Sunday 18 January 2009

Chocolate Mousse

Made a dozen Chocolate Mousse for Ida aka Umie, who've 'found' me in cyber space recently. These were to be collected tomorrow.




So by the time I'm done with the mousse, they should be nicely set until the time they were collected.



Talking about Chocolate Mousse, I've launched the Mousse Cake version officially (the ones which I made for my brother's wedding). Since I featured that in June 2008, a few people have asked. So I thought why not.



They are available in Chocolate or Mango. Do email me if you need more info.


Saturday 17 January 2009

The newbie

Spent the first half of the day stocking up on my baking supplies, as I won't be having the weekend off for the next two weeks.

When I should treasure the day by relaxing, I 'scout' for another brownie recipe. I just thought that I should improve (or change) my current brownie recipe due to surprising feedback (none of them bad, though). It just surprises me & I don't feel good about it. It worries me a bit that I thought that perhaps I should stop the brownie for good (but then, what should I change "sistabrownie" to? "sistacheese" maybe??) Haha....




Thinking that maybe I have got all the ingredients & measurements right, I timed myself to bake the 'newbie' (read:brownie). When everything was mixed & done, I waited 1 hour in anticipation; hoping it would turn out great so I can treat this to myself. I haven't baked a brownie for myself for so long, except for others.

Greatfully it turned out perfect! Although the recipe uses a little more ingredients : (.

But what's more important is the taste. And the satisfaction I get from it. This time, I decided not to slather the top with chocolate fudge. I like the way it is. Always have.


And while I'm jotting this, there's only about 5 pieces left. Don't know if they'll last till tomorrow ; ).

Wednesday 14 January 2009

Therapeutic project

I've been feeling very excited as I have a request to bake cupcakes for a little boy, who's turning two, end of this month. Initially, I was at a loss for ideas as it has been a while since I do up a themed-cupcakes request. So ever since I've got the request from my very regular customer, I've been looking for inspirations & ideas as I go to work everyday.

A lot has gone through my head - do I go for colour theme? / do I go for cartoon character theme? / do I go for design theme? On top of these, what type of frosting should I do? What can I do to attract little children to love my cupcakes? Hmmm... all these in my mind to decide. I have a few options maybe that's why I can't decide on one. But one thing for sure, chocolates are a definite in my list.

I've got the packing ready, just waiting to deco it a bit. And I'm definitely got to get the ingredients and all other stuff bought by this week or latest next weekend. Otherwise I'm gonna have a problem baking as all the shops will be closed on Chinese New Year.

I'm grateful I have this 'project' to attend to, as it gets my mind off work when I get back. Therapeutic, u think?

I guess it beats shopping & eating...

Tuesday 13 January 2009

Baking or no baking?

I really feel like baking today. But haven't decided what.

Will continue with this post later and you will then find out if I really did bake something or just lazing haha...

To be continued...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So I didn't bake today. But I know what I'm gonna bake soon - Japanese Cheesecake.

I saw the recipe & I didn't have the confidence in trying the waterbath thing. Plus with a whole load of cheese used, what if the cheesecake didn't turn out good?

I may say all these, but deep inside I know I'm still gonna try it - successful or not. Just like the Lemon Meringue Pie. It took me the 2nd attempt to bake it successfully.

I hope to squeeze in a little more time to bake the cheesecake. Will update you when it happens.

Nite!

Thoughts

I've been loggin in & out of my blogger, contemplating if I should write something. Since last week I've things to say but pushed it at the back of my head.

It started off with losing 2 of my colleagues last week when they were laid off. Yes the company I'm with is not doing very good. Not only the Singapore office is affected but also worldwide. Although it was kinda expected, I didn't expect it to happen so soon & to my department. (Big sigh!!!)It's a bit depressing for me....& stressful....

Today it's going to happen again in our neighbour country office. I have no idea who are actually affected, although the people I spoke to said they are ALL affected.

When things like this happen, I try to put myself in their shoes. What was it like?

If I were being laid off, would I appreciate that? Because I've thought about being a SAHM. Would I be happy that it happened to me? (Cos for one thing, it saves me from writing out my notice). And being laid off means getting a little compensation for the number of years service from the company. On the contrary, would I be worried that my source of income is affected?

Although the thought of being a SAHM cross my mind all the time, I don't know if I'd appreciate staying at home with the kids 24-7, when I've been working since I left school.

Hhmmmm..... mixed feelings.....

But to my colleagues who are affected, don't worry. Every cloud has a silver lining. You may be in for something even better in future.

All my best wishes to you.

Saturday 3 January 2009

Kacang Phool

I made Kacang Phool for lunch today. It's made from using store-bought foul medamme beans (which I half blended them for texture) & mixed with minced beef. To serve, I fried an egg (cooked sunny-side-up), chopped onions, juice of half-lime & green chillies. This should be eaten with baguette. It's light yet filling.

The store-bought foul medammes I used is this. I bought a few 'versions' or recipes of the foul-medammes. They have Lebanese, Saudi, Egypt and others at the store. As it is hard to get this at my neighbourhood stores or even major supermarkets, I specially bought a few when I went to Mustaffa Centre.


Here's the recipe:
450g foul medammes (half-blended)
250g minced beef (I've earlier sauteed these with 1 tsp garlic, 1/2 tsp ginger & 1 tblsp curry powder)
Half cup water
Onions*
3 cloves garlic*
1cm ginger*
5 pcs dried red chillies*
*All these ingredients to blend together to become a paste for frying
Salt to taste
Olive oil

Garnish:
Egg cooked sunny-side-up
Green chillies (sliced)
Onions (chopped coarsely)
Lime

How to:
1) Heat olive oil in frying pan. When it's hot, fry the onion paste till fragrant.

2) Add in the foul medammes and half cup of water. Leave to boil.

3) Once the mixture starts to boil & become a little thick in consistency, add in salt.

4) Give it a stir and turn off the heat.


Note: You do not want the mixture to be too dry nor watery. The mixture tends to be thicker and drier when cooled. If it gets to dry, just add in a little hot water & stir before serving. If it's too watery, leave it to boil for another 3-5mins.

To serve:
1) Fry egg.

2) Scoop some foul-medamme mixture into a bowl. Topped with egg.

3) Serve chopped onions, green chillies & lime at the side.

4) Serve hot with baguette.


Thursday 1 January 2009

It's 2009 & my first bake for the New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!!!!

It's 2009 and the day has so far been wonderful. The not-so-wonderful part is that I have to go back to work tomorrow. And the kids are starting school.

Anyways.... it was such an honour for me to bake for my 1st customer in the new year, who also happens to be my faithful supporter & power blogger - Effa. She requested for a Brownie & Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake.

Chocolate Brownie (left) & Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake (right)

Really glad to be able to meet her after 1 year.. She looks so radiant.

I hope she'll enjoy her goodies and wishing her all the best for the new year & her delivery.