D O M O !

Christmas Orders!

2012-12-09T21:58:00.002+08:00

Heellloo all! Phewww...! I realize how quiet and dusty my little DOMO! blog has become. But, worry not! DOMO! is back with bright shiny, blinky lights, because it's CHRISTMAS TIME!

I'm pretty proud of my previous year's Christmas creations, but it's nothing compared to what I have in mind this year!

I'm taking orders to make awesome Christmas cakes this year because
A) I wanna come back with a big BANG and
B) I'm itching to make some super awesome cakes!

So, drop me a comment below, or leave me a message on my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/domocakes if you're thinking of having a kick-ass Christmas cake at your party this year!

Um... only applicable for people living in Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya or Melaka (Malaysia)... unless of course you're buying me a flight to your country... :-) That would be an awesome Christmas!

Soft rolls... from Nigella Lawson

2012-08-23T16:39:00.000+08:00

During my travels in New Zealand, I noticed that most of the German backpackers making their own bread. They say it's because Germany makes the best bread... and the cr*p sold in NZ is inedible. So they opt to making their own. Sure seems nice to get fresh baked bread... so I got to a hankering of making bread myself too.

Everyone knows how much I love Nigella. I love her easy-lazy cooking - that's just the perfect style for me.

That's why, if I'm looking for a recipe, I always go for Nigella's. I know for sure, it's fast and no fuss! So I found her recipe for making soft dinner rolls.

Like I said, I do love Nigella, but sometimes she is a little too much into the details (even though her recipes are really easy)! So if you want her exact recipe and directions, go to her soft rolls recipe.

I've cut down the recipe to a "even lazier Domo" instruction:

Ingredients:

500-600g plain flour
3 teaspoons (1 sachet) instant yeast
1/2 tablespoon
Salt
1tablespoon caster sugar
375ml milk
20-25g butter

Mix 500gm of flour with the yeast, salt and sugar in a biiig bowl. Heat up the milk on a low heat and melt the butter in it. Don't let the milk boil! Pour the warm milk into the flour mixture, and just using a fork - mix the ingredients together.

When a dough comes together, remove the dough from the bowl, and knead till it is nice and silky. This is the best part of bread making - the kneading! Work it hard! The more you push and pull and turn and punch it - the softer your bread will be. Let the dough rise for about an hour in a warm place.

Punch the dough down and start shaping the rolls into little balls. Place them on a sheet of baking paper with little spaces between them, so they'd rise and sorta join together. I mixed in some bacon, leek, herbs and onions into my dough to get a savory bun. Nigella sprinkled some seeds on top. YOU, can do whatever you want.

Oh yeah, and I hid a little cherry tomato inside the bun :) Surprise!

Rhubarb Pie

2012-08-23T14:09:00.002+08:00

One of the main reasons (if not the only reason) I love living abroad in 4 season countries, would be because of the FOOD! The variety of produce and ingredients available here just makes me want to bake everyday! A day at the Farmers market is like a day in paradise to me.

Just look at these amazing produce I found at Hastings Farmer's market!

A couple of days ago, I was given a bunch of rhubarbs by a lady who said she didn't like the tart taste of rhubarbs. She said it would go pretty well with apples and maybe I could make an apple crumble and throw some in. Well, I was pretty darn excited. Give me something strange and tell me it tastes like a funny word, and you'll get me going!

They basically look like red celery sticks. But they are sour. And they don't taste like celery. So, okay. I went searching for a recipe for an Apple-rhubarb crumble, and I came across a Fresh Rhubarb pie recipe. It looked pretty darn easy.. All it needed was:

4 cups of chopped rhubarb
1 1/3 cups of white sugar
6 tbs flour
1 tbs butter
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie (I used sweet shortcrust pastry)

And these are the directions..

Preheat oven to 230 degrees C
Combine sugar and flour. Sprinkle 1/4 of it over pastry in pie plate. Heap rhubarb over this mixture. Sprinkle with remaining sugar and flour. Dot with small pieces of butter. Cover with top crust.
Place pie on lowest rack in oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 175 degrees C, and continue baking for 40 to 45 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

I didn't want to simply cover my pie and be done with it... I wanted to make it look a little more kooky... (like I do with all my other food). Also, I know for a fact that I would make a big ugly mess if i were to just roll out my shortcrust pastry and cover the damn thing. So I cut out little pieces of starts to cover the top. Note, if you plan to do this or make a weave out of strips of pastry on top, make sure you cover quite alot of the pie. It helps to keep the steam and heat between the pastry and cook your rhubarb into a nice gooey jammy texture. I also sprinkled some course raw sugar on top :D

Of course, I couldn't serve my pie without a dollop of New Zealand's famous super delicious ice cream. I bought a pretty cheap box of local ice cream (about $4.98). Deep South Vanilla ice cream was on sale... they also had French Vanilla. I wonder what is the difference?

I went for a 'pre dessert run' earlier today, because I know I'm so gonna pig out tonight!!

Spongebob and Angry Birds Cakes for Arlynn

2012-07-22T09:21:00.001+08:00

Some little girls are so lucky... Arlynn is one of them! She's my cousin's daughter and she just turned 9! For her FIRST birthday cake, which she wanted to bring to school to celebrate her birthday with her friends, she requested for a Spongebob Squarepants birthday cake. She spent the entire day coaching me on what Spongebob looks like and what the cake should taste like..

Sure got me crashing down to earth

Boy! I've met my toughest customer! She even asked for a sketch of Spongebob before it goes on the cake...

I made sure I made the cake while she was away in school. I don't think I could take the strict over-the-shoulder baking. I made a nice rich Chocolate cake with pink strawberry frosting.

In the end, I think she was happy with the outcome.

For her second birthday cake, she had even HIGHER expectations! Haha... Never bring your A-game knowing you would need to come back and perform again.. This time she asked for an Angry Bird cake. She kept changing her mind about which Angry Bird was her favourite. I wasn't too excited about making an Angry Bird fondants 'cos everyone has made them already! Google it and millions of pictures appear!

This time, I made 3D figurines.. no point showing off what I already showed, making a 2D one. And since I had lots of leftover fondant, already coloured to the angry bird shades (Yellow, Red, Blue, Green...) it was easy enough.

This time, I made a pink strawberry butter cake with vanilla cream and berry jam. I think the kid liked the fondant toys more than she enjoyed the cake. I told her she didn't need to eat them, and could keep them instead. The weather here in Auckland is nice and cool and dry - perfect for keeping fondants!

Phew! That was one tough challenge!

DOMO - feature writeups on Kuali.com

2012-03-26T07:17:00.030+08:00

I was asked to contribute to our favourite newspaper's online food portal several times - kuali.com. Mostly to go for restaurant tastings and reviews (which i LOVE!) and cookbook reviews.

Started off with a simple review for a delightful Simple Cookbook :)

Got to enjoy an extremely rich Italian-Christmas meal at the famed Nerovivo

I had a chance to chat with this lovely Mother-son team from Indonesia on their Ramadhan special at Kuala Lumpur's Concorde Hotel

Cooking to Entertain: book review on Micheal Elfwing's fusion food

Click on the links to check out my reviews. Also.... support Kuali! They have some real wickedly delicious recipes there! :D

Discovering the Red Velvet

2012-02-14T23:26:00.002+08:00

I recently discovered the awesomeness of the Red Velvet Cake. I always thought it was just red colouring in a plain butter cake, topped with cream cheese. Bah~!

But the Red Velvet is actually a concoction of amazing things like buttermilk, cocoa, vinegar and cream cheese! How interesting! I was intrigued! This sparked my Red Velvet hunt, I began tasting every Red Velvet cake I came across....

The Red Velvet Rosette created by a friend of mine

Red Velvet Cupcakes at Delicious, Bangsar. The chunks of cake pieces stuck on top makes it look like an alien!

Red Velvet, among other cupcakes sold in my office. By Simply Cakes, Puchong

A slice of Red Velvet Cake from Coffee Bean

I must say, I didn't taste the sourness and tangy flavour I expected from the cake. I was most disappointed in the one sold in Coffee Bean. The coconut and white chocolate shavings on top pretty much masked the taste of everything else. I'm still not satisfied! I can't wait to try my hand in creating a rich red velvet cake!

A little late Christmas....

2012-01-07T14:29:00.001+08:00

Hope you had a jolly molly Christmas :)

Fondant toppers for Christmas Cupcakes (unfinished santas)

Santa and his best elf!

And Rudolph came too....

Hope you had a great Christmas 2011, and a great start to 2012

Bananarama!

2011-11-28T12:00:00.000+08:00

I was bored. My friend had a bunch of over-riped bananas. This is what happened when we got together.

Banana cake with chocolate frosting and toasted hazelnuts!

Walnuts would have gone better, but I had plenty of hazelnuts sitting around at home.... Still kinda worked :)

Mr Snowman for Sale!

2011-11-21T11:32:00.000+08:00

Hello, Mr Snowman! Would you come sit on my cupcake for awhile?

Buy a pack of 5 Mr Snowmen for RM25

Buy pretty fondant decorations for your Christmas logs and cupcakes!

Simple ways to make your orders:

Email domocakes@gmail.com

Drop me a comment on my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/domocakes

We're getting read for Christmas... More fondant decorations coming soon!

Feel free to suggest what else should be sitting on your Christmas cake ;)

Order from now till 19 December 2011.

http://www.facebook.com/domocakes?sk=app_133800330028779

Chocolate Cheese Mousse with Almond Nibs and Strawberries

2011-10-07T10:03:00.000+08:00

It's a mouthful to say, and a mouthful to eat! I threw a couple of delightful ingredients together - mainly because I bought these amazing plastic square cups with lids. They look so swanky, I felt some sort of berry simply had to be involved! I reaaaally wish I live in a country where berries come fresh, cheap and plenty. I go with strawberries almost all the time because they are the only berries that can be purchased for less than RM15. I just can't make myself pay RM25 for a packet of sad looking raspberries.

So what is in these little clear square cups? Cream Cheese (0% fat!), melted dark chocolate, chopped up almonds, and chunks of strawberries... yum! I didn't really follow a recipe, I just mixed the ingredients in with a little bit of sweeten condensed milk, and gelatine to harden the mousse up a little. Then I poured it all into the cup! It was a little thick, so next time I'll probably be adding some evaporated milk to moisten the mixture.
But, a cup full of chocolate cheese, almonds and strawberries is a perfect dessert! ;D

Lorraine McKay & Alan Dunn in Malaysia!

2011-10-02T21:27:00.003+08:00

I met Lorraine McKay & Alan Dunn yesterday! I'm so starstruck! Lol...

Who are they? They are two most amazing sugarcraft artists ever! Alan Dunn is the 'God of Flower Decorations' and Lorraine McKay makes the cutest models and dolls for cakes. The two of them are down for cake demonstrations and to teach in workshops this whole week.

Because my colleague couldn't attend the demonstration, she sent me for an 'assignment' - to check out the sugarcraft demonstrations done by the two. I was even asked to interview them! O_o

I was so excited and very nervous. Talking to people isn't one of my strong points - especially talking to famous people! I thought all I had to do was attend their class, maybe shout out a few questions to them when others are busy questioning them too. But noo... I was shoved into a room with Alan, and later was sat right opposite Lorraine like an interrogator! Fortunately, the two of them were amazingly friendly! Lorraine was so funny and adorable. She would make jokes and laugh a lot when I was interviewing her. She was such a lovely lady - she even asked for my card and gave me a hug after I finished the interview :D Alan was very nice, soft spoken and down to earth. He was so patient with me fumbling about with my silly questions and took the time to pose for my photographer!

Alan and Lorraine were such professionals when conducting their demonstrations. They entertained and kept the crowd interested. Lorraine made a cute little 'Malaysian Frog' on a Lilypad - and got the whole room Ooh-ing and Aah-ing when she finished. Alan showed us how to make a very real looking and remarkably detailed Parrot Lily. While he was making the tedious and repetitive petals, he kept the crowd entertained by telling us interesting stories.

Lorraine's Malaysian Frog

The two masters will be giving private workshops at the ICCA Malaysia (located at Kota Damansara) within the week. You can view Alan's amazing creations at http://www.alandunnsugarcraft.com/. In fact, Alan's newest book has just launched in Malaysia - it's all about Tropical Flowers!

Lorraine's creations can be seen at http://www.extraicing.co.uk/, and she blogs at http://www.extra-icing.blogspot.com/.

MOOooncakes!

2011-09-11T20:04:00.001+08:00

Mooncakes aren't in my area of specialty. It takes precision, perfection and patience. I have little of those.

But I do love eating them :)

Making them is plenty of hard work. So many layers, so many steps! I first needed to ball up all the ingredients .
The lotus paste with pumpkin seeds, the green snow skin and the golden balls of salted egg yolk! :)

These days, mooncakes come in all sorts of flavours, assortments and shapes. Even Haagan Daz makes ice cream mooncakes! Funny flavours like cookies and cream, durian, tiramisu.... I don't think Lady Chang Er changes with the times, does she? My favourite will always be the traditional lotus paste filling with salted egg yolk, with the baked, dark brown molasses skin. Perfect!

My Snow Skinned mooncakes - green pandan flavoured & black sesame flavoured.

They are plenty of different ways to make mooncakes now. The Shanghai mooncake comes with a flaky spiral skin. Then theres the Snow Skinned mooncakes, unbaked mooncakes - usually really colourful and sweet.

Ooh... plenty of egg yolk!

There's also the Jelly mooncake - basically jelly, made in a mooncake mold. Some of these are done very cleverly indeed, by making different jellies in different molds and assembling them together to resemble a mooncake with an 'egg yolk' in the middle. This was done very well by a friend of mine. Pretty isn't it?

The 'egg yolk' in the center is actually coloured jelly! Smart eh? It's surrounded by
home made red bean paste. Yum yum!

Flower Power!

2011-08-06T11:12:00.001+08:00

This was my initial plan for Mother's Day cupcakes. Looking at it, it may be a great cupcake idea for bridal showers and weddings.

When I saw Village Grocers selling edible flowers again, I snapped them up excitedly. I couldn't wait to start making them!

As usual, after I completed my decorating, I sat to savor one of my creations. I never go as far as thinking how they are to be eaten.. I only ever think about how they are made. , I must tell ya eating them... is really quite tricky! I'm surprised to find out that flowers actually taste a little spicy and peppery.. :O

Cupcakes are made from my buttercupcakes, topped with delicious (absolutely delicious I must say!) chocolate cheese cream and of course decorated with edible flowers ;)

There were chrysanthemums, Dianthus, Nasturtiums and tiny baby sunflowers in the pack. Now, don't go picking flowers from the garden to cook - not all flowers can be eaten! As a matter of a fact, some are pretty poisonous! Here's a guide to edible flowers.. http://homecooking.about.com/library/weekly/blflowers.htm

And just to prove I'm not bluffing, and just posting pictures of flowers crammed into a cupcake casing..

Puppy cupcakes

2011-07-23T21:25:00.001+08:00

How much is that doggy in the window?

It was my friend's Christina's birthday. She is a dog person, so I made her doggy themed cupcakes.

I do love fondant. It reminds me of Play-Dough.... I made a pack of puppies - some I tried making them look like Huskies and Mini Schnauzers, one looks like Wishbone, and a couple of mongrel looking dogs.

And if you were wondering about the half a dog, it's a puppy digging for his bones...

A whole set of puppies, paw prints and birthday girl's name...

Cupcakes were chocolate, with peanut butter filling and chocolate buttercream

Happy Birthday!

Have A Nice Day! (Just Because deal)

2011-07-10T20:31:00.002+08:00

It's an awesome day; Sunday. On 17th July 2011, DOMO! will be making rainbow coloured cupcakes called "Have A Nice Day"s

As I was making these cupcakes, I kept repeating this rhyme in my mind
"Micheal Jackson Kena Halau Balik India Utara"

Rainbow coloured butter cupcakes decorated with buttercream icing - and sprinkled with bits of rainbow on top!

Since it's our first deal:

4 pieces of these cupcakes will be sold for RM10

Buy all 20 pieces and get them for RM40!

Email: domocakes@gmail.com if you've got questions :) or check out http://www.facebook.com/domocakes?sk=app_133800330028779

Macarons (from Dreamz Bakery)

2011-07-09T23:14:00.000+08:00

I'm still a huge macaron fanatic - as is the rest of the world right now.... My friends appeared at my house holding a clear jar filled with pretty, colourful Macarons covered with a lacy doily :)

One of them had bought it from a cafe called Dreamz, (click to check out their adorable site... cute as ever!) located in Kota Damansara. So pretty - the packaging, the colours, and look at those feet! (those who have been reading my blog understands my feet obsession)

I totally ignored my friend because I was too entranced by the gorgeous cookies... and was busily snapping these pictures.

They were so perfect, it was like a dream (pun not intended) of mine.

However, not being a sour grape and all (well maybe a little) the macarons tasted a little 'off' to me... it was dry inside, instead of gooey. It was puffy and crumbly, instead of sticky and crispy. I think they somehow had added in baking powder in their recipe (that might explain the perfect feet). And I could barely taste the almond meal... Maybe it's just me, maybe its sour grapes...

DOMO! Just Because...

2011-07-07T19:47:00.003+08:00

"Domo" works a full time job - in a newspaper company and therefore, isn't and hasn't been able to update her blog or bake much. However she never stops thinking of her DOMO!....

She wishes she could bake her goodies for others to try, (and get a little extra pocket money from it too...) but unfortunately it is pretty tough seeing that she sometimes reaches home around 11pm. She once also had a bad experience because she promised someone she'd bake 50 different cupcakes with different types of decorations for a birthday party. She spent almost all week baking till wee hours in the morning! I swear, she went into office with flour in her hair!

She wasn't happy with those 50 cupcakes too, because they were not really up to her standards. They were made in a rushed and stressed manner - unlike her other creations. She didn't like them at all :(

So one day, while planning marketing strategies at work, she suddenly thought - would it be possible if DOMO! sells based on supply rather than demand? Would anyone want to buy cupcakes for no apparent occasion, or reason other than they feel like having some?

Well, why the heck not?

So that is what DOMO! Just Because is about... ordering cakes and desserts just because you feel like having some. "Domo" will plan what to bake during the weekend and post up a picture of the creation. If you want it BUY it - and DOMO! will give it to you nice and freshly baked on the day it is created. How does that sound? :D

DOMO! Just Because will work like those group-buys. If "Domo" gets orders for the maximum amount, then the 'Bake is ON'!

However, because DOMO! lives in Kuala Lumpur - this applies only to people that resides in Klang Valley or Petaling Jaya....

Email: domocakes@gmail.com to find out more bout collections and deliveries.

Here is how you email us your Order:

Name:
Phone Number:
How many sets of (4) four cupcakes:
Where would you like to pick 'em up: (preferably Sri Petaling / Bangsar /Damansara)

We will email you back with our banking details when we've got our Max no. of orders :)

Teddy Chocolate Pops!

2011-06-26T00:32:00.000+08:00

Hello Teddy!

I've always wanted to try the famous 'Bakerella's Cupcake Pops'. It's gotten so famous now, even Starbucks makes them.

But, me being me, making little 'pop's like everyone does isn't good enough. So I thought, how about making little pops in different shapes. I did what Bakerella did, and instead of using a mini cupcake mold, I used my teddy shaped ice tray. Ta-da! Teddy Chocolate Pops!

I didn't want to coat them in chocolate, because that might cover up the details, like teddy's eyes and bow. Besides, teddy was already brown... :P

With a little royal icing as glue, I decorated my teddy with an imagination (and excitement) of a 6 year old, with colorful sugar confetti.

And my teddy pops being so 'sweet' and all, they were bound to attract some 'pests'. Didn't take too long before my little Domo-kuns found my chocolate pops...

Little Domo: "Gaspp!! What are those??"

Purple Domo: "What are you? Where did you come from? Who are you working for??!"

Purple Domo: "OMG! Alert the rest! Alien Invasion! There's a whole freakin' army!"

Make cupcakes in 30 mins!

2011-06-19T00:09:00.000+08:00

I admit, my kitchen is like a barren place right now. My day job has successfully sucked all the energy and passion out of me. The only thing I'm interested in doing these days, is to sleep.

Last weekend though, I had a rare glimpse of alone and free time. So after a whole 12 hour catch up sleep, I started to get bakey itchy. With what ever ingredients I had at home, I whipped up a batch of chocolate almond cupcakes :D

This recipe took me 30 minutes to make a batch of 18 cupcakes. It's even easier if you have a food processor.

Cream 200gm of butter with 5 oz of sugar. Add in 3 eggs. Sift in 5 oz of flour mixed with 1 oz of cocoa.

Spoon a little bit of batter into a cupcake casing, and pop a tiny bit of cooking chocolate in the middle. Then cover it up with a little more batter. That way, you'll have a yummy chocolate center. You could replace the chocolate with marshmallows. I might think some peanut butter or a slice of banana would be a nice center as well :)

The yummy chocolatey center. You'll get a happy squeal out of people, when they take a bite out of these cupcakes ;D

Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for about 20 minutes. If you want to sprinkle some almonds or nuts on top, make sure the cupcake is baked halfway through first - or you'll find the nuts are just gonna sink into the batter as it bakes.

In 30 minutes, you'll get to enjoy fresh baked cupcakes and a great big cup of coffee. Enjoy it with a funny movie :)

Now that to me, was a perfect weekend! :D

Too Much Cookies!

2011-06-04T22:13:00.001+08:00

Domo loved Hong Kong! :D
(sorry my Photoshop skills aren't very good yet - but as much as I love Domo, I don't think I want to be the crazy girl photographing a doll in the streets of Hong Kong)

I just came back from a much needed holiday in Hong Kong. It was too short, rushed and unplanned, but I had a great lot of fun :) I'm sure you know, Hong Kong is a food haven - serving exciting food suitable for the adventurous.

Since DOMO! is a food / baking blog, I'm not going to share much about my Hong Kong trip (but feel free to read my blog about the trip HERE in my other blog, Through My Mata Sepet). Instead, I'll show you an awesome cookie store I found....

The cookie store is called Too Much! Oh yes.. I agree. The amount of cookies and cuteness is way Too Much! It was in a shopping mall in the New Territories. They have cookies in all sorts of shapes, flavours, colours and sizes... so tempting!

And I love their name and logo :) Adorable...

Macaron the Blue

2011-05-21T16:41:00.002+08:00

Almost perfect, don't you think?

I know...! So soon after my previous 'nipple' experience... I'm back to making macarons again. It's an obsession I tell ya! And while I was making this batch of macarons, a thought came to mind....

"I need professional help!"

Then a second thought came to mind....

"Professional help to make perfect macarons? Or professional help to stop me from this macaron obsession?"

Ah well, anyone of those two would do. Fix one problem... and I'll fix them both.
I figured, after I've perfected my macaron making - I don't think I'd want to make them again for a long time. They're really rich and sweet and taste like diabetes waiting to happen!

So blue! These blue macarons drive kids crazy.... "OOoo... colourful and packed with sugar!".
And scares old people... "What the heck are those neon blue things?! They can be eaten?!"

Well, I've got more tips in making macarons for newbies, professional macaron failures (like me) and impatient people (also like me). They really should write a book.... "Macarons for Idiots!"

* Be very careful with the temperature. Too hot, and the shells will crack. Lower it down suddenly, and feet won't form. My suggestion? Make as many batches as possible, to test the correct heat. Even if your oven can fit the entire batch of meringue - I wouldn't suggest you put all your 'eggs' in one oven. :)

* Use good baking sheets. This may not be all that important, but the roll of baking paper I just bought just didn't want to separate from my macarons! Sprinkling water under the baking sheets help loosen the macaron shells a little, but it still held a tight grip, making it hard to get those little suckers out without crumbling a few shells. I'm eyeing a silicon pad now.....

* Get a friend to help. Someone who can help you with the baking process. Or someone who can keep you cool and calm when a batch of macarons come out like feetless flap jacks. Or someone who can hold you down when you are about to smash your oven. Alright, alright, no... seriously - getting help is a good thing. There are so many processes and it's pretty time consuming, it's easy to get frustrated and give up if you're doing it all alone.

*And last but not least - don't make macarons if you are impatient, or in a rush, or easily pissed off, or already pissed off. No, macarons need to be made with patience and love. Wait till you're feeling a little more of these feelings, then attempt to make macarons.

This time they came out almost perfect - however, those feet could be a little taller....

Tips and Tricks for Making French Macarons

2011-05-17T22:30:00.005+08:00

Macarons the Third

Third time is the charm? Well, semi charm for me.

My Macaron the Third turned out quite alright - compared to my two first disastrous tries. (You can see my flapjack second attempt if you click here!) Being the stubborn mule that I am, I went ahead with the French meringue, even though I've been told many times that the Italian meringue is more fool-proof. I didn't want to be deterred by the scary French white eggs because I also knew that they would make taller plumper Macarons.

This time, armed with plenty of tips, tricks and a little more experience, I dove straight into the alchemy of making French Macarons.

Teeny tiny feet

What I did different this time:

I bought almond flour instead of grinding almond slivers. It's finer and lighter - I suppose this won't weigh down the light meringue
I pulsed the icing sugar with the almond flour, then sifted it. This makes it lighter.
I added a pinch of cream of tartar to my egg whites. Strengthens the meringue.
I suppose this is an important one. I added the egg whites TO the almond meal mixture. I think this is a mistake lots of people make. I don't know why, but I think this is the key... mix the wet to the dry.
DON'T fold the mixture too much. It was stiff and coarse, but I was afraid to over-do it.
Play with the temperature. I baked a few batches and found the right one for my oven - 150 degrees Celsius

My mistake I suppose that I mixed it too little. Empty Macaron caps formed (meaning under the hard shells, it was empty inside) :( And cracks appeared on the caps too. How sad.

The meringue was too stiff because it wasn't flowing enough, and resulted in queer little shapes. I had effectively made French Macarons with tiny feet and nipples! Yes nipples! (When they were baking it looked like a row of boobs! Didn't take a picture because it was too embarrassing...I made booby Macarons!) I guess I should have smoothen down the peaks before baking them. Well, I graduated from flap-jack Macarons to plump booby Macarons with nipples.. I should be proud!

You see what I mean by nipples?

On the bright side, now MEN can enjoy dainty little French Macarons without feeling too girly...
"Yes, I'm eating a little Purple Macaron - but they are BOOBY Macarons! See the nipples?"

Well.... might take some time, but I'm definitely more confident that my fourth attempt will be perfect! :D

A Potted Plant of Cake

2011-05-14T16:43:00.006+08:00

Potted plants of Cake?

~ ~ 'Phhhoowww'"~ ~ I've got to blow the thick layer of dust off my blog. My last post seems months ago :( Even Mother's Day was weeks away...!

Well, I could still share my Mother's Day creation, can't I? :)

My mum's birthday is really really close to Mother's Day (lucky isn't it?) In fact, some years it might even fall on the same day! This year, thinking my mum would appreciate a pretty potted plant, as she's an avid gardener - I planned a Potted Cake! :)

I bought colourful little ramekins from Daisoh, (the everything odd and end for RM5 Japanese shop) that resemble little pots. In my head, I was planning to buy a packet of edible flowers* from Jaya Grocers in Bangsar, but unfortunately when I got there... they were no longer selling them! How disappointing! :( So I had to make do with what they had....

a physa-what? These interesting berries wrapped in a pod of what looks like dried leaves are Physalis. Those berries are pretty interesting - a little sourish, a little sweet. They taste oddly, like a strawberry mixed with a tomato.

I bought plenty of Korean Strawberries (of course!), a pack of Physalis and well, cheap looking wafer roses to 'plant' in my pots.

For the 'earth' I filled the pots with Tiramisu - my favorite coffee soaked Tia Marias, and cream cheese. Tiramisu is getting to be one of my favorite lazy cakes. It takes literally 15 minutes to make and are soooo decadent!

One for me, one for mum, one for dad, one for bro, one for grandma and one for my aunt :)

For the sake of my grandma, I redecorated two pots to grow only Strawberries - worried that she might mistake the inedible stuff to be edible.

Nothing prettier than a whole bunch of strawberries....

Happy Birthday and Mother's Day Mum... <3 <3

*They DO sell edible flowers... So pretty, though I have no idea how they actually taste (even though my mum told me I used to eat her Petunias when I was little). You could actually make flower salads, and decorate gorgeous cakes with them :) But, please make sure you buy or pluck ONLY the edible flowers....

I LOVE You Tiramisu!

2011-04-18T23:55:00.003+08:00

Poor darling.. I've been ignoring my poor DOMO! Poor poor DOMO! :(

Well, I'm back... and this time with a brand new camera! :D I finally got me a DSLR, one Nikon D3100.... Hopefully it encourages me to bake more and take better pictures.

I apologize if these pictures look like bad photography - I'm still getting used to my camera. And I'm real sorry if my Tiramisu squares look a little messy - I was too eager to photograph them!

My white chocolate words

And, for the first time my melted chocolate actually turned out pretty well! :D My white chocolate melted and hardened perfectly too... I piped them into words to put on my Tiramisu squares... and decorated my LOVE with little hearts <3

Making Tiramisu is so easy!

Dip your Tia Marias in thick black coffee

Lay them at the bottom of your dish
Spread a layer of Nutella on top
Smother it with Cream cheese topping (cream cheese + icing sugar + vanilla essence)
Sprinkle cocoa powder on top
Decorate
Eat!

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Lemony Cupcakes

2011-04-10T22:23:00.004+08:00

People say, When life give you lemons, make lemonade.

I say, When life gives you lemons, you make awesome Lemon Curd Cupcakes!

Lemons are one of my favorite ingredients for baking. The buttery sweetness of the cupcake seems to pair beautifully with the sharp tangy sourness of the lemon.

This was a request from a friend to make birthday cupcakes for her sister's birthday, and of course I was ever ready to make something new and different. I wanted a filling for my cupcakes, because regular lemon cupcakes just don't cut it. (Click here to see my never fail cupcake recipe)

Making little 'man-holes' in my cupcakes

I tried making lemon curd for the first time ever... and it is soooooooo gooooood!!! I am so in LOVE with lemon curd - I'm gonna put it on everything from now on!

I dug little holes in my cupcake - and filled them with my delicious lemon curd, then covered the 'man-hole' back again. I then topped the cupcake with cream cheese.

I loved the whole combination. Creamy cheese, tangy lemon, buttery cake.

To decorate, I played around with some ready made sugar decorations I bought at the bakery shop. Aren't they adorable?

These sugar flowers are so sweet!

And I think this red and white combination is just adorable! :D

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