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30/10/2009

Pink Day



Dedicated to all women who are somewhat affected or who has friends or relatives who suffered from Breast cancer near or far. Yes, it's banana cake again with vanilla buttercream icing in pink colour. (Recipe here). I have got to remember to wear Pink tomorrow!


27/10/2009

Baking Principals



Something I thought would be useful to anyone who wants to know more on baking...

I've scribbled something on paper to remind myself the principals of baking as I'm the type who normally asks 'why' behind all ingredients I read rather than follow them blindly. It is a helpful hint to know them because it helps when you 'screw' up something and you know why or what has happened. As well as learning this helped me know the sort of textures I get from the different types of cakes. It'll be added to my side column for anyone who needs a quick reminder.

Can't wait for the cupcake competition to be over! 7 days left and I'm starting to be anxious. I have been coming up with different recipe ideas and yet it's a risk if I don't 'try' baking them before hand. I just dislike the idea of waste, hence the reluctance in going ahead, so it is a risk but hey, it's just a fun competition after all ;).

I can't wait till it's over as I want to start moving on to other desserts as such. Counting down!

26/10/2009

Close to home

For those who are missing out on Malaysian food, check out Bonda Cafe on 190 Sussex Garden (closest tube station: Paddington)



 We headed to check out that place after playing a badminton league game nearby (trashed the visitors 9-0, woopwoop!). The cafe is situated at a corner of a building down stairs, just like the Malaysian Food Hall. This is perhaps a tinge better and more representable as it does have a menu displayed at the entrance and a signboard. The menu are listed in Malays with english subtitles and prices are quite reasonable! The dishes caters more to the Malay side of dish and is spicy enough to feel like you're having something from Malaysia. A nice dish of white rice and 2 dishes plus vege is 5.50 pounds and will definitely fill you up no doubt (portion size for 2 Malaysians). But be warned as it would be much better to have lunch if you are to pick out that dish as they won't top it up during dinner.



I had yummy fried rice and was impress with the herbs and spices that they put together. It wasn't just eggs and rice but it had soy sauce, cooked proper over a hot kuali (I could hear them cooking in the kitchen) topped with parsley, spring onions and even dried onion and garlic too! We ordered sides as well and had kangkung belacan (really spicy, I couldn't handle it), Fish Sambal, and lovely pandan and tapioca desserts. I had cincau drink for 1.50 which is quite good as it wasn't off the can but in a proper glass where they actually make it for you. Our Hong Kong friends love the teh tarik which was serve hot including the froth in the good old classic coffee cup and their teh bandung was also lovely.

I would go back there again if you're wanting a reasonable place with top quality Malaysian food and would also recommend others to try out the food.

More information:
190 Sussex Gardens
London, W2 1TU, United Kingdom
020 7402 5111
http://www.bondacafelondon.com/

25/10/2009

Almond Milk

Stumbled across something interesting in which I am attempted to try for fun. One of the interesting websites I keep up to date is lifehacker.com, where it posts mainly articles on tips and tricks for getting anything done such as useful softwares for the computer, nice desktop backgrounds, latest gadgets, even 14 ways of keeping warm without using electricity and it has the odd 'food' section of how to make a quick salad decoration and this.

Taken from this article. I've broken down the steps down further...


23/10/2009

Chocolate Eggless Cupcakes

There is a debate to the word 'Vegan', so I decided to change the title to the cupcakes. I made them just to practice my double colour icing technique. Most of the amount of ingredients were an estimation as I wanted to know how a vegan cupcake would look and taste like with another egg alternative. There are a few egg alternatives and I've tried it with mayonnaise and baking powder and vinegar so far. Couple of useful websites below about ingredients replacement. Check them out:

911's tips to replacing eggs
Vegan Baking by the Post Punk Kitchen

Will try tofu as an alternative next. My double icing didn't turn out the way I wanted it to be since textures of both icings were different. One was harder, thicker and more dense than the other. But it turned out nice in a different way.



Only made 6...it was quite tough to distribute them at work (and I ate 2, yuummm)

 

My favourite. Honey buttercream icing mix with chocolate ganache.

21/10/2009

Pearl Restaurant by Jun Tanaka

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It was a friend's birthday do and after passing it so many times, this is the occassion that I could go in and try out Jun Tanaka's dishes at the Pearl. We had a 3 course meal and cocktail set for 37 pounds which is quite a nice deal. The bill came out to be abit more because water was charge at 7.90 each..so be warned! Then again we were given samples before our starters, pre-desserts and after dessert dessert that didn't come with the cost. I was quite full after the whole 2-hour session.

It was a great experience in the sense that it was my first time having fine cuisine food, therefore eating it was rather different (as in trying to piece all the different flavours through a stab of a fork)...and I am inspired to head to a farmer's market to expand my knowledge and taste buds on herbs, spices, sauces and vegetables!

I must say though that we were warmly welcomed and greeted, to the point that they asked about whether I want my cake to be brought out towards the end of the dinner session with no extra cost. I was brought to the waiting lounge which was very comfortable and ordered my cocktail.


19/10/2009

Lemon Cake

Happy Birthday Kat! Hope you like the Lemon cake and found it not too lemony, hehe. I had a hard time figuring out of how to decorate the cake and I wanted to make it look different to the normal structure.

As well as I bought myself decorations lollies in which I had no choice but to make full use of them. I made the cake with reference to one of my reference aka bible, joyofbaking but instead of using one 9" round baking tray, it was still good enough for two 8"round baking tray.



My personal decorations:
  • I used jelly lollies and cut them up into small pieces and lay them around.
  • I also used chocolates and ready-made flower icing.
  • I also had a tub of read-made black icing (by Dr.Oetker) and piped the letters on a piece of lasagna sheet and allowed it to dry the night before. I actually wanted to use the lasagna sheet as part of the decoration but it broke into pieces while I was trying to place it on the cake. Fortunately most of the letters was still intact but a few broke. Hence the funny decoration of having one row of letters stand up fully, and one row in between, and the final row flat on the cake.
Voila! Have yet to try the piece as we were not allowed to cut and distribute the cake at the bar when I :(

Handy tip: Always leave extra batter and bake it as a cupcake so that you have a chance of 'tasting' the cake and will be able to come up with proper icing to go with the cake :)

17/10/2009

Princi

Princi (Italian)

My favourite bakery for the moment

Located on 35 Wardour Street, linking Chinatown area to Oxford Circus, I always pass this place thinking that it's a posh place for posh people to have their posh cup of teas. But all my assumptions were thrown out of the window when my cousin brought me into the shop.

Amazing pastries from stuffed fresh custard roll to slices of pizzas plus fresh warm bread samples, all for such a reasonable price. Croissants here are only 30p more from Tesco and the best part is that they actually have a window display of the entire kitchen for the public to see how baking was done by hand from scratch. Sitting areas have miniature fountains and it has and always been crowded. I bought a couple of pastries and felt like I was a kid again when I took my first bite. Sweet and soft gooey vanilla pod flavoured custard followed by the crispy pastry crunch sends wonderful tingling comfort to my taste buds. Sinfully rewarding.

So if any of you are wandering through the streets, just poke your head to this shop. You'll never regret it. Last but not least, it opens till 10pm on a Sunday to satisfy your cravings...

More information:
135 Wardour Street
Soho, London, W1F 0UT
020 7478 8888
www.princi.co.uk

16/10/2009

Early Blackforest Cake

This was done quite a while back when I was just beginning to get the hang of baking. This post is dedicated to a friend who tried it and have been wanting to make one on her own. Hopefully this will guide you ;). And bear in mind that I didn't know anything about baking to start off with, from turning the oven on and using it to making sure the cream sticks to the cake!

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12/10/2009

Marshmallow Cupcakes

I had alot of marshmallow leftovers, so I decided to bake for work (since one of them requested for them too). So this is my version of marshmallow cupcakes. It was difficult to get powdered marshmallows in the UK although abundant in America (Brand called Jet Puff) so I decided to attempt to make the flavouring in my own ways.

Makes 12 cupcakes


10/10/2009

First Customer =)

I was requested to make a birthday cake for someone's 30th birthday and the first thing that went straight to my head was 'Wow, such a great compliment and it's the big 3-0' ! I was really really honored to do something like this and had to come up of a nice decoration.And Tadaaa...


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It was rather stressful still at the kitchen because this is the 4th cake I baked and it didn't go as well as I wanted it to be! Anyway, here's the recipe I use for a 9" chocolate chip banana cake:


Gaucho

Yes, I shall attempt to keep this alive. Perhaps it's good to have 2 different blogs after all. Makes me feel organised :)

Anyhoo, I was invited to a Client lunch at this Argentine restaurant somewhere near Liverpool station and it was my first time having Argentinian food.

Apparently they were famous for their steak. I couldn't find the place to begin with, and when I did, it looked more like a pit stop for posh drinks for posh people as I saw people wearing headsets.

To my suprise, we were brought downstairs and found ourselves a proper restaurant, full of people! We had a 'private room' to ourselves.



Dinner was a set 3 course meal with white wine, red wine, sparkling or still water and personal service. Amazing.

We had the signature menu, and I picked the scallops as my starter, which was suprisingly a cold dish and I was abit disappointed with it. It was perhaps one scallop sliced finely and coated with cheese, topped with chopped mango, onions and parsley.

Mains were shared and consisted of very well cooked 3 different pieces of beef with chips, tomato salad and sweet corn wrap in cooked corn leave (my favourite). The beef was so tender that it can be cut with a normal knife. But the best dish for me so far was the ice cream, as it was rich with high class chocolate, vanilla and dulcha de leche. Never had wonderful rich ice cream for some time now.

Overall, I'd give it a 7/10 since I'm not really a steak person, and the dishes got better towards the end =)

More information:
5 Finsbury Av
London, EC2M 2PJ, United Kingdom
020 7256 6877
gauchorestaurants.co.uk

09/10/2009

Yes or No

To become a food blogger or not? There is this intention to share with the world about the food I make and the food I see, for food I think right now at this very moment of time gathers us, comforts us, pour happiness in us and yet is a necessity as a source of fuel for human beings.




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