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Good afternoon peeps! sorry to hv kept u waiting.. i have been baking macs for this wkend orders since half past six.. Alhamdullilah today no hiccups.. i think i had like maybe 25pcs of mac shells that were cracked out of my 750 odd mac shells.. so thats good - to me that is.. i am no expert so to see a few cracks are better than to hv lots of cracks.. no?? hehe

Yesterday was a relaxing day.. err well except for one or two disappointments.. oh well.. sometimes we can do so much but if they choose not to listen.. then it is out of our league to control the situation or to help.. we later went out for a couple of hrs .. went to a few bakery supply shops to stock up my baking pantry.. had coffee at our fav coffee place and also to moms...



Anyway this Durian Cotton Cake was prepared last night after we got home fm our coffee escapade .. didnt want to bake any complicated cake as i knew i would be busy today.. this 'everyday' type of cake is worth baking especially when u see ur other half keep on munching on it non stop.. tastes so so so yummy.. almost like eating Japanese cotton cheesecake.. the sweetness.. the aroma and the taste of durian is just subtle.. not overpowering at all.. super super soft that i hv difficulty slicing it eventho i used my typical cake knife.. eventho i kept my cake in my fridge for a night.. never mind.. bottom line is.. we love it to bits!!

Original recipe is fm Rachmah Satyawati.. ty ty ty mbak for sharing this wonderful recipe!



Ingredients
60g butter - i used unsalted butter
75g flour
75ml of milk - i used fresh milk
6 egg yolks - whisk lightly (use a fork)
150g durian meat - pureed

6 egg whites
125g sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp lemon juice

Method
1. Warm milk on low heat (not till boiling state) then pour into beaten egg yolks, mix well, set aside. Keep it warm.

2. Boil butter, turn off the heat, and add in sifted flour, stirring until blended or till batter is smooth.. add in pureed durian meat.. stir well and immediately add in whipped egg/milk mixture into it, Mix both mixture using a whisk / spatula until blended, set aside.

3. Whisk egg white with salt.. once u see bubbles add in sugar a little at a time till soft peak.. add in lemon juice and continue to whisk for a few second - (do not whisk ur egg white till stiff peak ok)

4. Take 1/4 part of ur egg white .. fold it into ur egg yolk mixture.. mix it gently.. pour mixture back into beaten egg whites.. fold in gently as to prevent ur mixture to deflate. Add in rum bakar or vanilla extract if u like.. (i didnt use any).

5. Pour batter into ur UNGREASED 8" baking pan.. bake it using bain marie method in a preheated oven of 155C for half an hr or till its 3/4 done.. lower ur temp to 150C and continue to bake for a further 35 mins..


Have a great mid week peeps!
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Its the time of the month where i am much more interested to buy home and decor magazines instead of baking books.. its the time of the month where i wud spent hrs and hrs checking out websites of other bloggers that are so into home decorating.. xmas is around the corner and our preordered tree just arrived last night.. cant wait to deck it up.. Honestly, i miss doing that. err home decorating that is... it is after all my first love and someday i wud like to hv a blog just abt home decorating.. do check out The Essence of Home and Savvy Southern Style... huhu i cant describe how jealous i am right now looking at their home.. i mean who wouldnt especially when it reminds u of ur old home.. sob sob



While browsing thru one of the proud house owner websites i stumbled upon this recipe.. her muffins looked so amazing that i had to dig into my freezer to see if i could find a pack of frozen bananas.. hehe i did for sure for i managed to bake two types of cakes out of my pack of frozen bananas.. here is the recipe for this banana crumble muffins by Paula Deen..

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 bananas mashed
1 egg lightly beaten
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar

Topping
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp butter - cubed
1/8 tsp cinnamon


Method
1. Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly grease 12 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.

2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 c flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg, and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tbsp flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tbsp butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 18 - 20 min. until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.



This banana bread is perfect for brekkie.. i know for sure cos we just had it hehe

Ingredients
Banana Bread
1 cup (115 grams) walnuts or pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)
1 3/4 cups (230 grams) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon - didnt add
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 ripe large bananas (approximately 1 pound or 454 grams), mashed well (about 1-1/2 cups)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract - i used vanilla essence

Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place oven rack to middle position. Butter and flour (or spray with a non stick vegetable/flour spray) the bottom and sides of a 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pan. Set aside.

Place the nuts on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly toasted. Let cool and then chop coarsely.

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nuts. Set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly fold the wet ingredients (banana mixture) into the dry ingredients just until combined and the batter is thick and chunky. (The important thing is not to over mix the batter. You do not want it smooth. Over mixing the batter will yield tough, rubbery bread.) Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake until bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove the bread from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature. This bread can be frozen.

Makes 1 - 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf.

Recipe fm Joy of Baking
34


Adehhhh why is it that each time we hv our other half at home we tend to get much more busier? for some reason i know i am.. waking up earlier then usual.. preparing brekkie.. preparing lunch and not forgetting tea break and the dinner.. arghhh maybe he will gv me more incentive this month? hahaha



So ok enough abt his surgery.. after two entries abt him i think its abt time Rima the founder of Bisousatoi takes over the center stage hahaha.. i am doing good.. never been better.. a little busy but hey whats new ey.. we are hanging out at home.. going out only for his follow-up check up.. i will be telling a lie if i tell ya that i never take the chance of exploring new cafes here in Singapore which we did after his check up lol.. i think i am addicted to that.. yesterday we went to this cafe at Tanglin Mall called Brunetti.. lovely place.. delish gelato and the opera cake?? woweeee I loveee it!!



With him not being able to drive for the next 6 weeks at least.. i hv to be the driver and honestly? i hate it... i hate it if he sits next to me while I'm driving.. i think u know why?? his eyes may not be fully functioning but his mouth is totally fine and thus the "take this lane" "turn left now" "do u see the incoming taxi" blah blah blahhhh .. at first i was all quiet but yesterday i told him "i am behind the wheel and u need to learn how to shoo shoo ok"

Anyway i cant stay long.. we are planning to take our god daughter, Marissa out for a day to celebrate her achievement in her PSLE.. well done dear! uncle and wawa are so so proud of u and hopefully u will get into the school that u want!

Ingredients
Cotton Cake
145g low protein flour - cake flour
15g corn flour
1 egg
5 egg yolks - whisk lightly with a fork
150g unsalted butter
65g fresh milk
1 tsp pandan paste
a few drops of green colouring

5 egg white
100g castor sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Pandan Kaya:
400ml thick coconut milk
500ml water
9 Tbsp. Hoen kwee flour / green pea flour (85g)
1 Tbsp. Instant Jelly Powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp green colouring
1 tbsp pandan paste
180 gm. sugar


Method
Preheat oven 160C.. grease and line ur 7 or 8" baking pan.. wrap bottom of ur baking pan with aluminium.
Heat butter and milk till warmish.. do not let it boil ok.. switch off heat and add in sifted flour and corn flour.. mix using wooden spatula.
Transfer to a bigger bowl and add in ur eggs.. continue to mix till smooth.
In another bowl.. whisk egg white till frothy.. add in salt and add in sugar in 3 addition.. whisk till soft peak
Pour 1/3 of egg white mixture into ur egg/butter mixture.. fold in gently.. pour the rest and continue to mix gently.. (same manner as when ur baking chiffon cake.. cotton cheesecake)
Pour batter into baking pan and bake it au bain marie method for abt 45 mins.

Method for pandan Kaya:
In a small pot, boil water, sugar, jelly powder.. once sugar dissolve switch off ur heat and add in pandan paste
In another bowl mix ur Hoen Kwee Flour, thick coconut milk, salt and also green colouring.
Add coconut milk mixture into ur jelly mixture.. mix and cook over medium heat till mixture thickens and smooth.
Place a slice of sponge cake into a cake ring, pour in some kaya and continue the same process till the last layer is covered with pandan kaya.
Leave aside to cool and set before chilling in the fridge.
Remove cake from cake ring.. Slice and serve chilled.



Baked this cake simply bec i felt like it.. i used the previous cotton cake recipe.. used the same kaya recipe that i hv been using all this while.. gave mom half of the cake cos this is her fav cake.. i hv yet to try it and what matters most.. my one eyed jack said its delish.. so here wishing every muslim a lovely Awal Muharam.. hv a wonderful weekend ok!

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I'm at it again... (Mr Rima that is) soooo, with more than 1 month of medical leave up my sleeve I should have plenty of time to reflect and assist Rima in blogging...

First of all, thank you for all the well wishes! Greatly appreciated! For the past few days I've been running around with a pirate's patch on my right eye and it certainly makes you value your sight so so much. In my case the retinal detachment was discovered quite quickly. The doctor took 2 1/2 hours to operate which involved sucking out fluid from behind the retina which escaped due to a tear in the retina. This fluid is what causes the dark areas in your field of vision. Leave it "leaking" for too long (can be even just one week) and your whole vision turns black. To make the wall sit well again, a sclera bucking (silicone strap) is wrapped around your eye. See below picture (courtesy of MedIndia)


So no flying, no driving, no dusty places for 1 month. So Rima will have an additional "pain" at home and another person for photography prop holding/placing etc.



Sonia has been wonderful and came down this morning wearing a doctors outfit telling me: "Papa, are you OK? I can fix you!" So I asked her: "when you grow up what do you want to be?" Reply: "A Doctor"... good girl...

I felt horrible too as Rima was looking forward to this trip for a bit of R&R alone. She had already baked numerous Lapis cakes and dozens of Macarons for her customers in KL. Thank God for all her loyal followers on FB and her blog who came on board and eagerly volunteered to buy over her bakes... Thank you guys! For all those who ended up not getting them, next time PROMISE!



So i guess thats it.. Rima has been nagging aka reminding me that i shouldnt be on my laptop and on my Iphone all the time or she will hide my gadgets. She did bake something today and will probably upload it tomorrow - if she can find the time to take photos that is. Having another person at home means hardly having time to do what she normally does during my absence. Oh and guess what; I got her something to improve her food photography... shhh

On a final note... some of you might have been following my ramblings on the FB page about "Bastardising a Recipe". I hope nobody takes it too harsh and can follow my point of view a bit. I will probably continue these "active" discussions as I personally think they hit a nail for active food bloggers.

Enjoy your weekend everyone! And again: THANK YOU for all the kind words!

12


Guess what? we are still here on our little island.. my poor hb had to undergo an emergency eye surgery last night and was admitted to hospital.. he was discharged earlier today and is resting well at home..he had retinal detachment.


The night bef while his wife was busy baking away for KL orders.. he was complaining to me that his right eye was blacked-out in the bottom left hand corner.. i of cos told him to check with the eye specialist.. thank god he listened and decided to go and hv it checked during his lunch break.. it all just happened so fast.. we thought of nothing serious and maybe he could get an appointment date for next week to check up.. at 2pm he saw the consultant and by 4pm he was referred to the specialist and by 6pm he was in the operating theater.. i quickly took a cab and went straight there.. by half past 8 he was out and was admitted to ward for overnight observation.



All the while what i cud think of was him and my cakes and macarons.. i didnt care if i hd to look around for our car and where he had parked it.. i didnt care if i had not even eaten anything since morning.. my mind just went blank.. :o(


I quickly got everything settled.. rushed to the ward to find out that my poor hb was feeling restless.. his body was shivering and he couldnt seem to figure out what his body wanted him to do.. called up the nurse and requested to be given something to calm him down.. by half past 10pm hb chased us out..

Sooo what happened to all my bakes??



Bottom line.. alhamdullilah everything went smoothly.. this exercise has proven that u hv to listen to ur body.. dont wait cos u never know what will happen next.. thank god the night when he felt something was not right.. he read up on google and knew that what he was having was serious..

Alrighty lets talk a little abt this bread.. i baked it simply bec i had wanted to take it along for our 4hrs drive.. that didnt happen and today my house is like a bakery shop.. we hv lots of bread.. we hv lots of cakes and we hv lots of macarons .. any takers?

Ingredients
375g bread flour
100g plain flour
35g milk powder
75g caster sugar
1 tsp salt
1 sachet (11g) instant dry yeast
2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp bread improver
150ml (approx.) ice water
50g butter, cubed

Water-Roux Paste:
25g (just under 2 tbsp) bread flour
125ml (1/2 cup) water

Water-Roux:
Mix flour and water in a small saucepan. Cook over low to medium heat, stirring continuously until it reaches 65ºC. It should have thickened to a paste at this stage, that is when you stir you can see the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat, place a cling film over the paste and leave until lukewarm, or room temperature, before using. (Alternatively if you don’t have a thermometer, cook as before until it starts to thicken, then continue to cook for about 1 more minute before removing from heat.) This water roux can be kept in an airtight container after cooling in the refrigerator for 1 day if not used immediately. However DO NOT USE if it turns grey in colour, that means it has gone bad.

Method
1. Sift bread flour, plain flour, milk powder, caster sugar and salt onto the working surface. Add instant dry yeast and mix well. Form the flour mixture into a well. Add lightly beaten egg and lukewarm water roux and mix in. Gradually add just enough lukewarm water to form into a slightly sticky, soft dough. Knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. During hand kneading, the dough also needs to be thrown onto the working surface once every few minutes between kneading to improve the dough structure. (I usually just pick up the dough to about head-high and throw it down onto the working surface 10 to 20 times every few minutes between kneading.)
2. Knead in butter until incorporated. (In many cookbooks, they mentioned that the dough at this stage should be able to be pulled and stretched into membrane, but it’s hard to achieve with hand kneading. I usually stop kneading when the dough sticks to the work surface and stretches like chewing gum when pulled!) Form the dough into a round ball and let it rise until double in size in a large greased bowl, cover with cling film (should take about 1 hour in warm weather, longer in winter months). Optimum room temperature for this first prove is 28°C with a humidity of 75%. To test if the dough has risen properly, dip a finger into bread or plain flour and poke down into the centre of the dough as far as your finger will go and pull out again – the hole should remain if it is ready. If the dough springs back, then it is not ready, continue to prove further.
3. Punch down, knead briefly and form into a ball shape. Then divide into 16 equal portions. The easiest way is to first divide equally into 4 larger portions first, then divide each of these again into quarters each. Form each into balls and let rest for 10 minutes.
4. Shape and fill the buns according to recipe. Place all finished buns on a greased baking sheet, lightly cover with cling film, and let rise until double in size (about 1 hour in warm weather, longer in winter months). Optimum room temperature for this final prove is 38°C with a humidity of 85%.
5. Bake in preheated 180°C oven for about 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

MY WAY
I dumped all the liquid stuff in my bread maker including butter that i melted and cooled it down.. add in my water roux and salt in it.. i added in my flour and lastly added in my bread improver and instant yeast.. press ON and after an hr u take out ur dough.. gv it a little punch and divide ur dough into 16 equal pieces.. u can see the step by step on how to do caterpillar bread here



Superb recipe.. super super soft.. will definitely be using this recipe over and over again.. ty ty to Bunda Nadhifa whos recipe has never seemed to fail me..

To all my KL customers who had ordered fm me.. i am so so sorry for not being able to fulfill them.. i promise to let u know the next time i am heading to KL.. ty for ur understanding! :o(

Source: My kitchen snippets and Corner Cafe
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Hey peeps! how was the weekend?? busy?? lots of weddings to attend?? hehe well this is how it is towards the end of the year.. lots of weddings to attend.. lots of engagement parties to go to.. my cousin got engaged last wkend.. a year ago her bro got engaged.. come to think of it.. i did post an entry abt it lol.. woweeee how time flies and bef u know it another cousin will get engaged.. hmm wonder whos next ahaks

Sooo ok for the past couple of days i hv been baking macs... violet, yellow, green and pink macs.. my cousin is so into lime green that all you could see on Sunday was green everywhere lol.. i also did a batch of chocolate macs using hazelnut with nutella ganache.. yums!



Welppp my first mac tower.. its not as easy as i thought it wud be but i managed to put it together.. mac tower inspired by Yani.. tks dear!



She had ordered a few boxes of macs as a gift for the boys side and i thought why not hv a mac tower to go along.. she was ecstatic the moment she saw it hehe

Sonia and "Princess" - as what she calls my cousin hehe - gifts for the boy's side.. lucky him!

Groupie pics are a must for the aunties and cousins!

The buffet was held downstairs.. decades ago, only weddings were held downstairs.. nowadays kids are lucky .. the exchange of gifts for their engagement were like when i first got married to my ex hb lol.. branded goods, perfume, traditional costumes etc etc etc.. back then the exchange of gifts for engagements only consisted of pastries, jelly, cakes.. anything that had to do with food food food and the only expensive item that was visible was our engagement ring... nasib nasib hahaha

My Nyai inspecting the diamond ring.. she said long time ago every girl got a "buah kanah" type of diamond ring aka cincin berlian :op

Gifts fm both sides..


Well ok thats it for now.. cant stay long.. i was on my feet for 13hrs yesterday baking for my KL orders.. gonna continue with a little bit more tdy.. hopefully i will find time to bake something to get rid of all my eggs bef we head off to KL tmrw... thank u Zakiah and Siti for the mac orders!

...last but not least CONGRATS to Malaysia for winning the SEA Games Football last night!

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It was midweek when i left u guys and now its friday.. the past two days was like a roller coaster ride for me.. i was feeling up and down for no apparent reason.. my mind was racing like a thousand miles an hr.. stupid hormones! I knew it was the time of the month again but this time round it was a little different.. there was something which was not right and i was praying that nothing bad wud happen to my family.. alhamdullilah not much damage except my macarons.. was little frustrated with it.. i baked 16 trays of macs (each tray fits 57 macs shells) and 7 trays went down the drain.. sigh.. i confided in KG .. my mac buddy in KL.. she was there to listen to my sob sob story.. hb said i shud try to concentrate and after hrs of Rima having a spongebob face.. i put aside all the bad energy and concentrated on my orders.. alhamdullilah.. i manged to scrape thru it..

During that "hormonal change behavior" as what i wud love to call it.. i thought alot abt my kids.. a boy or shud i say a young man whos busy with school, part time job and especially with his outside activities .. a girl who is very attached to me.. who constantly wants our attention and who still allows her mama n papa to hug and kiss her.. a girl who puts a smile on my face whenever i have a bad day.. sometimes i wish our kids never grow up.. here we go again.. sob sob sob

Anyway i wanna share a few pics that i took yesterday while spending my typical time with my girl.. shes been pestering me and i had to gv in to her request even tho i was busy and not in my best mood..

Roll.. roll.. rollllll - she did a pretty good job i must say with the rolling and..

The cut outs.. the dough was easy enough for her to handle..

Tadaaaaaaa.. told ya she did a good job.. well done dear! - Sonia cant wait for her cookie to be ready!


Hehe.. kids and icing... I did the outline so that its easier for her to fill it in..

The batch that was done by Sonia :o)

These ones were done by me hehe - messy job!



Sonia with my broken macs sob sob - To my girl's eyes this "play" mac tower was the best that she had ever seen.. the moment she saw it with her huge eyes and the addictive smile she said "Is this for me?".. "ohhh thank you mamaaaaaaaa"... "its so beautifulllll".. "I like my Christmas tree".. huh? hahaha.. that made my pathetic day turn awesome.. thank you dear.. for boosting my confidence..

So ok i am off to bake my pinoy bread aka Ensaymada for an order which i cant possibly turn down cos shes been bugging me to take in her order.. thank you Lisa!! hope u and ur gf enjoy em'

Have a good weekend peeps and heres the recipe for the sugar cookies as what we call it OR kueh tulang by a mother to two young kids, Almahrum Ruri who lost her battle to cancer at a young age.. moga rohnya disisi orang yg beriman.. Al-fatihah untuk mu Ruri - u can read abt her tribute fm here (after reading this i was a little down.. hopefully Allah will gv me the health to let me look after my family well.. Amin)

Ingredients
300g butter
100g caster sugar
4 egg yolks
500g flour
1 tbsp corn flour
1 tsp vanilla

Icing by Bu Fatma
225g icing sugar
60ml egg white
1/2 tsp cream of tartar (optional)
1 tsp vinegar
1tsp lemon juice or any essence that u like

Method
Whisk butter and sugar till soft - do not overmix ok.. add in egg yolks and vanilla essence... once mix add in sifted flour and corn flour.
Roll it out.. use cookie cutter to cut out to whatever design u like
Bake on preheated oven of 160C for 20mins

Method
Icing
Whisk egg white with cream of tar tar.. add in icing sugar.. whisk till thicken.. add in vinegar and also lemon juice..
Divide ur icing sugar into diff bowls and colour them.. decorate ur cookies with the icing.. place ur cookies back on ur baking tray and bake it again at low temp for 10 mins or u can just air it but i wouldnt advise u to do that..
Enjoy playing!
26



I wish i can stay but i cant.. i hv to start baking soon or i will never get it done on time.. thought i'd share a recipe which u might want to try out for the upcoming festive season.. i know its a little too early but i hv to start thinking abt it since this year we plan to gv homebaked goodies to our non muslim friends and since i love to try out new recipes.. why not start with this one.. its simple.. u can bake it even when ur in a hurry.. just bake the cookies and forget abt the melted chocolate and ur good to go.. i decided to add melted chocolate simply bec it looks much more presentable as a gift..



Ingredients
250g salted butter
125g icing sugar
2 tbsp valrhona cocoa powder
380g top flour - i used cake flour
100g Semi sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
80g of roasted almond - i added


Method
Melt butter till liquid state
Add icing sugar to it and stir till well mixed. Add vsnilla to mix.
Finally add flour, cocoa powder and chocolate chip and stir till it forms into a firm dough.
Scoop using cookie scoop or spoon on a baking tray - i used ice cream scoop hehe
Bake in preheated oven 180C for 15 mins
Remove to cool completely bef storing.


Note: I used melted Marmer chocolate and white chocolate couverture for the topping.



This simple recipe is actually fm the owner of Kitchen Capers, Chef Gina Choong.. she gave it to me during one of my visits there to buy my baking supplies.. u can shape it anyhow u want it to be and the pic below is the ice cream scoop that i used for this recipe.. the diameter of this scoop is abt 1"



Have a good mid week everyone cos this week is gonna be another hectic one for me.. cant wait to go to KL next week!
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About Me

My photo
Hi.. I am a SAHM to 2 kiddoes..19yr old boy n 2 year old girl.. met my Austrian hubby here in Singapore and hv been living here all my life... my love for baking started when i was 6mths preggie to my daughter, Sonia... my addiction to baking has not stop eversince.. I hope to learn as much as i can abt baking and decorating and then share it with u along the way..