Mama Bea

Matcha (Green Tea) Red Bean Muffins

2015-10-18T02:49:00.001-07:00

So... it has been a while. Too long in fact since I've posted anything here. It's so weird that it's all starting again. Provided all goes well, we may just see more posts here.

We just celebrated another Youth Sunday at church today. The muffins were a huge hit at our last Youth Sunday and so as a team we decided to carry on this 'tradition'. This time round we had a team of five awesome ladies sharing their baking skills and ended up with the following menu:

Coffee and Pecan
Lemon
Blueberry
Red Velvet
Carrot and Honey
Banana and Walnut
Green Tea and Red Bean (*)
Double Chocolate (*)

Needless to say, I did the Double Chocolate and (as you could have guessed from the title on this blog) the Matcha (Green Tea) Red Bean Muffins. Research didn't find me a recipe that used sour cream. I have this thing with muffin recipes, one that it must use sour cream and two, it must be a one bowl mix (i.e. that it doing require creaming of butter).

My Chocolate Cupcake recipe satisfied those requirements. So instead of using the cocoa, I substituted it with green tea power and added red bean paste (store bought). Both cocoa and green tea power are bitter so I took a gamble in using the same amount of green tea powder. And it turned out brilliantly. Although credits to the green tea powder I purchased from my local Bubble Cup store (which is an Asian Sweet Tea shore). I was so blessed that they were willing to give me a packet of the green tea powder they use to make their teas. They also shared their Taro Powder (Yay!!) which means I will be testing it out soon!!

Going off on a tangent, Cupcake Central (Melbourne, Victoria) have been selling all kinds of Asian influence flavoured cupcakes. Just a few weeks ago, they had Pandan and then Taro. It got me inspired with my muffins. So I'll try out the taro powder and post about it later on- just keep watching this space.

I would have taken photos of my green tea red bean muffins but laziness took the better of me so I didn't have HD resolution photos to post (DSLR needs to be dusted and brought back into action). Instead, you can jump onto my instagram (@mamabea) for a somewhat 'alright/'postable' shot.

Recipe as follows:

Matcha (Green Tea) Red Bean Muffins.Ingredients A
1 cup Caster Sugar
1 cup Self Rising Flour
1/3 cup Matcha Powder (aka Green Tea Powder)
3/4 tsp Baking Soda (Bi carb soda)
1/2 tsp Salt

Ingredients B
1 Egg
1/2 cup Sour cream
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil (or a non scented oil)
1 tbsp Vanilla Extract (I like to be very liberal with the amount of vanilla I add in)
1/2 cup recently boiled water from the kettle

Ingredients C
1 can Premade Red Bean Filling/Paste (aka Adzuki Beans)

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C, and line one muffin tray with cupcake liners. Note that this recipe makes 10 big cupcakes and approx 12 average sized cupcakes.
2. Place all ingredients A in an electric mixer. With a whisk attachment, on a low speed mix the dry ingredients until there is no lumps remain.
3. In a measuring cup, place all ingredients B together and whisk until well incorporated.
4. On a medium low speed, gradually incorporate the wet mixture in the dry ingredients. When all incorporated, mix until the batter is smooth. Be careful not to over mix as it will dry out the cupcakes. Then fold in the Red Bean Paste/Filling until evenly incorporated.
5. Using a standard ice-cream scoop, evenly fill each cupcake liner with the batter.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cooked and golden on top.
7. When removed from the oven, let the cupcakes to cool completely in the pan before taking them out of the cupcake pan.

Let me know what you thought by commenting below! I would love to hear from you all and your experiences baking my recipe.

Happy Baking!

Ninjago Cake for a special kid's seventh birthday

2014-11-23T18:08:00.005-08:00

Tah dah! The much awaited post is finally up. After weeks of research and preparation, I introduce to you all the Ninjago Cake. Thoughts? Well, I can let you know that the kids received it very well, too well in fact that they all wanted a price of the sugar legos that were placed around the cake. Thank God the Birthday Boy was able to calm them down.

The weather was too hot for my liking leading up towards the day of the party. The humid weather made it difficult to handle the rolled fondant that I had purchased. Particularly the Red Fondant used to cover the entire cake. It kept breaking as I was trying to lift it even though I had worked a bit more corn flour into it to stabilize its consistency. In the end, I just worked with baking paper and flipped the rolled fondant onto the cake. I must say the fondant smoother is God send it comes to smoothing down the rough edges. So we got there, eventually.

So what lies beneath the rolled fondant. I used a dense, fudgy chocolate cake recipe that did not call for any eggs. It was vegetarian friendly, not nut friendly because the chocolate that was used to bake the cake did say it may contain traces of nuts. Two seven inches were used for the bottom layer and one five inch was used the the top. This cake was meant to serve only 30 people. But I would say, after baking it, that it could easily serve 40- 45 people given that the cake was awesomely rich.

I didn't want to use buttercream this time round to ice the cake. Only because my favourite recipe is the old fashion buttercream, which uses icing sugar, milk, vanilla and butter. To achieve a smooth finished, I thought chocolate ganache would be a better choice. And indeed it was. It was easy to work with as both and icing and filling for the cake. Because dark chocolate was used, it balanced out the sweetness of the cake. Overall, the cake was moist, fudgy and not at all sickly sweet. Comment below if you would like me to share the recipe.

As for the design, I simply search on Google for other examples. And by combining the designs, I came up with this one. Less is more hence I kept the design simple. The intention was for the spotlight to be on the top tier and that was achieved.

As for the height of the cake, it would be been around 30 cm.

You may also see from the photos that I also used my favourite chocolate cupcake recipes to make cupcakes to surround the cake. It could have been decorated with more sugar legos, but I just kept it simple with piped swirl using ganache.

I'm definitely looking forward to doing more of these novelty cakes. What I look forward to baking next time round is a princess cake with a dome cake for the dress. Can't wait for an order of that kind to be placed.

Have more questions in relation to this cake? Comment below as I look forward to helping out.

In the meantime, happy baking!

Simple Recipes- Korean Spicy Rice Cakes (Tteokbokki)

2014-11-09T17:39:00.000-08:00

I was running errands Friday evening and was asked to pick up some pre-made kimchi at my local korean groceries. What I love about this shop in particular is that they have fresh rice cakes available for sale. If you're lucky, you may also run into some fresh sweet rice cakes, which is a korean dessert, or korean sushi (Kimbap).

A tip with these fresh rice cakes is that if you don't intend to cook with it the same day it's purchase, throw it in the fridge if you gonna use it within the next two to three days. If you just want to stock up, then chuck in the freezer and defrost it when needed. Mind you, the one that I purchase came in a kilo. What I would recommend is that you portion it however much you want, and freeze the remainder until you decide to cook with it.

So being a Sunday evening, I decided to stay in to wind down and get some me time. The Boy stayed behind at church to help out with the Christmas production we have on 7 December. I had skipped lunch due to a late breakfast and a famished from something hearty and full of vegetables/seafood. (Note to you all, I am a Pescetarian.). With limited items to cook with, I decided it'd have to be Korean Spicy Rice Cakes. The fact that the recipe does only focus on rice cakes means that this recipe really doesn't call for much but for rice cakes and some staple vegetables that we would normally stock up with in the fridge.

Note that I have my take on this dish, and have added and taken out some things. I didn't have any onions, carrots or cabbage in the fridge hence the only vegetable used was chinese cabbage (which is the is the vegetable used to make kimchi).

Other ingredients you will need include: korean fish cakes (which is generally found in the freezer section of the any good korean grocers), dried large anchovies (which is also found in the freezer section. You can substitute this with anchovy powder which can also be found in korean grocers), korean hot pepper paste (aka Gochujang) and dried seaweed (also found in korean grocers).

My recipe goes as follows:

STEP ONE- Ingredients A: The hot paste mix

2 tablespoons Korean Hot Chilli Paste
2 cloves of garlic (chopped and minced)
1 knob (size of 1 clove of garlic) of ginger (chopped and minced)
1 tablespoon Honey
A dash of sesame oil
2 teaspoons salt

Method: Combine all ingredient A in a bowl and mix until combined. Then set aside.

STEP TWO- Ingredients B: The stock

1 1/2 cups of water
1 (10cm by 10 cm) sheet of dried seaweed
7- 8 dried anchovies (you will need to de-head them and remove the innards)
2 pieces of korean fish cake (slightly thaw it before using it)

Method: Put all ingredients in a cooking pot and boil over the stove top on medium heat. Once it comes to a boil, reduce it to a low heat and boil for 5 minutes. Then remove the seaweed, anchovies and fish cake from the pot. You may discard the seaweed and anchovies.

Allow the fish cake to cool before slicing it into 1cm by 6 cm strips. Then set aside.

Keep the broth on a low simmer.

STEP THREE- Ingredients C: The rice cakes and co

325 grams fresh rice cakes (The pack I purchased came in a pack of 650 grams)
Liberal amount of chinese cabbage (sliced into one centimeter strips)
5 boiled eggs (shelled/ peeled)

With the broth on a low simmer, put in the chinese cabbage and allow for it to cook until softened. Then put throw in the fresh rice cakes with Ingredient A (the hot paste mixture). Stir occasionally to prevent the rice cakes from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

You will note that the rice cake will thicken up sauce. If you find that the sauce is to thick add some water. However do test the saltiness of the sauce and adjust with salt to taste.

Just before serving stir in the fresh boiled eggs and the fish cakes. Give it one last stir before turning off the heat.

Serve while hot with fresh spring onions (aka green onions or scallions) and toasted sesame seeds.

Notes

The korean hot pepper paste is chilli/ hot. Two tablespoons was sufficient for it to give a kick to the overall dish. If you are concerned, just use one tablespoon instead.

Let me know what you think of this recipe and whether you would like to see more savoury recipes.. This recipe is my own hence it will not be authentic as I'm not of korean decent. If you are looking for something more authentic, do search up google for other recipes.

Comment below if you have other questions.

Happy Cooking!

Ninjago and Power Rangers- All for a kid's party

2014-11-05T03:25:00.001-08:00

I'm happy to announce that I have a very special birthday party coming up and have been asked to bake the birthday cake as well as prepare the goodies bag. I have also been informed that the two kids (who are brothers) loves Ninjago and his younger brother, Power Ranges.

I must say, I'm totally out with what kids are into these days. The last I remembered it was Pokemon, Captain Planet, Power Ranges (but the really early version) etc. Clearly, there is a generation gap.

For the last couple of days, I've been doing some research, only to find that there's this growing trend in fondant cakes. What ever happened to the good old buttercream. fresh cream cakes? Goes to show that I'm a true 90's baby.

For the first time I will be working very closely with fondant and chocolate ganache. I will also need to sieve out a good chocolate cake recipe. Suggestions for good chocolate cake? Hmmm... it will need to be moist, yet not to crumbly and needs to taste of chocolate. Ugh! More testing to come. And maybe, just maybe, a recipe to share.

Yes, the cake will be kept simple so I have more time to work on the edible decorations. It will need to be a two tiered cake; one set per cake (I may be making two, one for the ninjago and the other for the power ranger. The top tier will form the 'head' of the lego figurine and the bottom tier will act more as a platform to sit the top tier, to give it some height. As for the size of the cake, I was thinking more of a 20cm diameter for the bottom tier and a 10cm diameter for the top tier. The measurements are subject to change of course. It will all depend on whether we will have cupcakes to pair up with the cake.

A shout out to Pink Cake Princess and her awesome Youtube channel. Great source of inspiration and I would highly recommend you all to head over to her space and check it out. I will be giving her chocolate ganache recipe a try and see how it sets. I love her idea with the lego pieces which she used to top her cupcakes. This is practical in a sense that you don't want kids to be fighting over cupcakes because one has a power ranger/lego man and the other has only a piece of lego.

I'm still working on the design of the power ranger cake. There's not a lot of ideas going around, hence some more research it is. If you ask me where do I begin when it comes to designing cakes, it's Google. I just type in what I want to research and see what comes out. Then I pick, edit and create my idea. Not a bad place to start might I say.

Once I get my basic plan design up, I shall post it here so you guys (if you're out there) to have a basic idea of where I'm going with this cake.

Well, enough for now. More researching and designing.

Oh and also, my oven is still dead. I've been lucky to have an awesome partner and his family that has kindly said 'Use our kitchen'. But yes, we have plans to renovate my current kitchen at home. Construction/ renovations commence end of November and is scheduled to finish before Christmas. Did I mention that I also had another gig to bake for before Christmas? Yes, and it is very exciting too. But I shall share more about it in a later blog post. I will be talking about dessert tables and Christmas themed ideas.

But for now, Happy Baking! Comments are welcomed below. I shall look forward to responding to them.

Pancakes are my best friend- for now...

2014-11-03T17:45:00.003-08:00

I don't know if you all out there share the same fetish as me. When I go on Youtube I absolutely loved searching videos on people cooking, whether it be home cooks sharing recipes or people vlogging street cooks. Cause my oven died a long while ago, I've begun exploring the world of pancakes, crepes and other sweet treats that don't require 'baking' as per sae.

Last week I was rostered for refreshments for my connect group (i.e. bible study class), and thought it would serve a good platform for me to try out my pancake recipe. And it worked a treat. The key to a good pancake is don't over mix the batter. You're gonna activate the gluten if you whisk it into submission. Lumps in the batter ain't gonna wreak the outcome.

The next trick to a good pancake is buttermilk. If you don't have access to this, it's basically the combination of full cream milk and white vinegar. Say one cup to full cream milk to a tablespoon of white cooking vinegar. There's something with the acidity content of the buttermilk that keeps the pancakes fluffy and moist. If you don't gorge it all down the first day, provided it's kept in an airtight container, the pancakes are just as good the next morning; particularly if you pair it up with Nutella....Yum.....

Another tip to note is when you're cooking it, your pan needs to be on a medium heat. Best to use a non stick fry pan, otherwise, ensure you butter your pan decently. You don't want too much butter to the heat in the pan may cause the butter to brown. When the batter is in the pan, let it sit there. Don't feel the urge to flip it immediately. Your pancake will tell you when it's ready to be flipped, which is when the top of the pancake forms air pockets. When it does, simply flip it over and let it cook for another four to five minutes or until cooked.

The last tip I have for a good pancake is to use good quality butter when cooking the pancake. Think about it, it's the butter the coats the outside of the pancake. You'd realize that good quality butter leave a dreamy, gorgeous scent/ flavour on the pancake. So I would highly recommend that you spend just that little bit more on the butter.

We have a whole range of butters in our local supermarket. For those who shop at Coles you'd know what I'm talking about. It can range from local produce to international produce. I generally opt to Western Star which is great for all kinds of recipes. But for this occasion, I decided to splurge a little and opted for Ballantyne (http://www.ballantyne.com.au/about-us/). Trust me, it really does make a difference.

I guess you would like to see the recipe now.

Well then, if you keep watching this space, I might just post it up.

Happy Baking.

Mama Bea.

It's been to long. How I have missed you.

2014-09-14T03:10:00.003-07:00

Let the photos do the talking.

Those who read my blog posts would know that I have not been able to bake in the house. The oven had died and remains dead. However we had this event over the weekend and it could not proceed less some home baked cupcakes. Hence my partner's family were kind enough to let me bake in thier kitchen. I was like 'WOOOOHOOOOOO'.

Yes they are chocolate cupcakes; the recipe you can find in my 'recipe' list. For garnishing, I used my chocolate buttercream recipe (this recipe will be shared at a later date) along with some fresh strawberries from my local supermarket. To make things a little fancier, I dipped some of the white strawberries in white chocolate. The brand used was Wilton Chocolate Melts (in the white colour).

Thoughts on the product (Wilton Chocolate Melts (in the white colour)):-

Pros:

Melted easily in the microwave, sets quickly and has a glossy look after it sets. Hence no tempering required (not that I have ever tried tempering chocolate)

Cons:

The weather was a little cold, then I found that I had to reheat/remelt the chocolate after a couple of uses. This was a bummer as I was in a rush and needed something that could just retain its state. However, I may try keeping it in a hot water bath next time I use it to see whether helps. Also, I find the consistency a little too thick.

When will I be able to bake again?

Keep watching this blog and ye shall know.

Happy Baking!

Mama Bea

Blueberry Muffins

2014-07-16T04:30:00.005-07:00

This was done a while back but what's a post without the recipe. To start things off, my oven is still dead. It's not turning on and hence there has been absolutely no baking happening in this household. I've been cooking more over the stove and have recently tried making carbonara for the first time.Was a hit, but not a good as hit than my 'Breakfast for Dinner'. Well, at least that's what my partner tells me.

I've probably raved about this before, but I'm gonna have to do it here again. Sour cream does the trick for muffin recipes. It retains moisture very well and gives the top a good crunch. I credit the fat content. And when baking, never go shy on full fat. These keep at least four days in a air tight container. Freezers well too, but who want to do that. I mean I had two when they came straight out of the oven.

This is a solid recipe. Feel free to add any fresh fruits to jazz it up. What I did, was add frozen blueberries. I could have gone the extra mile by cooking the fruit into a compote, which will then add extra flavour. This recipe can make 24 small muffins, or 12 overfilled muffins. Yes, I opted for 12 hence had them spilling out of the cases forming a gorgeous muffin top.

Muffin Recipe
1 cup Vegetable Oil (or a non scented oil)
1 cup Full-fat sour cream
2 Eggs (800g eggs used here)
1 tbsp vanillia extract
1 1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt

3 cups self raising flour

1 cup frozen blueberries

Method
1. Preheat over to 180 degrees, and line either 12 or 24 cupcake trays with cupcake liners.
2. Obtain the oil, sour cream, eggs, vanilla, caster sugar and salt in a mixing bowl and mix well.
3. Fold in the self rising flour and the blueberries. Remember not to over-mix or it will activate the gluten in the flour.
5. Fill the cupcake liners and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top/ cooked in the center.
6. Serve warm or once cooled store in an airtight container.

Comment below and let me know how you feel about this recipe.

Happy Baking!

Pipe pipe piping

2014-06-27T17:22:00.000-07:00

First of all, my oven has died. Yet again. This means no baked goods for the weeks to come, but more talking here. Originally I had a project to work on for the week for a 21st Birthday. Poo to my oven, I've had to pull out from baking. And yes, there goes another very very good opportunity to bake something fun.

A comment was left on one of my older posts asking how I piped my swirls for my cupcakes. To put things straight, it does come with practice. You need to be able to understand the pressure from squeezing out the buttercream to knowing how to guide the tip in a motion that the swirl comes out in a presentable fashion.

The pressure is about understanding the consistency of your buttercream to the amount of strength applied in squeezing the piping bag. So, a word of advice is to practice on baking paper first and getting a better grip of the piping bag. With technique as to how you are to hold the piping bag, I'd say it comes with person preference. I like to hold up the very top where the piping bag is secured/ twisted to avoid buttercream coming out the top end. You need to hold the piping in a manner that it gives you stability and control over its motions.

I swirl in an anti clockwise direction, starting from the middle and working toward the edge. You'd want to leave some gap between the buttercream and the edge of your cupcake/cake. This will give you the freedom of decorating the top with extra bits and pieces. For instance, if I wanted to garnish with a fresh strawberry, I would push it down onto the buttercream, and which the gap it will give it room to spread out.

I may just upload a video showing this technique I use. It will be anything but professional.

If you have any questions, pop them down below and I will get on answering them.

Till then, happy baking.

When stuck between two worlds, one must keep calm and bake

2014-06-11T06:34:00.000-07:00

Hello? It's always nice to greet any person that crosses paths, even though they may not have been looking at that moment and time. So hello to all those who have kept there attention on this blog and have read it out of genuine interest.

I don't think I've shared what I do for a living and thought why not just share about it today, now and here. I'm a lawyer by day, foodie by night. Yes, a lawyer. Dry and tedious, yes, but how is one to fuel it's addiction but for a job that pays relatively well. I've only just started practicing this year and am already looking forward to the day I say 'Adios Amigos', clear my desk and head into a cafe/bakery to really start living. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate my job, I just don't think it's what I meant to be doing. Who does, honestly?

What comforts me is that a bad day, or a horrible week can be amended by quality time spent mixing together sour cream, sugar, eggs, flour, oil etc etc which then get baked and turned into wonderful, delicious muffins. It's like salute to a bad week, here's a bunch of calorie filled muffins to make up for it. And I am all in for it. You know what, I never realised just how long I can spend walking up the aisles in the supermarket. It's so therapeutic, much better than clothes shopping. So I choose nowadays to go grocery shopping for the family. It keeps me sane from all the other things happening around me.

Please do excuse me with all that I've written here. My thoughts can be shattered in all places.

Muffins is what I really what to be talking about here. We had lemons gifted a couple days ago from an aunty at church. She grows them in her backyard and had a couple to spare. I craved muffins and had all the ingredients in my pantry. But, this thought came to me about spicing up my old recipe with some lemon rind. You know when you have muffins and there's that really strong flour/ eggy taste. I'm not a huge fan of it. Hence, lemon rind (my newest discovery) get rid of it all and for all. It's natural oils also enhances the taste of the muffins. Guilty as I am, I had two when they cam straight out of the oven. A guilty pleasure indeed.

Photos are posted for your viewing and review.

I'm thinking about incorporating chocolate and orange rind in my next batch- of course, when I get time to head back into the kitchen. Any suggestions for other combinations?

Mother's Day Pancakes

2014-05-11T03:21:00.000-07:00

Humble cooking just about sums up this recipe. Get the basics right and you'll be soaring with the more technical ones. This morning several ideas come to mind of what I wanted to cook mum for breakfast. Not only did I need to think about what she enjoyed eating but also whether had the necessary ingredients. Tossing between pancakes and bruschetta, I settled with pancakes. The thought process was basically either wash up and put on something decent to be able to head out to the shops, or stay in your pj's and cook without washing up. It wasn't a difficult one honestly.

Being a follower of Nigella Lawson, I credit this recipe to her. I've made my tweaks but enough to make it me. Nigella would agree that this is a simple recipe, ingredients which you'll find in your pantry. And the best part is that you can mix together the ingredients, store in in a jar and have homemade pancake mix in your storage, ready to go or to fix up your cravings whenever they hit.

Wet ingredients consist of full cream milk, eggs and vanilla extract (optional). It's a one pot/bowl mix. Let the mixture rest of course for a good 15 minutes before frying up a pan with some good butter, and on a low heat cooking the pancakes. You don't want the heat too high unless you're using clarified butter. If not, the butter's gonna brown and there will be too much colour/hitting burnt looking on the pancake.

Keep these babies warm, either place a lid over the cooked ones or like myself us foil.

Reviews from the household- that it tasted fantastic. Even my was pleasantly surprised; mind you she's not a huge sweet/pastry lover.

I hear you ask, what did you use to serve with the pancake? Well, Nigella had a great idea of cooking together maple syrup and fresh fruit. Both which I didn't have in the house this morning. So I compromised the two ingredients with honey and dried fruit. If you have the time, I would recommend you to soak the dry fruit in some liquid and cook in down in advance. Alternatively, fresh fruit is the best option as it will break down naturally with its juices when over the heat. It's called 'Blueberry syrup' by the way. The difficulty working with honey is that it tends to set firmer than golden syrup. So ideally, to cook blueberry syrup, use golden syrup and fresh blueberries. How much of each? Well enough to serve. We all have a preference as to how much syrup we'd like on pancakes. So enough to go around.

Now, for the pancake recipe (makes 12):-

1 cup flour (you can also use self rising flour. If you are, then omit the baking powder and baking soda).
2 tsp of baking power
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup caster sugar
1 tsp of salt

1 cup milk
1 egg
Enough vanilla extract

Method
1. Combine all ingredients together until smooth. Then let the mixture to rest for 15 minutes.
2. Cook on a medium- low heat. Use good butter to oil the pan and cook in batches. Then serve warm with toppings of your preference.

Simple cooking. Not that much of a hassle really.

Just because I've named with recipe Mother's Day Pancakes, doesn't mean you cook them once a year. Pancakes are for all occasions. Let me know how you go by commenting below.

Happy Cooking.

Humble Foodies- Gelato

2014-04-19T00:00:00.004-07:00

I've been thinking what to blog on for quite some time (you know, apart form my fabulous recipes). And that is the 'Humble Foodies' series. We've all been to stores or have seen on television the people with small dreams who have then blossomed it into something greater. So I thought, why not share about those in our neighbourhood (okay, so maybe a little further out than just my neighbourhood). I mean come on, these people need our support right? What better than to share about them through the internet.

So the topic today is Gelato. I remember having this conversation with a good friend of mine. We were having a serious conversation on which store served the best tasting gelato. I of course preferred the store I'd away go to in the city. And there goes my colleague, on and on about this new place he'd discovered. Clearly I was not convinced, I mean I love my gelato and here's my colleague saying I've got everything wrong.

I didn't think about visiting this place until months later. It was after dinner with a couple of friends and we craved for something a little sweet. Don't ask me how, but I was like 'I heard there's this place on Lygon that's serving great gelato. Wanna try it out?'. And yes, you guessed it, we did.

Humbled humbled humbled by this experience. More humbled after hearing how this place began. The owner of this store went travelling in Argentina and fell in love with the gelato there. She then friend the owners and after time learnt how to make their gelato. Yes, she was given the recipe. Then after, she returned to Melbourne and opened up her own store; naming the store after the one in Argentina 'Helados Jauja'. The owner went from lawyer of a top tier firm in Melbourne to owner of a humble gelato store.

With the variety of flavours on offer, I have painstakingly selected two to be my current favourite: (1) Durian; and (2) Apple Crumble. With gelato is made from real fruit and flavours, this ain't any ordinary store. When I tasted the Durian it was just like eating the fruit itself. The same with Apple Crumble; only that it was just a cold version of the decedent dessert. We spoke to the staff members who served us with smiles and were helpful with our choices. Free sample can be requested if you're not sure which flavours to select.

With quality indulgent gelato, there is a price to be paid.

What did I take from this experience? Well, big trees from small acorns grow. With one store currently opened in Melbourne, I do suggest a trip to this place the next time you're on Lygon. Give this place a taste and be the judge yourself.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

2014-02-13T04:59:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines Day to you all!

As a gift from us to you we will be posting our Red Velvet Cupcakes Recipe! It's really good! This is something you would want to cook over and over, whether it be for your significant other, friends or even for yourself (and there is nothing wrong with that!)

For Mama Bea, it is important that cupcakes are moist and fluffy. So we've tested our fair share of recipes. The conclusion is that you gotta have access to buttermilk, white vinegar, baking soda (bi-carbonate soda) and good red food colouring.

For vegans/ vegetarians out there, be sure to read the ingredients section of your red food colouring. It is a fact that red beetles are used to achieve the deep red colour in red food colouring. So watch out!

Apart from that, we hope you enjoy this recipe! Comment below to let us know what you think about Mama Bea's recipe!

Ingredients

1 cup Self Rising Flour, sifted

¼ cup Cocoa Powder (for baking purposes), sifted

½ teaspoon Salt

2/3 cups Vegetable Oil

½ cup Buttermilk, at room temperature

¾ cups Caster Sugar

1 Egg (700 or 800 grams eggs preferable), at room temperature

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

2 tablespoon Red Food Colouring

½ teaspoon Baking Soda (Bi-carbonate Soda)

¾ teaspoon White Vinegar

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line your baking trays with MAMA BEA cupcake cups. Prepare two mixing bowls and one small bowl. (For normal cupcake liners- this will make 12 cupcakes)
In one mixing bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt together. Once completed, leave aside. This is the dry ingredient bowl.
In another mixing bowl, combine the vegetable oil, buttermilk, sugar, egg, vanilla extract and red food colouring together. Mix well and left aside. This is the wet ingredients bowl.
In a small bowl, mix together the baking soda and white vinegar. Once combined, mix the baking soda mixture into the wet ingredients bowl.
Then mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients together. Be careful not to over mix the batter as it will activate the gluten in the flour. Activating the gluten in the flour will create a dry cupcake.
Fill the cupcake cups with the cake batter. We recommend filling the cupcake cups a little over half way full.
Bake the cupcake for 15 minutes or until they are cooked. Let the cupcake to rest until cool before icing them.

NOTE: If you are using Mama Bea Cupcake Cups, you may have cake batter remaining after filling the cupcake cups. You can bake the remainder batter on a separate baking tray by spreading the cake batter into a thin layer. When cooked, wrap the cake in cling wrap when cooled and freeze it for an hour. You can then break the cake up into crumbs and use as decoration on the iced cupcakes.

Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients

250 grams Cream Cheese, at room temperature

125 grams Unsalted Butter, at room temperature

½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract

2 cups Icing Sugar, sifted

Method

Using an electric mixer or a hand held mixer, beat together the cream cheese and butter. Be careful not to over mix the cream cheese as it will cause the liquid to come out from the cream cheese.
Then mix in the vanilla extract and icing sugar until incorporate.
Place the icing into a piping bag with a piping tip of your choice. The icing is ready to be used.

NOTE: If you're not using Mama Bea Cupcake Cups, do double the icing recipe to ice your cupcakes.

HAPPY BAKING!

Basic Muffins Recipe (SUPER MOIST)

2014-01-25T16:42:00.001-08:00

I'm all about moisture when it comes to cakes. I know muffins are meant to be dense in nature, but that shouldn't mean we sacrifice 'moist'. Let me bring to the table the king of all ingredients, the one that save cakes from being dry; it's the one and the only...SOUR CREAM!!

I like to fill the batter about half way up, just to avoid it from overflowing when it bakes.

With the addition of sour cream in the cake mix, it adds a layer of creaminess which butter doesn't always give off. I was hesitant at first, but after playing around with ingredients I believe I finally have it. When baked the top layer of the muffin is crisp. Coupled with a moistness of the muffin, it is absolutely superb.

You wouldn't want to miss out. Mama Bea has used this recipe and has never turned back.

Basic Muffin Recipe

Ingredients
1 cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup Sour Cream (Full Fat)
2 Eggs
1 tbsp Vanilla Extract

1 1/2 cups Caster Sugar (Granulated Sugar)
1/2 tsp Salt
3 cups Self Rising Flour

Method
1. Preheat oven to 180 degree and line your muffins trays.
2. Combine the wet ingredients together in a separate bowl (oil, sour cream, eggs and vanilla) and set aside.
3. In another bowl bring together the dry ingrediants (flour, sugar and salt), then mix in the wet ingredients.
4. Don't over mix the batter. Mix until you see no more white flour.
5. Scoop out the batter into the liners and bake for 20-25 minutes or until they are cook and golden brown on the top.
6. To keep them fresh, store the muffins in a container. These will keep 3-4 days.

If you're using MAMA BEA CUPCAKE CUPS, these will make a least 20 muffins, if not more. These are great for afternoon tea, or even breakfast.

And yes, you can half the recipe.

To jazz it up, you can add chocolate chips (which is what I did), dried fruit, or even fruit compote (which is a fresh fruit cooked down into a syrup). Be creative!

Happy Baking!

Slacker's Cookie

2013-02-24T02:04:00.001-08:00

This is going to be a short post. No pictures just as yet but I'll have them up as soon as possible.

I was having one of those nights and wanted to whip up something that didn't require to much machinery. Hence the one pot mix. Just simple ingredients that you should find readily in your kitchen pantry, 15 minutes in a 180 degrees oven and when cooled, its divine. Well, at least I felt better after stuffing down three of them in a row.

So here's the recipe

1 cup self rising flour
1 cup rolled oats
2/3 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup sultanas

2 tbsp honey
140g unsalted butter

Method:
1. Melt butter and honey in a saucepan and let to cool. Combine all the dry ingredients in mixing bowl.
2. When butter mixture is cool enough, pour into the dry ingredients and mix until combine.
3. Portion into 17 cookies. Flatten each cookie out a little to help it spread out while it bakes.
4. Bake in 180 degree oven for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown.
5. Serve once cooled and store in airtight container.

Enjoy guys! Have a lovely week!

It's not just any boeuf borguignon, but Julia Child's boeuf borguignon.

2013-02-17T18:56:00.000-08:00

Perhaps I'm getting a little ambitious with mastering the art of french cooking. I thought it would be wise to promote throughout the household that I will be making boeuf bourguignon for dad's and my brother's birthday, only to discover that this task is no easy feet.

I had purchased a copy for the famous cook book and finally found the perfect occasion to make use of it. Why french cuisine? Well, the truth is the movie 'Julie and Julia' inspired me that 'anybody can cook' (insert from Ratatoullie). But there's always that misjudgment that it's gonna be easy, at least that's what the movie got me to think. The recipe says otherwise. As I've mentioned previously, I learn by looking and observing how people do things and then somehow manage to remember the whole recipe just like that. Weird, I think, but very helpful.

So thank you to Youtube, I manage to find the real sensation cooking up a feast in her kitchen. You'd be surprised to know that Julia, in fact, cooked this recipe on the episode of 'The French Chef', her very own television show. I begun to understand after watching her go about in the kitchen, how she really does become the 'big, tall fairy' in your kitchen, that 'imaginary friend'.

The stew was marvelous. Splendid. Full of goodness. I never realised how easy it was to cook with those stone oven pots, the ones that you can have sitting in the oven to have the meat slowly braise. You don't even need to worry about the meat catching, only to check on the meat every now so often to see whether it is slowly simmering, or even simmering at all.

My dad made the comment after taking a his first bite that it reminded him of his school days in Vietnam. He was schooled at a Catholic boarding school, and as the priest had the access to french food, it meant the boys at school also got a taste of what french food was. Dad said the stew stirred up memories. You can just imagine how happy I was when I heard him say that. Ecstatic.

For the sides, there was roasted potatoes that were first sauteed off in a fry pan before being fully cooked in the oven, sauteed carrots, green salad, and bread with onion relish (compliments of my sister). Having served this feast on a 30 odd degree day, meant beer was also provided. A family favourite, Crown Larger.

In short, for those of you who haven't already seen the movie 'Julie and Julia' I highly recommend it. The cook book is just as fabulous, so if you can land yourself a copy, I can guarantee you'd be just as pleased with it.

Our take on Kulich; YUM!

2013-02-05T03:24:00.003-08:00

I'm an eighth Russian, that speaks no Russian, but loves Kulich; well at least how my grandma makes it. I've recently learnt, thanks to Google, that this Russian sweet bread that I've been brought up on is called 'Kulich'. However after searching for recipes online, it sunk into me that there's just so many recipes out there, 'which one is actually the real deal'?

Excuse my bias-ness (if that is even a word), but I've gotta say I love my grandmother's sweetbread, though she's not really into giving away recipes just as yet. I've tried many times, and she'd literally list the ingredients and give no more, nothing, whatsoever. But thank God, I have my mother, a lady that has watched my grandma make this over and over again, yet she still does not know the secret behind good kulich.

You'd be glad to hear that as of recent there has been a breakthrough. I think we've discovered the secret behind good, soft, buttery, god send bread. It's devilish, but my goodness, I can't stop eating bread. Those who know me really well, I'm not a carb fanatic, but this can get me eating lots and lots. I was over at my grandma's place and as all grandparent's do, they rummage through their cupboards and fridges looking for food to fuel us up (even if we've just come from dinner). That day my grandma had been baking 'nang' which is a Northern Chinese staple, kinda like a naan, and to my surprise she willingly disclose that it was thickened cream that she used in most of her baking. Who would have guessed? Thickened cream? All this time....

And yes, my mother did pick up on this soon after baking her most recent batch of sweet bread. The results were divine, mouth watering....(I'm getting hungry now...)

I'm sad to say that I have not recorded the recipe my mother used the other day. She tends to cook by eye and feel, so it makes it more difficult to record anything done. Another thing is, we cook in bulk, so I will need to down size her recipe for the sake of my faithful readers. I will, in due time, have a post up for this heavenly sweet bread, so that all you, scattered across the world can get a taste of what I call fine bread.

In the meantime, I will be posting pictures to get you all excited. Take care readers!

Please excuse my photo taking skills- I've just print screen what I've posted on my instagram.

Holy Bananas! More Banana Bread!

2013-01-24T21:06:00.002-08:00

Before I go on about banana bread, what a week it has been. I just thought I would share, particularly where I have been sleeping so much. All those years of 5 hours worth of sleep per night seems to have caught up with me. Today seems to be worst day of all. I managed to sleep 9 hours, only to wake up and feel like sleeping again, plus, I don't if its cause of that sleeping, there's this sickly feeling inside of me. For starters, I'm not pregnant. It must body crying out me, 'sleep woman! you need to rest'..... okay, enough of that. Let's move on to something a little lighter.

After lunch, to avoid getting into the routine of having an afternoon nap, which I have been doing as of recently, I managed to get a new batch of banana bread into the oven. The last banana bread I made, as you can see from the last blog post, was great. But I felt it could be better.

There is this banana bread that I can locally, either from those veggie markets or wholesaler places, and it is absolutely delicious. And with the tendency to look at what ingredients are involved in making all the things I eat, I saw they had sour cream as one of its main ingredients. Fancy I know, and a little more money to dig out just for a banana bread, but trust me, it makes a difference.

Despite only having one extremely ripe banana in the house, and the only one left, the bread still turned out perfect. Immediately I could tell it was a lot moist that the last, and had this lovely golden crust that crumbled as I sliced into it. It could definitely go down just as well if it was served as muffins. I did expect it to be a lot more spongy, but I think that was cause I was lacking some bananas.

Should you have the extra sour cream in the house, I would highly recommend giving this recipe a go. If not, the other banana recipe is just as good. I found that the last banana bread was good for about two to three days, and really started dying out after that. I believe this one will last a little longer, all due to sour cream.

Recipe

Sour Cream Banana Bread

Ingredients

1 cup caster sugar

1 1/2 cup self rising flour (I like using SRF because I find the results are better than using just plain flour and adding in a couple tsp's of baking powder)

1 tsp cinnamon powder

1/2 cup vegetable oil (or canola oil)

1/2 cup sour cream (full fat, no light stuff here)

2 eggs

2 bananas, mashed

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degree celsius and line a loaf pan with baking paper

2. Place flour, sugar and cinnamon sugar into mixing bowl. In another bowl, mix together all the other remaining ingredients, such as the eggs, sour cream, oil and bananas.

3. Mix in the wet ingredient to the dry ingredients. Be care not to over work the batter.

4. Pour into the loaf pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until it is cooked. If the bread needs another 5 minutes, turn the oven down to 150 degree celsius.

5. Let to cool in the pan before slicing. Keep in an air tight container.

Simple as A B C! Hope you guys enjoy this one. Comments are more than welcome!

Freezing your overripe bananas; it's a new revelation

2013-01-20T19:16:00.005-08:00

Who would have thought! Freezing your overripe bananas. It's a new revelation.

Despite the fact I am a keen baker, there are moments when I really go slack and think 'meh..maybe tommorow', which is why I still have bananas frozen since last year in my freezer; indeed not as productive as I would have thought. Only to be concerned that they would eventually rot, which is possible, I thought I might just have banana bread baking on my agenda today.

Those of you who have made banana bread before, would know how time consuming it can be to mash the bananas into puree. But thanks to the all time genius Crumb Boss, the ones that I froze, once they thawed, was so easy to break down. It literally turned into mush!

Combined with a good banana recipe I had freshly baked banana bread on the kitchen counter an hour later. Now that is what I call a good start to the day. Though I did doubt its texture and all when it came out of the oven. It looked a little dry, but no, I was wrong. As it sat to cool down the top of the bread started to soften, and after slicing it open, I was finally convince this was a success. This day isn't so bad after all. I've got banana bread ready to eat and another baking whist I'm writing this blog.

Sharing is caring so here is the recipe for my faithful readers. I like recipes which call for ingredients that we already have in our pantry. So take my for it, this call for nothing fancy. Just eggs, flour, sugar, bananas, milk, cinnamon powder and butter. If you like, you could also add some chocolate chips or walnuts, whichever tickles your fancy.

Recipe

Banana Bread (made with frozen, overly ripe bananas- thought I might just add this into the title)

Ingredients
2 cups self raising flour
3/4 cups caster sugar (or soft brown sugar, whichever you like)
1 tsp cinnamon powder

1/2 cup full cream milk
50g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs
2 medium sized bananas, mashed

Method
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius, and line a loaf pan (standard size) with baking paper.
2. In one bowl, combine the flour, sugar and cinnamon powder together.
3. In another bowl, combine the milk, butter, eggs and bananas together. Then pour this wet mixture into the dry ingredients. Mix until combine.
4. Pour into the loaf pan and bake for 45-50 minutes. My bread required an extra 10 minutes at a lower temperature of 150 degrees celsius.
5. Leave to cool before slicing. This is best kept in a air tight container.

Leave comments below and let me know how your banana bread turns out. Enjoy!

My sources of inspiration

2013-01-01T21:52:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have been reading my blog, you may have been wondering where I'm getting all my ideas from (even though there are few of them). There are two sites that I absolutely love and will be sharing with you guys today. These are two respectable websites from my point of view, but it may not be something that everyone shares. But there is no harm in sharing.

I have to say that the one site that I view the most would be Crumb Boss and the Producer. They are two awesome people (Crumb Boss, who owns a bakery, and Steph, who records the videos) from New Jersey in the US who run a website as well as upload YouTube videos each weekend teaching how and what to bake. I'm a visual leaner when it comes to cooking and baking and find it a lot easier to 'monkey see, monkey do'. So for those who love visuals, then do log on to Crumb Boss. There is something I should mention before you guys view any Crumb Boss videos on Youtube, and that is Steph the Producer is filled with personality which may not tickle every person's fancy. I love her and enjoy her existence, so it doesn't bother me at all, but be warned.

The recipes are uploaded on to the Crumb Boss website and comments can be left (which will always been answered by the Crumb Boss) or if you have any queries you can also send in an email. It's very interactive and should I be asked to describe them it would be 'a breath of fresh air'. As I'm residing in Australia, I find the converting the measurements quite tedious and difficult at times, so I tend to take their concept and use recipes I am familiar with to re-create something similar.

The second most viewed website by me, is Foodgawker. It is a platform where bloggers from all over the world submits blog posts of the things they have made, recipes etc. I've submitted a couple of posts on there, but it is definitely the site to go should you want to look for different interpretations of recipes. The best things about the website are the pictures. Take a look for yourselves.

I hope I've given you good sources for future reference. Foodgawker is definitely the place to go to for daily updates and posts, and more importantly free food porn. Warning that is could be dangerous to view this site when you're craving for something sweet. It will drive you mad (and I speak from personal experience).

Enjoy Peeps! And let me know what you think about these two sources, or any other sources you find helpful when it comes to baking.

Chocolate Brownies @2013

2013-01-01T20:59:00.002-08:00

The first baked goody for the year, Chocolate brownies.

I had some leftover chocolate icing for my cupcakes that wear served at a farewell dinner (I didn't manage to take photos with my DSLR (I'm using a Nikon D700), but did snap a picture which is posted on my instagram @mamabeas). It would be a sin to throw away an form of chocolate icing.

The brownies came out perfect. This is no ordinary brownie. It more of a cake base brownie, which uses cocoa powder rather than real chocolate. But it still tastes amazing! I had a piece myself already. The brownies wasn't too sweet, so to top it all off with a rather sweet icing made it a match in heaven. I'd give it a generous ten out of ten. Then again, it's easy for me to say cause I've tasted it and you guys only have pictures. Which is why I've decided to post my brownies recipe. I've adapted it from elsewhere and have made my twigs here and there. I know it is fool proof, so give it a go when you get the chance.

Recipe

Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients
5 Eggs, at room temperature
250- 300g caster sugar (depending on how sweet you'd like the brownies to be)
120g self rising flour
100g good baking cocoa powder
250g unsalted butter, melted

Method
1. Preheat oven to 180 C (degrees not Fahrenheit), and line a baking tin (a brownies tin preferably) with baking paper
2. In a electric mixer, combine the eggs and sugar together and beat until light and fluffy. Add in the flour and cocoa powder and beat until all ingredients are well incorporated. Be careful not to over beat the mixture, it's always good to have the mixer on a low speed.
3. Pour in the melted butter and mix through.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared tin, and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the top is firm but the center is still a little soft.
5. Let to cool completely before spreading the icing over the top.

Shortly I will be posting up the buttercream icing I use for both my cupcakes and brownies (whenever there are leftovers). So keep an eye out for it. And please, leave comments below and I will answer them asap. Also, if you'd like to see daily picture posts, follow me on instagram 'mamabeas'.

Till then, enjoy peeps!

Be my friend @mamabeas

2012-12-30T05:12:00.003-08:00

This is going to be a short post guys.

I'm sure the image gives it away. Mama Bea is on instagram, so if it tickles your fancy, come follow me on http://instagram.com/mamabeas/ for daily updates of the things I make, or eat, either way, it's foodmania!

Here's a screen shot for you guys :)

This may be the last post of the year, so I'd like to wish you all a Happy New Year!

Signing off!

Merry Christmas!

2012-12-25T04:58:00.000-08:00

It's finally Christmas! A time to celebrate our year's worth of accomplishments and successes, a time to reflect, a time to spend with family and friends, but most importantly a time to give. YOLO right? So make the most of what you can do now; no exception.

As I've previously mentioned, I'm going to be giving out cupcakes this seasons (and probably many more to come; cupcake overload from Mama Bea's). For Christmas this year, our aunty invited the family (which is made up of six families in total) over to her place for dinner. We each took over one or more plates of food and gathered as all families should do. It's always nice to be able to get together on special occasions, especially when I have all my extended family based in Melbourne, it's a blessing. Food, laughter, meaningful talks and more food, what more could one ask for?

Well enough of me blabbering on about Christmas. I've taken some photos of the cupcakes I took over for Christmas dinner. But to side track a bit, did I mentioned that I haven't stopped feasting since last Thursday. That's exactly five days in a row... Oh dear... but we'll worry about that later... till then, have a Merry Christmas Everyone! God bless you all!

Buttercream

2012-12-20T05:42:00.001-08:00

For those who don't know already, essentially, there are three types of buttercreams. We have the normal buttercream, the Swiss meringue buttercream, and the Italian meringue buttercream. Personally, I prefer the good old ways with buttercream and am not a real fan of the Swiss or Italian buttercream. Of course I have my reasons.

(Before we proceed, here's a little 101 on the different types of buttercream. The difference between normal buttercream and Swiss/ Italian, is that it does not start with a meringue base. It's simply butter, icing sugar and milk beaten up till it's light and fluffy, and then viola, you have buttercream. As for Swiss and Italian buttercream, you take the extra step of making a meringue before adding the butter. The consistency is very different, normal buttercream can dry hard and if not beaten long enough can give off a grainy taste (due to the icing sugar). On the other hand, you get a silky, smooth consistency with Swiss and Italian, almost like whipped cream.)

Firstly, I find buttercreams with a meringue base have an eggy taste. Maybe it's just the recipe I use, but I find that every time I make it, it gives off an pungent egg smell. I'm not sure about everyone else, but I wouldn't like to have an egg party happening on in my mouth as I'm eating a cupcake. I mean really, who would?

The other thing is, it uses a lot of butter. And I mean a lot! It screams 'heart block'.

The recipe that I've been using, I think, is really good. My tips is to let the mixture beat for a long time, at least for 5-10 minutes. The longer you beat the buttercream, the lighter and fluffier the texture.

Vanilla Buttercream

Ingredients

250g Icing Sugar, sifted (I'm usually too slack to sift, but if you place the icing sugar in the electric mixer and let it beat on a slow speed, it will take out the lumps)

80g Unsalted butter, room temperature

25ml (5 teaspoons) Whole Milk

Vanilla Extract, to taste

(*This recipe is enough to frost 12 cupcakes)

Method

1. Beat icing sugar and butter in an electric mixer, with the paddle attachment on a slow speed.

2. Then combine in the milk and vanilla, and gradually increase mixer to a higher speed.

3. Let the butter mixture beat until it is light and fluffy (I would give it a good 10 minutes- remember the longer you beat the buttercream, the lighter its texture).

C is for Cupcakes

2012-12-19T20:16:00.001-08:00

So here are the finished cupcakes

Before

After

I've packed them in an actual cupcake box which I bought off from Ebay. The seller goes by the name of alwaysharvest, and there are a range of boxes which may take your fancy. There is only a limited range of products, but if you're only giving cupcakes off as gifts for Christmas then I would definitely recommend getting it off Ebay. I'm hoping to look for a long time supplier, hence will be checking up whether it would be cheaper to bring in the same things but from overseas. Stay tuned guys and I'll let you know how that all goes.

Just this afternoon I went over to drop of these cupcakes at my boyfriend's place. He has relatives over from Malaysia, and group of them too, so hopefully these cupcakes will keep them good company. More importantly I hope they enjoy them.

I've checked my recipe list, and there is a recipe for Chocolate and Vanilla cakes. I'm anticipating on blogging about the types of icing I use soon, so be excited.

Oh, and before I forget: Merry Christmas!

Tis' the season to be jolly!

2012-12-18T20:19:00.002-08:00

It's the season of giving and I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. Since I'm a jobless, poor student, what I can give to people that would bring a them little joy.

The obvious answer: Baked goods

I didn't want to bake the traditional gingerbread, or those fruit cakes you get out there (only cause I've never tried to before, and there isn't a lot of time left for me to try new things).

I've been getting back to baking cupcakes. Just the basic flavours though; chocolate and vanilla, and if you go to my recipe tab, I'm sure I did post a recipe for both of them a while back (if not, then I'll do that in my next post). Recently I've been using recipes from a lovely book that was gifted last year, and it has been absolutely wonderful. The recipes are fool proof. I've since added my own touch to it, making tweaks here and there, and they've still turned out perfect.

On the other hand, I don't know how I should decorate them. Should it just be plain buttercream or is it about time I got into the whole gum paste and sugar decoration things? Oh the dilemma.

Okay, so with the cupcakes, I'm thinking I can't just gift them in something that would need to be returned to me. That would be silly, so ebay came in handy. There is a seller who sells cupcakes boxes, all kinds of other things as well. But wait, the catch is, is that you can pick it up locally. Of course, you'd have to be living in the area for that to be good news, and for me it was, and hence thought sharing is caring. I'll be picking up the boxes, hopefully, tomorrow, and if all goes well, I will tag it here so you guys can check it out yourselves. Bear in mind, it is Melbourne, Australia here, so for those who are located any where else, the buyer does post too.

Photos will be up soon! Yay! So stay tuned!

Mama Bea