TBB: The Chocolate FloRo Elegance (p52)

My son was in bad mood because I couldn't find his toy. And when we found it in my handbag, he got more upset and cried for quite a long time, standing next to me making sure I see every drop of his tears. He refused to let my husband wipe off his tears.   I tried to distract him by asking him to bake with me...  His motor skills is not very good so I had to guide him along closely. 

You can see my son wanted to pour the whole cup of flour immediately. I had to stop him and teach him 'slowly'.. 

I asked him to pour the coffee mixture slowly, but he poured all in one go. lol!  

I made caramel after he calmed down. I didn't want him near the fire or hot caramel.

I ran out of time, and feeling vex, I decided to make caramel whipped cream.
Kept the cadbury white chocolate back into the cupboard...

I layered cake into 4 slices. Cos I baked in 8" pan instead of 9".

Finally done and place in fridge for 5 mins as insurance to set the whipped cream before my husband carry it off for gathering.

My husband waiting impatiently while I take a quick snap.

After he left for the gathering, I ate my dinner. 

Feedback:  Everyone said it was very good and delicious cake.  

I only ate the cake scrap.. very yummy. And the caramel whipped cream is very good, except maybe i over-whipped a little. 

TBB: Babka (p454)

No left over cake .. I should have read the recipe before I ate up the final 2 slices of pound cake that I made earlier!!  And I couldn't find the almond paste that I bought anywhere in the fridge only to realise that I left it in the office fridge.   I didn't want to bake another cake nor did I have the time to go down to the baking speciality store to buy the almond paste again...   So when I saw I still had leftovers of the Mini Breton, I decided to use them..since they have almonds in them also right?  :p

I used this blender just because it was already on the countertop..too lazy to bring out the other blender. When you live in a tiny apartment, every corner of space is limited, so you'll tend to squeeze everything into cabinet until there is not an inch of space left.. but that also means that when you need something, you will have to remove everything in there to take that piece of equipment out!

Blend into paste that looks like nutella.  I added some rum because it was slightly dry.. I think I should have just used nutella perhaps? 

Moving this log into the pan was not easy!! In the end it was lopsided....one side higher than the other side...because I didn't read the part about overlapping 2"..until after I baked it.. --

Baked & butter glazed.

After I ate a slice, I realised I used salted butter to glaze..it was salty! And not only just used salted butter for the glaze but throughout the recipe! Aiya...  But it's ok..so I have a Babka that is salty-sweet. LOL!  The chocolate filling is quite nice with hint of rum. Overall, I like this bread.  

However, I find that it doesn't keep well overnight..it doesn't taste as good as when it is freshly baked.  

TBB: The Dutch Pecan Sandies

Weather has been extremely hot lately, so when I read I had to roll the cookies, I did not feel like making them.  Plus I still have half a container of Mini Gateaux Breton baked 2 weeks ago (or was it 3 weeks ago?) that everyone got tired of eating it, including me.   However, when Marie suggested that I could bake it like refrigerated log cookies, I thought it was such a great idea and so much less hassle, so I changed my mind.  Making the clarified butter didn't deter me because I have a few tubs of these in the freezer...waiting for recipes like this.  I like to clarify a few blocks of butter at one go and then freeze them. But I didn't keep the milk solids though..I just threw them away.. argghhh.. I should have kept them!

The dough was easy to put together..but you need to press it hard to stay together.  

I added required cinnamon with the flour and when it came to the cinnamon for coating/topping, in my blur state, I add it into the sugar for the dough again! Nevermind I thought, probably just end up more cinnamony. 

Cut and dip in sugar and bake...

Fresh out of the oven - my whole kitchen smell delicious! 

Paired with morning coffee. 

These are very good cookies.  Just right amount of sweetness and spice (maybe a bit more in my case but is ok with me).  And now I know why these cookies are called Sandies, because the texture is very sandy...well, in a good way. :)  

TBB: Coconut Cupcakes with Milk Chocolate Ganache

I started off 2016 with root canal.. boy was it painful! Then I was down with flu in between the treatments.. and now that I've recovered, I am still feeling super tired despite taking iron supplements daily.  Some days I feel like I need to sleep all day, yet some days I feel so energetic.  Perhaps it is due to hormones imbalance playing wreck on my body...  like roller coaster!   This morning, I was so tired, that I couldn't even find the strength to answer my husband when he asked me a question. I didn't purposely ignore him, but I too tired to say a word.  Also who was that stupid person who called our home phone line at 2am looking for someone else?! 

So you see, it took a lot of effort for me to write this post this morning.. lol!  (actually I felt better after I took 2 Lindt chocolate truffles this morning.. maybe I just needed some sugar!)

No one in my family likes coconut in cakes, so I was half-hearted making these cupcakes. 

I tried to make the cupcakes less coconut-y by adding pandan paste .. and my cupcakes ended up green.. not because I'm celebrating St. Patrick's Day early. Also I reduced sugar by 1/4 cup.

Cupcake Batter resting for 20mins.

All baked and green

I didn't make the ganache. I made the coconut custard cream and stopped at that.  I tripled up the coconut cream.. or was it triple x 3?  And piped the cream as frosting instead. 

(this close up pic, my hands look quite "veinily" scary..!)

 All packed for Church the next day. 

I had to line with paper towel to absorb condensation that will happen when store in the fridge.

Cross-section of the cupcake.  I had to try no matter what. 

As a baker,  I feel it is important to taste my own bakes.

I really like the coconut custard pairing with the cupcakes. 

The cold custard with the cake lightens overall texture..not too sweet and also not too coconut-y either.  

Really good.