2006-10-14 @ 2:12 a.m.
moved house!

i've moved. kindly update your links!

http://lickthefrosting.wordpress.com

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2006-10-12 @ 11:09 p.m.
apricot shortbread and portuguese egg tartlets

today i had no classes so i woke up in the morning to whip up a batch of apricot shortbread cookies for hari raya.

i wanted to use up the dried apricots that have been sitting in the fridge for nearly a month. (!) the cookies turned out alright - crumbly (typical of shortbreads), not too sweet and with a melt-in-the-mouth texture. i used this recipe, plus diced dried apricots. the thing i'm worried about is that the taste of the apricot doesn't come through distinctly. :p but i like it nonetheless, adds some chew to the crumbly texture.

yesterday i was looking through the livejournal baking community and saw fauzana put up a post on portuguese egg tarts! i've always been a fan of these. i had puff pastry in the freezer so i whipped up these little cuties.

the custard was nice and easy to make. my father asked me to make another batch because he said it "tastes like the real thing." i think he was being too kind. these are best eaten warm though. when i came back there was only ONE left so i didn't bother to pop it inside the toaster.

i have 650 oatmeal chocolate chip cookies to make before wednesday. i'll spend the entire monday baking.

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2006-10-10 @ 11:02 p.m.
apple cheesecake and a truffle garden

i was really really craving for a cheesecake, so i got down to baking one this afternoon. apple cheesecake!

i decided not to put any topping for this one because i wanted to feel the "cheesiness" of the cake. the combination tasted alright, it's like a cross between an apple pie and a cheesecake. i mixed the apple pie filling with cinnamon sugar just to get that reminiscent taste of apple pie. :) i still think blueberry pie filling works best. i need to try out raspberry and dark cherries next.

i haven't cut the whole cake because i made some in cupcake-form and i already ate 2. this is heaven. :)

and this is a truffle garden that ave ordered.

i have a problem. if i need to make any more truffle gardens, i will need to source for those paper flowers. my supply has depleted and the problem is i got those flowers from chiangmai!

and i have to thank my lovely cousin for getting me those styrofoam boards because i had no time to travel all the way to art friend. i don't know why popular doesn't stock it.

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2006-10-08 @ 8:21 p.m.
agar-agar, chocolate and cupcakes

today i made agar-agar gudir. (palm sugar and coconut milk jelly)

chocolates for the boy. don't be fooled - it's just melted chocolate that's re-moulded; and macadamia nut halves in them.

and another cupcake order. :)

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2006-10-07 @ 8:35 p.m.
mango and nutella cupcakes

a cupcake order; mango and nutella.

it's been a while since i worked with buttercream. it's so difficult to get the right consistency without being cloyingly sweet. i guess it's just the weather. but i'm pleased with how the one i made today turned out. i think it just needs to be creamed for a bit longer.

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2006-10-06 @ 10:17 p.m.
coconut blossoms and cheesecake information

today shidah gave me these yummy little things! pretty tiny coconut blossoms. :) i couldn't fast so i gobbled up 4 before break-fast time.

for the sake of chitz and evan, i'm sharing some cheesecake related information. a disclaimer though - the tips/techniques i am going to share is a result of experimentation; i'm still an amateur in cheesecakes.

i highly recommend the book cheesecake seduction by catherine lau. i got this book for my mum 2 years back from popular bookstore. if there is only one book you have to buy for cheesecake recipes, this has to be the one. this is the recipe for blueberry cheesecake:

base:
110g butter, melted
200g digestive biscuits, finely crushed
2 tbsp brown sugar, firmly packed
50g almond flakes, toasted

(ps: i usually leave out the brown sugar and almonds.)

filling:
500g cream cheese, diced
30g butter
120g caster sugar
lemon zest, grated from 1 lemon
lemon juice from 1 lemon, strained
30g cornflour, sifted
300ml whipping cream
4 eggs, lightly beaten
150g blueberry pie filling

(ps: i always omit the lemon zest and juice.)

topping:
1 tsp powdered gelatine
30ml water
150g blueberry pie filling
white/strawberry chocolate chips (optional)

1. melt butter in pan over low heat. add biscuits (and brown sugar and almond flakes if you're using them) and mix well. press well into a greased 23-cm springform tin with the back of a metal spoon or with your hand. cover cake pan and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. preheat oven to 150 degrees celsius.

2. beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. add sugar, lemon zest and juice and cornflour. beat until smooth. add cream and blend until mixture thickens. slowly pour in eggs and mix until just combined.

3. pour half the filling on biscuit base. carefully spread blueberry pie filling on the cheese filling. pour remaining filling into cake pan.

4. place cake pan in water bath. bake for 1 hour until filling is set around the edge but slightly soft in the centre.

5. turn oven off. leave cake in oven for 30 minutes with the door closed. remove water bath from oven. leave cake to cool completely in oven with the door ajar. cover cake pan, refrigerate for at least 6 hours.

6. prepare topping. sprinkle gelatine on water. leave for 5 minutes. stir over low heat until mixture is clear. stir in blueberry pie filling. remove cheesecake from pan, top with mixture.

i think the most important thing when baking cheesecakes is the water bath (it should come up to around half of the springform tin) and the cooling of the cake inside the oven. you don't need to cover the tin with foil. instead, line the outside of the tin with foil so the water from the water bath does not seep into the tin and make the crust wet.

also, be careful not to overbake the cake, else cracks will appear. (it can be salvaged by the topping though!) there's a lot of estimation involved in this. there have been times my cakes got a bit wobbly and soft in the centre because i baked it for too short a time. a good time will be 60 to 70 minutes.

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2006-10-05 @ 11:42 a.m.
blueberry cheesecake

i can safely say i've gotten over all fears of making a baked cheesecake. it used to intimidate me to no end.

i must start making other types of cheesecakes. the boy's mother ordered this; for the family's eating pleasure. i must say i'm a bit flattered. :)

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2006-10-05 @ 12:59 a.m.
cappuccino cupcakes

yesterday i made a batch of cappuccino cupcakes. it wasn't particularly a success. the taste was good, but the cakes actually shrank a lot from the sides of the liners; i didn't know exactly where i went wrong. i used the kenwood mixer instead of a food processor, could that have been one of the factors?

i had some problem understanding what "self-rising cake flour" meant. in her book, nigella wrote: "i often use self-rising cake flour in place of ordinary all-purpose flour. don't use self-rising unless it's specified."

that got me all boggled. i've heard of self-rising flour and cake flour, but not self-rising cake flour. i ended up using normal cake flour. i think that probably resulted in a moist and slightly dense cake. the texture was soft and pudding-like and the taste was good, but the problem was the shrinking. the next time round i'll probably just try using self-raising flour and omit the baking powder.

i didn't use her icing recipe. i just made a ganache with a combination of dark and milk chocolate. it's a recipe worth attempting again, and hopefully the next time round i'll get the texture right. i'll just have to play around with the flours.

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2006-10-01 @ 10:11 p.m.
ondeh ondeh

today was one of the rare times i made a malay local cake (or more commonly known as kueh. ondeh ondeh are balls of glutinous rice flour filled with palm sugar, then coated in steamed fresh grated coconut. they are traditionally coloured green, but i was in a quirky mood so i decided to have blue, turquoise and pink balls instead.

this is the first time i made something without following a recipe. i just mixed the glutinous rice flour with water, just enough to form a pliable and soft dough. you really have to judge the consistency for yourself because if the dough is too soft, the palm sugar will "leak out" (which happened to quite a few of my balls) and if it does not have enough water, the dough will sort of crumble and fall apart.

after that, divide dough into small balls and flatten slightly to accommodate the palm sugar, after which you seal up the edges and roll it back into a ball. after all the dough is used up, throw them into a deep pan of boiling water. when the balls float, they are cooked.

drain well and coat in the steamed grated coconut. (steam it with a pinch of salt)

keeping the palm sugar in is a tedious task!

the balls cooking.

ready!

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