It's been awhile...

Helo, I am back.. It's been awhile since I last blogged.. Too many happenings during this period.. Anyway, what have I got on my list? Strawberry Shortcake, Chiffon cakes and Scones!

Baked a strawberry cake for a colleague when we went over for lunch.. was taking the opportunity to brush up my baking skills. Kids love it! Well... It must be the cream!

I was mad about chiffon the last few weekends.. Baked 3 chiffon cakes with 2 type of flavours (Pandan & Orange) in just a weekend. No, there are no orders.. I just love whipping up the egg whites especially when they formed stiff peak! I was very contented with the results. Soft, fluffy and moist. It was so much better than my earlier attempts.

Next's up, Cheezy scones & cranberry scones. It was again impromptu. I felt like having scones one morning and I just baked it. No measurements, everything by feel coz I was too lazy.. Well, they tasted great. I am a happy person. It satisfied my cravings. :)

Deep Dark Chocolate Cake

Baked this cake over the weekend to celebrate my hubby's nephew's birthday. This was my first time baking and decorating a whole cake. It was a success, rich, moist, 'chocolaty' and obviously SINFUL... everyone loves it. However, I am still not satisfied with the texture.. Hmm.. I feel that there are still rooms for improvement.

Pandan Chiffon Cake

I got my KitchenAid mixer sometime back. The first thing I wanted to bake was Pandan Chiffon Cake. I simply love to see how the mixer whisk up the egg whites to stiff peak!

The steps may look simple, however it is a "vulnerable" cake. One needs to be very gentle when folding in the egg whites. It was my first attempt and I am glad I made it. Immediately the next day, I baked another one for my parents and they liked it! :)

My Bakes Over the Year - Part 3

cinnamon walnut roll

Oh well.. I am too lazy to write.. Shall just let the pictures do the talking.. Have a great weekend, everyone!

My Bakes over the Year - Part 2

Continue from where I ended off.. let's begin with carrot cake. As far as I could recall, only carrot cake in Asian style existed, the fried carrot cake when I was a kid. Eventually, when I found out about the western carrot cake I was skeptical... How could a vegetable be used as the key ingredient in a cake be sweet and nice? I never attempted to order carrot cake as a dessert. Until one day, my ex-boss got a beet root cake from Cedele and subsequently a colleague of mine, Vanessa brought it (a delicious cake baked by her mum). A rich, dense & moist cake with cream cheese frosting in it. Uhmm... both were simply awesome! Containing no butter but using only canola oil or grapeseed oil and carrots, it's healthier and I decided to bake for my family. I shall try using beet root for my next experiment. :)

Brownies - I guess this is nothing to shout about... An all-time favourite for any chocolate lovers or in fact anyone and almost everyone.. Baked this for a charity fun fair organised at my office.

Mad about Cupcakes! Dad gave me a bottle of Bailey's and I started to experiment on cupcakes apart from just drinking from it. Chocolate bailey's cupcakes was the final output.

On a separate occasion, I tried Mont Blanc tart from Canele and fell in love with it instantly. "What is a Mont Blanc?" Some may questioned. Definitely not the designer brand that we're talking about here. It's actually puréed chestnuts subtly flavored with vanilla.

Again, I tried my hands on it as a topping for my cupcakes which were vanilla base, calling it Mont Blanc Cupcakes. Does the topping look like "bee hoon"? I got the size wrong for my pipping nozzle. It should be thicker in fact.

My Bakes over the Year...

Here goes... Baked these green tea cupcakes with green tea frosting recently... It was an order from my friend who was celebrating her daughter's birthday. The lightness of the cake together with the green tea flavour makes eating it easier.. bittersweet, that's how I will describe the taste. :) You do not feel "gelak" after eating it. It simply reminds me of "Green Tea Latte" from Starbucks where I can still enjoy the drink after a full meal.
Next on the list... Sticky Date Pudding. Fell in love with it when my friend, Angela baked it during a mini gathering. She was kind to share the recipe with me. I baked it 3 times during Xmas season last year, 2009. Received pleasant comments from friends and family. Remembered how my hubby's friend called to tell him that they miss the pudding I made during Xmas and would like to have it again during the next gathering. It really warms my heart when people (be it my loved ones, friends or even strangers) enjoyed the food that I prepared. At the same time I am open to feedback for improvements and I do appreciate it. :)

Vegetable Quiche
My personal favourite too.. This was made impromptu after a day at work. I love mushrooms.. Hence, in this quiche it contains load of shitakae mushrooms, yellow capsicum cherry tomatoes. and cheese. Loving how the cheery tomatoes turned out, so pretty.. :)

I shall continue my bakes for the year, part 2 another day... If not this post would be a super long one.. :) Good Nitez!

Apple Pie

Hi peeps, thanks for viewing my first blog entry. Since my banner was an apple pie. I decided to upload it as my first bake. I have used granny smith apples together with red apples in this pie. And the result..... Sweet & tangy + homely.. :)