Valentines’ Day Carrots!

I haven’t updated in ages I know. My bad.

So anyway, after 3 years of loveydovey-ness, i finally found out that my boyfriend dislikes chocolate! Oh the horror. This took place a month before valentines day.. and after giving him chocolate related foods for the past two years… oh the horror…lets not dwell on the past.. horror…

In addition, my boyfriend, (whom i have named BUNNY, solely because it rhymes with honey and wunny- do you pity him already?) NEVER eats enough vegetables. I tell him that he would never be able to poop properly if he doesn’t ingest sufficient bowel-moving, earth-shaking fibre. But does he listen? No. So of late I have been trying to sneak fibre into the cakes and cookies that I bake for him.

I am the mastermind! Beware my schemes!

I’ll be honest with you, this is the first time that my carrot cake has succeeded. And, this is NOT the first time that I have attempted carrot cake. This carrot cake right there below this line, has gotten rave (hopefully not out of sympathy) reviews and devouration (not quite a word, but an awesome descriptor).

EDIT (12 MAR 2011): I baked the cake again to use up my excess cream cheese frosting. It’s just as awesome as the last time. =) So don’t worry and go ahead and bake this!

Strawberry Jelly Cheesecake happiness =)

Christmas is an awesome time of the year. Especially when Mel is Santa. =) I know it’s a waste to use ramekins for cheesecake purposes but but… all my souffle attempts have not been blog post worthy. And the ramekins photograph so beautifully with the cheesecake.

Gourmet! These babies are gourmet! Not even available off the shelf in Singapore, she got them from the UK. This must be love. And there are 4 in the set, what an awesome number that is for baking. 1 souffle for my sister and 3 for me. =) Awesome.

The Day After Oat Muffins

After two major celebration worthy holidays crammed back to back… my jeans do not fit happily. =( Today’s post will be another one of those healthy and yet tasty muffins that won’t add on to your guilt trip. I really shouldn’t have eaten that last piece of cadbury gold chocolate. Sigh. Or that extra slice of peaches and cream pie with Ben and Jerry’s ice-cream. MOPE. No help to it. At least these muffins are actually healthy and yummy.

It’s another year yet again, 2010 was whirlwind of coming of age incidents and exciting discoveries. I wonder what 2011 holds for us all. Will we finally discover aliens on mars? =O I shall write out a New Year Resolution for the Year 2011.

New Year Resolution for Miss 2011,

1. This year, I will not allow any major terrorist tragedy to occur during my reign.

2. There will be no death or destruction, wildfires and strange climate storms will cease.

3. There will be peace worldwide if only just for a year.

4. Greedy bankers and businessmen will find themselves plagued by mysterious bouts of guilt and conscience.

5. COE prices in Singapore will not go beyond 2K but all families will only be allowed one car. Rich families will have to sell their extra 8 ferraris (not like it does them any good on Singapore roads anyway) and donate the proceeds to an uncorrupt charity.

6. Charities will install mysterious robots who will whack the hands of corrupt people who try and misappropriate funds.

7. All children will be happy instead of being locked at home and made to finish assessment books.

8. Nobody would wish to divorce but couples will live together happily and resolve their differences through communication and compromise.

9. There will be no more gang attacks in Singapore, gang members who find themselves itching to do mischief will instead pick up baking.

10. Life will be good.

How to survive Christmas without going crazy.

I can’t believe this but I’m actually quite relieved that Christmas is over. It was an awesomely happy Christmas, but the baking and the present making was really quite tiring. Whew. But then again, most of it was really my fault. This year with the whole month mostly free, I wanted to up the ante and do something awesome.

So instead of buying gifts for people who could probably afford anything they wanted… I made all my gifts. And instead of baking gingerbread men again as usual, I made little gingerbread houses for all my close friends.

Which leads me to the awesome main theme of today’s post.

The Opinionated Baker’s Guide to Surviving Christmas Baking Without Going Crazy.

1. Do your research

Get your recipe from a trusted source to ensure no failures. It’s tiring enough to bake for so many people, failed attempts will just make things worse. Better yet, use a recipe that you have at least made once and be sure that you will be able to make it in large quantities without killing yourself.

For a great gingerbread recipe, check out my other post from last year here. The photos are not awesome but the cookies are.

Likewise, if you’re baking gingerbread houses, get your templates ready, cut them out and flour them. I got mine from here and I shrank them by half. It also helps to read all the house assembling tutorials for ideas on decorations and assembling details. I found this tutorial pretty useful.

Brunch at Food for Thought (Review)

Brunch always brings to mind a lazy sunny afternoon. A place untouched by time, with heavenly aromas of scrambled eggs and sausage wafting about like little fairies… No stress in mind and no deadlines to rush… Ahhh…

To celebrate mel’s birthday, we went to Food for Thought to try their brunch menu. There is something about the place that really delights me. Maybe it’s the roomy all white interior, or the delicious food… maybe it’s the smell of freshly cooked food wafting about the restaurant. Maybe it’s the fact that all the photos I took here turned out beautiful due to the superior lighting…. Or, maybe it’s how they’re always engaged in community projects like providing water for people in third world countries and education for the less fortunate.

The (not so secret) secret to chocolate chip cookies

I cannot believe that the secret to good chocolate chip cookies is something so ridiculously easy. It seems unfair that after everybody’s frantic tweaking of ingredients, the addition of strange things like mayonnaise and such… in hopes that they would be the ones to stumble on the holy grail of perfect cookies… the trick was so simple. And why did it take us so long to figure out anyway? Tsk. I lose hope in modern science. It took a newspaper named The New York Times to famous-nise the technique..

Just chill the dough for 36 hours before baking it. Like that. The end. oh yeah, and eat immediately out of the oven… (like we ever could wait)

It seems that cookies just like people need time to mature. Thank goodness these cookies only take 36 hours. Although, i can think of many people who behave like they’d need to spend 36 years in my fridge before they should come out and interact with society. It seems that the time they have to reflect on their actions in the fridge helps the flavors to better permeate the cookie and yada yada, I wouldn’t worry too much about the “how” if I were you, but more of the “yum”.

I found these Mature Cookies to have an interesting layer of “skin”, it’s a little hard, like caramel and really quite fun to eat. It’s difficult to describe… you should probably try baking them yourself.

Another good trick to awesome cookies is to make them big. Use an ice-cream scoop to measure out your cookie dough and you should be safe… Unless you’re like me, surrounded by people worried about their weight. Then you just have to compromise on the texture and make them small, like those in the picture *sad face*. Making them big will help them to maintain the mix of texture within the cookie, from the crisp edges to the chewy middles.

I didn’t actually use the official Jacque Torres recipe, because who has bread flour lying around at home?  Or expensive high end chocolate for that matter. I did use the Neiman Marcus cookie recipe that I baked a while back (complete with ugly photos. =( ) just to prove that the technique works with all cookie dough recipes! No need to run out and buy bread flour and expensive chocolate! Oh joy oh rapture!

Thanks mel for spreading the good news and convincing the patience-challenged. =)

The Opinionated Baker

My blog has been undergoing a bit of an identity change. It’s something that I’ve been contemplating for a long long time and it’s finally in motion! Just in time for Christmas too. =)

Brunching in Singapore- Cafe Hacienda (Review)

There is something quite fairytale-like about brunch on a beautiful Sunday morning. A special day when the haze recedes leaving us with fresh clean air to breathe and visibility beyond our arms length. (alright it wasn’t quite that bad. But it was still bad). I should probably have been cheering my friends on at the Nike human race… or helping out with the work there but… oh well… break times are important.

The boyfriend checked online reviews and found this quaint little cafe, situated in the heart of Dempsey road. The online reviews were pretty darned good so he decided it was worth a trip down to try their food.

Their prices are pretty reasonable for brunch at dempsey, about 15 /pax. Maybe if we return, we’ll try the wagyu patty burger which my boyfriend was eyeing…(this is more expensive…maybe 40+/pax)

Multifunctional muffins!-Wholemeal Mocha Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins!

I am a child from the generation of multifunctions… where phones can’t just be phones anymore but have to be able to take photos, film videos, host games and access the internet… Where cameras can connect directly to the printer or to the internet or anywhere…. and where muffins can’t just be one single flavour anymore…

I love my generation! Whee~!

I think that if you’ve read other posts in my blog, you’d have realized that i’m quite health conscious. (I need to fit into my jeans! Help!) But i also have a crippling weakness for sweet stuff and yummy food… It’s the balance that makes things fun!

Presenting the perfect yummy breakfast! Tastes unhealthy, but is actually pretty low fat and good for you! Awesome stuff.

Wholemeal Mocha Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins!

adapted from allrecipes.com (i made a few changes…)

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup wholemeal flour
• 3/4 cup raw sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup extra light olive oil
• 1/2 cup low fat milk with expresso dissolved into it (how much you put is really up to you! If you need a big kick at breakfast or a little kick)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix well!
2. In another bowl, combine the egg, oil, milk and vanilla.
3. Dry ingredients into wet until just moistened. Don’t overmix or your muffins will be dry.
4. Fold in bananas and chocolate chips.
5. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full.
6. Bake at 350 degrees F for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.
7. Enjoy for breakfast!

(i gave in to the temptation and started eating even before i finished taking my photographs… oop)

Testing the taste-bud boundary- Frushi! <3

What do you get when two best friend bakers get together to develop a food item for their product and brand management class?

You get the most beautiful, healthy fusion of East and West!! Frushi!

The best thing? It’s easy to make! =) And a sweet guilt-free indulgence.

Frushi (fruit sushi!)

(Others may have tried it before, the world is big, but they’re not on google and we’re the first to name it!! Nyah!)

Very important things you will need:

Clingwrap

A fruit peeler

A small bowl of water

A sharp knife

(We didn’t use any expensive sushi making equipment like bamboo mats (?) because we’re poor students, but you’re welcome to use those if you have them!)

Ingredients:

2 cups of Sushi rice (If you’re not sure how to make this, google it! There’re tons of step by step tuts online. I used http://sushicup.com, which is really quite foolproof)

5 Big sheets of seaweed that you can use to roll your sushi. Should measure about 15cm by 15cm.

Mayonaise

Fruits of your choice! (We used 2 mangoes, 3 kiwis and a punnet of strawberries, but apple and avocado would go really well too!)

Method:

1) First you need prepare your fruits! You would need to convert all your ingredients into two basic shapes.

a) Very very thin slices. These are what will go over your sushi, like a hat. To obtain very thin slices, don’t bother with the knife, we tried it and it doesn’t work. (not for noobs at least.. =( ) Using the fruit peeler, peel off thin slices as if you were peeling its skin.

b) Very long strips with a cross section of a square. This will be rolled inside your sushi, so that when you slice them up, you will see that cute little yellow square peeking out at its heart.

2) Okay! Now lets get down to the sticky business of rolling the sushi itself!

Firstly, take out a sheet of seaweed and lay it on the table. Take a deep breath and scoop out some sushi rice, about the minimum it would take to just cover the surface area of the seaweed without any black spots showing through. Plonk your rice down on the sushi, it should be sticky and unmanageable. No worries! Take a spoon and dip it in water, shaking off any excess. Using its flat back, smoothen out your rice so that it totally covers the seaweed evenly. When the rice starts sticking, just dip the spoon in water again and continue. =)

3) Okay! Now you have what looks like a rice square on your table…time to start rolling.

Take out the clingwrap and cut a piece of equal surface area to your rice square. Lay it on the table and sprinkle water all over! Make sure the entire piece of plastic is damp, not soaking wet! Overturn the rice square onto the clingwrap so that the rice portion is in contact with the plastic and the seaweed is facing up.

Using your mayonnaise, draw a long thick line horizontally across. It should be two inches from the bottom of your rice square. Lay your long strips of fruit on top of the mayo line! Grab hold of the bottom part of the clingwrap and the seaweed and roll the sushi up, like you would when rolling a piece of paper. Remove the clingwrap along the way as you are rolling. Roll it as tight as possible, pressing it tightly down each time you make one turn, without breaking the seaweed so that everything inside the roll is compact.

4) Take your knife and dip it in water, shaking off any excess. Then start cutting 1 inch thick pieces from one end carefully.

5) Use your thin slices of fruit to decorate the top however you like it! Use mayonnaise to stick it to the rice, the more mayo you use, the tastier it would be!

You might not be able to roll a pretty roll from the very beginning but as you roll, it should get easier and easier! This was mel’s first time making sushi too!

=) By the way, don’t forget to visit her blog!

Also, you might not believe us that it’s tasty! Rice and fruits seem like an unlikely combination… But we took it to school and let our  focus group try it! And they loved it!! =) So give it a go! It just might become your new favourite meal.