Chocolate Peanut Butter & Chcocolate Cream Cheese

And so there were additional requests for Red Velvets this week. They were for Eli, Sarah & my gf Naz.

By the time I was done with the Red Velvets, I think it was rather too late in the afternoon for me to intro 2 other new flavours, the Chocolate Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cream Cheese.

Chocolate Peanut Butter 

Chocolate Cake with smooth Peanut Butter frosting & drizzled with Chocolate Fudge

Chocolate Cream Cheese

Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting & drizzled with Chocolate Fudge

For those who didn't get to taste these two new flavours, you're welcome to pre-order for collection this Wednesday. But only if the response is good.

Email me at sistabrownie@gmail.com 

Red Velvet

I was still wondering how I was going to introduce my cupcake flavours when I have to juggle between baking & a full-time job, which made it almost impossible due to shift work.

And without me planning ahead, I went on to bake the first flavour in my don't-know-how-many-types-I-will-come-up-with range - the Red Velvet.

As this was an impromptu decision, because I felt like having some Red Velvets & thought I'd bake extra for others to try, I was glad I didn't overbake & had too much in my hand.

I hope those who snapped up the Thursday offer enjoyed them freshly-baked.

So should I bake these again or come up with something different next week?

Thank You

It had been a very busy August since I was taking requests to bake cookies for friends. I've to say that the Cornflakes Snow is still the favourite as I had to bake over 3000pcs of them. (ok maybe that didn't seem too much to you, but it was to me).

So I had to work & stick to the same routine everyday, in order to finish my bakings. Alhamdulillah, I had 2.5 bake-free days & I used one of the days just to bake CinnaCran Cake for my mum & a friend, who has been very supportive since I started out.

Not forgetting a very loyal friend too, Naz, who never fail to order my Brownie every year for Hari Raya.

Although it had been a tiring Ramadhan, everything went on smoothly. 

To the people who had placed your cookies requests from me, Thank You!

Requests before Ramadhan

Besides the 'big project' of Mickey Mouse cake, I've received a few requests from friends to bake some goodies before Ramadhan (fasting month) kicked in.

Brownie Platter topped with mini marshmallows  for Azilah

A 10" engagement Brownie for Farizah

Brownie Platter topped with mini marshmallows for Hana

Up next, cookies requests & bakes for Shawal. 

What exactly I've been up to

With so much stress going on, I finally managed to pull through my very first birthday cake. Call me ambitious but I didn't expect that it would be so much work, really.

The cake that I was assigned looked pretty easy at first, until I got down into the details. It was a Mickey Mouse cake for little Aiden's first birthday.

I tried looking for the cake pan (I was wishing very hard that it'd make my life so much easier if I find the pan) but luck was definitely not on my side. So what I had to do was to bake a 10" cake for the face & two 6" cake for the ears.

My only favourite part was to cut out the greeting & the features = /. Putting on the fondant icing was very challenging indeed.

So I finally used the Mickey Mouse cookie cutter I got from Hong Kong years ago, to cut out the mini Mickey fondant & 'paste' at the sides.

You have no idea how relieved I was to be able to complete this Devil's Food Cake with nutella buttercream on time for the delivery, after not getting enough sleep for so many days. 

Not only was I assigned to make the main cake, there were 100pcs of vanilla cupcakes to be completed as well.

So after the birthday party, I'm sure you know what I did..... Sleep of course!

P.S: Thanks to Nancy for giving me the opportunity to do these for her son Aiden's first birthday party.

So much to do...

While I'm busy planning & taking in requests for cookies this Eid, I'm also preparing for a very big order for next weekend.

From this week on, these are my companions...

Just today, I finally get to draft out the image that I'm supposed to work on for next week's party...

Can you guess what I'm working on? ; )

By the way, I still remember that I'm supposed to launch the new cupcake flavours in July. I've them ready. But now I'm just not too sure is the right time to launch them. Afterall, it's Ramadhan (fasting month) soon. People are focusing more on cookies & cakes for Eid. 

So I guess I should wait? Here's a sneak peek....

Requests for the week

Here's an update of what I've been up to for the past week.

Ros had requested for a Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake on 5th Jul '11, to be decorated with chocolates and strawberries. This was for her brother's birthday, who is also a father-to-be very very soon! Guess what? Ros will be giving birth in a couple of months' time as well. Grandma must be very busy then : )

Ann, had requested for Blueberry CheeseCups on 9th Jul '11.

Syarifah had put in her request about a month ago for a heart-shaped Brownie, decorated with chocolates and strawberries. It's for a double birthday celebration for herself and dearest hubby (10th & 11th Jul '11 respectively).

Thanks dearies for these requests.

P.S: Loading these pics, I noticed they were all taken at the same angle. Is it me or because the light is better that way? Hhhmmmmm *ponders*

Cookies, cookies & more cookies

As I've mentioned in my earlier post, there would be some new cookies for Eid this year. Not as much as I'd wanted to do but I could only afford (the time) to make these four types:

Chewy & Crunchy Chocolate Crinkles

Chocolate Chip Cookies & Gingersnaps

I don't think I'd be taking in many requests, considering that only yours truly will be baking them. So I'd only notified the regulars ; ). 

Plus, I could be expecting a call for a job interview any time. Yes, I'll be going back to work. I think I've 'enjoyed' myself being a WAHM (work-at-home-mum) for nearly a year. Not that I don't enjoy it anymore. But inflation is making me go back into the workforce. I'm just not sure how I'm going to put my mind to it.

Anyways, back to the cookies (enjoy the moment while I still can). One of my favourite cookies had gone for a 'facelift'. It's the Chocolate Cranberry Cookies. Managed to modify the recipe & I've to admit, it tasted so much better now. 

Then

Now

And of course the 'usual suspects', besides the Chocolate Cranberry, would be offered too.

Cornflakes Snow

Fruits & Nuts Biscotti and Cornflakes Crunchies

Just one that I won't offer. You'd have to come over to eat these...... = D

Custard Fruit Tartlets

I've been MIA (missing in action) again. Not that I intended to, but there were just so many things to do & complete that I felt a tad guilty sitting down tapping away on my lappy.

Anyway after the Father's Day experiment, I received a request from Manissah for 100pcs of Custard Fruit Tartlets.

I think this was my first attempt at doing these much all by myself. I underestimated the time taken to complete these & started panicking. A huge relief though when I'd completed them just 10-15 minutes before Manissah came to collect. Phew!

After that, I focused all my time on dear daughter's school fund raising event. This year I didn't manage to prepare any Brownie or Cupcakes because we had to leave for the weekend. So I decided to bake some cookies this year.

It was also in conjunction with the introduction of some new cookies for Eid 2011. So if anyone of you went to the fund raising event on 2nd July '11, I'm pretty sure you get to taste the new cookies at a very good price & at the same time contribute to the school. *winks*

Vanilla (Cupcake) Cones for Father's Day

So my daughter was in charge of 'organizing' the menu for Father's Day, which fell on 19th June '11. Two weeks prior she had already started planning on a very big breakfast for the big man. Her menu was beef bacon, hotdogs, sunny-side-up eggs, hashbrowns, toasts & apple juice. I added scrambled eggs with beef bacon bits. Just before serving, I told her that I'd take a picture of the breakfast set for her to blog but as usual, our excitement at seeing so much food made me forget to snap. Nevertheless everyone enjoyed the brunch & had our tummy full, that our next meal was dinner.

Besides the big breakfast, my daughter & I had planned to bake Vanilla (Cupcakes) Cone, topped with vanilla buttercream. So I used this opportunity to try out a new & easy vanilla cake recipe for her project. I ended up baking on my own; my daughter came into the kitchen only to choose the colour of the vanilla icing. Yes, she insisted to use pink for vanilla.

What really fascinated her was piping her own icing. She found so much joy in piping the 'perfect' swirl.

Dear daughter's swirl

We, or rather I, had never tried baking a cupcake cone. Again using this opportunity, I tried using some wafer cones to bake the cake batter. It was a fun experience seeing that the batter baked in a wafer cone just like any other cake in paper casings. One downside though - wafers can't retain their crispiness in the open. So I ended up with soft cones after a while. Well crispy or not, the kids still enjoyed them. 

Vanilla Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups self raising flour

1 1/4 cups plain flour

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla essence

Directions:

1) Cream butter untill smooth. Add sugar gradually & beat until fluffy.

2) Add eggs, one at a time

3) Add sifted dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk+vanilla. Beat until all ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat.

4) Fill the cones / cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake at preheated oven of 170C (depending on your oven) for about 20 minutes.

5) Cool completely before frosting.

Vanilla Buttercream

1/2 cup vegetable shortening (I used Crisco)

1/2 cup unsalted butter

2 tsp vanilla essence

4 cups sifted icing sugar

2 tblsp milk

Directions:

1) Cream shortening & butter until smooth.

2) Add vanilla.

3) Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time beating well on medium speed.

4) When all sugar has been mixed, add milk. Beat at medium speed until light & fluffy.

Have fun trying these simple recipes with your kids!

Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

Frankly, I don't eat bread pudding. I had before but found little 'interest' in it. A friend ever requested that I try out a fellow blogger's Nutella Bread Pudding, but I have yet to give that recipe a try. Sorry Yani, perhaps soon ok?

Then while I was watching Nigella's "Rags to Riches" episode a couple of weeks back, Nigella 'showed' the Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding recipe. Since I had my notebook next to me, I just jot the recipe down. I thought maybe this would change my mind. So I tried...

Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding
(from Nigella's Rags to Riches episode)

250g bread (chopped into chunks)
100g chocolate chips
500ml full-cream milk
125ml double cream
40g soft brown sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tblsp vanilla essence (in the episode, she used rum. I substituted this with vanilla essence)

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 170C. Grease a 9" baking dish. Place the chopped bread in the baking dish.

2) Scatter the chocolate chips into the dish.

3) In a bowl or measuring cup, whisk milk, double cream, sugar, eggs & vanilla together. Pour the mixture into your baking dish. Let the whole mixture stand for 20 minutes.

4) Sprinkle some demerera sugar on top just before you put the bread mixture into the oven. Bake for 40 minutes (depends on your own oven).

So how do I find this pudding after baking it myself? I don't know. But with so much ado about 'the' Bread Pudding from Royal at Scotts' Carousel, perhaps I should try that first & see if THAT will make me have a change of heart (or rather, taste).

My much overdue entry

Didn't realize another month had just zoomed by and my blog hadn't been updated at all. Besides busy baking & re-stocking the pantry, I've been on a new project - Revamping my Cupcakes. More on that later.

So what have I done lately? More Brownies, Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake & Red Velvet Cupcakes...

21st May '11: Heart-shaped Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake & Mango CheeseCups for Sarah Longue

25th May '11: Red Velvet Cupcakes for Azilah for her 2-yr-old twins' birthday

28th May '11: Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake for Marni

29th May'11: Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake requested by Ain for her uncle's birthday celebration

29th May '11: Red Velvet Cupcakes for Ros, along with some sweet buns

30th May '11: 8x5" Brownie, cut into minis for Arni

30th May '11: Red Velvet Cupcakes for Haslinda

1st June '11: Brownies for Ayu

3rd June '11: Red Velvet Cupcakes for Manisah

6th June '11: Brownie Cups with mini marshmallows for Arni

10th June '11: Request from Ros' mum for 3 sets of Red Velvet Cupcakes

10th & 12th June '11: Requests from Ayu for a whole & 8x5" Brownie 

15th June '11: Wanee requested for 2 dozen Mango CheeseCups & 2 sets of Red Velvet Cupcakes 

15th June '11: 8x5" Brownie with white chocolate chips for Elyn

Apart from all the goodies requests, I've been using my free time to experiment on 'fresher' cupcakes concoctions. It took a lot of work though. I have the flavours in my mind, but to put everything together was a whole different thing. I kept thinking, will this recipe work? how will this & this taste together? Is it too sweet? Is it too rich? The list goes on...

Besides rolling out the Red Velvet Cupcakes first, I have 3 other flavours which are ready. My target - to get at least 2 more flavours ready by 1st July (fingers crossed).

Talking about Red Velvet Cupcakes, I've been having that since a year ago but then there was no demand. I've stopped baking that & it seemed now that it has made a comeback. Whatever sparked the re-appearance of the Red Velvet?

My long weekend

There wasn't a public holiday but it was a long weekend for me as I started out my bakes from Friday morning right up to Saturday night.

Started out with a quick errand to the baking store as I need to get more ingredients for Saturday's orders. As soon as I got back, I started with Ifah's request for a 8x5" Brownie, to be cut into minis. She had also requested for Nutella & Fruit Custard Buns.

My most nervous moment was to prepare for Saturday's orders - Ros' 45pcs buns & 3 Brownie for Ayu. Time was very crucial because if I didn't plan it right, I definitely would not be able to complete the goodies by 2pm & 3pm respectively. Because of the anxiety, I couldn't sleep although it was already 12am.

I started as early as 4am to make 4 recipes of the buns dough. Bearing in mind that proofing of the dough itself would take 2hrs per recipe. Aside to that, the Brownie needs to be done. So you can imagine that my kitchen was a carnival on that day = D.

After all the baking frenzy, I was so glad & relieved that I managed to pack Ros' buns, 3 Nutella & 3 Fruit Custard in boxes of 7, in time. Of course due to time constraint, I didn't snap any pictures. 

After the collection, only then I started to deco Ayu's Brownie. Although she'd mentioned she'd pick them up at 3pm, I was secretly glad (sorry Ayu) that she came later. Because I didn't want to be in such a hurry to decorate & pack the goodies. 

My blog should have ended here but just as I was about to breathe, I received a very last minute request for a set of buns. Well, it was somehow due to my own fault. I'd called my aunt up to ask if she could offer some ideas on what I could do with the balance fruit custard filling (I'd purposely make extra recipes in case it wasn't enough for the 21 buns). After talking through, she came up with the idea that maybe I could just make another batch of buns & offer them to her for tasting - _ -.

Although I'm longing for my bed, I didn't want to keep the fruit custard filling overnight. So I continued in the kitchen. It was going to be another 4hrs before I could finally snore. It's a wonder what 4hrs of sleep could do to one. Finally everything was done, Brownie Cups included, and collection of the final goodies was at 9pm. (So altogether I'd been up for almost 19 hours).

I was so tired but was glad to find that I could actually complete these much goodies. I'd better start planning for the event in July and goodies to offer for Eid. I may just need some assistance ; )