A Special Birthday Cake

A cake in the box

Happy 10th Birthday INAS...

This is a postponed entry. I was extremely busy that I couldn't have time to do this post. And now, here I am. As you can see, this is quite a birthday cake. I have baked a classic simple chocolate cake, with my prized ingredient of muscovado sugar, frosted with chocolate ganache topped with fresh strawberries which have been glazed with apricot jam. Apparently, it's a birthday cake for a young client. My friend asked me for a chocolate cake specially baked for her daughter. And I have decided to bake my chocolate cake which is always a hit with young clents. Untold story -it's also a last minute baking expedition. I have baked this cake twice. The first one was a crumbly but delicious cake, so I have decided to give that to my friend -the owner of this cake. The second attempt was fine, but running out of time, I couldn't decorate it well. No wonder, as I was up by 4 a.m that morning, just to bake the cake. Probably I should have baked this cake earlier- yes, lesson learnt. Verdict- my friend told me that this is definitely a sell-out among her children, especially the birthday girl. Upon, hearing that- I was definitely grinning to my ears. ;)

Now, this is the ultimate recipe that I think everyone should bake;
Ingredients=cake -115g/ 4oz plain choc, 45ml/3tbsp milk (fresh),150g/ 2/3 cup unsalted butter,150g/scant 1 cup light muscovado sugar ( you can use brown sugar), 3 eggs, 200g/ 1 3/4 cup self-raising flour, 15ml/ 1tbsp cocoa powder

Frosting/ Ganache = 1-2 tbsp of butter,3-4 tsp of caster sugar, 250g cooking choc,1tbsp fresh milk, 1 tsp of salt,1tbsp of cocoa powder-sifted (double boil all these)

How =1- Preheat oven 150c for 15 mins, 2- Grease 9 inch round cake tin-line with non stick baking paper. 3- Melt choc and milk- double boil (put in a heatproof bowl -over a pan of simmering water), 4- Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, 5- Add eggs one by one, beat well after each addition, 6- Stir in choc mixture and mix thoroughly, 7- Sift flour and cocoa over mixture, fold in with a metal spoon until evenly mixed. 8- Bake 40-45 mins, Check if it is ready by inserting a skewer. If it comes out clean, your cake is ready. 9- Cool the cake, frost with chocolate frosting/ ganache

Happy baking everyone and have a lovely Saturday.

A Nostalgic Marble Cake

Cut into squares

Close up view- the melting cake

A total heaven

I always have a fond memory of marble cake. As you see, when ever I remember marble cake, I will always remember my late grandmother. She passed away when I was just a fifteen year old clueless girl, but what an impact she had left me. In my heart, I remember her with a nice feeling, the kind of feeling reserved for a loved one. That is why I have always searched for the similar recipe of marble cake as baked by my grandmother. I couldn't get the original one, but I'm working on it. However, recently, I have come across an old fashioned marble cake recipe, and I jumped on the opportunity to bake this cake and bring it to my work place. It turned out to be a successful baking adventure. It has a nice soft texture and you will not stop eating it. In other words, you will not get bored of this cake. I liked this cake as it just melt in my mouth, and I kept popping it while cutting into squares. Eating this, brought out memories of seeing my grandmother baking in her old kitchen. Mean while, at the work place, my friends kept saying that this is the cake just like the old days, the ones being baked by grandmothers especially during Eid celebration. I totally agreed on that. Now, this is definitely going to be THE cake for this year's Eid celebration. Here goes the recipe- it's a 10 egg- marble cake recipe and I assure you, it's worth it.


Ingredients
10 egg yellow

10 egg whites

300 g castor sugar

315 g plain flour- sieved twice

*2 tsp double acting baking powder - sieve together

*2 tbp cocoa powder -sieve together

**400g butter (I used unsalted) } beat these two together in a bowl

**6 tbp sweetened condensed milk }

1 tsp vanilla

How

1) Beat egg whites thoroughly, (for about 3-4 mins), then add in the sugar. While beating the whites and sugar, add in the egg yellow. Then, add in vanilla. Beat well for 7 mins.

2) Stop the mixer, add in the butter and milk mixture, mix well.

3) Add in plain flour, mix well again.

4) Divide the mixture evenly into two big bowls. One bowl is reserved for the original butter mixture.

** In another bowl, combine the butter mixture and the cocoa powder. Mix well.

5) Line 9 x 9 x 3 baking pan with a parchment paper. Grease with butter.

6) Put 5 dollops/ spoons of butter mixture into the baking pan. Level it. Then put in another 5 dollops of the cocoa mixture. Do that alternately until done. Use a fork /skewer to mix the batter.

7) Bake for 1 hour - 180 C.

Cut into squares and enjoy it with a cup of hot tea/ coffee and you will know what I mean....
Happy baking everyone.....

Art and cupcakes

I have drawn this picture many weeks ago, to make it as some sort of logo or trademark for my baking items. Perhaps I would modify it a little bit as time goes by. This is just something that I have done out of the blue, using borrowed colour pencils from my son. It was fun any way..... It sure looked that I;ve enjoyed myself very much...out of amusement of my son... (hahhaha)

Classic Simple Chocolate Cake

Close -up of the frosted cake

Classic Simple Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Chocolate cakes would never fail to impress children and kids. What's up with chocolates and children anyway? Well, I do not know the answer. I have baked this chocolate cake with kids on my mind. Using my prized muscovado sugar ( I always have fond memories of muscovado sugar- having discovered its specialities when I was a student in the UK), melted chocolate and Hershey's cocoa powder- the cake is just what I have expected it to be. Since my young clients do not have the sophisticated taste buds to savour the ever upper class red velvet nor the royal creamy cheesy cakes , I really cracked my head to come out with a good never failed to impress chocolate cake. So, there lies the challenge of impressing young teenagers. I've found this recipe in my own recipe book, it's been with me for more than 12 years. And I've guessed this is definitely a winner on its own. My young clients have finished up the whole cake within an hour, and there were definitely no left overs. Even the adults had to sit back and watched the moments when those young teenagers savoured the cakes. I was happy to see that as I knew that young clients were not easy to be impressed. I have frosted this chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and fresh strawberries, coloured sprinkles and large chocolate buttons and it really made an impact with the kids. Happy kids made a happy baker, as they say.

P/S: I could not share the recipe, as the typing went haywire after I have spent some time to type it out, and finally, I have to delete it. So, the recipe will be shared in the next post, if time permits.

Time is definitely an asset

I have always dreamt of living in an English cottage in the South England countryside

But time is definitely a hindrance on this

Miss all the nice things you've found in the lowlands. When peace comes knocking at the door step

(pictures; Google)

Last week, I had this dream. I went back to England, for a visit. Such a fun trip. I did not know what was the meaning of my dream. Am I missing something in my life? Or perhaps I am just tired with the every day's routines. The truth is, I am tired for these few weeks, I haven't even got the time to finish some of the books that I've bought. There are just too many things to be done at the same time, datelines, house cleaning. I need a vacation - English countrysides definitely. I remember my student's day of heading to the book store in the high street just after finishing my classes, rummaging the pages of the latest best sellers or even sitting on the bench, just watching people walking by or even walking in the canopy of maple trees when the leaves just turned yellow during autumn. I dream of a simple life, when nobody is going to chase you with datelines. I miss those days... time does not permit me to do things that I've wanted to do in this age. There are just so many things to catch up, perhaps the dream of going back to the place I discovered myself would be an ambition that I need to achieve. Not the SUV or MPV or even a BMW. But days spent in England would be fine for me...

Nobody is perfect either

Life is a journey.... the road is narrow and winding,

outlined with trees of hopes

(picture; Google)

Everybody is definitely not perfect

(picture; Google)

Nobody is perfect. I agree on that. Sometimes we make mistakes, sometimes we think that we can't do everything that we want. But perfection is often underestimated. We dream for something big, but we do not have any means for that. We think that we are good, that sometimes we forget little things that should matter to us such as rest, leisure and happiness. We work like there is no tomorrow, we have paper chase and yet we forget humanistic values. We forget that life is indeed short, where are we heading after tomorrow? I remember when I was young, at the age of 17, I told my my best friend at that time, that I have my life all mapped out, planned nicely, to whom I've wanted to marry, even the number of children to have. Yet, God has other plans for me, there were bumpy rides along the way, failed relationships, challenging work experiences and life heart aches. Then, I realise that I need to stop planning my life. There is definitely no more plans at all, I just need to go with the flow. I am not perfect, and things sometimes do not turn out as what I've wanted. It's all right if people say you are not good, well .... nobody is perfect either!

Melted Butter Flat Pineapple Cake

Close-up view- it's not that thick, though.

I loved the natural yellow colour from egg yellow, butter and pineapple- Pineapple Cake.

Pineapple is nature's best gift to us. It's a versatile fruit. It could be cheap and expensive as well, depending on the variety. You can eat it fresh, cooked it in gravy or turned it into mouth-watering desserts. It could be sweet, sour or even a cross between these two tastes. This entry is a long-postponed piece of writing. I kept delaying the post and did something else, or maybe I was so - into brownies lately. I love this pineapple cake- I've got this recipe from a Malay magazine aptly named SAJI (vaguely translated as SERVE). This cake is just what you need to kill off the blues, it's sweet, soft, milky and buttery. Just the right type of cake for everybody. Using melted butter and condensed milk, you will get a flat, fragrant and delicious cake. This cake will not rise high due to the melted butter added at the end of the mixing process. I brought this cake to work, and colleagues couldn't get enough of it. My friends say this is like bingka ( a type of kueh in Malaysia). Whatever it is, I definitely loved this cake very much and would bake it again, some other time. Here goes the recipe after several modifications.

The ingredients

1) 3/4 cup of condensed milk

2) 1/2 cup of brown sugar

3) 3 tbs of caster sugar

4) 1 tsp of baking powder

5) 1 can of pineapple- drain well

6) 2 tbs pineapple juice (from the can)

7) 3/4 cup salted butter ( I have used Australian Golden Churn butter- good aroma)

8) 1 1/2 cup of plain flour

9) 2 tsp of vanilla

10) 4 egg yellow (large eggs)

How

** Preheat oven- 150c for about 10 mins

1) Using blender -blend condensed milk and drained pineapple.

2) Sift flour together with baking powder.

3) Melt butter- low heat. Remove from heat.

4) Using electric mixer- in a bowl, beat egg yellow with sugar. Mix well, fully- incorporated for about 5 mins. Do not overbeat. Add in vanilla. Add in pineapple mixture. Add in pineapple juice.

5) Using spatula, fold in sifted flour in the egg mixture.

6) Add in melted butter. Mix well.

7) Transfer batter into well-greased baking pan - advisable to use a square 8 to 9 inch baking pan.

8) Put the baking pan in a pre-heated oven. Make sure after 5-6 minutes, you have lowered the oven temperature to 120C.

9) Bake the cake for about 30-35 mins. Check if the cake is ready by inserting a skewer. If it comes out clean, your cake is ready.

10) Cut into squares, serve them with a cup of black coffee, lay back and dream of nice things ahead. ;)

Happy baking, everyone.... have a nice weekend!