Common Theme

I like being busy. I like chasing opportunities and experience. I like the built-in idea that being a chef means being a lifelong student, pursuing a limitless field of knowledge and technique. I like that there are risks and that every plate represents the result of a great deal of trial and error. I like the fact that in this business there is always something to strive for. It can get frustrating sometimes, feeling like so much is going on in the world that we just can't keep up. But that's the excitement.

Michael Laiskonis, Pastry Chef

These are the words our lecturers and professors in CUCMS try to instill in each one of us medical students. I guess every other profession is much like being a student too, constantly pursuing knowledge... ... and liking it.

And to for it to be this thoughts by a chef, after someone told me medicine and cooking/baking have nothing alike! This my friend, is the answer.

I'd have to agree, by now that I like being a life-long learner, taking up new things as I progress through life (and future work!) and getting caught up with work/assignments/projects until it is overwhelming with no space to breathe (uh, is this masochism??)

I'll be taking this as my to the people who think I should stop baking! haha!

Thank you Mr. Laiskonis!

Daring Baker's Dobos Torte

Seems like I'll never be able to meet the dateline with Daring Baker's eh? I always forgot about the posting date until after everyone else have posted theirs!!

AAARGHH!! *bonks head to the wall*

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ehem~

Anyway, let's get back to the topic shall we,

Dobos Torte;
All Hail DARK Chocolate!!

this time around, it's Dobos Torte. Honestly I was scarred with the ingredients and assembly of the cake. I was so scarred that I only made half of the batter! No Kidding!! Usually I'd make almost double the recipe (even on two separate occasions) with Daring Baker's, but I had to make it so because

1. it's the fasting month, people don't eat much

2. the whole thing reeked of sugar and butter (with comments in the forum saying it's very very RICH)

3. I don't have time while running around screaming my head off with the amount of unfinished assignments I had left..

So,

I made 1/2 of it. Big Mistake cause it was a hit!! Since I was making half the batter, I thought of making small portions too, so I make about 24 4 inch rounds before cutting it into 3". then I stacked it together to make 2 small-cut-goneinfourbites-cake. Yup people, it was finished in an instant!! hahaha...

gone in 4 bites, can you believe it??

and get this,

I forgot to half the buttercream, yeah, I know, I know... I'm unbelievably crazy. There's like a huge tub of dark chocolate buttercream in the freezer now. Owh, what ever shall I do with it? hehehe~

All in all, a good one cause I managed to make it rich and yet not too (sickly) sweet for the fasting palate. All it took was some modification with orange zest in the sponge cake, bitter marmalade syrup drenching the cake layers and topped with DARK chocolate buttercream! ahh!! Heavenly!!

Loving Dark chocolate to bits now.. wonder if Raya this year's biscuits would have dark chocolate theme.. hahaha!!

OMG!!

almost forgot (what's with me and this abundace amount of synaps breakdown nowadays??)

The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful
of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos
Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite
Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

And please look at the others too at the blogroll (if you haven't already)

OWHHHH!!!!

by the way,

I couldn't participate last month as I was busy preparing and organizing a student camp in Langkawi. I did not even managed to see my lovely oven or my trusty balloon whisk in almost one whole month. *sob-sob*

wonderful experience with the participants there, hope we can meet again sometime!!

FIIMAAAA!!
p/s: KIKH OVER!!

TIll then!!

byeeeeeeee~

Daring Baker's: Bakewell Tart.. err.. Pudding

OH MY!! it's one day past the reveal date!!

OPPPSS!!

well, I've been held up for a lot of things lately, there's some posts that are still in the draft section just collecting dust there, haha!!

I must make vow to be more careful with deadlines after this ~_~

anyway,

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

Bakewell Tart(lets).. err Pudding..

the crust recipe was a good one. I just love a good buttery crust, mmm~

making the whole thing wasn't hard, but a daring baker's challenge just wouldn't be the same if there weren't some mishaps, no?

when I decided to make the tartlets instead of a big 9" tart, I contemplated on how many tartlets I'm going to get with the filling and crust. I wanted to make 12-15 tartlets but there were only 10 moulds. So in the end, I stuffed all the crust into 10 moulds and blind bake em for 15 mins. Then, I made the frangipane which was by my calculation could fill about 15 tartlets (wow, I'm right!!)

so there, another contemplation in the kitchen.

and guess what I did?

YUP, I stupidly stuff almost all (only 5 tablespoon was left) of the frangipane into the shallow crust. Why? because i thought the frangipane resembles a macaroon batter where it holds it's shape even if you turn it into a mountain. Yes, people, my Bakewell Tart was crown with a mountain of frangipane.

the moment the tartlets enter the oven, they begin to glisten, and then without warning, the mountains slide down the tartlets. I almost yelled " avalaaaancheee!!!! AAAAaaaa!!"

so it spilled right off the tart onto the cookie sheet (thank God there was a cookie sheet!!) untill the whole thing level up with the moulds. And I sat there, mouth open as if saying "nooooo" only my voice didn't came out.

Another Big OPPPSSie!

See? there's still some messy frangipane left on the moulds. HAHA!!

well, the tart was good, the taste that is. I put peach jam on some while the others got chocolate chips as fillings :) I made 10 tartlets and there were only 5 left when I wanted to snap some pictures. Mind you, this was 1 to 2' O clock in the MORNING!! (also justifies my stupidity to make 15 tartlets instead) So it was that good okay!

And the overflowing blanket of frangipane on the cookie sheet? my Mum and I clean the whole thing up right into our tummy. hehehehe~

Chocolate Chip Filing!!

And we ate~

And ate~

Until there was no more :(

so, you can see others (I bet you already did) here

Here's the recipe;

Bakewell tart
Makes one 23cm (9” tart)
Prep time: less than 10 minutes (plus time for the individual elements)
Resting time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes
Equipment needed: 23cm (9”) tart pan or pie tin (preferably with ridged edges), rolling pin

One quantity sweet shortcrust pastry (recipe follows)
Bench flour
250ml (1cup (8 US fl. oz)) jam or curd, warmed for spreadability
One quantity frangipane (recipe follows)
One handful blanched, flaked almonds

Assembling the tart
Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.

The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

Jasmine’s notes:
• If you cannot have nuts, you can try substituting Victoria sponge for the frangipane. It's a pretty popular popular cake, so you shouldn't have any troubles finding one in one of your cookbooks or through a Google search. That said, our dear Natalie at Gluten a Go Go has sourced some recipes and linked to them in the related alt.db thread.
• You can use whichever jam you wish, but if you choose something with a lot of seeds, such as raspberry or blackberry, you should sieve them out.
• The jam quantity can be anywhere from 60ml (1/4 cup) to 250ml (1cup), depending upon how “damp” and strongly flavoured your preserves are. I made it with the lesser quantity of home made strawberry jam, while Annemarie made it with the greater quantity of cherry jam; we both had fabulous results. If in doubt, just split the difference and spread 150ml (2/3cup) on the crust.
Annemarie’s notes:
• The excess shortcrust can be rolled out and cut into cookie-shapes (heck, it’s pretty darned close to a shortbread dough).

Sweet shortcrust pastry

Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)
Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film

225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Jasmine’s notes:
• I make this using vanilla salt and vanilla sugar.
• If you wish, you can substitute the seeds of one vanilla bean, one teaspoon of vanilla paste or one teaspoon of vanilla extract for the almond extract

Frangipane

Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula

125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 (3) eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.

Annemarie’s notes:
• Add another five minutes or more if you're grinding your own almonds or if you're mixing by hand (Heaven help you).

that's all for now :)

Daring Bakers: Apple err... Mango Strudel

UPDATE: finally manage to put on some pictures!! and the links :)

crispy skin and sweet filling *yum*

well well,

seems like I'm back on track!! thank God for the holidays!!!

I'm currently on a baking streak, will share them later! First, let's get down to business!!

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

That's right people! It's time for Daring Bakers!! *yeay*

and this time around, we did a strudel!! *double yeay*

honestly, if it weren't for this group, I don't think so I'd make so many different kinds of baked goods.

So anyway,

I was making through the dough and peered at the stack of fruits in the house; no apples but there are some mangoes. Owh well, I can just make mango strudel then... but little did I know other people have other plans for them.

So when I was already spreading the dough paper thin (see through my ringers) I take one look at the fruit stash and almost scream "AAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaa!!" (read: almost!!)

The fruits are MISSING!! @^#%&#%&!#!!!!

Only one measly over-ripe mango left.

The rest were already eaten by my family members!!

So what did I do?

Salvage as much pulp from the small mango and try to compensate with other fruits available, i.e; dried prunes, raisins, walnuts, dates, etc... but then I thought, isn't this suppose to be a MANGO strudel???

Thankfully, someone gave my mom a plump australian mango (you know, those big plump ones) and heck was I happy to see the victim.. err... fruit.

So there you go, half of the mango was cut into cubes while the other half went into the stomach.. opps... hahaha!! 25 minues in the oven and tadaaaa~~

see the layers?? :)

There were some changes made in the recipe tho, first I made a MANGO filling instead of apples, then I reduced the sugar by half as the mangoes were reaaally sweet!! (even with the sugar halved, there still a lot of caramelized mango juices seeping through the pastry as it bakes) then, there's extra currants and raisins, plus I didn't melt the butter but just spread them on the dough (lazy bum I am)... it turned out okayh, not the best one yet but it's still good. the dough was crispy but lack some taste. would definately use more flavoring or salt into the dough next time. Other than that, the filling were pretty good I tell ya :))

And here's the link to see other daring bakers :)

anyway, will upload the pictures later. the connection is too lousy here and I can't upload a single thing (been waiting like one hour, haish!!)

the whole thing was just too long for the plate :P

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

The Recipe

Preparation time
Total: 2 hours 15 minutes – 3 hours 30 minutes

15-20 min to make dough
30-90 min to let dough rest/to prepare the filling
20-30 min to roll out and stretch dough
10 min to fill and roll dough
30 min to bake
30 min to cool

Apple strudel
from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

2 tablespoons (30 ml) golden rum
3 tablespoons (45 ml) raisins
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (80 g) sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick / 115 g) unsalted butter, melted, divided
1 1/2 cups (350 ml) fresh bread crumbs
strudel dough (recipe below)
1/2 cup (120 ml, about 60 g) coarsely chopped walnuts
2 pounds (900 g) tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch-thick slices (use apples that hold their shape during baking)

1. Mix the rum and raisins in a bowl. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.

2. Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the breadcrumbs and cook whilst stirring until golden and toasted. This will take about 3 minutes. Let it cool completely.

3. Put the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a large baking sheet with baking paper (parchment paper). Make the strudel dough as described below. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using your hands (a bristle brush could tear the dough, you could use a special feather pastry brush instead of your hands). Sprinkle the buttered dough with the bread crumbs. Spread the walnuts about 3 inches (8 cm) from the short edge of the dough in a 6-inch-(15cm)-wide strip. Mix the apples with the raisins (including the rum), and the cinnamon sugar. Spread the mixture over the walnuts.

4. Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself. Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.

5. Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.

Strudel dough
from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

1. Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.
Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.

2. Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.
Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).

3. It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.
Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.

4. The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

Daring Bakers: Skipped One For the Year

Regrettably,

I can't join the daring bakers this month!! *sob-sob*

There's some problem with the oven, and logistics.. ahh...

and now the ingredients are still resting in the fridge. And to think I even had infused the cream with lavender and rose!!

Ish, ish, ish...

Geram!

The Lasagna Challenge, A Spicy Makeover!!

my God I didn't know the date was changed to the 27th. opps. but then again, posting at the 30th is still LATE for the initial reveal date! Arghh!! blame the poor management skills and uni work! huhu.

anyway,

The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.

Okay,

this is my first time ever making a pasta from scratch! It was almost a disaster *again!*

I was chopping through the spinach very finely (and very very slowly) when my mom enters the kitchen.

"why don't you just use the chopper if you want it to be THAT fine"

ahaha, I don't know what i'd do without her! make it so much easier than slicing and chopping bit by bit. So into the chopper machine it goes. A few buzz later and tadaa!! nicely fine chopped spinach ready to be inserted to the dough.

As I have learned from the previous challenge, I just put the whole flour into a bowl instead of a flat surface to avoid messy goey masses on the floor (danish bread challenge), make a hole in it and pour two great eggs.

Flour well with eggs

next is a mountain of spinach! weeee~ ever so healthy!

mix it up till it form a ball... OMG, just look at the lumpy-ness! haha!

and knead!!

err, wait, why is it all sticky?? urgh!!

maybe it'll be smooth (as stated in the recipe) after the kneading.

with a sticky-monster-green-hand ten minutes later (hence the absence of pictures depicting the sticky pasta ball from goey hell) i thought of adding more flour to the dough.

I have been making bread for a long time and dough is not really my enemy. thus when I make bread, or anything to do with dough, I'll follow my instinct and feel for the texture. But I was trying to follow the recipe to the dot since it is my first ever pasta making (and people say you have to follow every single thing within the recipe) I hesitated to add any flour. It was like committing a sin every time I add another tablespoon of flour (yes, ppl I added by tablespoons, hahaha) I kneaded patiently and the dough keeps on sticking.

there's this Malay saying; "sikit-sikit, lama-lama jadi bukit"

literally means little by little, it (the amount) will pile up.

after adding ONE whole cup of flour by tablespoons, I say, to hell with it! I'll just add acorfing to my taste and feel!!! I ended up adding a one and a quarter cup extra flour to the dough before finally giving it a rest(read; giving up) for about one hour.

and since I've modified the recipe, i was in the mood for another chaotic mess with the ragu. there were saute' onions and garlic, throw in the minced meat, cumin, oregano, more herbs and spices poured (in malaysia, this is called rempah campak, literally you throw in a number of random spices in unmeasured quantities) into the pan and finally some tomatoes plus a bit of tomato puree. Simmer for some time and it's done! I know, not exactly a ragu for a lasagna but I was exhausted with the dough :P

the bechamel sauce was modified too. I boiled three potatoes, mash it up and stir into the bechamel sauce to thicken it up and give it some texture. Yumm~

If only the Italians knew, what blasphemy!!

hey it's all the dough's fault!! It triggered some neurotic change

anyway, back at the pasta dough,
looking at the videos provided in youtube, the pasta was perfectly rolled on without sticking together. how i wish I could get a hold of a long rolling pin too!! knowing mine was rather unconventional, I laid a huge piece of plastic sheet on the table, pour some more flour (actually it was a LOT more) on the sheet, my hands, and the rolling pin before proceeding with the rolling :D

cut the dough to quarters and rolled away till what I presume was paper thin cause I can't see through the pasta no matter how thin it was. The only thing I could see was GREEN all over the table! then i cut it into loooong pieces before drying it off. Owh btw, there were some that stuck to the plastic sheets (imagine that!!) and end up with holes here and there! hahaha!! something like what Lisa had!

the rest was a synch! boiled some pasta, arrange the layers and pop into the oven.

err wait... my mom walk into the kitchen again

"so, is the lasagna ok?"

"nope, the ragu's not red enough!"

"here, put some of this squid sambal in"

"but, it's spicy!"

"yea, the spicer, the better!!"

and I plonk in a GENEROUS amount of sambal into the lasagna in between the sea of cheese. In case you people don't know what sambal is, it's actually a mixture of herb, spices and lots and lots of chilies! And this time around, the sambal was extremely spicy! Hah!! A spicy lasagna! But it was gone in an instant! My mom loved it to bits. she ate like two plates right after it came out of the oven. Hehe~ the whole family liked it too.

The Final Product ~ abit burned (on the top) since I went upstairs and forgot about it for a good 30 mins, hey, I was TIRED okay!

Thank you, thank you, thank you Mary, Melinda and Enza for hosting this challenge! I'd never try making pasta from scratch before. Now I know I can do it!! Next time I'd make ravioli too :)

check out what others did here

Daring Baker's February: For the love of Chocolate!!

Okayh, first of all, I apologize deeply for the lack of blogging here and not participating in the last two Daring Baker's challenge. After a glitch in the first one (French yule log) during the posting, I thought I could just wait another day to post it. Unfortunately, I never could get back to it (or even continuing blogging) due to some catastrophic events. It wasn't sudden. I could almost sense what I was getting myself into. And it wasn't continuously bothering me, but at the end of the day, I was so mentally drained, I could not bare looking at my blog or others'. For the last one and a half month, I'd open the internet, check through the emails and that's it. (sometimes I'd wander through some of Martha's site tho) But I digress. Hello? I thought this is suppose to be a Daring Baker's post? hahaha.

Our challenge for February is a flourless (and almost sugarless) moist chocolate cake.
The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.
We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.


So, anyway!

wow, a Chef Wan recipe. I have always admired what he could do. Baking and cooking while throwing out mouthful of jokes and cooking tips at the audience. I had tried some of his recipe and it worked. And that's why when I say there will be no sugar in the recipe, I remained calm... ...okay, so I panicked a bit. the recipe was so simple with only three ingredients!! there were no sugar or flour in sight!! Usually, I'd pop cake/biscuits/tart in the oven and then walk away to do other things. But this time around, I was there in front of the oven, looking intently through the heat for it to rise and see if, at any moment, it's going to burst apart or crack open one hell of a mess! Hahaha. I can be so paranoid sometime. the cake was very good. My mom loves it (as it was not sweet at all) since I used bittersweet chocolate. And eating it with ice-cream was d~i~v~i~n~e!! Argh, Thank you Wendy and Dharm for this months challenge. Recipes for both cake and ice cream can be found at their site.


let's start with the ingredients. there were only three; Butter, Chocolate and Eggs

Melted butter and chocolate (I used Hershey's Bittersweet)

Egg white Meringue

Egg Yolks

Essentially, you mix everything together to get this mess, haha

Didn't want it to deflate too much, so I just leave it be at this stage.

For this recipe, it stated that a real chocolate Valentino is made either in a heart shape pan or a round cake cut into a heart. I was feeling a bit crafty (ouh-oh) at the time and bought these origami-heart-thingy for baking.


tada! but the drawback is, every single instruction was in Japanese!! I'm learning Japanese but to translate word by word using a dictionary would take me AGES!! So what did I do?? I just slap on the border onto the base with water. FREAKING WATER!! I don't know what I was thinking.


here's the 'mould' after I glued it with water. keep in mind that the paper were something like parchment paper (like hell the water would hold it!!) So after careful consideration (my brain seems to began functioning back at the time) I only poured half of the recipe into these mould while the other half was poured into a round tin. Just to be safe. :P



while it was in the oven, the cake rose beautifully! I could almost not believe the mould was working!! and then when I decided it was done (don't want to over bake it) took it out, and these is what I get.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!! the mould have lost it's shape in the proces and it now a freaking blob! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! I'm never trusting that damned paper again!!! (but there's still like 30 of them in the drawer!) aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-hahahaha!!



the round tin had better result, but it deflated after a while. Then it was devoured before I could say anything. It was that good! hehe.

Hot, off the oven, nice eh?

It deflated!! but it's still moist as ever!!

After a 3 minute of yelling and cursing, I sat down at the cake (the crooked one). took a blade and began carving out a heart by using the minimal-ist cut. the heart shape paper mould was about 3'' so imagine how small it would be if i just cut it normally. It would be TINY!! luckily, I was able to cut it without losing too much. hehe :)

Chocolate Valentino with Berry Ice Cream

Check out other daring baker's here. I can't wait for next month's misadventure! haha!!

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..

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

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.