What inspired me to bake these little cupcakes? Hmm...., after tasting the cupcakes by Plain Vanilla at Yong Siak Street in Tiong Bahru enclave, I wanted to bake cupcakes that's soft, moist and light like theirs. Furthermore, I have vanilla swiss meringue buttercream in my freezer. A very good motivation since I do not need extra effort and time to make the buttercream. Not to forget the chopped peanuts too. Better use them while still fresh and crunchy.
A rich and creamy cheesecake taken from Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Cake Bible. I adapted the recipe to include a digestive biscuit base to lend a crunch to the creamy custard. I don't normally bake cheesecake. It's just simply too rich, but delightfully delicious. It's perfectly fine to indulge in it occasionally. I baked this cake for my niece's 13th birthday. No more chocolate cake request from her. Vanilla cheesecake is her new favorite.
Feeling nostalgic? I miss those good old traditional little cakes topped with sweet-salty buttercream. These little cakes usually come in a box of 10 and given to relatives as part of an upcoming wedding celebration. The cakes usually come in small rectangular size of different flavors and colors. I remembered my sister, brother and I trying to reach out to our favourites before they ended up in each other's stomach. The decorations were simple - piped buttercream dotted with cherries, rainbow sprinkles, chocolate sprinkles, edible wafer flowers, chopped peanuts or almond flakes. Back then, cakes are a luxury. Just like durians. I remembered my parents would spread out newspaper on the floor before opening up the thorny fruits. All of us would then compete how fast and how many of the pungent fruit we could eat. Imagine having one fruit in the mouth and the other hand holding on to another fruit. It was a luxury my family enjoyed. To finish off the durian feasting, my mom would put salt water on the durian husks for us to drink. It's supposedly to clear the heat in our body system as durians are considered heaty food. We would wash down with mangosteens too if they were available because mangosteens will neutralize the heatiness of the durians. Such wonderful and memorable good old days. Nowadays, I can eat all the durains I want at my own pace as my children and hubby don't fancy this pungent, thorny fruit. Not so exciting anymore ... Food always taste better if we have to fight for it. Don't you agree?
A glamorous name for an
old-fashioned oatmeal raisin cookies. You might be wondering why is this
oatmeal raisin cookies being named as luxury oatmeal cookies. This recipe is
taken from my favourite author, Rose Levy Beranbaum's latest cookbook - The
Baking Bible. This book is divided into 4 types of baked goods - Cakes; Pies,
tarts, and other pastries; Cookies and Candy and Breads and Yeast Pastries.
It's been a long, long time since I last baked breads. It's school holiday now and my teens are at home. That means there must be some food at home to fill hungry stomachs, especially for my growing son. Lots of time on my hand since I don't have to teach the kiddies during this school holiday and I can't golf because I injured my elbow - hairline fracture. Thought that I can golf all I want this holiday. Sigh ... What else can I do? Bake ....
Traditional baked cheesecake or Japanese Souffle cheesecake? I was deliberating between which of the 2 to bake for my mother's birthday celebration. The traditional one is more full-flavoured and richer, which will mean bad news for those watching their waistlines and cholesterol level. The Japanese version is lighter and milder, which is just fabulous for the health conscious with a sweet tooth. But I do know of friends who love cheesecake will only stand by the traditional baked cheesecake. In the end, I decided to go with the light Japanese version.
Christmas season is here again. This is the season where we remember God's precious gift to us - Jesus Christ, our saviour, Prince of Peace. It's a season filled with love, warmth, joy and hope.
When it's January, I look forward to December. It's the time when the kids have finished their exams and holidays begins. no more stress from school. A time for travelling and relaxation. A time for nice cool weather to enjoy outdoor activities, if it's not raining. A time to find reasons to shop and feast. A time to bake for family and friends. Lovely season, but it's gonna end soon and a new year begins ....
This time round, I decided not to bake the usual log cake that I've been baking the past few years. I wanted something different, light and fruity (healthier I guess) for my cell group Christmas party. Thus I settled on a light genoise sponge cake sprinkled with rum-flavoured syrup, frosted with vanilla fresh cream and filled and decorated with lots of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. I'm so glad that my cell group members love it.
It's Christmas season again ..... Time to bake some cookies as gifts for friends. Let's go for one of the recipes in Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme's book - Viennese Chocolate Sables. Everyone (or I would say majority) loves chocolate. Furthermore, I have leftover egg whites in the fridge. Don't waste them. And this recipe uses egg whites only. What a good timing .....
