Pirates of The Caribbean -at the movie

We went to the cinema today. It was Laiqa’s first experienced at the movie. We watched…what else- Pirates’ Of The Caribbean- At World’s End.
Hehhehe…’mummy’ loves that movie, so, the whole family have to tag along. ☺
The movie runs for 3 hours roughly. And it was great. (have I told u, that Johnny Depp is my all time favourite actor ☺ -I always fall for a weirdo…hahahhaah)
Just love the story, the effect, the fight scenes, the humour, etc.
And of course, there were drama and some romance. There's a scene where Elizabeth Swann married Will Turner in the middle of a 'war'. Anyway, Captain Jack Sparrow's wacky character was what got me hooked up. Anyway his scene started after about 30minutes or so. (remember...he was 'eaten' by the octopus ie. Captain Davy Jones, in 'Dead man's Chest'), so, they took some time to rescue him from 'Davy Jones's locker'. Savvy??
Anyway, I saved all of you the details for you to watch the movie yourself.

Laiqa fall asleep after 30 minutes or so. Before that, she was busy finishing up the pop corn and asking me- why is it so dark?- for about 30times, before she finally dozed off with stomach full of pop corn.
Umar, well, he just got hooked up during 'fight' scene. (Abg tengok masa orang 'gocoh' je- :) Umar and his mixed dialect :) He was busy trying to figure out how the movie was projected onto the canvas on the wall...the boy and his curiosity...

Laiqa only woke up when the movie was about to finish. She was still sleepy and a bit confused when I snapped her picture at the cinema's entrance.

My Ever Dearest opening his pirate's eye patch

My 'ever dearest' was on medical leave today. Reason-his right eye was swollen since yesterday. He can't even opened his eye this morning. His small eye, got even smaller...hehheh :)
Just FYI, I did not punch him right on the eye. Nor it was caused by any injuries whatsoever. So, he must caught some kind of infection somewhere.
Bought him some medication to relieve the symptoms-swelling and itchiness, which he refused to take...claiming that engineers believe in 'naturopathy', in other words...being in pain and feeling uncomfortable is better than taking medication. But the truth is he's afraid of anything that has to do with drugs-the drugs itself, the procedure (eg. IV, injection), the place (eg. clinics, hospitals) and the personnel (eg. doctors). But how on earth that he end up marrying me.....hahhahaha

p/s anyway darling...hope you get well soon. If it turned out to be an infection, don't go around spreading it to others.
p/ss if you feel any increasing in discomfort...pls take your medication...:)

Caterpillar (with jaundiced) Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes last week.
My son suggested that I make ladybug and bee cupcakes, but I ran out of red icing color, so I made caterpillar instead.
But this is no ordinary caterpillar. This is caterpillar that wear sneakers and have liver disease…hahhahaha (notice the yellow discoloration of the eyes???) This caterpillar had jaundiced!

I ran out of white frosting for the eyes, so I used yellow ‘m&m’.

Cupcakes For no Reason

I tried a new cupcake recipe yesterday. An eggless recipe. Which turn out fluffy, but not to my liking, so I won't post the recipe here. I just decorate them just for fun, with my two 'helpers' helping out. I turn around once to take something, and they already poking candles on the cupcakes. 2 candles- my son said it's for her sister which is 2 years old, and I didn't make any cupcakes on her birthday...

Pasta Olio -simplified

Actually, it's not improvised. I did not improvised the recipe. I just...well, suited it with the things that in my pantry, and I simplified things. The reason is...I was lazy today.
So sorry to my kids, that was all that we had for lunch, mummy so lazy today...

Pasta Olio/ or is it Fried Pasta...

Ingredients:
Pasta- any shape, I used tagliattele (because that what I have left in my pantry)
-boil as instructed in the packaging
3 cloves of garlic-minced
1 large onion-minced
white pepper-crushed
prawns
red/green pepper (capsicum)-sliced thinly
button mushroom -sliced
black pepper -crushed
salt to taste
olive oil
extra virgin olive oil

Methods:
Heat olive oil in a large skillet.
Saute garlic and onion until soft.
Add in white pepper.
Put in prawns, cook a few minutes.
Toss in pasta, red and green capsicum, mushrooms.
Mix thoroughly.
Season to taste( with salt and black pepper).
Serve in individual plate. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.

Am I A Good Mum???

Yesterday was my lazy day. Have lots of things to do, until I don't know which one I should do first. I tried starting my chores by mopping the kitchen floor, only to be 'dirty' again in just a few minutes after I have done. I hate the kitchen. The floor is sticky, smudges everywhere, eventhough I cleaned it daily... and the one (or rather the two) that are guilty as charges...are of course my two kids.
Why are this two small kids always knock on their glasses (they spill their drinks at least 5 times a day).
Why are they always moving around all day and still be energetic by night.
Everyday I hope they sleep early, so that i would have time for myself, to read novel (my long lost hobby), to at least clean the house, or just watch TV.
My boy, he's better now, I always send him to bed by 10pm, eventhough with much argument (he is very talkative and have way with words).
But this small little girl, my baby, I have trouble getting her to sleep. Last night she only dozed off by midnight, regardless of me keeping the room dark. May be small kids have better eye sight in the dark. :)
I am a bad-tempered person, but since I have kids, I learnt to be patience, lots of patience. But sometimes I do blurted out, and felt guilty afterwards.



Anyway, as they sleep, all the tension, depression, exhaustion and even guilt, flies away. They look so peaceful, so innocent, so serene.
I can spent hours looking at them, tears running down my cheek sometimes, as I felt guilty if the day ended without me teaching them new things, without me being a good mother.
And I pray every night, that ALLAH give me the strengh to be a perfect mum and a perfect wife. Amin.

Laksa Kelantan

I am not a Kelantanese, but hubby is. So, i've adapted my cooking skills to include food from Kelantan.
This is among others that I have the opportunity to learn from my late mother-in-law. I knew her for just a short 6years. I don't have the chance to learn a lot from her, nor to get to know her that much. There are still a lot of things that I should do to her. Anyway, people always regret things that are no longer within reach.
I am the type of person that didn't open up with people. I take times. I 'held' back.
When she was still with us, I did not keep in writing all the recipes that I learnt from her. Everytime i was going to prepare that dish, in case I forgot anything, I would just gave her a call asking for directions. Now that she is no longer with us, I just have to crammed my head to remember.
Eventhough she was just my mother-in-law, but I do missed her. Since i am married to her beloved son, I did not ask my husband to buy a single thing for me. It was her that kept nagging my husband to buy stuff for me, either just a blouse, furniture or even jewellery.
And what made me regretted so much was that her last wished before she was admitted to the hospital was to come and live with me. I promised her, once she was better, after all the treatment and once she can be discharge, I would bring her here.
But that was the last time she talked to me. She drifted into comma and left us forever after 10days.

So, for mother's day last Saturday, my hubby requested me to cook this for him, and post this recipe as a remembrance for her.






For the gravy:
1kg fish (ikan sardin/selayang)
-clean
-grill
-fleshed
-blend with some water

5 red onions
1/2" ginger
1 tbsp black pepper
-blend well

thick coconut milk

salt and sugar to taste

-pour the coconut milk into a pot, mix in the onions, ginger and black pepper.
-heat
-add in blended fish fillet and a piece of dried tamarind slice(asam keping).
-put in salt and sugar to taste.

Can be eaten with laksa or laksam.

Laksa
-I used store bought.

Laksam
-i'll give the recipe next time
-have some difficulties in translating...hehehe

Garnishing:
ginger bud (bunga kantan)
cucumber (timun)
?? (pucuk gajus)
?? (daun kayu)-i could not find this in the market here, only in Kelantan Or they call it with different name here???)
daun kesum

-slice everything thinly

bean sprout
slices of lime
small red chillies-pounded
some prawn paste (belacan)

Pirates of The Caribbean -sneak preview

I just love Pirates of The Caribbean, especially that cunning Captain Jack Sparrow. Can't wait for the third movie- Pirates Of the Caribbean-At World's End . Just a week plus more for the opening.
Haven't watched any movies since I had the baby. She's 2 years old now, so, plus minus, it must be two plus years since i've been to the last movie.
Before I got married, while I was still in medical college, watching movies were my weekly event. I have to. Just to release tension. Now, the best that I could watch any movies are from the DVD, which are way backdated. And I missed a lot of good story.
So, this time, I am still unsure whether I could watch the movie in the cinema or just have to wait for the DVD...:((

My Two Sweethearts

Sultan Azlan Shah Cup -hockey final

What a day...
My 'ever dearest' is really a sports enthusiast.
However, sad to say, I don't share that passion. I just hate sports, whatever the game is.
Anyway, as we are staying in Ipoh, and the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup was held here, my husband brought us to the final match between Malaysia and Australia. Being a good sport for him and for my son (he really wanted to go) so, I tugged along.
We went in the morning to buy the tickets, only to be told that it's free.
The game started around 5pm. By the time we got there, the Sultan Azlan shah Hocket Stadium were very, very crowded. We can't even get a glimpse of the hockey field. The stadium was extremely full of people, and we can't even get in.



The most that we get, was standing at the entrance. from there we could only see the cameraman who was standing next to the score board.



After a few minutes, we managed to push through another metre or so, and this was what we could see after straining our neck like a giraffe.



After a while, we decided, it was best to go back home and just watched it from the tv. Anyway, that was a good exposure for my kids (who rarely go to crowded places).
And it started to rain as well.
The final score- Australia won 3-1. They are the world champion anyway.



Eventhough my son only got a glimpse of the game, but he had fun. Especially the part of running back to the car when it's started to rain. (and the car was park 500metres away)

Black Bottom Cupcakes

I made these today. I found this recipe somewhere in the internet a few months back.
It sounds delicious, plus it has hundreds of good reviews. So, why not, another one for my collection.
It took me a brief 15 minutes to prepare everything and around 25minutes to bake.
This is one of the easiest recipe that I have ever tried.
After baking, it smells wonderful.
The taste- not really my type of cake. Love the chocolate part (always love chocolate), however, the taste of chocolate together with the cheesy part, hmm...not for my tastebud. Anyway, i'm sure those who loves chocolate and cheese, will love this. (BTW, I'm not really fond of cheese, that might be the minus point for me :))

INGREDIENTS

* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 cups white sugar
* 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 2/3 cup vegetable oil
* 2 cups water
* 2 tablespoons vinegar
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
*
* 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
* 1 egg
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, 2 cups sugar, cocoa, 1 teaspoon salt and baking soda. Stir in oil, water, vinegar and vanilla until blended. Pour mixture into prepared muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full.
3. To make the filling: In a medium bowl, beat together the cream cheese, egg, 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt until light and fluffy. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop a heaping teaspoonful of the cream cheese mixture into each cupcake. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Allow to cool.

In A Quest For The Perfect Design II

I planned to make cupcakes for mother's day. However I was rather groggy as it was already way past midnight by the time I finished with the Arsenal cupcakes.
I wanted to decorate with very light pink frosting in strawberry flavour, but I end up mixing lots of the pink icing color making it 'shocking' pink. I planned to do some writing on it (eg.happy mother's day), but at the last minute, just made some swirls. And I was running out of frosting, so the pink swirl were far from perfect.
(Another note for myself..need to improve my color coordination..:))

In A Quest For The Perfect Design I

Yesterday around 5pm, my 'ever dearest' requested me to bake him some cupcakes with arsenal team themed. And he want to bring them to Kuala Lumpur around 4.30am this morning. What a short notice...
Actually I have promised him birthday cupcakes this year, but since on his birthday, which is on the 24th April, I was not home. I thought I will bake them next monday.
I have ran out of some baking and decorating goods, so we went to the bakery supply shop...and to my dissapointment, it was close!! Why most of the shops in Ipoh closes by 6pm?? Don't they know that, that is the time that we start going out (after coming back from work, etc).
So, stop by the ever convenience store-TESCO. But not much baking supply there.
I only got to bake after dinner, and after waiting for the cupcakes to cool and tucking the kids to sleep, then only I started making the frosting and decorate (which is almost midnight).
Soccer theme- what am I suppose to do. I've no idea. I'm not a fan of soccer. Thinking of asking my husband's idea, but he already fast asleep. Hmm...so..just do it.
Sorry, I couldn't come out with a better idea. And a reminder to myself...never ever do any writings on cupcakes...my writing is unreadable on paper...don't suppose it will improve on cakes...hahahahah.
(The first idea is to used fondant lettering, but could not get them-might have to make them from scratch next time).
I was supposed to write happy birthday on the cake- like what you see at the back of the jersey...but as i've told you...not good in writing. And it read 24.4.19??(thought that may be my hubby wanted to keep the year a secret...as if we don't know) ;))
At this moment, my ever dearest and the cupcakes are making their way to KL by bus :), pray to GOD it will arrive there in perfect condition...

Ooey Gooey Cinnamon Rolls - The Recipe

There are a few friends that emailed or sms or YM me asking about this recipe.
I have been planning to post it here from last week, but...(hmm..I am running out of reason). Well, let's just say that I tend to procrastinate things SOMETIME (most of the time actually-- bad, bad habit).

so here's the recipe. Do give me feedback when you have done baking (and eating this). I was told my good friend Boern's cinnamon rolls turned out incredible.:))

Ooey Gooey Cinnamon Rolls

* 1 teaspoon white sugar
* 0.25oz (7g) active dry yeast
* 1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

* 1/2 cup milk
* 1/4 cup white sugar
* 1/4 cup butter
* 1 teaspoon salt

* 2 eggs, beaten
* 4 cups all-purpose flour
*
* 3/4 cup butter
* 3/4 cup brown sugar
* 1 cup chopped pecans/walnut, divided

* 3/4 cup brown sugar
* 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 cup melted butter

DIRECTIONS

1. In a small bowl, dissolve 1 teaspoon sugar and yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

2. Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Mix in 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup butter and salt; stir until melted. Let cool until lukewarm.

3. In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture, milk mixture, eggs and flour; stir well to combine.

4. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

5. While dough is rising, melt 3/4 cup butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in 3/4 cup brown sugar, whisking until smooth. Pour into greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Sprinkle bottom of pan with 1/2 cup pecans; set aside.

6. Melt remaining ¼ cup butter; set aside. Combine remaining 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup pecans, and cinnamon; set aside.

7. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, roll into an 18x14 inch rectangle. Brush with 2 tablespoons melted butter, leaving 1/2 inch border uncovered; sprinkle with brown sugar cinnamon mixture. Starting at long side, tightly roll up, pinching seam to seal. Brush with remaining 2 tablespoons butter. With serrated knife, cut into 15 pieces; place cut side down, in prepared pan. Cover and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in volume. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

8. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool in pan for 3 minutes, then invert onto serving platter. Scrape remaining filling from the pan onto the rolls.



Tips 1: Make sure you use high protein flour. All-purpose flour have little gluten, so that when you work the dough (bila kita uli), it won't develop well.

Tips 2: In a small bowl, dissolve 1 teaspoon sugar and yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
-make sure it's frothy, the foam will be double the volume. If your yeast mixture doesn't foam or develop only a few bubbles, throw it away. Make another yeast mixture. It might be the water is too hot @ too cold @ the yeast is bad.

Tips 3: After step 3, the dough will be very soft, add alittle flour along the way as you knead it, until you get a smooth and elastic dough.

Mocha Cupcake

Yes...found the recipe.
Hhehehe..should have a better 'filing' system :)
I followed the recipe, but after step 8, the mixture seems very runny, so I added another 1/2 cup of flour. Wished I followed the recipe as it is, so that I would know how it will turn out.

Just want to share a story:
My daughter saw me pouring the coffee mixture into the batter. And she started asking questions like 'why you put coffee in there', 'you shouldn't put coffee, coffee is bitter'. Then she went to the fridge, took out the rose cordial(air sirap), and brought one whole glass to the mixer. And thank god I was th ere to stop her. When I asked 'what are you doing?', she replied 'you should put in this in(air sirap), it's more tasty than coffe'.I told her that today i am making coffee cake, she said 'yucks, not tasty'.

Mocha Cupcakes
Ingredients

* 1 tablespoon instant coffee
* 1/2 cup warm water
* 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, at room temperature
* 1 cup granulated sugar
* 2 eggs
* 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
* 1 1/2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt

Yield: Makes about 12 standard cupcakes.
Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Spray muffin cups with vegetable pan spray or line with baking liners.
3. Combine instant coffee powder and water; mix well and set aside.
4. In large bowl, cream butter and granulated sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy.
5. Add eggs, one at a time; mix well.
6. Add melted chocolate, vanilla and coffee mixture; mix well.
7. Combine flour, baking soda and salt.
8. Slowly add to butter mixture; mix well.
9. Spoon into prepared cups.
10. Bake 18-20 minutes or until center of cupcake springs back when lightly touched.
11. Cool in pan on cooling rack 5-8 minutes.
12. Remove from pan; cool completely.

Mocha cupcakes with Fresh Cream Frosting

I bake this for tea yesterday. I copied the recipe from a site in the internet (which I forgotten where). I wrote it on a receipt( receipt from buying a printer ink) and now I could not find the paper...hmmm...must be somewhere in the kitchen...or in the hall...or perhaps under the bed....:))
Promise will post it here when I manage to find it...hehehe
the frosting is fresh cream (non-dairy whipping cream)

CRUMB BUNS

This is what we had for breakfast today. I found this recipe in 'Family Circle' magazine. The original recipe calls for pineapple spread, however, pineapple is not in my pantry, so, I used blueberry filling instead.
It is delicious, but I think it would taste much better if I used pineapple (it goes better with the cinnamon topping).
And don't think that I woke up very2 early to prepare this...I prepare everything up to step 6, then cling wrap it, shoved it into the fridge overnight. This morning I just prepare the crumb and bake.

PINEAPPLE CRUMB BUNS

Makes: 16servings
Prep: 25 minutes
Rise 2 ½ hours
Bake: 375F for 30minutes

Dough:

¼ cup milk
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ cup vegetable shortening
½ tsp salt

¼ cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 ½ tsp instant yeast

2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 ½ cup high protein flour
2/3 cup pineapple spreadeable fruit

Topping:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
3 tbsp confectioners’ sugar

1. Heat milk, sugar, shortening and salt over medium heat. Cool until lukewarm.
2. Add warm water in a large bowl, add 1 tsp sugar and yeast. Let stand until foamy.
3. Add milk mixture, eggs and flour into yeast bowl. Stir until flour comes together.
4. Turn dough out onto floured workspace. Knead until smooth and elastic.
5. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
6. Line a baking pan with baking sheet. Punch down dough. Roll our to form a 18x15”rectangle. Spoon fruit over one side of dough. Fold the other side over the fruit like a book. Place in the prepared pan. Let rise, 1 hour.
7. Heat oven.
8. Prepare topping. Mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Stir in melted butter until crumbly. Crumble topping evenly over dough.
9. Bake at 375 F(180-190 celcius) for 30 minutes. Cool pan on rack for 30minutes. Dust with confectioner’s sugar.

In A Quest For The Best Buttercream Frosting V

I'm not really in a quest anymore. The perfect recipe is found. But I like the title...hehhee...
And one more thing, there are a few people been asking me through email@friends@etc, I am in Ipoh.

Tandoori Chicken

This weekend i decided to cook tandoori chicken from scratch. This is the second time I cook this, using this recipe. As it turned wonderful, so why not make it again.
Last time I had this tandoori chicken with Indian pulao rice.
But this time I decided to have it with nan bread. However, i could not find any nan bread recipe in the internet, so I made pita bread instead.

Here are the recipe. It's best to marinate it overnight, but if you are in a hurry(@did not plan what to cook until the last minute-like I always did), how ever much the time that you had in hand is sure good enough.

I even post the picture here. (but, don't think that your eyesight had become poorer@ you are wearing your contacts in the wrong eyes) The picture IS blur. And I could not sharpen it. (My 'ever dearest'!!! Need some help here)



Tandoori Chicken


2 pounds chicken breast
1 teaspoon salt
1 lemon, juiced
1 1/4 cups plain yogurt
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
2 teaspoons garam masala (you can buy it in the store)
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I prefer to add another teaspoon for extra spicy)
1 teaspoon yellow food coloring
1 teaspoon red food coloring
Garnishing:
2 teaspoons finely chopped coriander
1 lemon/lime, cut into wedges

DIRECTIONS
Remove skin from chicken pieces, and cut slits into them lengthwise. Place in a shallow dish. sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt and lemon juice. Set aside 20 minutes.
In a medium bowl, combine yogurt, onion, garlic, ginger, garam masala, and cayenne pepper. Mix until smooth. Stir in yellow and red food coloring.
Spread yogurt mixture over chicken. Cover, and refrigerate for 6 to 24 hours (the longer the better).
Preheat an outdoor grill for medium high heat, and lightly oil grate.
Cook chicken on grill until no longer pink and juices run clear. Garnish with coriander and lemon/lime wedges.

I grill the chicken using a stove top griller. The result is still great.
You can even bake it in the oven.

In A Quest For The Best Buttercream Frosting IV

In A Quest For The Best Buttercream Frosting III

The third attempt. And this is the best.
The recipe uses shortening, sugar and meringue powder.
I got the recipe from lynda of http://lynnhassan.fotopages.com/
Thanks a lot...:))

In A Quest For The Best Buttercream Frosting II

This was my second attempt. This frosting recipe involve the usage of krimwell, which I bought from a bakery supply shop in Puchong. That was the first time I heard of krimwell.
The smell of krimwell is not very pleasant.
The end result...the frosting is too soft for decoration. Anyway, it might be due of my technique. May be I did not get the right consistency.
I will try to make the same frosting again sometime and if it turn out good, I will post the recipe.

In A Quest For The Best Buttercream Frosting I

My first experienced with frosting cake goes a long way back. I made my first cake complete with frosting alone(without any help...:)), when I was 10 years old. I baked the cake for my cousin's daughter's birthday. I remember baking a chocolate cake, with chocolate frosting with lettering on top of the cake. It was sure not the prettiest cake, but edible (we don't get stomach ache after eating it).

Then, I did make buttercream once or twice...but it's not to my liking. Too sweet for my sweet tooth.

But lately I have the 'calling' to make them again.
I found lots of buttercream recipes. All of them (I mean the owner of the recipe, not the recipe itself) claimed that their recipe is the best.
So, I visited the baking supply shop with pocket full of money, and get myself geared with all the tools and ingredients.
Thess are the pictures of the first buttercream recipe. My first buttercream cake decoration after 15-20years.
The taste of this...yucks...will never make them again.
The recipe...already in my laptop's trash.

Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

I went shopping yesterday, and feel very tempted to buy sour cream.
After some internet surfing on what else can be cook/bake using sour cream, I found this great recipe.
So, put on my apron and start baking...

The texture of this cake is marvellous. It is so soft, not dense at all (I don't like dense cake). I cut down half the sugar (remember the new year resolution...eat less sweet), so, it's a bit bitter, but my family love it.

I planned to make some ganache, but was run out of cream.
So, we just ate it with some chocolate sauce.
The chocolate sauce is somehow a bit gritty..hehehhe...too lazy to sift the powdered sugar...

INGREDIENTS

* 1 cup baking cocoa
* 1 cup boiling water
* 1 cup butter, softened
* 2 1/2 cups sugar
* 4 eggs
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 3 cups cake flour
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup sour cream

DIRECTIONS

1. Dissolve cocoa in water; let stand until cool.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream, beating well. Add cocoa mixture; beat well.
3. Pour into three greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

Double Chocolate Cupcakes

Will post the recipe later.

Ooey Gooey Cinnamon Rolls

I planned to post the recipe for this lovely, delicious, incredible recipe for the best cinnamon rolls that I have ever tasted...but too lazy to search for it today (at this very moment I only have the printed copy -which already smudges with flour, butter, etc).
So, i post the picture first..:)
The ooey gooey part is at the bottom. Supposed to invert it first before taking pictures.
This is the tenth (roughly) times I baked this rolls.

I always wanted to bake bread. I got some recipes from my mum's kitchen, but all the bread/buns turned out tough and hard, and end up in the bin. So, after dozens of times trying, I quit... No more baking anything that have to do with yeast. I thought that it's not my kind of cooking...
10 or perhaps 20 years later...with the help of INTERNET...I learnt a lot about bread.
The biggest mistake (or rather lack of knowledge) is not using the right ingredients.
Use a GOOD high quality flour. Always use high protein flour(last 20years-I don't even know that there are many kind of wheat flour). I don't even know that there are other types of flour other than all-purpose flour @ self-raising flour.

But...now I know...
So...beware...many more recipes to come. This cinnamon rolls is just the beginning...

And make sure that the yeast is good before you mix everything up. No point in making bread with a bad yeast.
I'll write about it next time.

p/s...to my hubby...be ready..u are my food critic..
tons more coming your way for your taste test...