Christmas Baking - Log Cake

Christmas baking part 3 - Log cake!

This was slightly better than last year, in fact, I think it is rather delicious.

However, a couple of things went wrong. The mousse didn't harden. WHY? I hate it when this happens, but it wasn't so bad after I put it in the freezer. The cake was a little undermixed, which doesn't make sense because I'm pretty sure I mixed it well. But it tasted alright, and the texture was fine. Except the fact that it is rather dotted, the cake is tasty.

I think the ganache was a little too much. It became a very very chocolatey cake.

Now the problem is... the cake is too small!! Ahhhhhhh..... I'm limited by my very small oven and I'm really quite worried about the party later. Which has 35 people attending. I need a bigger oven actually.



Nonetheless, it went much smoother than last year's attempts and hopefully tonight's gonna be a good night!

Christmas Cookies (2) - Butterman

Christmas cookies part 2 for X'mas Kind of Wonderful!

Each cookie is a classmate attending the party tomorrow. Hopefully they wouldn't mind eating themselves! And yes, this is adapted from Eden's birthday party cookies.

3I in all its glory:



I think I took tedious to a whole new level. Wrapping each cookie individually and writing all their names really tire me out. But I think the smiles and laughter will be worth all the work. However, I think I'm too tired for a log cake. HOW.



Okay I need to start eating 3 meals a day. THREE.

Christmas Cookies (1) - Swedish Gingersnaps

Part 1 of christmas baking:

Swedish gingersnaps. I didn't have treacle, so I substituted it with maple syrup instead. And it tasted just as good. This is my favourite biscuit/cookie. In fact, I love it more than my chocolate chips cookies.

It's a lot of effort though, the dough has to be made the day before and then it has to be rolled into 3mm thickness and shaped with a cookie cutter. But I was really glad I did it, thanks to an sms that reminded me that time can be "made"!

Cheryl is really cute, she loves it so much too, I shall make her a packet after christmas.



There's still part 2, 3, and 4 of christmas baking!

I'm getting quite worried though, today I cannot fit into my jeans anymore. I can't fit into my shorts which I got from Malaysia. That shirt I bought became a loose fit. I don't want to live in belts. Meat is becoming a struggle again.

What happened to my appetite?

Hokkien Mee

I finally learnt how to do some real cooking! It was so spontaneous, even though I've been wanting to do it for a long time. Around 9 plus last night, I decided that today would be the day I would scoot over to Boon Keng and cook at my aunt's place. So I did it and I'm quite glad that I can now make a plate, I mean wok, of delicious hokkien mee!

Anyway, the main gist of it is just to cook all the ingredients first, i.e. prawns, sotong, chicken, fishcake or whatever you want to put in. Then scoop them up and cook first the vegetables, then the noodles, then add in some black soya sauce and finally add in the ingredients. But you've got to boil some chicken bones to use as broth and obviously some seasoning thrown in throughout the process.

I was offered this cake there, and like always, I can no longer look at cakes without dissecting it mentally. So I took a picture and this is a mango mousse cake if I'm not wrong. A layer of biscuit, a layer of cake and mainly a layer of mango mousse. Topped with mango cubes and brushed with mirror gel. It was quite nicely put together, but the biscuits were a bit too sweet. The mousse was great when eaten with the other layers but having it alone was quite overwhelming. Feels like something I can make, but a good recipe for mousse is hard to come by.

My mum said, " Why the sudden interest? Getting married soon is it?" Haha, it's never too soon to start preparing! In any case, I'm exhausted after half a day in the kitchen. Peeling garlic skin, crushing garlic, removing prawn shit, and eating non-stop really does tire a girl out.

On a more serious note, I need to stop using the kitchen as my escapism from reality. Time to face life.

Green tea egg tarts

When I was in Malaysia just a couple of weeks ago, we came across this stall selling egg tarts. Apart from the normal egg tarts, they had different flavours, such as coffee, durian, green tea and some others that I can't remember.

I got excited over the durian egg tarts, and it tasted quite nice, just a strong durian taste. Wasn't extraordinary, but it was alright, nonetheless. Jodee got REALLY excited over the green tea egg tarts. Just as she is over all green tea products. See picture below.

So I promised her I'll attempt to recreate the green tea egg tart because you don't see it here Singapore! Hm, but sadly, it didn't look as good as the one in Malaysia. Haha, well but at least it tastes pretty alright! I hope Jodee will like it later.

I guess the matcha powder didn't really dissolve. Anyway, I really improvised for this. First I took an egg tart recipe and mixed in some green tea powder and increased the amount of milk for the egg custard. I was glad I had enough experience to bake the tarts first before adding the custard, or else it would probably not come out edible. Oh and I used soya milk powder for the tarts because there wasn't any milk powder, but hey, there was no difference in taste!

I'll let you people know if Jodee thinks it's nice. So if she doesn't, then you people wouldn't know. XP

Tiramisu

Did you know that the literal meaning of Tiramisu is ‘pick-me-up’ and that Venetian courtesans used to eat it before their gentlemen arrived for the evening because they believed it would give them the energy to make love all night?

On making this dessert whose roots goes all the way back to Italy, I got intrigued into its origins and significance and googled it. It is rumoured to have been invented in the 1600s, but some believe that its birth came about only in the 1900s.

Tiramisu contains raw eggs and whipped cream. This is an impossible combination in the past without the invention of the refrigerator. But I shall not dwell into the war of the history of Tiramisu.

The alcohol and caffaine in this dessert makes it an energy booster, hence its name Tiramisu, which translate into "pick-me-up". It is also said to have been named as it tastes so heavenly it feels as if the person eating it is being picked up into heaven.

To me, Tiramisu has always been a dessert associated with love and romance. There's just something intriguing and addictive about a good tiramisu that makes you want more. Even though it can be sinful, but there's no stopping once you've started. It's bitter and sweet at the same time, and leaves a lingering taste after each bite.



I made a very careless mistake with this tiramisu. I arranged the spongefingers in different directions! Hence it looked like this. Horrible presentation!



Made this for a night picnic tomorrow at the botanic gardens with my seniors. Hopefully it'll fit in with the atmosphere!



I didn't know Bacardi was Rum. With 35% alcohol content. I feel very boosted with a few bites of this dessert already. Caffaine and alcohol makes a dangerous combination!

Reflections

Feedback for Eden's birthday party is in!
"Eden and the kids love the cake and cookies. Many ask for 2nd serving and few lick the plates! Many kids from other class ask for the cookies..."

Gosh, I felt really happy seeing that message. And even though I had a really bad day, with training being relatively screwed up, just knowing that I did a good job made me feel so satisfied.

Jodee was asking me about how to make a cake that people would want more of it after eating. And I realised that that's what defines a good cake. It's got to be beautiful on the inside as well as on the outside.

In any case, I feel like I'm going somewhere with baking. There's been more opportunities for me to do my work and I'm getting really carried away by it all. Perhaps I'm stretching myself too much?

But then, life is short! So here's the agenda for this holidays, just in case I forget:
- Tiramisu
- Green Tea Egg Tarts
- Oreo Cheesecake
- Christmas Cookies/ Log Cake
- HOKKIEN MEE and ASAM FISH and CURRY CHICKEN (I'm so going to book a date with my aunt)

This was lunch on a sunday when it was just my brother and me. I'm really proud of my fried rice, cause it tasted quite nice and it was kinda my first try at it. The steamed fish too, haha. Cooking is basically imagination and a lot of confidence and courage.

A quote from 'No Reservations':

"If only life was a recipe, telling me what to do next..."

"But you'll realise that the best recipes are the ones you make yourself."