Wake Up and Smell the Cake

Hello hello! It's been weeks since I last updated. Been busy with lotsa stuff, even went out of the country for a work trip. I'm nursing the little one even as I type this entry. It's the Mother's Day weekend and the best part of it is the sales! I'm eyeing Crocs 20% off all women's shoes hmm. I bought a pair of Crocs flats few days ago sadly the 20% promo hadn't begun. Boo. But I feel like getting another pair heehee. We'll see how tomorrow. Anyway! Since it's mango season, I thought of making mango desserts for my mum and MIL. Have just completed one, which is mango sago for my MIL. Yesterday after work, we went to Chong Pang to get mangoes and they were going for 50 cents each! So I bought 20. HAHA. 6 for MIL, the rest for mango sago and mango cheesecake.  I think I put in a little too much vanilla essence into the dessert oh wells. But I'm sure once it is cooled it'll taste yummy!  Here's what I used: 5 med

Ooh it's been weeks since I last updated! Lots happened, but nothing really interesting baked recently. Am on the bus on the way to class, so might as well update. This morning I was shocked at the price increase at the canteen that it has made me determined to prepare my own breakfast. The epok2 became smaller AND increased in price by 30 cents! Outrageous I tell you! So I think now I shall stock up on bread, salad vege, tuna eggs and chicken to make me some yummy sandwiches. No more of canteen food. Or oatmeal on standby in office if I am pressed for time. Shall not be lazy anymore!

Second post in a day! I'm alone at home, that's why. No baby to disturb me wahahaha. Haven't done as much houswork as I thought I would, I wish I could clean the fan, vacuum the floor, iron next week's clothes, but all that is pretty much impossible within a couple of hours. Anyway! I wanted to blog about lunch! I had no idea what to cook, but I know I wanted something soupy. So I boiled angel hair pasta (mee sua would have been my first choice but I'm out of that) and decided to marinate chicken first. Teriyaki chicken with pasta soup. With very few basic ingredients! Perfect for a kitchen that doesn't have much ingredients stocked up. I have now mastered the art of cooking for one, my estimations have improved. Sliced thin strips of the chicken breast that I always use for Junior's porridge, and got started on lunch preparations. Chicken Teriyaki (for 1) 1 portion of chicken, sliced thinly 2 tbsp light soy sauce 1 tbsp sugar 2 crushed & cho

No bakes last weekend boo. I happily took out my butter and cream cheese with this cream cheese butter cake in mind but then I realised. I have. only. TWO. eggs. Baaah. So back into the fridge they went. I did find eggless chocolate cake and brownie recipes but didn't bother to do any. It was quite a packed weekend with raya, cousin's engagement and a little bit of work yesterday, and to top it all off, dear Junior decided to wake up at 4am this morning all fresh and happy. So I did laundry & ironing while he was awake. He only slept back at 6.10am and as much as I wanted to sleep back, it was a bit too late. Darn. There was talk of school for Junior and those montessori of sorts, Husband is convinced Junior needs school once he's 18 months old but I'm kinda refusing it. If the purpose is for the activities then I think we can have our own little school at home. I refuse to pay for something which can be done at home. It's like going to a baking school t

Finally baked today yippee! Made pandan muffins this morning, cos muffins are the fastest and easiest way to get your baking craving fixed. And I can bring bring these muffins to work too for snacking. I got the original inspiration from My Muffin Lab , but I made my own adjustments. So here's what I used against what is the original recipe: 2 cups cake flour (2 cups self-raising flour) 3/4 cup sugar 1 1/2 tsp baking powder (NA because they used self-raising flour) 2 eggs 200ml Kara coconut cream (1/2 cup coconut milk + 1/2 cup milk) 1 cup canola oil (3/4 cup vege oil) 2 tsp pandan kaya paste (1 tsp pandan paste) Mix the dry ingredients in a small bowl and the wet ingredients in a big bowl. Surprisingly the coconut cream and oil mix together very well! Haha. Add the dry ingredients into the large bowl and mix only till combined. Transfer to muffin cups (abt 2 tbsp of batter per cup), I got 12 muffins! Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 27 minutes. Ahhh so prett

I wanna bake  I wanna bake  I wanna bake! Didn't bake at all last weekend even though I had three days, and now I'm itching to bake though it's gonna be a busy weekend. Hmm. There's just too many things on my to-do list that I can't decide if I wanna make cocoa brownies or pandan cheesecake or pandan muffins or red velvet cupcakes!! Of course the easiest and fastest is the first option but I do love pretty red velvets. Options options! Sigh. Okaybyebye. Oh before I go, here's Junior! He doesn't really like bananas anymore, current favourite fruit is plums and grapes. And thank god plums are in season!

It's raya!! A bit more on that when I have transferred photos from my camera, but for now! Cake! I decided to make lemon bundt cake last Friday while we were also in the midst of sprucing up the house for Hari Raya. I have been itching to make a cake for the longest time, and I have my cake flour and all ready to go. I had lots of cake choices because of my neverending baking ingredients, I could make blueberry cake, or marble cake, or just plain butter cake, or butter almond cake, but in the end I settled for lemon bundt because of my leftover lemons from like ages ago. I was surprised I could still use them! One had been zested and was sitting in my plastic container and somehow the lemon juice was still in there somewhere, and another hasn't been zested so perfect! I dug up my previous bundt recipe , and here's what I used this time round: 3 cups cake flour, sifted 2 cups vanilla sugar (normal sugar would be sufficient) 250g butter, softened 2 tsp baking powder

Yup made these again yesterday morning while Husband was asleep and Junior clinging to my leg (yes, clinging -_-), banana chocolate chip muffins. If I make them again, I must remember to make these few changes: use 1 tsp instead of 1 1/2 tsp of bicarbonate soda add more bananas! Or not. Maybe if I reduce the soda the banana taste would be better. This time round I remembered to add the chocolate chips in, and I sprinkled more on top too! HEEHEE. I ran out of milk too, so I used the leftover whipped cream I had. Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins 1 1/2 cups flour 1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda 3/4 cup sugar 4 medium bananas, mashed 1/4 cup cream 2 eggs 1/2 cup canola oil pinch of cinnamon Mix all dry ingredients in a big bowl. In a separate bowl, mix mashed bananas, eggs, cream and oil together. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated. Lastly, add in chocolate chips. Transfer to muffin cups and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes. M

Finally I can sit down. It's not always that I have non-stop meetings but kinda like it when I do.   Managed to bake twice last weekend! Still have yet to use my cream cheese frosting but since it's sitting prettily in my ice cream tub in the freezer, I shan't disturb it yet. Anyway I have more pressing food items to clear such as my looooonnnggg overdue bread and overripe bananas. Hence I made bread pudding on Friday morning and banana chocolate chip muffins on Saturday. Before you freak out at the looonnngg overdue (read: 1 month old) bread, let me share a good tip for small households where bread doesn't run out that fast. I'm more of a cereal person. Whenever I buy bread, I keep it in the fridge. Lasts about a month or even more! It won't go dry, if it does, just heat it for 20 seconds in the microwave and it's soft like it was just baked this morning. And if you didn't manage to finish the rest of the loaf, fret not! Bread pudding always works!

Started day 5 with the usual chicken sandwich (new marinade!) and a little extra of banana and chocolate! Let's start with the chicken sandwich. Chicken cubes with lettuce and white bread, easy to prepare, good to eat! Day 1 and 2 I had the same chicken, boneless skinless healthy chicken cubes pan fried in honey bbq sauce, smoked bbq seasoning and black pepper. No salt needed. Was quite yums but I should have pan fried a little longer to get that charred effect. Yesterday I tried something different. The day before I bought dried basil and oregano and chili powder. Regretted not getting garlic powder too. I'm still figuring out basil so I tried the following instead: 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts 1 1/2 tbsp chili powder 2 cloves garlic, mashed & chopped 1 tsp dried oregano 1 tsp vinegar salt & pepper Was kinda good! But maybe I should've marinated longer so the flavours seep in. And probably can add a bit more vinegar too! I quite like stir fr

Warning: angsty post ahead. I am freaking tired. And sleepy. My eyes are dry, I can't open them. I wanna go home. Home. I have LOTS of housework to do. Sweep the floor. Clean the fans. Iron tons of clothes. I have been lazy and wearing non-iron clothes to work. Haha. If only Husband can do the same. Sigh. Weekend was tiring. I'm still not over the lack of sleep. I need my sleep. I am becoming a pessimistic grumpy ol' fart because of this. I feel like punching someone now.My back is aching too, and my hair is irritating me. Actually everything irritates me right now. What the?! This sneezy fella is in my office and spreading GERMS. He has sneezed about 10 times. Okay now 12. Seriously! GO home! I don't need to get sick! I'm already feeling - thirteen, and blew his nose - tired. Fourteen. Seventeen. I have work to do. Damnit now I have headache too. wdbjo'robvosfnl;bfoerh K bye.

Just came back to office today after 3 days of MC. The usual throat infection fever cough running nose combo. Still have cough though. It has been an unproductive 3 days. The pile of work waiting for me at office and at home too. Only did laundry once and I spent most of my time at my mum's cos I was too lazy to go back home after sending Junior in the morning. Plus there's free food at my mum's hurhur. I was itching to bake, and when I finally decided to (same day as laundry), something last minute cropped up and my equipment went back into the cupboard. Bummer. I wanted to try out my expensive cocoa powder! Anyway. The blessing in disguise was getting to spend more time with Junior. Doing the usual, playing with pots and pans and the laundry basket. He loves household items very much. Watching us hang the laundry to dry fascinates him all the time. And something new he did: check what's under the ottoman! He is one inquisitive boy. He loves to practise sta

I can't seem to get my entire house clean every weekend, and I am seriously considering this as part of my house cleaning regime: I don't know where to get one, but I can always make one. I saw those yellow cloth thingy at sold at CK store and I'll just fix it to Junior's unwanted rompers. And off he goes mopping the floor with me. Mopping the floor is a must now, especially with lift upgrading going on, the floor is quite dusty. And whenever I hint to Husband to help me mop, he offers to get those weekend helpers instead -_-" Not exactly the answer I was looking for!! Okay. This shall be the project in the coming week! FYI this is not child abuse, this is called getting baby accustomed to housework.

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

I know I still have yet to blog about Langkawi, maybe sometime over the weekend. Here's a simple post for today, what I did over the weekend. LOTS of cleaning but still lots more to go, and a bit of shopping ;) My baking splurge for Sunday! Baking chocolate, my cook's measure (finally!), pandan paste, gelatine (got the halal nod from Husband hurhur), roti kirai mould and kuih bakar mould. Contemplated on getting vanilla pods but I resisted. Kuih bakar mould, heavy and rough material. Bought this upon Husband's request. He loved his grandma's kuih bakar which she cooked over the stove with something like this, so I'm on a mission to replicate it! :) There's a heavier mould, made of brass and is $55 but I think I'll try this out first. Fishing out the clothes that Junior can't fit anymore. The drawer was getting too messy. Junior's old shoes. Who says guys can't have many shoes as well?? Hahahaha. And here's my little angel with

Gonna be on half day tomorrow cos I'll be expecting a delivery. And we all know what happens when I take half day! I become a superwoman housewife ! Haha! I have planned to, in those few hours: Do laundry (hopefully the sun shines brightly so my clothes can be dry) Make pineapple tarts for Husband Change bedsheets (and wash them too if possible, but highly unlikely) Pineapple tarts are gonna take me quite some time. It's been almost a year since I've made them! Hope I haven't lost touch. Husband's really looking forward to his favourite cookies. It is almost impossible to make them with Junior around. Speaking of Junior, he has been waking us up at 3am for the past two nights, and refusing to sleep back! Yesterday he was awake for one and a half hours, the night before was three whole hours!! Faints. But I am quite amazed that I'm actually not that sleepy in the day. Weird. But that doesn't mean you can do it every night, young man!!

"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

I have been browsing gmarket once in a while, with Shez & Juni but I have yet to buy anything from there. Until today!!! I found the cutest measuring set ! I'm on the lookout for measuring cups and spoons, and this is just too cute to resist! Cheap too! So I got for myself one set! See! Soooo cute! Hahaha. I wonder when it'll arrive though. Can't wait! :) I wanna look for bundt pans next!