Just A Slight Delay

An announcement

To the Daring Bakers, do come back tomorrow for the post. I'm making the second batch of the challenge today and it'll be ready tomorrow. Wish me luck!!

Toodles~~

hehe...

Daring Bakers's Sweestest Challenge

Daring Bakers did it again!! this time it came back on track from savory (not that I mind savory through) to the awesome sweetness dessert. Sometimes crazily so. In particular this baby I we made this time around. The amount of sugar in this cake could easily gain me a few pounds if I eat the whole cake! Maybe it's because we haven't made such sweet dessert the last couple of months. Anyway, the hostess Dolores from Culinary Curiosity , and Alex of Blondie and Brownie plus Jenny of Foray into Food chose Shuna Fish's Caramel Cake as taken from the Eggbeater. (Hope I got that right)

Well, I have to say this is one challenge where I made it more than once in one month. And I still didn't get it right! (arrgh.. the horror~) let's start with the caramel first as it was the first element that I made (more like ruin). Ever heard of the saying "too many cooks will spoil the soup" ?? or something to that effect. Usually in the kitchen whenever I' baking, there's always some helpers around to clean em up (ain't I lucky?? heheh) Or when my hands are sore from making too much biscuits, there's always someone who'd vollunteer to mix the next batch of bicuits. But when I was making the caramel;

me: ma, tengok nie gule hangus die cam itam gle jeh?
ma, look at the caramel. is it too dark?
mum: laaa.. apesal lame sangat dalam periuk. memang la jadik camtuh
laaa... why did you left it too long in the pan?
me: abes nak buat balik ke?
then should I redo it?
mum: buat la balik
yup
there goes a cup of sugar (through I save it to cemomerate my first failure, ahaha)

while I was making the next batch of caramel

KJ: meh sini aku tengok gule tuh. (took the wooden spoon and start to stir)
come, let me see the caramel
me: eh, resepi die kate jangan kacau!!
eh, the resepi said NOT to stir!!
KJ: lambat sangat, biasekan kite kacau aje..
it's too slow, and we usually just stir it anyway
me: ye la.. tapi nie kan resepi laen (by that time all the sugar have dissolve! gasp!!)
yea, but this is a different resepi
KJ: banyak sangat pulak air die
why's there is so much water?
me: duh.. dah resepi die camtuh.. sebab tuh arahan die laen?
duh... that's according to the resepi, that's why we should follow the instructions.
KJ: biar je. lame2 kunng la die
just let it be. It'll caramelise later
me: *grumbles* Ok

after 15 minutes

me: sume da jadik gule ketol-ketol. aiyooo!!
all the sugar have become lumps!! my mum came,

mum: meh la sini aku buat. korang nie tak reti pulak buat gule hangus.
let me do it. how come you people can't do it properly.
me: then I'll just proceed with the other stuff (i.e; mixing, sifting flour, and creaming the butter)

safe to say, 20 minutes later, we lost our patience and proceed with another batch of caramel, this time, I followed the instructions properly and made a batch of golden caramel.

let it boil by itself. NO STIRRING!!

Right before it turns into caramel

Tadaa!!

then it was time to mix in the caramel.as soon as the caramel touches the creamed butter, the butter melts and then the caramel hardens and become lumpy! arrrghh, sh*&%^%@!#!! I forgot to wait for the caramel to cool down first. Daymed..

And to top it off, this was supposed to be a birthday cake for one of my friend. And another friend was supposed to pick me up in three hours!! Luckily, I still had that one jar of dark caramel I made earlier. I worked with the recipe right down to the frosting. And as many other's had put their frosting on top of the cake, I was thinking of putting it between the cake too. So I cut it into two layers and spread some of the buttercream. But, hey, one pound of confecctioners sugar? that's waaayy too much sugar. Good thing I tasted the cream before proceeding with the frosting. So I imediately scrape of the idea to top the cake with more buttercream. that's just maddness I tell ya.

The naked cake, very dark colour from the caramel

However, this is supposed to be a bithday cake and there's no decorations?So with some impromtu chocolate coating (more like chocolate slab) and some fancy iced writing; behold a birthday cake. not my finest cake, but hey, after a disastrous day in the kitchen, I had to have a break. Good thing it received an okayh from the tasters. Someone said it tasted like pumpkin! hehe.. maybe it was the darkish caramel? who knows.



by the way, I didn't get to take the pictures of the finished product as there were many people at the time and I don't want them to think I'm crazy; taking pictures of a cake at differenrt angles using a pda phone... hahaha..

p/s: the cake plate was home made too (layers of cardbord covered with foil paper). maybe next time I'll do a homemade box too!! ahahahaha...

UPDATE: I noticed that other people seem to have either a very dense cake of a fluffy one. My first cake was very dense as expected ( because we Malaysians also have a version of caramel cake which has a very dense, sponge like texture.) Seeing as others have done such wonderful fluffly ones, I decided to give it a try *erk!!* and this is what I came up with:

A dense layer in the bottom, and a fluffy one on top of it.

Guess I'll have to try again! but not in the near future *sigh*

Daring Baker's Tossing Blunder :)

Hey ya'all

I had a class the whole day to day and missed the revealing time, through it's still Wednesday! so technically speaking I'm not LATE!!! hahaha

so this time around, we're asked to bake PIZZA!! and not just a plain old pizza mind you. We were asked by the lovely Rosa to toss the pizza. Yup, you heard it right. We're supposed to toss the pizza and let someone (ideally) take a picture of it. I'm really excited with the recipe as it differs somewhat with the one I use for a pizza base. Plus, tossing seems like a fun challenge to do!



through the downside is, nobody was around to take the picture. and I don't think so I could toss the pizza high enough to give me time and take the picture myself (that would be crazy!! haha) and the crazy thing is, I actually TRIED doing it. (first I make it into 4 pieces. Then I worked the dough till it was slightly bigger than a dinner plate. And then, as I hold my breath,

the dough was flying up in the air.

Flour covered hand grabbing the camera phone.

Camera phone rolling over the table.

The dough falling flat on the table.

good thing it was cleaned specially for the occasion. That was the only time I tried taking a picture while tossing. I know, I know... it's stupid, but I just had to try it. hahaha..



so anyway, here's the picture of a finished product. As you can see, there's a lot of topping on one pizza alone. too much, I think. Well, my family like it this way. we been changing the topping ever since the first pizza was made. through one thing they have in common is the quantitiy and types of topping are always excessive in nature.


Don't forget to check out the other people here.

Till then, bye~ (I'm hoping we get to do something with mousse next month, hehe)

Daring Baker's Takes On Gluten Free!!

Owh, my gosh...

I'm very, very, very sorry for posting out late. I had completed the challenge in the first week, but I forgot to post about it yesterday! I'm really sorry Natalie and Shel..
so anyway,

This is the first time daring baker's tries on a gluten free free recipe (recipe here). It's also the first time for a savory challenge in DB. Wow, just when you think we'll be covered in sweet delicacies through out the year.

I didn't have any problem making the dough. the recipe was pretty easy. However, when the crackers was finally out of the oven, I noticed most of the sesame seeds had fallen off. I thought it would be such a waste that I just incorporated it into my dipping sauce :) My mom suggested to give it another roll after you pat it with the sesame seeds next time. Ah well, at least the seeds were in the sauce right?

it started off very small, I only knead and mix by hand

owh look how she grows!

roll it out paper thin on the large baking sheet. this one is about 14'' x 16''

sprinkle your hearts out, hahaha

the crackers was a bit dull on the taste it was crispy alright. And the toppings (i made it with black pepper, black and white sesame seeds, paprika and cumin) plus the dipping sauce manage to cover up for the taste.

bake and serve :)

Don't forget to check out what others have done here.


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After much thoughts, I'm not going to move out of this blog after all. There's so much recipe and there's also DB, so it'll be a waste to just dish this one out. So I going to turn this blog into a full foodie blog *yeay!!* I decided to just create another blog for when my mind is going on a rampage, hehehe..

Leavin

currently listening to : Explosions in The Sky

I'm thinking of leaving blogspot now.

had a hard time to access this blog for some time :(

so yea, I'd probably leave for another blogsite..

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So many cakes with much stories behind it. But I have no time to tell you since the ward rounds are already starting.

later~

This is a cake I baked for the daring baker's July challenge. Much work was put into this one, through I end up messing up a little bit. will post bout it soon!

Dorie Greenspan's perfect party cake. simply marvelous if I say so myself ;)

My Orange-Banana Birthday Cake :)

Van Houten's Rich Chocolate Cake

this one was a mess indeed. the top crack open like there's no tomorrow which end up looking like brown lips... hahaha.... the outer skin was a bit 'burned'. through it never tasted like ash or burned food at all. truthfully it tasted GREAT with a rich chocolate fill. maybe that 's why the recipe coated the cake with huge amount of chocolate ganache?

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An Early Celebration

haven't been updating again have we?

malas, malas...

anyway,

I went back home last weekend. katelah my elder brother was home too!! for the past two weeks!! they were keeping it quiet from me, just to surprise me. Ceh... huhu.. he brought back a lot of stuffs and spices. Weird ones, even for me!! the only spice I could recognize are bay leaves. all the other spices was definitely strange. there were even sticks with tiny white hairs on it. And my brother (who brought it back home) also didn't know how to use them! So we're stuck with some unidentified spices now. Through my mum said the soup made with two of the spices was delicious. Well, that's a step. I'll try something next week!

Wanted to bake something in Saturday, but by the time I woke up (read: 11 am) my younger brother is already halfway mixing through a butter cake. Using my ingredients. Shyte.. Ah well, he never done it before and I was in a happy mood as well. So I just went to shower. after showering, he is still not done yet with the cake and I took over. See, I can be nice.. So, later, he put in some essence;

me: what did you put in?

brother: orange essence

me: orange?

brother: duh. this is orange buttercake!

me: is that really orange essence? the smell is different la..

brother: (reads the bottle) shyte, it's banana's essence!

me: wuahahahhaha *evil laughs*

we still throw in the orange rinds and orange juice. So it's an orange-banana cake. Hahahaha.. then while I was putting the cake into the oven, the other family memebers are so busy ordering pizzas. I was like; heih? are they organizing a party? what for?

then it hit me.

it's my birthday this coming 30th July!!

and I just baked (well, half way through) my own birthday cake!

I was laughing all the way.

Owh well, at least I baked something. My mum put in some frosting and stars from my leftover ingredients when the cake was baked. Cut the cake and we had a large lunch :)

So, where's my hadiah, mum? huhuhu..


p/s: I made hibiscus jam from the flower petals my brother brought home (from Egypt) Will post about it later.

Going Back to Terendak!!

well, tomorrow's the day.

My one week holiday have finally come to an end. Starting tomorrow, we'd be prepping patients for surgery and on Monday, we'd start the class. The holiday started with four objectives in mind. Through, only one objective was completed and even that was barely successful. Ah, well, I can try again next time to increase my weight ;P

anyway, here's what I've made throughout the week.

Danish Braid for DB

Dorie Greenspan's PP cake

Strawberry Parfait

Chicken Pie

Chewwy Chocolate Chip Cookies

The cake and the danish bread took the whole day each. It was exhausting. But really WORTH it. For those who got to sample them, thank you for your comments. You guys really are my wonderful testers (read: guinea pigs) these recipes are definitely a keeper. I'm going to make them again in the future for sure. Just wish I could get some pictures before everything was finished.

Goodbye holiday, Hello SURGERY (takot)


EDIT: this was supposed to be up like 2 weeks ago! hahaha.. well, will update next week. Promise!

Daring Bakers; Fresh Out of the Oven

Another one completed, in the nick of time!!


I contemplated on when to make this challenge. And before I realized it, it already 28th of June and I'm racing against the clock to finish this one in time (typical procrastinator!) haha. well, yesterday, I finally made the dough and learned quite some tricks. Had been browsing the net for some instructions on how to make the danish dough. I never knew it was so simple to make those complicated designs!! I learned a lot on liquids too.

In almost all of the videos I saw, they used the same technique of making a flour mountain before pouring the liquid into a hole. well, being me, I made a mountain of the flour the table surface (at the edge of the table). made the hole and pour down the liquid. I underestimate or should I say overestimate the thickness of the mountain. Suffice to say, the liquids made it's way down to the floor, on my shirt and pants (now, where's that darn apron I'm suppose to wear) and I had to make another one.

I know, know, I'm helplessly clumsy!

After that everything moves smoothly, despite some of the butter block got sqeeze out from the dough between each rolling. I did 4 turns with one of them had 4 folds. The final turn was great as there were no longer any spilling or oozing of the butter. the dough was quite hard to work with in the first two turns but after the second one, I let the dough rest a bit (as per indicated in the recipe) before rolling it out, and it turn out better.

Check it out, this is really fresh from the oven!





And here's the little one plus croissants still in the oven as I'm typing this :)

Aahh, croissants!!

I made one with the apple filling, some with mango filling, mango cream and plain croissant.

The apple Filling

Do check out the blogroll to find out how everyone's doing. Thanks Ben and Kelly for hosting such a wonderful challenge.

Shoot, I have to check on the croissants now.

Here's the recipe:

Danish Braid, inspired by Sherry Yard, The Secrets of Baking:

Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough

For the dough (Detrempe)
1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 large eggs, chilled
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

For the butter block (Beurrage)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Dough:Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Mix well. Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Without a standing mixer: Combine yeast and milk in a bowl with a hand mixer on low speed or a whisk. Add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice and mix well. Sift flour and salt on your working surface and make a fountain. Make sure that the “walls” of your fountain are thick and even. Pour the liquid in the middle of the fountain. With your fingertips, mix the liquid and the flour starting from the middle of the fountain, slowly working towards the edges. When the ingredients have been incorporated start kneading the dough with the heel of your hands until it becomes smooth and easy to work with, around 5 to 7 minutes. You might need to add more flour if the dough is sticky.

Butter block: Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.
- After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. - Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
- Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Danish Braid:
Makes enough for 2 large braids
1 recipe Danish Dough
filling of your choice

- Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.
- Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.
- Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.

Proofing and Baking
- Spray cooking oil (Pam…) onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.
- Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.

Of Video Clips

For all those medical students taking the exams, here's some tips on clerking :P



And another one;



Public Health

Public Health

WTF is Public Health??


that's so funny!!

Shed It Away

Shine by Anna Nalick

Oh the night makes you a star
And it holds you cold in its arms
You`re the one to whom nobody verses I love you
Unless you say it first
So you lie there holding your breath
And its strange how soon you forget
That you`re like stars
They only show up when it`s dark
Cause they don`t know their worth

And I think you need to stop following misery`s lead
Shine away shine away shine away
Isn`t it time you got over how fragile you are
We`re all waiting
Waiting on your supernova
Cause that`s who you are
And you`ve only begun to shine

There are times when the poets and pornstars align and
You won`t know who to believe in
Well that`s a good time to be leavin`
And the past knocks on your door
And throws stones at your window at 4 in the morning
Well maybe he thinks it`s romantic
He`s crazy but you knew that before

And I think you need to stop following misery`s lead
Shine away Shine away Shine away
Isn`t it time you got over how fragile you are
We`re all waiting
Waiting on your supernova
Cause that`s who you are
And you`ve only begun to shine

Yeah you`ve only begun to shine
Won`t you shine shine shine shine over shadow
Shine shine shine shine over shadow
Shine shine shine shine over

And I think you need to stop following misery`s lead
Shine away Shine away Shine away
Isn`t it time you got over how fragile you are
We`re all waiting
Waiting on your supernova
Cause that`s who you are
And you`ve only begun to shine

Yeah you`ve only begun to shine
Yeah you`ve only begun to shine
Yeah you`ve only begun to shine

Just in the mood to sing~

Shine baby, shine

The Case of the Single Note Opera

Firstly, I'd have to apologize for so late to post this challenge. truth be told, I ran into some unforeseen circumstances, I'm forced to postpone making the cake. Hope I can still make it.

On to the cake,

I had been looking forward to bake this one in years ever since I saw them in the bakeries! I even secretly wanted to propose the recipe for the upcoming challenges, but it seems like Ivonne and Lisa have already thought of it first, huhu... and Fran and Shea is the hosts too. :)

the whole mess :)

I halved the recipe provided and wanted to add orange and mango flavor to the cake. however, mangoes seems to be unavailable this time of year so I proceed with only oranges. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, instead of two flavors infused into the cake I just used one contrary with most of the other bakers :)

clearer one

The orange buttercream was certainly very intense!!
It turn out so good, even my mother liked it (and thats something as my mum hates buttercream) I reduced the syrup to minimize the sweetness as I don't want the cake to be too sweet. through we are still left with some excess after assembling the cake. I just used it like a jam preserve on white bread and it was awesome! the cake was what I had expected. a bit spongy and a bit dry to absorb all those syrup.

here's a list of what I used

Jaconde
115g ground almonds
15g sugar
3 egg whites
3 eggs
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/4 cup flour
3 tbs butter

Buttercream
100g butter
1 egg
vanilla
1/4 cup orange juice
zest of 1 orange
1/2 cup sugar

Syrup
zest of 1 orange
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 sugar

chocolate ganache
3 bars (150g) white chocolate
50 ml cream


The assembly of the cake was easy enough through I had a bit of a problem while spreading the white chocolate mixture. iIt hardens as soon as it touches the cake!! Well thats exaggerating, but yea, I didn't manage to spread the chocolate evenly on the cake. I will learn from this. this challenge have been a great one. I got my chance to make one creamy buttercream and even learn a bit about the spreading technique. Through the batter was really hard to spread to begin with. It was so thick, I thought it won't ever rise. Thank God it did. :) Maybe should add more orange juice or another egg??

and definately I should make more buttercream to practice spreading? hmmm.. :P


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something I made to release some stress. Baking is so therapeutic!

I Try To Avoid It, Really, I Do

Seems like this blog won't be just about food exclusively after all.

I'm sensitive.
Surprise-surprise?
I don't think so.
through what people don't know is that,
I'm sensitive to my surrounding.
like perli-ing
like fingerpointing
like talking in signs
I read those by the minute.
Trust me, it's excruciating sometimes.

I knew somehow, someday, something like this would appear.
Actually. I had a lot of those days. I just shrugged it off.
It's more relaxing that way. Through, I have my limits.
Owh, but trust me it's still not enough for me to blow up the whole town.
So you're safe, for now.

for now, I just have a question to ask.
It will never be enough would it?
no matter how quiet I become.
no matter how neutral I am.
I'll be blamed. Of that nature.
One thing or the other.
But that's alright.
I'm learning,
to quietly depart.

then, may we ALL rest in peace.

Cleansed

UPDATE: since it was frustrating to change all those horrible htmls, I reverted back to blogspot classic templates.. hahaha... owh well, let the baking begin!


So,

while other people are studying and/or working their butts off on the assignments, I'm in front of the lap top screen trying to solve the puzzle that is htmls. It have been days since i wanted to revamp the whole thing. tried to turn it into a more foodie-like blog. Tough luck through. i was halfway through the templates when i suddenly don't have any ideas anymore. it's like the inspiration just went through the door without warning. so it took a while again. however the total foodie blog idea never did came back to me. Owh well, I could just settle with this interface for now. at least its clean and crisp (yeah right). So, anyone knows how to make the blue blogger bar to appear again in my page?? *in begging position*



on another note, I've been baking. yeah, baked non-stop in the one week holiday. I even served my mum's student some mini pizzas (a nightmare I tell ya). Almost faint from all that oven heat and kneading for two days straight.



then there's also the picnic with two crazy women.

-------------------------------------------------

bake some chocolate-almond moist cake last week for some post-traumatic-stress disorder I had. Baking had always been therapeutic for me. well, cooking just about anything is good too. If there was any bumps in my life I'd turn to cooking to cool off. However, on that particular Sunday, i burnt 1/4 of the cake while mind wondered off. It was just a first degree burn I tell ya, but the cake wasn't as moist as it was meant to be anymore. Edible, yes. But it was still burnt and not moist. I hated it.

It was not my finest moments.



---------------------------------------------------

Daring Baker's Challenge April

First of all, let me apologize for being late for the entry (and it’s my first time for DB too, talk about first impression eh?)

But really, between having exams and then cut off from the net for three days, I couldn’t post anything in a while.

So,

Here goes,

This month’s challenge was hosted by Elle and Deborah. A tough one I might say. Through I made a few cheesecakes before, cheesecakes have never been my forte. So when I read that the cheesecake was going to get molded and covered in chocolate, I was both excited and nervous at the same time. Excited because it’s coated in my favorite ingredient of all time; chocolate and nervous as it’s not your normal cheesecake.

I planned the whole thing way early of the month. But as the saying goes, not everything goes as we planned. I just got back from a cousin’s wedding and decided to take a quick nap. When I woke up, I look at my watch and it’s 11.30 pm, one hour before I must pack my bags. Shooot.. I quickly go downstairs and measure the ingredients, mix everything up and pop it into the oven. 35minutes later, the cake was golden and I happily leave it to cool before packing my bag and leaving for my hostel with the cake. It took me some time before I realized that I forgot the chocolate and colored decorations thingy (don’t know what it’s called). Well, suffice to say, I just bought the chocolate on the way but it was clear the cheesecake pops won’t have much décor.

The cake wasn’t even soft from the start, it was firm out of the oven and when it was cooled in the refrigerator, it became even firmer. Initially I wanted to cut it out into small pieces and work it into a ball from there, but it seemed like the cake wasn’t budging at all. Maybe I over measure the flour a bit. I was dumbfounded. I read about something similar happened to another blogger and she put it into a blender/mixer before shaping it into a ball again. However, being in the hostel, I have limited access to the kitchen utensils. I stare at the solid, now cube-like cake for a minute before deciding to go with the dipping. The chocolate hardens pretty fast. it was getting thicker as I was dipping the twelve one. But after a minute in the microwave, it was spreadable and I continued with the other pops.

Overall, the cake had a bit too much flour and cheese making it firm and too cheesy. The whole thing was funny now that I think about it. Racing here and there and forgetting my stuff along the way. I’d have to plan the next challenge better. Through It’d give this recipe another try next week. As my mum always say, “you have to keep on trying the recipe until you got it just right!”

Just Knock Me Off

Huhu.. haven't been updating again have I?

well, right now, I'm considering to turn this blog into a full fledge no nonsense baking/ food blog. How does that sound? of course, I'll only be posting on weekends as thats the only time I can bake or cook and take pictures.




the last two weeks;
baked sugee biscuits and almond rings

the last call

tried one recipe from Don Yong, but I failed miserably!! God!! I have never encounter any problem baking bread before and this is my first time baking a 'bantat' bread. sheesh..

the rock hard carrot and honey bread

so anyway,
I have loads of overdue reports to be done, and thousands of recipes to try (hehehe)





p/s: I don't have any of the sugee biscuits pictures as it was finnished as soon as it was done!! even the ones I brought back

New Toy to Play With!!

so,

let's forget the endless lament for a moment, and focus more on other things, like cooking! err.. BAKING!!! haha

I got a new oven to play with last saturday. So, being the baking enthusiast that I am (berangan kan?) I baked three things! A cake with some muffins, a pie and a tray of hot buns. Huhuhu.

The new toy! haha

cornflakes banana cake

buttermilk lemon pie

buns

Penat woo! I didn't know I could do that much in a day. Baked them one by one. Sampai sakit pinggang dok tenun pintu oven tuh. hahaha.

I think the oven is great, just that I'll need to adjust the temperature a bit. Lari sikit arr.. Now I have another solid reason to go back every week!! :)

Next Week:
Beefy Lasagna (maybe I'll do a lasagna roll!!)
Sugee Biscuits

-------------------------

owh, btw,

Happy (belated) Birthday to Mr. Solution!! (solution apekah ituh??) hehhe
the cake was actually baked for you tapi tak sampai ke sane, jauh sgt lah.. hahaha... next year la yek? :P

It Was a Fluke, Seriously..

Yesterday, I almost went ballistic. And through I tried to hold it off, some of the smoke managed to escape through when my brain ran away for one measly second. OMG, I was loud. that is, until my frontal lobe starts to gear up again. And to minimize the damage, as per usual, I gave out unproportionate audible sounds to muffle that anger. What was produced was just to stupid to mention here. And it was in the middle of a meeting no less.

how humiliating, I know. (not to mention a complete lack of professionalism)

I sorry for anything said or done out of anger yesterday. It was not you, it's something else.

------------------------

I learned a new word today; ephemeral. Comes from the Greek word meaning 'lasting for one day'. hence it's used to describe anything thats last for a very short time; short-lived; transitory; etc..

apparently placenta is an ephemeral organ (missed that in OnG, hahaha). through it's can also be applied to happiness. It makes sense. Happiness does not last with us humans (wonder if other creatures are happy all their lives :P) what with the constant changes we face as we grow older and older, meeting new people, adapting to new environment and some adventures or misadventures. we have such complex feelings along our lives and it'll still be increasing in it's complexity as we advance through... shoot.. I'm wondering around.

where was I?

ah.. yes, happinesses does not last. and so does relationships. Through it never really ends there. relationships just changes over time. From one thing to another. The only reason people cease to have relationship with another soul is to close their hearts. A defense mechanism, of sort -- I guess.

So,

Even through there's no more we, us, our, ours
or any other pronouns signifying union or pairings
be used between us.
and through platonic friendship never work
in the desired way of the people experimenting it
I'd give a try if thats for the best

Quoting from Juno;
" I'm still in,
if you're still in"


but for now, I'm happy. Probably.

Do you know what's right??

currently listening to: Dar Williams "Mercy of the Fallen"

Dar Williams caught me off guard. Her lyrics and music are so addictive, I actually belt out the whole song without realizing other people are around, haha. ( I tend to shy away from singing in front of people, hehe)

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

One week left.

And I say that with a myriad of feelings

There have been a lot of things happening within this 2 months period:

I learn to hold back, painfully so, but definitely necessary
Helped some young ones get through, may they lead a blessed life.
Learned a few lessons, which I had been vaguely avoided
Missed; psychologically and important events,
(I'm starting to see the busy life now)
Wanting something real bad, all in due time my dear
Cant wait to go,
Where half-dreams may dream

Let me pass this exam with warna berterbangan

You can do this bebeh~

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

I was called last night
Apparently, it's my turn this year;
to carry the commission
to pay to his devoirs
but I've already settled three years here.
Through the ups and downs.
Slowly building amidst the ruins
Will it be worth,
to start anew?

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

I bizi, U free
U free, I on call
I free, U bizi
U bizi, I bizi

So,

bile nak free due-due??

Sile Buat Keje Lepas Nie

So,

Today, I kept on being tegur-ed by the lecturers and a hospital specialist. This is a bad day indeed. However, I now know that there is still a lot to be improve on. And I didn't even completed my objectives today.. humph...

Exam dah dekat nie..

**********************************
Originally, the exam was supposedly on this Friday. So my friend arranged an outing to the Selayang Kolam Air Panas to kunun-kunun relieve the stress. However, we just found out the exams will be held next week instead. So now, the supposedly post-exam ronggeng fun is ruined. Now I'm obligated to feel guilty for not studying in the weekends. Exaggerating? maybe. hahaha

Through, the real problem now is, I can't stop thinking about it. Everyday, I'm planning what to bring there. What food to prepare. The menus keep on changing according to my mood. I even thought about it while reading or studying.

I'm so distracted right now. hish...

**********************************

EITS



I have been contemplating about this issue since January. Aaaaaaaaaaaaa~ I wanna gooo!!! But there's an exam the next day!! shoot laa!!

Sape nak temans? huhu (gatal nak pegi jugak)

**********************************

Wow.. while surfing the net for some assignments, I stumbled upon this movie! Fell in love with it right away!! haha.. it combined two of my favorite thing right now; cooking and OnG!! seriously, the trailer was so funny, and the pies have some really funny names. Can't wait for it to come out here.. lalalala...


Synopsis:
A woman trapped in a life from which she dreams of escape, Jenna's secretly hopes to save enough money from her waitressing job to leave her overbearing and controlling husband. She is a sharp, sassy woman with a gift for making unusual pies whose recipes are inspired by the trials, tribulations and circumstances of her life. An unwanted pregnancy changes the course of events giving her an unexpected confidence via letters to her unborn baby.

nak join bleh?? hehhee

I'm going to bring a notebook just to see if I can get a recipe out of it, the pies looked so delicious!! haha (matilah dah start berangan!!)

***************************

One particular lecturer seems to miss me so much lah. He even brought up my name in their reflection. o_0'' tak perlu kott...

Rough Cut

suddenly your shaking with pain, shooting down inside you
and now you're crumbling away, but this isn't like you
it doesn't stop till it breaks down, no you know
you're breathing rocks and your balance goes

and la la la la..
it takes a minute
and la la la la..
it doesn't finish
la la la la..
you're breaking faster
la la la la..
you're nothing after
there's nothing after

your try to make your escape, but the blows keep coming
and as the dust clears away, you start to notice something
each time a piece crashes down into the floor, you're a little lighter than just before

and la la la la..
it takes a minute
and la la la la..
it doesn't finish
la la la la..
you'll see it after
la la la la..
when you look backwards
when you look backwards

and now your eyes shift from negative spaces
to contours that light up this rough cut design
and now you see it, your sculpture in motion
your unfinished art that keeps going, and keeps going
and keeps going, and going, and going, and going...


la la la la la...


Amber Rubarth

A Post-Call Entry

So,

this morning, back from on call (sukerellss bak kate mira F) at 6.30 am in the morning, I -- decided to wash the whites (basoh baju lorr) while konon2 still fresh from on call. And since the clinical coat was all white save some purple emblem on the front, it went into the washing machine too. Of course, I emptied it first, it is after all most sensible to remove the stethoscope, penlight, notebook and ball pen from the pocket. Terrer kan? (ala-ala housewife bejaye men-setel laundry). So imagine my surprise HorROR when the machine finally stop, I found a vial of blood amidst all the white clothing, spun around with a measuring tape at the center of the machine.

Kepale yg tgh ting-tong: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaa!!! Habislah baju akuuuuu!!!

flashback;

mira: eh, kite dah cucuk2 darah nie, simpan tau botol nie, jgn buang2.

me: ha'ah, kite simpanlah (putting it into the clinical coat pocket)

AAAAAAaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Blood!! mixed with whites??? GIILLLEEEE kAU??

As I search franticly for any specks of blood that could have spilled from the vial, I absentmindedly threw the vial on the floor. Really now, when you need it the most, all common sense would conveniently walk out of the door. sigh~

miraculously, the bottle didn't break. Well, it's because the measuring tape around it (which I also forgot to remove from the coat) dampens the fall. And there was no blood stain anywhere on the cloths (thank God!!). That's when it came back to me, I should have just inspected the vial for any fractures of cracks instead of working through the laundry like a dog having it's day on a plastic bag of garbage.

terase bongok la jugak kan?

owh well, at least the laundry is safe :)

moral of the story: check the clothes for any foreign, dangerous objects i.e; BLOOD VIALs before putting it into the machine.

**********************

I really get irritated with these people from some Global-something-company. They are RUDE and very UNPROFFESIONAL!!

...

Rude she-monkey: hello, saye dari syarikat global-something, nak cakap pasal bla, bla, bla...

aku yg mamai: sorilah, saye tak berminat

rude she-monkey: eh, kenape tak berminat? cube terangkan kat saye kenape encik tak berminat? tak ke bagus bende nie? encik kene datang showroom, bla, bla, bla...

me: (dah aku tak beminat tuh, paham2 jelah!!) saye mmg tak beminat lah, lagipon ade banyak keje nie, takde mase nak pegi pon.

rude she-monkey: eh, banyak keje ape pulak tuh? cube cakap encik kat mane sekarang?

me: ??? kat rumahlah, hari sabt--

RSM waiting for a bitch-slap: HA, kan tak keje tuh? kenape pulak cakap ade banyak keje?

me: (eh, sial punye budak, aku baru nak tido kot lepas on call samapi kol 6 am) EH, DAH TUH TAKKAN NAK KEJE WEEKDAYS JE, AKU BLAJA LAGI LAH..

RSM yg konon2 sentap: encik dah KAWIN ke??

me yg marah + nak tegelak : (ape hal pulak tanye kawin2 nie??) blom lah--

RSM nak jimat kredit: owhtakpelahmekasih-- tuuuuut---

me: ??? whaddeeff??

Hoi, C- yall punye pompuan, kaco aku tido! dah la tak introduce diri name sape! nak soal2 aku konon polislah. Tak tanye lansong if it's the right time to talk! There's a better way to call ppl out to your show room hape ke kot!! Bangang je!! mentang2 kepale aku tgh ting-tong, boleh la ko cakap camtuh. Siap ko (sambil gaye sinsing lengan) kalo aku jumpe depan mate!! aku LANNYAK ko sampai teburai sume isi ko!!


#%*^&%$%$@#$#%$&^&^%*&(**&^$@^%R!*&@(##!!!! (matilah ade orang da naik minyak!!)

Next time, Global-whatever ni call, aku letak teros! Gi mamposlah ko!

*********************

there seems to be a number of dreams between my 2-hour of sleep just now.

wonder what it all means, huh?

I Told You So

So,
I was waiting at the bus stop, when a group of Arabic guys came. There were six burly guys, just chatting away and the look at this one scrawny fella (read: me) sitting at the bus stop. One by one looked at me before settling down. Three guys on each side. I'm in the middle. What was their problem lah kan? I just grab my bag and felt for something inside it. Luckily, there was an umbrella inside (umbrella yg kecik boleh lipat2 tuh) I held it tight. Just in case. You can never be too sure with the foreigners in cyberjaya. Silap2 kang die kerjekan pulak!! But the bus stop was just infront of Sri Putri, so I can still run away if anything happens. And it was in the broad daylight, so I just sat there with an umbrella in my hand. They were talking among themselves about something and I just stare straight at the school in front of me. Then, I thought one of the guys were looking straight at me while saying something. The first thing running through my mind was, why is this guy looking at me like that. I kept on staring at the school. Then, he looked irritated and raise his voice a bit.

Then the thought hit me.

The guy was trying to talk to me! In arabic! ahahahaha!!

me: Sorry, I don't speak your language.
Then he spoke in a different dialect. (eh, pulak lah kan, mamat nie!)

Blurr me: Do you speak english? big burly guy: Yes, can you tell me how I go to Petaling Street? me: Owh, just take a bus to Putrajaya and then another one to KL central and then take the monorail. BBG: Do they have a bus from KL central to Petaling Street?
me: yeah, but I don't know the bus number. BBG: owh ok. thank you.

I was laughing at myself inside. It was so damn embarrassing! Itulah, dulu mak ko suroh balja Arabic, ko lari blaja Japanese. Kan da kene org nak cakap arabic ko tekontang-kanting.

AAaaaaaaaaaaaa!! Gi arr blaja arabic!!

rahsie pekong didada: I'm the only one in the family who don't know how to speak in arabic :P Even my Japanese have gone karat already because there was no one to talk too. hehehe.

-----------------------------

I made some Brioche à tête after seeing it on Su Yin's blog. It was somehow, a pain in the ass to make this soft bread. Perhaps it was because I was stressing on it too much. But then again the websites in the internet were giving so much warnings all over their instructions, it scarred the hell out of me while making the dough.

So, here's a recipe I came up with after editing here and there. This time, I even edited the instructions. Maybe that's why it was so much work. haha..

yeast
1/3 cup milk
1 tbsp sugar (warm)

2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
12 tbsp butter (unsalted is the best cause you're going to use alot of it)
2 tbsp milk (optional)
5 tbsp sugar
4 eggs

preparations:

Mix the yeast with some warm milk and sugar. set aside for half an hour or until it becomes active/ bubbly and frothy.

sift the flour. (as highly as you can)

Separate one egg yolk. set aside.

Beat the egg yolk with the remaining eggs.

If using butter sticks, chop it to smaller pieces.

Instructions:

Mix one cup of the flour with yeast mixture and sugar. Using a wooden spoon, incorporate the eggs bit by bit. The dough will become very wet and cake-like mixture. Sprinkle the remaining flour to the dough and mix lightly for around 8 minutes. The dough will shape up a little bit. Then, you'll need to knead by hand and incorporate the butter.

On a flour-dusted surface, spread out the dough to form a square. dust a bit of flour and fold the dough together. repeat several times until it became elastic and not sticky. (don't worry if part of the dough is sticks to the surface, thats normal)

Once the dough is not sticky, spread it out again, then put the knobs/chunks/small pieces of butter on the dough. fold it and knead again by hand. (the dough will become 'wet' again) This time knead the dough faster until it is smooth again.

put it in a buttered bowl and let rise for 1/2 hour. It will have doubled twice the volume. Punch it and then refrigerate the dough for 3 hours. The dough will have rise again. Punch it for the second time and let it rest for 30 mins.

the dough will have rise a bit. But just take the dough and roll small balls. I made twelve balls out of it. separate 1/3 of each ball and roll it until it became a round ball. Now you'll have twelve pairs of balls. Put the bigger balls into a big muffin pan. with one finger, poke the balls and the fit in the smaller balls on top of the bigger balls.

Beat the egg yolk until it is glossy but not overeaten, and wash the brioche. Let it rest for 30 mins before popping into the oven for 30mins.

**It took the whole day to make this one. IF I were to make it again in the future, I'd make it in two days. The whole ordeal was just too much. I sifted the flour in hopes that the product won't become a cake-like texture (as the recipe is quite rich in butter and eggs) I beat the egg too much that I had to be careful while mixing it with the flour in fear of overbeating the egg. that means it'll require a wooden spoon and naturally I end up with a slightly tired arm after mixing a heavy dough for 10 minutes non-stop. I was panicking when I added the butter. The dough lose shape all together. It took some time to make it back into shape. I suggest if you guys are going to make it, work the dough on a plastic surface. It'll HELP, seriously. Then there were the thrice resting time. Aiyooh, I even slept throughout the 4 hours the bread was in the fridge. (Penat ok tunggu!!) But in the end, the bread was great!! the texture was soft and bread-like (yeay!!)

Tired~

ps: the bread name was quite a controversy, and so was the vulgarity of the shape. Get it? Brioche à tête. Here's some pics from the internet. (I don't have a camera so no pics)