Strawberry Ice Cream

No photos cos photog busy eating ice-cream and didn't want to take any photos. LOL!

Recipe taken from Nigella Lawson. Really good. Also made strawberry sauce from the strawberry puree. 

Now i have a lot of egg whites left, i wonder if i should bake an angle cake.
Finally a not great photo by my photog...

Birthday Cake

I baked a birthday cake for my husband today. I realised the heating of my oven is not very even ... and i have to rotate the pan half way through and still couldn't get it all even out and i realised too that my oven is not very big cos it can barely fit 2 9-inch pans..*sigh*... My boss recommended Miele brand of oven which he said is the best..i went to check and you know what? The cheapest Miele oven is around $4k..hahahahaha...way beyond my budget liao!
The butter cake texture is really good, soft and buttery. Pink frosting is too sweet imo. I don't like it cos it is too sweet for my liking and i didn't even put the stated amount of icing sugar!

{The Next Day} I really can't stand the icing..so i scraped off all the icing (except the center portion between layers) and now i think the cake taste soooo much better! I don't understand how this icing can be sold as part of a cake and people still like it (so the book say..)! I like the cake with a bit of icing in the centre which blends in quite nicely. BUT, too much of it, just too overpowering..one bite and i feel like i am gonna be diabetic! I made this cake cos i like the 'pinkness' of it..hahahaha..my photog said and i quote "it looks like a 'barbie doll cake"! LOL!

French Chocolate Macaroons *looks:failure, taste:success*

HAHAHAHAHA..i wanna laugh, cos these macaroons looks horrible but taste very very good! Extremely delicious despite the horrible look of my macaroons! Probably also i used dutch-processed Hershey cocoa powder, which is very difficult to find here cos everywhere is only selling the normal Hershey cocoa powder and not the dutch-processed ones (i dunno if it makes any difference but all the ang moh chefs in their recipes always say use dutch-processed ones lor..even Chef Anna Olsen from Sugar). Anyway, I got my recipe from Chef David Lebovitz and in his blog/recipe said he took like 7 tries before finally getting it right. So this is my first time, what's more he's a professional chef, so if he takes 7 tries, i think i need 70 x 7 tries before getting it right!! LOL! Well, the good thing "whatever mistake it is still a delicious mistake" (quote: by Chef Michael Smith!) and this is so true! :D I think i probably used too much egg whites..i wanted to finish my egg whites quickly, so instead of 2 egg whites, i used 4 egg whites and over-beat it till extremely stiff..lol!

Photos coming right up..

Best Chocolate Cake Ever

Ok. No photos now cos my photog busy..lol! I followed this recipe from one of my books and it is really really good! The texture is soft and very moist, one of the best i recipe i have done so far.

Photos coming up soon..

Chocolate Cupcake *half-success-half-failure*

I did something wrong with the cupcake. I know it is suppose to be a "fool-proof" kind of recipe but somehow i think when i half the recipe, it became not very correct (or rather incorrect)! LOL! It is not easy to half like 1-3/4 cup of flour, 3/4 cup of oil..and so forth..very difficult la...lol! But of course the end result is still edible la..more like 'honeycomb' texture than cake texture! But at least i did something right, that for the first time i managed to pipe the whipped cream succesful!! Hurray!!! LOL!

French Pear Tart

I finally did it! I baked this French Pear Tart! LOL! It's simply delicious i must say. But i do find it a bit sweet for my liking though hence i didn't sprinkle any icing sugar. Maybe i use canned pear (can also use fresh pears) but i think a slice of this with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream or whipped cream is simply heavenly! Next time got to cut down maybe 30g of sugar from the recipe.

I got my recipe from Susan Filson and i am her blog fan. LOL! And Susan in turn got her recipe from Dorie Greenspan..so just visit both their blogs - link provided here. :) I didn't glaze my pears like they did - i did only a tiny bit of glaze cos i was too stingy with putting too much glaze.. hahahaha..

One note is i HATE doing the dough..cos the butter melts so fast in our hot weather!! ARgghhh...! I had to like keep putting the dough back in the fridge every few minutes of handling it otherwise it will melt on my hands! I wish i have air-con in my kitchen!!! (Angie, i remembered what you said..and now i have the same wish!). I think the crust didn't look all that pretty cos i was 'dough-out' - out of dough cos the recipe called for a 9" tart tin and i had only 11" tart tin! So no choice..i was too lazy to make more dough, so i spread out the dough as thinly as possible. Well, it works, but not so pretty sides imo!

Mango Mousse Cake

This cake i am proud to say that i did my own variation. The original recipe used strawberry but i didn't have any strawberry, but have mango..so i figured why not make mango mousse cake instead. The jelly topping was also my idea too! I tried a few times with instant jelly but didn't work out because i didn't really know how to use it (now i KNOW!...you know who you are for not telling me what to do!). In the end i used gelatine. Putting gelatine on mousse i find really tricky but after 2x, i finally found the 'trick' to do it! :D

Chocolate Bundt

I was worried the cake didn't turn out pretty enough. Actually the top cracked a bit but cos it is a bundt cake, the top becomes the bottom when turned over. So still look pretty. The cake is not very sweet but very moist. I didn't use the actual icing recipe but used chocolate-butter icing recipe.

Almond Yogurt-Cheese Cake

This is my first time baking a layered cake. Basically the cake is a sponge cake but the icing is 'cream cheese/yogurt'. It's quite nice but if you don't like yogurt, then this cake isn't really for you cos the yogurt smell is quite strong. My photog likes this cos she is 'jiak kang-tang' type...but my SO is complete opposite. LOL! You can't please everyone in the family! But my SO very supportive and he still ate a big slice. :))

Mango Cheesecake (no-bake)

I am now "baking" this no-bake mango cheesecake. Actually i wanted to take a break & relax till Sat. However, i got back home - (1) noticed that my banana cake is almost gone, (2) literally bored with nothing to do, (3) no great tv program on, (4) no dvd movie to watch either, and (5) i have ALL the ingredients on hand to make the cheesecake, so i thought why wait till Sat? Bake now la! LOL!

Ok..i am now waiting for the cheesecake to chill in the fridge and bored while waiting around to finish the last round of the top layer of the cake. :( Hope everything will turn out well!!! Let's see...

photo is not very good quality here..and taken by my mobile cam



Verdict? It's very very sweet-smelling & i have to say..i love the mango smell. My colleague said it taste great like i bought it from some store (he took my slice..i brought one slice to work for my breakfast) and wants me to bake one for him for CNY. Err...i dunno if i want to bake for others since it is a double-stresser to be better than perfect, since when you do something to give away, you almost want it to be 101% perfect right? Anyway, the most pleasing thing that i think i like so far is the top layer of the cake..hahahaha..very pretty imo!

My photog is free now and took a photo for me...much better imo..

Banana Cake & Almond Macaroons

I am very pleased with myself today..:P I made almond macaroons and banana cake all at the same time - after work. (LOL! Don't you just admire my energy?) I added a bit of coffee powder to my almond macaroons and it tasted great! I am not coffee person, but somehow that little bit of coffee powder does add to the flavor.

Banana cake is a success! Why? Cos my super-duper fussy baby boy (i know he is no longer a baby but in my eyes he will always be my baby) liked it so much that he ate 3 slices of banana cake! I gave him one slice and he kept asking me for more! Not easy to get him to eat or try new stuff!

Here's the recipe for the banana cake i got from "Mind Your Body" segment (dunno when but many months ago..i collect recipes that i like). Anyway, the reason why i am able to post the recipe here is cos i have no choice but to type the recipe when i had to throw away the old newspapers..hahahaha.. Otherwise, i am just too lazy to type any recipes if i have them already nicely printed on books!

I didn't make any icing cos i am never really a fan of icing and iced cake can't really keep as long as the un-iced one..i suppose unless i want to "prettify" the cake, otherwise, no need icing imo. Here's the recipe in detail...

=============================================================================

BANANA CAKE

Ingredients:-

• 130g butter
• 200g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup ripe mashed bananas (about two large bananas)
• 250g plain flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 120ml buttermilk
• 120g chopped walnuts (optional)


METHOD

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 deg C. Grease a 20cm baking tin and line with baking paper
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the mashed bananas (add a little flour if the mixture starts to curdle).
3. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon together into a bowl, then fold in to the mixture along with the buttermilk and the walnuts if you are using them.
4. Turn the mixture into the baking pan and bake for around 45mins or until a skewer inserted in the cake cakes out clean.
5. Turn out onto a rack and allow to cool.
6. Either dust the top with icing sugar or top with lemon icing.


LEMON ICING

1 cup icing sugar
2 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs butter
boiling water

PUT icing sugar, lemon juice and butter into a small bowl. Add a tiny amount of boiling water – just enough to soften the butter. Mix ingredients till smooth and of even consistency for spreading. Add a little more water if mixture is too thick and more icing if too runny. Spread evenly over the top of the cake.

=============================================================================

NOTE (Jan 17, 09): Baked Banana Cake today and added a bit more sugar (abt 20g more) and it taste even better imo. Bananas - mashed up and measured is about 2.5 'del-monte' bananas.

Fah Sang Pang (Peanut Cookies)

Yup, now i am in CNY mood..so all my cookies are asian style ones for upcoming CNY celebrations..hahahahah! Photo here not so great cos it is taken by me..cos my photog too busy with her work. I followed the recipe in this tiny cookbook i bought and i made 100 pcs of cookies!! Wahh..thank goodness i have like enough large cookie trays!

Recipe calls for peanuts to be roasted then grind. As usual, the lazy me went for the easy way out and bought a packet of ground peanuts. I don't know if there will be any difference if i were to roast and grind my own peanuts, but i think that's just too tedious! Texture of my cookies - still crumbly, melt-in-mouth..and taste great, so means still ok, i guess. :P

Coconut Macaroons

Recipe taken from David Lebovitz. I happened to stumble upon his blog when i goggled "what do do with leftover egg whites" (Yup! I have a bunch of them from making ice-cream). He is a professional chef and also has his own cookbooks. I like his posting on his blog. Ok..i have to admit that my macaroons doesn't quite look like his because i used 'sweetened coconut flakes' whereas his recipe called for the unsweetened ones..

I found a similar receipe also from Anna Olsen - i like to watch her show Sugar. Always inspire me to bake whenever i watch her shows!

Anna on Vox also has her link to Martha Steward's recipe..i have yet to try hers and maybe i should since i still have tons of egg whites left! I haven't the guts the try angle food cake yet though..:P..maybe i should and that will use up all my eggwhites!

Roast Chicken

Roast Chicken recipe taken from Jamie Oliver website. He has got great recipes but i am not really a fan of his shows though, maybe cos i can't really understand when he mutters a lot...
Happy New Year everyone!!