Another Year!

How quickly time has flown by, it's another year. My cyber friend was surprised when I told her that I had to rush home to bake a birthday cake for my son. He turned 11 today and I baked him this super and wonderfully chocolatey cake. Admittedly, it is far too chocolatey for my daughter and I. Hubs and son both enjoyed the cake, though. On hindsight, perhaps I should have let it remain a chocolate banana cake or added something else, such as dark cherries, in the middle.

I am not complaining that the cake is too sweet, though. I had used Belgium couverture chocolate both for the cake, as well as the ganache. Perhaps that had contributed to the intense (son said it was bitter) chocolate sensation. I'm sure any chocolate lover would love this. To keep decoration to a minimum, I simply placed 2 Ferrero Rondnoir and 2 sticks of Bourbon cocoa crepe cookies at the top of the cake. For the sides, I broke up some chocolate transfer. It's also a small cake, just 6-inches in width.

I had learnt this from a baking class and I knew this was the cake for my son this year. Again, he had wanted a cake from the store but I managed to convince him to let mummy bake for him. Then I felt stressed, do mummies all feel this way? I'm glad it turned out ok.

In exactly 2 weeks' time, it will be my daughter's birthday. She had requested that her cake be "special", now, what happened to any cake baked by mummy would be special ... aren't children hard to satisfy these days?

Working with Caramel

In a recent community baking event, I had the opportunity of making caramel on my own. After watching a few episodes (on cable tv) featuring caramel, I thought I could finally put that "knowledge" to test. However, I failed a few times. Thankfully, P and J were on hand to share their knowledge. Lo and behold, that attempt proved successful! It was such a joy to see the amber syrup. The downside of knowing this is -- I keep looking out for recipes that feature caramel! Gosh, it's nothing but sugar and butter ... I found this information really useful and close to what we did.

Since I've been wanting to try to make my family's favourite snack, I had invested in a packet of popcorn, the DIY kind, that is. From the instructions, it looked pretty easy. And it was! I didn't believe that the children would take the bland popped corn (while waiting for the caramel to be done).

I followed this recipe in making the caramel, which is slightly different from the method I had tried earlier. The popcorn didn't last very long, they were gone in minutes. One packet of popcorn will make many servings.

A Significant Day

I wanted to remember today with a post and a bake. What is so significant about today? Well, it's the total solar eclipse, a precious and special event. I'm not into astronomy or any scientific studies. But it is such a phenomenon, that the Sun, Moon and Earth are in a straight line. As I was at work, I could only rely on certain websites for updates. I'll catch the recording later.

As for the bake, I chose a "dark" cake that I had baked several weeks ago. I was tired of baking the same thing and someone highly recommended HHB's Chocolate Torte. Apparently, it's a form of "comfort food" for some, chocolate lovers, I suppose.

I like this cake, but my attempt was underbaked :( The sides of the cake caved in so I had to hide it. Most of the nice ribbons I have are too wide and the only ones (with suitable width) are all plain. Must invest in nicer ribbons (note to self).

I thought it tasted a lot like brownie, but better, and my son loved it. I had followed HHB's recipe closely but I added some cointreau for kicks. This is one cake I will bake again. Besides, I have all that chocolate waiting to be used, including some Belgium (couverture) chocolates. Yums!

Anniversary Again

It's been a long time and there was so much going on in and around my life that I could not find time to blog. I have been baking very much the same cakes -- banana cake, blueberry yogurt cake -- that I find no meaning in writing nor posting photos.

I did, however, attend a series of baking classes in April where I learnt more about mousse and buttercream. So, I need to go beyond my comfort zone of just baking a cake. I have come to realise that the "limitations" are those I set in my mind.

For our wedding anniversary, I decided to try making lemon mousse to go with an almond sponge cake. The mousse was a bonus recipe which is really a simpler version of what we did in class. There was no Italian meringue to make, phew! The sponge cake recipe is a real delight and has become one of my favourite cake with nuts.

As expected, the cake is very "grainy" as I had used finely ground almond. I had tried the same recipe with walnuts and pistachios, all garnered good reviews with request for recipe. Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to share it.

With Mother's Day round the corner, I may just try to see if I can whip up another cake. As for photos of the cakes I did from baking classes, that will be in later posts, perhaps.

Blueberry Cake

I would like to think that I am wiser with the another year added on but upon reflection, I still have my "off" days. Father JP said in his weekend sermon that teenage is the time when one seeks "identity" and in middle age, one seeks "purpose". While I have come to terms with my purpose recently, living it can be somewhat challenging on certain days. Those are my off days and I am happy that with God's grace, I am able to deal with it.

Enough about be philosophical. I did not intend to bake my own cake, no sir! But while complimenting Rei on her achievement, I told her that I am still trying to find a workable sponge cake recipe. She encouraged me to try out the sponge cake recipe on her blog (belongs to her sister, S). She suggested that I use the egg separation method where there is less likelihood of deflating the eggs.

So the idea came to mind, why not use the cake as base for my own cake? Besides, I have fresh blueberries and canned ones too. I have some problems trying the separate the eggs as 2 of the yolks broke! I had wasted 2 egg whites in the process. Other than that, the recipe is fairly easy to follow.

I must look for more ideas and practice when it comes to decoration, as well as improving my photographing skills. That sure are lots to work with ... With technology, namely Facebook, I had received more wishes than the past. I want to thank all my friends who sent wishes since I am not into writing on FB walls, neither am I "active" there.

Sponge Cakes in Paper

I wanted to have a post today to ensure that I remember the reason I made a particular decision. Yes, I opted for "status-quo" and the reason is I want no change to my lifestyle. Hubs told me that this is a good and valid reason and he would stand by me. To ensure that I can live with this decision for a long time to come, I would need to check my own attitude and "weather" daily. To my friends who know what I am referring to, please remind me to MYOB. That's truly a load off my mind and thank God for the direction.

I wanted to use this soft and spongy cake to signify the "light-heartedness" I feel right now. This is something that I had wanted to bake ever since I took up baking. I've seen several posts but most recipes use SP. Although I had bought a tub of SP, I had used it only once. Honestly, I don't feel it has done anything good to that particular cake and since it is nothing but chemical, I decided to throw the whole tub away.

The recipe is from this book and since the book is fairly affordable I feel it isn't very ethical of me to post the recipe. In fact, there are many interesting recipes in this book that I am keen to try. I got the book by mail order a long time ago!

Happy 2009!

Gosh, 2008 came and went in a flash! To some, it was probably not a good year so no love lost. I can't help but wonder how it was for me... well, another year older, that's for sure.

As usual, we hosted a small gathering (considering how big all the kids have grown, small is really an understatement) at our home on New Year's Eve. Hubs wants to host so he can drink as much as he desiers since to him, I am NOT qualified as a "back-up" driver. I always say that I am destined to be a passenger more than a driver, anyway.

The strangest thing this year was that almost everyone had dinner plans when he extended the invitation! I told him that perhaps he was very late in inviting, that was the reason. Everyone didn't want to take for granted that we would host the gathering again, but they didn't realise that Hubs is one who will offer to be host year after year ... that's him. I was glad to have the opportunity to focus on canapes and desserts, for once!

I tried to re-create a very delicious smoked salmon canape I had tasted not so long ago. I bought some sweet mini pie crust (to standby) in case the baked mini bread cups didn't turn out. In the end, it was the mini bread cups that won most support. I also goggled for help with bruschetta and did the most basic one.

I tried to make tzatziki to go with the smoked salmon so it won't be too dry. This being the first time I am making it blind (without tasting it before), I had to rely on how my tongue (and my kids') reacted to it. Well, to me, it played a quite role of keeping the canape moist and let the smoked salmon dominate. I am happy with the result as the kids kept asking for more!

For dessert, I made a Rum Peach Pie and a Chocolate Banana Pie. I also made Bubur Cha Cha, my very first attempt and a last minute decision. Thanks to the internet and KC forum, I found many ideas and recipes. How do you like the Rum Pech Tart, recipe thanks to HHB.

Blessed Christmas

Here's wishing all my friends a happy and blessed Christmas.

I promised a friend photos of what I served at our cosy family Christmas Eve dinner. I am happy with the result of the honey plum roast pork, finally. I made Oxtail Stew at my sister-in-law's request and they loved it.

I brought the items below to our office gathering on Tuesday. I completed the crustless quiche in record time! Those who tasted it enjoyed it and I intend to keep practising. Hubs brought one bottle of Cornflakes Minicups to his office party. He had asked for another bottle of it for his colleague. As for peanut butter fans, guess which item appealed to them most?

Of Quiche and Good Times

It's not true that I MADE this quiche, well at least not entirely. All I did was prepare the shortcrust pastry and laid it onto the pie pan. The custard and filling were prepared by Gina and that was what gave flavour to the whole dish. She made it look so easy or perhaps I had not bothered to find out previously.

I had tasted quiche but don't remember liking what I had tasted. So I never bothered to look up recipes for quiche. This was one of the dish presented at the first Hi Tea Buffet held by Kitchen Capers and Chef's Secrets Cooking Studio.

When I knew that Gina and Amy, co-owner of Chef's Secrets, were going to prepare and cook a day before the buffet, I volunteered to help. I had been taking a break from baking for too long and thought this would end the drought of not baking. It sure did!

I rubbed butter into flour and kneaded till it was pliable. Without guidance from the two teachers, I would not have learnt one important thing. The crust which I made previously were too dry! That explained why I was unable to roll the dough, even after chilling it for 30 minutes! Now I know...

Below is a picture of some of the food served, just a few of the many yummy items served.

Korean Pancake

It's been a really long time since my last post, I had been away was one reason. The other, I have not found any recipe that inspired me to take out the mixer and spatula. I'm tempted to bake something for my colleague who will be celebrating her birthday this weekend, but I'm afraid she won't eat the cake as cakes are calorie-laden...

While chatting with a cyber friend, she told me about a particular Korean pancake premix that tasted amazing... ok, if you had seen what ingredients she added, it would be hardly surprising that the pancake DIDIN'T taste amazing. So, I visited the Korean grocery store near my home and found the same packet of Korean pancake premix! Oh, did I mention that she doesn't live in SG? Psst, this premix is supposedly FREE of MSG too!

Since I was on leave, I went out to the local wet market to buy Chives (or koo chye) and prawns. My friend insisted that I had to use chives as that's what makes the pancake yummy. Thankfully, my regular vegetable stall has a bunch remaining and sold them all to me without any hesitation.

From my experience with this pancake, I realised that a flat-based frying pan would give the best looking pancakes. As I used a wok, I ended up with slightly thin pancakes. My friend is right, the pancake tasted really delicious and this is something that I won't hesitate to serve my guests in future. It will be an interesting talking point too!

Memories are Made of These

This was a request from my boy, he wanted breakfast that consisted of scrambled eggs, ham and sausage for breakfast. I promised him that I would prepare that for him and that happened about two weeks ago, on the last public holiday in October.

This reminded me of the time I spent as a SAHM (stay at home mom) from May/June 2000 to Sep 2001. He was barely 3 then and was an absolute joy to be around, as moms of little boys would attest to. Not that girls are not, but moms and daughters share different experience from moms and sons. I decided then to stay home full-time as the dotcom I was working in was going under and I felt that my girl needed some serious preparation for Primary 1. I am glad I did that and this breakfast brought back memories of all the moments I had spent with each of them.

I took so long to get this post up and got the nudge when I found that Happy Home Baking has tagged me! Gosh, I can proscrastinate no more... here goes 7 random facts about me:

1. After my stint as SAHM, I have absolute respect for all SAHM as I realised that my calling isn't that. I believe my kids appreciate me more when I get home after work, and vice versa too.
2. I, too, have a driivng license (as old as my son, I was in my 4th month with him) and the last time I drove was a couple of months back. I didn't go far, just forward for 500m? and reversed into a parking lot :P
3. I have taken a 2-week break from baking as I have been eating all the cakes (if I didn't give them away) on my own. Imagine the number on the scales when I finally had the courage to step on one!
4. Linked to the above, I am trying to reduce the number on the scale, so far, it's been uphill and the reduction is meagre.
5. I am big on inspiration, I seek to be inspired and hope to inspire anyone who needs it. I work with many young people and I see how they transform as they get ready to take their first step into the world of WORK.
6. I am (or specifically, my hair is) in need of a perm and colour, however, the hairstylist recommended that I improve the condition before I do further damage to it.
7. What else, but my wardrobe (or even life?) is in dire need of a serious "clean up". You won't believe, but I have almost a cupboard full (in my girl's room) of clothes that I have probably not worn in the past 12 months. These are mainly jackets and clothes that don't fit any more...

I'm tagging the following 7 bloggers, I hope they have fun with this meme
1. Rei at All That Matters
2. Aimei at Baking Cottage
3. SSB at Small Small Baker
4. KWF at Pure Enjoyment
5. Bernice at Bernice's Baking Journey
6. Emily at Misosa's Diary
7. Ting at Bake Me Happy

Here are the rules for tagging:

Link to my blog (tagger) on your blog.

Give seven facts about yourself.

Tag another seven bloggers by leaving a comment on their blogs and letting them know they were tagged and listing them (and their blogs) on your blog.

She's a Teenager

What d'ya know? My first-born little girl is officially a teenager, she turns 13 today. I can't help but recall all the excitment that surrounded us while we waited for her arrival. She is the first grandchild for both paternal and maternal sides. That naturally meant she is eagerly anticipated by both sets of grandparents, and both of us.

Being people who do not like to be unprepared, we chose to have an induced birth on 8 September 1995, it was a Friday. This day is also the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and Sister Ma at the Mt Alvernia Hospital told me that we had chosen a good day to have our baby. (Yes, we are Roman Catholics).

Most, if not all, mothers would agree that everything is pure anticipation for the first-timer. When my doctor told me that it was going to be a "long-haul" I wasn't quite sure what to make of his comment. It was then past 9.00 am and epidural had just started. It wasn't until 5.30 pm that we finally met her. And boy, did she look exactly like her daddy! (In fact, she still looks exactly like him!) I was told later by another mother, whom I met at the ante-natal class, that in Thai culture (she was from Thailand) they believe that if a little girl she looked like her father, then she would be really fortunate. With God's blessings, I'm sure she would be blessed with good fortune too.

Officially, I didn't bake her any cakes as she had requested for a chilled marshmellow cake. It had to be purple, no less. As I could not get any blueberries in time, I had to resort to using food colouring, as she had insisted as well. She cut the cake with 4 of her classmates, who came over on Saturday to complete some holiday projects. When a group of young girls get together, one can expect lots of giggling, chuckling and screaming. They happily ordered fast food by phone, while we were out. In all, I'm sure she had a really good time on Saturday.

We hosted a small get-together on Saturday night, as it was another friend's birthday. So we bought a chocolate cake to celebrate both their birthdays.

Musing about Granola

Is it muesli or granola? I thought granola came in the form of a bar, while they are called muesli when they are uncooked and not bound together. After keying in the question "difference between muesli and granola", there were several results and I went with this one.

Since this has been coated with maple syrup and honey and toasted, it fits the description of granola. I need to get a special gift, something which is home-made would be best. It's for my colleague, JT who will be quitting to play mom to her fast growing boys. Eldest will be going to army soon, number 2 will be sitting for A levels next year, and the youngest will be doing PSLE in 2 years, just like my boy. Guess if one has been experiencing fatigue at work, it's best to either take a break or just call it quits. My colleague is fantastic at what she does and she has been carrying out her craft with her heart and total commitment. So much so that she must have felt she had been short-changing her boys. Mothers will always feel guilty if their kids had to take a back-seat while they build their career. I'm glad JT is able to be there for her family although I'll miss having her area at work. She is so kind and easy to work with, she has never given me any hard time. There are very few like her at work.

I came across this wonderful granola recipe at Grace's Kitchen Corner. I bought mainly organic ingredients such as rolled oats, sunflower seeds, and raisins. I also added dried cranberries and apples, as well as chopped almonds and walnuts. I used the remaining maple and honey syrup I had in the fridge to bound these altogether. They were then toasted for a while.

I was surprised by the taste and texture. While muesli tends to be a little dry and somewhat "raw", this granola is crispy and a little sweet. My girl could not resist and tried some. Being a non-nut lover, she found it a little too "nutty" for her. I may try it with yogurt tomorrow as breakfast. I deliberately added lots of dried fruits, not only for texture but also for colour.

11 Aug: This morning's breakfast, granola with yogurt and blueberries :)

Celebrating 100 Posts

Celebrating Yuri's Bake Journal's 100th post today! Hip Hip Hurray! I cannot believe that I've reached this milestone in under a year. I raked my brain to find something to signify this achievement. I was somewhat happy that I was too busy and worn out with fatigue to bake last week.

My girl requested that I bake something for her CCA party on Friday, she asked for a chocolate pie. But I wasn't keen to make pies, and definitely not the same pie again. Then I remembered seeing something interesting, check it out here. Now, that's something worthwhile and pretty to mark post number 100.

HOWEVER, that was not to be. Firstly, I am unable to steam bake the cheesecake, as my microwave oven is too small. So, I thought perhaps I could buy a no-frills cheesecake from the supermarket! Then I found out that I could get a cheesecake from one of the Japanese restaurants. Eventually, I bought a frozen baked cheesecake from the supermarket instead as I couldn't wait to try. I found that even though the cheesecake was frozen, it wasn't easy to work with it. The cake went soft so quickly and the balls just won't be round. I emailed Passionate about Baking to find out about her experience. She provided some suggestions, but I didn't want to take the chance of having my girl bring sub-standard stuff to the party.

Then she recommended making chocolate coated cornflakes. Bingo! I remembered this from Nigella Lawson, Chocolate Caramel Crispy Cakes. I had book-marked this recipe for so long, in fact, I had once bought 4 Mars bars thinking I would try it out. But the folks at home ate all the Mars bars before I could do anything! I was also very distracted then with many other things, possibly chiffon cakes.

And so, this Chocolate Caramel Crispy Cakes became the star of the 100th post. My daughter was very enthusiastic and she decorated them. She was so happy to finally have the chance to make use of my collection of toppings. She was the only one who tasted them and she said they were delicious. Of course, they are delicious, I added more chocolates, which explains the deeper colour. The aroma of chocolate was mesmerising as well, perhaps that was why I didn't feel like tasting any. She wants me to make another batch so that she can bring some to share with her primary school friends on Saturday.

Get it Rolling!

I have been a little under the weather lately, so haven't baked in many days. It's a case of the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. But looking at everyone's bakes and blogs, I'm really motivated to pick up the whisk soon.

Have you heard or seen the Foodie Blogroll? It's a wonderful network of people who share the same passion in baking, cooking, and well, food in general. I haven't had much time and energy to check out the Foodie Forum yet, but this journal been getting many new visitors. It's a facinating way to connect with more people, or just blog-hop for inspirations!

Try it today.

Enjoy Your Flight

"Enjoy your flight!" That's what the staff would say cheerfully as we hopped on board the moving (very slowly) Singapore Flyer. Ordinarily, I doubt we would pay to go on such a ride, (adults pay S$29.50 and kids pay S$20.65), unless there was a good deal, eg, company's Family Day, etc.

My sweet 5-year-old niece had won a contest and the prize was 2 Singapore Flyer adult tickets. When her mummy asked who she would like to give the tickets to (as they have experienced the Singapore Flyer) she said "Pak Leong" (her daddy is my husband's younger brother). As the tickets were due to expire at the end of June, we had to go today.

As National Day is drawing near, we could see the rehearsal from the flyer. In fact, as we approached the Singapore Flyer, there was a flurry of activities at the Marina Bay Floating Platform. On our way up, the parade was formed up for the "President's" inspection. We also saw some navy vessels waiting for their cue to enter the performance area. My boy saw the cannons where the gunfire salute will be fired as well.

From the flyer, we saw where the pit stops will be when the F1 race comes to Singapore in September. Our family (other than my girl) are mild F1 fans. We would catch every race on TV whenever we can. We are mild fans as we won't even consider driving to Sepang to catch the race. We are not sure if we would bother to go down to Marina Square when the race comes to Singapore. I doubt very much as we can catch all the action on TV in the comfort of our home, without having to squeeze with the crowd. I doubt very much we would be able to catch a glimpse of any of the F1 drivers...

Back to our first ever experience on the giant observation wheel. For my girl, who confessed that she has a fear of heights (at 13, I guess I was afraid of heights too). Initially, she sat quietly on the bench but as the flyer ascended, she sat on the floor (to stay close to the ground). Even my dear husband's knees went a little wobbly. Now we know where my girl's fear of heights came from. My boy was busy snapping photos, and even got creative. He snapped through the lens of the binoculars! Check these out!



So, that was our first ever ride, er, flight on the Singapore Flyer. The experience gave me a chance to see everything from a very different angle/view. I now have my own photo of the Singapore skyline! Keep a lookout for special deals so you can experience the flyer too!

Duo and Novel

What do you know? I cracked open an egg and I got another double yolks! Hubs said hens could have been genetically engineered, otherwise how to get lower cholesterol and more what have you in the eggs? Besides, these hens need to produce eggs on a larger scale as well as quicker pace, don't they? This time though, the yolks are visibly smaller. It came from a no-frills packet from ShopNSave. Now that has become a fave supermarket for me. I will gripe about the staff another day, when they really piss me off big time.

Thanks to the helper at home, I got a new rice-cooker that bakes. It was something that I had been thinking about ever since I laid eyes on it as I walked past the demo counter at the Tangs basement. Then, however, I had no reason to indulge. I found out a few days ago that the base of pot of the old rice-cooker had scratches, and one really huge one too! Once such non-stick coating is scratched, they cannot be used anymore! As usual, helper didn't breathe a word about the scratches. I saw it with my own eyes when I scooped the last bit of rice out of the pan the other night. I was fed up alright. But what's done cannot be undone, so it's water under the bridge.

Just last week, the toaster decided to konk as well. My girl had wanted to toast some popcorn chicken and found that no matter which plug was used, the toaster just won't work. Well well, time for a new toaster? I was only thinking of using hubs' Esso Smiles points to redeem the toaster. He said we should just save the Smiles points for petrol. So we went shopping *grin*

We didn't find any suitable rice-cooker nor toaster at Carrefour (Suntec City). I thought I would be able to get bargain stuff there, guess I thought wrong. So hubs said we should check out Harvey Norman at Millenia Walk on the way to the car (parked at Marina Square).

To our surprise, we saw that rice-cooker that bakes going at a bargain price of under S$60! I was quite sure it could easier cost over S$100 especially at Harvey Norman. My boy was really clever, he said that "mummy will surely like this, cos it bakes!" Sweet boy he is. I tried to look at the "normal" and no-frills ones, but they cost more that this!

Next was the hunt for a toaster. Choices were eliminated by cost, and it's not easy to find anything below S$50 any more. But one caught our eyes. We have never heard of that brand, but hey, who cares, right? Other than a knob for timing, there is temperature control, as well as control of top/bottom/both heating! It's a dream! My brother bought one a few months back and I was tempted to get the same one. I had just taken up baking then and could use a "real" oven. But the toaster was working fine then, besides, that oven was simply too big for my tiny kitchen. But today's find fits snuggly. It's known as an electric oven, not a toaster lol.

I am one happy girl today. Although I baked, I didn't use either of these new gadgets...

PS: I needed 4 images to make this poster. So I chose to include the cover of a book I had borrowed from the library. I liked it so much that I went round looking for the book. I finally found a big bookshop at the basement of Cathay Cineleisure that carried books from this publisher. I was told by the staff there that the bookshop and publisher are owned by the same people!

Practice Makes Perfect

You must be wondering what's the corelation between this picture and the title. Following the success of the Banana Chiffon Cake, I was so elated that I kept trying different flavours. The one flavour that I wanted to try was chocolate. From the near success of the White Mocha Chiffon Cake, I was determined to try a chocolate flavoured one.

Sad to say, I tried baking a chocolate flavoured chiffon cake TWICE, without success :( I followed closely to Rei's recipe, adding only more sugar.

My mistakes? For the first try, I was in too much of a hurry. I rushed home from work and set about weighing the ingredients and beating the yolks then the whites. I did all these before I had dinner. I learnt from this experience, never to rush a chiffon cake. Even though it rose beautifully, it was under-cooked.

For today's experience, I reminded myself not to rush through the process. I took my time and did everything according to how it's suppose to be done. I even checked the oven temperature and timing meticulously. However, I thought I got a whiff of something burnt in the air! Since the cake has risen reasonably high, I decided to lower the temperature a little. I increased baking time by another 5 minutes. I even let the cake cool inverted, in the warm oven, with the door ajar, for another 5 minutes before taking it out to cool, inverted of course. I only unmoulded the cake after more than 1.5 hours. Guess it's not meant to be as it was still under-baked! I will try again, but probably with another flavour. I bought some pandan leaves, perhaps I should try something that I had near success, huh?

Back to the picture, for the 2 attempts outlined earlier, I needed 10 eggs. Lo and behold! One of the eggs yielded 2 egg yolks! Wow! This was my second encounter, my first happened on my birthday. My daughter had her first encounter last night when she ate one hard-boiled egg with 2 yolks. She was tickled too.

Chocolate Cherry Pie

I made this pie for someone who inspired me. She is one passionate lady with a super big heart. Being Italian helps, of course. I was invited to her first talk to launch her book, Stella's Mum Gets Her Groove Back. Yes, she is none other than Elisabetta Fronzoso.

I met her, and her wonderful husband, Leonardo, through a course last year. I was struck by her passionate and approachable nature. In the three-day course, I realised that I had found the "inspiration" that I had been looking for! Perhaps I didn't require any external inspiration and I was capable of inspiring myself! Along with that, I discovered that people around me, ie my children, would benefit from this new found inspiration.

Then I got passionate about baking and I was waiting for an opportunity to bake something for this wonderful couple. I could not think of anything suitable until I saw this recipe in Alex Goh's Temptation of Chocolate...

Chocolate Cherry Pie
Ingredient for fillings
A
120g Butter
100g Sugar

B
2 Eggs

C
40g Flour
80g Ground Hazelnuts (I used ground almonds)
1 tbsp Cocoa Powder

D
Some dark cherries, stoned

Method
1. Prepare a semi-baked 8-inch round sweet pastry.
2. Cream (A) until light then add in (B). Cream until smooth. Lastly add in (C) and mix until well-blended.
3. Place the above filling onto the semi-baked sweet pastry and arrange the dark cherries on top and press it lightly.
4. Bake at 190 deg C for 25 to 30 minutes.
5. Let it cool for 10 minutes. Remove it from the pan. Brush it with apricot glaze.

*Pie crust recipe from here

I received an sms from E to say that the pie was delicious. I had enough to make 2 pies and will share the other one this weekend at a party. About the book, I do hope that you will get a copy of it when it hits the bookstores at the end of the month. Should you be interested, please leave a comment as well. E is really an exceptional woman and she is spearheading a very meaningful movement known as Stella's Mum Pay It Forward Projects (website still under construction).

Note: I am not paid to advertise E's book and projects. I am just inspired by her passion and desire to Pay It Forward.

A Special Day

I thought about it for the longest time -- what to bake for such a special day? Afterall, it's our 15th wedding anniversary. It's really an ahcievement, when I think of the number 15, it does sound BIG. But the years passed almost like a blink of an eye. Afterall the kiddos are 13 and 10 this year. Boy, I feel so old ...

Back to the bake. After all these baking from November 2007, there wasn't one item that hubs enjoyed as much the Banana Cake. He even asked me to bake one for his colleague a few months back. So, I baked us this cake. However, I must have used too many bananas as the cake turned out to be very densed. Not crumbly as my previous attempts.

We took the day off to chill, his work is so stressful and the hours are long. He easily clocks 60 hours a week. We went to Vivocity for lunch at Sushi Tei. We spent some time walking about Vivocity and made our way home. That was what we did to "celebrate" our 15th wedding anniversary.