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I am sorry for not posting this recipe sooner.. i wanted to but unfortunately hubs misplaced my USB SD card reader somewhere and i cant upload my pic on my new lappy.. bought a new reader yesterday and here i am updating my blog..

This was the pavlova that hubs been wanting me to bake... i didnt get to it till a few days ago and oh boy someone was a happy puppy the moment he took a spoonful of it.. the meringue was crisppy on the outside and chewy on the inside.. i even made meringue kisses for little Sonia using this recipe .. ish talking abt little Sonia.. i hv started training her to fast during Ramadhan.. not as easy as Hairi but shes getting there.. first day she had her brekkie and by lunch she was already asking for her milk.. the second day she had brekkie and didnt eat anything till iftar.. this went on for a couple of days.. yesterday was a little challenging lol.. she didnt hv breakfast but at around 2pm she was walking in and out of our kitchen and asked me if it has Azan .. i decided to let her eat something and that quietened her down a little.. anyway today i hope when shes done with school she will not ask for her milk :op


So ok lets get on with this wonderful recipe.. ty Yvonne for sharing it.. i wud suggest u prepare ur vanilla sugar in advance bef whipping it with ur double cream.. i got mine fm Dr Oetker hehe

Black Forest meringues:
{Enough for about 10 servings}

Meringues:
3 egg whites
a pinch of salt
130 grams of sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
50 gr icing sugar
2 tbsp cocoa

Directions
Cut a piece of parchment to fit a rimmed baking sheet. Using a small bowl and a pencil, trace four 5-inch circles, 2 to 3 inches apart, on the parchment; bear down so that the circles will be visible from the other side. Place parchment, marked side down, on baking sheet. Set aside. - i used my mastrad mac sheets
Preheat oven to 80C. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks form, about 4 minutes. Increase speed to high and sprinkle in ur confectioners' sugar, a few tablespoons at a time, and cornstarch; beat until meringue is thick and shiny and holds stiff peaks, about 5 minutes. Add in ur icing sugar and cocoa powder
Using a spatula, gently spread one-fourth of the meringue inside each parchment circle. Using the back of a spoon, create a 1-inch-deep well in the center of each meringue (U can also use a piping bag to pipe a circle with a star tip.. u can check out bravegirlsclub on you tube on how to pipe ur meringue disc) Bake until meringues are a very pale golden color, about 2 and half hours. Turn heat off and prop oven door open slightly with a wooden spoon. Let meringues cool in oven until crisp.


Filling:
250 gr double cream
(Alternatively 100 gr 150 gr whipped cream and mascarpone)
2 packets of Bourbon vanilla sugar
1 tablespoon kirsch (simply omit)
1 jar of Amarena cherries (250gr. fill weight) -  i used dark cherry in a can
Cinnamon
Dark Chocolate shavings

Meanwhile, place beaters from an electric mixer and a medium-size metal or glass bowl in the freezer and chill until very cold, about 10 minutes. In chilled bowl, combine cream and vanilla sugar. Using an electric mixer, beat until soft peaks form, about 5 minutes.
Once done spoon vanilla cream into wells of meringues. Top with reserved Amerena cherries, and garnish with chocolate shavings


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2nd day of ramadhan.. Alhamdullilah.. yesterday went by quicker than i anticipated.. i was a little busy and didnt realise the time till hubs came home fm work.. quickly packed all the food and desserts that i had prepared and off we went to my parents place for iftar... a typical thingy in the Kassims family.. first and last day of iftar has to be at moms - where even the grandkids will automatically come without being told.. where even the only white horse in the Kassims family will ask: is mom going to cook nasi rawon, rendang and sambal goreng for us? hehehe


Today I am not planning anything big.. house is cleaned.. no laundry to do.. i hv one more layer cake to bake today for this week's order and thats it... still hv no idea on what kind of dessert to prepare for iftar.. maybe the pavlova that hubs has been craving for .. will see..

So ok.. my main intention of updating my blog today is to share this recipe.. a recipe fm Pak Yongki Gunawan.. the first time i bought his book.. i knew this would be one of the recipe that i'd try to bake.. first its a steamed type of layer cake.. second by looking at his cake pic.. i cant help but wonder: how on earth did he get a baking effect/ brown layer in a steamed layer cake.. well i will first share with u the recipe..


Ingredients
(A)
12 egg yolks
7 egg whites
375g sugar
20g starkies - use ovallete if u cant find any
180g flour
40g milk powder
1 tsp baking powder
a few drops of yellow food colouring
1 tsp salt

(B)
50g Hollman butter - use any brand that u like
200g Wisjman butter
40g condense milk
1 tbsp Toffieco Bakar - use vanilla paste if u dont hv it

(C)
75g mix fruits
75g almond slices
75g red and green cherries - sliced or cubes

(D)
Cocoa powder

Method
Prepare ur steamer.. grease ur 8x8 baking pan
On a stand mixer.. whisk (A) till thick and fluffy - set aside
In a seperate bowl.. whisk (B) till batter turns pale in colour. once done.. fold in (A) into (B) a little at a time and continue to stir slowly with a rubber spatula till its well balanced.
Weigh ur batter and divide it with the number of layers that u intended to hv in ur cake.. he uses 100g of batter for each layer..
Pour the first layer of batter and steam it for 5 mins.. take it out of ur steamer.. add a little of (C) and sieve in (D).. pour another 100g of batter and continue to steam for another 5 mins..
You do that till u use up all the batter.

My cake ended up not having the brown lines that pak yongki gunawan got on his cake.. i think the pic that he got in his book was of a baked one or maybe he used a brown type of cocoa powder cos after i sliced my cake.. the lines that i got were almost black lol (bec i use cocoa berry maybe?) 

At that instant i had that "duh" moment lol.. I suddenly realised the purpose of cocoa powder in his recipe.. to create the "lines" on every layer.. duhhh.. i shud hv added a lot more cocoa to make the layers much more visible - next time when i do this layer cake.. i will divide my batter into two colours to create the layers and leave out the cocoa powder :)

Long story short.. cake turned out fab.. love the taste of this cake.. rich in flavours.. u get the moistness fm steaming, u get the sweet and sour taste fm the fruits and u get the creamy taste fm the batter :o)
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I am finally back in Singapore... my busy travel schedule has kept me on my feet these past two months.. fm Shanghai to KL to HK to Shanghai and lastly to Jakarta.. all that within a couple of weeks.. i am still struggling to load my latest Shanghai trip pics.. after being there for the 3rd time... i know now what can trigger me of not liking Shanghai in the first place.. my thoughts on Shanghai has changed and i now can proudly say that i can survive in Shanghai lol


Hi peeps! hope all is well .. hope that the Ramadhan month that we will celebrate is gonna be a berakah one... so so looking forward to the quiet two weeks bef i start baking for my Eid orders.. am sorry dearies... my Eid orders are fully booked and if only i had more than 2 hands i wud love to take in more but i dont want this year to be like last year where my orders were are out of control...

So ok.. i cant stay long... i hv to get organised.. need to unpack all my stuff fm my luggage as we only got into sg late last night.. i bought quite a number of baking things fm Titan and i wud say that my baking ingredients for Eid are well stocked up lol.. i also bought a couple of new recipe books and i cant wait to get my hands dirty.. oh and also i still owe my readers or shud i say my fb friends another layer cake recipe which i managed to try bef we flew to Jakarta last sat.. so stay tuned!


S'more blondies.. the first time i had s'mores brownies was when Yani gave me a box of it.. she didnt bake them hmmm in fact i hv never tasted any of her bakes lol.. she gave me a box which Sonia gladly finished.. Sonia is a marshmallow addict.. i usually hv stock of it at home as i dont want her to hv a craving when we are outside.. its not easy to find any halal marshmallow in our local supermarket.. i usually will get it fm our local baking supply store here.. anyway that day even tho i had promised hubs that i will bake him pavlova.. i decided to gv this recipe a try after i saw this pic fm mother thyme....  dont u just feel like having a bite after looking at her pics?


Ingredients
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
2 sticks (1 cup) of butter melted and cooled
1 1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
8oz milk chocolate squares - i used more
2 cups of tiny marshmallows
graham crackers 

Directions
Preheat oven to 350° F. Line the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with parchment paper; greased it.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, graham cracker crumbs and salt.
In a large bowl, whisk butter and brown sugar. Stir in vanilla and eggs one at a time.
Gradually stir in flour mixture until combined.
Spread batter in the prepared pan and bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 minutes on the center rack.
Sprinkle with the graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate squares and bake until the marshmallows are pale golden, abt 10 to 15mins. Set the pan on a wire rack and let cool completely. Lift the blondies out of the pan, using the parchment to help, and cut into 24 bars.
Storage suggestion: Keep the blondies at room temperature, between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container, for up to 5 days.


Alrighty.. will update again when time permits.. for now hv a blessed Ramadhan .. maaf zahir batin and ty to all readers who keep on coming to my humble blog.. keeping in touch in fb and instagram.. thank you :)

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Do us a favour and use the best ingredients there are if u want to get that deep chocolaty cake that u dream of cos this recipe is surely a keeper in my little heart... i heart this recipe to bits!! theres no words that i can describe how delish this cake is.. the moistness... the richness.. the darkness... the ohhhs and ahhhs that i got fm my family especially fm little Sonia was just superb.. Sonia ate two slices in one sitting.. i added a small dollop of chocolate glaze on the side and it tastes even better! chocolate overload lol


Recipe I got fm none other than The Cake Book fm Tish Boyle... her recipes have never failed me! Bake it lovelies.. bake it for ur friends... for ur loved ones ok.. better still.. go to ur nearest bookstore and get her book.. Go to the nearest bakery supply shop to get ur Valrhona or Cocoa Berry cocoa powder and welcome urself to the dark side of my life hahaha

I had a slice of this cake this morning! - I always believe that having a slice of cake for brekkie is much better than having a bowl of Lontong.. right? pls say yes hahaha


Deep Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake
from Tish Boyle’s The Cake Book

1.5 cups (181g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (57g) cake flour
1 cup (92g) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
2.25 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1.5 cups (340g) unsalted butter, softened
2.5 cups (500g) granulated sugar - i used 430g
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup (242g) sour cream

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease the inside of a 10-inch Bundt pan. Dust with flour. - I baked it on the lowest rack for 150C

Sift the flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed until very creamy, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in the sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the mixture is well-blended and light, about 4 minutes. At medium speed, beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

In a small bowl, stir the vanilla extract into the sour cream. If your mixer has a splatter shield attachment, attach it now. At the low speed, add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the sour cream mixture in 2 additions and mixing just until blended. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Bake the cake for 65 to 75 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Then invert the cake onto the rack and let it cool completely.
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Lets go for a lil' walk... as u already know... almost 80% of my travel consists of me on hols and hubs working.. i dont consider that as a proper holiday but am thankful that at least i get to see the world this way.. so when hubs told me that he will take a week off so that he can take us  somewhere... i was super excited.. lets face it... going somewhere without him checking on his blackberry 24/7 can be a blessing lol..

So mom and dad came along... its been awhile since my parents flew somewhere with us... i think the last time we flew together was to Jakarta.. back then dad was still strong... he could walk fast and didnt fall tired easily.. when i was a teenager .. cheeehhh hahaha.. i remember what dad used to say to his three daughters whenever we went on trips... "If u girls want to sleep.. u are better off staying in Singapore".


.... errrr look whos talking hahaha


Alrighty lets get back to our HK trip.. We were greated by a cloudy HK the moment our plane landed.. took a cab fm the airport to Kowloon .. hubs had booked us into one of the Accor hotels and since theres no Pullman or Sofitel there... we decided to stay at the Novotel Nathan Rd.. Hotel was situated in the middle of everything... u can find Halal restaurants everywhere.. night markets and also cafes.. the shopping streets have lots of smaller lanes which lead u to diff alleys..


We bumped into this orange building while walking towards Shanghai street.. we decided to explore a lil' while waiting for our room to be ready.


Shanghai street is where u can find all things related to kitchen ware... its one of Hong Kong’s oldest thoroughfares and still has a number of preserved old Chinese shop-house buildings.. u can find inexpensive kitchenware on sale here,  such as traditional thick chopping boards and bamboo steaming baskets used for dim sum... if u hv lots of excess luggage like ahem me.. u can even take home a couple of stand mixers or even an industrial oven for a fraction of a price!


Unlike on all my other trips.. this was one trip where u could see me eating rice practically every single day lol.. with mom and dad around... there was no way we cud go to some restaurant and order salad or hv sushi for dinner lol - Jordon Curry House



As the night gets darker... u see more and more seafood places open for business... almost like as tho u are walking thru the old bugis street except its a zillion times bigger :op


There are several night markets that we managed to go to on this trip.. Temple street night market was the nearest to our hotel... hubs said Hong Kong is well known for its night markets... Petaling Street on steroids hahaha


On the second day.. hubs decided to take us to Hong Kong island.. took a bus to the other side of the island where we then too a 'ding-ding' tram fm one end to another lol... i think if it was not bec of dad... hubs wud hv forced me to walk lol


I think we must hv taken 4 trams in total... the fastest way to see the city.. not seen so many trams in my life.. not even in Melbourne hehe


The one person that was super excited abt this ride was Sonia hehehe.. theres no way she cud remember the first time she took a tram in Melbourne!


The many lanes and wide roads in Hong Kong... most of their buses are double decker and they are brand new... each time a double decker passed by.. my heart jumped cos they were driving soo fast! grrr


Sending tong gas to his customer perhaps? :op


Hubs and his fascination of trams... i think he took like 20 odd pics of trams!


Lugging an industrial aircon under the hot sun across the street?


I swear the next time i catch him taking pics of trams with my camera... i will take it away fm him hahaha - another shot of trams


By the time we got to Masjid Ammar... it was lunch time.. hubs took us to the Islamic centre canteen to try their famous dim sum bef performing Zohor prayer..


You can read more abt it here...


By the time we were done with our lunch it was almost 3pm... we knew we couldnt stay out any longer... dad was beginning to feel tired and since we dont think they wud wanna go again on this side of the island.. hubs decided to take the ferry back to Kowloon.. - ya know.. for the sake of experience :o)


... ahhh... just like when we took a ferry to Penang :o)


The very same night... we went to Ladies market.. was there for only an hr cos it was too crowded plus we had to get up early for Hong Kong Disney which was waiting for our arrival hehehe - we took our first MTR to Disney!


Sorry peeps... most of the pics of disney was taken using my phone... the day we were in Disney was the only day it rained heavily :o(


Honeymoon couple? hehehe - their first time in Disneyland .. Alhamdullilah


Wet... wet... wet... the wet weather didnt stop us fm having fun...


Unlike in Euro Disney... we only bumped into Alice in Wonderland and also Mickey and Minnie mouse..


Mom couldnt take it when Sonia started to spin the wheel hahaha


Jungle Safari ride was among the only two rides that my parents took... they took "its a small world" too


Raining non stop...


 ... 15 mins wet parade huhu


... sea of umbrellas 


Sonia with her mickey waffle - yums!


On the 4th day of our stay... hubs decided to visit  Citygate factory outlet... knew that my parents werent keen on it so we decided to go there ourselves... hubs is so into factory outlets that it has become like a must see whenever we travel lol... we took MTR there and within 45mins we were already trying out on shoes 


We got back pretty late that day and since we were to fly back to sg the next day.. we decided to hv an early night so that we cud take my parents to their morning market aka our Pasar Tani :o)


With a couple of hrs left on our last day in Kowloon... i decided to adopt another baby hehe... been wanting to buy the father of Mr Aid but didnt wanna pay so much and since the price is a lot more cheaper in HK... hubs gave me the green light to adopt it.. yahoooo


Oh bef i go... while in HK... I met up with another  baker.. the lovely Anita Shaik... the first time we met was in KL and ever since then we have been keeping in touch thru fb and also whatsapp.. ty for taking the time to meet us babe... the next time we meet.. dinner will be on me ok 

So thats it peeps... my eyes are abt to shut right now... this wkend we will be taking Sonia to the Aquarium on Sentosa and come Monday we will be flying off again.. running away fm the bad haze lol

Woot bef i forget... we are proud parents this week... Hairi received his long awaited diploma in Engineering and Sonia had two of her baby tooth pulled out last Thursday.. she didnt cry... she wasnt afraid... one brave girl .. come July she will be in big girls class - the K2s :o)
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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..