A Teaspoon and A Pinch

As much as I love Nigella, at the end of the day...my grandmothers, momsie and aunts are the ultimate Domestic Goddesses to me. :)

2011-04-03T23:53:00.001+08:00

My maternal family is a good example of "Rojak" Although majority are Indians, there are also E Arabs, Malay, Indonesian and chinese. The beauty of it is that, I get to learn and understand more about other cultures and tradition and most importantly, cuisines. This is a food blog after all! :D As a kid, I was particularly found of Aunty Fauziah cook awesome chinese cuisines. Her soups, stir fry veges and noodles were unbeatable :) Her sweet and sour fish is a favourite in my family. I had to learn it. That was 8 years ago...but this dish still continue to be up there. There isn't really much of a recipe. You don't have to follow the recipe to a "T" but merely use it as a rough guide. Such is the flexibility of home-cooking....don't you agree? :)

Sweet Sour dishes are fairly ubiquitous and you can find it in almost all Chinese restaurant, though as usual it varies from place to place. My aunt's version is different but crazily good. It is so so so simple yet surprisingly delish. and the dish is very versatile. Needless to say, I really, really, enjoyed this dish. It was delightfully delicious and refreshing, and delicious. Errr did I mention delicious? :p

Ingredients:

500g fresh fish fillets. (snapper/dory would be perfect)

3 garlic -pounded

1/2 c rice floor

Dash of black pepper

1/4tsp salt

2tbsp lemon juice

Method:

Cut fish into bite-size pieces. Rub with lemon juice and salt. Place in a mixing bowl and combine with garlic, flour, pepper. Meanwhile, heat oil in deep-fryer or heavy saucepan.

Deep fry fillets pieces until golden brown. Drain on paper towels; set aside.

Sauce:

3tbsp light soy sauce

3tbsp white vinegar

2-3tbsp sugar

1 bowl water

2 onion - cut into rings

3 chillies - sliced.

2tsp cornflour mix with 2tsp water - for thickening

A good pinch of salt (this is only required if your soy sauce has less salt content)

Method:

In a frying pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil. Saute onion and chillies.

Add soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and water.

Once it boils, mix in cornflour. There isn't a need to add all of the cornstarch.

It should be slightly thick only.

Pour sauce over fish and serve hot.

*This sauce goes well with prawns and scallops too.

Backdated post.

2011-04-03T23:38:00.009+08:00

Just sharing some pics for recent orders....

Doll cake - Totally in love with this 1. Especially the hair. I can consider hairstyling as a career. :p

Cupcakes - Hollywood themed

Baby Shower Cupcakes

Ordered by a bride, for the bridegrooms

For the grooms

An order from a Thai discotheque - Club Nana

More handbags...

More laterz :)

I love lemony smells... So citrus-y and fresh!

2011-03-16T21:07:00.006+08:00

I gave myself a break this week. I needed it. Started to feel a little under the weather. I needed to de-stress a bit today and what can be better than baking for leisure? I don't really eat cakes much but I love the process of making it. Totally therapeutic :) I had a couple of lovely lemon in the fridge and yes, if not for this sore-throat, I would have made lemonade and then toast to better days :p

Nee'ways, this is really an easy recipe. I kept it rustic yet feminine. With a cup of tea, I think it is quintessentially English...no? ;)

Ingredients for cupcakes:
3 1/2 cups srf flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 eggs
8 oz fresh milk
8 oz cartons dairy sour cream
2 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 degree F (180 C). Line thirty 2 1/2-inch muffin cups with paper bake cups; set aside. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar and vanilla; beat until well mixed.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture, sour cream and milk alternately to beaten mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined.
Stir in lemon peel.
Spoon about 1/4 cup of the batter into each prepared muffin cup.
Bake in preheated oven about 18 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

Lemon Frosting:
50g butter, softened
1c sifted icing-sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Milk (2 to 3 teaspoons if necessary)
1 teaspoon shredded lemon peel

To Make Lemon Frosting:
In a medium bowl, beat butter with 1 cup powdered sugar, beating well. Gradually beat in lemon juice and vanilla. Gradually beat additional milk (2 to 3 teaspoons) to make of spreading consistency. Stir in shredded lemon peel.

Assemble-
Cool cupcakes completely and cool as desired.

Pancakes With Blueberry filling and Cream Cheese.

2011-03-03T14:14:00.009+08:00

*Wipes cobwebs* It's really getting dusty in here! I am sorry for not updating my blog. I have been kinda busy...here...there and everywhere! And yes, that is partly an excuse :p

Almost every other day, I would get an emails from readers and I'm touched. I am also embarrass by my inconsistency to update this blog! So specially for those of you who are still very much around, this awesome yet simple recipe is for you. Try it....it's SUPER delicious! :)

Among all the other berries, I personally think that blueberries has the least flavour; on it's own. I love munching on almost all kinds of berries, but I am not particularly fond of blueberries It's funny as to how everyone around you is busy snapping up a few punnets at one go, and you tend to go grab some too. Talk about herd mentality, huh? Not a bad thing anyways, It works like a charm in bakes and desserts...and oh jam!

Back to these lovelies over here. Actually these are called Atayef. It is the equivalent of American pancakes. In Beirut, there are shops where people order these; you can get the clotted cream or ashta and the syrup as well. There's 3 components for this but don't be daunted. They are all very easy. :)

Blueberry Filling:

2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1 cup blueberries
1 tbsp lemon juice

Method:
Cook all these ingredients in a saucepan over a low flame, stirring constantly. Cook for as long as you want, if you like your blueberries to be mushy. I allowed mine to soften up a bit, but still retain their shape.
---------------------------------------

Cream Cheese Mixture
200g Philadelphia Cream Cheese (softened)
50g unsalted butter (softened)
2-3 tbsp icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla
A splash of milk (if too dry)
*You can adjust the proportions here and there ... it's up to you.

Method:
Cream all the above ingredients till smooth and creamy
----------------------------------------------------

Atayef (Pancakes) - from Taste of Beirut
1 cup self raising flour (original recipe uses 1 cup of flour plus 1tbsp of baking powder)
1 1/4 cup milk
1.5 tbsp sugar

Method:

In a small bowl, sift the flour, sugar and mix with a wire whisk.
Pour the milk in a bowl; gradually add the flour and sugar mix.Mix with the wire whisk; the consistency should be a little thicker than a crepe batter. If the batter is too thick, add a little milk.Heat a crepe or pancake nonstick skillet till very hot; grease it with a half teaspoon of oil or spray it; place the equivalent of 1/4 cup of batter in the skillet to form a circle. Let it cook for a few minutes on one side; when it has formed little bubbles and it looks dry, take it out onto a plate. Do not flip it.I did not grease my non-stick pan at all, and the Atayef still turned out perfect. As soon as all the Atayef are cooked, pinch 1 end to form a spoon shape. Once cool, serve it with some cream cheese and blueberry filling.

Have your bag and eat it too!

2011-01-16T11:46:00.005+08:00

There are soooo many pictures of orders that I didn't get to upload. I guess I will just share a couple of 'em. This was my 1st attempt with a Chanel Cake.

2nd attempt

Nigella's Crustless Pizza.

2011-01-11T07:23:00.006+08:00

I saw an episode of Nigella's Kitchen and I knew I had to lay my hands on the book.

This is so incredibly simple! It would take even more time for you to call for pizza!You start with a simple batter (like Yorkshire pudding - just flour, egg, milk and salt), add some grated cheese and cook it in the oven for 20 minutes.

Ingredients:
1 egg
2/3 cup all-purpose flour

Salt
1 cup whole milk
Butter, for pie dish
1 cup grated Cheddar
Chorizo or pepperoni slices

I also added cherry tomatoes, chili flakes and mozzarella for the topping.

Method:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a small bowl, beat the egg with the flour, salt, to taste, and milk to make a smooth batter.
Butter a 9 inch round ovenproof pie dish, then stir half the grated cheese into the batter, before pouring it into the dish.

Bake for 20-30 minutes. Take the dish out of the oven, sprinkle with the remaining cheese, and add the chorizo or pepperoni and anything else. Return the dish to the oven and cook for another 2 or 3 minutes to make sure it's heated through and the cheese melts.

This is not your typical pizza. Nevertheless, it's still lovely! Even my mother enjoyed eating a couple of slices of this. I am gonna try with different toppings next. Infact i am gonna add a thin layer of tomato sauce! Makes it more traditional, no? :)

A first with Pierre Herme.

2010-11-23T02:16:00.004+08:00

I bought Pierre Herme's book and was totally in love with that guy. Olive oil in macarons, black pepper in desserts and there is his "Emotion Fragola", a dessert made with spaghetti cooked in strawberry juice. This guy is a genius! He is nicknamed the "Picasso of cakes" and I think the nickname is befitting indeed. :)

He started at the age of 14. Come to think of it, I started baking around that age too! Look at where he is and look at me? He's a pastry guru who has been awarded countless prizes of the world of patisseries and I'm a ....err nothing as yet :p Oh well, he is 49 and I ONLY 21 :p There's still years for me I guess. *Trying to console myself* :p

Anyways most of his cakes have different components. The cake, E syrup, E filling, E glaze...etc. I started with E most simple recipe from the book!

LEMON LOAF CAKE

Ingredients:
Zest of 3 lemons

6 eggs

2 cups sugar
1 stick + 1 tbsp. melted butter
pinch of salt
3 1/2 tbsp rum (I omitted this)
2 2/3 cup of cake flour (not self rising flour)
3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup heavy cream or creme fraiche(I used creme fraiche)

Method:

Melt butter. Rub the zest into the sugar till it resembles wet sand. The eggs were then added to the mixing bowl along with the lemon sugars, mixed until pale and fluffy. Sift cake flour and baking powder. Once the eggs are pale and fluffy, add the rum, pinch of salt and creme fraiche. When all the wet mixture are incorporated, on low speed gently add the dry ingredients in 3 intervals, avoid over mixing. Gently scrap down the sides of the bowl and folded in the few remaining specks of flour. The butter now at room temperature is gently folded in the fluffy mixture, in 3 intervals. At first it looks separated but as you continue folding it the mixture homogenize.

Butter and line 2 loaf pans and divide the batter evenly. Bake this in a preheated 350 degrees oven for 55 to 60 minutes. Check after 30 minutes, because oven varies.

To make it more lemony, while the cakes are baking make the LEMON SIMPLE SYRUP .

1/3 cup water
3 1/2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. lemon juice
Dissolve the sugar in the water in a saucepan and cool until room temperature. Add the lemon juice.

Original recipe said that when the cakes are done quickly pour in the lemon simple syrup into each cakes and cool till room temperature. I just brushed the cake lightly with this syrup.

Verdict: The cake is so full of lemon flavour and is delicious indeed. Got the thumbs up from mom. Infact, it keeps really well too!

Gorgeous little baskets

2010-10-17T07:24:00.005+08:00

Had an order for fruit tarts last week. I made extra Creme Anglaise/Pastry cream coz I was planning to make these little baskets. E pastry cream is really gorgeous. Thick yet light on the palate. This is Dorie's recipe which I believe was adapted from Pierre Herme. It yields more than 700g of pastry cream so you might want to half the recipe if you are only making 12-16 tarts.

Pastry Cream
1 cup whole milk
6 egg yolks
1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted
1 plump, moist vanilla bean, split and scraped OR 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 tbsp butter, cut into bits at room temperature

Method:

Bring the milk and vanilla bean to a boil in a small saucepan.
Meanwhile, in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the egg yolks together with the sugar and cornstarch until thick and well blended. Still whisking, drizzle in about 1/4 cup of the hot milk– this will temper, or warm, the yolks so they won’t curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the milk. Put the pan over medium heat and, whisking vigorously, constantly and thoroughly (making sure to get the edges of the pot), bring the mixture to a boil. Keep at a boil, still whisking, for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat.

Whisk in the vanilla extract(if using). Let sit for 5 minutes, then whisk in the bits of butter, stirring until they are full incorporated and the pastry cream is smooth and silky. Scrape the cream into a bowl. You can press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the cream to create an airtight seal and refrigerate the pastry cream until cold.

Phyllo Cups/Basket:

6 sheets phyllo pastry
1/4 cup cup/50ml butter, melted

Preparation:
Lightly grease a 24 muffin/tart tins and set aside.
Place 1 sheet of phyllo on work surface, keeping remaining phyllo covered with plastic wrap then damp towel. Brush sheet lightly with butter. Top with second sheet; brush with butter. Top with third sheet; brush with butter. Cut lengthwise into 4 strips and crosswise into 6 strips to make 24 squares.

Press each square into prepared cup. Bake in centre of 180°C oven for about 5-8 minutes or until golden. Let cool in pan on rack. Repeat with remaining phyllo.
Once cool,top with pastry cream and fruits. Glaze the fruits with some melted apricot jam.
Alternatively, you can keep the cups in an airtight container for later use.

My First Ravioli.

2010-10-15T05:00:00.004+08:00

E title is cute aye? :p So, I have been wanting to try my hands at Ravioli for Donkey years now. Saw Giada De Laurentiis making it and it looked simple enough.

I wanna squash those tomatoes too! Can I have a picture taken just like that? ~~Minus E cleavage!~~ :P

Anyways, I gave E recipe a try with some tweaks here and there and it was good aye! For a first time attempt, I am quite impress with myself. Don't mind E self appraisal please! :P Well, I am a die hard fan of tomato based pasta compared to creamy ones. I am gonna try a tomato based sauce E next time! It bet it would be more yumz!

Ingredients for pasta
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 eggs

Filling:
200g fresh spinach
1 tsp salt (Ps taste accordingly)
200g ricotta
1/2 egg
1 tbsp heavy cream
2 tbsp grated Parmigiano Reggiano, plus 2 tbsp more for garnish
a big pinch of nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper

Sauce:
50g butter
Pinch of nutmeg
1/2 tbsp chopped sage

Directions:
Place the flour on a board or in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and crack the eggs into it. Beat the eggs with a fork until smooth. Using the tips of your fingers, mix the eggs with the flour, incorporating a little at a time, until everything is combined. Knead the pieces of dough to form a dough. Knead until the dough is thoroughly worked together, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Reserve until the raviolis are ready to be assembled.

In a pot of boiling water, cook the spinach with half of the salt until tender. Remove the spinach from the boiling water and let cool for 2 to 3 minutes. Squeeze out the water from the spinach and chop it up roughly. In a mixing bowl, combine chopped spinach, ricotta, egg, heavy cream, and 2 tbsp of Parmigiano Reggiano.
Season with the nutmeg, remaining salt, and black pepper.

To make the sauce, melt the butter in a sauce-pot. Simmer the nutmeg and sage in the butter for 1 minute. Reserve until the raviolis are cooked.

To assemble the raviolis, cut the dough into 4 pieces. Roll out each piece to form a thin layer (about 1/8 inch) of dough. Place 1 spoonful of filling onto 1 sheet of dough 1/2 inch from the edge. Continue to place spoonfuls of filling along the dough 1-inch from each other.
Place 1 of the other pieces of rolled out dough on top of the piece with the filling on it. Pinch the dough around the filling to form the ravioli. Use a cookie cutter or a knife to cut out the raviolis. Pinch the edges of each ravioli with the tines of a fork. Set aside each ravioli on a plate lightly dusted with flour. Do not stack the raviolis, because they will stick together.

When you are ready to cook the raviolis, add them to boiling water. When the raviolis float, about 2 to 3 minutes, they are finished cooking. Serve each portion with the sage butter and sprinkle grated Parmigiano-Reggiano over each serving.

Eid 2010

2010-10-15T03:56:00.005+08:00

It is too late to wish my readers and fella blogger Happy Hari Raya now, but I sure hope that you had an enjoyable and memorable Raya. :) Mine flew by without me really realising it thus I'm looking forward to Diwali!

Anyways, as normal I don't have much pics to share as I was too busy. I am just sharing some pictures that I somehow managed to snap. :)

E food....

E cousins. Okay, I spot my uncle and aunty too. :p

E little ones..all smiles!

This sums up my Raya post! Lol! :p

A simple and delicious soup

2010-08-25T11:26:00.006+08:00

Bak Kut Teh is a popular soup among chinese. Infact it is now popular among non Chinese too! I have seen a few stalls selling the Halal version of this soup. They used beef and chicken instead. Using chicken, its known as Chi Kut Teh...wat if its using beef? Niu Rou Kut Teh perhaps? Too long, I've decided to call it Beef Kut Teh instead! :p

This herbal soup is actually quite similar to the Indian mutton/beef soup minus the thickener. I believe its due to the presence of spices like star anise, cinnamon, cloves, fennel, garlic...etc2.

I bought a packet of E ready made spice. It contains a packet of spice and a packet of herbs. I spotted a couple of the ingredients to make Cheng Teng among the herbs. This A1 brand is suitable for vegetarians and It is Halal. :)

Anyways, this soup would be best with a mix of bones and meat. The bones would add a certain sweetness to the soup. Overall, its a lovely, lovely soup. We totally enjoyed this! Serve with hot rice, it is definitely a perfect treat for Iftar. Try it! :)

Ingredients:
1.5 kg beef ribs/oxtail or which ever part of the beef/chicken you prefer.
3L water
5 cloves whole garlic
2 onion - chopped
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp light soy sauce
Salt to taste
5 pc dried shitake (Optional)
1 small knob of ginger - Crushed
Pepper and salt to taste

Method:
Place the premix (both E spices and herbs) and all of the other ingredients in a big pot. Simmer for about 2-3 hours or cook in a pressure cooker for 30 mins.
Garnish with spring onion/coriander leaves and some fried shallots.

Kuih Jonkong.

2010-08-22T09:35:00.005+08:00

Kuih Jongkong is delicious but those authentic ones wrapped in banana leaves ain't easy to find. I have been craving for this but I was lazy to make some just to satisfy my cravings :p
Sum-how a few days back, mom's good friend came over to Iftar. While talking to her on the phone a day before the meet up, she was saying that she bought some kuih jongkong which tasted really off and its so difficult to find good kuih jongkong nowadays. So I decided to make some for her.

She was full of praises for the kuih and she said that I was very good with the banana leaves as I could fold it nicely. She obviously didn't know that I struggled while wrapping this! I almost curse those leaves! Haha. She added that, it takes some skills to wrap with just 1 sheet of leaf coz most people would use 2. Ah...the nice things that people say when you give them delicious food! ;)

Ingredients:
100g rice flour
200 ml thick coconut cream (I used kara)
4 screw-pine leaves (Daun pandan)
800ml water
1/4 tsp salt

Method:
Blend screw-pine leaves with some water (From the 800ml)
Stain and combine all the ingredients and cook over slow fire for about 15-20 mins till mixture thickens.

Topping:
200 ml coconut cream mixed with 1/4 tsp salt ( I used kara)
2 palm sugar - chopped

Banana leaves - Clean and warm the leaves over the fire so that it is more pliable.

Method:

Place 1 heap tbsp of cooked mixture in the middle of a banana leaf.
Drizzle with 1.5 tbsp - 2tbsp of coconut milk and top with some chopped palm sugar.
Fold the leaves and secure with a toothpick.
Steam for 15 minutes.
So sedap!! :)

Love this effect. Vintage :)

Perfect for Ramadan. Dates Milkshake - Susu Kurma

2010-08-21T09:20:00.004+08:00

Ramadan and Dates are almost inseparable.

Dates are rich in calcium, iron, several vitamins and minerals. It is also full of fiber. I believe all the above are enough reasons as to why we are encourage to consume dates during fasting.

Every Ramadan, I would prepare Dates milkshake often. We drink a lot of milk during this month; I always joked to mom that we should consider purchasing a cow just for Ramadan! :p
Anyways, this milkshake is simply delicious.Decadent and loaded with the goodness of dates! The recipe is really versatile and there is so many variations. You can either

- Just blend a couple of dates with a glass of milk and 1/4 cup of water. (For soft dates)

- Boil/soak a couple of dates in 1/3 cup of water, blend with a cup of milk (Perfect for harder, drier dates)

I usually do it this way...

Ingredients:
15-20 soft dates
1L fresh milk/low fat milk (Use full cream or skimmed milk by all means)
3/4 cup to 1 cup water

Method:
Soak dates in water for about 20 minutes.
In a blender, add dates along with the water plus milk.
Blend till fine.
If you prefer a smoother milkshake, strain the milkshake.
I personally prefer the milkshake with the bits of dates. So full of Fiber! :)

Notes:

*If you prefer a sweeter milkshake, just add some sugar or honey while blending.
*Alternatively, if you do not have a blender, just soak the dates 1st, mash it up and add the milk. Strain.

Reason as to why I am missing ever so often...

2010-08-18T11:11:00.000+08:00

I need to fill 250 bottles with 20,000 cookies.

A super easy dessert for Ramadan

2010-08-12T01:20:00.009+08:00

Ramadan Mubarak too all Muslims all over E world :)May this year brings us more fulfillment and strengthen our Iman.

So today was E first day of fasting. All went on well. 3rd sister in law was so sweet as to send some food for Iftar ( E meal where we break our fast) She cooked Kuah Rawan, Sotong Sambal and potato patties. She also made curry puffs.
I made something simple to reciprocate. My 3rd bro is not into cakes and stuffs. He loves cold desserts though. 3 days ago, he came over and I made this pudding and he absolutely loved it, thus I decided to make a couple of cups for him to eat over the next few days.

This pudding is actually an agar2 but the amount of agar2 used is little, thus it has a smooth and wobbly texture. It literally glides through your throat and this is really suitable for Ramadan. Easy, delicious and cooling. I served this with canned longans.

Ingredients:

1 Litre Soya Milk

250ml Fresh Milk

2-4tbsp Sugar

2 tsp agar2 powder

Method:

Bring Soya milk, milk and agar2 to boil. Add sugar and keep stirring. Pour in Individual cups or moulds and leave to set for a few hours or overnight.

Top with a couple of longans just before serving.

Computer themed, cute animals and a guitar

2010-08-10T08:20:00.000+08:00

Chocolate Cake - Order from a gf to her bf.

Brownie

My bro was saying "where got cow sit like that one?!" Haha.

Love E sheep!

Quack2! :D

Doorgifts orders from MINDS - Triple chocolate chips n oatmeal cookies.

Brownie

Blame it all on Technology

2010-07-30T17:13:00.004+08:00

Orderz...

2010-07-25T22:06:00.005+08:00

Rahish's Bday Cake - E little boy loves Mickey!

A shmall shmall bday cake ;)

Double chocolate brownie - Mermaid n Merman!

Whispering sweet nothings :p

B'day cake for a special momsy

Gorgeous Vietnamese rolls!

2010-07-15T00:57:00.007+08:00

Mom bought a packet of these without knowing what it is used for.
She always think that I'm a Miss Know It All. She would always say "you should know what to do with these" Whenever I am trying something new and I am not sure how its gonna turn out, mom would always say "of coz its gonna be ok, you're clever!"
At times I wonder, is it meant to be a compliment or a challenge? :p

I had Vietnamese rolls only once and I loved it. It was $2.50 per roll and I thought that was overpriced for a such a small roll!
When mom bought a packet of rice paper, I was obviously thrilled! Well, being me...I procrastinate as usual. 2 months past, the packet of rice paper was still sitting pretty in the pantry till today. We were watching some tv progs on Food Network last night and it was featuring this. Mom obviously had to remind me of E packet of rice paper :p

Anyways I decided to give it a try and the first bite left me speechless......

It was soooooooo freaking good! Even mom who has a xxxs appetite ate 6 of these. It was that good! The sauce was so so good! The saltiness from the hoisin sauce, the richness of the peanut butter and the lime juice...it worked like magic!

The filling itself is very versatile. You can basically use anything. I used lettuce, shredded carrots, shredded leek, cilantro, mint, seared chicken, omelet and prawns. I'm so gonna do this again! My brothers would definitely love this! :) If you love Vietnamese rolls, do give this recipe a try, in fact I insist! ;)

For the rolls, these are what I used. You can add other ingredients too.

Ingredients for the rolls:

Rice paper

Lettuce - Shredded

Leek - Shredded

Cilantro

Mint leaves

Chicken fillets - cut into strips and season sprinkle with some salt and pepper before searing/pan frying.

Prawns - Steam/pan fry

Method:
Dip one rice paper wrapper into warm water. Cold water works too but its faster to use warm water.

Shake off excess water. Place some filling in the center of rice paper and wrap like a spring roll.

Ingredients for the dip:

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 small garlic clove - (pounded)

1 tbsp sesame oil
juice of 2-3 limes
1/4 cup water

2 bird eye chili -pounded (optional)

Method:

Combine all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. stir until well combined, adding more water to thin the sauce if necessary.

Garnish with chopped peanuts before serving.

*The bird eye chili is only necessary if you prefer you sauce to be hot! It still taste incredible without it! :D

E 30 Days Countdown...

2010-07-11T03:36:00.006+08:00

When I'm not updating my blogs, it just usually means a storm is brewing in my kitchenette. Don't think I'm busy painting E town red :p

I was on a 1 week break in June and I would say that It was quality time spent with E family, especially my nieces and nephew as I spent about 6 days at 2nd bro's place. Besides getting 'em to assist me in mopping their floors, scrubbing their kitchen, we also had great fun doing other things. And no, I don't think this is child labour coz I made them spring clean their house and not mine, so it's totally okay. :p Apparently they enjoyed the spring cleaning sessions, splashing water at each other; screaming and laughing away! We obviously didn't spent the whole week cleaning away! We had our daily visits to E shops to buy their favourite food, we had our usual dancing/singing sessions and more!

It was also my bro and his wife birthdays, thus the kids helped me out with the preparation. We even went to the supermarket at 7am in the morning and there was not a single complain from any of the kids *At least it didn't reach my ears:p* Cooking their favourite meals, spoiling 'em with treats and promises of more treats, I guess I gave 'em no reason to complain. :) We had a lovely steamboat and grill party.

On another note, it's about a month to Ramadan, thus the 30days countdown! Mom never failed to make me realise that apparently. Every year, about 2 months before fasting month, her favourite mantra keep ringing in my ears. She would start her count down to Ramadan....and no, we are not talking about fasting and all. It's all about spring cleaning! Mom firmly believe that we should clean the whole house b4 Ramadan starts. 10 years ago, the reason would be "you wouldn't have the energy to clean the house during fasting." Now that I'm ~~all grown up~~, the reason is "you are gonna be so busy making cookies and there won't be any time to spring-clean!" Its all about me aye? :p

Oh well, moms are always right...at least most of the time! So yes, we'd started a bit of cleaning and rearranging stuffs here and there. I started with my book shelves. That took me a few hours. 15-20 mins to dust the shelves and arrange the books in order of sizes and about 3 hrs to browse the books! Haha! I was lucky that mom wasn't around at tht point of time! ;)

I loveeeeeee my books too much! I don't think there is such a thing as "too many books"

Happiness is having a lottttt of books! Talking about books, I managed to lay my hands on Rachel Allen Bake for less than 30 bucks! Still waiting for the book to arrive though. I have been purchasing books on Amazon too. Mainly books related to baking. It's so so much cheaper!

Ok I digress. So I am cutting down on the orders for this month. Besides spring cleaning, I'm hoping to squeeze in some time and try out new cookies for Eid. It's always nice to have some changes for your guests every year. Hopefully I wld get to make at least 1 layered cake( kek lapis) this time round. I rarely get to bake cakes for the 1st day of Eid coz time is always not on my side.

Eversince Grandma passed away years ago, we do n0t go visiting of the 1st day of Eid. Usually we would all just hang out at grandma's place for hours and proceed to our step-grandma's (paternal) place. Now that grandma is no longer around, mom felt that my brothers need a place where they can hang out freely and eat all their favourite food too. My brothers would go and visit their in laws, our step grandma and after that back to our home. We would hang out till the wee hours. Mom's siblings and my cousins would drop bytoo! Usually we would host for 50-70 ppl on the 1st day thus it is important that we have enough food! :p Preparations would start as early as 3 days before Eid. Not that I am complaining coz I love to have guests over!

I guess this is 1 of the reason as to why I strongly agree that spring cleaning should start now. We are.....err about 20% done :p I guess we need about 1 more week! Thing is, we are taking it really slow....especially me :p Well theres 1 more month, so lets procrastinate a bit shall we! ;)

Tub tim krob/ Red Ruby dessert

2010-07-10T05:43:00.001+08:00

Tub tim krob is a popular dessert that originate from Thailand. It is more commonly known as Red Ruby in Singapore. A simple yet delicious and pretty dessert that you can whip up in less than 30 minutes!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
Pandan leaves (screw-pine leaves)
Boil these 3 ingredients for about 3-5minutes and refrigerate.

10 water chestnuts, peeled and diced into pea sized chunks
1/2 tsp red food coloring
4 tbsp tapioca flour
1 packet coconut milk or cream (add a good pinch of salt to this)

Method:
Toss diced water chestnuts with red food colouring until evenly coated.
Throw in the coloured water chestnuts into a plastic bag of tapioca flour and shake well to coat.
Pour out the contents into a sieve and shake off excess flour.
Put floured chestnuts into a pot of boiling water. Boil for about 2 mins, or until the flour turns translucent and the vibrant colour of the water chestnuts shine through.
Remove and drain the water chestnuts. Toss into a bowl of ice-cold water.
Scoop Red Rubies into a glass with some ice cubes/shaved ice.
Drench in sugar syrup and coconut milk/cream.
Serve immediately.

All well tht ends well

2010-07-09T04:27:00.000+08:00

Orders from Sarah. This is E solemnization cake. Chocolate cake
with chocolate ganache.

E bride and groom. Isn't she just gorgeous?!

She was pretty much easy to work with. She said "I want whiteeee cakes with roses. Talllllll like E cakes seen at celebrities wedding! n must chocolateeeeeee!" haha. That was it. Easy right??:p

She liked E wine glasses that I used for my cousin's wedding and wanted the same too.
As I was assembling E cakes, bismillah was my mantra. Every time I left the cake table to take some stuffs from E opposite table, people would stop by the cakes, touch a bit, poke here and there! My heart never failed to skip a beat every-time that happens! :p

Anyways I guess everything worked out fine, so yeayyy! :)

Orders...

2010-06-30T00:30:00.004+08:00

Nur Faiqah Dayana Birthday Brownie...

These were for E kids at Darul Ihsan. Each cupcake came with their names.

Superman Brownie

An order from a young lady. I guess she is gonna say "it" with cupcakes? :D

Brownie order from CPF

Waving smiley cupcakes- An order from a teacher who is leaving E school.

Brownie Cake with Ben 10 figurine.

Roasted roots

2010-06-22T01:51:00.004+08:00

If I had my way, I would choose to cook most of our daily meals in the oven. I love roasting/grilling chicken, vegetables...etc2. Cooking using the oven is so simple, more nutritious and best of all, theres less cleaning up to do :p

Personally I dislike frying food. Thinking of all the oil needed plus the oil splattering all over the stove-top, I always try to avoid deep frying as much as possible. I am not a total health freak so I guess I'm just lazy :p

This was my 1st time roasting squash and I'm totally in love with these! You can also use an assorted of small potatoes, such as fingerling, Yukon Gold or red Bliss.

Ingredients:
Half a squash - peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
15 skin on baby potatoes - Clean and scrubbed.
4-5 tbsp olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/3 tsp- 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tspfreshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Place the potatoes and squash in a large bowl and toss with olive oil, rosemary, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper to coat well.
Transfer vegetables to a large baking sheet and spread into a single layer.
Roast the vegetables until tender, turning every 10 minutes for about 30-40 minutes.

Easy Parmesan Chicken with Mashed Potatoes in Mushroom Sauce.

2010-06-07T23:00:00.005+08:00

This is delicious and perfect for a quick meal. Serve with some salad by the side and you have a complete meal!

Ingredients:
2 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp Italian seasoning (herb mix)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
Boneless chicken breasts or thighs.
salt

Method:
In a bowl, combine the minced garlic and oil. In another bowl mix together the bread crumbs, Parmesan, parsley, salt, Italian seasoning, and pepper.
Dip chicken pieces into garlic oil, then into crumb mixture to coat.
In a pan, drizzle some olive oil and pan fry the chicken.

Mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy

Ingredients:
1/2 kg potatoes - Boiled, mashed, add 1/2 cup of milk and season with pepper, 1tbsp butter and salt.
1 cup button mushrooms - sliced
1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
2 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp butter
400-500ml beef/chicken stock.
1/2 tsp chopped garlic

Method:

In a pan, melt 1 tbsp butter and add in garlic.
Fry for 30 seconds and add mushrooms.
Push the mushroom to the side of the pan and add the other tbsp of butter in the center of the pan.
Mix in plain flour.
Stir continually over the heat so the roux cooks.
Add in stock and season with black pepper.
Simmer for about 1 minute.
Pour sauce over mashed potatoes.
Serve hot!

More orders...

2010-05-18T02:19:00.005+08:00

All these are themed brownies.

The b'day of a mom to be.

Greetings! :p

2010-05-18T01:31:00.007+08:00

If I delay this post by a few more days, it would mean that I have not been blogging for a whole month! I am embarrassed...especially when I get such nice emails from readers who tell me as to how much they long my blog. I am deeply humbled and I am sorry for the lack of posts. And yes, I have been busy. Let me share some pictures for now...

An order for this b'day girl. Toppers are her favourite things...Yakun Tea,
Chocolate, Credit card...etc2. I was supposed to cut the "credit card" into 2
though!

An order for a doctor and a pharmacist.

More B'day Cupcakes- For a teacher who loves handbags n cosmetics.

Mother's Day Cupcakes

Smiley cupcakes.

Orders from Mott macdonald for it's staffs. Pink for E ladies and blue for
the guys.

15 years later...

2010-04-22T15:01:00.007+08:00

The only reason I managed to squeeze in some time to blog is that, I am ill. Running nose, sore throat and a slight fever. It's tiring to stay in bed all day long, so I thought I should do some updates in here.

So last Sunday we had a mini celebration for my brothers wedding anniversary. I can't believe it has been 15 years! Both my eldest and 2nd brother tied the knot on the same day, thus the wedding was so memorable! We had more than 1500 guests If I remember right!

My 3 elder brothers and me are really close and I believe it has to do with the fact that we lost our dad at quite a tender age. My brothers took good care of me and mom right up till this day. I always feel that every girl should have brothers like mine! To protect you, to guide to advice and at times to tell u off when your skirt is too short! lol :p
Blessed are those with such brothers! :)

So back to the celebration, It was just the 12 of us. Simple, cozy yet lotsa fun. I prepared simple food too. Nothing too fancy but every1 enjoyed themselves I guess!

Made a fondant covered cake for the customary cake cutting "ceremony" :D.

Married for 15 years ;)

Butter cake

Strawberry Pudding

These super delicious salad was a hit. It has jack-fruit, pineapple and oranges
in 'em!

Creamy mushroom pasta

Grilled Teriyaki Honey Wings!

Simple Mango Cake for dessert

Black Pepper Cottage Pie

Fried Bibun

It was a great day! Even she thinks so! :D

More Orders...

2010-04-12T08:39:00.004+08:00

Dokumon themed brownies for a B'day order

Chocolate cake sanwiched with layers of chocolate ganache and white chocolate
ganache.

Themed brownies - The Nightmare before Christmas

These are wedding favors for a chinese couple. They wanted sweaters as the
toppers.

Their initials embossed on the sweaters.

Vroom2 Shroomz! :p

2010-04-12T08:06:00.005+08:00

I'm a big fan of mushrooms. Yummy mushrooms make me go vroom vroom! :p These are super simple but delicious!! Recipe is from "Easy entertaining with Michael Chiarello" on the Food Network.

Ingredients:
6 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (I used 2tbsp)
1-1/2 pounds whole small button mushrooms, cleaned
3 tablespoons butter (i used 1tbsp)
Sea salt or coarse salt
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1-1/2 teaspoons fresh-chopped thyme leaves
2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup white wine (I omit this and add some vegetable stock instead)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley

I also added some black pepper. It is really a personal preference though.

Directions:
In a large skillet over high heat, heat the olive oil.
When the olive oil is hot, sprinkle the mushrooms in a single layer on the olive oil.
NOTE: Do not move or stir the mushrooms until they have caramelized on the bottom, approximately 2 minutes.
If you toss them too soon, they will release their liquid and begin to steam. When the bottoms are caramelized, toss them and continue to cook for approximately 5 minutes.
Add the butter and continue to cook and toss for and additional 3 to 5 minutes, until beautifully browned. Season with salt and pepper and add the garlic; saute another 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium; add thyme leaves, lemon juice, and white wine. simmer to evaporate the liquid and until the mushrooms are glazed with the sauce.
Serve!

Orders...

2010-04-11T08:18:00.000+08:00

Red Velvet cake ordered by E cousin for her besties.

Bday brownie - I just realised that, E arms of E doll was kinda short!

Loved E skirt n legs! :D

A beauty that sleeps and sleeps...:p

Disney Princesses. Yes, Snow white is missing. Err she didn't want Snow white!

Move over Pastamania! :p

2010-03-26T15:09:00.007+08:00

As E title suggest, this is 1 recipe that gives you no reason to go to PastaMania EVER again. It is so good that it made me wonder as to why would people spend that kinda money on pastas that taste oh' so ordinary??!

I am in love with this! Remember not to overcook E chicken breast though. Nice crunch on the outside, yet tender and juicy on E inside. Nothing can beat that! Deff gonna revisit this recipe again soon!

Chicken Parmesan with Spaghetti

1/2 packet spaghetti - Cooked till Al-dente

Ingredients for sauce
3 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic - minced
2 onion - chopped
2 tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 green pepper - cubed
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp of your favourite herbs

Method:
Heat 3 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
Stir in the garlic and onion; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes.
Mix in tomato paste and fry for a minute
Stir in diced tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes have softened. Add crushed tomatoes, and herbs. Simmer for 10-15 minutes. Stir in green pepper, season with salt and black pepper.

Ingredients for Chicken
2 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts
1tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon water
1 egg
1/2 c dried bread crumbs
1/4 c parmesan
a handful of grated mozzarella
Basil

Method:
Put the chicken breasts. Pound the chicken breasts with a flat meat mallet, until they are about 1/2-inch thick.
Put the flour in a shallow platter and season with a fair amount of salt and pepper; mix to distribute evenly.
In a wide bowl, combine the egg and water, beat until frothy. Put the bread crumbs on a plate, season with salt, pepper and 1tbsp of the parmesan.
Coat the chicken and fry for 4-5 mins on each side.
Place the chicken in an oven dish and ladle the tomato sauce over the chicken.
Sprinkle with mozzarella, remaining parmesan, and basil.
Bake the Chicken Parmesan for 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.

Serve hot with spaghetti on the side.
Great with slices of baguettes too!

Baby Shower Cupcakes

2010-03-23T04:30:00.008+08:00

These were orders for Aaliyah Alyssa's 1st month. Beautiful name huh! :)

Her name was stamped on E cupcakes.

While making these, I kept going aww and literally smile non stop at these little
toppers!

Summing it up with pictures...

2010-03-23T02:42:00.006+08:00

Just sharing some pictures of recent orders.

Red Velvet cake

Clapper Board Cake

Brownies

Cupcakes for an engagement.

Nigella Lawson's Moonblush Tomatoes

2010-03-19T02:46:00.004+08:00

What can I say about Nigella? Domestic goddess indeed! So apparently, placing tomatoes in a very hot oven, turning it off and leaving them overnight gives 'moon' blush tomatoes. These are simply gorgeous served as a sides with your meat or toss 'em in salad! Super easy to make and totally worth E wait.

INGREDIENTS:

500g on-the-vine cherry or other baby tomatoes
2 teaspoons Maldon salt or 1 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 x 15ml tablespoons olive oil

Method:

Preheat the oven to 220C / gas mark 7.
Cut the tomatoes in half and sit them cut side up in an ovenproof dish.

Sprinkle with the salt, sugar, thyme and olive oil.
Put them in the oven, and immediately turn it off.

Leave the tomatoes in the oven overnight or for a day without opening the door.

Mayonnaise is not really a dressing. It's much more versatile than that.

2010-03-15T11:22:00.012+08:00

E above is a quote from Jamie Oliver. Mayonnaise especially home made ones can be dolloped on top of grilled fish, crostini...etc. He also said that Mayo from a jar is ok, especially when you're in a hurry but for a special occasion, you can't beat the real McCoy!

I have been wanting to try my hand at homemade mayonnaise for quite sometime now. Every-time I flipped thru Cook with Jamie, I would stop at the mayonnaise page, admire the gorgeous thick n smooth mayo. A glance at the recipe would always make me flip to the next page and this has been happening for about 4 months now.

Finally last night, we needed salad to go with E grilled chicken wings. Yes, it was a need. Salad and chicken wings just goes! I wanted to make the super delicious salad with lettuce, onions n oranges. We ran out of mayo, so I was telling mom that perhaps I should make some mayo. Mom agreed and encouraged me to give it an attempt although I suspect the main reason is that she knew she might be E 1 to go to the shop to purchase the mayo since I was waiting for a customer to collect her Tiramisu and meringues. :p

While measuring the ingredients, the amount of oil used continued to disturb me! E reason that took me this long was;the recipes uses a whopping 565ml of oil for just 1 yolk! I took the bottle of mayo I have in the fridge (Err there's about 1tsp left?) and was reading the ingredients.

E label said:

vegetable oil

eggs

sugar

salt

acid(I can't rem what acid)

gum(I cant rem what either) :P

another acid that I cant remember

and there was a list of other things that I'm not even sure what it was!

So I figured homemade would still be better? At least I knew what was in there! So I give it a try and I was hoping that the mayonnaise would come together without having to use that much oil.

Apparently although Mayonnaise is simple to make, it needs some patience else the Mayonnaise wld split. So Jamie suggested that you use 3:1 amount of vegetable oil to olive oil for the 1st few attempts. This way, even if the mayonnaise doesn't work out...you haven't lost all the expensive olive oil! Make sense to me, so I did just that but I used Canola oil instead. And yes, I used slightly less than 350ml of oil. It was thick and smooth enough, thus I stopped at that. You can of coz go all the way till 565ml. I presume it's gonna be thicker?

Anyways, E mayonnaise turned out really lovely! Mom even suggested that I should start selling mayonnaise! :p I loved E mayo too. The olive oil made a whole lot of difference in the taste! This recipe gives u a jar of mayo, so I guess it's ain't that bad at all if you use it in proportions. It's really delicious thus a little goes a long way!

Ingredients:

1 large free-range or organic egg yolk

1tsp Dijon mustard

about 565ml olive oil (I used 200ml canola oil and 150ml olive oil)

1 lemon (start with half a lemon and taste as you go along)

sea salt

black pepper

Method:

Put E yolk and mustard in a bowl and whisk together. You can also use a food processor.

While whisking, slowly add oil, drop by drop.

Once you blended about 3tbsp of the oil and the mixture begins to thicken, you can pour in the rest of the oil in a continuous trickle. Continue whisking.

Add a good squeeze of lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

There you have it, one of the best mayonnaise ever! :)

Peanut Butter Blondies by Rachel Allen

2010-03-14T19:39:00.005+08:00

Ingredients:

125g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
100g butter, softened
150g crunchy peanut butter (use creamy if you prefer)
175g soft light brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
75g chocolate chipes. (Original recipe uses chopped white chocolate)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170ºC (325°F)

Butter the sides of the cake tin 8 by 8 and and line the base with greaseproof paper.
Sift the flour and baking powder into a small bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and peanut butter together until very soft.

Add the sugar, egg and vanilla extract and beat until combined.

Add the flour, baking powder and the chopped chocolate and mix well.
Place the mixture in the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 25–30 minutes or until golden brown and almost firm in the centre.
Allow to cool in the tin, before removing and cutting into squares.

Serve with ice cream!

Creme Caramel

2010-03-13T04:13:00.003+08:00

Ingredients
1/2c sugar (for caramel)
1c whole milk
2tbsp cream
1 vanilla bean (or 2tsp vanilla extract)
3 eggs
1/4 c sugar
pinch nutmeg (optional)

Directions
Heat the oven to 160°C.
In a kettle/flask, boil some water(this is for the water bath later).
Dissolve the sugar for the caramel with 2tbsp water and boil until it turns into fragrant caramel. Pour into the cake tin and swirl to coat the bottom evenly. Set aside.
Pour the milk and cream into the same saucepan, so that it laps up the caramel.
Split the vanilla bean, scrape the seeds into the milk, and add the pod.
Heat till milk is almost boiling and turn off the heat, cover, and set aside to infuse 10 minutes.
In another bowl, whisk eggs with the sugar. Add the nutmeg, if using. Once the milk has infused, whisk it into the egg mixture.
Strain the custard over the hardened caramel and set the pan in a larger dish.
Pour the boiled water into the bottom pan to come half-way up the sides pan.
Transfer to the oven and bake until set, 45 minutes to an hour.
Remove creme caramel from the oven and from the water bath.
Run a knife around the outside edge to loosen it.
Chill in fridge for a few hours or overnight.
Flip creme caramel on a plate and serve in wedges.

Hummus Bi Tahini

2010-03-08T20:31:00.005+08:00

On my previous visit to Cold storage, I bought a bottle of Tahini as I wanted to give Hummus a try. Hummus is a popular Middle eastern dip. Served with fresh or toasted pita bread, hummus is a great snack/appetizer. It is really easy to make and it makes a nice dip for freshly cut vegetables too. If you can't find Tahini, just pan roast 1/2 cup of white sesame seeds till fragrant. Remove the seeds from the pan and let them cool completely. Place the cooled seeds in a food processor and add 2-3tbsp of olive oil. Process till fine.

Ingredients:
1 can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans
3-5 tbsp lemon juice (depending on taste)
2 tbsp tahini
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
3tbsp olive oil
Some water

Method:

Drain the chickpeas and rinse.
Combine the chickpeas, lemon juice, garlic, salt, tahini, and water in a food processor, and blend to a creamy purée.
Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with paprika.
You can garnish with olives/chickpeas if you prefer.
Serve with warm pita/flat-breads.

Blueberry Scones

2010-02-22T07:42:00.003+08:00

Scones are lovely for tea. You can always warm up the extras and serve 'em for breakfast the next day.

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup cold butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup Blueberries

Method:
Preheat oven to 170 degrees C.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with fingertips till it resembles coarse crumbs.

In a small measuring cup combine the whipping cream, beaten egg and vanilla.

Add this mixture to the flour mixture.

Mix in blueberries and reserve some to top on scones.
Knead dough gently on a lightly floured surface.

Roll or pat the dough and cut the dough into squares/rounds.

Place on the prepared cookie sheet, spacing a few inches apart.

Brush the tops of the scones with a little cream.

This helps to brown the tops of the scones during baking.

Bake for about 15 - 18 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of a scone comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve with softly whipped cream, butter and your favorite jam.

Yummy Shroomz

2010-02-19T11:05:00.005+08:00

Whenever I'm awake till E wee hours, I would always try to watch or record Giada De Laurentiis cooking prog. She is also E granddaughter of film producer Dino De Laurentiis. Giada cooks simple but yummy looking Italian cuisine! At times I just hate her coz she never failed to make me hungry at 4am! She was trained at Ritz Carlton Fine Dining apparently.

I love Italian food but at times E ingredients ain't that easily obtainable. Cold storage is quite good though! Giada recipes are easy to understand, cook and best of all...they do taste yummy!. I already tried 3 recipes and I loved 'em all! Shall share 1 recipe today. E next 2 recipes coming up very soon! :) I'm gonna try more recipes. She inspired E Italian in me :p

Ingredients
1/2 cup Italian-style dried bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano ( I used Parmigiano Reggiano...yeah2 I meant Parmesan) :P
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
2 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
28 large button mushrooms, stemmed

Method
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Stir the bread crumbs, Pecorino Romano/Parmesan, garlic, parsley, mint, salt and pepper, to taste, and 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium bowl to blend.
Drizzle a heavy large baking sheet with about 1 tablespoon olive oil, to coat. Spoon the filling into the mushroom cavities and arrange on the baking sheet.
Drizzle remaining oil over the filling in each mushroom.
Bake until the mushrooms are tender and the filling is heated through and golden on top, about 25 minutes.
Serve hot!

Sweets for your sweet?

2010-02-17T06:16:00.004+08:00

Guess what is in these boxes??

Aliens! You wouldn't have guess right? :p 2 different orders for Stitch and Angel cupcakes. I thot it was a bit weird to give aliens on Valentine's day! Nevertheless the guy was really sweet. He knows his gf loves Stitch thus he placed an order in the beginning of Jan itself! :)

A friend ordered this for her brother's gf. She's a big fan of
colours and rainbows.

The decorations were really simple but it took quite some time coz a lot of colours were involve. Colouring fondant/icing can be quite tedious at times.

The hearts may look simple but trust me, these took a whole lot of time! Colouring each fondant, cutting into stripes and bringing it all together. I loved it though! Deff making these again. When it comes to sugar-craft, long hours doesn't put me off!

Red velvet cupcakes from E wife to E hubby. She wanted it simple with a red heart. These were delivered to his office and boy, he sure looked surprised! :P

2 hearts in a knot. I thought that this was really significant.

Wedding favors

2010-02-17T04:44:00.008+08:00

I say this very often but I'm sorry that I have not been replying to emails. I'll make an effort to reply to recipe requests very2 soon. If I don't reply, please remind me! :)

Been super-busy till the extend that my sleeping hours are totally abnormal. Im on a mission to trick my mind and body now so that I can sleep during "normal" sleeping hours!! :p

Anyways, I had an order for wedding favors; 600 little cakes. I was quite apprehensive about it initially. Last year, I baked 10,000 cookies for a wedding but cookies are okay coz you can bake a week in advance. Sadly, the same does not apply for normal cakes. With some motivation from my mom and the customer itself, I accepted the order. Took it as a challenge and raced against time. Baked 300 butter cakes on Thursday and 300 chocolate cakes on Friday. Although baking only took 2 days, preparations started a few days before that as I had to paste thank u stickers on each holder. I also had to tie 600 ribbons. I didn't purchase ready made bows as I wanted to keep the cost as low as possible. Alhamdulillah, everything went smoothly. I was able to bake all the cakes a few hrs ahead of schedule. The moment the 6 boxes of cakes made it's way out on Saturday morning, I said a silent prayer.

Butter Cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcakes

All packed!

The customer wanted plain cupcakes coz it keeps better. I on the other hand, would prefer that my cakes looked a little prettier :P I piped a swirl of and top a gold dragee on each swirl. Simple and pretty. :) Royal icing is such a dream to work with. Been using more and more of royal icing for little decorations. Would never use it as a frosting though. The amount of sugar in there is CRAZY and taste-wise, it is something that I would not consume and I believe it's the same for most people too.

------------------------

More orders

E bday of a sexy lady- chocolate cake!

My mom got a shock at E boobies! She said it was "over-enhanced" hee....
Well E bday gal wanted sexy!

A first attempt.

Cupcakes for a hen's party.

Insalata Caprese - A first with fresh mozzarella

2010-01-25T06:21:00.005+08:00

I had fresh mozzarella in the fridge. I really didn't have time to make anything fancy yet I knew I had to use it soon! It was quite expensive and I didn't want to waste it despite E fact that It was purchased on impulse :p

In Italian, this salad is called “Insalata Caprese” which means salad from Capri. No cooking, no mess and very nutritional. It looks good too. The combination of colors complement the combination of flavors. I guess this would make a great appetizer!

Ingredients
2 large ripe tomatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced 1/4-inch thick
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
8 fresh basil leaves

Directions
Arrange the tomato and mozzarella slices on a platter or individual salad plates.
Sprinkle with salt, pepper and Drizzle with the oil.
Garnish with the basil. Cut it into very thin slices or tear into bits and sprinkle on top. Serve immediately.

Verdict: I saw mozzarella in a new light. It was sooooooooooo freaking good and fresh! I already bought my 2nd pack of fresh mozzarella! :)

Mosque cake...

2010-01-25T06:11:00.002+08:00

A 1st attempt with Mosque Shaped Cake....specially made for my cousin's solemnization. Chocolate cake with layers of ganache.

Strawberry Panna Cotta with Strawberry Coulis

2010-01-19T05:08:00.004+08:00

Gula melaka/maple panna cotta is 1 of my family favourite desserts. I decided to try something different this time since I had 2 punnets of Korean strawberries in the fridge. This turns out to be a bigger hit! The creamy panna paired off nicely with the coulis. Do give it a try. It's a simple yet elegant dessert that is sure to impress!.

For panna cotta-
1/2 cup sliced strawberries
2 cups strawberry milk
3-6 tablespoons sugar (do taste accordingly)
2.5tsp gelatin - (melt in a microwave with 2tsp water)
1 cup heavy cream

Method:
Panna cottas:
Blend strawberries with 2tbsp milk in a blender until very smooth. I didnt strain this coz I prefer the seeds and bits to be there. Nevertheless, you can always run it through a very fine sieve into a medium bowl, pressing hard on solids and discard the solids.
In a pot, add milk, cream and sugar.
Once it simmers, add in blended strawberries and gelatin mixture. Mix well.
Pour into molds. Chill molds, covered, until firm, at least 8 hours or overnight.

For coulis -

2 1/2 cups strawberries
1tbsp water
3tbsp sugar (more if you prefer it sweet)

Method:
In a medium saucepan, combine the strawberries, sugar, and water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Transfer to a blender.
Puree until smooth, strain, and set aside.
Store in the refrigerator and pour some over panna cotta just before serving.

A quick post

2010-01-18T16:24:00.001+08:00

A box of chocolate cupcakes for the bride -

E happy couple...

In total style!

Fruit cake

A mix of fruit cake and red velvet with cream cheese frosting.

Love= sharing :p

E King n Queen for E day!

More orders...

2010-01-17T05:49:00.000+08:00

Strawberry Scones

2010-01-06T02:56:00.003+08:00

Scone Recipe:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup cold butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup whipping cream or milk

Strawberries - Cubed

Method:
Preheat oven to 190 degrees C.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with fingertips. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. In a small measuring cup combine the whipping cream, beaten egg and vanilla. Add this mixture to the flour mixture. Mix in strawberries and stir just until combined. Do not over mix.

Knead dough gently on a lightly floured surface. Roll or pat the dough and cut the dough into rounds. Place the rounds on the prepared cookie sheet, spacing a few inches apart. Brush the tops of the scones with a little cream. This helps to brown the tops of the scones during baking.

Bake for about 15 - 18 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of a scone comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve with softly whipped cream and your favorite jam.

It was delicious! Served these to my uncles and they too absolutely loved it! :)

More Orders...

2010-01-06T02:44:00.004+08:00

Xmas cupcakes for MINDS - Buttery fruit cake with buttercream. LOVED the taste of E cupcakes!

Brownie with chocolate ganache - Underwater Theme

Brownie - Beach Honeymoon

2010-01-06T02:30:00.004+08:00

An order from Sk n frens for a friend's wedding. It's a beach honeymoon theme.Headache :p

E sand were made with crushed digestive biscuits.

More orders...

2009-12-19T15:08:00.006+08:00

Superman themed Brownie with white chocolate frosting
And yes, Superman is wearing shades :p

E orders for kinky cupcakes keep coming in. Apparently ppl becoming
naughtier each day! Lol! :p

"Romantic scene" :p

An order from a secretary for her boss's b'day. She wanted simple yet appropriate toppers. I felt that gifts toppers would be appropriate for all age
groups.

Las Vegas Theme

Theme-less :P

Simple wraps

2009-11-25T04:39:00.005+08:00

Usually I wrapped tortillas in a typical cylinder roll. In Nigella's express, I saw Nigella wrapping up the tortillas as the above picture. Thought it was something different, so I did just that.

The filling itself was really a fusion of middle east and Indian cuisine. The middle eastern spiced lamb plus Indian raita.

Ingredients:
500g lamb
1 onion - sliced
salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp tablespoon white vinegar/lemon juice
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic minced
1 tsp brown sugar
1 red/green capsicum - sliced

Method:
Sliced lamb into thin strips.
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl/freezer bag and marinade in the fridge for a few hours/overnight.
Lay lamb slices on a baking tray and grill for 20 minutes.

Raita
1/2 cucumber - Cubed
1 tomato - cubed
1 onion - cubed
2 green chillis- sliced
A sprig or coriander leaves and mint leaves
1-2 tbsp plain yogurt
1tbsp lemon juice
Salt + crushed black pepper

Method: Combine ingredients and store in fridge till really to use.

T0 serve:
Warm up a couple of tortillas/wraps.
Place a tbsp of raita in the middle of the tortillas and top with lamb slices.
Roll or fold the tortillas and dig in! :p

Summing up 4 days in 1 post.

2009-11-25T03:28:00.007+08:00

So finally I'm ill. Not that I have been looking forward to this... :p I guess for most people, being ill means you can actually take a break and have ample rest. But it's ain't that simple. Raya is approaching and there is sooooooo much to do! I'd decided not to take any orders this time round coz I was fully engaged for E whole week before Raya. Furthermore, I was planning to gift my uncles/aunties with some freshly baked cookies/cakes. Now, I'm not sure whether its happening or not! I'm still ill. It's vexing to be ill when you have so much to do.
Not E right time at all.

Anyways last week was a really busy week. 4 straight days of baking.

Red velvet cupcakes - I have been making these so much nowadays that I believed if I were to blindfold myself, I can still bake this! Haha! Another reason is tht, all E measurements r in cups...:p

Heavenly Chocolate Cupcakes

Soccer Themed Cupcakes - Heavenly chocolate cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache. E grass is Swiss buttercream.

Classic Chocolate - Super super moist! The only cupcake I had in the 4 days of baking.

Strawberry 'n' Cream

Chocolate Cupcakes

There were also Tiramisu, peach n cream...etc that I didn't get to snap due to time constraints.

Wedding cupcakes

E colours and flowers were personally chosen by the bride. She wanted everything to be as pastel as possible. She repeatedly said "I want the green really2 light" I guess she knew that her cupcakes might end up looking bold if I had the authority to play with the colours! :p The grass in the cups are actually organic wheat-grass and those were bought by the bride herself. :)

Assembling the tiers were really fun. I had Nk and Izzybaby to help me! Obviously we had to set up E tiers before the arrival of the guests. Only the best-men n bridesmaids were around. There were quite a number of 'em and suddenly we were transported back to Fann Wong's wedding! lol...! They were surrounding the tiers (which made me very nervous obviously) and started talking among themselves. 1 of them were saying in mandarin which kinda translates as "do you think she will let me eat any of these If i ask her?" My brain said "keyi" but instead I went...cannn. Obviously they were err kinda impressed :p I gave 'em the extras n "not so pretty ones" though :P

Everything went on fine in the end despite some hitches here and there. The manager was scary ok! His presence gave me immerse pressure! Halfway through he was nice and all...describing the cakes as nice n all...Haha! We even got vouchers! So sweet...we won't get to use it though coz I don't think the food is even halal! Haha! But hei, its E thoughts that count right? :p

Oh ya, the ballroom were so stunningly decorated. It made me n Nk dreamt a tiny weeny bit......:p

Recipes!! :D

2009-11-10T03:35:00.006+08:00

I was quite free yesterday, thus I made dinner. Mom wanted fried chicken wings..but she ended up buying drum-lets by mistake :p

Anyways, I tried another new recipe from Nigella's Express. Well, all I can say is....Nigella never disappoints! At least for all the recipes I'd tried so far.

Nigella's Potato & Mushroom Gratin.

Mine vs hers! :p
Ingredients:

250g mushrooms, thinly sliced (I used fresh button mushrooms)
3 baking potatoes, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons garlic oil (I used a tbsp of olive oil+ a tbsp butter)
350ml full fat milk
3 tablespoons white wine - I used chicken stock.

Method:

Preheat the oven to 220C.
Bring the wine/stock and milk to the boil in a large pan and add the potatoes. Stir occasionally and season.
Fry the mushrooms in the garlic oil until tender. Add these to the potato mix.
Pour into a casserole dish and bake for 45 mins until the bubbly and browned.

Note: I used 1 tbsp olive oil + 1 tbsp butter and I saute 2 chopped garlic together with the mushrooms.

Crispy Chicken Drumlets with Lemon Mayonnaise

Lemon Mayonnaise:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp freshly grated lemon peel,

A good pinch of ground black pepper.

Mix all the above ingredients and set aside.

For the crispy drumlets

10 Chicken wings/drumlets

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Good sprinkle of salt and black pepper

1/2 tbsp minced garlic

1/2 tbsp minced ginger

1 egg white - lightly whisked

1 cup rice flour

Method:

Marinade chicken with lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic and ginger. Set aside.

In a pan, heat enough oil to deep fry.

Dip the chicken in egg white and roll in flour and fry til golden.

Baked Vegetables

There is hardly a recipe for this! Basically I cubed whatever vegetables I had in the fridge. In this case, its red and green bell peppers, pineapple, Japanese cucumbers and carrot. I drizzle some olive oil, a tsp of Worcestershire sauce, a tsp of lemon juice and a heap tsp of brown sugar. Season with crushed chili flakes/black pepper and salt.

Bake at 200C for about 20-25 minutes!

Over the weekend...

2009-11-09T20:05:00.005+08:00

These were what I did over the weekend.

Assorted Cookie Lollipops for a kiddo's party...

An order from a soon to be bride. She requested that I decorated the cupcakes in her presence. It was definitely a 1st and boy I was nervous! She chose the colours and flowers. She wanted her wedding cupcakes to be really pastel and simple.
These are red velvet cupcakes and cream cheese frosting. I have been getting a lot of red velvet order these days. The red velvet are slowly pushing my heavenly chocolate cupcakes down to spot number 2 :P

Bees and flowers....

Awwww@ bee with ribbons!

Mini non bake cheesecakes...

Recently I managed to buy a chef torch. Been looking for it for ages! I thought I could use it immediately but apparently I have to fill it with gas 1st. This is embarrassing but I am openly declaring that I am quite afraid of fire. I can't light a matchstick. Neither can I light a lighter. I guess I can do it but I never tried coz I'm afraid of "playing" with fire :p I'm fine with stove lighters though! Whenever we play sparklers, my niece or nephew would help me to light up my sparklers! And yes....they are about 1/3 of my age! :S

Enough of self embarrassment for now. So my brother filled the torch with gas and the fire was SO BIG! No kidding! It went at least 30cm!! Apparently he adjusted it to MAX! Somehow he adjusted the flame and all. It took me a good 20mins before I used the torch. I was soooooooooo afraid!! The moment I used it, I was head over heels in love with it!! It was soooooo easy to use and definitely not dangerous :)

I already used it to get the crackle top on creme brulee. I also used it to brown tandoori chicken.

I used very little sugar for the topping coz mom told me not to make it sweet. Nevertheless, I still managed to get the characteristic crackly crust!
It's gorgeous!! I'm planning to make lemon meringue next! :D

Seafood Marinara

2009-11-09T19:44:00.004+08:00

I'm disappointed with E pastas served at Pastamania. I totally do not understand why people go gaga over 'em! I prefer my pasta......anytime! :P

Ingredients
1 package linguine/spaghetti - Cooked till al-dente
2 tbsp olive oil
5 cloves garlic - minced
2 onion - chopped/sliced
2 tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 green pepper - cubed
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
Mussels/clams cleaned -
Prawns
Squid rings
Button mushrooms

Method:
Heat 2 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
Stir in the garlic and onion; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes.
Mix in tomato paste and fry for a minute
Stir in diced tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes have softened. Add crushed tomatoes, oregano, and thyme. Simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in green pepper, mussels, squid, shrimp and mushrooms.
Season with salt and black pepper.
Cover and increase heat to high. Cook until shrimp have turned pink and mussels have opened, discarding any that have not opened.
Serve over pasta.
Top with cheese if preferred.

Vanilla Apples with Sweetheart Croutes

2009-10-28T01:38:00.008+08:00

Whenever I'm browsing Nigella Express, it flipped open to this recipe, several times, It is hard not to give this recipe a chance despite the fact that I had no high expectations. Well2, I guess Nigella is the domestic goddess after-all! It turned out yummy. Totally satisfied my cravings for dessert! Deff gonna make this again!

Ingredients:
4-6 tablespoons of butter (I used less)
2 gala apples
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
3 slices of bread, cut into heart shapes

sugar for sprinkling

Method:
Melt butter in a skillet, reserving a spoonful for later.
Finely slice the apples. Leave the peels on. Nigella said tht she gets 22 slices out of 2 apples.
Add them to the pan and cook for about three minutes.
Add vanilla and cook for five minutes more, turning the apples once.
Remove the apples to a plate.
Add the remaining spoonful of butter to the pan and fry the bread hearts, the croutes.
Arrange the croutes on the plate with the apples and sprinkle with sugar.
Serve with cream.

Important: Place a croute on a spoon, top it with a slice of apple and a bit of cream. Bring it to your lips...open your mouth wide n in it goes! The 3 ingredients just works together, so there is no other way to eat it! :D

Note: I did not sprinkle it with any sugar coz I served it with sweetened cream.

Naughty Cupcakes!

2009-10-26T01:56:00.010+08:00

Was super busy the whole week. Orders for cupcakes during weekdays too! Oct- Dec are gonna be a busy period for me...but no complains really :)

Whenever some1 wanna order wedding cupcakes or cookies for wedding favors, I do insist that they have some samples to try coz I personally feel that wedding is a big big affair and you want everything to be perfect or at least close to perfection thus I want 'em to try my bakes 1st and make the decision after that.

The week started with me making some samples for 2 couples....

Note: The following images have fairly obscene content. Do not scroll further down if you are not comfortable with sugar laden naughtiness! If you still need to scroll, I recommend that you close your eyes while scrolling! :p

I also made some cupcakes for a Bridal shower and the theme was Naughty Bachelorette Party. I told the customer tht I would keep it mild...she replied "you don't have to keep it mild at all" I guess tht meant I should go little over the board! I did just tht...I have to be professional right? *yes2 good excuse Maya!* :p I do hope tht its not too vulgar though! :)

There were lingerie, whip, a bowl of chocolate, lips, a pair of handcuffs and the rest are pretty obvious I guess! :D I shocked quite a few of my cousins and friends with these cupcakes.
Dearies, I was inspired from the naughty cupcakes I found on Goggle search...nothing more than tht :p

Shahza named these "Lusty cupcakes"
Norli said these are "kinky cupcakes!"
I named 'em Naughty bits! :D

My favourite has to be this though....

Sho romantic! :p

I received the most comment for this 1 though! I guess it doesn't take a genius to figure out why?! : On Saturday, I had an order for talam lauk, shepherd pies, samosas and cupcakes meant to be given as door gifts....

Red velvet cupcakes...

Loved the combination of yellow n red!

I have 2 days off so you can expect some recipes over the next 2 days..so till then! Nite2!

My cousin with the Prada...:p

2009-10-21T01:29:00.000+08:00

Dearest Shaf,

At times people around us can be so unpredictable and everything looks uncertain, just one thing is crystal-clear...I know I can always count on you to be there for me. Spending time with you have always been lotsa fun especially those late hours of gossips and secrets sharing! The best thing is tht we didn't choose, we're simply related!

Happy b'day dear. Fret not...it only happens once a year so celebrate all tht u want coz you deserve the best today and every other day too! Just as I said, you look 18, so the real number doesnt matter at all!

Happy Birthday once again...and don't forget to have the brownie caKE that I baKE...for goodness saKE!! :p

---------------------------------------------------------------

I baked a brownie cake for Shaf for a whole lot of reasons. Shes a chocolate lover and that is of coz 1 of the main reason. I frosted the cake with chocolate ganache and covered the top of the cake with some fondant just so tht it looked prettier. She's pursuing a degree in accountancy, thus the calculator, book n pencil :p Well, the paperbag is just coz she love to shop! ~~She's the cousin with all the branded stuffs!~~ :p I would love to mould more stuffs but my art skills are quite limited! It took me a good 3 hours to mould just those few things! I guess I need more practice. Sugar-crafting is something that I just pursue very recently. :)

The recipe for the brownie is the same as the 1 I have on my blog. I added some chopped Old Gold in the brownies coz she loves dark chocolate. I had a packet of Valrhona pearls tht is still unopen coz I so sayang want to use :p I added a good handful of my very precious Valrhona pearls in the Ganache. This is how much I love you shafy!

Ps: Shaf, mom said that you are planning to "KEEP" the cake and not eat it! Eat tht cake ok...else next time I'll make a cake out of styrofoam for you to KEEP! :D

Gulab Jamun

2009-10-20T02:01:00.000+08:00

Apparently I'm always very excited and happy during Diwali! I also love to visit Little India during Diwali! E accessories...the sweets...E lights! :) As a kid, I would be so happy when my neighbour arrived with a plate of sweets n snacks every Diwali morning! They already shifted but I the memories keep coming back every Diwali :) For E past few years, I do make at least 1 type of sweet for Diwali...its my own way of celebrating Diwali. I'm an Indian after-all! :D

Made this for Diwali. Gulab Jamun is often eaten as a dessert, and usually eaten at festivals or major celebrations, such as marriages, Diwali, and Eid. There are various types of Gulab Jamun though. This is a simple recipe....delicious nevertheless. :)

Ingredients:
1 cup Milk Powder

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tablespoons ghee/butter -melted

Whole milk - just enough to make the dough

For the Sugar Syrup

2 cups Sugar (I used less)

1 cup water

------------------

Oil for frying

Method:

For Syrup:

The syrup should be made earlier and kept warm.

To make the hot sugar syrup add mix the 2 cups of sugar to 1 cup of water.

Add 2-3 cardamom pods and a few strands of saffron if you prefer.

Mix with a spoon and then heat at medium heat for 5-10 minutes until sugar is all dissolved in water. Do not overheat, that will caramelize the sugar.
Off the fire but keep warm on stove.

------------------------------------------
For Gulab Jamuns:

Make the dough by combining the milk powder, soda and ghee/ butter.

Add just enough whole milk to make a medium-soft dough.

Divide the dough into 18-20 portions.

Make balls by gently rolling each portion between your palms into a smooth ball.

Place the balls on a plate. Cover with a damp yet kitchen towel.
Heat the oil on high and then lower the heat to medium.

Slip in the balls into the hot oil from the side of the pan, one by one. They will sink to the bottom of the pan, but do not try to move them. Instead, gently shake the pan to keep the balls from browning on just one side. After about 5 mins, the balls will rise to the surface. The Gulab Jamuns should rise slowly to the top if the temperature is just right.

Now they must be gently and constantly agitated to ensure even browning on all sides.
If the temperature of the oil is too high then the gulab jamuns will tend to break. So adjust the temperature to ensure that the gulab jamuns do not break or cook too quickly.
The balls must be fried very slowly under medium temperatures. This will ensure complete cooking from inside and even browning.

Add the fried gulab jamuns directly into the warm syrup. Leave gulab jamun balls in sugar syrup overnight for best results.

They can be served warm or at room temperature.

Delicious Recipes!

2009-10-14T02:34:00.011+08:00

I know I have not been updating regularly, but I have been really busy. Besides Diwali orders, I have been making cupcakes as samples for a few couples who are tying the knot this Nov and Dec. I had some post raya baking too. Some of my customers finished their cookies by the 2Nd week and they decided to order more, thus I was constantly baking!

I have not been cooking that much. I only cook when I have guests over. Most of the time, dearest mom did all the cooking! :D

3 days back, I was in the mood to cook something. I went through my cookbooks and 1 hour later, I decided on this.

I cooked Fennel Rice, Rogan josh and Cucumber n tomato raita. Raita is a Indian condiment based on yogurt wherelse Rogan Josh is a popular curry dish hailing from Kashmir and is popular in other parts of the world too especially among Indians and NRIs.

This plate was perfection. Everything was in harmony. Both mom and I enjoyed our dinner so much. Mom even said that I should cook this for Hari Raya Haji. Try it peepz!

Fennel Rice (Recipe from Asmah Laili's cookbook)

4 cups Basmati Rice

1 tsp fennel - lightly crushed

2 onions - sliced

3 garlic - crushed

3 tbsp ghee - I used a mix of butter and oil

Salt

1/4 cup milk plus 4 cups water

3 star anise, 1 cinnamon and 2 cardamon

1/4 tsp turmeric powder.

2 pandan leaves.

Method:

Soak rice for 15 mins and drain.

In a frying pan, fry onions, garlic, all spices except for fennel in ghee/butter till light brown.

Add in fennel and immediately turn off fire.

In a rice cooker, boil 4 cups of water and milk. Add in a good teaspoon of salt.

Once it comes to a boil, add in fried ingredients and rice.

Cook as per normal

Top with coriander/mint leaves and fried shallots.

Sprinkle some rosewater if desire.

Rogan Josh - Travel & Living Magazine

1kg Lamb (you can use beef or chicken too)

4 tsp coriander powder

2 tsp fennel powder

2 tsp cumin powder

2 tsp turmeric powder

2 tsp chili powder

2 tsp garam masala

1 onions - sliced

2 tomatoes - cubed

2 tbsp plain yogurt

- To be blended

1 large onion

5 garlic

2 inch ginger

Method:

Add oil in a pan and fry onion.

Add in onion and spices and fry for 10 mins

Add in meat and fry for a further 2 mins.

Mix in tomatoes, yogurt and a cup of water. Add some salt.

Cover pan and cook for a further 30-40 mins.

Once gravy thickens and meat is tender.

Top with some mint/coriander leaves.

Cucumber and Tomato Raita - Maya's recipe :p

1 cucumber - seeded and cubed

2 tomatoes - seeded and cubed

1 small onion - cubed

1 green chili - sliced

2-3tbsp plain yogurt.

Mint leaves - chopped

Method:

Place yogurt in a bowl, add in salt and a dash of sugar to season.

Mix all the other ingredients and keep in the fridge till ready to serve.

Dessert was Rachel Allen’s gorgeous yet simple Brown Sugar Custard. It resembles creme caramels, or flan... with the brown sugar adding a decadent rich toffee flavour.

Ingredients

2 Eggs

50g brown sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

200ml milk 100ml double cream

1 small orange- finely grated zest only (optional)

1 tsp vanilla

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170C

Whisk the eggs together in a bowl, then add the brown sugar and mix well.

Place milk, cream and orange zest (if using) into a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. Remove from the heat and gradually pour onto the egg and sugar mixture, whisking constantly until well combined. Mix in vanilla.

Pour the mixture through a sieve into a large jug and skim off any froth from the surface.

Place four small cups or ramekins in a baking dish or wide shallow pan and fill them up with the custard mixture. Pour enough hot water into the baking dish to come halfway up the sides of the cups or ramekins and cover the ramekins with foil.

Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes, or until the custards are just set in the centre.

Remove the custards from the baking dish and remove the foil. Serve warm or allow to cool. Sprinkle a little bit of extra brown sugar on top just before serving.

Enjoy! :)

Happy 21st!

2009-10-09T02:40:00.007+08:00

Dearest Nk,

I cannot digest E fact tht we only got so close within these 2 years despite E fact that we had a whole lot of opportunities to do so! For the whole of our lives, we were practically a few blocks away! There were also the tuition sessions....tailoring lessons that your mother gave me and me popping over for some reason or the other and vice versa. I failed to comprehend as to where we went wrong! I'm like so lovable and you...err quite like-able i guess. Hahaha! :p

Jokes apart! ;) It's better late than never! Very cliche I know...but true too! I guess we only saw the real side of us recently? :p Anyways, I wished I could make your 21st better, but at times...we humans can only plan :( Nevertheless, I hope you had a good time. I'm elated that I'd the chance to bake a b'day cake for you and I sincerely hope that I would get to bake many2 more b'day cakes for you! Obviously it should get better with age! :p

Now at the age of twenty-one, life has truly just begun. People always say that huh? Crap lah! :p You may be 21 now...but you don't have to change you know? I rather have E crazy, smartyPants...stubborn, you. Ok maybe you can work on that stubborn part a bit...haha! Hei...I'm just saying this coz Im older and your dad trust me so much so I'm supposed to give sound advice. :p But seriously who cares! Towards the end of the day, you can only be your true self with the people you are close with...your loved ones.

It's ur month anyways, so once again...happy birthday! Though you are legal to be everywhere, avoid the keys for now. Accept nothing less than a condo/car keys k? :p May all your dreams come true...may each passing day.....glorify! So heres to many more years of love, cookies, brownies, cupcakes and me! XoxoX0X0!!

About a week before her b'day I asked her..."What cake would you like to have for your bday? Not that Im making or anything...Am just asking!" Yes, thats my stupidest line ever...like seriously! Her reply was "Something rich and moist with cream cheese frosting!" So I decided on a red velvet. I added some chocolate ganache between the layers to make it richer.

Eid 2009 memories...

2009-10-06T01:14:00.014+08:00

This year I didn't get to snap a lot of pictures...but what's new right? Seriously I can't help it. Very busy most of E time.

Anyways, my mom is super creative. She can make nice vases from mineral water bottles! She's very good with floral arrangement too. This year, I tried my hands with floral arrangement too. It turned out quite nice I guess. At least that's wat every1 said n I believed 'em!! :p

It's a MUST for mom that our corridor should be adorned with some flashing lights. It's a yearly routine. My brothers would help me to hang the lights as I instruct 'em as to where they should hang the lights! After breaking the fast, we would then on the lights and as usual the little ones and my sister in laws would go wow! And I try to claim as much credit as possible since I was E "designer" :p Every year our lights would always be the brightest and prettiest! My eldest always joked tht "you have the best lights...none of those in these blocks can beat urs. I'm sure they cant beat your electricity bills too!!" Hehehe!

Every year without fail, he younger ones indulge in this though. I don't play much coz am kinda scared! :p Embarrassing I know! Even my 4 years old niece ain't scared! Hmm!

More nieces n nephews....

Look at her lips! Cuteness!

*Sings* oh beyonce beyonce...oh shakira shakira! Well 1 of 'em is Shakira! Guess which 1! :p

This girl needs no introductions. Shes E princess in my family.

Little Anzalla. He was very intrigued with me and my cam. Managed to capture quite a lot of pictures of him! Happy little guests. They are mom best-friend's grandsons :) E little 1 liked me I guess coz I kept giving him cookies and chicken wings :P I kept going hao chi ma? He would always reply with a "hao chi" in a split second! Haha!

This blog is all about food so here it goes....:D

Made some simple cupcakes but these were greatly enjoyed by the guests..both young and old. Some of them kept eyeing the cupcakes coz some of them thought that it's not supposed to be eaten! :p

Rose agar2 with basil seeds. This is the "head of E table"

On E 1st day of Eid, I cooked Satay, lontong and nasi lemak instead of the usual Indian cuisine...

I wanna upload more pictures but Blogger is such a wuss at times! I have been wanting to upload pictures since yesterday btw! Anyways, I guess thats it for tonight. I have a few delicious recipes to share. Shall post those very soon! :)

Backdated issues :p

2009-09-30T00:28:00.007+08:00

I didn't blog for a longggggg time, but still Eid Mubarak to all the muslims out there! Hopefully it's gonna on allright yeah?

This is gonna be a quick but hopefuly detailed update so pardon all my mistakes and errors! THe fasting month was a busy 1 as usual. I had more orders this Ramadan. I seriously dunno how it happened. I tried to limit the bottles of cookies that I should bake. The closing date was earlier still I went way above the limit. The problem is... I can't say no. There are of coz people like my grandma, my mamis and mom's frens'...obviously saying no was a big NO2. 1 week b4 Eid, I had to cook for 120 people. Halfway I was done, 1 of my runner informed that she had to collect the cookies a few hours before scheduled. I was cooking and baking at the same time. There were of coz the packing too. I started to feel the strain. I sat on the sofa to take a short break and somehow a few unstoppable tears just flowed. The stress was building up and of coz I couldn't say a thing. It was 1 who came up with the idea of cooking Iftar for the old folks at Darul Takrim. I chose the date too! I bucked up and said a silent prayer in my heart. We are doing a good deed, I believe he would listen to it. Alhamdulillah...he did and despite a slight delay, everything went on just fine.

Cookies were made on time too...so yeay! Didn't get to snap much pics though...I only snapped pictures for the 1st few days...after tht it was a frenzy! I made about 20 types of cookies. 200 bottles in total!

200 empty bottles waiting to be filled....

After 5 days of baking...

Traditional Sugee

Woof woof Milo Cookies :p

Oatmeal Raisin

Peanut Butter Shortbread

Oreo and White Chocolate Cookies

Koko Crunch Cuplets

Triple Chocolate Chips w M&Ms

Chopping up kgs of chocolate for my triple chocolate chip cookies.

Triple Chocolate CHips - Make about 3000 of these! Killer!!

Shall update more tomorrow! It's 4am and Im hitting E sack :)

It's the time of the year again...

2009-08-30T00:31:00.009+08:00

Hello peepz! So my favourite month is back! Supering dupering loving it!

1stly I wanna wish all the Muslims ard the world a very blessed Ramadan Mubarak! May Allah accept our fast, prayers, duas and grant victory to all of us! Amin!

I wasn't feeling very well for E past few days. Not coz of fasting though, just that the red splash wasn't very kind this time. I am fine now...so yeah!

Btw, remember the last time I had mention that Blackberry had ordered a few hundred cookies for their meeting? They actually ordered again! I was so happy. Infact this time they tripled their orders :) They emailed me and said that "the cookies were very lovely but it wasn't enough" I am so glad that a reputable company actually chose my humble home made cookies over other biggies. Makes everything feel so worth it. Chopping up chocolates, rolling cookies dough while trying hard not to think of the tummy cramps.

Anyways, Eid baking starts next week! I was actually planning to bake less this year but I don't think it's happening. Orders are pouring in. I can put a full-stop with strangers but relatives and friends? I always end up saying yes to every1! It's funny at times...my eldest brother would always complain that every house has the same cookies and he is apparently sick of it :p Whenever I go to my aunties house, they would always cook something for me and not offer any cookies to me. Haha! I guess they knew that I'm tired of eating my own cookies! It's quite true actually. I rarely eat the cookies I bake. Usually for Eid I would bake at least 2000-3000 pcs of triple chocolate chips. Neighbours or visitors would describe the smell coming from our house as "heavenly" but I find it nauseating. The smell of valrhona chocolates baking away give me a headache! Btw for those who are interested to have a look at my list of cookies for Eid, do visit http://www.divine-indulgences.com/

We Muslims usually break our fast with dates. Dates are rich in natural fibres, vitamins, minerals and calcium, so it's really a healthy food when consume in moderation! So my 2nd brother bought 3 types of dates that were shared among us 4 siblings. I don't remember the name of the other 2 types of dates but the best were the Ajwa dates. Moist and delicious. It actually cost $65 per kg! Yesterday I took a handful of these, blend with some milk and we drank this for Iftar. It was really lovely. We enjoyed it tremendously especially mom. She went for seconds (that's always a good sign when it comes to mom) So give it a try peeps!

Ingredients:

About 15 dates - pitted
2 glass milk
1 tbsp sugar/honey - if your dates are not very sweet.
1/4 cup hot water

Method:

Soak pitted dates in hot water till soft.
If your dates are kinda hard and dry, you can boil the dates till it softens.
Blend dates(with the water used for soaking) and sugar if using.
Add in milk and blend again.
I liked the bits of dates here and there, so I didn't strain. If you prefer it to be smooth, do strain to remove the sediments.
Add some crush ice and serve chilled.
Yummyyyyyyyyy!

More experiements...

2009-08-20T02:47:00.001+08:00

I made more cookies. These are all new recipes that I attempt coz I wanted some new cookies for the coming Eid...

Chocolate Ecstasy

2009-08-12T00:49:00.007+08:00

Weekend was awesome! My 4 best everrrrrr cousins came over from a sleepover! :) Basically I had 2 sleepless nights. We only slept in the early mornings :p On E 1st day, I had only 25minutes of sleep! We ate, played cards...ate...watched some recorded shows on Hub with Riya till 6am!

By the 2nd day, there were the occasional eye-closing incidents. Sharifa had to bring me back from the doors of lalaland a couple of times!!

So I didn't really snap any pictures of E food and stuff....except for these...

It all started with us browsing thru Nigella Express trying to find the chocolaty cookies. Somehow we ended up baking her Flour-less Brownie instead. The brownies tasted nice on it's own. But with the chocolate sauce, it was soooooooooooooooooo good! We served it with a scoop of ice cream too. SUPER DELICIOUS AND GORGEOUS!!!!

Just E thought of it now makes me wanna have some!!

Look at the pictures. Doesn't it look good? Bear in mind that these pics are totally unedited, was captured at 2am with poor lighting. This is a must try recipe...but plzzzz serve it with the killer sauce! Infact I insist! :D

Brownies
Ingredients:
225g dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids
3 eggs, beaten
225g butter
150g ground almonds
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
100g chopped walnuts (I omitted this)
200g caster sugar

Method:
Preheat the oven to 170°C.
Melt the chocolate and butter gently over a low heat in a heavy-based saucepan.
Take the pan off the heat, mix in the vanilla and sugar, and let it cool a little.
Beat the eggs into the pan along with the ground almonds and chopped walnuts. Turn into a 24cm square baking tin.
Bake in the oven for 25–30 minutes, by which time the top will have set but the mixture will still be gooey. Once cooler, cut carefully. Makes 16 squares

Hot Chocolate Sauce
75g dark chocolate
125ml double cream
2 x 15ml tablespoons coffee or 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
in 2 tablespoons water (Riya and me dislike coffee so I used 1tsp of coffee dissolved in 1 tbsp of water instead)
1 x 15ml tablespoon golden syrup (I used 3tbsp maple syrup)

Method:
Break up the chocolate and put into a heavy-based saucepan.
Add the remaining ingredients, then place the pan over a gentle heat and let everything melt together.
Once everything has melted, stir well, take off the heat and pour into a jug to serve.

Important: Serve with vanilla ice cream!!!!

National Day 09

2009-08-11T23:31:00.007+08:00

Last 2 weeks have been busy. This week gonna be kinda busy too. Besides orders for triple chocolate cookies, there's a thanksgiving and b'day coming up at my brother's place this weekend. I need to squeeze some time and experiment with at least 2- 3 more types of cookies for Eid too. I am looking at Mexican wedding cookies and different variations of shortbread..

eg: lavender, pistachios, lemon or hazelnut.

Next week would be spring cleaning. And I do plan to go full throttle so that I have nothing much to do during Ramadan (fasting month) itself. I'm gonna focus on more important things during Ramadan.

So last week, I had quite a number of orders. Besides orders from the university babes, there were the 2 surprise packages too. An order from Blackberry company and MINDS - Movement For The Intellectually Disabled of Singapore.

Tiramisu order from E babes. I really need to practice on my writting!!

Blackberry ordered a few hundred cookies. (triple chocolate chips, Viennese fingers and sugary butter cookies)

I received an email with very positive feedback. They said they enjoyed the cookies very much but it wasn't enough for them and they might have to double the order next month.

That was very good news indeed! Infact the Communications Advisor thought that my cookies were very cheap! Double happiness for me! I am always happy when customers feel that my bakes are reasonably priced :)

MINDS ordered red velvet cupcakes, strawberry sweethearts cheesecake and a whole cake for a National Day Celebration. Just sharing 2-3 pics that I managed to sumhow...snap.

I'm not very artsy. The best I could do were these fondant toppers!

E whole cake was red velvet with cream cheese frosting.

They also got back with positive feedback. I was really happy. I am so scared that I would disappoint. The fact that they chose my cakes/cookies over some other reputable bakeries, I had a lot of expectations I guess. Well all ended well, so I am elated.

My all time favourite...

2009-08-11T23:16:00.003+08:00

My favourite bolognese sauce...
The meatballs were yummy! A slight adaptation from Rachael Ray's recipe.
Shall update the recipe when I have more time in hand :)

Deliciously Quick!

2009-08-04T03:15:00.005+08:00

One fine day, I was home alone and I was very hungry. I had a few choices....

Call mom and tell her that I'm dying of hunger. She would return home with food. Most probably 3 hours later.
Call Mcd and get them to deliver something which would take 30-40minutes.
Cook instant noodles and it's just gonna take 10 minutes. Yes I know instant noodles supposed to cook in 2 minutes...but hei, I ve to get a pot...boil water...get an egg...crack it...blah2. :p
Ransack the fridge and cook something in a matter of 15minutes.

I chose the last option. I wanted to go with option 2 but I just had fast food the week before, I don't think my body needs more fast-food. I am of coz very glad that I chose to cook coz I came up with a yummeh quickie that would bring some restaurants to shame!!! *Grins*

I had some cooked rice I decided to cook a simple dish to go with my rice. I had a whole lot of options considering the fact that the fridge was full. I obviously went for something easy.

Ingredients:
1 chicken breast - large cubed /sliced and season with salt and pepper.
1/4 capsicum - cubed
1/4 Japanese cucumber - sliced
1 small onion - sliced
2 garlic - chopped
2 thin slices of ginger
1 tbsp bbq sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
Black pepper

Method:
In a frying pan, pan fry chicken slices in some oil.
Once cook, add in onion, garlic and ginger. Fry for 1-2 minutes.
Add in both the sauces and capsicum.
Lastly, add in slices of Japanese cucumber and black pepper.
Cook for another minute and serve!

It was a wonderful meal. Sighs...
Something that I would definitely repeat very soon. :)

Note: If you prefer your cucumber crunch, just serve it by the side.
I prefer soft centers, thus I cooked it for a minute or 2.

A Classic Repetition

2009-08-04T02:53:00.005+08:00

Panna cotta's one of the easiest desserts to make. I'm not very confident about plating it, so I usually serve them in little shot glasses or pretty little moulds. It's a perfect dessert to serve especially if your you've got no time in hand on the day of the event/party itself. You can be prepared the night before and kept in the refrigerator until you're ready to serve it.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups cream
1 1/2 cups milk
1 vanilla bean
1/2 cup (115g) caster sugar
2 1/2 tsp gelatine powder

1/4 cup hot water

Method:
Place the hot water in a small bowl and sprinkle the powdered gelatine in.

Give it a stir and set aside for 5 minutes.
Spli the vanilla and scrape out the seeds. Place both the seeds and the rest of the bean into a saucepan with the cream, milk and sugar.

Simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring gently.

Add in the gelatine mixture and turn off flame. Stir till the gelatine completely dissolves.
Strain the liquid into a small jug, and discard the vanilla bean.

Pour into shot glasses/moulds and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Bollywood.

2009-08-04T01:55:00.005+08:00

Another themed Brownie....

Another 21st...

The theme is Bollywood. The doll is wearing a ghagra choli (Indian traditional wear) btw. I gave it a modern twist though. Nowadays the bollywood heroines don't "wear much" anyways! :p The doll would have looked better if the hair was black or dark brown....but I couldn't find a cheap doll with such a hair. :(

Martha's Cookies

2009-07-28T02:13:00.004+08:00

A virgin attempt at these cookies. I needed new cookies for my hari raya list, thus I'm trying out new recipes. Both the recipes were from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. I just made some modifications.

These were specially created for the little ones and the child in us all.

.
This was actually called snicker-doodles but I decided to rename it. It was really really lovely. I remembered seeing this on a blog (can't rem which) and thought it looked interesting. I then came across these cookies in Martha's book and I had to give it a try. I received quite a number of positive feedback. My aunt and cousin said that it reminded them of Auntie Anne's cinnamon pretzel. These were crunchy though. I really loved these.....E great flavour of sugar cinnamon coating and sandy buttery flavor which makes eating one just about impossible!

Another 1...

2009-07-28T01:22:00.004+08:00

So this was the other themed brownie. This won't be the last coz she already ordered her 4th brownies. She said that Im famous among her friends now. I just have to say that I am overwhelmed. After her fourth order in less than 10days, I'm starting to worry. Err did I accidentally dropped in some addictive drug in the brownies that is causing this repetitions? :p

Loved the little flowers!

Anyways, the next theme is Bollywood. Its like OMG BOLLYWOOD! I'm a big fan of bollywood and bollywood would mean songs, dance, romance, good looking heros/heroines, changing 5 clothes in 5 minutes :p Bollywood would of cause mean SHAHRUKH KHAN too! :p But how do i put bollywood on a brownie? I really need to think...

Filled Madeleines

2009-07-26T02:21:00.004+08:00

I made madeleines again. I made it into petite fours. It was mom's idea that we filled these with durians! Mine was filled with blueberries :) It was really delicious. You wouldn't have realised that these were madeleines! It was so soft and rich :) Recipe can be found here.

2009-07-23T04:03:00.004+08:00

My mom was fasting and I decided to make some snacks for her to break her fast. She love puff pastries, so here it goes...
The 1st time I had a bite of this pastry was when my mami bought back some from Macau. I was head over heals in love with these! Those sold at Cheers taste pretty darn good too.
It's really easy to make anyways. You can make your own puff pastry or buy ready made.

Ingredients..
500g ready made puff pastry

Filling
200g whipping cream
300g milk
100g sugar
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
1 tbsp vanilla essence (I used quite an amount coz mom dislikes the smell of eggs)

Method..
Roll pastry to a rectangular shape about 3mm thick. roll it up like a Swiss roll. chill until firm.
Divide the pastry into 25g portions. Flatten the pastry and roll it into about 3mm thickness. press onto the tart moulds.

Filling:
Cook whipping cream and milk until its a little hot.
Stir in sugar until dissolves. Cool a bit and add into the beaten eggs and egg yolks.
Mix until well blended.
Lastly add in the vanilla essence. set aside to cool.
4. pour the filling into the pastry tarts.
Bake at 220 degrees for 20-25 mins.

Just roll the sausages with some pastry and give it a egg/milk wash. Bake at 200Degrees for about 20 minutes.

Bubblegumlicious

2009-07-23T03:30:00.004+08:00

Another brownie order. This time her theme was "bubblegum". I wasn't very sure as to how I should go about it. Thanks to Nk who told me to go for bold bubblegum colours. I guess it looks quite nice :p I have another brownie order for this Saturday. This time the theme is White Ice Princess. And yes, the brownie was ordered by the same lady. Her 3rd brownie order in 1 week! I'm really A.M.A.Z.E.D. It is scary though coz I put more expectations on myself with every order. I should be getting better right? I hope that is the case.

Hawaiian Green

2009-07-21T05:03:00.005+08:00

I had an order for a brownie on Saturday. Most of the time, I topped my brownies with just chocolate ganache. This time round, E customer requested for a green frosting coz they had a hawaiian green theme! It was exciting for me....took me back to my art n craft days :p But I was never good at art and I guess it shows. :p I have been seeing too many of Suyin cakes and her cakes always look soooooo real! I wished mine looked more real though.....

Anyways, later in the day the customer get back to me with some nice compliments and she said that the decos were really cute. I guess towards the end of E day, that matters the most. As I am typing this post, I have another brownie cooling down on the dining table. In fact it's an order from the same customer. I'm contented somehow. Repeat orders speak volumes.

Btw, I know that the little doll "asset" is way too overwhelming for her size. heeeeee.... It was intended to be that way. A lot of ladies are into "enhancing" nowadays....so I thought I enhance hers too! *Cheeky grin*

A traditional sweet from France

2009-07-21T03:44:00.005+08:00

I have been wanting to bake madeleines but I wasn't able to lay my hands on a madeleine pan. Anyways, finally I got down to baking some and it was a breeze. My mom totally loved it and my brother kept popping 1 after another in his mouth; despite protesting by saying that I'm trying to give kuih bahulu a fancy name by calling it madeleines! Haha. Yes2, I do realise that madeline do resembles the traditional bahulu but it is not really the same. The traditional Bahulu uses quite a lot of sugar and it contains no butter wherelse madeleine has quite an amount of butter, thus it taste really rich :)

Anyways, I used Donna Hay's recipe.

It turned out really good. My mom is already bugging me to make more! Infact, I dare say that it's way softer and more spongy than Delifrance Madeleine. Do try it! Btw, the silicone pan was worth the investment. It was a dream using it. The madeleine came off so easily :)

Ingredients:
4 eggs
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 1/4 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
180g butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla (I added this)

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Place eggs and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 8-10 minutes or until very pale and thick.
Sift flour and baking powder over the mixture and continue to beat at low speed until smooth.
Mix in butter , vanilla and beat until combined.
Grease madeleine pan/pans and spoon in the mixture.
Bake for about 10 mins or till golden.
Enjoy!

Just a little shopping...

2009-07-21T02:45:00.006+08:00

I went to buy some baking stuffs last week. There wasn't a need to carry kgs of flour, heavy blocks of butter...etc! It was leisure shopping, so it was fun! I practice a little self restrain though coz I always go CRAZIE in this kinda stores and I end up buying things that is of no use at all! Anyways, these were my buy for the day. I was hoping to buy more decorating stuffs but BIY had nothing much to offer that day.

A lot of chocolate transfers!

This cost close to $40 which is ridiculous If I may say. BIY has great stuffs, but their prices are way above Phoon huat, Sun Lik...etc2.

I just needed the filling tip but then I keep misplacing my 1M tip, so I bought E whole set!

Okay, I don't really need this but it looks useful :P I guess besides mini brownies, I can make petit fours too.

This I NEED! I have been wanting to buy a madeleine pan for agesssss! It's always out of stock apparently! The moment I saw this, I literally grabbed it! :p

Now, I dunno why I bought this. I mean...just look at the groom's hair!!! :S

I wanted this for more than a year now. I just love the effect it gives on fondant.

Love the black pearls/dragees! $8.50 might seems expensive for a bottle, but trust me...it's so worth it. I bought a bottle June 2008 and I still have some left!

Been wanting to try this...

Rosemary Chicken

2009-07-14T02:16:00.006+08:00

Serving dinners right from the oven is quite fuss free. Less preparations, minimum cleaning ups, and most of the time, food cooked in the oven is more healthy.

So dinner was grilled chicken with grilled assorted vegetables. Peppers, onions, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes and mushroom. Simplicity as its best...

The grilled chicken was inspired by Jamie Oliver's Lemon, garlic and rosemary grilled chicken. I gave it a slight twist by adding black pepper, light soy sauce, olive oil, nutmeg and. It was obviously yummmz! :D

Recycle...

2009-07-14T00:46:00.004+08:00

Made this coz I had a loaf of bread that was basically untouched. It wasn't possible for us to finish it before its expiration date, so I decided to make this. Gave it a slight twist by dusting some milo on it. I made some with dried oregano too :) Love to eat these by dipping 'em in a glass of milk.

Ingredients:

Bread, preferable a few days old. (Cut as desire)

Butter

Fine sugar

Milo

Method:

Spread some butter on bread. Sprinkle with some sugar and milo too if you prefer.

Bake in preheated oven at 170Degrees celsius.

Bake for about 45 mins or till crispy.

Once cool, store in an airtight bottle.

Enjoy with a glass of milk or a good cup of tea, coffee or even milo!

Going Mediterranean

2009-07-08T15:34:00.003+08:00

Last night dinner was,

Grilled assorted vegetables

Half a ciabatta

And grilled lamb

Delishhhhhhhhh!

Backdated

2009-07-07T18:33:00.002+08:00

I know I have been missing in action way too often but I c.a.n.t h.e.l.p. it :(

Anyways my brother is going through a speedy recovery and I'm back home :)
It was supery dupery busy 2 weeks though!

It all started with my 2nd brother throwing a thanksgiving. I cooked for 120 people. The crowd didn't even reach 100 people but I guess no complains coz it meant more food! I was too busy and tired that I didnt remember to take any pics!! Anyways, it also falls on my brother b'day so we had a "cake cutting ceremony" My sister in law and uncle b'day were 2 days later, so we celebrated their b'day too! I baked 2 cakes. The blueberry cake was meant for my brother and sister in law and the durian cake was for my uncle. Somehow, uncle came with a chocolate mousse cake from Carlton, so we ended up having 3 cakes! No 1 complained though ;) I received quite a number of compliment for the durian cake and I was obviously please despite the fact that I screwed up on a few things :p I wanted to top the cake with more durian but I didn't have enough durian! Sighs....another time I guess!

My brother is officially 40 now.

Congratulations Bro! How does it feel to be 40? :P

An order of 21 cupcakes for a 21st B'day

They wanted a pink and girly theme...

I had some extra cupcakes and I served it to guests who came over to visit my brother.

1 of the lucky guest was this little 1...

Full and happy! :p

There were of coz another order for 50 people. Lots of savouries and 6 different types of cupcakes. I didn't snap a single pic so I guess I shouldn't talk about it :p

Amidst all these busyness, we had a mini bbq at my 2nd bro's place.It was just basically me and the kids bbqing away on 1 fine evening. We barbequed tandoori chicken, prawn/sotong balls, potato wedges, sausages, shitake and peppers on sticks and prawns. Super simple yet fun.

Giving Feta a 2nd chance...

2009-06-16T02:04:00.006+08:00

The 1st time I tasted feta was during my secondary school days. Back then, whenever I'm at the supermarket buying stuffs for mom, I would 1 or 2 ingredients tht brings out E curiosity in me. :p Most are ingredients used in western cuisines. French mustard, different types of pasta, salad dressings...etc2. I love cheese, so I gave feta a try and it was terrible! My niece would say it's "grosstique"! I tried a few other cheeses too but was disappointed most of the time, thus I stick to those few common ones. Mozzarella, cheddar, ricotta and Parmesan; just to name a few. It would be great if I can appreciate and enjoy all the cheese normally found on a cheese platter. Wouldn't it be lovely to sit in the front porch of your house, enjoying a cup of fruit flavoured tea with bread and a cheese platter? :D

Anyways, last week, I was shopping at Cold storage which is my favourite favourite supermarket btw! Somehow I was at the dairy products and a bottle of feta in olive oil caught my eye. I thought the taste would be disappointing again, so why bother? Then again, I remember Jamie Oliver crumbling the feta in his watermelon salad and there was also Nigella's feta in omelette. Possibilities were running in my head and I had to give feta a 2nd chance.

Back home, 1 took a bite of the salty, slightly bitter and I was disappointed again. I kept the whole bottle in the fridge and I didn't even remember about it!

So, the previous night I was clearing my fridge coz am going to my brother's place and would not be coming back for about 2 weeks. I wanted the fridge as empty as possible. Once it was almost empty. it was totally impossible to ignore poor little miss Feta! I went online and search for recipes using feta. There were lots of course but I decided on a simple 1 and best of all, I had almost all the ingredients.

Yes, this is E same Greek salad that turned me into a convert for life. The feta compliments the salad so so beautifully. E salad was so light, refreshing and aromatic! I loved it tremendously! It's just like a beautiful song...where both the music and lyrics are in harmony and compliments each other. I'm already planning to get more feta so that I can try different variations of this salad :)I have to let my family try this salad. Let's hope they too gonna demolish every bit of the feta, lettuce, tomato and olives!

I shall update the recipe tomorrow :)

Caramel-y Creamy

2009-06-13T01:39:00.001+08:00

Ingredients:

2 cups of heavy cream
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 cup of milk
1 cup of white sugar and another 1/2 cup for the caramel sauce
3 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
A pinch of salt

Method:
Preheat the oven to 325°F.
Heat the heavy cream and milk in a saucepan on medium heat until you see small bubbles on the sides of the pan.
Whisk 1/2 a cup of the sugar, egg yolks and eggs together in a medium bowl.
Whisk the hot cream and milk into the sugar and egg mixture.
Pass the mixture through a sieve and into a measuring cup. Stir in the salt and vanilla extract.
Place six 6-oz. ramekins in a deep baking dish and keep to one side.
Pour 1/2 cup sugar into a clean saucepan.
Add enough water to dissolve the sugar, and put the pot over high heat. Stir for one minute.
Mix the caramel around to ensure caramelization is even.

Pour the caramel into the ramekins

Divide the mixture so that the bottom of each ramekin is covered with a thin coat of the caramel. Pour the custard into the caramel-bottomed ramekins, and fill the baking dish with water so that the bottom halves of the ramekins are under water; cover the dish with foil.
Bake until the custard is set, which should take around 20 to 45 minutes.
Let the custards cool down in the water bath. After they've cooled down, remove the ramekins from the baking dish, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to 2 days.
After the custard has been refrigerated, run a knife around the edge of each ramekin and invert the custard onto a nice plate, making sure you get all of the caramel out.

Note: Alternatively, you can bake the custards and pour some caramel over it.

Sugar Cookies

2009-06-12T00:12:00.005+08:00

Nk came over on Tuesday for a very much needed baking session. Half of her holidays are gone! Let's hope we make good use of E remaining 1.5months Nk! We should do more sweet treats. Vanilla ice cream with triple chocolate chip cookie dough next on E list! :)

Anyways, we made Martha's chewy old fashion oats cookies (I didn't remember to take pics!) which smelled incredible coz of the maple syrup and cinnamon. An encore should be coming up soon!

We also made sugar cookies. We decorated the cookies with some royal icing. We definitely had lotsa fun! :D

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

100g Butter

200g sugar

400g all purpose flour

1 egg

1tsp vanilla

Method:

Cream butter and sugar till creamy.

Add in egg and vanilla

Mix in flour.

Wrap in cling film and chill for at least an hour.
Roll out dough and cut into shapes.

Line on a baking tray and chill it for 20-30mins.
Bake for 15mins.

Royal icing:

2 large egg whites
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
3 cups (330 grams) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted

1 tsp vanilla

Method:

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the egg whites with the lemon juice. Add the sifted powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined and smooth. Add in vanilla and your preferred colouring. The icing needs to be used immediately or transferred to an airtight container as royal icing hardens when exposed to air. Cover with plastic wrap when not in use.

:)

2009-06-11T18:10:00.005+08:00

My last post was about a month ago. U.N.B.E.L.I.E.V.E.A.B.L.E I have to say. It all started with my eldest brother being hospitalized. A month had past....he is still in there. He is recovering though. Due to this swine flu thingy, visiting was such a chore. I pity some of his friends who came all the way to SGH to visit him but ended up leaving the hospital without even getting a glimpse of their friend aka my brother. Sighs....I can go on and on, but I shall put a full-stop for now :P I didn't bake for quite some time coz I spent more than 2 weeks at my brother's place. Now that I am home and every1 in the family is happy again to see my brother recovering rapidly, my spirits are back. I baked these over E weekend for an order...

These are actually chocolate cupcakes with chocolate ganache. I had to top it off with some cream coz the customer wanted a pink and red theme.

Definitely not blue

2009-05-08T05:05:00.004+08:00

2 layered sponge cupcakes layers with blueberry filling and topped with whipped cream and more blueberry filling. I loved it! It was really delicious yet so simple :)

The Soup-aholic

2009-05-08T04:23:00.009+08:00

Although I come from an Indian family, me and my family basically eat food from different cuisines everyday. Indian food is only a once a week kinda affair. As a kid, it was a different story though. My late Dad had an Indian taste-bud though. His daily meals consists of curries, dhals...etc2. Sambal was ok but plain soups were a no2. On the other hand, E little 1 in the family aka me only eat rice with soups! E funny thing was, I referred soups as "kuah itik" which literally translates as "duck's gravy" I think it just have to do with E fact tht I'd seen some ducks swimming ard and I was comparing E water to soups. I don't really remember! Anyways, at times mom was too tired and I still insist that I want my "duck gravy". She would pour some hot water, add a dash of salt in my rice and I would happily eat that with my fried chicken or fish. Back then I obviously didn't know about it! She only confessed about this a few years back!!! Come to think of it, it wasn't a confession. It started like this...

One fine day, a few years ago....

Me: Hmm wat gravy is this?
Mom: Why? Not nice?
Me: Taste weird...
Mom: So fussy!
Me: I'm not fussy but I don't like this.
Mom: It taste ok...you are fussy now. When you were small, water and salt also nice!!
Me: WATER N SALT?? EErks! I don't eat that!!
Mom: You did....whenever I was tired of cooking soups for you. I just add hot water and salt to your rice. (she said it so so casually without even a hint of guiltiness!!) :p
Me: What?!!! *Shocked mode*

You guys get E picture right? :P
I swear, I'm not gonna do this to my child. I might do it to my husband though!*Evil smile*

Anyways, I have not been making wantons for quite sometime now. I'd been wanting to make some but I can't seem to remember to buy some wanton wrappers! Finally mom got some 2 days back and I made wanton soup today. It was cozy and delicious. I think everyone should make their own wantons! Nothing beats freshly made wantons. Furthermore it's so simple!

Ingredients for Wanton

Wanton wrappers
200G prawns
150g chicken meat
1tbsp light soy sauce
pepper to taste
1/2 tsp cornflour
chopped scallion

Method

1. Mixed everything (except wanton wrappers) Make sure all are mixed thoroughly.
2. Place half a teaspoon of meat filling onto E center of each wrapper. Bring two of E corners of E wrapper together, sealing all edges with some water. I created a triangle out of each wrapper. Press E edges again a little to remove all trapped air.

Simple stock
2 chicken cubes
1L water
3 garlic crushed
pepper.

Boil the above ingredients to make stock.
Drop the wantons gently into it.
Within slightly under 5 minutes, your wanton soup is ready. Garnish with scallions, and if you like, a few drops of sesame oil.Yummy!

Easy Peasy

2009-05-05T01:52:00.004+08:00

This is a super easy adaption of a non baked cheese cake. Making this might be a walk in the park but it is sure to impress your guests esp if it's served in pretty tall glasses! In my case, these always turn out to be a big hit among every1. :D

Basically you just base a glass/mould with some graham or muesli. I used muesli this time round. Of coz if your prefer, you can add sugar and butter to E base and keep it in the fridge for a while till base hardens. Cream 200g cream cheese, 50ml yogurt, 50ml cream and a few tbsp of icing sugar. Add 1 tbsp lemon juice. Pour creamed mixture into glasses. Top with another layer of graham/muesli and mixture. Chill for a few hours or better still, overnight. Top with your favourite fruits. In my case, Korean strawberries. Super delicious! (",)

Ps: Feel free to omit the cream if you prefer. :)

A new recipe...

2009-05-01T21:46:00.005+08:00

Made these for my nieces and nephew when they slept over last weekend. Saw this on Martha's show. Recipe is from Candace Nelson of Sprinkles Cupcakes. E cupcakes were really soft and nice. E frosting is sweet though, despite E fact...I already reduced E sugar. Kids would love it though!
I used fresh strawberries for both E cupcakes and frosting.

Ingredients
(Makes 1 dozen)
2/3 cup whole fresh or frozen strawberries, thawed
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
2 large egg whites, room temperature

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners; set aside.
Place strawberries in a small food processor; process until pureed. You should have about 1/3 cup of puree, add a few more strawberries if necessary or save any extra puree for frosting; set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, mix together milk, vanilla, and strawberry puree; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy.

Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended.
With the mixer on low, slowly add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended. Add the milk mixture; mix until just blended. Slowly add remaining flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary, until just blended.
Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Transfer muffin tin to oven and bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes. Transfer muffin tin to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool completely in tin before icing.

Ingredients for frosting:

1/2 cup whole frozen strawberries, thawed
1 cup unsalted butter, firm and slightly cold
Pinch of coarse salt
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions
Place strawberries in the bowl of a small food processor; process until pureed.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce mixer speed and slowly add confectioners' sugar; beat until well combined.

Add vanilla and 3 tablespoons strawberry puree (save any remaining strawberry puree for another use); mix until just blended and frost cakes.

Elegant yet fuss free

2009-05-01T03:12:00.005+08:00

I made Panna Cotta coz I had some cream in the fridge and I didn't want to "slog" much :P Another reason was, I wanted to use this little cuties!! Thanks to Nk for these moulds and all E "hard work" *wink2* I loveeeeeee loveeeee 'em! I promise an encore with these moulds.....specially for you!

Ingredients
1 cup (250 mL) whipping cream
7g gelatin + 1/4 cup water
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 cup fresh milk

Method:
Heat cream and milk and bring to a light boil
Whisk in maple syrup
Combine in the gelatine powder+water mixture and whisk till dissolved.
Once cool, pour into little glasses/moulds/shot-glass.
Chill for a couple of hours or overnight.
Drizzle with more maple syrup just before serving, if desired.

An all time favourite

2009-04-28T03:10:00.003+08:00

An all time favourite in my family ....Never fail to win hearts :p

On cloud 9

2009-04-25T01:33:00.011+08:00

I was never a fan of baked cheesecake. E 1st cheesecake I had was more than 5 years ago. It was baked by me! :p Although I was told that it's nice...I actually feel tht it was ok. E 2nd cheesecake was about a year later. It was from some bakery and I didn't like it. There were a few other occasions after that. Cheesecakes from Delifrance, secret recipe...etc2. Still, I wasn't in love until I tried making a non-baked cheesecake. I was head over heels with the rich and creamy dessert! Until quite recently, my cousin bought slices of cheesecake from Secret Recipe and I found those to be really lovely! I guess the 1st time when I had SR's cheesecakes...those were coffee/mocha flavored thus my dislike. (Tiramisu is an exception)

Anyways, my love for cheesecake kinda grew....(only those from secret recipe though) I decided that I should give baked cheesecake a 2Nd attempt. Furthermore, a few of my customers have been requesting that I should have baked cheesecakes on my list.

So I embarked on a "serious cheesecake baking session" :p I had cherries and strawberries, so It has to be a new york styled cheesecake with some topping. I took out my Martha baking handbook, Dorie's from my home to urs and Chef Wan's sweet treats. I read all the important notes by them and follow the do's and don t's closely. I freeze the base 1st, bake it for 10 mins and let it cool as per Dorie's instructions. I also baked the cheesecake in a water-bath, cool it in the oven for a few hours and let it chill overnight. Basically, I left no stone unturned. :)

Everything was so worth it coz I was rewarded with a crack-less, gorgeously yummy and creamy cheesecake. Shaf who doesn't take cheesecake actually liked it! My uncle ate 2 large pieces and my aunt said my cheesecake looked ike it was store bought! Even fussy me thought that E cheesecake was super delicious! I was in a state of blissful happiness. :)

Updated Recipe

2009-04-21T02:18:00.004+08:00

I have been getting quite a lot of emails in my inbox requesting for this recipe. I'm sorry that it took me forever to post the recipe. Nevertheless, now tht I remembered, here is the recipe :)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup cocoa powdered
1.5 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

Method:
Cream butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time.
Measure the flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder into a medium sized bowl and whisk to combine.
Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine. Add about a half of the milk and beat to combine.
Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.
Mix in vanilla
Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 3/4’s full.
Bake at 170D for about 25-30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Frosting

5 oz chocolate
3 oz butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
5-7oz Icing sugar (start with 5 oz and add accordingly)

Method:

Melt butter and chocolate using a double boiler.
Once smooth and melted, gently whisk in vanilla.
Whisk in icing sugar, a little at a time.
Add in sour cream and cream till its satiny smooth.
Keep it aside for a while to thicken. Do give it a stir once in a while.

Enjoy!

Simple English Muffins

2009-04-21T01:46:00.006+08:00

As promised, this is Alex Goh's super easy yet deliciously soft recipe for English muffins.

Ingredients:

(A)
1.5 tsp instant yeast
1 teaspoon salt
0.5 tsp sugar
300 g bread flour
15 g milk powder

(B)
180 ml lukewarm water

(C)
0.5 tbsp butter

Semolina for dusting

Method :

Place ingredients A in a mixing bowl and give it a good mix.
Slowly pour in the lukewarm water, a little at a time until the flour sort of stick together.

Add in butter and continue kneading until a soft and smooth dough is formed. Add more water if necessary.
Place the dough into a bowl and wrap the bowl with a clean plastic bag.

Leave to prove till double the size.
Divide dough into 8 pieces and mould them into balls.

Coat them with semolina and arrange them on a baking tray.
Leave to prove for 20 minutes and cook them on a non stick skillet over medium heat for about 7 mins on each side.

McMaya

2009-04-20T01:17:00.007+08:00

Most of us love easy yet yummy recipes which require minimum effort. Who wanna spend hours in the kitchen, slaving over E hot stove right??

As for myself, I do love express recipes for lazy or busy days. It has to taste good though!
Deep inside, E cook in me prefer to cook food right from scratch. Home-made sauce, seasoning food from scratch.....etc2. Home cooked food has become a scarcity in our diet, I think the satisfaction of serving home cooked food has enormously increase!

Yesterday was 1 such day. I made a hearty breakfast meal! It was served way after breakfast hours though! Well, thats E beauty of McMaya, you get to eat breakfast after 11am and everything is freshly made! You get salad too! *winks*

So, I made some beef patties, scrambled eggs, rosti, salad and English muffins. E star of the day were the English muffins! They were soft, tender and just wonderful! I didn't know it was that easy to make these muffins. I didn't even use the oven! Awesome isn't it? I shall share the recipe very very soon! :)
Oh btw, E rosti was very good too! I dare say that it taste better than mostly commercially made hash-brown. I don't really have a recipe for the rosti, but I'm planning to make it again soon. I shall make a mental note of the recipe then :)

By E way, if some of you are wondering what with E Logo on the table wares. No, I didn't steal those when I was in 1 of SQ flights :p My brother worked there and there was a time where they sold boxes of unused tableware. Got it? :p

Weekend Bakes...

2009-04-20T00:50:00.005+08:00

These double and triple chocolate chip cookies were an order from a regular customer. These were supposed to be gifts for her friends.....

70 cups of talam lauk....

Chocolate Cupcakes

This sums up my Sunday bakes :)