Wake Up and Smell the Cake

I AM SOOOO GONNA MAKE THIS !!   Just because it looks good and I have peanut butter to finish. Picture courtesy of Serious Eats . And maybe another batch of peanut butter cupcakes. Haven't found the perfect recipe yet.

As mentioned in an earlier post, I got vanilla pods from Paragon Market Place. $17 for 3 pods. Is that expensive? Don't know. My first time buying. The first time I opened the cork, whoa the smell is overwhelming. I expected a fragrant vanilla aroma but it was more of a strong pungent smell instead. Weird. Saturday I went to Phoon Huat to stock up on some nuts and I saw they sell vanilla pods too, at a fraction of the price! But made in Indonesia. I think it was $4 for 3? Super cheap. But I wonder if it's as good. I'm still looking for a good recipe for these pods. Maybe I should get them and compare. Hmm what recipe to make with these pods... Should I just stick to vanilla cake? Or vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting. Or pudding. Or something un-cakey? Haha.

Yes it is! Husband tasted it after coming home from a prior engagement late last night. And yes he likes it! He loves plain simple cakes like this. He approves of the lemon flavour too! I guess it kills the eggy taste and makes the cake less muak or jelak. Which is a bad thing though cos that would mean I can't stop eating it hahaha. Junior has been extra clingy and needy. Like yesterday he lovingly rested his head on Husband's chest and just stayed there. And last night! Omg Juniorrrrr why must you be so fussy! Mama doesn't know what you want! He woke us up at 1+ and I finally got him to sleep 2 painful hours later. And then he did it again at 5! But that lasted 1 hour. Not too bad. For a moment he didn't want direct feeding! I panicked okay! I didn't want that incident at Langkawi to happen again! But thankfully that's over. Phew. Family day today! That is, after Husband finishes his work. Make it family half-a-day today. I have work to do too but a little

This is my first ever lemon cake. There are lots of recipes using lemon zest, but I always skipped that little bit of adding lemon zest. But yesterday while I was killing time at Paragon and hoping to get some atas ingredients, I decided to get lemons. It's time to add some zest into my butter cakes! I bought vanilla pods as well but I don't have the courage to use that yet. Can I just add that Paragon Market Place is so expensive!! Why should I buy flour and sugar there when it costs more? Practically everything costs more! Even the items labeled "manager's choice" are still more expensive than the neighbourhood supermarkets. Back to the cake! It's just the lemon bundt cake. I decided not to make lemon glaze because one, I'm lazy and two, Husband will not bother to eat the cake with a fruity glaze. I adapted a recipe from the trusty allrecipes.com because I didn't have lemon oil. But I still got a soft, fluffy and lightly citrusy cake! The lemo

My gorgeous marble bundt cake. LOVES!! Tastes much better the next day! Yumyum :) This is my first time trying my bundt cake pan! Decided to make marble cake cos anything "weird" and Husband won't eat it. I'll try other flavours next time. This recipe is from The Eccentric Cook . Finally I found time and energy to bake yesterday. Junior decided to have a long nap (two and a half hours!) thankfully! He's still not used to hearing the mixer and blender sounds. He cries almost every time. I decided to make this cake using the mixer, but initially when I creamed the butter with sugar, I mixed by hand instead cos it seems like the butter wasn't creaming fast enough. Maybe I need to use a higher speed? Still not used to it. Haha. And this cake is quite tedious compared to the hassle-free butter cakes which I'm used to. Maybe because I kept switching from mixer mode to manual mixing with ladle.  Ingredients 2 1/2 cups sugar - divided 1/2 cup unsweetene

Yup. One of those lousy days again.   Today is Friday but tomorrow isn't exactly a weekend because I have to wear work clothes in the morning for a work event. Bah. So Junior fell. Again. One of those split second falls that you saw but can never catch in time unless you're Superman. I know I know I should have paid more attention to him and prevented him from standing blah blah. My parents are making a big deal out of it like I'm a lousy parent. Babies fall. So did I when I was a baby. I feel super guilty about it already, I don't need extra nagging. And today I'm fetching Junior by myself which means more opportunities for nagging. Gaaaaah. Feeling quite shitty right now. Husband's been really busy too. And gonna be busy for the next couple of weeks or so. I want to bake. I've been staring at soooo many pretty bundt cakes I can't take it already! I need to bake! I think I shall make pandan bundt cake with this recipe but instead of using mil

Last day of my week's leave yesterday, and since there wasn't much in the fridge/ larder, I decided to make bread pudding for breakfast. BUT. Husband didn't want bread pudding for breakfast. He says it's dessert. Ah well. Same recipe as before , only this time I used a loaf pan instead of my 9 inch square pan and I used sliced white bread, about 8 pieces? I could fit all the liquid in the pan yay! Baked in 25 minutes. Easy peasy :) Forgot to include raisins though! So as a last minute desperate attempt, sprinkled them on top. Haha! Was delighted that I could get the crunchy crust by using normal sliced white bread, I thought I could get that only with french loaf. Can't wait to eat it again tonight!

Jackfruit with hazelnut chocolate, you say? Yes why not! For nutella is the best frosting in the world for lazy bummers like me! Goes awesomely well with butter cakes. Besides, I hate the buttery feel from buttercream. Have yet to try a frosting I like.

Jackfruit Cupakes - I know they don't look pretty. Made them yesterday morning for my breakfast! Once again it was a case of husband-not-at-home-to-prevent-me-from-baking scenario. Baked, cleaned all before he came back! :D I had leftover jackfruit (nangka not cempedak) and so I thought why not bake it! Was quite surprised that there are some jackfruit cake recipes out there hahaha. So I took this one from foodlovepassion. It was also my first time using my stand mixer! Yay! Ingredients 50ml butter, melted 2 eggs 1 cup flour 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda 1/4 tsp cream of tartar 2 1/2 tbsp sugar 125ml mix of low fat milk + thick cream (clearing off leftovers) 4 pieces of jackfruit, cut into pieces (because I was lazy to blend) Baked at 170 degrees, 22 minutes. I halved the recipe and got 7 cupcakes. Though maybe could've been 8 if I didn't overfill them hurhur. Out of the oven! Urh unpretty. Hahaha Overspill of batter oops! Lo

On half day = baking opportunity! :) I've already planned to make bread pudding with the leftover French loaf. While Husband went out to get breakfast, I quickly whipped up bread pudding and by the time Husband got home, pudding was already in the oven, all utensils and bowls washed. Like it never happened :D Amazed with my speed! Haha! I wanted to try my own bread pudding recipe, and with a general idea of the ingredients from allrecipes.com , I made my own. Ingredients Half a loaf of French loaf, about 15cm long 2 tbsp butter 2 cups milk 1/2 cup brown sugar 5 tbsp condensed milk 3 eggs 1 tsp vanilla essence 1 small box of SunMaid raisins Tear bread into 2 inch squares and put in baking pan. I used 9 inch cos I didn't have a slightly smaller one. But I recommend using a smaller pan. Whisk butter, milk, sugar, condensed milk and vanilla essence in a bowl. I heated the bowl using double boiling method cos I wanted the butter to melt. Before adding in eggs, cool t

Ah. My iTunes brought me to Hoobastank's From The Heart. Reminded me of those days I'd drive my dad's (ah beng) car to school and blast the speakers with my awesome Hoobastank CD. I really really love the songs on the CD! I got it because of their popular hit, The Reason. Didn't regret buying! Haha. But I'm quite disappointed with the lead singer's inability to sing their songs live. Can't reach some of the high notes. Bleah. Oh well. In baking news, I am craving for rich chocolate cake. As per my previous post I ran out of castor sugar, and so I'm contemplating on (finally) using my Optima flour since it already has sugar. But I haven't found a rich chocolate cake recipe using Optima flour. I could improvise, but I don't know if it'll work. Maybe I'll work with a small amount first. Hope to try today, unless my boys wanna sleep early. Or maybe I can try these Triple Fudge Oreo Cookies or Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies . Interesti

So yesterday night I got bakin'! I really really wanted to try my new mini loaf pan . It is perfect! I buttered the sides of the pan, and the cakes could be removed very easily! Love it! I didn't realise it was so pricey, when I was washing the pan then I saw the price tag - $28. T_T I know I know, I bought without checking the price haha. It was a good bake yesterday. I finished my cake flour, finished my sugar, and there are points for improvement. While I was preparing the ingredients, I realised I was short of sugar. The horror !! The recipe called for 1 and 3/4 cups of sugar but I only had half a cup! So I added in half cup condensed milk. And then I realised something, whenever I use condensed milk, I shouldn't have added vanilla essence. Happened before with the Condensed Milk Cheesecake . Gives an overpowering taste. I think if the vanilla was reduced, it would be perfect. Another thing I noticed,I didn't really taste the cheese! Haha! Maybe it's suppos

"Hi my name is Far and I'm a bakeaholic." I can't believe this. I'm having withdrawal symptoms from baking. I haven't baked in about two weeks now and I am itching to bake. I have been trawling food (particularly dessert) blogs, always looking for recipes, looking at lipsmacking cakes that just screams out EAT ME. It doesn't help that I have a new stand mixer that I have yet to try, and ingredients on standby: loads of unused Hershey's chocolates waiting to be chopped/melted, a whole pack of Optima flour in addition to other opened packs of flour, 12 eggs waiting to be cracked and whisked, two little cartons of heavy cream, two (or was it three?) packs of cream cheese, and three packs of butter! Gasp. I do have lots of ingredients hahaha. Oh and I have a box of instant brownie mix too. So to tame - yes, tame, not satisfy - my baking addiction, I decided to make sago gula melaka last Saturday night. That too, after a looonnng ponder of whether I s

So the four day weekend has come and gone. Way to fast! Sadness. Day one was quite fruitful yet packed. Morning I did laundry (I think? I've done laundry waayyyy to many times over the weekend I forgot!) and entertained my chubbycheeks. Afternoon we went to fetch in-laws and had lunch at Sabar Menanti which somehow wasn't that good on that day for some reason, and then sent them somewhere. Then we went Mustafa's which was kinda crowded and then to my mum's house to rot and celebrate Brother's twenty-fifth birthday. Sister made hazelnut cake and yes! She bakes! Hahaha. Hazelnut cake with Smuckers chocolate syrup and crushed roasted hazelnuts. Yumyum. Day two was spent at FFL (YK)'s home, made opera cake and had Indian food for dinner. Husband had a meeting most of the afternoon, bummer. I didn't really take part in the baking cos I was babysitting, how to babysit and make a cake?! Actually I can, I've been doing it all along but that's at home,

So yesterday we were on half day cos Husband wasn't feeling too well. Went back, and felt like pre-Junior days. Even so, I have become so accustomed to Junior, I kept expecting to hear a baby crying. Hahaha. While Husband was resting... I baked! And did laundry. I can never resist doing laundry when I see the sun shining so brightly. Husband almost forbid me to do laundry, saying I need to rest too since I'm fasting, but in the end he gave in. Teeheehee. I tried Ultimate Chocolate Cake by Angela Nilsen from bbcgoodfood.com. I am on the hunt for awesome chocolate cake recipes! I planned to do the ganache but have yet to do so cos I ran out of chocolates haha. You can refer to the website for the original ingredients, but below is what I actually used (some measurements are different cos I don't have weighing scale and proper measuring instruments). Ingredients: 200g good quality dark chocolate = I used 2 bars of Hershey's (finally finished using them!) one 60% o

Omg omg omg I am so so excited!! You must be thinking I'm crazy to go crazy over a measuring cup, but it's no ordinary measuring cup okay! It's the kind that can measure all sorts of dry ingredients in pounds. My mum has it, but it's super duper ancient I thought they wouldn't sell these anymore. Until!!! I was browsing Bake King's website - how I came here, I'll explain in a bit - and I FOUND IT !!! Here it is, the Tala Cook's Measure! Very retro looking (totally love!) and freakin' made in England can! I am so gonna buy it!! I hope the shop has it if not I'll have to order online . I browsed the website and found lots of other things I am so tempted to buy! Heehee. Lucky thing I have loads of cabinet space that can store my baking utensils :) So back to the point where I was directed to Bake King. Yesterday at Husband's grandma's house, she made for us marble cake which I totally love! So moist and soft and airy! So I asked f

Okay I think I shall skip the outstanding posts I mentioned earlier . Getting out of date already. Haha. Suffice to say, making sugar cookies with difficult mould shapes (like Chip & Dale) is frustrating and tedious, and I haven't found the perfect icing recipe yet. That aside!! I is excited to say I've finally (yes, finally!) perfected my banana cake recipe! Heehee. I have no idea why I couldn't get my mum's recipe to work, maybe cos it's a different oven? But it's almost the same model! Oh well. This time I reduced the butter because the last time it was too oily, and the cake could use a bit more flour. I kept the banana the same cos I love having loads of banana in the cake, rather than use banana essence. Here are my lovelies I brought to work. I didn't capture any pictures while I was baking because I wanted to get it in the oven before Junior gets impatient watching me bake. This was taken with my iPhone. Ingredients : 200g butter 9 oz

Tuesday blues. Lack sleep. Junior woke me up at the most terrible times. He woke me up just after I dozed off for 15 minutes and it felt like my entire sleep was disrupted. After milk he went back to sleep, only to wake me up 15 minutes later!!! And then he slept peacefully and what seemed like five hours but it was only 1 plus when he woke me up again! Then again at 2, and again at 3, and 4 and he didn't want to sleep back until 6am. I suspect it's teething that's causing him discomfort. When he finally slept at 6, he was holding me tight and cried when I put him in his cot. So I let him sleep with me and hugged him :) Oh and starting yesterday my FFL isn't gonna be online anymore for a couple of months cos she's happily rotting at home. How I envy her. Sunday morning I attempted to make Maple Pecan Cinnamon Rolls . Wanted to make them for breakfast but it was ready only after 10 because Junior wanted attention as well. Key word is attempted. I couldn't rol

Hello everyone I am feeling very lazy to work and so many people are on leave already! My fingers on my left hand smells of baby barf! As weird as it may sound, I shall not wash it with soap just as yet cos I will smell my fingers if I miss my boy. And I miss my boy so so much! I miss my other boy too. He was busy with sooo many things over the weekend that I only managed to enjoy his company only minutes before dozing off. And I don't want movie dates! No fun just watching the screen -_-" But then again I always talk a lot in movies. I love to spoil the show and give my own commentary. Hahahha. Husband gets irritated by it but I do it anyway teeheehee! Today is the last day for the 1-for-1 Filet-O-Fish deal. Maybe I shall have two Filet-O-Fish burgers for lunch! :D Tampines Mall is overcrowded. 9kg baby on a ring sling for TWO hours is sooo not advisable for your shoulder. Pain will last two days. Minimum. Okay I just smelt my fingers. Baby barf isn't ni

Hello!! I'm on Medical Leave :D Husband's at work, and Junior's at my mum's house. I'm free to do just about everything! Heh. Morning I sent off Junior, and stuck around for a bit before going to my all time fave Chong Pang to get some stuff and most importantly, threading. I've been putting it off for the longest time! With that done, and toiletries bought, I spent $50. How did I spend that much on so few items! And I've yet to buy rice, kicap and eggs! Anyway. So I went home, fried my french beans to go with my daging masak kicap for lunch, and then washed and hung clothes to dry, and then baked a chocolate cake (recipe later), and vacuumed the house and now I'm taking a break before I start ironing. Did all that when I'm supposed to be resting and slacking around haha. Husband's gonna scold me for not resting hehe! Daging masak kicap was done yesterday, I prepared everything and cooked the meat and off to zzzland I went, while Husband