Christmas Eve Birthday Shoutouts

Yeay!!!! My link lists are finally up. About time too. Anywho, birthday shout outs, Remember the 3 December babies? The ones with the presents?



Well, now that the final birthday is here, and everyone has opened their parcels, I guess it's ok to reveal what was inside them. Trouble is, The pictures of the presents have gone missing....so guys? A little help please? Just snap a shot and send them to me if you can? *giggle* I am such a scatter brain. They each got a dreamcatcher, Handmade by yours truly. Don't know what those are? Well, they look like this:


And you can read more about them ~Here~.

So, Happy Birthday to the three of you. To Tengku and Mayu, I hope it was a pleasant one, which involved a lot of laughing, screaming, talking, relaxing and eating. Same thing applies to you too Huda. To think the three of you are old enough to drive, and pretty soon, vote too!! Though... I'm personally a wee bit more worried about the driving thing... Tengku, Mayu, and Huda..... unleashed on Malaysian roads..... *shudder*

Lol... well I suppose it'll be some time before you're even allowed to handle a car, so we should be safe till then. For now, a couple of virtual cupcakes for you to celebrate. These were made yesterday, the blue ones for a BBQ and the flower sprinkles, just for the heck of it. Chocolate cake, with whipped chocolate ganache in the center and top.

Chocolate cupcakes, makes 27

~50g chocolate, chopped finely.
~3/4 cup HOT coffee
~1 and 1/2 cup all purpose flour
~1 cup cocoa powder
~1 tsp baking soda
~1/2 tsp baking powder
~ 2 pinches salt
~1 and 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp castor sugar
~2 large eggs
~3/4 cup vegetable oil
~3/4 cup buttermilk (just mix roughly equal parts of yogurt and milk together)
~3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1) Stir together chocolate and coffee till chocolate dissolves, set aside.
2)Sift four, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder together in a big bowl. Mix in sugar and salt. Set aside.
3)In a medium bowl, beat eggs, oil, buttermilk, coffee mixture and vanilla till combined. Set aside.
4) Stir wet mixture into dry mixture. Batter will be runny.
5) Fill cupcake liners till about half full.
6) Bake in a 160'C oven for (give or take) 20-30 minutes, or until cake tester poked in the middle of the cupcake comes out clean.

Happy Christmas Eve Everyone!!

Sugar Cookies

Christmas is coming!!! Can you feel it? So, I just got back from a Christmas party, and I am really tired. Too tired to sleep even. So blog I shall. Today, we're discussing decorated cookies. On Thursday, I attended another class at the ever so loverly cake connection .Today's class was for Christmas cookies. There were only 3 students in attendance, including me, so we had all the attention, icing, cookies and time to ourselves!! *grin* No fighting over icing bottles, I could get used to that. And so, the two other eager learners were couple Ryan and Jade:

Along with our mentor, our Guru,Teacher Azrina:

we began. At the end of our 2 and a 1/2 hour session, here's what we came up with:

Pretty, aren't they? While waiting for the batch we made to bake, we decorated these cookies that Teach' brought for us from home. Here are a some of the ones I made in class:

And my favourites made by the others:
Jade's Cookie

Teacher Azrina's Cookie

Ryan's 'Italian flag' cookie

I feel a little naa-nooky about sharing recipes I got from a class, however there are plenty of sugar cookie cutout and royal icing recipes out there, so pick one and start experimenting. They were so fun, I made a batch and had fun icing them the next day. They ended up being presents for a last minute christmas party I attended. Here are a few that I made at home:

Yes, I know the air bubbles are pretty damn obvious, but let's bear in mind that this isa first time after class attempt. One really useful tip I learnt there was to roll batches of cookie dough between sheets of baking parchment and freeze. It makes cutting the cookies soo much easier.

Anyway's, I actually am really sleepy now. I think I'll head off to bed.
Night!!

Dinner Rolls

Ok, ok... I know things look a wee bit different around here. For one thing, my entire link list has been degraded to two blogs only. You see, I thought that the ol' blog could do with a face lift, I ended up erasing EVERYTHING except my blog post. So, don't worry, things will be up and running ASAP.




Meanwhile, I'm gonna share a new recipe I've discovered. It came out PERFECTLY the first time I made it. Problem is, when I did, I accidently spilled in too much sugar.Therefore, the sugar measurement you see in the recipe before you is an approximation. Original recipe comes by way of www.allrecipes.com ,only I make them by hand.Let me know how they turn out if you get around to trying them !! :-D

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup warm water
  
• 1/2 cup warm milk
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups high protein bread flour
  
• 11g active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup butter, softened

DIRECTIONS

~Place water, milk, egg, 1/3 cup butter, sugar, salt, flour and yeast in a large bowl. Mix and knead until a smooth ball of dough forms. Place into a lightly buttered bowl and leave aside for an hour to rise.

~When dough is done rising, punch down and knead a bit more. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a 12 inch circle, divide and spread 1/4 cup softened butter over entire round. Cut each circle into 8 wedges. Roll wedges starting at wide end; roll gently but tightly. Place point side down on ungreased cookie sheet. Cover with clean kitchen towel and put in a warm place, let rise 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

~Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden.

Feel free to dunk a warm, fresh outta the oven roll into anything. It goes great with curries, soups, stews or even on it's own with just a little butter. Enjoy!

Here's the problem..

Ladies, Gentlemen members of the press and that pink elephant wearing the polka dotted muumuu at the back. I would like to thank you all for attending this pseudo press conference which is currently taking place somewhere in my subconscious. Our topic of discussion today is a riddle that has been alluding bakers since the dawn of a new era, THE most significant invention in the history of pastry. I have researched this idea, this paradox and after AT LEAST 102 recipes in the course of my 16 years of life upon this earth I have only been able to reach one conclusion. This conclusion is what brings all you imaginary people into my head today. Members of the floor for the first time since my search began I would like announce my findings to the world. And they are:

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS
THE 'PERFECT'
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE

*Cameras madly flash as Mallini gravely shakes her head*

Profound, isn't it? All our lives we go in search of this elusive set of instructions, to create the Taj Mahal of cookies. And upon finding 'it' we discover that someone else has discovered another recipe and proclaims THEIR'S to be the best. And thus, the cycle continues.

The flaw, ladies and gentlemen lies in the definition of the 'perfect chocolate chip cookie'. You will find, that EVERYONE, from Barack Obama to Marilyn Manson has their OWN set of rules Chewy? Crunchy? Small? Large? Nuts? Grandma's dentures? Everyone WANTS something different. I myself prefer a chewy variety of cookie. You can tell a lot about a person from how they like their chocolate chip cookie. Therefore ladies and gentlemen, I end this proclamation with this. The way one enjoys a cookie is entirely to their preference, Some like it raw, some like it burnt to a crisp. HELL, I've met people who DO NOT like chocolate chip cookies. Period. However, it is not our place to judge these people based on their baked confectionery preference. WHO ARE YOU to dictate if I should have my cookie hard or soft? So, starting now, let us all take a little time to consider, to contemplate, who we truly are. The question is NOT, how THE cookie crumbles. Instead, we should ask ourselves, how does MY cookie crumble. If more people would just accept the worlds many chocolate chip cookie preferences, it would be a better place. I would like to thank my family, friends, oven, spatula and mixing bowl for accompanying me on this journey of self discovery. My complete thesis 'The Cookie Chronicles' is being released in all major book stores today. All proceeds will go to the International Dessert Organization to aid them in their fight against cookie discrimination. In your press packs you will find a complete summary of todays conference, along with the following recipe and a pack of my version of 'perfection' Thank you.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 vanilla bean
  
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk

• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 335 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets, or line them with parchment paper or other non-stick baking apparatus.

Sift the flour, salt and baking soda and set aside.

Cut Vanilla Bean length ways and scrape out seeds. Mix the brown sugar, white sugar and butter until combined, then add egg, yolk and vanilla seeds and mix until creamy. Add the sifted ingredients slowly, and mix until just blended.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop about 1 tablespoon at a time onto a cookie sheet placing them about 2 inches apart.* Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the edges are just beginning to brown and the centers no longer look gooey.

Let them cool on the cookie sheet a few minutes, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling.

*Forming your cookies:-
I use a ice-cream scoop to do the trick. Plonk the dough down onto the sheet, then using the back of the scoop, make a dip in the center of the mound. Refer to picture below.

I find they form flatter, more even cookies this way.





*Snaps out of daydream* Oh mother of cupcakes, someone, slap me, please.

Cake Connection.

I'm Back from Bali, a little tired but mostly satisfied. I'll blog about that soon, but right now I'll handle something that's been LOOOOOONG overdue.

Cake Connection is a wonderful new cake hideout I've discovered. My new oasis you might say. It stocks some pretty damn dreamy supplies, and some AMAZING royal icing decorations. Handy little things to have if you haven't got the time to make your own.

A while ago, I attended their miniature Fondant cake class. Now, I have a little 'problem' with fondant. Before the class, I've used it twice, on both occasions, I ended up a sobbing mess. But now:

Not too shabby huh?

We made 2 lovely little miniatures. The square was around 2 and a 1/2 inches high, while the round tiered was 4 inches, give or take. They were both Madeira cake covered in buttercream and There was just a small group of us, me being the youngest, and we all had a ball. Ok, ok... so at one point I was about ready to cry again, but our darling Guru Lynette:

told me how to fix the problem. Yes, I know they have Cellulite, Yes, I know the white one is slightly lopsided.

I . DON'T .CARE

They're my babies, although long since eaten, and I love (loved?) them. So really, thank you Cake Connection. I don't think I'll be shedding anymore tears over pastries for a while. :-)
Now, a couple more pics:

One of the founders, Nancy, posing with me after class.

Cakes that they have on display

By the way, if you go there don't forget to check out this particular product:



This stuff is GOR-GE-OUS. It'll burn a hole in your pocket, but mother-of-cupcakes is it worth it. PURE vanilla bean goodness. This is the stuff that made it's appearance in Debbie's birthday cupcakes.
The recipe's from 500 cupcakes and muffins, by Fergal Connolly, with a few minor changes here and there.

Vanilla Cupcakes, makes 18.

~ 225 g unsalted butter, softened
~180g caster sugar
~225g self-raising flour (2 cup flour+ 2 and 1/2 tsp baking powder+ 2 pinches of salt)
~1 tsp baking powder
~4 eggs
~ 1 tsp of Queen's Vanilla Bean Paste.

In a big bowl, cream butter and sugar together till pale and fluffy . Shift flour and Baking powder together into another bowl. And in a 3rd bowl, whisk your eggs and vanilla paste together. Fold the flour into the butter mixture, alternating with the beaten egg. Divide into 18 baking cups, I find an ice-cream scoop does the trick pretty well. Bake in a 175 'C oven for 20 minutes. Remove cakes from oven and let cool for five minutes, after which take out completely to cool on rack.

Icing
~100g icing sugar
~100g butter
~1/2 tsp Queen's Vanilla Bean Paste

Beat the living daylights out of everything till smooth. Colour and Decorate as your heart desires.

The fruits I reap...

from procrastination.
I'm off to Bali in about 1 1/2 hours. Here's a very brief post with a few belated birthday wishes before i go.

~Debbie's Birthday
Happy Belated birthday Friar!!! I really sorry I couldn't make it, bu i hope it was filled with fun and laughter. To another 16+ years of trying to get people *coughwasabicough* to 'BELIEVE YOU'!!!!! (For the record, I most certainly do. ;-D) These cupcakes were made in your honour, and devoured in your honour as well. :-) Love ya Debs!!!

They were all Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Frosting. The flowers are made out of Marshmallow fondant.
Recipe in my next blog post.

~ Auretta's Birthday

Happy Birthday to my Darling Nieta!! The baby of the family FINALLY turned 16. To many more years of laughing, eating, dancing and singing together. I've known Autts since form 2, and have been making birthday cakes for her since way back then too. This year, she requested, of all things, A SHIP!! So, bravely I forged on, and came up with this:

Chocolate cake, filled with chocolate buttercream and ganache. Apparently, it was a big hit.
-^_^-

So, anyways, that's all I have so far. Next posts will be my Fondant cake class at cake connection, Jaya one. Sneak peak:

Toodles!!