CupCakes and More!

Was in KL from Wed, 24th until today. ni jut got back from KL ni. *stretch kaki*. Time kt KL, menyempat la business cuba2..

Received my first real order from Wani :) thank you dear for giving me the opportunity to test and perfect my deco skills! Dia nak kasi 'yang tersayang'.

I made Marble Cupcakes - combining Chocolate and Golden cupcake recipes. Lepas masak, amik la satu makan and the taste was delicious. Tapi esokye, termanis plak. Sememangnye selalu kalau buat kek, i would substitute the sugar with brown sugar. Malangnye, stok brown sugar habis. Note to self: start stocking up brown sugar.

The frosting is Chocolate Buttercream. The hearts are edible! malam2 experiment, sbb tu ade yg terpeleot sket (see below). Bunga pulak terap from rolled fondant.

Yang bawah ni plak, buat utk birthday Atok yg ke 78.Mak Lang pesan malamnye kita sampai KL tu. nasib baik masa naik KL, i brought along the cupcake liners and also the whole box isi brg2 masak. haha. Iye, org lain travel bawak beg isi baju. Saya plak bawak kotak isi tepung, gula and whatnots. haha



Perlu perbaiki lagi tulisan guna icing. tgn lom steady. :) anyway, ini je la gambar2 yg ade. nk close up semua tu da x larat.. penat! tapi seronok.

Ginger Beer and Horlicks..

are used to made this..

Ginger Butter Cakes with Lemon Ginger glaze icing.

Mak requested the cake, as it reminded her of the old days - simple butter cakes with crusty top. But being the 'out of the box' baker *hehe*, i would not settle with the usual butter cake recipe so Mak suggested the above, which she found among the growing collection of my cooking books.

The cake tasted simply delicious, and somehow reminded me of banana cake. Without the aftertaste of bitter ginger we would usually get when baking any cookies/cakes using it. Some people might be put off upon seeing the glaze icing, berenang-renang di tepi kek. hehe. But rest assured, the cake itself wasn't too sweet, and the lemon ginger icing provided the adequate sweetness.

Another keeper definitely. Oh, one slice was not enough, as Mak and Adik said. hehe. Eat with your eyes close, and altogether now.. "MMmmmMmm"

Pau Gebu

Tak sangka Kathy Kay Hey Hey da jadi blog patrol. hehe. Just joking. Thank you for reminding me to blog about another experiment during the weekend. Instead of baking, I switched to steaming!

It was raining non-stop, from Friday, which drag to Saturday. What else could be more comforting than having a soft, steaming hot Chicken Curry Pau with a cup of Kluang Railway Coffee-O?

Actually, I was in need of any reason to venture into the kitchen, playing with the flour. hehe

It has been awhile since the last time I made breads, buns or pizzas, or anything involving yeast. And with the wet weather, I was a bit afraid to try any yeast-based recipes; as the dough need to be left out in warm place for it to risen well. But, being a 'rebellious' baker.. hehe.. I decided to give it a go. Rain or shine, my dough will rise!!

The night before, I searched for recipe which would produce soft pau - putih dan gebu, if possible with smooth surface too. I chose the most recommended recipe from http://www.cari.com.my, Forum Food and Recipes and strictly followed everything.

Kueh Pau
500gm all-purpose flour / Pau flour
1/2 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn salt
1 Tbspn sugar
1 tspn instant dried yeast
2 Tbspn shortening (I used Crisco brand)
250ml lukewarm water

From my previous experience, dried yeast are usually being soaked with warm water and sugar to activate the organism, which would turn into frothy and a bit smelly mixture, and mix it with flour. But the recipe didn't call for that, instead everything was dumped into a bowl, gradually add in water while kneading until smooth. Very simple. Covered with a wet towel and leave it (at warm places) for an hour for it to rise twice it original size. Since the whole house was super cold due to the weather, we decided to put the bowl of dough next to the stove. In the meantime, Kak Supi was in charged of making the fillings - when it came to on the stove cooking, it's not my forte.. yet. :D.

After the dough has kembang, punched and divided into 16 smaller balls (each weighs +-50g). Flatten the balls with your palm before stuffing with curry fillings. Sealed and put on a piece of wax paper. Leave it again, for app. 30mins or until it risen twice it size. Steam for 10 minutes.

Pau beratur untuk sauna

the gebu pau. yammy yum.

The recipe is definitely a keeper as it produced a soft and gebu pau! Just as I wanted! Oh, and look at what we did with the leftovers.

cheat Man Tou. hehe. The white part is mango flavoured, while the purplish/pinkish is vanilla flavoured.

So Kat, there you have it, Chicken Curry Pau! Give it a try, anda pasti berpuas hati! ;)

Oh yes, I've been busy with a new hobby too. Everyone in the house has been bitten by the Scrabble bug, including her:

Oi Jac, mane aci tengok dictionary while playing scrabble!

Perihal Tesis dan Raya Haji

Selamat Aidiladha dan Selamat Tahun Baru untuk para pembaca yang budiman (cheh.. mcm ramai je yang membaca ni. hehe). Kejadian banjir di Johor Bahru turut mengakibatkan kerosakan talian telefon di kediaman saya, dan juga kawasan yang berhampiran. Oleh sebab itu, saya mengalami simdrom 'withdrawal' yang agak kronik akibat tidak dapat menggunakan Internet hampir seminggu. Sehingga kini, saya difahamkan situasi telefon masih belum berubah. Maish belum dibaiki. TELEKOM DI MANA KAH DIKAU?!!!

Okla, banyak benda yg nk distorykan. So, let's make it short and concise. Style buat abstrak utk tesis tu.. hehe

1. Finally, i've submitted the THESIS for examination! waahh.. lega nyaa.. but but.. this is only merdeka peringkat pertama. i've to wait between 1-2 months for Viva. (Viva= sesi tembak menembak dan mempertahankan diri serta kajian yang dibuat). dan setelah itu, buat lagi minor correction before printing it for one last time, and bind it, hard cover. haa.. lepas tu baru lah merdeka yg sebenar2nye.

Nak hantar thesis tu pun byk dramanye. I planned to submit it last friday on the 29th dec. Tapi apalah nasibku, ofis fac tu bleh nye tutup. iye.. tutup pada pukul 3.30ptg atas alasan diorg semua pegi function kat hotel. sakitnye atiii.. x tampal notis.. nothing.. tau2 je setelah ku daki tangga 4 tingkat, mengusung tesis 130pages sebanyak 5 copies, sampai kt opis nk tolak pintu, then i realized the door is locked. mmg hampeh kn? dah ler, the next day tu plan nk go back JB for good. disebabkn nk submit tesis tu je, naik balik KL from JB this morning, terus pegi fac just to submit the thesis.. semua tu settle in less than 15mins. Alhamdulillah selesai jua akhirnya.


2. Celebrated Raya Haji at JB. Jd sebelum bertolak ke JB on saturday tu, sempatlah masak kek and bagi2 kt Atok at Kg Baru, Neni (my nenek sedara) and also to Kak Noha. Time beraya kt JB adik beradik Baba semua datang dr S'pore, since Nek Wan is staying with us for this month. Meriah lah dgn makan2nye, Kak Supi masak Nasi Beriyani Ikan (saya cume potong bawang aje), kuah dalca, ayam goreng je ada 2 jenis - goreng rempah dgn goreng style KFC; Kak Mas (pembantu Nek Wan) bawak pudding gula hangus, satay goreng, sambal satay, ketupat; tu belum Mak Uteh (yg mmg terror masak) bawak trifle - kek, kastard and jelly. Disebabkan kepenatan drive from KL-JB, i only managed to buat baulu gulung or nama glamer nye Pineapple Roll (sebab nk menghabiskn jem nanas left over from raya hari tu)



Atas: made Kek Zebra (recipe adapted from Jo's and Resipi.net) for Neni and Kak Noha. Namanye kek Zebra, sbb bile dipotong, nnti nampak la belang2 kt kek tu. Namun, mine x begitu menjadi belang2nye, since I preferred using melted choc instead of emulco for the choc stripe. Jd choc batter to berat, it sinked to the bottom. but tastewise - agak kembang la bontot dipuji. hehe

Bawah kiri - Pandan Layer Cake, resipi from Cari.com.my, forum Food and Recipes. Dalam tu kek chiffon pandan, di layerkan dgn Puding Pandan Kaya. Mak Lang ckp, tastewise ok, cume kek x melekat dgn pudding. I think I should reduce the amount of agar2 powder next time, and also add some green food colouring, biar striking sket.

Bawah Kanan - Itu la homemade baulu gulung @ Pineapple Roll. Guna recipe Swiss Roll, and jam nanas tu left over buat tart mase Raya. Bakal mak mentua kata sedap, so ok la tu kan? ;) hehehehe

3. Hari Isnin tu, buat Hazelnut Mocha Profiteroles yang sekian lama diidamkan oleh Kakak.
Profiteroles ni recipe and adunan sama je mcm Cream Puff. Cume this one letak ground Hazelnut, and it used more eggs (to make the batter lighter and softer). Kiri - profiteroles in making, Kanan- profiteroles sebelum dimakan. Only manage to amik gambar die solo sbb bile siap aje, semorg terus ngadap. hehe. Profiterole ni I sumbatkan with Vanilla Ice Cream, sebelum dimandikan dgn Mocha Choc Sauce. Heavennnnnnnnnn.

So itu je lah projek Raya Aji. Skang soalan cepumas - Ada sesiapa nak tawarkan Jawatan Kosong pada saya? in IT/Library field. Kalau nk suruh jadi tukang buat kek atau roti pn boleh. hehe