man! niece came over to have a peep and said this time round look more like a bread *lol*

after slicing the bread the inside was really soft and more bread like. it wasn't the pound cake texture or size and much more airy. easier to slice too as the outer skin is very soft =)

really very happy that i gave it a last shot... baking is really all bout experimenting! i dunno why i got the patience to buy 5kg of flour to experiment and spent days in the kitchen baking my own cookies but totally have no rooms for bread. but this time round...i'm really glad i did. guess what i would have missed if i really gave up! this recipe is definitely a keeper i tell you. do try it out and be back soon coz i just baked a pandan loaf with this recipe. shall post bout it soon =D

something interesting!

2008-11-09T09:19:00.000-08:00

a friend emailed me this survey and i thought it was pretty interesting... whoever wants to do it just copy paste and do it! and leave me a comment to have a look at your's yea! =D

What were you cooking 5 years ago?
that's when i was 13... i could only cook instant noodles with eggs and fried eggs. and help mom heat some food up on the stove.

What were you cooking 10 years ago?
i'm only 8 back then man... i think i can't do anything except going to the fridge for chocolates.

Five snacks you enjoy:
Potato chips (it gotta be ruffles okay)
seaweed
cookies
chips/fries/wedges (yea bad but i kindda quit this already)
nuts

Five recipes you know by heart:
Ganache
Chicken stew
baked macaroni
sausage rolls
my chocolate chunk cookies

Five foods you love to cook:
bread
cookies
pies
chicken
soup

Five things you cannot/will not eat:
black pepper
lady's finger
penises of animals (hell no)
spiders (hey some people eat boiled tarantulas!)
bar chor mee (this is totally another story...sigh)

Five favourite culinary toys:
cookie cutters
mooncake presser
pipping nozzles
my favorite Daiso balloon whisk
my red wilton cookie scoop

=)

Green tea n choc chip chiffon

2008-11-09T03:49:00.000-08:00

i am a huge lover of green tea. i love it in ice creams, love it in mooncakes, bread, coffee (hell yea coffee!) jelly, cakes, cookies or muffins. just everything!!! when i first chance upon's Happy Home Baker's green tea chiffon, i knew i'll have to make that someday.

i think HHB's blog is a great place for recipes that are just nice for small families like mine. at home its just me, mom and dad and occasionally my eldest sis's family (no ramblings on husbands and kids because i am only freaking 18) i think i baked this like a week ago as mom was craving for some cakes and its been so long since i did something with green tea. so there we are.

this is a very small recipe as it uses only 2 eggs. i baked the cake in a 18' tin and hence the cake was very flat.

and then here is my favorite part. ever since i learnt bout egg and protein from All That Matters, i am totally in love with beating egg whites! i love to see the whites slowly turn from soft peak to stiff peak. and then i will use the egg beater to see its pointy and firm tips and then over turn the bowl. the sense of achievement is just such a beautiful feeling to enjoy =D

so yea the cake was sent into the oven and baked. this was the most the cake has raised in the oven... i told you my tin was too big la =(

and yea this is my done product. smart people will know that the sides were still not very done. sigh... maybe i should just stick to cookies. nontheless, the cake is really yummy and i think the green tea flavor was just okay to me. not too strong but then its there la. i'll definitely make this again but perhaps i'm going to double the portion.

originated from Happy Home Baker:

Matcha Chiffon Cake with Chocolate Chips

Ingredients(make one 16cm cake)
1 tablespoon green tea powder
30ml milk
2 egg yolks
20g caster sugar
20ml vegetable oil
40g self-raising flour

2 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
50g caster sugar

some dark chocolate chips

Method:

Sieve flour and green tea powder together, set aside.
Separate egg yolks/whites and bring to room temperature.
Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl until sugar just dissolved. Add in milk and oil. Whisk till combined. Sieve over the flour and green tea powder mixture and fold gently with a spatula until flour mixture is fully incorporated into the batter.
In a clean, dry mixing bowl, whisk egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric mixer until mixture becomes frothy and foamy. Add in the sugar in 3 separate additions while beating at high speed till stiff peaks form.
Add the egg white foam into the egg yolk batter in 3 separate additions, each time folding gently with a spatula until just blended.
Pour 1/3 of the batter into a 16cm (6 inch) tube pan (do not grease the pan). Sprinkle chocolate chips over the batter. Pour the remaining half of the batter. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Pour the rest of the batter into the pan. Spread the batter evenly.
Bake in pre-heated oven at 170 degC for 25 ~ 30mins or until the cake surface turns golden brown, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and invert the pan immediately. Let cool completely before unmould.

try it yea! =)

The Everyday Bread Challenge

2008-11-02T03:37:00.000-08:00

yeap. this is my third time making this everyday bread from Happy Home Baker's blog. from her blog it seems like bread making is SO DARN EASY. whenever i do this bread, its either:

-after kneading dough doesn't seem to be as soft and smooth as HHB's
-felt more like a pizza dough
- after baking bread is very hard...rock hard
-when sliced, inside may seem airy and fine but actually very coarse
-turns stale almost immediately after cooling down
-can only serve as french toast... if put in toaster will become a huge cookie =(

for my first 2 attempt, i was ignorant and did not give my dough a good knead. i still remember 2 weeks ago i made this recipe again and gave it only a 16 min knead. the result? well... whatever that was stated up there =(

after consulting HHB, she told me the important thing bout bread making was the kneading and if she hand knead her dough, she will knead it for at least 30+ min. bearing that in mind, i went for my third attempt today. i was suuuper careful with my ingredients and weigh them all very carefully according to the recipe. and as usual, the dough came together nicely but i thought it was kindda dry. i remember reading from HHB's blog that adding butter after 8-10min into the dough will be better so i did that too.

this is how the dough was after first 15 mins of kneading. of course cannot lah. the past dumb me will shape the dough at this stage and left it to proof. YES I WAS THAT DUMB. and so i continued to knead...

...and knead. this pic was taken after 30min of kneading and yea it may look like i am apply loads of pressure that but please believe me i am not. i just... push the dough a little. not push how should i say. okay there were pressure being applied but definitely not alot. a bit like how you massage a baby... get what i mean?

but anyway. dough at this point is in room temperature but still rather dry and tough...

and this was how the dough looked like after 45 mins of kneading. still cannot. okay though HHB said at least 30+ mins, i was actually thinking like 1 hour or something. still, dough was dry and tough. i did think of adding something in and in the end i added a tiny weeney bit of butter in. i thought i didn't add enough of butter or something and hope it will look really smooth and elastic. and so i continue to knead...

knead knead knead. this was taken when i had knead for almost 1 hour. BLOODY HELL DAMN TIRING AND I WAS SWEATING LIKE A COW. the weather was darn good today. super sunny and not bad at least it was windy. but still to me... ITS VERY HOT. i felt as though i was in the gym or something. anyway after 1 bloody hour of kneading, i thought maybe i should do the window pane test...and to my horror...

!@>)#$%^&^@#$^**!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT THE HELL???!!! 1 BLOODY HOUR OF TRUE KNEADING STILL LIKE THAT??? THIS IS SUPER JAGGERED CAN? this time i got really fed up. i gave myself a 5 min break. went to drink water... let the dough rest a bit first. i thought maybe this would be better and continued to knead for like 15 mins. in fact i think more than 15 min coz i just kept kneading and kneading and refuse to see the clock. a bit like how i would always try not to give time a damn whenever i am running PE lessons in secondary school.

and after 1.5 hour of kneading... i officially gave up. KNN WHAT KIND OF DOUGH AM I FACING HERE? I THINK THE GOD OF BREAD PURPOSELY PICK ON ME!!! but seriously the dough this time round proof rather quickly! less than 1 hour the dough has beautifully rise up and doubled in size. i got mom to check and she said her way of judging whether the dough was done or not, was to use her fingertip and so a slight indention on the dough. if the print springs back slowly and not totally, then the dough is ready for shaping. so the dough went for it's shaping and 2nd proofing and into the oven. 2nd proofing was fine, the dough raised well.

but...

i got a rock out inside. yes i know the bread here looks very french... very rusty BUT HELLO I AM MAKING AN EVERYDAY BREAD!!! the surface of the loaf was ROCK HARD. niece accidentally drop a spoon on the bread and we could hear a very clear thumping sound! sound is like how a man flunk his shoes on the floor whenever he gets home from work. think all the moms definitely know that sound very well.

and this is the innard shot of the loaf. if you dont tell people that this is a bread, they confirm thought this is a pound cake. mom was consoling me... she told me 'cake then cake lor... can eat can already..' WAAAH!!!! T.T

man i think i really fail big time as a bread maker. how come cinnamon roll turn out so well for me but for loaf bread i just simply cannot make it? the bread taste fine when it was freshly and warm out from the oven. i ate it with my favorite kaya spread and try to feel contented even though i know after it cools down, i get craps again. and indeed, after my sunday family dinner, the bread really became stale and coarse. 1.5 bloody hour of kneading IS STILL USELESS FOR ME!!!

haiz it's times like this when i really feel like maybe i am fated to eat store bought breads forever and eat preservaties for life. i really wish i can bake soft and fluffy loaf for my family but i just simply can't! i guess i won't be touching this recipe for the time being... need to dig and cave and hide in to have a good cry first ='(

Everyday Bread originally from Happy Home Baker :

Ingredients:

270g bread flour
30g cake flour
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
170ml milk
1 tablespoon (about 14g) butter

Method:

Assemble the pan and kneader blade in the bread machine. Add in milk and butter, followed by sugar and salt. Spoon in the flour and make a slight indentation in the centre of the flour. Add the yeast in the indentation.
Shut the lid and set to the "Dough" function. The machine will do the mixing, kneading and proofing within 1 hr 30mins (The setting and timing vary among different brands of bread machine).
At the end of the programme, remove the dough from the pan. The dough should have doubled in size.
Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured surface and and punch to deflate it.
Roll the dough back and forth with your palms to form a rope. Fold the ends of the dough under so that it is even width and the exact length of the tin. Lightly grease the pan (not necessary if it is a non-grease pan) and lay the dough in it.
Cover with cling wrap and let it proof for another 30 mins, or until double in bulk.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degC for 25 ~ 30mins. The bread should be well risen, golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Cool on wire rack before slicing.

for those who have attempted this recipe, please sure with me your experience and any changes you have made if you did! and for those who did not, do try out and let me know your results too! i guess i really got no luck with this recipe... sigh =(

p.s: please do not misunderstood that i am saying this recipe is no good! it's definitely accurate and its pure obvious that my bread making skill sucks and God Of Bread hates me. i've tried out HHB's milk loaf once and it turn out fine. will definitely make that one again =)

Cinnamon rolls

2008-10-25T00:42:00.000-07:00

guys i am back and as promised... the answer for that mysterious bread item is....

CINNAMON ROLL!!!!!

now i can't remember if i ever mention this on this blog but...I AM A FREAKING CINNAMON LOVER!!!! i love my coffee with a speck of cinnamon... i loooooove my ginger cookies during christmas to be a bit heavy on cinnamon... and i freaking love cinnamon rolls!

i remember there was this chain store around the island that sells cinnamon rolls. the sticky...doughy...sweet and cinnamonny piece of love. i remember very well that chain store too sells dough sticks which mom called them 'the ang moh you tiao'. they are either chocolate flavored ones or the original vanilla ones and rolled in cinnamon sugar. back then i dont take coffee due to young age and it was PEEEERFECT FOR A CUP OF HOT CHOCOLATE MAN! but somehow, they just never make appearance anymore. think they disappeared with Dunkin' Donuts but heck, at least Dunkin' Donuts still does its online business now.

i came across this recipe very very long ago actually. but due to me being a damn procrastinator and forever down with something, i did not make it until last week. woke up damn early and thought...hey, why not try something new? something that i have never tried before instead of the boring cookies?

i kindda love making the cinnamon rolls from this particular recipe. yea i am still very new into bread making but the feeling of the dough is very right. it comes together as it should be, it feels really good when kneading the dough and it raises well accordingly to the recipe. i did not wait for extra time neither did i need to worry bout something being wrong with the dough as i have encountered with other bread recipes.

and yes... i've recently adapted the habit of proofing my doughs with a tea towel covered. it kindda makes the skin of the dough moisturised and not dry like when i peel off dried skin from my hands =D

instead of the traditional rolls or snail, i followed how the originator of the recipe and made knots. sigh i wish i could take down pictures of how i did it but then i was alone when making these and with all the sugar running around, i simply got no hands to do it! and of coz, i had some that look like the number '8' and some that look really like some pregnant thing.

like the originator of the recipe, i too face moisture problems when leaving the knots to proof after sugaring them. the knots just begin to sweat like hell even though it was raining heavily outside. i used a japan brand of brown sugar but aye... i guess its not a matter of brands now =(

nonetheless, i went ahead with baking even though the tray was wet. yea sometimes i dont understand what the hell i am doing too so dont laugh ok. i just had a good time scrubbing the carcinogens collected beneath my silicone baking sheet off the tray and damn damn damn me!!! but anyway becoz most of the sugar was melted, i sprinkled some on the knots before they head into the oven.

so lo and behold. yummy cinnamon knots done!!! at first when i saw the recipe saying to bake them at high heat for only 8 minutes, i got skeptical. 8 minute only leh...cooked meh? but surprisingly the knots were rather well done. guess this recipe is much into those authentic dense and chewy breads and the suggested temperature and timing was really just right ( at least for me) if you are looking for something more lighter and fluffier, then perhaps lower down the temperature and bake those babies a bit more longer.

recipe taken from: http://bakemyday.blogspot.com/search/label/Daring%20Bakers

Cinnamon Roll

500 gr ap flour
1.1/4 ts salt
1.1/2 ts yeast
300 gr water or 320 gr milk (i used milk and this amount was perfect for me)
75 gr butter
zest of one lemon or - prepared lemon-sugar zest
or - lemon extract, 1 tsp
for rolling: 250 gr dark brown sugar and 2 tbs cinnamon, mixed*

1) make a straight forward dough by mixing everything up, leaving butters last. knead till dough is tender and elastic and ready for proofing.

2) proof the dough for bout 45 mins. need not be neccessarily doubled in size, half way there is fine as the result bread is suppose to be dense and chewy in texture.

3) punch out gas from dough after first proofing and divide doughs into balls of 40-50g. ( i made all 50g and that yields me 18 balls) leave them to rest for 20 mins with a tea towel covered.

4) prepare cinnamon and sugar mixture. just mix both well.

5) okay for shaping wise, i got no ways of showing you how i did it coz i got no pictures. but the above link has provided great instructions with pictures. or alternatively, you may wanna roll out the doughs into ropes, cover the whole thing with the cinnamon sugar and bake them as cinnamon sticks.

6) let the sugared knots/sticks/rolls proof for bout 1 hour or visibly doubled in size. bake @ 250 Degree Celcius for 8 mins.

yummy!!! =D

update!

2008-10-19T11:02:00.000-07:00

oh no...its another long hiatus. i'm really sorry bout this as there's some problems going on at home. my father was hospitalised due to a sudden heart attack last sunday night (heck i dont even know its a heart attack!) was running to and fro from home to hospital and trying to juggle my time with work. wasn't an easy task =(

but right now everything is alright but dad was having problems adjusting to his current health issues. we are trying to work on it and not to mention.... SCHOOL IS STARTING FOR ME TOMORROW!!! =D

it's gonna be tough but i think i can handle it. and now all these explains my long hiatus...right? =)

baked brownies few weeks ago. as usual, my brownies are low in sugar and this time round i baked them slightly drier and cakier. they kindda suck when eaten alone as i hate brownies that are dry and caky. but my main purpose of baking them in this way is to serve them as sundaes! one huge scoop of ice creams goes very well with 2 cubes of brownies. smash them up and yummy! you get something much better than oreo mcflurry! =D

nieces came on sunday and we baked a milk loaf. i wasn't in the mood for something new and we were running out of bread. so i thought this would make a great bake to seal the week. kids got to knead the dough and they sure had enjoyed.

see? long kneading sure works for milk loaf! next time if i need to make bread i make sure the kids are around =D

baked chocolate chunk again for my cousin's 1 year old birthday bash. the cookie dough was made one night before so that the chocolate chunks are marinated longer, hence a darker shade of the butter dough. i find this way of making the dough is better as the chocolate taste is stronger and more aromatic. the cookies were packed into smaller cookie bags and the kids enjoyed them =)

as i am typing now, i am waiting for little doughs to proof and then baked... i wont be revealing what i am going to bake this time. but it sure is something i had been dying to try out for months and finally got my butt working! it's a bread item and its....something u dont get to see most of the time! so do come back for that mysterious yummy bread okay? till then, see ya! =D

mid autumn 2008

2008-09-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

yea call me a slow pork... i admit i am! its like 3 days after the mid autumn but here i am updating my fellow earthling what i did for my mid autumn this year =)

well i purchased a mooncake press mould from Elyn and like most of her other customers, I GOTTA AGREE THAT ITS A BREEZE TO USE! no banging like mad (i use to get complain from neighbours) no flour all over the table and just press and squeeeeeeeeeeeze! its so fun and i dont care. i might make cookies using that mould too *pouts* =P

anyway this year i didnt have time to make my own lotus paste. in fact i wasn't even thinking of making moonies this year but the mould press inspired me to! Elyn was also kind to share with me where she got her lotus paste and i gotta say, its nice! not too sweet and greasy but i think i bought a tad too much of fillings =P

i bought durian (for mommy and daddy), normal white lotus paste and strawberry (i like!) and we LURVE mooncakes with lots of 'gua zi' pumpkin seed in english right? can't remember the rightful term.

anyway. now arm with this super nice to use mooncake mould and a great place to get lotus paste, i'm sure next year's mid autumn will be more exciting for me! =D

update!

2008-09-09T00:00:00.000-07:00

woah...I WENT MIA AGAIN!!! well as usual i am hectic+lazy+busy+working+enjoying etc etc etc... but i did bake quite alot of things!!!

a white chocolate strawberry and banana cake for a friend's birthday! it was really a last minute thing and the sponge cake recipe that i tried was a majoy flop. but haiya no choice... we need a cake anyhow and white chocolate and strawberries should be able to do the job!!!

another friend's birthday... same date as my father's! this time round there was quite a bit of planning done and we planned to make her an igloo cake! i ventured into fondant again for the 2nd time (hell yes. after such a long time into baking... its only my 2nd time!). i used Wilton ready to use fondant this time and it was definitely a breeze to make all the figurines =)

i used another sponge cake recipe and find that this time round, the cake is a tad too hard and definitely not spongy enough. its more like a butter cake! maybe i should just use a normal vanilla chiffon cake in future...

this is the cake i made for daddy this year!!! i really blame those damn contractors who help built my house kitchen man...all thanks to them, my kitchen floor is actually tilted and hence my oven is also tilted and thats why all the cakes i made are all tilted!!! bloody hell! but anyway this cake is made from the same batter as the igloo cake. both cakes had lemon curd spreaded on the layers and hence makes them lemon cakes! and yea.. i know my piping skills sucks... especially for chinese characters!!! hope dad didn't mind... >_< * yea i made lemon curd and didn't take any picture at all...haha =P

this was baked on my birthday. it was a major flop because i subsitude the coconut milk with normal milk and turns out, the cake was yucky and it collapsed big time like a giant pancake!!!! after i slice it and took a bite, it went straight into the rubbish bin =(

and then... a strawberry chiffon cake! well it was nice but then after cooling, it sank in the middle and i know its the damn oven temperature. haiz i guess i must really bake a few more chiffons man...

ok i know i am caking up this post a bit so... let's not forget the legendary Chocolate Chunk Cookies!

yea made them and brought them to work for all friends at work. been so long since i last made cookies and gosh...how i miss baking cookies! they are yummy and lovely golden brown and full of nutty and chocolaty goody as they always were. so happy! =D

okay anyway. thats all for now. tomorrow i am going to start making mooncakes!!! this year i've purchase a mooncake press mould from Elyn and i can't wait to try it out! not going to cook my own lotus paste this time round as i really got no time. hope the store boughts ones will be fine man *cross fingers*

cut out butter cookies

2008-08-25T23:33:00.000-07:00

Hi Gwen!!!

here's the recipe i use for my roll and cut cookies. originated from Happy Home Baker =)

Ingredients:
(makes about 36 pieces)

100g butter, softened at room temperature
80g caster sugar
1 egg yolk
180g cake flour
20g corn flour

Method:

Sift cake flour and corn flour together and set aside. Line baking tray with parchment paper, set aside.
With an electric mixer, add in sugar to the butter in 2 ~3 additions and cream till the mixture turns pale and fluffy.
Add in egg yolk and mix well.
Add sifted flour mixture in 2 ~ 3 additions, stir with a spatula to form a soft dough.
Place dough in a plastic bag and flatten with rolling pin.
Refrigerate the dough for about half an hour.
Remove dough from fridge. Roll out dough on slightly floured work surface and cut out with slightly floured cookie cutters. If the dough appears to be a little to hard and breaks into pieces while rolling, leave it at room temperature for a few minutes. The dough will soften up and can be rolled easily.
Bake at pre-heated oven at 175 degC for 15 ~ 20mins.
Let cool and store in air-tight container.

p.s: its pretty foolproof recipe actually but try to cut out as many cookies as you can per roll or else the dough gets softer and softer and you will end up having cookies with loads of pimples all over them =D

happy baking!!! =)

my first chiffon!

2008-07-18T20:08:00.000-07:00

on tuesday, i made an attempt to make a chiffon cake after reading through All That Matter's chiffon walkthrough. my gosh... she is so steady la can? i read through the theory part bout the water ratio is to the flour and egg and everything and it really makes me wonder if she went to some schools or excel superbly in math. definitely a very inspiring mother and baker! =D

i woke up around 9am (no work mah) and the moment i chanced upon her blog, i told myself i'm gonna bake my very first chiffon cake today. i didnt care whether i got the cake tin or not, i just found myself grabbing the essentials at my home's nearest supermarket and start working my butt off in the kitchen. Oh how i love ATM's step by step walkthrough with all the photos. its really very useful and easily understood. i followed her recipe religiously, praying hard to have the same successful result as how she always did.

i think 4 yolks and 5 whites will yield out a cake that's just nice for my family of 3. plus with me bring some to work and my mom giving out my bakes to neighbours and friends (i hate it when she does that) i think it should be enough. and opps, i broke a yolk =P

and here is the ingredients for the yolk batter. 90g of sugar, 30g of corn oil (i used sunflower oil), 1/4 tsp of salt (i put this into the oil without even thinking that it would sink. stupid) and the 140g concoction of coconut milk and 1tsp of pandan paste. yes i know the green is very artificial and i should have blended my own pandan, but i seriously dont want to see my pandan plant go botak. the pandan paste should be fine coz it smelt very aromatic =)

for the corn oil, the walkthrough mentioned to use 40g of it, but the recipe said 20g. so to play safe, i think 30g in the middle is the best! =D

so first, beat the yolks and in goes the sugar. for your infomation, I've never used a whisk in all of my bakes. i rely totally on my egg beater and this whisk you see in the picture has been inside my cupboard for more than half a year. i got it at Daiso and i tell you, it's good! but a whisk is still a whisk and even after beating the sugar, i felt sore on my upper arm. i was thinking how the hell you going to beat it till white and fluffy with a whisk?!

die la... i'm really a very lazy baker =(

but anyway. i managed to beat in the sugar (notice the color change of the yolk?) and in goes the salt and oil. i was really skeptical about the oil because its not easy to add oil into water or anything that is runny. but maybe i really suck in my science, the oil was nicely absorbed and there wasn't any oil beads floating around. a whisk is afterall, the basic of whipping.

next in, is the scary looking green mixture of coconut milk and pandan paste. forgot to mention that i use Kara brand's coconut cream. i think it should be the same right? be it milk or cream or am i bullshitting? but anyway the moment i add in the mixture, not only the whole bowl turned incredibly green but also watery. is it suppose to be like that?

i thought it was scary enough and wait till i added in 120g of flour and 1/2 tbsp of baking powder! scary ok! the whole mixture turned heavy and pasty and it was a pain to whisk it. by the way the recipe said to use cake flour. but because i couldn't get any of it, i used normal plain flour. i hope it wouldn't be of much difference.

and here comes the nightmare. you guys know i sucked big time in beating egg whites right? i've tried doing it a few times and only to see the whites foaming up nicely and stiff, but with a big puddle of dunno what at the bottom. after reading ATM's walkthough, i realised that all these while i have actually overbeat the whites.

so when doing this chiffon all i worry bout most is the whites. such heavenly purpose can only be accomplished by the egg beater. the moment the whites turned white and with bubbles, i added in 50g of sugar.

and here is when i realised that actually i could have continued beating a while more because later on after adding the sugar, i realised the true meaning of foaming. the whites turned really full of foam but still watery and i think the bowl i was using was too big. hence my poor egg beater had to cover a large surface area of whites. it took me bout 8+ mins to reach soft peak. how i know it was soft peak? by rising up the whisk and observe the tip of it. the moment the wind bowl it was trembling and wobbily. so did the whites in the bowl. so in goes the 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar.

and because of the bowl, i finally reached this stage after like another 8+ mins of beating. this time the tip on the whisk was much firmer and wind blow also no use leh! i dunno how to see whether its glossy/shiny and in order to confirmed that i had beaten the egg for enough, i had to...

THE ULTIMATE TEST OF FAITH!!! YES! THIS IS STIFF PEAK!!!! even the little blob of whites at the bottom left of the bowl was strong! i got rid of the egg beater immediately and i remembered ATM said must act fast as if we let the whites stands, it might separate into protein and water and then a puddle at the bottom and there goes all my effort =(

so chop chop fast fast. i carefully scoop up bout 1/3 of white and start folding into the green yolk batter. it's very amazing to see the green lighten and the whites folding nicely. no sooner, i got this:

i dunno if i folded the batter correctly, but i just so what i always did when it comes to folding batter: scrapping downwards from the side of the bowl. and scooping upwards from the bottom. once the batter was done, it reached a ribbon stage and even when i lift up my spatula, the ribbon doesn't break! (i admit i was super gleeful at this point)

i did not have a chiffon pan. yes. so i had to pour my batter into a normal round pan. funny right? but aiya who cakes? though the standard chiffon comes with a hole in the middle but i really dont mind filling that hole with the batter. mom said we used to have it but she threw it away because it was rusting soon and wasn't easy to keep in the cupboard. nevermind, i will get my chiffon tin soon k.

btw, i greased my cake tin. I GREASED IT. stupid right? i dunno what on earth am i thinking but later when the cake was done, my mom said its alright to grease because we didnt have a chiffon tin. no choice one =S

i dunno why but its like a phenomenon to me. something like birthday is to a kid. i took a stool and sat in front of my oven and watch my very first chiffon cake browning. it's really a historic moment for me ok? but after watching the first 10 mins i got really bored and hop onto my bed. heh. i did not tent the cake even though i know for my oven i should. i just change the heating element to the lower rack and then back to the upper and lower one.

i swear the cake was so fragrant and aromatic that i even smell it when i was inside my room on my bed. the moment i smelt it i thought i burned the cake and jump out to check. nothing's wrong and my dad in the living room even said, ' Smells really very good leh' =D and bout 45 min later... my first chiffon cake was done! but to my horror....

my chiffon spilt and opened a mouth!!!

HOW COME!!!! my mom said it's because the oven temperature is too high. very high meh? 160 degree mah! and the cake browned quite nicely. sigh i guess it browned too fast and turned into a giant souffle. i was really sad when i saw this but still, no choice. i brought it out to cool it under the fan and proceed to wash all the mess in the sink.

i looked at the sides of the cake and wondered if i had underbaked the cake. it was springy and very spongy, but still the bottom was not browned. or could it be the greased cake tin?

nonetheless i proceeded to cut the cake (we love eating cakes freshly baked and still warm from the oven) and OH MY GOD! IT SMELT SO HEAVENLY!!! and the cake was really very springy to touch. i know in this pic it looked very much like a pound cake, but i guess its because i used plain flour instead of cake flour. and again, did i underbake the cake?

we really enjoyed the cake very very much. my mom said the last time she baked this was more than 10 years ago and back then, she find hers was dry and not very fragrant, worse, is super green because she pounded the pandan leaves. so i told her, use pandan paste in future lor = P

i brought some of the cake for my friends at work and they said it was really nice. not too sweet and really fluffy. i think so too! the sweetness was very acceptable (in fact i think i wanna add more sugar but mom said NO) and it goes SUPER WELL with lipton red tea (my ideal tea time). this recipe is definitely a keeper! the next time i make this, its gonna be a blueberry chiffon cake baked in real chiffon tin. heh heh =P

anyway, thanks ATM for the walkthrough! it's super helpful and i'm sure many bakers out there found salvation through her post. haha =D

sausage roll and Devil cake from Small Small Baker

2008-07-14T00:36:00.000-07:00

my my my... i finally got to come back online! what happened was that i was having some connection problems with singnet and it caused me to be unable to come online for 3 weeks!!! i was occasionally online when i was @ starbucks but trust me, the wireless@sg's connection is really nothing but bullshit.

how nice man =(

but anyway. i'm currently not taking any orders because business was bad. hahaha i guess with the price of butter and flour constantly on the up, many bakers like me are taking a break from business and rather tune into home baking. yup, so no more chocolate chunk cookies or cupcakes baking coz i am baking those like almost twice a week in the past.

so what's baking lately? =)

sausage rolls!!! i did baked this like 2 years ago and back then, i know nuts bout ratio of flour to butter and all those theories. i just agar agar throw in some butter and flour to form a dough, roll them and wrap a half of a sausage and brush on some eggwash and baked them. the results? nice and crispy crust and yummy sausages, but the moment you pick them up, they cracked!

and 2 years later after all the cookies, cupcakes and breads, i finally come to understand that without the mercy of a yolk, the dough will not come out as one piece hot from the oven. so its very simple, i just used half a block of butter (about 125g) and bout 1 1/2 cup of all purpose flour and one egg yolk. as for the sausage, just get your favorite brand of chicken or pork franks and half them. a dough like that is just nice for one packet of sausage and therefore yields 20 sausage rolls.

it's suppose to be 'pigs in a blanket' by Nigella Lawson but since i used chicken sausages (shared it with some muslim friends) it's chicken in a blanket for me. results? buttery crust with yummy chicken sausages and this time round, no one cracks!

another bake was a Devil's cake from Small Small Baker. i was having this awful cake craving for 3 weeks (since the broke down of my internet connection) and it got worse day by day because i worked opposite Secret Recipe and Cedele pot! i came across this recipe on SSB and it's a definitely must for me. without a thought i moved my butt and start working.

the ingredients and methods are easily understood but problems kept arising for me when i tried to asemble the cake. first was when after the cake was done, i actually dropped the cake after i remove it from the cake tin!!! it fell on the table and it was too darn hot to use my hands to carry. so, i used plates!!! and worse because the whole cake cracked into 2 layers!!! XD

2nd was when after i sliced the cake neatly and cool them, again, IT SLIPPED OUT OF MY HANDS! its really frustrating for me but nonetheless, i whipped up a chocolate ganache, asemble the cake, throw it into the fridge to chill it and close my eyes ('Mo Gan Tai' no eyes to see in Cantonese)

nonetheless it turns out quite well!!! i used like only 150g of sugar instead of the 385g stated in the recipe. i admit i was feeling a bit lazy that day. so instead of 66g of cocoa powder, i just dump in 3 big heapful tablespoons of it into the flour mixture and one whole sachet of coffee powder. heh i dunno if i did spoil the taste of the cake but all i know is that the cake turns out to be not very sweet and a strong aroma of cocoa. so instead of a devil cake, it turned out to be a Bittersweet heavy chocolate cake for me =)

anyway here's the original recipe from the SSB's website. i hope she wont mind me trying out her recipe =P

Ingredients
180g butter (i use only 125g coz not enough butter and lazy to go down buy)
385g caster sugar (i used only 150g)
3 eggs (60g each)
225g self-raising flour
75g plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
66g cocoa powder (i used 3 real big heapful tablespoons)
3 tsp dry instant coffee (i used one whole sachet)
1/2 tsp red food colouring (I omit this)
125ml water
125ml milk (i used wheat milk)

Rich Chocolate Frosting:
60g dark chocolate
60g unsalted butter

Method
1. Grease 2 deep 20cm round cake pans, line bases with paper; grease paper.
2. Beat butter and sugar in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy; add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after additions.
3. Transfer mixture to large bowl, fold in sifted flours, soda and cocoa with combined coffee, colouring, water and milk, in 2 batches.
4. Pour mixture into prepared pans; bake in preheated oven at 180C for about 45 minutes. Turn cakes onto wire rack to cool. Join cold cakes with whipped cream, top with rich chocolate frosting. (I use rich chocolate frosting for both layers.)

Rich Chocolate Frosting:
Combine chocolate and butter in heatproof bowl over pan of simmering water, stir until smooth. Remove from heat. Cool at room temperature until spreadable, stir occasionally while cooling.

* i did not follow the frosting or ganache in this recipe. i just merely melt a bowl of dark conventure chocolate drops with some milk chocolate with hot wheat milk and stir till it reaches spreading consistency)

2008-06-25T07:58:00.000-07:00

once again... i was MIAing!!! ok before i continue with this post... i need to let everyone know something.

Currently, i have a helper for me to monitor this blog as i am not coming online as often as how i do in the past. so she would be helping to to reply to most of my tags. and i would seriously appreciate it if you kind readers can just email your enquiries or orders to thechocolatemedley@hotmail.com. i will be replying to those emails personally so dont worry okie?

and for those who had been in this blog for long, i no longer sell my cookies in cookie bags but instead in glass cookie jar. i figured that it makes alot more sense for me to sell more cookies per batch than to sell only that few pieces and end up still having to bake that much of cookies. more for you guys to eat too right? ok back to topic.

i bake a blueberry jam roll the other day... and gosh baked blueberry jam do look kindda inedible. the first poofing of the dough wasnt very well done but i was feeling lazy and couldnt care less. went ahead with 2nd poofing and when it was done baking, the bread was not too bad, but just a tad on the chewy side.

looks yucky right? but gosh after eating 2 slices i blame myself for not adding more jam! it was really yummy!!!

and these. nothing to shout about. just some regular bakes of butter roll out cookies and chocolate chunk cookies. yea if u realise, i was so damn lazy to cut the chocolate properly that they really ended up as CHUNKS in the cookies. is this a good thing or not?

2008-05-27T08:34:00.000-07:00

i finally found a nice nozzel for my buttercream!!! =D

was doing this batch of cupcakes and wanted to try out the new star nozzel i bought not long ago from Phoon Huat. i never thought of venturing into nozzels coz i already gotten a set. but the thing is those nozzels are kindda small and dont really look nice. anyway thats my working table you see up there. yea i do use those fruit paste for flavorings and tinting of the cream. but trust me. they do taste decent man!

i've made some strawberry ones...

some lemon ones...

and some on ganaches too!!! man i just LOVE my new nozzel!!! i swear that from now on i am going to use that nozzel to pipe out all my buttercreams and cookies. heh i sound so damn biased hor? XD

anyway i also gotten some sugar sequins and those color metal bits. i think they are kindda yummy though they dont look edible. its basically just some color coated sugar la.

so all decorated and up and off they go be sent to some blessed mouths! =D

whats baking lately?

2008-05-17T06:49:00.000-07:00

as usual, made sunflowers but this time round, they are extra large coz its for me!!! =D

warm and big and best for a rainy thursday =D

pineapple balls!!! tried out new recipes and ITS REALLY GOOD MAN! buttery and melt in mouth. a bit crumpy and crispy. heh though CNY is over but made this coz need to get rid of the read to use pineapple jam which was in the cupboard for ages =X

first attempt to make meringues! but haiz failed badly coz after beating the eggs, i couldnt pipe out patterns and the meringues turned soft after a few minutes and tasted like marshmallows! sigh anyone out there can help me with this? =(

korova cookies! now these were once the hot stuffs on the net man. it's heavy chocolate chip cookies and definitely not for the faint hearted!

and of coz!!! long time didnt make brownies!!! used my 75% lindth chocolate and its really good man! goes great with macadamia ice creams =D

well thats all for now. will be back again with my cupcakes =)

bready story

2008-04-30T20:28:00.000-07:00

its labour day and there's definitely no reason for me to say i am stuck at work. haha so here i am with my bread story =D

so far i have already baked from 5-6 loaves and each time the breads i baked doesnt stay soft and yummy for long. the results doesnt really worth me posting but here are 2 which i think worth mentioning.

i never understand why cant we use other liquids other than milk or water for bread. so out of curiosity i used chocolate milk for a sweet loaf/bun from Alex Goh's world of bread. the process was quite ok and i was able to achieve a similar dough pictured in the book.

this time round i used cling wrapped as advised by Happy Home Baker. it does make the crust of the bread softer rather than leaving the dough to proof in the bread tin.

after proofing for more than an hour (did this at night) the dough rised well. according to Alex Goh's book. he said that a well proof dough doesnt springs back easily and leaves a slight fingertip marking when pressed. thinking that this should be it, i proceed on to punch out the air and let the dough proof for the 2nd time in the tin.

the dough ready to be baked. so happy that it rised to this height!! thinking that i should be able to get a full loaf this time round i send it to my preheated oven and went ahead to watch tv and bathe. but guess my horror when i saw this:

OVERFLOW!!! ARRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

my gosh it was pure nightmare k!!! i just went into the kitchen to get some water and have a peep at the oven and was totally not prepared for a scene like this. i immediately removed the overflowed parts and open up the tin. but very funny though, there was still some space for the bread to rise! so why did it overflow? feeling weird, i went ahead to place back some of the overflowed dough back into the tin and slide it back to the oven.

not long later... its done!

well as expected, a full loaf. i did not grease the tin and hence had some problems in getting the bread out of the tin. without much thinking i took a butter knife and went through the whole tin, causing some parts of the loaf's surface to be damaged =(

=( .... heart pain ='(

anyway i sliced the loaf after it was cooled and gosh... i dunno is this a cake or what. IT WAS SO HEAVY AND SUFFOCATING!!! and the darker part you see at the bottom are the overflowed dough that i placed back into the tin. definitely did not cook well =(

anyway. the bread was really cake liked. other than that the taste was not too bad as there was a slight hint of chocolate. the next day the bread was so hard that even after toasted, it was still chewy and very much like a piece of cake with too much flour =(

the next day, i made another loaf. this time the hokkaido milk loaf. it was all over the net and i saw many positive comments about this loaf. the amount of ingredients were kindda weird (143g of milk?!) but nonetheless it wasnt too bad. bearing in mind that many has commented that the dough is really sticky but yields out beautiful and airy loaf, i couldnt help it but to think that its gonna be a few hours of cursing and swearing, and then happy and joy =D

well the dough did turn out sticky afterall. i wasnt even tempted to roll in more flour coz it was something expected. so with a scrapper i kept on kneading and finally adding the butter, which kindda ease the sticky situation. the dough was then left to proof.

i stick to the method that most bakers did: divide the proofed dough into 3 parts and roll out in swiss roll style. then leave in tin to proof till 80% of the height and then bake. not many achieved a full square loaf though... but will lady luck be on my side?

well lady luck wasnt totally with me... but i think maybe her pet rabbit or cats or dog was! before the loaf was done the whole house was filled with delicious yeast scent and i immediately though of kaya or curry. imagine my joy when i saw this after i slide open the tin!!

pretty loaf isnt it! it was a beautiful golden brown and the milk toast smell was very strong. perhaps because i used fresh milk? anyway after the loaf has cooled i couldnt wait to slice it up... but inside praying hard that there will be no CTE tunnel =X

when this bread was done it was like 11pm already. hence please forgive me for the bad lightings. but i am sure all can see how happy i am to see this...NO TUNNEL! and the loaf was airy and springy!!!

see!!! my first decent and successful loaf!

the loaf was not just yummy, but oso stayed soft and delicious for the next 3-4 days. definitely will make this again and cook up a good pot of curry to go along with the yummy milk loaf =D

M&M cookies

2008-04-19T01:41:00.000-07:00

now if you can find me a kid who doesnt love m&ms, i'll just have to say its come to show what life is about to the child. who on earth wouldn't like m&ms? to me, its the 2nd thing on earth which i may die without other than Nutella =P

well as i mentioned earlier than its been long since i last baked some cookies (no orders. uhhh time for improvements) and that baking a m&m cookie has been on my to-do list, i hesitate no further when i saw a bag of these colorful addictive gems on the shelves in the supermarkets. the moment i reached home the first thing i reached for is the butter in the fridge =)

neat and tidy has always been a rule of mine when inside the kitchen. be it preparing a meal or baking cupcakes/cookies/bread, i'll just somehow arrange the ingredients. they may not be in order, just randomly arranged but i arranged it just because i like to arrange things. couldnt resist taking this shot down coz the m&ms just look damn photogenic! and i also wanna show off my favorite transparent blue ingredient bowl aka my flour bowl =)

after sieving and mixing in the flour its time to add in the m&ms!!! man you can imagine how happy and excited i was when pouring in the candies... its such a colorful world inside this bowl! i bet my nieces must have missed out something real good this time =D

the cookie batter are then spooned onto the trays. the reason for this shot is that people, i think i desperately need a cookie scoop. i just cant stand seeing my little cookie-to-be doughs are in all shape and sizes!!! trust me that i already tried my very best in maintaining each of their shapes but aye a silver teaspoon just ain't reliable enough.

so after all the complains and whines, the potential cookies went into the oven and Viola! its done!!!

the cookie recipe appears to yield out flatter cookies. initially when mixing the ingredients i was quite shock to see the amount of butter required was actually lesser than the normal recipe i used. but upon seeing this result, i think i may wanna lessen the butter next time round when i bake this again.

but one thing is for sure: the cookies are really yummy and buttery!!! i used self rising flour hence the cookies are all crispy and crunchy. and before i leave, here's a little cat/dog/bear like cookie for you! =)

next up: its a bready story!!! =D

mom's birthday

2008-04-15T06:13:00.001-07:00

i've baked a bread recently and it turn out quite well!!! but for now i will blog something out of the point first. and thats my mom's birthday last sunday =)

she has always been a great mother. for years we hadnt been celebrating her birthday coz no one remembers. even she herself too. so this year we decided that its time we do some justice for her. and instead of me baking something... i made a big meal for celebration.

marinated chicken baked in oven

green salad: quail eggs, romaine lettuce, cucumber and cherry tomatoes with grated cheese

potatoe salad with japanese wasabi mayo.

of course there are loads more like terriyaki prawns, baked fish, japanese soba etc but i didnt take that down. there's just so much to eat! but of coz end of the day the most delightful treat for the birthday queen is this durian mousse from Goodwood Park Hotel:

man i tell u. its damn good that i swear i must learn to make this someday *wink* but for now i'll just leave you with my oven roast chicken recipe.

you'll need:

chicken thighs, without bones of course
sesame oil
oyster sauce
pepper
sugar
corn starch powder
pounded garlic

you'll need to:

- first wash the chicken and loosen the meat by using a pork chop hammer. leave the skin on if u want
- add in all the ingredients and 'massage' the meat. make sure every piece of chicken is coated with the marinate.
- get a box and arrange each piece of chicken neatly. this will ensure each piece of chicken thigh is properly marinate
- keep in fridge for at least 2-3 hours. most preferably overnight
- grease or place a sheet of foil over baking tray and arrange the meat nicely. no overlapping.
- place a blob of butter in the middle of the tray
- bake till done

* i did not list down the amount of ingredients needed coz it just hav to depend on how much of meat you are preparing. and if you dont have pounded garlic, just chop some garlic finely. omit of the garlic if you want too.

ur busy and MIAing baker

2008-04-07T08:44:00.000-07:00

nothing's baking lately! but there has been quite a few to-do-list:

- matcha bread (from Happy Home Baker. it look so yummy and the process is oh-so-fun to me)
-macarons (pls be prepare to see me curse and swear for this macaron post coz i know its not easy and i am trying to prepare for it)
- m&ms cookies (you will most likely see this up first coz i wanna add something new to my cookie category)
- more breads (just bought a bread book by Alex Goh)

yea so meanwhile just hang around yea? read through some old post and entertain yourself a bit. Blog host is very busy =X

papadums

2008-03-19T07:34:00.000-07:00

recently... i have developed this weird and crazy love for a indian snack...

yea i know its weird and i know some of you might think i must be crazy to like this. it's salty and very different from the chinese prawn/lobster/fish/veg cracker. so why would this dead traditional cave woman would like something so ethic?

i dont know. but it all started when the other day i was halfway through a dead boring day at work and just keep talking bout papadum. well i've got some indian colleagues and when i ask for more info bout papadums, they just keep provide me all the infos and got me really interested =D

apparently, its really easy to prepare these yummy snacks. all you gotta do just heat up some oil and deep fry the crackers. initially i thought might need to bake the papadums first but well its just this easy.

this may sound really unhealthy, but well let me tell you the real truth. and that is, real food lovers are unhealthy people. its a very sad truth coz somehow all the powerful foods are the deadly ones. some say papadums contains high amount of sodium and is very heaty. but aye for the sake of good food, who gives it a damn right?

the process of frying these babes are really interesting (for someone who know nuts bout indian cuisine its really quite an eye opening ok) anyway i fried bout 2 packets and more than half has met their dooms in my tummy in less than 2 hours. haha... too bad =D

anyway... its been long since i last bake some cookies aye? *grins*

my first bread making post

2008-03-15T20:05:00.001-07:00

ok i know i had been MIAing for too long. now i am back with this long promised post: bread making.

i really hate to say this but... I GOT NO BREADMAKER AT HOME!!! and as you know, having a breadmaking machine is sort of a must-have now in many baker's home, most of the bread recipes all gives instructions via the breadmaker. but all thanks to this happy home baker, i got some of her posts as a referring guide.

with my first time baking a bread on a breadmaker recipe, i reckon it's bad enough. but things just got worse when 2 pairs of small hands keep disturbing my poor dough! well i dunno how long to knead, knead to what stage but all i know is no matter how i knead the dough just doesnt seem right =(

and well i am pretty on for this breadmaking thingy and hence i went to buy a pullman loaf tin from Phoon Huat. hehe yea i know some might think this is overboard but trust me! this is another must have in most bakers' home =) ok anyway back to the dough.

after leaving the dough to poof for the 1st time, i punch out the gas using the rolling pin ((yea violence i know) and begin rolling out. it was SUCH A NUISANCE MAN. coz the damn thing just keep contracting and this poor old woman just have to keep rolling like some heck. and again, 2 mini pair of itchy hands keep nipping and pinch my poor and naughty dough =(

then begin sprinkling some fish floss...

And roll it up!

the dough was then put back in the pullman loaf tin (i left it in there too for the 1st poofing) for the 2nd rise. looks like a silkworm hibernating right? in order to let my dough rest in peace i lied to my nieces that if we dont leave the dough alone for the next 30 min, worms will come out of the dough due to the noise they made. what a good lie i made coz they really left the kitchen and remain pretty quiet =)

and having baking...

DISAPPOINTING RIGHT!!!!

haiz the dough just wouldnt rise all the way up and worse is when it just doesnt get cooked. despite me following the temperature and timing stated on the recipe the dough just didnt baked like how it was suppose to be. with no choice i had to take away the loaf tin's lid and in the end this is was i got =(

this is not the worse.

CTE TUNNEL!!! i dunno why but inside there's huge air bubbles trapped! i suspect it could be due to the 2nd poofing.

and taste wise? well the bread tasted pretty tasteless and very chewy. i suspect it could be due to bad kneading and lack of time in the oven. of coz i did not just bake this loaf alone. i have baked bout 3-4 loaves of bread already but all with the huge tunnel. i think next time i am going to let the dough poof twice before adding ingredients in =(

the cuppy post

2008-02-24T07:40:00.000-08:00

*post edited

well cny had just passed not long ago but man i have this crazy pile of mandrain oranges stacking at home! its a bit hard to believe, but trust me. i am a BIG fruit HATER and its no way i will finish the oranges..

so what did i do with these citrus little monsters? Bake them of coz!

i got the recipe from another fellow baker's blog and was seriously impressed by her baking skills! definitely can easily beat me down coz i could never come up with something like that. really a great way to clear my oranges. *grins*

some of you might think: if this weird baker doesnt eat fresh oranges, then why would she even eat baked ones? thats right! therefore i made some of my signature Nutella Muffins!

recently i have changed from spooning my cupcake batter into the paper cases to pipping them in. i find this method batter as i can 1) wash 2 spoons less 2) no need to keep stare at the filled cases thinking which one got more which one got less 3) makes the whole process much more neater and less messier.

so how did the cupcakes turned out?

well of coz the nutella ones turned out REALLY BEAUTIFULLY and REALLY YUMMY! haha i have never been disappointed with this cupcake coz its my foolproof recipe! and what bout the orange cupcakes?

they turned out great! at first i was quite skeptical bout this cupcake coz this recipe called for plain yogurt and i dont have. i just replace it with milk. and somehow the cupcake just took quite a while to turn a bit golden brown. but ok la it turned out not too bad. taste wise...

the cupcake was very fluffy! i did drop in some orange essence but of coz this did not blend in with the mandrian oranges. and the baked orange's membrane was a tad chewy. hmm hope the original baker of this recipe can enlighten me in this.

but a note though, i think this cupcake can go very well with those canned peached =)

so yea this is my cuppy post. anyway i am baking bread now even at this hour so... keep watch for tat post! =)

a little p.s

2008-02-22T01:28:00.000-08:00

alright i know its been a long time since i last blogged but trust me! an update soon is a promise and more juicy and fruity post! heehee think this is sort of a hint yea? =D

anyway i'm venturing into bread making soon too! wish me luck!!! ;D

my CNY 2008

2008-02-10T00:50:00.000-08:00

hi everyone! baker is back to post up another round of her CNY bakes : Sugee Cookies!

its my first time baking sugee cookies and i find that it is a tad hard. the process is definitely interesting as its my first time using ghee. hmm not bad, the taste is there but still need a tweak on the texture. still not really melt in mouth yet.

sugees ready to go into the oven...

after 20+ mins, they are done!

i find them really pretty! or was is the pink paper case doing the trick?

so thats my first sugee experience. hmm though i didnt manage to get the crackling effect really well and texture still has rooms for improvements, but ok la. will definitely make more of this so that it can be up for my next CNY bake sale item list =)

and after sugee cookies, next would be sunflowers again!

orders were quite xiong for this one hence i spent most of the midnights baking this. so tired! but it was quite an experience for me to bake at the wee hours alone. a bit creepy but aiya, its CNY anyway =)

on the other hand, after posting these pics i realise a need to change my oven. this oven has been following the family for almost 40 years and i could hear the sound of rebel. no doubt it still churns out beautiful and yummy cookies or other goodies but i find that its getting more and more slow. like normally i need bout 20 min to bake a tray of cookies but now it can go up to bout 35mins and above o_O

so before i go, does anyone have any good ovens (bout 28 litres) to recommend?

my pineapple tarts

2008-01-25T22:10:00.001-08:00

new year pineapple tarts for sale!

i love things to be round rather than oblong or whatever shape. thought that it looks more rounder. anyway new year baking has started and my first bake on the list are pineapple tarts! these little darlings were hand made from the stretch. from puree (mind u, i pureed the pineapples manually by using a chopping board and a knife!) the pineapples to the skin... its definitely one of the most 'fat burning' bakes!

taste wise? creamy and buttery! i love buttery pineapple tarts and it wouldnt bother me if the skin is sweet or salty. but anyway for my version the skin is slightly on the salty side. the pineapple fillings were cooked with a very little amount of sugar as i used those super sweet thai pineapples. these tarts are vegetarian as no eggs (not even the skin) or animal fats were used.

and till then...take care everyone! more new year posts ahead! =)

comfort foods

2008-01-18T07:56:00.000-08:00

ok i know i had abandoned this blog for so long and its getting boring!!! sorry sorry was really busy and oops, new year stuffs are still on preparations =X

ok so now i am back to post a bit la. no baking entries coz i had been baking the normal chocolate/banana muffins. keep kena orders for those so... yea whats there to blog bout for those? so today, i'll share with u a easy peasy home recipe to quench some real nasty cravings =)

you'll need:

the amount of pasta u need to settle ur animal hunger ( for me its one cup for fusili pasta)

a can of instant soup ( u can get 2 for bigger portion and mix between flavours. try tomato and clam chowder at ur own risk)

either ham, sausages, mushrooms, peas or whatever condiments u want inside ur pasta

salt and pepper for taste

ur favorite cheese at any animal amount u want

what to do:

1) first boil pasta till al dente with a pinch of salt and drain.

2) grab a pan and u might wanna sauteed some onions and garlic, then add in ur condiments (ham sausages etc)

3) open up the can and pour the content out into a bowl. pour bout half a can of water to the soup mixture and mix till desired consistency. this is ur pasta sauce so add whatever you like so long as u think it is edible.

4) now pour the soup mixture into the pan with all the condiments frying around. let everything simmer for a while then use salt and pepper to taste. some herbs would be nice too.

5) after simmering till u think its done, or maybe 5 min or so add in the drained pasta and give it a quick toss. then serve it on a plate asap as the sauce will get more and more drier.

6) top up some cheese and tada! its done!

yea i know this is not some fancy stuffs but trust me, its quite a comfort food on rainy days and u just want a bit of that ang moh feel at home. ( i think singaporeans will get what i mean) anyway i mixed potato clam chowder and cream of chicken for my case and my condiments were ham and sausage with onions. nice la but i think i wanna try mushroom next time =X

pre CNY bake sale

2008-01-03T02:07:00.001-08:00

so after Christmas... its gonna be Chinese New year soon!

keep a lookout here as more yummilicious New Year bake sale will be up soon! =)

My Christmas Baking

2007-12-29T02:29:00.000-08:00

erm i know this is a bit late coz Christmas is already finished. but nevermind, just an update to tell what i baked for friends this year.

aside from the gingerbread cookies, theres also some rolled chocolate cookies. these cookies are pre made the night before baking as the dough has to be in fridge overnight. great choice during festive seasons when u are all hot on heels for shopping time and wants something freshly baked as gifts.

the chilled dough ready to be cut and arranged on tray...

all sliced up and ready for the oven!

i thought the color is quite nice! but then due to the sunlight it kindda affected the lighting. anyway 2 flavors were made, almond chocolate roll and chocolate with blueberry roll.

chocolate and blueberry roll.

these cookies are really convenient and u can choose whatever flavors u like! i personally find the almond chocolate one quite fragrant but not enough sugar. while the jam roll ones were more on the sweet side =)

another type of cookies baked was the White chocolate Cereal cookies. aye i think my readers should already know who these babes are =)

alright anyway. we have a pre celebration last saturday for my eldest niece birthday. and for that i made her an ice cream cake! hmm due to all the oil and stained fingers i couldn't really take any decent pictures of the process and the final result of the cake. all i know was i really need a good fridge coz apparently, the cake wasn't chilled enough.

making the cake base with pound cakes...

and flavor of the day: Peppermint+Chocolate+fresh strawberry chunks!

its berry goodness here!

the naked, uniced but already setted and firmed cake. chio hor? i think it looked quite nice like this already =P

the iced cake with strawberries. aye i suck at cake decorating. the cake was frost with buttercream. a bit untidy la coz rushing to set the charcoal etc etc XD

we couldnt do much except to put m&ms around the cake. everyone was somehow impressed la. coz they thought ice cream cakes was something bombastic. anyway i think the cake went on quite well! except that it melts really fast due to lack of proper freezing. another thing is, FROZEN BUTTERCREAM IS REALLY NICE~!!!! XD

ok here's the pics for my gingerbread man post. yeap finally got the pics!!!

this year, instead of Rudolf having a red and shiny nose, Chipmunks has got it too!

and not forgetting the christmas tree!

me: OEI! YOU ARE MESSY UP MY TABLE!!!!
niece: my cookie!!*grins*

my eldest niece's version of the christmas tree. apparently i think she stamped a chipmunk's stamp and decorate the cookie into a santa claus-like thingy. not bad for a 9 year old huh? =)

anyway its been a great christmas and The Chocolate Medley would like to wish all readers a great year ahead and best wishes always! and with that, i am gonna end this post with my niece's most stunning expression:

ciao~!

A Ginger Story

2007-12-24T01:30:00.000-08:00

ever got freaked out by the process of making gingerbread cookies? well i did.

but i think i was able to 'make a sense out of it' =P

things was really freaky initially. after mixing up the butter and sugar, i thought everything went quite alright. but by the time i added in the molasses and coffee in, man it was definitely one kind of hell.

'hell'

EVERYTHING LOOK SO DISGUSTING! and the smell is definitely not something i enjoy. perhaps its because its my first time making these hence i am not very used to it. the butter and sugar are on their own and the liquid inside this murky mixture is making everything look so buttery yet liquid at the same time! yucks!

but anyway, luckily i hang on to it and continue beating. things begin to make out very soon. so lesson learnt: beat well and be patient.

not long after i've gotten a creamy brown and rich looking batter, i added in the flour. the dough formed not long after and i thought this is definitely not something easy.

so yeap this is the finished dough. i thought it looked pretty alright... shiny surface, no unblended flour balls or whatever... yes? no? but anyway it was sent to the fridge for TWO WHOLE DAYS coz i wanted to be very sure with the dough. i rather keep the dough longer in the fridge than to let it soften like butter during baking.

and soon, i started having fun!

choosing the cutters and stamping on the cut out cookies was definitely the most happiest part of the whole baking process. did this with my nieces and they really had fun cutting and designing their own gingerbread. all went well so is the baking process.

gotta say that my favorite was the snowflake and the pooh gingerbread! we iced the cookies with royal icing and well.. just as i thought its gonna taste yummy, boy i was totally wrong.

....i reduced too much sugar until the molasses overpowered the whole cookie.

...i increased the amount of cinnamon and nutmeg so much that it totally doesnt taste like gingerbread.

... its definitely not yummy. eh...

oh well i didnt take down pics of the done cookies coz was kindda messy that day. nevertheless, i will try out this recipe again but not so soon =)

Recipe from Baking Bites:

Gingerbread Men
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp (freshly) ground nutmeg
pinch ground black pepper (optional)
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup coffee or water
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and cinnamon.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in molasses, water and vanilla, then gradually add in flour mixture until a smooth dough forms. Divide dough into two or three pieces (dough will be quite soft), cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until firm.

Preheat oven to 375F.
For softer cookies:
On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to just under 1/4 inch thickness. Use cookie cutters of your choice (2-3? gingerbread men are ideal!) to cut dough. Place cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 9-12 minutes, depending on size of cookie cutter. Cookies should be slightly firm to the touch at the edges. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

For crispier cookies:
On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to just under 1/8 inch thickness. Use cookie cutters of your choice (2-3? gingerbread men are ideal!) to cut dough. Place cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 9-12 minutes, depending on size of cookie cutter. Cookies should be slightly firm to the touch at the edges and will be lightly browned. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

When cool, decorate with lemon icing (recipe below).

Makes about 30-40 gingerbread men, depending on size of cookie cutters used and whether you make them thick or thin.

Lemon Icing
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2-3 tbsp tsp lemon juice

In a small bowl combine powdered sugar and lemon juice. Substitute milk or cream plus 1 tsp
lemon extract, if no fresh lemon juice is available. Add enough lemon juice to make the
icing thick and pourable, but not runny (start with 1-2 tbsp and add more if necessary. You
can always add a bit of extra sugar to thicken it if you add too much) and stir until very
smooth. Scrape into piping bag with a fine tip or a ziploc bag with a corner cut off and
pipe onto cooled cookies. Allow to set for at least 30 minutes, until firm, before storing
cookies in an airtight container.