Month: March 2010

Cinnamon and Pecan Swirl Buns

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There is no doubt that I have a sweet tooth. And what I have been craving are the caramelised, nutty, cinnamon-y bread like yummers for the longest time! But instead of paying heaps for just one cinnabon, I decided to make some for myself! (: and boy am I happy I did. Cause the process of making it was so much fun! I wanna make more like tomorrow! haha.

the only sad thing was that the oven I have in this new place is fan forced and I think the oven is hotter than what it specifies to be even though I did the conversion of temperatures. I so need to get a thermometer for this oven. haha. BUT! the cinnabons still came out super yummy besides the burnt sides. But the few burnt sides will not put me down! hehe I’m still happy I got the courage to try making buns for the first time! hehe

I bought myself a new rolling pin from Myers today. hehe I’m a happy camper! (:

Bread or buns has been very foreign to me, and I always thought I need a bread maker to make awesome bread. Yeast is also something I am not use to working with, but I conquered that fear! (: Absolutely love the sight of seeing my dough double in size and have crazy fun of punching the air out! haha.

haha. the print of my fist! super cute! (:

so I urge you not to wait as long as I have to try making buns or bread for the matter! I waited far too long! These were easy, not as time consuming as it sounds and just absolutely divine! hehe

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Ad Hoc Potato Pavé

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I saw something so divine and so pretty while looking for recipes for potatoes, and what to do with them. I tried to replicate what I saw, but I failed. Don’t get me wrong, it was super yummy, but it just didn’t come out the same way as Momofuku For 2‘s potato pavé. Hers was nice and crisp and stays in perfect shape! Mine, fell apart. haha and I know the reason why, from the start. Silly me forgot to read the recipe thoroughly, and didn’t chill the pave long enough for it to stay in shape. haha so when I cut it into the pieces, it all started to fall apart. This might also be due to me not using 3 large 1kg potatoes, cause what I have are small potatoes at home. But it was still yummy! Just not very pleasing to the eye on the plate. haha But I must say, it came out of the baking tray beautifully! An awesome bright orange caramelisation. I was beaming when I lifted the baking tray up!

Learn from my mistake, prepare this a day before the party, cause it could be kept in the fridge after it’s cooled down for up to 2 days! (: Trust me, this is something that will make everyone ask for more at a dinner party. And it is really not too difficult and doesn’t take that long to prepare either!

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Pavlova : Revisited

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I’ve always likes a good pavlova. Crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.

I must admit, I try not to order it outside for a few reasons : it tends to turn out too sweet and the portions are TOO HUGE! haha. so I have been loooking for the best pavlova recipe, but failed to do it the first time. haha well. I didn’t fail just didnt turn out as well as I hoped it would. So I went on looking for another recipe and asked around for people’s opinions. I found a Donna Hay one, and as Laureen nicely puts it, nothing really goes wrong with a Donna Hay recipe (:

So while thinking what to bake on this nice and windy Sunday afternoon, my dearest baby requested that I made his favourite dessert, the pavlova of course. And how can I say no? hehe luckily, I have a stocked up pantry and I have eevrything I need for the Pavlova. hehe

I was thrilled to see how it turned out! It didn’t collapse until I put the knife through it and sliced it into pieces! Boy was I a happy girl (: *doing the same dance as when my Macarons had ‘feet’!*

so here’s the recipe and I followed it to the tee, except for the fruits I topped it with! (:

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Triple Kahlua Surprise !

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a while back, I made tiramisu for a mini housewarming that we had at our place. Of course, I bought I big bottle of Kahlua just in case for times like these! I am a bit fan of Kahlua and have always been wanting to try how it would be in cupcakes. Boy did I give it a good shot. I didn’t only have it in my cupcake, I had it in my filling and in my frosting! haha. Now it’s no wonder I named this the triple kahlua surprise yes?

I sourced around for recipes that people have tried and tweaked it a little, came up with my own ganache filling and buttercream frosting so I’m a happy girl (: I think it turned out really well and for once my frosting looks like those you can find in cupcake shops! Well definitely not perfect, but I’m just super happy that it kinda looks similar! haha

so the texture of the cupcakes were soft and when it is in your mouth it has the texture of a chewie brownie! So it is a little dense and quite similar to the texture of a souffle, a dense souffle. Possible due to folding in the stiff egg whites into the mixture at the end. The ganache really compliments the cupcake and the buttercream frosting makes it less rich so I think it’s a perfect match! (: Top it off with shaved chocolate and you have a yummy little dessert on a plate.

When you see the recipe, you might think it’s way too much Kahlua, but you barely taste any in the cupcake itself. The only thing that has the taste of it is the icing (which you can alter the amount you want) so really the amount I used in this recipe is just nice! So if you’re a big fan of Kahlua, try giving this little cupcake a shot! I’m very sure you won’t regret it!

Triple Kahlua Surprise

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Pasteis de Nata

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in other words. Portuguese custard tarts. (: Yes! I tried making them again using another recipe (: hehe This time I had to cook the custard to make it thicker before filling the tarts up. I prefer this one as compared to the other. But this one doesn’t seem to caramelise the top as much so I cheated and used a blow torch! haha

The only thing I wasn’t able to do is to keep the pastry crispy long enough. After a few days in an air tight container, the tart goes all soft! So the only solution : finish all of them up within 2 days! haha

This recipe used puff pastry like I did before, and I still do prefer using puff pastry. I think it makes the tarts taste nicer. All the buttery goodness (:

so here’s the recipe! Let me know which you prefer!

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Baked Meatballs

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So I have been experimenting on different kinds of meatballs to go with my spaghetti.

You see, I am a HUGE fan of meatballs. I could have with anything or even have it on its own. When I head to Subway for a meal for example, I do not have to think about it, it would definitely be meatballs sub. haha When I head to IKEA, an order of meatballs is a must! (:

So it’s no wonder I am looking for the perfect meatball recipe. I’ve tried the Safeway’s Nana’s meatball recipe. Baby likes that one cause he says the lemon zest in the meatball brings out the taste when he’s having it with spaghetti. I, on the other hand, is not a big fan of having lemony flavour in my meatballs. So I continued my search of finding the perfect one!

I chanced upon this recipe as I was blog-surfing and it looked amazing and pretty sure it will taste amazing as well. So thank you Smitten Kitchen! It turned out really well, and we all loved it! hehe Being me, I took the recipe and tweaked it a little to see if it will turn out good. and this I did!

Of course, I followed the recipe but I added a few more herbs in to substitute for the ones I don’t have.

and to go with my spaghetti (which I fried with garlic, chilli and some salsa), I added pasta sauce mixed with milk and parmesan and baked them further.

topped it with cheese, and my meatball sauce is done! (:

The meatballs were moist, and together with the sauce, it complimented the spaghetti really well! This is one meatball recipe I am going to keep and use to whenever I feel like having meatballs! Which is, quite often haha.

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Chocolate Macarons with Chilli Chocolate Ganache ♥

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Macarons has always been my down fall. haha I’ve tried twice but failed twice, miserably. I didn’t have the courage to try it again. But after talking to Clara and Felicia, I decided to give it one more shot! (:

SUCCESS!

I got the “feet” that I’ve been waiting for! (: WHEEEEE! I was super happy and even happier that I got it though I baked it at 9pm at night! haha. Thanks again Clara for sharing with me your recipe! (:

But as it’s Clara’s recipe, I won’t be posting the recipe but will let you feast on some photos!

I bought myself a new present : an Silpat mat! (: I was a happy girl hehe

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