TBB: Honey Cake for a Sweet New Year

I baked this cake before on 20 September 2014 together with Hanaa & Mendy, but I can't find my post now... I wondered where my posting went?!  Or did I even post it? I remembered I did and Rose made a comment about only putting 1 shot of rissetto coffee shot instead of 4 (I used 4 capsule of that Nespresso risetto!..what was I thinking..lol!).   We followed the recipe in this site http://www.hadassahmagazine.org/2014/09/10/honey-followed-rules/

Let me try to recall... I reduced the sugar by 1/4 cup, but since it has a lot of honey in the cake, it is still very sweet.  It is a sweet cake because it is meant to be like this - as the cake is for sweet new year.  It's like our Chinese New Year, we also have to have really sweet candied fruits etc for our sweet new year too.  

Iirc, I think I read the instructions wrongly.. I think was supposed to line the pan, but don't know what I was thinking and I lined the outside of pan with newspaper and even put a thick layer of newspaper at the bottom of the pan. At that point I thought I was being very clever and save some parchment?!?!?  

The cake itself was nice and moist. But because I added too much coffee, the main note is coffee and tasted more like coffee cake instead of honey cake... such a waste.  I think my good honey I used was in a way such a waste because I couldn't taste the main honey note.  As this cake is meant to be sweet, so no one should complain about how sweet it is.  

TBB: Pepparkakor

I have no mood to bake lately. Partly due to being fatigue all the time. Also the Haze is back again and the air quality is quite bad. Everyday I wake up in the morning feeling ok, but towards the afternoon, my throats feel sore again...so sometimes sore throat and sometimes not. Not sure if I should take medication for or not..so I just keep drinking lots and lots of liquid..so much so I feel so bloated that I don't feel like eating anything either.

I was half-hearted making these cookies. Not sure if I wanted to make them..the steps seem so fussy...have to get a cardboard round etc...in local terms we call it 'laychay" (maybe it is a Malay word?). Very troublesome...but in the end I made the cookies anyway. Typical Singaporean...complain this and complain that...everything must complain, but still end up doing it anyway... lol! 

I used half molasses and half golden syrup because there is no Grandma light molasses anywhere or everywhere.  The dough is very ugly looking... I forced myself to take a photo of it.  I just anyhow wrap entire dough with cling wrap and chill it. Thereafter rolled into 3 mini logs quickly..as the dough was melting quickly..

I doubled up the Cayenne pepper to 1/4 tsp... I think maybe I put in 1 tsp of ground black pepper actually..I remembered I didn't reduce the black pepper...since my helper helped me grind more than the required amount, I just dump everything into the dough.  :)

Took out the dough logs from freezer and they melted quickly. I had to fight against the heat. As I was cutting it, the bottom part melted a bit and stuck to the cutting board..so some broke and I had to press it back...so you can see how out of shape my cookies are...  I sprinkled both raw sugar and pearl sugar. 

The cookies puffed up a bit when baking.. so they are pretty crisp and fluffy if cut thin. Those I cut slightly thicker, has a nice soft texture like gingerbread. I can't quite make up my mind which one I like better, the crisp ones or the softer ones.  Actually I like them both.  I also like the heat that hits me towards the end.. both the cayenne pepper notes and also the black pepper bits. :)  

Despite all my complain about how fussy to make and also how ugly the dough, cookies look etc.. these cookies tasted wonderfully delicious. So lesson learnt...do not judge the cookie by it's dough..er..look!  I would make it again..and the next time I make, I will not be complaining as much,...I think. LOL!

TBB: Luscious Apple Pie

This time, I didn't follow the recipe as I should to make a flaky pie crust and as a result my crust wasn't flaky.  The weather was so hot plus I got a bit bored of making and eating pies! When I saw this on schedule, I was like 'Oh no.. not pie again!" So I just mix in the cream cheese and butter into the flour etc and when they got into dough, I asked my helper to just shape into round and place in the fridge for me. I'm not sure how long she took to shape into round, because when I rolled it, I can't find anymore butter or cream cheese pieces I last saw in the dough.. Maybe the hot weather melted both quickly.  

Straining apple juices

microwave juices into caramel 

cider looking like aspic after cooled

mixed altogether, caramel & cider

''

into the pie..  

Baked. 

The pie crust was a bit too thick. I didn't want to waste any crust so I just quickly rolled it to to fit the top of the crust and and seems like it is still doughy inside after 50 mins in the oven.  I should have let it stayed in the oven for 1hr instead.  The apple slices wasn't mushy and was still a bit crunchy in fact.  So I think I should have cooked it longer.

Overall, it is a great pie.. if I had done all the steps right, it would have been awesome apple pie. I like the flavor and esp. the cinnamon flavor - I opted the max cinnamon flavor in the pie. :) 

But like I said, I was kind of pie-out to begin with.  Now after 4 days, this pie is still sitting in my fridge and nobody is eating it except my helper.  See that 3/4 left over.. she managed to eat another 2/3 by herself and I think I would have to throw away the rest soon!  Good thing to have someone who can eat and not gain weight in the family.