The Dainty Baker

Food for the toothless

2012-02-13T23:56:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines day everyone!

We all know that February the 14th is a day where love is thrown around and lovers are showered with gifts and cuddles. But I have never really questioned the origin of it. I knew it was something to do with St Valentine, hence Valentines day but what is the story behind it? Thanks to my awesome investigative skills (google) I found out that it started as a day to honor said saint, but it wasnt until a certain Mr Geoffery Chaucer wrote a poem to honor the engagement of King Richard II to Anne of Bohemia, that Valentines day was associated with love and fuzziness.

The poem he wrote was "For this was Saint Valentine's Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate." Interesting huh? One person, one line has turned this day into a massively 'important' one.

Personally, I'm not too phased by Valentines Day. I think its sweet and I think its nice. And for those boys out there who dont have romantic DNA I suppose it puts you on the spot and reminds you to make your lady feel special, which is a good thing. Yet on the other hand I also believe that showing someone you care or that you love them isnt a once a year thing but it should be apparent randomly all the time. By this I dont mean a bunch of 12 long stem roses every day but you know, the little things. They always make me smile :)

So as I was thinking about all of this and remembering all the little things both my Wobbles has done for me and that I have done for him. I remembered something in particular that I did for my better half earlier this year that I would like to share with you all.

The poor thing had to get his wisdom tooth out. With the maturity (at times) of a 5 year old kid he was mopey and whiny that he had to get it out, so that (blasted windy, rainy, aweeeefulll) Sat morning I took him to the dentist then proceeded to play nurse (not the naughty kind) for the day.

Not being able to eat anything solid I put my culinary "skills" and thinking cap to the test. First I whipped out my 'French Lessons' cookbook by Justin North then decided to tackle the Cauliflower Vichyssoise (mouthful, I know). This was such a full bodied soup. The texture was rich and creamy and really hit the spot especially during those freakishly cold days we were having back in January. The aroma of thyme pairs up brillantly with the cauliflower to make it a lovely moorish starter.

The second dish I decided on was somewhat an invention of my own. I was seriously racking my brain for something light yet filling and of course soft for my toothless baby. So what popped in my head? A fusion of japanese and chinese. Steamed Ginger Barramundi and Tofu with Dashi Broth.

This was a brilliant success! The sweetness of the fish married perfectly with the saltiness yet lightness of the broth. Although, one would have though that it might lack in texture the silky tofu actually was the perfect solution to this dilemma. I will definitely be making this dish again.

The things we do for love. Have a great one! ♥

Btw - if you havent heard, yes my stall at the Crows Nest Markets is a go ahead, so make sure you come down and say hi! Its this Sat the 18th Feb starts at 9 - 3 pm. I'll be selling an assortment of cream puffs (pate a choux), macarons and cupcakes. The markets are located right next to the Gloria Jeans on the main strip x

Cauliflower Vichyssoise
Adapted from Justin North's French Lessons
60 ml vegetable oil
1 onion, finely sliced
1 leek, white part only, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1/2 head of cauliflower broken into small florets
3 sprigs thyme
salt and pepper
2 cups chicken stock (I was trying to be fancy and used consomme instead - think this is what gave it the richness, but it was slightly too powerful for the delicate soup so I wouldnt recommend it)
few drops of lemon juice

First heat the oil in the pan then add the vegetables along with the thyme and cauliflower. Season well. Sweat over a low heat until the onion becomes transparent. Add stock to the pan and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat and simmer gently for about 20 mins. Season.

Ladle into a food processor and puree in batches. Be very careful as the liquid from the pot will be very HOT.

Push the soup through a fine sieve and let cool then stir in the lemon juice. Chill then serve. Now, here is where I must stop you. I think that I might have not sieved it through a fine enough sieve because it wasnt as fine as I think it shouldve been, as a result I actually served it warm instead of cold. But traditionally its supposed to be served chilled, so whatever tickles your fancy.

Steamed Ginger Barramundi with Tofu and Dashi Broth

2 x 100-150 g firm fish fillets (I used barramundi)
1 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp dashi iriponzu (Uchibori dashi Iriponzu)
1 cup seasoned sauce (Marutomo Makurazaki Katsutsuyu)
5 cups water
3 squares of tofu (they usually come standard size), each cut in half
small piece of ginger crushed and minced finely
spring onion, sliced finely

Left to right - Mirin, dashi iriponzu, seasoned sauce

Add dashi and water in a pot along with the mirin, dashi and sauce and let come to a boil. I know you're all probably scratching your head at these ingredients. I got them all from Tokyo Mart in Northbridge plaza. Basically to my understanding, the dashi iriponzu is like a vinegar. The seasoned sauce is a pre mix that needs to be diluted and it can be used in a variety of dishes such as Udon soup base, katsu's etc. Mirin is just a sweet wine. You can see all three ingredients in the picture above.

Slice the fish fillets into 1.5 thickness diagonally. Place on a plate that you can fit in your steamer. Spoon enough broth to cover the fish. Sprinkle the ginger over the top of the fish and steam for a few mins until just turned white. (Dont over cook the fish or it'll be tough and yucky)

While the fish is steaming gently pop the tofu into the broth and let it gently boil. It doesnt need to be cooked for long.

When the tofu is cooked, place 3 pieces of tofu on a plate as shown. Spoon some of the broth into the plate. Then gently place the fish on top of the tofu. Spoon some of the broth used to cook the fish into the plate too, this will have all the lovely juices and ginger from the fish.

Sprinkle with a small handful of spring onions.

Be my Sweetheart?

2012-02-07T19:45:00.000-08:00

With the impending "V" day coming up, im sure you all out there are faffing around (just like me) thinking of something thoughtful yet not too cliche to woo your partner over with, right? So you think ohhh a wallet, or a tie or something homemade...picture in a frame perhaps? Clothes (nah too 'unromantic')? Roses? (Break my wallet please)

So if its not too tacky or expensive its something you've given them in the previous years....

I'm always one for making something on Valentines day, its personal and they're ~~forced~~ sure to love it. But there's not always enough time and some just lack creative genes (no offence). Ah ohhh? what now??.... I have the perfect solution!!

This year I've made something cute and funky for Valentines day... Sweetheart cakes!!

Remember those little heart shaped lollies with little messages printed onto them? Well, I've transformed this miniature classic into mini cakes perfect for two.

The cake is a luscious yet light Red Velvet flavour with a rich chocolate ganache. I am taking orders until this Sat, 11th Feb. The cakes are $15 each and will be nicely boxed with a ribbon. Personalisations also available at no extra cost. If you are interested, please email me at thedaintybaker@gmail.com

♥ Happy Valentines day Everyone! ♥

Ps. Im opening a stall at the Crows Nest Markets. Details havent been finalised yet but I should be there from 9 - 3 pm on Sat the 18th February, if all goes well. So, if you're not doing anything or just wanna pop around to say hi, please do come by! For regular updates and further information about this you can like my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter.

Australia Day

2012-01-26T02:56:00.000-08:00

I love Australia Day, besides the fact that we get a public holiday and all. Its a day where you can get together with some mates for a BBQ, have a few drinks, soak up some sun (except this year the weather started out pretty poo but fortunately cleared up later in the day). Its kinda cliche but I do feel really proud to be Australian and it makes me realise everything I love about my country and how lucky I am to be living in such an awesome country.

When I was in the US, I was constantly surprised at all the things I was talking about, assuming that they'd know what I was going on about only to find that they didnt most of the time. LOL an example is, for some odd reason I was craving Curly Wurlys... but they had no idea what they were! It was a little frustrating because I'd turn to make a comment or share a thought but they couldnt relate! It was then that I realised that I assumed nothing was actually Australian and that it had come from the rest of the world or I assumed they'd have been exposed to what I have. They do say travelling broadens the mind hehe. So anyways, this started me thinking, there's the obvious Vegemite and Fosters beer thats typically Australian, what else? It really opened my eyes that I took so many things for granted! Tim Tams, Milo etc. Couldve been the homesickness setting in but I'm glad it made me think and for that I'm so much more appreciative of what is "Australian".

In keeping with tradition, this Australia Day we had a BBQ... but we also had a special little extra BBQ too!

I made a cake based off an Australian classic, the lamington. My cake, as I like to call it, was "inverted" lamington flavoured, i.e. chocolate cake with vanilla coconut icing.

Still had the 'snags'

Chicken wings

Shish Kebabs... gosh thats another thing I found out! Americans call kebabs, kebobs LOL! Made me laugh

The stereotypical stubbie holder and BBQ .... see peeps no "shrimp on the Barbie"

Our lovely Australia Day lunch spread

Hope everyone had a great Australia day! ♥

(ps if anyone listened to the top 100 on Triple J ... what a disappointment! No.1 was predictable and the lead up was kinda shameful.. what happened to the FOOIES????)

Happy Chinese New Year!!

2012-01-24T15:45:00.000-08:00

Around comes another year on the Chinese calendar and this time its the year of the almighty.... DRAGON!!!

I've been looking forward to the turn of the new year since the start of last year. Why? Because (us Asians are so damn superstitious) last year was the year of the Rabbit, which was the year that I was born in and they say that if its your 'year' you're meant to get alot of bad luck... which I admit, happened to me (be it that I was sensitive to it happening due to my superstition or not!)

Either way, start of the new year means a new beginning... something I've needed :D So, sending happiness and prosperity to everyone!! Gong Hei Fat Choy!!!

I was quite festive this year actually. To bring in the new year I made a Chinese New Year themed cake and cupcakes.

Lol see all that "Choy" aka gold and prosperity!! Only thing now is for it to turn into reality muahahhahaha

Flowers for beauty and a new beginning

Olden day coins for prosperity

Kumquat for luck

Olden day gold nuggets (equivalent of notes today)

Firecrackers to scare away evil/bad spirits and welcome in the good ones!

Mum commented that this little girl looks like me when I was younger....

Little Boy with "Choy Sun Yeh" (God of Prosperity) Hat

I had to make a special note of this, it is REALLY HARD to pipe curves upwards!! lol

HAHAHA because I'm a "fake" Asian as Wobbles puts it, I actually wrote this word wrong.. until corrected by mum lol I missed one tiny stroke .. oppsies!

Since I was getting all Asiany and Chinesey I decided to invent some new flavours for my cakes too!! This one is Lychee, Coconut and Vanilla. OMG not to blow my own trumpet but this is GOOD!!! The smaller cupcakes had different flavours: Coconut and Chocolate, Pandan and Coconut and Vanilla and Lychee.

Also a very warm welcome to my lovely... now, I'm not too sure what I'd call her? My second cousin? or my "niece". I think its different in Asian and Caucasian culture. She's my cousins baby, lovely little Adeline! She was brought into the world just a few days before CNY. A beautiful baby girl, very cute! Wishing Mum and bubba the best ♥

Adeline and Me

And look what arrived in the mail the morning of CNY! The business cards I've been patiently waiting for!!!

A special Announcement:

I'm starting to take on cake, sweets and cupcake orders. Every order is specially designed and personalised for you. If you are interested please do not hesitate to pop me an email at thedaintybaker@gmail.com, I'd love to hear your fabulous ideas!

♥

WELCOME 2012!!

2012-01-05T05:06:00.001-08:00

♥ HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!! ♥

I cant believe we've already rolled around to the start of a brand spanking new year! Hope everyone had a fantastic start to the new year!!

2012 for me was welcomed in with around 100 ppl celebrating at my house with 3 levels of music, karaoke, alcohol, laughter, chatter and of course wayyyyy too much food! :D

I put together a little dessert table for the occasion, which to my surprise was a great hit! The kids and adults alike loved it!!

I made a selection of petite fours including:

Macarons

Strawberry flavoured filled with buttercream

Cupcakes

Chocolate Mud with cream cheese icing

Cake Pops

Chocolate fudge with white chocolate coating

The main feature of my dessert table was the New Years Cake. It consisted of 3 tiers of cake. The bottom tier was red velvet and the top two tiers were chocolate mud.

I also had a selection of lollies and candy...

I dont usually make new years resolutions, but this year things are going to change! so I've made a couple to help me along. Fingers crossed I keep motivated and inspired!! :) Wonder what everyone elses resolutions are? ... whatever they are, GOOD LUCK!!!

Lots of love and smiles to all my lovely readers! Bring it on 2012! xxox

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-18T19:34:00.001-08:00

Its coming to that time again!!! Christmas!!! I love Christmas, all that fuzzy happiness and good cheer, makes me feel all giddy with the Christmasy atmosphere (and I dont mean just because of all the booze!)

This year will be the first time in almost 8 years that I will actually be home in Australia for the festive season, which I'm actually really excited for!! Just thought with all the travelling and stuff this year, it would be nice to actually spend some time at home with all my close family and friends :)

I've been a gingerbread making machine this past week. Never been a huge fan of gingerbread but I couldn't resist because they're so fun to make and look soo sweet and pretty!!

Gingerbread House

Adapted from Christmas Cooking by New Woman's Weekly

Ingredients

4 1/2 cups (675 g) self raising flour

3 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp ground clove

1 tsp ground nutmeg

185 g butter, chopped

1 cup (220 g) firmly packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup (180 g) treacle

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Royal Icing

2 egg whites

3 cups (480 g) pure icing sugar/powdered sugar

1/2 tsp cream tartar

1 tsp lemon juice

Tools

35 cm round or square board

paper or cardboard

Method

1. Rub all the dry ingredients and butter until it resembles bread crumbs. Add wet ingredients and combine until it forms a dough. Refrigerate for an hr.

2. Cut out shapes for the house; Roof (Qty 2) 12cm x 19 rectangles, Sides (Qty 2) 10.5 cm x 16 cm, Front/Back (Qty 2) 16 cm x 18 cm, trim this so that it forms 11 cm high gables.

3. Preheat oven to 170oC.

4. Roll out the dough between baking paper until approx 5 mm thick. Cut out shapes.

5. Bake for 10 to 12 mins, the cookie will feel soft but firm (it hardens as it cools).

6. To make the door and windows get a sharp knife and cut out the shapes whilst the cookie is still warm.

Royal Icing

1. Sift all the powdered sugar and add the rest of the ingredients

2. Using a paddle mix the ingredients at the lowest speed for about 20 to 25 mins. Note : do not overmix or your royal icing will be very hard to pipe. The consistency should be soft but firm and elastic.

Construction

1. You need to do this at least a few hours before building your house, if possible, the day before. Pipe royal icing in an 'x' and place 2 skewers on the roof panels. This will serve as support for your structure.

2. Pipe along the edges of the back and one of the side panels and position them together. If it doesnt stay use a prop. Do the same with the other side. Note, how I have piped along the bottom as well.

3. Once all the sides are attached, pipe along the top edge and place the roof panels on top.

4. If there is a gap between the side/front and back panels and the roof, fill it in with royal icing.

Looks like my construction roots are still in me... hehehehe

After the house is built (and is standing on its own, without any support), you're ready to decorate!! You can use any sweets you like, chocolate freckles, jubes, chocolate fingers, marshmallows ....

Just a note on the recipe; its not a very strong gingerbready recipe so if you want to make it slightly spicier just add more powdered ginger! Also try swapping dark brown sugar with just brown sugar for a sweeter taste... because the royal icing and chocolate etc isnt bad enough for your teeth.

Whilst I was Pinteresting I came across an idea on a website that was UUUUUUBBERRRRR cute!! So I decided to make my own!

All of these make some really cute gift ideas for Xmas too!! :)

Gingerbread with your tea?

Mini Gingerbread house

Sad to say but, this is going to my last post of 2011 :( Its been a massive year, dunno about you guys but I will be welcoming the new year with open arms! :)

And... before I sign off, I just wanted to wish you all a....

and a Happy New Year!! See you all in 2012!!!

♥

How to Assemble a tiered cake

2011-12-05T15:44:00.000-08:00

Cake stacking can be pretty scary. So I have decided to share with you what works for me! All you really need is; the right tools and some guts! :)

I will show you step by step how I stacked this three tier cake I made for my brothers Valedictory dinner.

Step 1: Prepare all the tools you will need.

This will include:

- Wooden dowels - you can buy these at cake stores, they are usually only 30 cm long (see pic) or you can also go to Bunnings and get their wooden dowels approx 5-8 mm in diameter, these are like 1 m long. Note - you will need 1 longer central dowel to go through the total height of the cake.

- Wood cutters (or something similar to cleanly cut the dowels)

- Buttercream/royal icing

- spatula (always handy)

- mallet (optional)

Step 2: Have your cake tiers prepared and ready to stack.

It is up to you how you want to finish/decorate your cake i.e. buttercream or fondant etc (possiblities are endless), but make sure that each tier except the bottom is sitting on a foam or cardboard cake board. The bottom tier should be placed on a sturdy wooden cake board or surface that wont bend and will take the total weight of the finished cake. Usually this can be achieved by thicker cake boards not necessarily larger.

Step 3: Figuring out how many dowels to use per tier

I like using odd numbers. So for my 10 inch round cake I have got 5 dowels, the 8 inch round I have 3 dowels and obviously there are no dowels in the top tier. I have a central dowel through all the tiers to stop the tiers from sliding.

Honestly, there isnt really a science to how many dowels to use per tier. But I have found that these numbers work and if you are worried about the structural integrity you can always shove a few more dowels in there for piece of mind. The only thing to remember and keep in mind is that no matter how many dowels you use, just make sure that they are even spread so that the load is evenly distributed. Also, I'm being 'Captain Obvious' here but, the lower and larger tiers will need more dowels than the tiers above as it is supporting the weight of those above, just needed to say that. Oh and do not go crazy and put dowels too close to the edge or outside of where the tier on top as 1. it will show when you stack them and 2. its redundant as it isnt supporting anything.

Step 4: Measuring out the dowels

You will need to do this separately for each tier.

It is important that the middle of the tier will be the main reference point of the height at which you want your tier to be. Therefore, you will need to stick a dowel into the middle of the tier and mark the height as shown below.

Next you will remove the dowel and cut where the line is. Using this cut dowel as your reference, mark the rest of the dowels out the same size. Note always use the original cut dowel to measure and cut the other dowels, this will help you maintain consistency.

When you have finished cutting the desired amount of dowels line them up just to check that they are all the same size. Trust me you do not want to screw this part up or your cake will be the Leaning Tower of Pisa..... bad memories... lol

Step 5: Insert all the dowels in their places and get ready to stack them on top of each other.

I have obviously left the middle out as this will be where the central dowel goes through. If you are not using a central dowel (not necessary for say 2 tiered cakes) then you need to push a cut dowel through there.

Step 6: Spread some buttercream or royal icing on the tier and stack the tier above ontop with the help of a spatula.

Step 7: Using your longer dowel push through the middle of the stack, if it is too hard to push down you can lightly and carefully hammer it down with a mallet or twist the dowel carefully to puncture through the cake board.

Note: The longer dowels that can be purchased from Bunnings have flat ends unlike the shorter cake dowels. You need this long dowel to have a pointed end so that you can push through the cake tiers and their boards easily. To do this just sharpen the end of the dowel using a pencil sharpener, until you get the end like the cake dowel.

Mark this central dowel as you did with the others, cut it and reinsert the dowel.

Step 8. Voila!! You have your stacked cake!

Now its your turn! :) Good luck and would love to hear how you guys go!

I'm Back!!!

2011-11-22T21:35:00.000-08:00

So, I'm back from the USA!! :) What can I say? It was an experience both of good and bad. Being away made me realise just how much I missed home and all the little things we take for granted. Cliche, I know, but too true.

In summary, I left home wanting to take on the world, travel and learn as much as I could in the 6 months I was in school. I wouldnt actually say that I did take on the world but I sure coped a beating from it.

I was admitted to hospital twice, lost $4k due to the Hilton having the worst security ever (which they of course did not take responsiblity for), lost my passport, flew home for a funeral and back again which in turn stuffed up my visa, had issues selling my car because the dealer had been shady and there was a typo regarding the amount of mileage on the title and most recently, the new Kitchen Aid that I had bought and blinged up "popped" which lead me to finding out that we cant use USA bought kitchen aids in Australia because the US are one of the only ones in the world that runs on 110V and 60Hz...... anyyways! Thank goodness this year is almost over and thank God I've made it home in one piece.

Having said all these downers there have been good times! I was fortunate enough to go to the Bahamas, travelled around pretty much the whole of the East Coast of USA and I ticked off what I wanted to do most, which was learn to bake professionally. It feels almost weird being back and not being in a 'commercial' kitchen everyday. I have also been lucky enough to meet some amazing people whilst I've been away and formed friendships that will hopefully last a lifetime :)

So what have I been doing since I've been back? Why, baking of course!! :) I realised that alot of the things we learnt in school needed to be refreshed, especially since I was replicating the recipes in my home kitchen. My first proper project was the Croquembouche Wedding Cake.

The swirl decorations are made out of pastillage, which is a sugar dough that dries really hard. I had the recipe for it but as it was only demonstrated to us in school and I came across a premix for it, I decided, 'why make life hard for myself?' and went with the premix. The premix is from a company called Cake Art. It comes as a powder form and you need only add water. It was really really sticky at first so I added some more of the powder, then after letting it sit for a few minutes you were able to knead it until it was elastic. It was still a really soft dough. The pastillage when demonstrated at school pretty much dried up instantly but this premix stuff takes a while to dry, you need to let it sit overnight or even a few days depending on its thickness.

The roses and small blossoms were made out of gumpaste. I used the brand Satin Ice. The gum in the gum paste allows it more flexiblity and stretchablity so that you can roll out the dough very thin without it ripping, therefore creating more life like flowers.

I've always had problems with using sugar and ever since I took sugar class at school my confidence was boosted with being able to blow and pull sugar. HOWEVER! Alas my old enemy is back! I had the same problem of the sugar melting on my croquembouche. I dont know if its because of the blasted few days of torrential rain we've been having lately that has saturated the atmosphere with moisture or that my method of cooking sugar is incorrect? I even used the sugar casting recipe that Chef Notter uses for his show pieces for the sugar on the pate a choux but it still melts!! If anyone out there knows the solution to my problem PLEASE! email me I would love to hear from you!

Fancy Schmancy Kitchen Aid

2011-10-02T17:40:00.000-07:00

There was something at the top of my hit list for coming to the States. And that was to get me a brand spanking new mama Kitchen Aid mixer for the baby Artisan mixer I have at home.

Of course I opted for the newest, biggest, baddest kitchen aid they had to offer. The Kitchen Aid Pro 600 series. This beauty not only has a bigger capacity than the baby at home but is also more powerful. I was hoping to get a baby blue colour to supplement my baby pink one at home but of course this bad ass doesnt come in all the pretty colours we so much desire (I suppose it wouldnt really be prudent for professional chefs such as Gordon Ramsey for example to have a flaming pink professional mixer in his kitchen).

Anyhows, after much debate I went for the black coloured one (mostly because they didnt have the red one and I couldnt be bothered to wait for shipping!). Looking at my mixer one day, it was sleek, it was sexy but there was something missing.

So.... after much internal dilemma, I decided to pimp my mama ;)

Isn't she so pretty?? It was pretty easy to do. You just need to clean the surface really so that there's no dirt or dust on it then stick on the gems. I bought these cool sticky gems from Michaels. Hope they don't come off too easy though :)

Coincidently, about a week later the lovely ladies aka Fantastic Four, were graduating from school. So we decided to give them a little graduation gift. I got really excited and creative, so volunteered to put something together for them on everyones behalf.

It took me ages!! I stuck the jewels on one by one with super glue and I almost stuck my fingers together too LOL!

Even the Chefs liked the pressies!

♥

Congratulations to R, E, S & E on finishing!! Wish you guys the best of luck! We'll miss you! x

Nassau - Bahamas

2011-09-25T18:26:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!!

Its been so long that I dont even know where to follow on from.

Well a quick update of what I have been up to. My dear Wobbles came from Sydney to visit me in Orlando so of course we hit all the theme parks! and had a cheeky little escapade to the BAHAMAS!!! yes the Bahamas!! I was a little cynical at first as I thought it would be an overpriced pretentious place.. but boy, was I WRONG!

Bahamas has to be one of the most beautiful places I've been to and thats saying something seeing as I've got Mauritius, Seychelles, Austria, Switzerland etc to compare with. Although we were only there for a few days we managed to pack in so much and it was relaxing at the same time too!

The Bahamas is a group of little islands and cays off the coast of USA near Florida. Its capital is Nassau and takes about 1 hr by plane from Orlando international Airport. Below is a map of Nassau & Paradise Island.

We booked both the flights and hotel as a package through a website called Priceline. It was a really good deal! For 4 nights accommodation and flights to and from Orlando, USA to Nassau, Bahamas it only cost around $450 pp inc tax!

One of the pool areas at the Sheraton Nassau Beach

We stayed at the Sheraton Hotel Nassau Beach. It was actually a really nice hotel, although the pictures on the website don't do it justice. I was worried it would be old but it was actually quite new and the facilities nice. Included in our stay was a daily buffet breakfast and a $100 drink and food voucher, which made the deal even better!

Breakfast at the Sheraton - fatty foods = Wobbles, fruit and cereal = Me :)

Another good thing about this hotel was that it was situated on the main part of Nassau and not on Paradise Island, which meant we were able to get out and experience the 'real' Bahamas. What I mean by this is that, if you stay on Paradise Island you are a little limited in terms of seeing and experiencing how the locals live. The only bad thing about this hotel was the daily hotel fees of $40 a night per room.

Having a cocktail at the private beach in Sheraton :)

You can hire out the jetskis and also go on snorkel trips

If you are thinking of heading to the Bahamas you have got to try the following:

Dolphin Encounters - US $98 pp

The excursion starts off with a relaxing boat ride from Paradise Island at Nassau, through the crystal clear waters to a private island called, Blue Lagoon Island. This island is specially operated for the care of Atlantic dolphins and sea lions, it offers several marine life conservation and education programmes and participates in research of the marine wildlife.

Lovely boat ride out to the island

I had so much fun on this excursion!! I was so excited to be finally getting up close and personal with a dolphin! There's an introductory talk when you first get to the island, then you are ushered to the platforms which surrounds a bit of open water. The dolphin swims up to greet you, then a few groups at a time you are asked to stand on the platform which allows about half your body to be submerged in the water (perfect for little kids too!) When you are on this platform the trainer lets you touch, dance, touch the teeth, feed, kiss and hug the dolphin. The duration is about an hr with the dolphin, our dolphin was called Andy!

After this you are free to roam the island, where you can go check out the sea lions or participate in the sea lion encounter (if you have time) or just chill out on the island. The water is amazingly crystal clear and the sand, white! We didn't have enough time as we went on one of the later excursion times but if you go there in the morning you can catch a later boat ride back to Nassau and make a day of it.

ps - dont forget to get the video, it was only around $50 which films your whole experience. I missed out :'(

Kiss kiss ♥

In addition, there are several other options available:
Dolphin Swim $189 - only difference is you actually are swimming with the dolphin and get you pushed through the water with their noses.
Sea Lion encounter $80

Watersports Cruise - $150 pp
This was a whole day excursion, it was so much fun! It included snorkelling, parasailing, banana boat ride, jet ski ride, lunch inc drink (alcoholic too!) and beach stop. Need I say more?

Parasailing - short but sweet, it was raining and cloudy that day and there were lightning strikes in the distance so it was a little scary being up there ><

Jet Skiing - for those who haven't done it, its great fun!! We managed to go on it for much longer than the 15 min limit :)

Powerboat Adventures - $190

Speed boat - it was pretty cramped on the way back coz we picked up some more passengers who were staying on the island

This was my FAVOURITE!!!! Well worth the money!! It starts off with a power boat ride, which was kind of uncomfortable as you are kind of packed in so it was a little squishy, but if you get on the boat early (which never happened for us) you can get a good seat. It felt very Miami Vice meets Mission Impossible lol!

The first stop is on this amazing small island where the water again is CRYSTAL CLEAR! looked like a swimming pool and the water was nice and shallow!! You are given grapes and get to feed the iguanas that live on the island.

Iguanas - they were really cute!

Then you are whisked away to the private island on Exuma Cays. This place was a dream come true! There's a nice little platoon with an awesome shack/bar attached to it. The beautiful beach is free for you to roam the entire day. Before you even get off the boat you are able to spot lots of beautiful fish and marine life in the water. Upon arrival we were greeted with snacks consisting of chips, dips and sandwiches and the commencement of an open bar (yes, all alcoholic drinks are included).

You can go as close to the sharks as you wanted - depends how crazy you are

But thats not the main attraction of this excursion, its the sharks and stingrays that come up to the shore! When you are in the water the rays can come up to you if you want them to it was awesome to see them so close! And you can see the sharks swimming less than a few meters away from you :)

Stingray feeding up close and personal - I was pretty freaked out, all I could think about was Steve Irwin :S

They offer stingray feeding and shark feeding. For the stingray feeding you are all lined up in a straight line and get down on your knees. Then they give you a piece of fish which you hold between 2 fingers like the piece sign. You put your hand in the water and the stingray will swim over your hand and suck the fish out from your fingers!! It was sooo scary at first but they are the most graceful creatures I've ever seen! lol one of them came and sucked on my knee!! lol!!

Shark Feeding

Shark feeding was more cautious, although we were still in the water, the guide was infront of us in the water with fish on the end of a rope throwing it in for the sharks. There was another guide that was next to him with a stick to keep the more agressive lemon sharks away from us and his mate. There were lemon, caribbean and nurse sharks on this island.

We got to go snorkelling in these waters, where visiblity was as close to 100% as I'd ever seen! I saw a Baracuda!!! and the second time we went out there was a shark that was pretty close to us. When that happens you just have to swim away from it. It was pretty cool though :)

As you can see my macho Wobbles likes to swim towards the man eating shark rather than away from it!

Lunch was also included and was a lovely buffet of fish, steak, salads and a variety of sides. I was very impressed! Make sure you get some of the fish, it tasted sooo good!! Better than the steak! I snobbed it off at first but then when I tried Elliot's I knew I made the wrong choice... but lucky you can go back for seconds! :D
I was so sad to be leaving :( but I did find out that they have a few rooms that are avaliable for over night stay at the island. It didnt sound too expensive for what you were getting so I would definately look into it again when I go back. Too bad we only found out about this when we were there and it was too late to change arrangements :(

Here are some pics of Nassau

There was a hurricane that came through the Bahamas literally a week before we got there, but this is how they secure the trees so that they dont fall down.

Love how they have little stores and bars by the beach, 'Yah know?'

Paradise Island - the big building is one of the buildings of Atlantis Resort

One of the many celebrity condos by the waterfront

Downtown - Nassau

Straw Market

Bahamas was so awesome! I would definately recommend it to anyone who is thinking of going! Oh and something that we missed out on was the 'Pink sand Island', it looked gorgeous, unfortunately we ran out of time. If you have been or are thinking of going please do email me pics! Feel free to email me questions you guys might have too!

And have a drink for me ;)

♥

PS - I'd also like to congratulate my bestie Jenny of Chasing Perfection on her new job as a beauty and makeup journalist! xx

Mango & Lemon Meringue Tartlettes

2011-08-14T14:53:00.000-07:00

I had to come home to Sydney for a few days due to a family emergency about a week ago. Gosh it was weird coming home. Mainly because it stirred alot of mixed emotions in me. Happy because I missed alot of things about home, but sad because of the occasion in which I had to come home for and that I just simply wasnt ready to come back, felt almost like my trip was being cut short. However, when I touched down in Sydney I was a bit teary from realising how long I had been gone for - 4 months, and I was ecstatically happy to be seeing loved ones so soon. I realised all the things that I took for granted and all the things that I missed about home... 90% being the food!! :D

I was supposed to stay for 2 days but ended up extending my stay for a week. I can tell you that in that one week I crammed as much food in as possible! Went to the Fish Market, Bourke St Bakery, 'The West' (its what I call the Canley Vale/Cabramatta area that I grew up in), ate pho, Thai, Jap, Korean and much, much more! lol yes I really did take advantage of being back. But I also baked alot during the day whilst every one was at work *cheeky grin*

I baked Apple and Cinnamon muffins - they were gone in a jiffy so I dont actually have any pics of it (but will make another batch when I get home and post up the recipe then). But more to the point, I made ALOT of tartlettes!

Here is one of the tarts I made, its based off one of my favourites - Lemon Meringue Pie. A few years ago I started making this dessert in little tart shells simply because I hated having to line a massive tart shell and it was easier to share this way as you didnt need to cut it up into pieces or give away your entire tart pan with it, it was just easier like this. Having been away from home for so long I rummaged through my pantry to see what I could whip up... and lo and behold! I found a can of sliced mangoes... hence my 'Mango & Lemon Meringue tartlettes'.

Mango and Lemon Tartlettes

Makes 16 small tarts

I used a simple Pâte Sucrée recipe for the base.

Filling

1/2 cup sugar
a pinch of salt
250 grams sliced mango (fresh or from the tin)
Juice of 1 lemon
zest of 1 lemon
3 egg yolks
2 Tbsp cornflour mixed with 1/4 cup juice from the can or water if you are using fresh mangoes
50 g butter

Meringue

9 egg whites

250 g sugar

1 tsp cream tartar

1 tsp vanilla essence

Grease and line all the tart shells with the pâte sucrée, make sure that it doesnt get warm ie keep it in the fridge until ready to use.

To make the filling, puree the mango then put into a pot with all the other ingredients except the egg yolks and corn starch. Let the mango mixture come to a boil and simmer until it reduces and starts to thicken. Strain and return back into the pot.

Meanwhile, mix the yolks and cornstarch in a separate bowl. Once the mango mix is ready, pour only half of mix bit by bit into the yolks whilst constantly stirring. Then pour the egg mixture back into the pot with the rest of the mango mix. Return to heat and stir constantly with a whisk until it thickens. Remove from heat then stir butter through.

Spoon the filling into each tart pan and bake for 20 mins at 180oC until the filling is set and the tart shell is slightly browned. Remove from oven, let cool a little then remove from shell tins and cool further.

Whilst the tarts are cooling, make the meringue by whipping the egg whites until it is foamy. Add sugar whilst constantly whisking, add the rest of the ingredients and whisk until it stands at hard peak. Put meringue into a piping bag and only when the tarts are completely cooled pipe swirls onto each tart. Place these tarts back in the oven at 150oC for another 10-15 mins until the meringues are baked but not dried out. The meringue should be stiff but be soft and fluffy.

Use a blow torch to brown the tops of the meringue.

Serve & enjoy!

I guess my choice was probably also influenced because we were doing 'Classical Cakes and Tarts' at school at the time. I learnt that 'fonçage' is the fancy French term to describe lining of a tart pan.

I was a little disappointed with this recipe, simply because the mango flavour was ousted by the lemonyness and it was a little on the sweet side. My thoughts at the time was, yes the mango will be a little sweet especially paired up the meringue, but if I use more lemon juice then that should bring up the acidity. To my dissappointment, too much I think.

Next time, I will reduce the mango down further, decrease the sugar content (use only 1/4 sugar) and therefore the need for lemon juice. However, this being said, it was still really nice tasting. Sweet, with a tart aftertaste and a hint of mango.

ps. Isnt my little fork too cute?! Got it in Japan. I ♥ Japan!!

'I'm such a 'tart' for tarts!'

Wedding Cake Finals

2011-08-09T19:32:00.000-07:00

This was a stressful 2 days... it was our Wedding cake class final but reminisced something more like a scene from a horrible 'Masterchef' challenge. We had to bake one tier from scratch (including torting and icing), stack with the 2 other dummy tiers and decorate the whole 3 tiers within 10 hrs.... AHHHH!!

There were 3 themes with a whole bunch of requirements:

1. Abstract Nature

2. Modern Geometric

3. Classical

The one that I got given was Abstract nature. I had to come up with a design and execute it within that 10 hr time frame, with the requirements of using complimentary colours in my design, displaying 5 different techniques used, use of fondant, neat borders etc etc.

Being the over enthusiastic crazy child that I am, I got a little carried away with my design. But to be fair, I wanted to push myself too which is why I didnt go with the A - Typical design of having flowers and in particular, blossoms and branches cascading down the cake, even though that would have been slap bang on the requirements and quite easy to do, as you can just punch out mass amounts of blossoms quite quickly.

I decided to mix modernism with the classic look as I'm a real fan of understated elegance, theres something about the simplicity yet delicacy of that look that really appeals to me. In the design I had elegant swirling patterns to symbolise the branches which also formed part of a lace pattern. Gumpaste flowers of different sizes were scattered off this detailed and smaller blossoms were also used to add a finishing touch to the overall look of the cake.

The topper for the cake was a bouquet of the larger gumpaste flowers as it helped to tie in the other flowers scattered over the cake. The second tier also had handmade pearls as a touch of opulence. I know that the flowers might look like I got a little carried away with the petal dust and decided on all colours of the rainbow but it actually was very meticulously thought out! My favourite colour is purple so originally I started with this and yellow (as they are complimentary colours). But I thought to myself that it was a little boring just having two colours so I threw in some pink, which is on the same side of the colour wheel as purple so that would work. Now this looked good but it was a little 'flat' there was no dimension in the fact that it all the colours were too similar almost, so I decided to throw in a touch of apple green and thats when the flowers came to life! Really pays to know your colour wheel and how the colours work together :)

So how did I go? ... Here were the turn of events over the 2 days...

Day 1: Baked the real cake and made all the icings (buttercream and royal). The cake cooled in time so I was able to torte and fill with buttercream then ice the entire tier with the crumb coat. I enrobed the 2 dummy cakes and started making the gumpaste flowers, as you need to let this harden for at least a few hours before painting with petal dust. I coloured the fondant and managed to punch out the little blossoms, of course I did not know how many I would need so I made 50 of each colour. I also made the fondant pearls. I stacked the two dummy cakes together and started on the decorations that needed to be attached onto the cake too. All this in 5 hrs isnt too bad... but heres where the rush begins....

Day 2: I continued to make and attach decorations onto the cake. This was very time consuming but not as much as painting the flowers. All the different colours made the painting process a long one. I had to apply one colour at a time and with the right pressure and intensity so it didn't look like a paintball job! lol

Then the time came to stack the cake. This caused me alot of grief and was when the first lot of problems or 'challenges' started. As the bottom tier was the real cake and the two above were the dummy cakes, it had shrunk during the baking process both in width and height. Chef (thats what we call our teacher) didnt take this into account and so as a result the top two dummy cakes were bigger than the bottom tier, especially with the middle tier being a square, it looked awkward. I thought, oh thats fine I'll just attach the square tier off centre and pipe stringwork in the corners. So I was along my happy merry little way until I actually stuck the dummies on. Now because the weight of these dummies were next to nothing. It left a massive gap between the bottom tier and the second tier. Gosh that annoyed me to no end. I tried to push it down, even went as far as placing weights on the top to push it down but it just wouldn't budge. In the end I had to improvise and make a pretty little border around the bottom of the second tier to cover the gap.

Attaching the flowers onto the cake were a bit of a drama too because they were on the side and the flowers were quite heavy, it wouldn't stay... it wasn't feasible for me to wait for the glue (royal icing) to dry because that would not only take ages but I also don't have that many hands... so what to do? Tooth picks! Yes, thats right! I stuck tooth picks into the cake underneath the flower and balanced it on there until it dried! Perfecto! In no time at all I had a bunch of toothpicks sticking out of my cake like a bommyknocker, but hey it worked!

Next was the string work, I had to pipe the 'lace' between the swirls. This was always going to be a tough challenge. It took me ages to get right and to pipe straight is really really really hard. But thankfully I got it done :) The suspended stringwork in the corners also gave me some grey hairs. I would pipe the first lot on then when I went to add to it they would break, let me tell you there were quite alot of "F's" and "S's"

Eventually, I finished it off with piping a bead border, details on the swirls and insides of the little blossoms. I also used white shimmer dust on the swirls and the pearls (HA that rhymes!)

I still cant believe I was able to finish this under the pressure and amount of time we were given. But I guess I worked with what I had and I have to say, I'm pretty happy with the out come :)

The wedding cake monster! RAHHH!!

These were the rest of the other cakes in the class ♥

For more detailed pics, check out The Dainty Baker page on Facebook - LIKE

Royal Icing, Fondant & Gum Paste

2011-07-23T17:55:00.000-07:00

The second half of wedding cake class we learnt to work with royal icing, fondant and gumpaste.

Royal Icing - made from egg whites and powdered sugar. It dries hard and is usually used to pipe flowers, stringwork, flooding and as glue to stick things onto the cake. The recipe that we used in class was very similar, if not the same as the one that I've always used, however, one major difference is the way that it is made.... Usually I would make it just like I am making meringue except there is just a boat load more powdered sugar in the recipe, right? WRONG! To make royal icing you shouldnt beat it too hard/fast. By doing this you are incorporating too much air and it becomes unstable. This is especially important for stringwork, the tiny airpockets will make the icing inconsistent, therefore becoming more fragile and simply put a b*tch to pipe. So when making meringue be sure to whisk the egg whites on a slow to moderate speed. It may seem like its not getting anywhere but the whites with the sugar should be whipped for at least 30 mins so be PATIENT it'll get there.. eventually. Also for added stablity and flexiblity in your royal icing you can add a small amount of gum arabic.

Piped royal icing flowers - There are templates that you can find online (mainly from Wilton). We made daisies, pansies, daffodils, apple blossoms and primroses.

Monograms (I kept calling these mammograms! hahaha) - These are usually letters that are piped before hand and left to dry before transferring onto a cake. To make these you need to pipe the outline of the letters. Let that dry over 24 hours, then thin down the royal icing so that it no longer stands at peaks and pipe inside the lines to 'flood' it. Let this also dry overnight. When peeling off the parchment be very gentle and use a spatula to help you. Needless to say, make sure you make plenty of extras as they are very fragile.

Fondant - this is a sugar based dough that is usually used to enrobe modern cakes and is used to make many cake decorations. It dries out when left exposed so remember to always keep your fondant well wrapped and preferably with a bit of crisco (shortening aka FATTTT) rubbed on it.

These were little ribbon roses we made from fondant. As you can see it starts to dry up which gives it the crackly look also known as 'elephant skin' so you need to either work faster or keep it well covered if you are not using it.

Using fondant is kind of like playing with play doh you just work with it and move it around how you want, to create all sorts of cool stuff on your cake. This was our practice dummy cake, we were practicing different techniques on it and as you can see, I've created a rose bush type thing out of fondant with a fondant bow on top. On the sides you can see stringwork and piping with royal icing.

You can also make you own pearls out of fondant. Just roll out a sausage using the fondant then using a ruler measure and cut the pieces the same size. This will ensure that when you roll the fondant, they will come out the same sized pearls. Drop these pearls into a bed of cornstarch so that the bottoms wont flatten and let them dry. When they're dry, rub off the cornstarch and stick onto cake. The ones shown aren't finished yet because usually you would dust them with some pearl dust or shimmer dust.

More pretty roses! :) Tip - if you need your fondant to dry quickly, make sure to add a bit of gum tracaganth to it when making it from scratch or just knead a tiny bit into it when working with it.

Gum paste - this is very similar to fondant except because it doesn't dry out as quick, it gives it more open time to work with. The inclusion of gum tracaganth in gum paste gives it more flexibility to be rolled out thinner therefore creating more realistic flowers.

This is a rose made out of gum paste before petal dust is added. You need to paint the flowers with petal dust to give it dimension and a more realistic look otherwise it will look too flat and too uniform.

Leaves - These are just cut with leaf cutters then pressed into a veiner to create the texture on the leaves.

This was my very much failed attempt at making a tulip! lol I let the petals dry, curved too much. Usually you just need a slight curve and only 6 are used to make a tulip but because mine were almost bent 180 I decided to put all the petals I made together to form one mother load flower which funnily enough looks like a peony! WIN!! :)

My lovely bouquet of roses with little white blossoms in between. It was so difficult to tie them together! You need to do it one at a time, binding them together at the stem using flower tape.

These probably were my best work in terms of flowers, they were really easy to make too. Just cut out the one petal, thin out the edges using a baller and wrap around the already made stamen. Finish with petal dust and leaves.

I loved making flowers, its time consuming but it was quite therapeutic. When I have time I will post up step by steps of how to make each of these flowers :)

Peace! x

Buttercream Wedding Cakes

2011-07-23T16:20:00.000-07:00

Love weddings! Such a joyous and happy occasion! I remember the first time I made a wedding cake... it was quite a feat. The reception was for 300 ppl so it had to be a pretty big cake, it was my cousins wedding so I decided to give it a shot as their wedding gift. Now that was a solid 5 tier mamma made out of chocolate mud and buttercream.

The topper was from the florist... which I thought was going to be a simple rose bouquet but you work with what you get, so it was a little more old fashioned than I had hoped for. Now, I baked and decorated it in time for the wedding... phew, it delivered in one piece... phew phewwww... but when I came to stacking it... the dowels were cut with a stupid garden clipper thing, where you had to have Arnie sized guns to operate... so they werent all uniform... leading to the problem of the night. The cake started to tilt and sink toward the back. In a panic attack I ordered them to cut the cake immediately, thereby avoiding disaster! :) ...but I've since been dubbed... the 'leaning tower of pisa cake maker!' :S lol

So when we had the wedding cake class I was very excited because I love wedding cakes and I wanted to learn to do it properly! Here begins my series of things that I've learnt in the wedding cake classes, I have to do it in a series of posts coz I think blogger will explode from the amount of pics I want to put up! lol

The first thing we learnt was how to pipe... shells, reverse shells, rosettes etc etc... but we also learnt how to pipe buttercream roses... now these were HARD!

Mine look more like little cabbages lol... I blame the heat from the ovens, it kept melting my buttercream!! However, after a little airbrushing and some supporting piping around it, it didnt look too bad! lol

Personally, I dont really like this type of wedding cake. I think it looks very old fashioned to me. This is typically an American style wedding cake, where the cake itself is covered/finished with buttercream icing and decorations.

A tip for torting (cutting the cake into layers) so you get even layers is, 1. Use a SHARP knife. 2. Use the part of the knife closest to the handle. That way you are controlling where you are cutting as you twist the turn table to move the cake around.

Also when filling the layers with icing you can also create a "dam" by piping a tube of buttercream icing along the circumference of the cake before filling the middle, so that it doesnt run out the sides.

Most of the wedding cakes that you see made out of buttercream icing have completely smooth sides... now the trick to getting the buttercream icing perfectly smooth around the cake is to use a bit of hot water. As with most cakes you will need to do a crumb coat, let that chill, then after add another coat of buttercream icing over the top of this chilled crumb coat. You can go an additional layer but it isnt really necessary if you do the crumb coat properly. When the cake is cooled with the crumb coat, as soon as you put the next layer on the buttercream should set pretty quickly. So by dipping your offset spatula into the hot water whilst icing, it'll result in a smooth final layer of icing. Hope this helps!

The rest of the class' buttercream cakes :)

♥ Keep tuned! ♥

Chef Notter Professional Sugar Class

2011-07-16T20:25:00.000-07:00

After my epiphany and realising what a bad little blogger I am.. I have finally gotten my act together and sorted out my pics to write this next post.

I've been in the States for about 3 months now. In that time I have seriously never had so much bad luck, emotional break downs but fun and rude awakenings to reality. I was the victim of crime, admitted to hospital, had no identity for about a month, eaten enough bread to last a life time, travelled ALOT and partied like I was 18 again hehehe.

In this time I also started as a student at the Notter School of Pastry Arts (never noticed it before but if you say the name really fast or in my case with a supposed "Aussie accent", it actually sounds like Not A school of Pastry Arts lol). I did promise to blog about it all but like most things in my life at the moment. I haven't had time or energy to do so... until now.

So without further adieu, I will present you with one of the Professional Classes I took at Notter, taught by the infamous Ewald Notter himself. Sorry I lie, just a bit about Chef Notter first... (just incase you havent heard of him). He is one of the world's leaders in Confectionary Arts and has won many accolades including the honour of "One of the Finest Confectionery Chefs of the World". His forte is Sugar Pulling and Blowing and Chocolate.

This was one of the pieces that Chef Notter did in class, he was able to put this together in a matter of mins it was amazing watching him demo.

The class that I took was called "Sugar Fundamentals and Trends" and.. it was AMAZING!!! I had only started at the school a week before I took this class and I was absolutely blown away. We learnt to make sugar show pieces (obviously not to the magnitude of what the pros out there can do) and how to blow and pull sugar.

The first thing we learnt to make was this small flower piece.

There are several techniques that are used to make this piece.

Firstly, pulling the sugar to incorporate air. Basically it is pulling the sugar and bending it over so that it is side by side. Then you wrap it around to form a tube and repeat the process. Eventually you will end up with a tube with air inside like shown in the picture on the right.

Secondly, the ribbon. Similar to the branch (above) you place the coloured sugar side by side with the white then you pull, bend it over side by side and pull again until you get the pattern you want. Once you get the pattern you rub the sugar whilst pulling so that it becomes really thin. Use a heated spatula or knife to cut into the ribbon size you want. To shape the ribbon, place it under the heat lamp so that it softens. You can curve it or manoeuvre it any way you want this way.

Finally, the petals. To make these you need to pull it from the main sugar mass with your thumb then shape it in your palm to get the petal shape. These were a pain in the butt! The heat lamp was really hot and the sugar itself was even HOTTER. I managed to get blisters on my thumbs by the end of class :S

Since everything is made out of sugar, to assemble you just need to heat the sugar so that it melts and then glue the pieces you want together. Sounds simple but when its 100 deg plus, the shape isn't staying because the sugar is still soft, then as the sugar cools and becomes delicate and brittle and breaks with too much pressure..... it gets pretty frustrating.

These are some of the other pieces we learnt to make.

Onion Man - others made a snow man or a clown ... i decided to be creative and make a cross between an onion and snowman lol. We made this by blowing sugar, which is pretty hard especially getting it perfectly spherical... really need a midas touch for it.

This is my favourite piece. It's so elegant! I love the rose and the swans! ... although the making the rose was the death of me. I was ready to smash the damn thing! lol

This was the last piece we made, it was such a fun piece. Oh and I got to finally use an airbrush machine :) I painted the fish using the airbrush machine which was very cool. Can you tell that my fishy is a girly one... like? :)

Aww these were the others in the class ♥

Overall, an immense 3 days of fun fun and hotter than hot!! But totally worth it :D Here are some of the other mind blowing show pieces that Chef Notter has made.

ps. If your interested in seeing the step by step pics of how to make each of those sugar pieces please visit The Dainty Baker Facebook Page ... and dont forget to LIKE it :)

Where has the time gone?

2011-07-13T19:57:00.000-07:00

Ok so I was checking out Cook Republic's Blog, her post was about her blog turning 1. This made me think "hmm I wonder how long I've been blogging" ... and alas the 13th of July a year from today was the day that my dainty little blog was founded :O

I know, I feel like a terrible parent who's forgotten their kid's birthday :(

So readers (if I have any left) I have no fancy post to celebrate my humble little blog's 1 year bloggiversary but I do have some pics of what I have been up to ...

Hope you enjoy them as much as I did taking them.

Much love xx

Rhonda ♥

Chocolate & Butterscotch Cake

2011-03-29T23:46:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post on this gorgeous Chocolate & Butterscotch Cake I made for a friends 30th.

Originally, he had requested a Butterscotch Souffle but because I had to make the Winnie the Pooh cake for the same weekend and the logistics of delivering this cake (i.e. the souffle would become a flattened mess by the time he got it) I suggested a cake based off the butterscotch flavours instead.

I went through quite a few trials and errors with this cake - it really made me think hard and fast about the cake design and decoration process. It was different from my other cakes as it was not a novelty cake like the others, yet it had to be pretty looking enough for a 30th birthday cake.

Initally, I was going to use a mascarpone based frosting with swirls of butterscotch sauce layered in between the cake but because of the heat, the cake layers were slipping and sliding. In the end, I opted for a Swiss Butterscotch Buttercream and Caramel Ganache for the frosting between layers and Caramel Ganache to cover the outside of the cake. The cake was then decorated with what I like to call my 'Sugar Centrepiece' aka toffee strands lol and candied hazelnuts aka toffee coated roasted hazelnuts.

Chocolate & Butterscotch Cake
Butterscotch schapps
Cocoa powder
Baking paper

Chocolate Cake
Adapted from The Australian Women's Weekly - Wicked

I doubled this recipe so I could get a higher cake so in total I had 4 cake layers.

1/4 cup (25g) cocoa powder
2 Tsp instant coffee (optional)
250g butter, softened
1 cup (200g) firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp golden syrup
1 ¼ cups(185 g) self raising flour
½ cup (125ml) milk

Preheat oven to 180^oC. Grease a 20 cm round cake pan.

Sift cocoa into a large bowl. Then add all other ingredients and mix on a low speed until combined. Increase speed to medium and continue to mix until batter has changed to a lighter colour (see below).

Pour mixture into prepared tin and bake for about 1 hour or until it springs back to the touch.

Let cake cool and cut in half with a serrated knife.

Swiss Meringue Butterscotch Buttercream
Adapted from The Caked Crusader

4 egg whites
250g caster sugar
250g unsalted butter, at room temperature
3-4 Tbsp Butterscotch schnapps (obviously if you want ~~it more alcoholic~~ a stronger flavour you can add more but note it will water down the consistency of the buttercream)

Place the egg whites and sugar in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir constantly to prevent the egg from cooking.

After 5-10 minutes, when the sugar has dissolved (when you cannot see any crystals on the back of the spoon), remove the bowl from the pan of simmering water and whisk until the meringue has puffed up and the mixture has cooled down.

Add butter and schnapps and keep beating until smooth, light and fluffy. It will look curdled and gross at first but just keep beating.

Caramel Ganache
1 x 220 g Cadbury Caramello Block
100 g thickened cream

Melt both chocolate and cream in a pot and mix until smooth.

Toffee & Candied Hazelnuts
100g sugar
1/4 cup sugar
Hazelnuts

Bring sugar to the boil in a pot and stir gently until completely dissolved.

Turn down heat and let simmer until the caramel starts to change in colour - remove from heat immediately. You might need to brush down the sides with a bit of water as it is simmering to stop the syrup thats splashed on the sides crystallising the rest of the syrup,, turning the rest of the mixture into a crunchy mass... but I found that with the heat low enough I didnt really need to do this as the syrup didnt splatter on the sides too much.

Tip: you can have a bowl of iced water handy to cool down the caramel by plunging the bottom of the pot into it.

To make the sugar piece - get a fork, dip it in the toffee then quickly sway back and forth over some baking paper so that it makes nice golden strands. To get a little fancy position the baking paper over a bottle or something curved so that it hardens curved. Make a few of these. I also liked to use the beautiful golden droplets for decoration :)

To make the candied hazelnuts - stick a skewer into the hazelnut and dip it in the toffee. Place the hazelnut on baking paper until the toffee hardens.

To Assemble:

Brush each of the cake halves with Butterscotch schnapps.

Spread a third of the buttercream and a few spoonfuls of the ganache on one half of the cake sides. Repeat with the next 2 layers (dont use all the ganache).

Once you have assembled all the cake layers with icing in between, ice the entire cake with the remaining ganache.

Dust cocoa powder over the top of the cake and position your sugar pieces along with your candied hazelnuts in an "artistic" way hehehe.

Pipe a neat little border around the base of the cake with some left over ganache.

Voilà!

Hope you had a lovely 30th birthday Tactless! :)

Bon Appétit! ♥

Winnie the Pooh

2011-03-20T05:49:00.000-07:00

About a half a year ago I was asked to be the God Mother of a beautiful baby girl - Chelsea. I remember I felt very honored and touched that out of all people, my dearest cousin asked me. Thrilled and excited I accepted :) She is a bright shining light in my life and I absolutely love her to bits! :D

So cometh her 1st birthday, I wanted only the biggest and best cake there ever was… thus begins my ultimate journey to make a 3D Winnie the Pooh cake hehehe

Initially I was a little overwhelmed, true to my nature (Queen of Procrastination) I left everything to the last minute…. But to my defence I had another cake order for the same Sat and life always calls at the most inconvenient time.. so what free time I did have was spent on this behemoth project.

The WHOLE of Pooh bear was edible, the head, legs, belly, ears - the lot! I was originally going to carve the head out of Styrofoam (like many other sane cake makers would do), however I couldn’t find a styrofoam ball big enough to fit properly so about 2 days before the cake was due I decided to make the head out of cake too!

My choice for the type of cake recipe used was limited because it had to be dense and firm enough to stand upright and be able to withstand my hacking and sculpting away at it. I opted for a pound cake recipe because when you cut it, it still holds its shape, is firm enough not to collapse yet it is still fluffy and tastes awesome! Buttercream was also used for its dense, shape holding properties.

I made 3 x 10 inch round cakes and 2 x 8 inch round cakes for the base/body. In hindsight I should’ve probably used all 10 inch round cakes.

Pound Cake (1 portion is enough for 2 x 10 inch round tins)
2 cups sugar
2 cups plain flour
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup (225g) unsalted butter, softened
5 eggs
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ tsp lemon extract

Preheat oven to 165⁰C, line 2 x 10 inch round cake tins (or you can use a Bundt cake pan).

Whip butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add all dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda). Then incorporate eggs one at a time. Mix in the extracts.

Bake for 60 minutes or until it springs back to the touch.

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting (I made like 3kgs of this stuff – Ohhh sooo damn good!)
3 cups icing sugar
225g butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp strawberry essence
1 drop red food colouring (optional – I didn’t use this because mostly kids would be eating it and I didn’t want them eating artificial colourings, lol that was my bit of ‘health’ awareness)

Beat the butter until light and fluffy.

Gradually add the sugar and whip until smooth. Add essences and colouring (if using).

NOM NOM NOM

First assembly, I sandwiched the body and cut out the legs from a 20 cmx 20 cm square tin.

This was originally how I was going to do the head and arms - i.e. cover the styrofoam with fondant and shape it into features.

After contemplation that the styrofoam head would be too small I decided to bake some extra cake for the head. If you are wondering how I managed to structurally keep the head up ... I didn't. If you notice from the earlier photos Pooh actually slumps forward. This is because his head got a little too heavy and having the cake at room temp softened the base causing the top part to become as my cousin adptly calls Rhonda's leaning Tower of Pisa effect (I made his wedding cake about a year ago, it was a whoopping 5 tiers .. that started to lean forward too :S lol) But I did try... I put skewers in the base and stuck the head on top. If I were to attempt to do this cake again I would definately invest in using 2-3 mm dowels and a board underneath the head. That would solve the problem of the head falling forward.

This is how the cake looked after I carved out the features.

First crumb coat.

Managed to cover the body with fondant. I did this in 2 stages. I covered the belly first by wrapping the fondant around the cake and patching it together at the back. Then I drapped a second lot of fondant over the top of the head (as if it were a normal cake) and smoothed it down.

Used extra fondant to create features like the arms, ears and I built on the face by adding extra fondant where the cheeks and nose were. It was pretty thin where the eyes were so I also added extra fondant there and pushed it back to create hollows like Pooh bear has.

I covered the legs in fondant separately then I stuck it to the body.

So this was what a naked Pooh bear on the day before the party looked like. He was standing up so proud and tall and was just 'perfect'!

The next day when I came back to dress him and add the proper features he had already begun to get 'lazy' and his head was slumping. I was pretty crushed that my cake had done this but I altered my design to suit what was happening. Lucky for me, Pooh is quite lazy and he usually nods off so I thought at least it looks like I 'meant' to do that and if I put a cake infront of him it'll just look like he is leaning forward to eat his cake! lol

The delivery of the cake almost gave me a heart attack. It was a miserably humid yet rainy day. I had the cake on my lap and the destination was about 1 hour away... but wait for it ... we got pulled over by the cops and it turned out that the Log's (brand new) car rego had expired. As a result... I had to wait in the car with the cake whilst he went back to get the other car. I had the aircon on full blast to stop the cake from melting anymore than it had to but as the minutes ticked by, temptation of the strawberry cake was too much for Pooh and he just kept inching closer and closer :S

Alas, we made it in one piece, Pooh got a taste of his cake before the birthday song was sung though lol!

The cake was a hefty 12-15 kgs and approx 35 cm tall.... it was bigger and heavier than Chelsea!!

hahaha look at her face... "mummy I dont want to cut Pooh bear!"

Yes my heart sorta broken when I had to cut up the cake... oh but ah wells... tasted yummy!!

Look at that perfect layer!!!

BRAINS!!!

Poor Pooh!

Phew, what a feat!! There was enough cake to feed a 200 guest wedding! But I'm glad I attempted it, lets just hope next time I wont take short cuts on the structural stability of my cakes LOL!

♥ HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY CHELSEA! ♥
xox

- Flowers -

2011-03-06T18:20:00.000-08:00

Things have been sh*t lately.

I know I whinge and whine alot. All my friends tell me I do. But why oh why is God doing this to me? Maybe it's character building? Maybe I've had it coming for me? Whatever it maybe, I want out.

I want to submerge myself into the land of the sweet and sticky. The soft marshmallowy goodness of smiles and laughter. The brain numbing few seconds worth of ecstacy otherwise known as "WTF, Ooo Ooo OMG, COLD!!" when an icecream is devoured a little too quickly. The comforting, hearty (usually fatty) awesomeness of a home cooked roast with beautiful aromas wafting through the household, to which I float towards with an empty belly and a wide open mouth.

That is what my life should be like. That is what I want. If you are not that then please find your way to the exit, get out of my sight and never return! *foot stamp*

Yes, I can be dramatic. I know, I know.

I tell myself it's not so bad. It's not so bad. Onward I plough. My guiding light? (drum roll please...)

I AM GOING TO THE US of A, baby!!!

I will be going there for 6 months. To do what? I hear you ask?

B.
A.
K.
E.

:)

I have finally built up the courage to do it. I'm going to Orlando, Florida to partake in a 6 month baking course at the Notter School of Pastry Arts. I was inspired by a fellow blogger Su Yin of The Journal of a Girl who loves to Cook.

I used to stalk her blog along with several other food blogs whenever I was having a bad day or just needed some inspiration (usually at work). Somehow all the beautiful cakes & pretty cookies would always bring a smile to my face and erase whatever crap was bringing me down.

Now I can make my own journey, instead of living life vircariously through others. I don't intend for this trip to be a band aid solution to all my problems here. But a good break and a breath of fresh air might just make me see things clearer and teach me the art of "letting go".

I hope this trip will be a good learning experience, both in the kitchen and life in general – take each step with my chin up, big smile and a mouth full of food! :) ... and of course, you guys will be coming along on the journey with me too...so get ready for a ridiculous rollacoaster ride!!! ;)

"But I won't regret ‘cause you can grow flowers from where dirt used to be"
- Kate Nash -

I'm not dead

2011-02-23T22:43:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone!

I know I've been a little M.I.A lately... this year has just been very difficult ...already. I'm sure many of you feel my pain; juggling my work, family, social & love life has been an arduous task to say the least. BUT alas I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel :)

For now.. I dont have any baked goodies to share with you all but I do have a little gem my gf, G and I came across for dinner the other night... its called Sushi Hotaru. Its a new sushi bar that has opened underneath Ichiban Boshi in Galleries Victoria. They have an opening special, where all sushi plates and side dishes are only $2.50!! Bargin, I know!! Hurry, the deal is only until the end of the month tho! Enjoy! x

Sushi Hotaru was a really nice surprise! I was cynical at first, thought that maybe the sushi wouldnt be authentic.. another "Sushi Train" prodigy. But I was impressed, not only do they have an awesome selection, the sushi was true and fresh! It's obviously no Kobe Jones or Sake but I think its good value for money, especially if you want to chill for a mid week dinner out. And who wouldnt want to take advantage at $2.50 a dish!!!

They seriously have the longest sushi train in the world! (Ok not the world but I reckon they could give in the title - "Longest sushi train in Sydney" a good run for its money) It's pretty much the entire width of the building!!

Loved the decor of the place too! The tiled mosaic walls were of the Japanese cityscape, very artsy fartsy :) hehe

Roll Menu

Gunkan menu

Grilled Eel nigiri - $2.50

Edamame beans gunkan $2.50 - this was interesting, I love Edamame beans, so initally I really liked the idea behind it, but I dont think I can say that I am a fan of this one. The rice made the beans too heavy for me.

Kingfish Aburi sushi - $2.50

Kaarage Chicken $2.50 & Gyoza $2.50

Ebi Fry -$2.50

Soft Shell crab salad - Ok so I got a little excited/carried away and thought this was part of the $2.50 menu, unfortunately it wasn't but it was still very delicious, could've lightened up on the ponzu sauce as it got quite acidic towards the end but still good. The crab was fresh and had the right amount of crisp.

Scallop nigiri $2.50 - this has to be my favourite next to the Iku (Squid) nigiri. The freshness and sweetness of seafood really comes through - truely beautiful!

Salmon Aburi sushi - you guessed it! $2.50

Salmon nigiri - $2.50

Strawberry & Red Bean Daifuku $2.50 - one of my favourite Japanese desserts - mochi (rice cake) filled with a red bean paste and a strawberry in the middle. I have to say that the red bean was a little too thick which made it a little heavy and stuck to my throat but all the flavours were there and it was still quite enjoyable!

There were other desserts there too but by this stage I was at bursting point so couldnt fit any more in!! Lol! So I guess I'm just gonna have to rely on you guys to let me know how the other main dishes and desserts are when you go try out this place! ;)

Oooiiissshiii!!! x

Sushi Hotaru
Galleries Victoria, Shop RP1
500 George Street
Sydney, 2000

Welcome 2011

2011-01-17T22:18:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year Everyone!!! Hope everyone had a lovely break over the festive season and brought in the New Year with a big bang!! :) x

I just wanted to take a moment to say that my sincerest thoughts and prayers are with all those who have been directly and indirectly affected by the floods happening all around Australia. I applaud all those who have worked tirelessly & effortlessly to help restore order and have provided unwavering support to those who have lost everything.

At first I didn't realise the magnitude of the damage that these floods have caused but imagine losing everything that you've always taken for granted like precious memories in the form of photos & personal belongings - destroyed, loved ones missing, injured or even taken by the floods; I realised that it must be extremely tough and heartbreaking.

Although the floods are starting to receed in Brisbane, they need our help now more than ever to restore things back to normal. Every little bit helps and you can do your part too. Please dig deep and donate here.

Lots of love
xox

♥ Merry Christmas ♥

2010-12-15T22:25:00.000-08:00

I'M BACK!!! (sort of... still haven't got my PC fixed - I am a chronic procrastinator)

For all who have been following my Tweets, Facebook and this blog you'll know that I've had a pretty crazy 2 months, crazy as in bloggers nightmare come true.

1. My home PC blew up - see rant here
2. My work PC also decided to fail me (I swear, I swear it's not me!!! *puppy eyes*)
3. I lost my kitchen - when I say I've lost my kitchen, I mean that "it" (EVERYTHING) has been ripped out so that we can extend it and get a shiny new one in time for the new year! yay! but boo for not being able to bake over the festive season! :'( I had such great grand plans for all the sweets I was gonna make but I guess it'll have to wait until I get a brand spanking new kitchen to devirginise!

See its all gone!!!! ... I do still have my fridge, ohh cold one, how I love thee!!

Admist all these set backs, we had the Annual Food Blogger Xmas Picnic about 2 weekends ago and there was just no way I was gonna go empty handed. So, as they say 'where there is a will there's a way' ...coupled with my very persuasive flattery... I invaded and conquered my lovely girlfriend's kitchen (love ya babe!), early in the morning and banged out some lovely Pecan Pies with Brandy Cream & Caramel! mmmMmmm

Pecan Pies with Brandy Cream & Caramel

Tart shell - Pate Brisee (Short Crust Pastry)
Adapted from Joy of Baking

1 1/4 cups (175 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon (14 grams) granulated white sugar
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into 1 inch (2.5 cm) pieces
1/8 to 1/4 cup (30 - 60 ml) ice water

Pecan filling
Adapted from Pecan Pie Recipes

36 individually wrapped Caramels, unwrapped
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon bourbon (optional, but highly recommended)
3/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup pecan halves - lightly toasted (shove into an oven at about 200^oC until fragrant)

Brandy Cream & Caramel
300ml double cream
1/4 cup brandy (of course you can add more if you want to be naughty... don't think Santa would hold it against u ;P )
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 can Nestle Top & Fill Caramel - don't hold it against me, I didn't have time to make my own caramel - but this stuff is awesome could eat it by the spoonful!!
Extra pecan halves - for decoration

Preheat oven to 180^oC, grease 8 mini tart shells or 1 x 9 inch (23cm) tart shell.

For the tart shells
In a food processor, place the flour, salt, and sugar and process until combined.

Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal (about 15 seconds).

Pour 1/8 cup (30 ml) water in a slow, steady stream, through the feed tube until the dough just holds together when pinched. If necessary, add more water. Do not process more than 30 seconds.

Turn the dough onto your work surface and gather into a ball. Flatten into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to one hour before using. This will chill the butter and relax the gluten in the flour.

After the dough has chilled sufficiently, place on a lightly floured surface. If you are using the large tin then roll dough into a 13 inch (33 cm) circle. (To prevent the pastry from sticking to the counter and to ensure uniform thickness, keep lifting up and turning the pastry a quarter turn as you roll (always roll from the center of the pastry outwards) Fold the dough in half and gently transfer to a 9 inch (23 cm) pie pan. Brush off any excess flour and tuck the overhanging pastry under itself. Use a fork to make a decorative border or else crimp the edges using your fingers. If you are using the mini tart pans, grab a ball of the dough (about a fistful) and press into the shell until uniform in thickness. Use a knife to run along the top to cut off any excess dough, repeat for remaining tart shells. Refrigerate the pastry, covered with plastic wrap, for about 30 minutes before pouring in the filling.

For the filling
On the stovetop over low heat, combine caramels, butter and milk in a small saucepan. Stir frequently until smooth.

Remove caramel mixture from the heat, set aside.

Combine eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt & bourbon (if using) in a large bowl.

Slowly mix in the caramel mixture, so the eggs don’t scramble. Add the pecans.

Pour pecan pie mixture into pie crust.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until edges of crust is golden brown.

Allow pie to cool so filling stops cooking and firms up.

For the cream
Whip the cream with the sugar & brandy until it stands at soft-medium peaks.

For the caramel
Spoon out the caramel in a bowl and beat until smooth - it comes out kinda congealed.

To Assemble
Remove the tarts from tin as soon as the temperature allows, let the tarts cool completely.

Top with some cream, then caramel and a pecan!

Enjoy!! Bon Appétit! ♥

These are all some of the lovely people I got to meet and catchup with at the picnic :)

Also FYI, this will be my last post for the year peeps *sob sob* because as of today I will be flying to HK and South Korea for the biggest eating and shopping experience of my life! muahahahha!!! Will be back in early Jan though, so until then....Have a WONDERFUL Christmas!! Party lots, drink even more, be safe and dont forget to share some Christmas loving!! May God Bless you all and I shall see you in 2011! ;)

Here's a gingerbread house I made a few years earlier... will have to live vicariously through old photos since I can't make new ones right now hehehe

Peace out! xxx

Technical Difficulties - Pavlova Alert

2010-11-23T20:52:00.000-08:00

Error: The Dainty Baker's desktop has blown up... please replace relevant parts to get system up and running again.

Yes, my computer is f*cked (to put it politely). It just wont turn on.

So.. this means no proper blogging until I figure out what is wrong with it and how to fix it :( ... Exactly what I need before the festive season, isn't it?!

Anyways bear with me... I'll be posting piecemeal (not that I don't do that already) and the photos might be a little raw (because I CANT EDIT!) lol

I will however, leave you with a simple yet lovable classic, took the pictures with my iPhone (bless thee)!

Pavlova

3 egg whites
175g caster sugar
1 tsp cornflour
white wine vinegar
1 tsp vanilla essence

300 ml Double cream - whipped
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

To decorate:
Any fresh fruit of your choosing - I usually use raspberries (you can use defrosted ones), blueberries, passionfruit, strawberries & even mango for a summer twist!

Preheat oven to 150^oC. Line a tray with baking paper. You can choose to draw a circle on the underside of the baking paper if you wish, to guide where the meringue should sit but I usually just do it free hand (i.e. pour the meringue on and shape it however I like :P)

Whip egg whites until foamy (bubble bath like). Then add in half the sugar and whip until at soft peak stage (shaving cream like).

Gradually add in the rest of the sugar, corn flour, vinegar and essence and beat until mixture stands at stiff peaks.

Pour onto the baking paper and shape into a nest, bake for 1 hr and then let cool in the oven.

Whip cream together with the essence and sugar, then spread on top of the cooled meringue nest. Finish with toppings of your choice.

I love pavlova, its so easy and quick to prepare. The crunch of the outside balances beautifully with the fluffy inside and the fruit takes away the sugary guilt of the meringue ;)

Hope you guys are having a better week than me.

x

p.s. any IT tech heads out there who are willing to gimme a hand.. and maybe even do some charity work hehehe feel free to email me :D

Potato & Crab Korokke

2010-11-11T14:56:00.000-08:00

I've been having what I call, TWS - Traveller's Withdrawal Symptoms. I miss the anticipation and hype of getting to the airport, walking through the brightly lit duty free stores, getting on a plane (and trying to watch every fricken new movie they have to offer), then finally arriving with a buzzing excitement, in a completely new country, where I just want to immerse myself in the people, culture and atmosphere. Every bone in my body aches for it, oh how I love to travel!!

So, in the midst of my TWS, I decided to replicate a dear favourite.... Korokke (Japanese version of croquettes)!!! The story behind these deep fried golden nuggets of yumminess started last year... I went to visit my gf who was studying in Osaka at the time. I spent a good 3 weeks in Japan and I got so hooked on these little babies! I had to have my fix nearly everyday!! It was great because you could just walk to the nearest Japanese convenient store (which are WAYYY cooler than the convenient stores we have here I must admit) and pick some up, along with all the cool Glico snacks and drinks!!

I had to share with you all my knife skills.....was thoroughly impressed and surprised with myself hehehe

Coated potato ovals

Freshly fried Potato & Crab Korokke

Oishii!!

Potato & Crab Korokke
Adapted from About.com - makes about 30 x 8 cm long oval korokkes

12 medium potatoes
2 x 170 g can crab meat
1 small carrot, finely diced
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/2 x 125g can of whole corn kernels
salt & pepper to season
vegetable oil for frying
4 eggs - lightly whisked
flour and panko (breadcrumbs) for coating

Peel and cut potatoes into medium chunks. Boil potatoes until soften. Drain and mash potatoes while they are hot.

Add onions, carrot, corn & crab meat to the mash and mix well. Season with salt & pepper.

Scoop a heaped tablespoon of the potato mixture into the palm of your hand and shape into a flat oval shape similar to hashbrowns. Repeat with remaining potato mixture until they are all shaped.

To coat with crumbs:
Pat the shaped potato with flour, then dip into egg then coat with panko.
Tip: To make this process easier and mess free, line up the flour, eggs and panko (in that order) in separate bowls and have a tray ready at the end of this line to put the korokke on.

Once all the potato ovals have been coated, refrigerate over night or place into the freezer until firm. This makes handling easier as they won't fall to bits when you try to pick them up.

Heat the oil in a large wok. The oil is hot enough when you put a little bit of the panko in and it starts to bubble. Once the oil reaches this stage slowly slide in the korokke one by one, don't overcrowd the wok (depending on the size of your wok, you can fry 3-4 at the same time). Don't fiddle too much with the korokke but turn them over once in a while to get an even goldenness. They will be ready when golden all over.

Remove the korokke from the wok and place onto an absorbent paper towel.

Serve with Takoyaki sauce (sort of like a bbq sauce), you can get this from Asian grocery stores or from Tokyo Mart in Northbridge Plaza.

Enjoy!! ♥

Homemade Soybean Milk

2010-11-08T01:50:00.000-08:00

I love soybean milk!! Not the kind that you buy from Woolworths or Coles... i.e. not the Western ones but the Asian soybean milk that you can only get from Asian grocery stores. It's a lot thinner and more like a soybean flavoured drink than milk really. I love it so much I buy it by the litre bottle, stick a straw in it and drink it straight out! Until I read about it on Scandi Foodie, I never really thought to make my own, just like normal milk... it was always just there... but boy oh boy! You can!! *Squeal*

The wonders of nature and cooking also really surprised me, see the picture above... what do you think they are?... Well, they're both uncooked soybeans!! Except the ones on the left are dry and the ones on the right have been soaked overnight in water. Don't they look completely different? I was like say what??? Who swapped my beans? hehehe yes, yes I am easily amused :)

Homemade Soybean Milk
Adapted from Scandi Foodie

125 g soy beans (will make litre of milk)
1 litre water
1/2 cup sugar (optional)

Wash then soak the beans overnight in plenty of fresh water.

The following day, drain the beans, transfer to a bowl and microwave for 2 minutes on high.

Transfer beans to a food processor then add water and pulse until smooth.

Pour the mixture into a large pot and boil for 10-20 mins on high. Note: This milk will froth and bubble like normal milk so watch the heat and adjust so it doesn't bubble over.

Sieve the mixture through a fine sieve or through a cheese cloth and recover the soy milk. Add sugar and dissolve (if using). You can adjust the amount of sugar added to control the sweetness of the milk.

Serve hot or cold (I prefer cold) ♥

Tip: The milk can keep, refrigerated for 2-3 days.

Pandan Chiffon Cupcakes with Coconut Creamcheese frosting

2010-11-03T17:56:00.000-07:00

I've had a very strong craving for anything 'pandan' flavoured lately... might be because I've had House's BTS dessert on my mind (for those who don't know, besides it being AMAZING... its pandan icecream on a fluffy warm toasted brioche drizzled with caramel sauce.. O.M.G)

I wanted to make pandan icecream but with the temperamental weather I opted for something else... Pandan Chiffon... CUPCAKES!

Pandan Chiffon Cupcakes
Adapted from The Malaysian Cuisine - makes one 25 cm chiffon cake or 30 cupcakes

6 Large Eggs, separated
1 Additional Egg White
2 1/4 cups Plain flour
1 1/4 cups White Sugar
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 cup Pandan Juice (Blend 5 Pandan Leaves with 2/3 cup Water or use Pandan Essence)
3/4 cup Coconut Milk
2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
3/4 tsp Cream of Tartar
1 tsp Pure Pandan Extract (Optional)
15-20 drops of green food colouring (Optional)

Separate the eggs and place the whites in one bowl and the yolks in another. Cover with plastic wrap and bring them to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 170˚C and line 3 x 12 cupcake tins with cupcake liners.

Sift together the flour, sugar (minus 3Tbsp), baking powder & salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the egg yolks, oil, Pandan juice, coconut milk , and pandan extract, if using. Beat about one minute or until smooth.

In a separate bowl, with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining 3Tbsp of sugar and until stiff peaks form. With a large rubber spatula or wire whisk, gently fold the egg whites into the batter just until blended (being careful not to deflate the batter).

Spoon 1/2 cup of batter into each cupcake hole. Bake for 20-30 mins until golden brown and springy to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool over a wire rack.

Coconut Cream Cheese frosting
Adapted from Simply Recipes - covers about 12-15 cupcakes depending on how generous you want to be with the frosting. This frosting is amazing!! Sweet with a slight saltiness laced with coconut bits mMmm..

1/2 cup of butter, room temperature
250g Philly cream cheese, room temperature
1/2-1 cup of powdered sugar
1/4 cup of sweetened desiccated coconut

Cream the butter and cream cheese together, about 3 minutes. Scraped down the sides and bottom.
Slowly add the powdered sugar, taste as you go adding more sugar until you have reached the desired sweetness.
Fold in the coconut. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.
Sprinkle on a bit of extra shredded coconut on top and serve.

These cupcakes are the fluffiest!! (It's soooo fluffy I'm gonna DIEE!!!) The coconut milk helps to keep the cupcakes moist and it works so damn well with the subtle pandan flavour. For a truer pandan flavour I would suggest to go with actually making your own pandan juice. I used store bought pandan essence and found that it was quite artificial tasting, so next time I will definately use a combination of real pandan juice with a Tbsp of the essence to enhance the flavour. Also with the green food colouring... you can add as much or as little as you like... just depends how nuclear looking you want your cupcakes to look, I used about 15 small drops and the colour turned out just a slight pastel green.

Can you see the inside fluffiness!!?! *points downwards*

Bon Appétit ♥

LA Lakers Kobe Bryant Cake

2010-10-31T20:32:00.002-07:00

The story behind this cake goes something like this...

Wednesday Morning @ Work
G: "Darl I know this is late notice but could you PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make a Lakers cake for A's birthday?" (G is my bestie & A's awesome gf)
R: "Sure when do you need it by?"
G: "This weekend"
R: O.o "But I'm going away for the weekend.. leaving Friday and I'm taking the kids for a movie on Thursday..."
G: "PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!"

Wednesday ~~late~~ evening
R: "YOU TOTALLY OWE ME! .. buggered as .. come pick it up tomorrow x"
G: "You're the best!"

Thursday afternoon after work

R: :)
G: :D
A: :D

Crazy huh? But boy, I felt on top of the world being able to pull it off and it was worth all the effort once I saw their faces and reactions at the sight of that cake. I think that is exactly the moment I savour most as a baker (next to when the first bite is eaten, of course!), the moment where their eyes light up & pure bliss hits their faces when they see the edible creation infront of them, you can almost see them jumping around inside like a little kid again... such joy! :) That's why I love baking so much, it enables me to bring so much love and happiness to those around me by allowing me to share these special moments & memories with them through my food and cakes.

To make this cake, I used 2 x the recipe here, baked in 2 rectangular pans. To shape the cake, I cut out sleeves for "arms" in the top 2 corners of each rectangular slab cake.

The frosting was one that I had previously made here, the only difference is I added some Frangelico to the frosting too... similarly, before I sandwiched the two rectanglar slabs together with frosting, I brushed/soaked them with more Frangelico. Besides the booze factor, it also helped to keep the cake moist :)

The cake was covered with Orchard's White Icing (a premade fondant you can get from Woolworths or Coles) and I also used Wilton's coloured pastes to colour the fondant.

Tip - instead of using icing sugar, use cornflour whilst rolling out the fondant so it doesn't stick to the surface or your hands.

Happy 24th Birthday A, hope you had a great one! x

Pear & Raspberry Bread

2010-10-26T22:57:00.001-07:00

Anybody who knows Miss Rhonda, knows that I do NOT like bananas .. infact I detest them with a passion and feel nauseated at the thought of them. I don't know how this innocent grudge started but to put things into perspective I don't remember the last time I went anywhere near anything to do with bananas... banana smoothie .. nope, pancakes & bananas .. nope, banana bread.. nope!

Yet, everytime we go to a café I always see people ordering banana bread... and if I have to be honest with you.. it does look really comforting and I just want to take a bite but I cant bring myself to do it because it contains banana. So instead I have found myself what I believe would be the closest substitute, Pear & Raspberry bread :)

Pear & Raspberry Bread

Adapted from Wabi Wabi

3 pears, grated (for 2 cups pear pulp - I used Bosc pears)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
3 cups plain flour
1 cup castor or raw sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder (I forgot to add this for some reason, but it still turned out ok so meh)
3/4 cup melted butter
3 eggs
2 Tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup frozen raspberries

Preheat the oven to 180° C and line a large loaf pan with baking paper.

Peel the pears and grate over a medium bowl, collecting all the juice and pulp you can. Douse the pear mush with lemon juice and set aside.

In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and baking soda together. Stir in the sugar.

Whisk together the butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla in a glass jug. Pour into the dry ingredients.

Tip in the grated pears and stir together until just evenly combined (It was a little hard to stir so I just got my fingers into the batter and mushed it all around until it was mixed evenly). Stir through the raspberries.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth over the top but don’t be too fussy. Place in the oven and bake for approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until the surface of the loaf is golden and the centre firm to the touch.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. (This is important - don't be impatient like me otherwise not only will you burn yourself, when you cut into it, it will be soft and you won't get nice perfect slices).

Bon Appétit ♥

Tip: If there is left over batter because your bread tin is too small, then pour into individual muffin tins - I actually prefer it this way because that way you don't even need to bother to slice it up and its easier to take to work for morning tea the next day! ;)

This is a great recipe, its not too sweet and every now and again you get bursts of raspberry on a subtle backdrop of pear bread, which is great because I thought the pear would be very overpowering but its not. Also for all those who don't like cooked fruit (which I attribute to the mushy texture it can sometimes have) this will be perfect for you because its not mushy at all and the combo just works so well, as... it IS the bread rather than being bits of mushy pear in bread. Enjoy! xx

Buttermilk Scones

2010-10-23T23:46:00.000-07:00

When I was young, I went through a phase where all I wanted to eat were scones. I remember I would nag mum to take me to Bakers Delight all the time. I remember one day, I decided to try to make some but it was a total disaster.... the scones were dry and very hard, needless to say it scarred me and I have not attempted to make any since.... until now.

These scones are the best thing that has happened to me in a while, they were everything a scone should be, crusty outside, soft insides, delicate yet dense and totally drool worthy! (My brother ate 5 scones in one sitting) The buttermilk gives it a very subtle milky/buttery flavour without being too greasy or over powering. They were just divine straight out of the oven with slashings of strawberry jam and double whipped cream melting into my fingers.. YUM!

Buttermilk Scones
Adapted from 'Sweet Old-Fashion Favourites' by Women's Weekly

3 cups self raising flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp icing sugar mixture
60g butter
1 3/4 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 230-240^oC. Grease a 23 cm square slab cake pan (can also just use any rectangle pan)

Sift dry ingredients into large bowl, rub in butter. Stir enough buttermilk to mix to a soft sticky dough.

Turn dough onto a floured surface, knead until smooth. (Note: don't add too much flour whilst kneading or the scones will be dry - trick is sprinkle flour onto the dough to stop it sticking to the surface. The middle should be still sticky but should hold together.)

Press/roll dough out to 2 cm thickness and cut into 5.5 cm rounds.

Place rounds in the prepared pan; bake for about 15-20 mins until tops are golden brown.

Serve with jam and whipped double cream (or whatever condiments tickle your fancy... nutella perhaps? ;) )

Bon Appétit ♥

Fudgy Rich Brownies

2010-10-17T19:09:00.000-07:00

So I've been a little lazy lately and haven't been posting ... but can anyone blame me? .. The weather has been sooo good lately and I've been engrossed in either attending a Sydney food blogger's picnic, eating the town away with the SIFF festivities going on or horse riding....

But to share a little something special with you all... here is my favourite brownie recipe. It was once given to me by a dear friend - G and I've held it very close to my heart ever since ♥

Fudgy Rich Brownies

1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup cocoa
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup plain flour
Chocolate chips (or chunks of your favourite chocolate - I usually use about 3/4 of a chopped up block of milk Cadbury but feel free to go crazy or less crazy... what ever floats your boat)

Preheat oven to 180^oC. Line a square cake tin with baking paper.

Melt butter with cocoa in a medium sized pot over medium heat.

Once butter has melted, remove pot from heat and stir in sugar. Then mix in the eggs. Then flour, mixture should be thick and rich.

Pour mixture into the lined tin and spread so that it is of even thickness. Push your chocolate pieces into the mixture so that it covers the chocolate.

Bake in the oven for 20-30 mins until it is firm to touch. Note: Don't over cook the brownies or you wont get the soft chewy fudgy centre.

Remove from oven let cool slightly and cut into 4 x 4 squares (or what ever shape you want).

Bon Appétit x

I usually make 2 or 3 times the recipe above because everytime these little babies go soo quickly. They're rich but not too sweet and chewy but not gooey... I absolutely love them!! Another great thing about them? It's so quick and easy to whip up and there's minimal washing up to do because its all mixed in one pot! Booya! Win on all fronts! .. Cherish it! x

Another little thing I want to share with you all are the flowers I've received lately, theyre absolutely stunning, don't know what the real name is but I dub them "Avatar Flowers" ♥

My Awesome Bolognese

2010-10-04T01:59:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm not a bragger but this bolognese recipe is seriously the best and my favourite of all time. I love it because its jam packed with flavour and it is sooo versatile! The chilli adds a bit of a kick to it and really lifts the dish from ordinary "Spagh Bol" to a "Blow your Mind" gourmet pasta dish! ... I've kept this as a secret recipe for too long.. it is unfair to be so selfish, so I've decided to share with you all! Afterall, everyone needs a good bolognese recipe in their repertoire, hope this can be yours too! x

Rhonda's Awesome Bolognese

3 Tbsp olive oil + 1 Tbsp extra
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 sprigs Thyme - remove leaves off the stem
handful of Basil leaves
handful of Oregano leaves
2 bay leaves
1 can (800g) whole tomatoes
500g pork & veal mince
1/4 cup red wine
2 tsp chilli flakes (optional)
salt & pepper

Heat oil in a medium pot with onions, garlic and bay leaves until onions turn translucent.

Add the can of tomatoes to the pot and break up the whole tomatoes with the back of a fork, bring to the boil.

Once it has reached boiling point reduce heat, let simmer for about 40 mins - 1 hr until it is reduced. At this point, throw in your herbs, chilli (if using - you can turn the heat up or down to your liking by adding more or less chilli flakes) and wine and simmer for about another 15 mins. Remove bay leaves.

Whilst your sauce is simmering, heat the extra 1 Tbsp oil in a fry pan. Cook the mince until browned all over. Add the sauce to the meat and stir. Season with salt and pepper.

Serving suggestions:
Traditional - Over some pasta with freshly grated parmesan
Funky - as the meat filling for lasagna
Naughty - over some buttered toast after a big night out... best hang over breakfast EVER!

Tips:
* If the sauce gets too acidic, add some sugar to balance out the flavour.
* This sauce tastes better the next day as all the flavours have developed and matured.
* Make a large pot over the weekend and place serving portions into ziplock bags, then place in the freezer for easy hearty microwave meals during the weekdays.

Bon Appétit ♥

P.S: Incase you're wondering, that awesome bottle of wine in the picture above is David Hook's Rosé 2010, it is so incredibly light and easy to drink, perfect for the warm weather coming up! xx

Daring Bakers Challenge - September 2010

2010-09-26T23:58:00.000-07:00

This is my first ever Daring Bakers Challenge!! Hooray! This month's challenge is Decorated Sugar Cookies with the theme of "September" in mind and for all those down under, September means the start of Spring!

The cookies that I made are in the shapes of butterflies, dragonflies and hearts. I always tend to think of lush green fields, full of beautiful blossoming flowers with cute little butterflies when I think of Spring. To me it is the prettiest season of the year and I love it because of the awesome sunshine and warm weather it brings!

For the challenge we had to use Peggy Porschen's cookie recipe:

Basic Sugar Cookies
Makes Approximately 36 x 10cm cookies

200g / ½ cup + 6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
400g / 3 cups + 3 Tbsp Plain Flour
200g / 1 cup Caster Sugar
1 Large Egg, lightly beaten
5ml / 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C Fan Assisted)
Cream together the butter, sugar and any flavourings you’re using. Beat until just becoming creamy in texture.
Beat in the egg until well combined, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add the sifted flour and mix on low until a non sticky dough forms.
Knead into a ball and divide into 2 or 3 pieces.
Roll out each portion between parchment paper to a thickness of about 5m. Refrigerate for a minimum of 30mins.
Once chilled, peel off parchment and place dough on a lightly floured surface.
Cut out shapes with cookie cutters or a sharp knife.
Arrange shapes on parchment lined baking sheets and refrigerate for another 30mins to an hour.
Bake until golden around the edges, about 8-15mins depending on the size of the cookies.
Leave to cool on cooling racks.
Once completely cooled, decorate as desired.

Tips:
• Recipes commonly just wrap the whole ball of dough in clingwrap and then refrigerate it for an hour or overnight, but by rolling the dough between parchment, this shortens the chilling time and then it’s also been rolled out while still soft making it easier and quicker.
• It’s very important you chill them again otherwise they’ll spread while baking.
Re-roll scraps and follow the above process until all scraps are used up.
• Bake same sized cookies together otherwise mixing smaller with larger cookies could result in some cookies being baked before others are done.
• Rotate baking sheets half way through baking if your oven bakes unevenly.
• If wrapped in tinfoil/cling wrap or kept in airtight containers in a cool place, un-decorated cookies can last up to a month.

To decorate, instead of using just royal icing I also opted to cover the cookies with Marshmallow fondant and edible glitter as well.

Royal Icing
Adapted from Joy Of Baking
315g – 375g Icing Sugar, unsifted
2 Large Egg Whites
10ml / 2 tsp Lemon Juice
5ml / 1 tsp Almond Extract, optional

Beat egg whites with lemon juice until combined.
Sift the icing sugar to remove lumps and add it to the egg whites.
Beat on low until combined and smooth.
Use immediately or keep in an airtight container.

Tips:
• Royal Icing starts to harden as soon as it’s in contact with air so make sure to cover containers with plastic wrap while not in use.

Marshmallow Fondant
Adapted from Cake Journal

230 g White Marshmallows (I usually just 2 x packets of the pink & white marshmallows and use all the white marshmallows for one batch and the pink ones for another batch - that way I don't even need to colour the white marshmallows to get pink coloured fondant)
2 Tbsp Water
450g - 900g Icing sugar sifted (plus extra for kneading)
Spray oil

Food colors or cocoa powder (Flavouring optional)

Put the marshmallows in a heatproof bowl and add the water. Put the bowl in the microwave oven and heat it for approx. 2 mins. until the marshmallows puff up.

Stir the marshmallows until they get smooth. This is the time where you can add your chosen food color/cocoa powder or give it flavour. Note: Color the mixture a bit stronger than desired. You can always make the color lighter afterwards by mixing it with white marshmallow fondant.

Now add the icing sugar and stir the mixture with a well greased spoon. Keep adding icing sugar until it looks like a dough. Turn out the “dough” on a greased work board and with your hands greased with spray oil start kneading the marshmallow fondant. Keep adding a little icing sugar at a time until it is not sticky anymore.

Be careful not to use all the icing sugar as to much icing sugar can makes it too dry. It is ready when it feels pliable and ready to roll. If you are not using the marshmallow fondant straight away then rub a bit of spray oil on it and wrap it in cling-film and seal it in a airtight bag.

Note: Some uses the marshmallow fondant right away but I prefer to let it rest for a day before use.

If your marshmallow fondant feels very hard you can always warm it up in the microwave for a few sec. at a time. Then it should be more pliable to work with.

I had so much fun making these cookies! Hope you all do too!! And a very big thank you to Mandy from What the Fruitcake?! for hosting! x

p.s - Another awesome idea for these beautiful little cookies is they can be given as party bags for kids birthdays or even bombonieres for a wedding.. all you need to do is change the shape of the cookie to what ever you please.. the possiblities are endless!! :)

The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking.

Ma Ba Sa

2010-09-19T00:57:00.000-07:00

I have to say, this little Korean restaurant and I have history. Not long ago it used to be situated along Pitt Street just opposite the Art House/Galleries Victoria, except, it was operating under a different name (Hancook). Mum was the one who first introduced me to this little gem, back then she used to always visit it after one of her gym sessions. When we heard that they had to close due to repossession we were devastated… “where am I gonna get my hot pot from now?? OMG!” … but never fear for …*drum roll please*.. I introduce to you… the new and improved Ma Ba Sa!

The new restaurant is now located comfortably along the other eateries on Darling Street in Balmain. Upon walking into this cute little restaurant I get a really cozy feeling, it is stylishly decorated with indoor and outdoor seating…but, the best part about it is, the food is still just as good!!

First glance at the menu and I was able to spot the new additions already..such as the steamed dumplings. These were so good! The skin was thin and soft and the meat inside was nice and juicy.

Jjim Mahn Du - Steamed dumplings (pork & vegetables) - $7

An old favourite and a dish I get everytime I go there are the pan fried dumplings. These are what fried dumplings should be. They're different to the Chinese style fried dumplings (Wor Tip), where it can be soft on one side and just slightly fried on the other with a big chunk of meat inside. These are thin with a serious crunch to it, yet the inside is still nice and juicy - not dry at all. It also goes so well with the soy/vinegar sauce served with it.

Kun Mahn Du - Pan-fried dumplings (pork & vegetables) - $7

Of course, it wouldn't be a Korean restaurant without the complimentary side dishes. These included Kim-Chi, pickled vegies (bean sprouts, spinach & potato) and fried fish cake.

Assortment of complimentry side dishes

To start the mains we ordered the Bi-Bim-Bap, which is a rice dish topped with a selection of ingredients such as pickled carrots, bean sprouts, spinach, cucumbers & mince. To eat it you need to mix all the ingredients together in the bowl and if you like, add a little of the mild chilli sauce (its not hot.. more on the sweet side). I love having it in the stone pot because it sort of burns the rice which adds that awesome crunch! mmMMm

Dolsot Bi-Bim-Bap - $15

My brothers favourite is the Chicken Teriyaki. The chicken is deep fried then tossed into the teriyaki sauce with the vegetables, it is served on a sizzling plate which smells so awesome when they bring it out!

Chicken Teriyaki - $14

Dad's favourite is the Ginseng Chicken. This is such a comforting dish, its a whole baby chicken stuffed with sticky rice in a clear sweet chicken ginseng broth.

Sam-Gye-Tang - Stuffed baby chicken soup with sticky rice & ginseng - $22

Now... the dish I want to talk about (my favourite) is the Kim-Chi hot pot/stew. I get alot of cravings for different types of food but this is a recurring favourite. Inside the hot pot is Kim-Chi (duh), pork, veggies & rice cake (aka nian gao - made from glutinous rice flour, it is another type of "noodle" except it comes in different shapes/sizes - sometimes like oval discs or long cylinders. It has a soft, chewy type of texture, which really gets my appetite going). I also like to add extra ramen too!! This dish bursts with flavour and has a lovely bite to it. On cold days or even when I'm down this dish always hits the spot. (Btw, incase you're wondering, I didn't eat the whole thing myself, its a pot for 2... or in our case 3)

Kim-Chi Dduk Jeongol - Spicy Kim-Chi & rice-cake stew with pork & veggies - $38

By this time I am stuffed, but there is always room for dessert, right? ...Also new on the menu are the Ice cream "sandwiches" & Rice cake icecream.

Sponge Cake ice cream - $5

The sandwiches were delicious! The sponge on either side of the vanilla icecream were so incredibly light and soft and the chocolate sauce absolutely topped it off.

Rice cake Ice cream - $5

These are parcels of icecream wrapped in rice cake. Not too sure what flavour the rice cake was but I did detect a hint of green tea. The rice cake was a little harder than usual but the more you ate it the more you wanted... its weird, maybe its the whole chewy effect? lol!

Ma Ba Sa
Shop 2, 390 Darling Street
Balmain
Ph: 9555 6621

Mario Cake

2010-09-11T20:53:00.000-07:00

To continue the saga of September birthdays, here is the birthday cake that I made for my little brothers 11th birthday... HAPPY BIRTHDAY DYLAN!!! xx

The cake was decorated using fondant, even the characters around the cake were made from fondant. I made Piranha Plants, Goomba's, Mushrooms & Koopa Troopa shells. The cake was finished off with figurines, which also make a great present for the birthday boy/girl to keep afterwards.

The same cake and frosting recipes that was used to make the Lego cake, were used to make this cake too. I used one quantity of the cake recipe but divided it between a 6" tin & 8" tin to make the two layers. Here is a picture of the inside of the cake.

Tip: if you want more height for your cake, just cut each of the two layers in half. Then ice and sandwich each of the 2 layers together (i.e. total of 4 separate pieces, 2 for the 6" cake and 2 for the 8" cake). I added an extra 1 cup of evaporated milk to 1 quantity of the frosting and found that it was enough to cover both layers with a bit extra to spare.

It was such a fun cake to make and all the kids absolutely loved it... so mummies (and daddies) give it a go and surprise your little one with this special cake for their next birthday! :)

PS: Tutorials on how to make the characters coming soon, keep posted! x

PPS: Figurines were purchased from Anime at Abbotsford in a pack for $20.

Lego Cake

2010-09-08T16:11:00.001-07:00

September has arrived... and so has Spring! Yay!! Despite the wonderful sunshine and bright days we've been having... it has been an ~~awful~~ monster of a week for me. Between juggling my social/private life with work, trying to get out into the sunshine and baking there just aren't enough hours in the week, don't you agree?

However, a big plus (depending which way you look at it) is, this month is totally birthday galore for me. Both my siblings birthdays are in September and this includes my sisters 18th! (yes I'm feeling the old age! *sulks*). My little cousin's (who is basically like my brothers twin) birthday is also in this month too, he was born just a week before Dylan.

So being the awesome cousin that I am (and using any excuse to bake a cool cake). I decided to bake a Lego cake for the little sucker! Happy Birthday Dennis!

Moist Chocolate Mud Cake
Adapted from HubPages

This truely is a, very, very, very moist chocolate cake. It is not too rich, yet will still satisfy a chocoholics cravings. It is a very simple recipe, which is great to whip up if your pushed for time or just have a gazillion other things to tend to.

350 grams dark chocolate pieces
225 grams butter
600 ml water
3 eggs
400 grams castor sugar
400 grams self raising flour

Grease and line a 23cm/9" round cake tin. Preheat oven to 170^oC

In a saucepan over low heat, heat chocolate, butter and water. Stir frequently until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.

In a large bowl, lightly beat eggs. Gradually beat cooled chocolate mixture into eggs.

Whisk sugar and flour into chocolate mixture, continue beating until smooth and well blended.

Pour mixture into cake tin. Bake for 45 minutes or until skewer inserted into centre of cake comes out clean.

Turn cake onto wire rack to cool.

*Please note: This mixture is quite runny, use a solid cake tin not a springform tin.

*Tip: Line tin with baking paper, this will make the cake easier to remove from the tin, no sticking to the sides.

Creamy Chocolate Frosting
Adapted from Frosting Recipes

I recently discovered this recipe and I LOVE it! By now you've probably noticed that I like to skimp on making the frosting from scratch once in a while and turning to the premade stuff. BUT this recipe changes every thing. It is easy and quick to make and results in near perfect consistency every time for piping (as it is quite thick and holds its shape). However, it is also very versatile as you can add more evaporated milk to thin it down for icing the entire cake or to use between layers.

6 Tbsp cocoa powder
6 Tbsp butter
6 Tbsp evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
1 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

In a large bowl, mix the cocoa powder and confectioner's sugar.

In another large bowl, cream the butter until light and fluffy.

Slowly add the sugar mixture and evaporated milk to the butter whilst it is still mixing, alternating between the two. Also add the vanilla at this point, if using.

Can be refridgerated for 2 weeks, bring to room temperature before using (or you can microwave it for 5-10 secs at a time until it reaches the soft/spreadable consistency you want)

Graduation & Cupcakes!

2010-08-31T03:42:00.000-07:00

So, after 5.5 grueling years at uni and endless semesters staring enviously at people in their graduation gowns and mortarboards, smiling joyeously that 'they've made it', it was finally my turn. I was so jittery, nervous and to some extent even sad. The truth that another chapter of my life has ended and a new, scarier and more challenging one is yet to open, really hit me hard. How did I deal with all this emotional turmoil? ... Bake cupcakes of course - Graduation ones!!

Graduation Cupcakes
Graduation toppers
1 packet Orchard White Icing (ready made/ready to roll fondant)
Black & red food colouring (I used Wilton colour pastes)

Frosting - I was ~~lazy~~ pushed for time, so I used Betty Crockers: Ready to Spread Creamy Deluxe Vanilla Frosting

Chocolate mud cakes
Makes 12
Adpated from Easy Cupcakes by Colour by AWA

60g Milk Chocolate, chopped coarsly
2/3 (160ml) cup water
90g butter, softened
1 cup (220g) brown sugar, firmly packed
2 eggs
1 cup self raising flour
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/3 cup (40g) almond meal

Preheat oven to 170^oC. Line 12 hole muffin pan with paper cases

Stir chocolate and the water in small saucepan over low heat until smooth.

Beat butter, sugar & eggs in a small bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in sifted flour and cocoa, meal & warm chocolate mixture. Note: If the mixture is really liquidy you can let it stand for 15 mins or so, the mixture should thicken, which should make it easier to spoon into the pans.

Drop 1/4 cup of mixure into the muffin cases. Bake for about 25 mins or until the tops spring back with a touch. Stand cakes for 5 mins before turning top-side up onto wire rack to cool.

To decorate:
Pipe or spread the frosting onto the cupcake, ensuring that the top is flat.

Next, place the cupcake topper on top of the frosting.

Voilà! Your very own cute graduation cupcake!

Enjoy! Bon Appétit ♥

See below for instructions on how to make your own graduation cupcake topper! Or download the printable version here!

Mauritius & Seychelles

2010-08-25T18:32:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!! I'm BACK!!!

Firstly, I just wanted to say a big 'Thank You' to to everyone for all your well wishes, very sweet of you all.

Secondly, I do apologise for taking so long to get this post up, been trying to figure out how to use Lightroom, Photoshop etc and its made me realise how technology illiterate I can be!

Thirdly, because I have taken soooo many pictures I've decided to only upload my top favourites and to showcase the other select few in a slideshow.

So for all you who do not know where Mauritius and Seychelles is (don't worry I have been asked by alot of people - geography was never my strong point either), its off the coast of Africa, near Madagascar (meet the pansies!). The flight took close to 13 hours (5 of which was spent crossing Australia) going there but coming back it was only 10 hours, both flights we had to transfer at Reunion Island, which is also a lovely little island in the Indian Ocean.

Mauritius is one island, whereas Seychelles is made up of many smaller islands (Mahé, Praslin & La Digue are the main ones). We only got to visit Mahé in the Seychelles which was a bit of a bummer. Both Mauritius and Mahé were very small. To give you an idea of exactly how small the islands were, it only took 1-1.5 to get from the South of Mauritius to the North (via the red line/freeway shown below) in non peak traffic, as the freeway runs straight through Port Louis (capital) and traffic can get pretty foul in the morning for peak hour traffic, yet for the same time, you could circle the entire island of Mahé.

Map courtesy of Africa Maps

They have the same seasons as us, so its currently winter over there but the weather was great! The average temps were about 23-25^oC in Mauritius and in Seychelles it was 25-28^oC. The only bad thing is it would get quite cloudy at times and even rain but in the next hour or so it would clear up and become sunny again which was awesome. The currency used in Mauritius is the Mauritian Rupee (MUR) exchange rate was about MUR 36 to A$1 and in the Seychelles its Seychelles Rupee (SCR), SCR 10 to A$1 when we went. In Seychelles they also accept Euros.

Now I know you're all wondering what kind of FOOD do they have there?? Well the Mauritians and Seychellians (??) traditionally eat Creole food. For me it was kind of like a mix of Indian, Chinese, African & French food. Fish was usually on the menu but they also had a lot of chutneys/pickled vegies also to go with, eggplant & squash were also quite common. I tried their Creole sauce, which was a tomato based sauce with vegies, it was very nice. The food was very flavoursome as they use lots of spices (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, chilli) that are readily available on the islands. Pizza was also a favourite over there, it seemed to be served nearly at every restaurant we were at! For me, Mauritius had better food than Seychelles. There was more variety and OMG! the fresh water prawns we had at Grand Bay were so big we mistook them for lobsters!! (see slideshow)

Our trip was broken up into 3 parts, Mauritius staying at Belle Mare (East Coast) then Seychelles then back to Mauritius (staying in the north at Grand Bay, literally where the red line ends at the top).

Belle Mare Beach, Mauritius

The accommodation that we had was excellent! The first place we stayed at was a resort called the Belle Mare Plage. This resort is located in the more secluded part of the island, there weren't many shops or restaurants within walking distance from it but you didn't need it when most of the meals are included. You have the choice of half board (breakfast & dinner) or full board (B, L, D), usually I don't like to have meals included with the accommodation coz its usually pretty average but I was thoroughly impressed with the service and food that was served at the Belle Mare. Breakfast & dinner were buffet style, except much classier because as well as the precooked foods (roasts, desserts) that were served, there were also chefs at other stations cooking things fresh for you too. They had a pasta, pizza, Chinese cuisine, Creole cuisine and Salad Chefs. Dining there was truly heavenly... no wonder I've gained a few kgs!!

Poolside at Belle Mare Plage, Mauritius

Beachside at Belle Mare Plage, Mauritius

Also unlike a lot of the other places I have visited, the generosity was amazing, in addition to the usual free stuff (gym, spa, pools) most water sports activities there were also free of charge e.g. snorkeling gear, glass bottom boat rides, kayaking, water skiing, they even offered lessons in snorkeling and water skiing on certain days!! Its perfect for honeymooners or people who like to relax and take it easy on a vacation, very club med style. To top it off it wasn't too expensive either worked out to cost approx $200 pp/day including the transfer to and from the resort.

Belle Mare Plage, Mauritius

On the other hand, when we came back to Mauritius we stayed in Grand Bay (Grand Baie as they spell it). This part of Mauritius was much more lively, with stores and restaurants along the beach. It was here that I was able to try some of the local foods/restaurants outside of a hotel/resort setting, which is what I love to do in a foreign country! However, it was much more touristy than Belle Mare and I have to say that the beaches were not as beautiful because I found it was a little too crowded.

Grand Bay, Mauritius

The place we stayed at in Grand Bay was a boutique hotel called Ocean Beauty, although it was small, the place was very nice and the service felt very personalized. The room we had felt like we had our very own small villa to ourselves. Every morning we had the choice of getting breakfast on the balcony in our rooms or served to us on the beach. They also had complimentary internet access and drinks (inc alcohol) available at the lobby. If you are looking for a good deal, I would definitely recommend this place. It's highly affordable yet still offered (in my opinion) 4 star rating facilities ($190 per night for 2 persons).

Our Room, Ocean Beauty - there were pretty flowers decorating the entire room when we arrived. It was such a nice little touch!

Breakfast on the Balcony @ Ocean Beauty

Lobby, Ocean Beauty

Here are some of the photos of the things we did when we were in Mauritius:

Seven Coloured Sands of Chamarel, Mauritius - truely amazing, we also got to see the Chamarel waterfall (pics in the slideshow)

I'le aux Cerfs (Island of the Deer), Mauritius - it had incredibly white sand, very commercialised though

Snorkelling in the Indian Ocean, Mauritius - stupidly I am NOT a strong swimmer, the water was deep and I did not wear a life jacket... thank goodness the Log was there to keep me from drowning!

Parasailing, Mauritius - would definately recommend it. It cost €45 (A$70) for 2 persons.

The Seychelles was absolutely stunning!! Hands down I have to say that their beaches were better than any other beach I have ever visited. The water was warm, the sand so soft and unspoilt. There were beaches along all the coast of the island, some inaccessible though. Mahé was very tropical, it was mountainous, lush and green with fantastic cliff faces that dropped straight into the ocean. The island had incredibly windy and narrow roads, which made driving around quite scary at times.

The capital of Seychelles is Victoria, it is a very small ~~city~~ town. There's a main market which sold fresh produce as well as local spices. There weren't many shops, however there were lots of little "milkbars" scattered across the island. Accommodation in the Seychelles was slightly more expensive than Mauritius. We stayed on the west coast at Le Meridian Barbarons, out of all the hotels, this was probably my least favourite. It was older than the other hotels we had stayed at, however the service was still great. The lagoon that Le Meridian was situated next to was beautiful, there was a sectioned off area for swimming as the main beach could get quite rough. For Seychelles we took a slightly different approach, we didn't join any tours but decided to hire out a car to travel around by ourselves and discovered many of the beaches/places on our own.

Lobby, Le Meridian Barbarons

Lagoon, Le Meridian

Here are some of the magnificient places we went to visit in Mahé, Seychelles.

Beau Vallon Beach, Seychelles - this is probably the beach where most tourists go.

Beau Vallon Beach, Seychelles

Beach near Bliss Hotel, Seychelles - magnificently pristine! Gorgeous little beach home to many crabs, the Log caught me one!! It was tiny, so cute!

Beach along the road in Seychelles

Victoria Markets, Seychelles

Town Centre, Mahé, Seychelles

Port Launay, Mahé, Seychelles

Sunrise in the plane flying to Seychelles

It was such a lovely experience! Great get away from the hustle and bustle to relax and truly indulge. If any of you get the chance I would definitely recommend it and feel free to email me if you have any questions or queries, especially if your planning your next trip there, would love to help out ;)

Mango Japanese Cheesecake

2010-08-05T19:00:00.001-07:00

The Log and I are jetsetting off to Mauritius and Seychelles on holidays as of tomorrow!! YAY!! I am sooo excited!!! Looking forward to the beach, the tropicalness and the warmth of the sun!!!

As I will be VERY busy RELAXING and doing any water sports I can get my hands on (windsurfing here I come!), there will be very limited, if any, blogging for the next 2 weeks. So to bid you adieu, here is a little slice of summer until I get back x

This cheesecake is so incredibly soft and light unlike the typical New York cheesecakes or denser baked cheesecakes. Surprisingly, the mango miroir is also really easy to make! So, although the cheesecake tastes great on its own, don't be lazy and give the glaze a go, its well worth that little bit of extra effort!

Mango Japanese Cheesecake

Cheesecake
140g Sugar
6 eggs (separated)
1/4 Tsp cream of tartar
50g butter
250g cream cheese
100 ml Milk
1 Tbsp lemon juice
60g Flour
20g Cornflour (cornstarch)

Mango Miroir Glaze
1 tsp gelatin powder
1 tsp hot water
1/2 cup Mango puree (fresh or tinned - although I prefer fresh)
1/4 cup sugar (if you are using fresh mango, if you are using tinned then theres no need as it should be sweet enough)

Preheat oven to 160^oC, line or grease an 8-inch round cake tin.

Melt cream cheese, butter and milk in a saucepan over medium high heat. Cool the mixture. Fold in the flour, the cornflour, egg yolks, lemon juice and mix well.

Whisk egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add in the sugar and whisk until soft peaks form.

Add the cheese mixture to the egg white mixture and mix well. Pour into cake tin.

Bake cheesecake in a water bath for 1 hour & 10 minutes or until set and golden brown.

Whilst the cake is baking, make your mango miroir glaze. Dissolve the gelatine in the hot water (make sure its all thoroughly dissolved or you won't have a smooth glaze). Add the puree (plus sugar if using) and mix until very smooth & slightly thick.

Remove cake from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Once cooled, transport the cake onto a serving plate.

Spoon a few tablespoons of the glaze onto the middle of the cake then using the back of a spoon slowly spread the glaze out to the edges of the cake. If you need more glaze, again, start from the middle and spread outwards.

Bon Appétit ♥

Remember to keep on caking and I shall be back soon enough to share with you all my culinary conquests through Mauritius & Seychelles x

Blueberry & Chocolate Icecream Profiteroles

2010-08-03T04:22:00.000-07:00

The weather on the weekend was so beauuuutttiiifull ... it just reminded me how much I missed summer and how much I hate winter! So to make the summery feeling last I decided to make some icecream!!! ...more specifically profiteroles filled with icecream!! (Just like the Beard PaPa icecream puffs I had in Japan last summer... OMG! *faints with delight*)

The icecream recipe I used was based on the Chocolate icecream recipe in David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop, except, instead of using normal chocolate as it calls for in the recipe, I decided to substitute with Lindts' Excellence range: Blueberry Intense. I'm not usually a chocolate block eater but boy this block of chocolate is ... wonderful!! The blueberry flavour really comes through the rich darkish chocolate with some almonds for texture and crunch. It's good.

Blueberry & Chocolate Icecream Profiteroles

1 quantity of Blueberry & Chocolate Icecream
1 Quantity of Profiteroles
200g Lindt Blueberry Intense Chocolate
1 punnet fresh blueberries (Optional)

Blueberry & Chocolate Icecream

2 cups (500ml) heavy cream
3 tbsp unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
140g Lindt Blueberry Intense chocolate
250ml whole milk
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
Pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks

Warm half of the cream with the cocoa powder in a saucepan, whisking to thoroughly blend in the cocoa. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer at a low boil for 30 sec, whisking continuously.

Remove from heat, add chocolate and stir until smooth. Then stir in the remaining cream. Pour this mixture into a large bowl scraping saucepan as thoroughly as possible.

Next warm the milk, sugar and salt in the same saucepan. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly.

Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan and stir constantly over a medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until it thickens and coats the back of the spatula.

Next, strain this custard over the chocolate mixture and stir until smooth. Place in an ice bath and keep stirring until cooled, then thoroughly chill in the fridge.

When the mixture is chilled, use your icecream maker to churn into icecream. (To use the icecream maker, follow the manufacturer's instructions)

Profiteroles
80g butter
1 cup water
1 cup plain flour
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 225oC. Line baking tray with baking paper.

Melt butter with water on medium high heat in a saucepan, stirring continuously.

Next, add flour to the butter mixture mixing continuously with a wooden spoon. Reduce heat to medium and when the mixture forms a ball and comes away from the side of the pot, remove from heat.

Transfer the dough to an electric mixer and beat once or twice on high to release some of the heat. Next beat in eggs one at a time until the dough is smooth and shiny.

Pipe or spoon dollops approx 2-3 cm in diameter 5 cm apart and bake for 20 mins. Reduce heat to 180oC and further bake for 30-40 mins until the profiteroles are brown and hollow when tapped. (If you are making larger profiteroles then you might need to lengthen the baking time accordingly).

To Assemble

Let profiteroles cool, then cut in half with a sharp knife.

Melt the chcocolate (again I used a microwave, but use a bain marie if you don't know your microwave well), set aside.

Spoon a scoop (or 2) of icecream into one half of the profiterole then top with the other half. Drizzle melted chocolate over the top and serve with fresh blueberries.

Bon Appétit ♥

Minty Royals

2010-08-01T16:34:00.000-07:00

Have any of you guys ever tried Royals from Arnotts? A biscuit base topped with fluffy marshmallow & covered in chocolate... well you should coz they're absolutely gorgeous!!

Since I'm always in the mood for a challenge, I decided not only to replicate these little chocolate goodies but I also attempted to make marshmallow for the very first time!! I thought it would be really difficult and didn't really know where to start to be honest but after scrounging around the web a little it was easy enough for me to find a recipe from the Martha Stewart website.

Without further ado, I present you with my rendition of the Royal...

Minty Royals
1 quantity marshmallow
1/3 quantity of the biscuit base
100g Lindt Mint Intense
Coloured sugar (Optional)

Marshmallow
2 1/2 tsp gelatin
1/3 cup cold water (gelatin)
1/4 cup water (syrup)
1 cup sugar

In the bowl of an electric mixer, sprinkle gelatin over the water and let stand until the gelatin softens (should be about 5 mins)

In a small saucepan, combine the other quantity of water with sugar and stir on medium-high heat until all the sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring once the sugar is dissolved (otherwise it'll crystallize into a sugary mass instead of being a nice thick syrup). Brush the sides of the pan down with cold water to dissolve any sugar crystals which might have splattered up onto the sides. Boil the sugar until it reaches the soft ball stage (115^oC). Remove syrup from heat.

Pour the syrup into the gelatin and hand whisk to dissolve the gelatin into the syrup.

Next, beat the mixture using the whisk attachment until soft peaks form (should look like meringue).

Use immediately by either pouring into a greased tray or transfer into a piping bag fitted with a nozzle (nozzle size depends on how big you want your marshmallows!)

Biscuit Base
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Sift the flour, baking powder & salt into a bowl.

Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the egg and vanilla.

Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until just combined. Lay out a sheet of plastic wrap and place the dough into the centre. Shape dough into a log and wrap with the plastic.

Chill in the fridge until dough is nice and firm (about 4 hours) or you can cheat like me and put it in the freezer for about 30 mins. (The dough can be made in advance and left in the freezer for 3-4 weeks. For convenience, divide the dough into smaller portions and wrap individually before freezing. To use, remove plastic wrap and place in microwave for about 10-20 sec to defrost. NB do not over microwave or it'll become too soft to roll.)

Once chilled, roll out as much of the dough as you need between 2 sheets of baking paper and cut into any which shape or size you want.

Bake at 180^oC for about 10-15 mins until golden brown.

To Assemble

Allow the freshly baked biscuit bases to cool on a cooling rack, then pipe enough marshmallow to cover the rounded discs. Let the marshmallows set, about 30 mins (they will still be quite sticky when touched but pulls back when stretched).

Melt the chocolate (I usually do this in the microwave using a DRY ceramic bowl for 10-20 sec at a time ...or you could be more professional and use a bain marie)

Next place another tray underneath the cooling rack lined with baking paper (this will catch the chocolate that dribbles off the cookies)

Cover the marshmallow cookies with the chocolate and sprinkle with sugar (if using). Let the chocolate set.

Bon Appétit! ♥

Almond & Pistachio Schookies

2010-08-01T15:46:00.000-07:00

A few years back I made a massive batch of these as one of the dowry gifts given to the 'male' family as part of my Aunts wedding. There must have been at least a hundred of these, all piled up high to form a pyramid. It was awesome fun and so yummy, been a while since I've made them so I decided to revisit and give it a twist by chucking some pistachios into the picture.

What is a 'schookie' you might ask? Well, its sort of a cross between shortbread & a cookie hence the name 'schookie'! These little babies are based on the little cookies that you get along with your sweet bean 'soups' at the end of dinner in a Chinese restaurant, traditionally, they're usually just almond flavoured.

These schookies look like dense little cookies but actually, they melt into the mouth with every bite. They're so easy and quick to make, ideal for baking in advance. Just store in an air tight container and serve with tea or coffee to impress friends and family when they come around to visit. Also, the schookies are not very sweet either which is perfect for those fussy older Asian women (like my mum) who complain about sweets being too sweet.

Almond & Pistachio Schookies

Makes 45 small schookies

100 g Almond Meal
100g roasted & chopped Pistachios
1 cup icing sugar
3 cups Plain Flour
1 cup Vegetable oil
1 egg
45 whole unsalted pistachios (optional)

Preheat oven at 150^oC & line baking tray with baking paper.

Sift the almond meal, flour & icing sugar into a bowl. Mix in the pistachios. (NB: I couldn't find ready chopped & roasted pistachios at my local Woolies, so what I did was dry roasted whole unsalted pistachios either in the oven or over a medium heat skillet and chopped them up myself.)

Gradually mix in the oil. The mixture should look quite dry and have a breadcrumby kind of texture.

Next, spoon about half a tablespoon (you can make them as large or small as you want so just use this as a guideline) of the mixture into your palm and roll into a ball & place onto the baking tray. Gently push down to flatten the base of the ball so it doesn't roll around. Repeat with the remaining.

Whisk egg lightly and brush over the tops of the balls. Optional: Push the whole pistachios into the middle of each ball.

Bake for 20-30 mins or until golden brown all over. Store in an airtight container, lasts for about 2-3 weeks.

Bon Appétit ♥

Safi

2010-07-26T00:52:00.001-07:00

Tucked away in an unassuming residential street of North Sydney lives a sweet little Lebanese restaurant, Safi. It was first recommended to us by some friends who raved on about how good the place was, so on Friday night we finally took up their offer to have dinner there together.

Upon arrival, it looked like it was a small 5 x 5m one room restaurant. We could see the warmly lit restaurant through its big front window buzzing with happy patrons. The window sill was adorned with cute little decorations imported from Lebanon, not tacky but very chic. Walking into the place, we were unexpectedly ushered through to the back room, which I found was very cosy and nice because it wasn't as loud or crowded as the main room.

Being late as usual, the gang was already there…after kisses and hugs we finally had a look at the menu and unanimously all settled on the Banquet @ $35 pp.

The banquet started with a selection of dips and bread accompanied with Tabouli & pickles. These included the typical Hommus and Babaganoush with an extra third dip, Labneh. The hommus was very light and creamy with a slight nutty flavour from the chickpeas. The babaganoush was packed with flavour and had alot of depth. Labneh is a yoghurt based dip with mint and a pinch of paprika, it was very refreshing and complemented the others very well. It was a perfect way to start any meal, I say.

L: Hommus; R: Babaganoush

L: Labneh; R: Tabouli

Next, some vegetarian dishes were presented. The first dish was Falafel, a combination of chickpea & broadbeans shaped into a ball and deep fried. I found these were quite bland compared to others that I have tasted. The shell was extremely crunchy, several times when I tried to cut it into smaller pieces, a piece would go flying across the room. The filling however was very light and fluffy and went very well with the Tahini sauce.

L: Falafel; R: Lightly Fried Cauliflower both served with Tahini sauce

At first I was quite cynical to the fried cauliflower. I thought it would be greasy, bland and just unpleasant. When I took a bite it blew my mind away, it was soft but not mushy and had very intense flavours I just wasn't expecting. I think the best way to describe it is, it tasted like delicious cauliflower chips without the crunch in a good way.

I was very curious as to what the Olive Pastry would be and didn't very much care for the Vine Leaf Rolls, as all the other vine leaf rolls I've had in the past were either very tangy or just too overpowering in the vine leaf flavour. So when this dish came out I went straight for the olive pastry. I was impressed with the flavour of the filling but was very disappointed with the pastry itself, it was tough, heavy and slightly chewy. I decided to try the Vine Leaf rolls anyways and boy am I glad I did. It totally changed the way I saw these little green packages. Instead of incorporating some of the vine leaf into the filling they used tomatoes instead which really lifted the dish. They were the best vine leaf rolls I've tasted by far.

L: Olive Pastry & Vine Leaf Rolls; R: Potato Kibbeh

The Potato Kibbeh were nice, they were sort of like a flattened version of a potato arancini, it had a soft fluffy centre with a crunchy outside. Albeit, the kibbeh itself was already quite flavoursome but by dipping it in the sweet chilli sauce a bit of a kick was added to the dish.

Although I am a true carnivore in every sense of the word, these vege dishes were sooo moorish and flavoursome that I was slightly dissappointed that we only got to have one piece each from each dish. On the upside, it left room for the meat dishes still to come.

L: Ma-aneh; R: Meat Kibbeh

The Lebanese style sausages weren't really to my taste. I thought they were quite ordinary and the cumin flavour was too overpowering. Beware of the Meat Kibbeh - balls of juicy minced meat & onions encased in a crunchy cracked wheat shell; these little babies are HOT (literally & figuratively speaking).

Talking about saving the best for last, the chicken skewers were my favourite dish of the day, the chicken was moist and cooked to perfection, together with the garlic sauce you have yourself a "Bonnie & Clyde" combo.

L: Shish Taouk with garlic sauce; R: Kafta Kebab with Tomato relish

Fattoush

A salad was also brought out with the chicken and the kafta, it was nice to have a bit of "green" to complement the meat dishes but this salad was wayyyyy too acidic, all I could taste was lemon/lime juice.

Full to the brim, the meal ended nicely with Chai & Ahweh (also known as Chai Tea & Arabic Coffee) along with some something sweet, Turkish Delight & Baklava.

Baklava & Turkish Delight

Chai & Ahweh

It might not seem like it from the outside but Safi is a modern and stylish restaurant (even the cheque came in its own cute little box with mini boxes of chiclets (gum) inside). Its relaxed atmosphere, friendly staff and great value for money made Safi an awesome choice for a couple of mates to catch up over dinner ♥

p.s. It's BYO too... so if your a wine lover like me, score!

Safi Dining
55 Ridge Street
North Sydney, NSW
Ph: 9954 6146

NB: Bookings are essential & due to residental zone restrictions the restaurant closes at 10 pm.

Hawks Nest

2010-07-25T02:40:00.000-07:00

After a very painful week of work, the Log and I decided to spend a relaxing weekend away at Hawks Nest with the lovely Poodle & her Boofa. We left early on Sat morning, so there was no time for brekkie, instead we stopped at the only rest point along the F3 and had brunch. I know, nutrieous stuff .. but it was oh so good!

Bacon & Egg Sandwich x 2, Fillet O Fish Burger, 6 pack Nuggets, large ice coffee & a Maltesers sundae.

After a couple of wrong turn offs we finally arrived and met the dynamic duo in all their riding gear glory.

Some hot stuff there hey! ;) Whilst at the shops, we picked up some supplies. The girls were ~~of course~~ responsible for dinner, so the Poodle & I decided on something simple and what better than Chicken Fajitas!

For dessert... a winter warmer favourite of mine, Apple Crumble.

See below for recipe x

The next day, we went for a drive... here are some of the beautiful places and things we saw.

Hawks Nest Beach

The Log's photography skills (yeah I know, mines totally better)

That was totally part of the beach...wasn't me at all...

I was so excited because I actually got to collect some seashells! In Sydney, about the only thing you can collect is random rubbish or cigarette butts!

HAHA cute little seagull stretching its legs... or in my mind ...dancing ...

Hole in the wall

It started to get a little cloudy by the time we got there, but it was still such a beautiful sight.

How cute is this fat little ball of feathery fluff! When you look at the bird front on, the colours on its face sorta looks like a pansy flower.

More seashells....

The Log ... ♪ "He's walking away, from the trouble (me) in his life..." ♪

Tea Gardens

The sun decided to come out and play again when we arrived at Tea Gardens...In the background you can see the Singing Bridge which crosses over to Hawks Nest. On this side of the bridge there were cute little cafes and shops along the waters edge. On the other side, I saw some oyster farms.

Lots of Mr Percivals.

Apple Crumble

Apple base
1 kg green apples (Granny Smiths are best)
100g sugar
1tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp water

Crumble (this is a double quantity of crumble because I absolutely adore extra crumble so if your not as keen as I am just halve the recipe)
160g unsalted butter
320g plain flour
60g caster sugar
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 180^oC.

Peel and core all apples and cut into bite sized square pieces. Place into a baking dish and add all other ingredients. Mix it around so that all the apples are coated with the sugary water.

Measure the flour into a bowl and then rub in the butter so that it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir through the sugar, cinnamon & nutmeg. Sprinkle the crumble mixture evenly over the apples making sure that it covers all the apples.

Bake for 45 mins - 1 hour until the crumble is nice and golden brown and you see a thick sauce bubble away at the edges.

Serve with some vanilla icecream or just cream.

Bon Appétit ♥

Tip: This recipe is very versatile, you can try it with other fruits such as peaches & pears or you can add an extra 150g rhubarb to the apples for an even more tart flavour. Whatever you choose, it's great because it's such a quick and easy dessert and a sure crowd pleaser.

We had such a fabuluous time, it was so nice to get out of the city and to some place different. Thanks Poods & Boofa for hosting x

2010 Good Food & Wine Show

2010-07-19T03:57:00.000-07:00

I attended the Good Food & Wine show for the first time ever this year! It was great, so many people, so much food and of course amazing wine.

For us, the day started with Gary & George's 10.30am celebrity theatre show.

They were so funny, I'm glad I choose to see them instead of the other celebrities who were also there, such as Matt Moran, Pete Evans, Toby Puttock etc...

The ingredients of the day were prawns and beetroot. They taught us how to make a few dishes including; Prawn Mousse Ravioli (I made it the night I got home... absolutely divine but we'll save that for another post ;P) & Roasted Beetroot Salad with Hazelnuts & Watercress by Gary.

George showed us how to do a Beetroot & Feta dip and Prawns baked in Hummus with Toasted Almonds. He describes the hummus on top of the prawns as a "hummus doona" and evoked thoughts of waking in the middle of the night to licking your hummus tasting doona (see pic).

Once the celebrity show was over I had an hour to roam around before I went to my Lindt chocolate masterclass. I thought it would literally be a class where you learn how to cook with chocolate but I was mistaken (that'll teach me to read what the actual class is about before jumping in just because I saw the word "chocolate").

It was basically a chocolate appreciation class, still good though, as I got to munch away on different kinds of Lindt chocolates (not to mention a big bag of Lindt goodies to take away) but a little boring as I've been to one of those before. Oh and if you guys haven't tried it yet, the Blueberry Intense by Lindt is AMAZING... very nice ♥

After that I explored the rest of the exhibition, going from meat stands to vodka stands to sauce stands to massage stands etc etc... here are some pics of the day...

Lovely bouquets of chocolate by Edible Blooms Australia

Learn to decorate with Sharon Wee Creations

Smallgoods of the Riverland - all that I saw was salami - mild, hot, garlic, basil yum yum yum!!

Spices & Rubs as well as other gourmet food products by NoMu.

These were fricken awesome! ... GIANT wine, martini, champagne glasses ... would have gotten one if they weren't so expensive! Around $100-$200+ a glass.

Hypervibe - very cool, it vibrates from side to side and believe me I jiggled in places I didnt know could jiggle. The way it works is, it forces your muscles to expand and contract, therefore toning/working your muscles. The rate at which it expands and contracts depends on the speed you set it at. For $2200 it was just a "little" out of my price range otherwise would be awesome to have, to burn off those fatty bits so I can eat more fatty bits! Muahahaha

To end the day, I decided to bake a Chocolate Fudge Cake with Tim Tam Ganache.

Chocolate Fudge Cake
125g butter
125g sugar
125g self raising flour
125g Block Chocolate, melted
4 eggs
100ml sour cream or creme fraiche
1 Tbsp Golden Syrup
30 g cocoa

Tim Tam Ganache
1 pack Tim Tam
3/4 cup cream
300g Block Chocolate
60g butter (optional)

Preheat oven to 180^oC, grease & line 2x8 inch round tins.

Beat butter until soft & fluffy then add sugar and beat until pale & fluffy.

Beat in eggs one by one, making sure that the eggs are fully mixed into the butter mixture before adding the next egg.

Next add all your wet ingredients; chocolate, sour cream & syrup. Mix until well combined & moussy like in texture.

Mix in sifted flour & cocoa. Divide between tins and bake for around 30 mins until cake springs back to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack.

Meanwhile, melt chocolate with cream, do not let it boil (if you are choosing to use the butter, stir in once ganache mixture is off the heat). Let mixture cool.

Whilst the ganache is cooling, pulse the tams in a food processor until it resembles fine crumbles.

Once the ganache is cooled, whip until it is light yet starting to thicken, add tam crumbs and mix together.

To assemble, spread ganache on one half, sandwich with the second cake and then ice all over with the remaining icing.

Serve with fresh strawberries.

Bon Appétit x

p.s. love the cake stand? Head to:

Morning Tea
Shop 16A, Northbridge Plaza
79-113 Sailors Bay Road
Northbridge
Ph: 9968-2924

Christmas in July High Tea

2010-07-18T17:13:00.000-07:00

The girls (Jieni, Winnie & Hitsu) and I decided to go to Christmas in July High Tea at the Loft, King Street Wharf.

I've been wanting to do a Christmas in July high tea for ages! But I always seemed to miss it for one reason or another. Anyways, finally got around to booking in a date, was so excited, expected the place to have a real "Christmasy" feel to it..... there was a live piano man playing Christmas carols and groups of women chattering away enjoying their Saturday afternoon. We were seated in the outdoor section, which was lovely as the weather was absolutely beautiful, the sun was nice and bright dancing on the water accompanied by panoramic views of the wharf with its big luxurious boats.

Naturally we choose to have High Tea with a twist (who doesn't love cocktails on a lazy afternoon!). We tried all 3 special cocktails; Rudolph's nose, Silent Night and Santa's Little Helper.

Rudolph's Nose was my favourite (rhubarb purée with vodka, a hint of citrus & Turkish apple Tea). Santa’s Little Helper was very similar to Rudolph's Nose, instead of the rhubarb it had fresh berries crushed with cranberry juice, bourbon and fruit liqueurs, a hint of citrus topped off with a red fruit tea. Initially, we were very enticed by the idea of Silent Night, a combination of chocolate liqueur combined with Martel VS and a touch of espresso, rounded off with peppermint tea... however, it was too heavy on the espresso side and quite "watery" tasting if I must say so.

Next, the infamous tiered platters, distinct of high tea arrive.

The top tier had a combination of sweeties; (anticlockwise from the left: a caramel tart with cherry compote, chocolate brownie, mince tart, truffle covered with white chocolate).

The second tier served plain scones, baby red bell peppers stuffed with goats cheese, frittata of leeks & ham & a chicken and pistachio galantine.

The last tier had an assortment of sandwiches. Damage inflicted - $45 pp

I must say, I was thoroughly disappointed with the food. The chicken was very dry, the sandwiches plain, the mince tart was very coles bought, chocolate brownie was very flavourless.. not rich and chocolatey like you'd expect a brownie to be. The caramel tart was the worst of the lot; the pastry was chewy and slightly soggy, the custard was grainy & the compote was too tart. The only redeeming feature was probably their scones with jam & cream. To top it all off... there was nothing else Christmasy about it all except for the fact that a mince tart was put in the combo... We didn't even get Christmas candy canes, dangling off the handle like everyone else! :(

To finish, coffee & tea was served. Hitsu & I had the Gorgeous Geisha, a Green Tea infused with a hint of strawberries & cream. Winnie & Jieni were boring, ordering a chai tea & flat white.

All in all, it was a nice experience with very lovely views. However, if asked "Would I go again?", the answer would probably be, "no". The cocktails were a nice "twist" but it was not enough to redeem them of the mediocre food that was served and once the novelty of "Christmas in July" wore off (quickly too mind you), it was nothing ...special. So, if your looking for a great place to go to traditional high tea, I would much rather recommend the Tea Room,, QVB and if you'd like cocktails with your high tea, The Victoria Room, Darlinghurst would be a much better option.

White Chocolate & Passionfruit Pannacotta

2010-07-15T17:46:00.000-07:00

Adapted from Wicked by The Australian Women's Weekly

Makes 6

300ml thickened cream
3/4 cup (180ml) milk
150g white chocolate, chopped coarsely
1/3 cup caster sugar
2 teaspoons gelatine
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup (125ml) passionfruit pulp
3/4 cup Sauternes-style dessert wine (I used the Botrytis Semillon from Savannah Estate, Hunter Valley)

Grease six 1/2 cup non metallic moulds.

Combine cream, milk, chocolate and 2 tablespoons of the sugar in small saucepan; stir over heat, without boiling until smooth.

Sprinkle gelatine over the water in a small heat proof jug. Stand jug in small saucepan of simmering water; stir until gelatine dissolves. Stir into cream mixture.

Divide mixture among prepared moulds; refrigerate, covered, about 3 hours or until set.

Meanwhile, combine passionfruit, wine & remaining sugar in small saucepan. Bring to a boil reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered without stirring, about 10 mins or until passionfruit syrup reduces by a third; cool.

Turn pannacotta onto serving plates; drizzle with passionfruit pulp & serve.

Tip: Pannacotta stuck in the mould? ... Run a flat knife around the edge to loosen the pannacotta. Then heat some water until just under the boil and submerge the mould into the heated water. This should do the trick (Note: don't leave the pannacotta in the water for too long or it will melt.)

Bon Appétit x

Soban

2010-07-13T05:46:00.000-07:00

I am over the moon! .... I have just found out that I've officially finished (passed all uni exams) my 5.5 years of uni!!! YAY!!! Finally, I can say that I have persevered and conquered that milestone called "university"!!

To celebrate, we went to dinner last night at Soban in Chatswood (Westfield next to Kam Fook)...love this place!

It combines traditional Korean food with elements of modern Australian to really pick up the cuisine.

We ordered (way too much as per usual) ....

Prawn & Grapefruit Salad - Lovely pesto marinated prawns with the freshness of grapefruit to cut through the acidity of the balsamic vinegar and bits of feta to bring it altogether... amazing....

Soban Bulgogi - not your traditional style bulgogi but with all the same flavours, instead of the thinly sliced beef, Soban uses larger cuts of beef marinated until its ever so tender, chargrilled and served on a hot plate with assortments of sides such as wedges drizzled with mayo & deep fried vermicelli, beans & veggies.

Kimchi Ji-Gae - Is a hot pot where kimchi is used as a soup base with potato noodles, ham, tofu & veggies all bubbling inside its cute little stone pot....a great winter warmer! It also comes with its own little assortment of condiments (for me the defining element of Korean cuisine), these included a cold pumpkin puree/soup (was a tad too sweet) , kimchi, beans and dried shrimp doused with a mild chilli sauce & salted seaweed.

We also ordered the Grilled King Prawn & Chilli Gal-Bi Jjim (amazing... the ribs were SOO TENDER... the very definition of FALLING OFF THE BONE!) but I got too hungry and had to put down the camera ... hence no pics... but not to worry you can check out their website on http://www.soban.com.au/ for a full menu with pictures.

And of course, there is ALWAYS room for dessert... Green Tea Icecream ♥

I also do apologise for my shocking photography.... I am still a novice... but practice makes perfect... right???

Raspberry Friands

2010-07-12T17:19:00.001-07:00

My very first post, and appropriately, I have baked one of my favourite treats of all time ......RASPBERRY FRIANDS!

Raspberry Friands, originally uploaded by dainty baker.

Makes 6
¾ cup plain flour
1 cup icing sugar (plus extra)
¾ cup almond meal
3 egg whites
125g butter, melted
100g raspberries
Preheat the oven to 170oC and grease a 6-hole friand pan with non-stick oil spray.

Sift the flour and icing sugar into a large bowl and stir in the almond meal. Make a well in the centre and add the egg whites and butter, and mix until well combined.

Set aside 18 raspberries, then gently fold the rest into the mixture.

Divide the mixture evenly between the friand holes and press 3 raspberries into each friand. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden.

Cool for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Sprinkle with some icing sugar. Serve.

Tip: Friands are also great for people with coeliac disease (gluten intolerant/sensitive), all you need to do is replace the flour with some rice flour and the recipe will still work just fine. Dont forget to get creative, the raspberries can also be replaced with other berries/fruits and even nuts.... YummMmmmMmm

Bon Appétit x