bread and butter pudding

Chunky Orange Marmalade Bread and Butter Pudding

done! *PHEW*..feeling on top of the world now after completing a task tt i've been delaying for a long time. so its time to celebrate..with wat else but a bowl of warm, chunky marmalade bread and butter pudding fresh from the oven. heavenly... Put together in a jiffy, i savoured every texture with much familarity. Buttered marmalade accented the taste of the otherwise mild flavoured dessert. it crunchy top of burnt bread crusts was highly addictive. accompanied by a handful of sultanas and demera sugar, the crispiness of the upper level complimented the custard like consistency of the bottom. categorised under comfort food for me from now on... thanks going out to zh who dropped over to have a slice and have a nice chat with my mum... haha

orders came in last min and i again it was back to some kitchen action after tuition. thank goodness i had all the ingredients on hand (erm..not all.. but with a bit of ingenuity, all problems were resolved. no glitches!). Blueberry Cheesecake for the lady.. hope she'll enjoy it. it had a flawless exterior.. until the evil bunny appeared. ARgh.. come back here u little imp *running ard the hse after the bunny*..

oh gosh..tired again..*yawnz*

bianca ryans

Bianca Ryans

oh pls mummy let me put this song on!!! here's a christmas video featuring last yrs winner of America's got talent (a talent search competition) Bianca Ryans. OH my gosh..she's infectious and reallie UBER GOOD! makes me feel lykes its christmas all year round! *cheers* and best thing is she's only 11 yrs old! guess age ain't gonna change anything since she's got the talent to boot. she sings as though a black gospel singer has possesed her little body. AMAZING!!! a MUST watch!

and below is her performance for the finale of the show. sit back and admire her talent and wonderful control. *sigh*

wandering life

and i wonder, and i wonder...

life the past few days have been an odd whirlwind of events accompanied by never-ending fatigue and bouts of adrenaline rushes. Tues night was dedicated to attending Claire's ntu pageant at nanyang audi. dear gurl came in 2nd runner up followed by her other acolades popularity and beautiful hair! *woots* u go gurl!!!! though i may not voice it out as openly as Tim and Dave but i'm secretly proud of my baking partner. *shhh*.. hehe. Meanwhile, business of our upcoming baking stint still carries on. the next day, we went hunting for supplies at concourse. After much deliberation (or rather we jumped the gun), decided on red and yellow as our theme colors!..cheery..just lyke us *bleah*.. but nonetheless it was great fun shopping and unleashing our sweet cravings on the daim cake and apple pie at Ikea. Thanks for the recommendation Claire! almonds and caramel..gosh..tts a sin! haha.

also, managed to catch the infectious movie screening of Hairspray. Apart from the major grouping of mega stars such as john travolta, queen latifah, zach efron and amanda byns, this show encompassed many values and was to me more than a shallow, happy-go-lucky musical. Dance moves were a combination of suave and cheeky and nonetheless the humour showcased throughout was infectious and made u wanna jump ard in your seat (of course u wldn't wanna do tt unless u dun mind weird stares from the guy seatnig next to you. haha). On the downside, the storyline was all but a bit exaggerated. but this can't be helped in a musical so just accept it with a teenie smile and perhaps a little smirk on the lips. Nonetheless i enjoyed the movie very much and perhaps am looking forward to dancing lessons. perhaps a little jive anyone? *haha*

poetic

Poetic...

In the chill of the night

While the moon gently sleeps

I wander in silence on snow-laden streets

As I gaze into sunsets over silhouette mountains

I am amazed that the God who made all this,

made me

(fyi, the picture above is taken from arches national park in the states. it a gorgeous place... *sigh*..just wish i cld return back once again. to feel tt magic once more.)

busy as a bee

you give me something

sorrie for the recent lack of posts lately. just rather caught up with stuff, an onslaught of birthday parties to attend to, orders to fulfill and school to attend (or pon of course..hehe). was invited to Lynn's party at the jurong country club on friday. had a good time with the rest of the wocc girls tt made the party as well. Charlene, Winnie, Ai ren and yeeling were there and we had such a great time cracking jokes.. hehe..much to the dismay of yeeling though as we went on and on about her farnie deep protruding voice when she counts "one thousand, two thousand, three thousand..grenade exploded!"..my gosh..tt was a classic. haha. then was rushed off to meet the cousins for a gathering at five star hainanese chicken rice for supper followed up by ice-cream at holland v. during which we attempted to re-establish our once close-ties with one another. however, not to any avail. guess its different now tt all of us are growned up and each one having his/her own ambitions and ideals. hard to establish tt common grounds once again. nonetheless it was a wonderful gathering with some good catching up done.

the weekend was spent tuitioning, baking(loads of it, had to rush most of my orders this week, bailey's cheesecakes from a gf to her bf, mango cheesecake for shi mu, caramlised banana cake for a bdae, another bailey's cheesecake and banana cake for a church function.)..*tired*.. haha. but still plans for the bakesale are still on the way. FYI, lady luck has shone her light upon us and with the help of a fren, I had managed to steal a booth in a nus bazaar coming up next month from the 10th - 12th sept. Of course i had to rope in Claire (a.k.a my baking buddy) to join in the venture. Can't wait!!! names cards and posters on the way! *woots*..so pls do come down to support us!!! *=)*

cldn't resist a little goodies for myself...

krispy earl grey cookies

a great accompaniment to tt steaming cup of coffee after dinner

shot of the two tier caramel banana cake tt i did for the church function... all in the middle of the night at 2am.. *nuts*

got to watch bourne ultimatum today with kp. it wasn't as good as i had expected sad to say. action wise, it was top notch, with mind blowing fight scenes. However, the ending was a bit too abrupt by my standards and failed to create a perfect ending for the trilogy. Still, i would recommend this movie to everyone, sure appeal to any action movie buff.

anyhow i digress and before i make my move..towards my comfy bed of course..i shall leave u with a photo of my stalkers.. pesky little monsters have been walking past my bedroom window everyday..perhaps lyke 5 times a day. stealing peeks into the room everytime they prance by. argh!!!..intrusion of privacy alert! haha...

blabberings

Blabberings

its amazing how the internet gets u to places whilst still in the comforts of ur own home... look at the likes of lily allen who rose to stardom just by posting her song creations on the net. I spotted the acoustic version of umbrella performed by Marie Digby during my daily scout and i must say tt she has immense talent. a captivating voice and demure looks. her version of Rihanna's pop hit 'Umbrella' was recently shown on Carson Daly's show. though i loved her version of the song, i would like to share another cover of hers which i feel reallie brings out the essence and msg of the lyrics. enjoy... 'You give me something' (original by James Morrison) by Marie Digby.

Oh!!! btw, my tuition kid is selling girl scout cookies! anyone wanna buy?!?! (still remember the blue tins of biscuits being distributed in class back in my Rgs days, i never did reallie fancy them but always bought out of support anywaz, its not too bad reallie...) its $10 for a tin of chocolate mint, chocolate cream or $12 for a tin of Macademia Nut cookies. pls support yar! and let me knoe if u guys wanna place ur orders by this friday(drop me a sms; i'll collect them and distribute the tins in school)! thanks!!!

remorse

they dun knoe me…

sometimes I find it hard to believe how can u live under the same roof with certain pple yet emerge knowing nothing about them. Perhaps it’s the withdrawned behaviour exhibited by some. Or perhaps it’s their fake smiles and laughs that they throw from across the room. Its radiance illumininating a minimal distance, its effects short-lived. Is that how we’ve been living our days? In an empty house tt’s so cold? I guess this is how the story goes. It hurts even more so when words are spoken absent-mindedly about how one should or should not behave. If 20 yrs of living under the same roof hasn’t helped to understand each other better. I guess nothing wld… maybe its my fault for putting on a front. One tt is well-disguised, devoid of feelings or emotions. Yet inside of this hard wall lies a painful wretched soul. She wonders to herself when will they ever come to understand her pain, see thru her mask tt she refuses to peel off. She wonders for too long.. her mind adrift. She floats away, disappear into nothing-ness.

happie bdae Lihui

Happy Birthday Lihui

yeeling, the birthday gurl and me at the party!
to my dearest girl Lihui, glad tt u and ur guest enjoyed the cupcakes tt i baked for u. it was no effort at all *eyeing the evil mess in the kitchen*. erm..yar.. anything for my gurl. *tee hee*. was so glad to see her all smiles and prancing ur way thru the throngs of pple tt had gathered to celebrate her pseudo and uber early bdae party. It was sweet though...

what are bdae parties w/o frens?

oh yesh, sorrie about the cake in the face thing. my bad. entirely my fault yar? haha... it was ultra fun meeting the family as well. her daddy was ultra fun, babbling on and on about some ntu council thing whilst i was trying to fake my non-existance knowledge of the things he was talking about. Mum was bubbly and more concerned about her mutton satay than anything else. Sis on the other hand was oodles of fun as well, character wise, very much lyke Lihui..but definitely much more grounded. haha. Jon? oh well, lets just say he loves his bbq food. haha. *wink*.

making a wish
on the whole, it was a great get together and i had fun catching up with Yeeling and Lynn who's back from the States..its her turn at the BIG 21 this week! haha.. damm everyone is getting old.. *bleah* the lovely cupcakes: (from top left clockwise direction) space dust cupcakes, oreo cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting and cappuccino cupcakes.

the peace before the storm.... we wage war!!! Cake fight!
poor gurl with cake on her face. Cream mask! *woots*

Watever goes, just wanna say tt i'll miss u loads while u are gone babe.... stay in touch k?

Carrot Cake for Mum

Carrot Cake

NO NO...not the chinese hawker version with the crisp top and a option of black and white. the traditional American Carrot Cake! *bleah*. for the benefit of the doubt, Carrot cakes are made using freshly grated carrots and a whole bunch of other spices. tt probably explains my affinity to the lovely cake, spices..*ahh*..and not to mention the lovely cream cheese toppings. *yumz*.. after my purchase of the list of ingredients many weeks ago, procrastination got the better of me and as a result, i didn't get down to actually baking the cake until my mum's bdae. second reason of course being tt i throughly was satisfied with my carrot cake fix from cedele and honestly could not put in the extra effort to bake my own. hence when opportunity knocked on the door, i seized it by the neck! an order came in just about time as well for a mother's bdae (what coincidence!) and i made the suggestion for the lovely carrot cake. this was generously accepted of course.hehe. so then i present to u Sihan's Carrot Cake. *gulp*...

the former attempt turned out alright and was well recieved by my customer and his family... but unfortunately, my second attempt was a flop!!! *argh*..got the oven temp slightly mixed up and set it at 350F instead of 325F. as a result, the cake turned up a little hard. but it was still okie by my opinion..loved the crunch of the walnuts in the batter. Meanwhile, some more work has to go into this.. perhaps i shld add a little more sugar the next time, its a little on the blend side... oh well...

thanks goodness the bdae celebration was done in a jiffy. cake ready and done in a hour. set ard the table as mummy aka the bdae gurl got serenaded by my older brother. made her wish, blew the candle and the cake was cut... hehe. glad tt at least she enjoyed the short moment. tts our family for you, *chop chop* and fast. ahha. bah..wat are birthdays anyway? u only grow older...

Happie Bdae Mum. May u grow old with grace...

Mummy's bdae

Mum turns _ _ ( a woman's age is a secret)

its finally mummy's bdae. for which i must first apologise for not being to bake a cake on the day itself! I'm SOOO SORRIE MUMMY DEAR.. just cooped with orders and other errands too. *Bleah*...promise tt i owe u and ah yi a cake each orite. *wink*.

Daddy the man was feeling a generous mood today and hence offered to take us out to dinner which was a huge relief to me coz i initially volunteered to prepare a 4 course dinner for the family but came to realisation tt i had too many things on hand. well, Kor recommanded a dinner spot and we all came to a common consensus about it. At least it was ina very convenient spot in town or rather, i was pre-occupied thinking of the benfits i wld inherit from the free dinner treat ( even more so since i heard the resturant served food at exhorbitant prices)..Oops.i mean there is a always a time to splurge right? especially on ur darling wife and her mischievous children.. haha. Thanks DAD!

Order for today: Oatmeal Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese. Made the delivery to SGH with the aid of my trusty babe. *hugz*.. thanks to the wonderful lady who made the order. These were basically moist banana cupcakes filled with with natural sweetness and the goodness of oatmeal sprinkled within. Topped off with cream cheese frosting. these were irresistible..especially fresh out of the oven...thank goodness i had some leftover from the bakeoff and coz immerse myself in a little self-indulgence. *tsk tsk* Dinner at Angus was a mighty posh event. the place was pristine and white, with fine chinaware adorning the table top. the waitresses wore those cute little black traditional maid outfits which i found a tad odd. but the soft twinkling of the piano made up for it. Kor was back from aussie too to join us for the meal. Had to make a quick stop at the pharmacy to get the big boi some aspirin for his throbbing headache.. poor boi.. as a result i was a tad late. Dinner was in full swing as i settled down at the table. the pinot was popped and chilling in the ice bucket next to me. appetisers were being served. this i thought was highly intriguing, a tiny piece of atlantic cod sat on a big white plate, crisp onion flakes sprinked on the side and a lovely tomato paste formed a lovely picture on the empty canvas of a plate. i was delighted by the flavor of the fish, it was soft yet not too crumbly, it embodied the full flavor of the richness of the fish and yet it retained every bit of its freshness. the bread which they served on the side with a lovely scoop of butter was an extremely sliched yet wonderful way to start of the meal. its the make and break of the resturant, and i must say tt their bread was excellent. the soup served to us in a shallow bowl. though unidentified, i wld claim it to be the potato consumme. this was too mind-blowing. next up was the salad which was nothing to rave about. the main courses followed swiftly without a glitch. i had the beef stew pot pie which was by my standards good but not excellent. the chunky beef fell too pieces once they entered the mouth, melting spontaneously, its fats and meat intertwined to perfection. the stew was rich and the vegetables fell in harmony with the entire dish. i was silenced by lust and satisfaction...the main highlight however was the 300gm wagyu beef steak, its price tag was jaw-dropping yet i must claim tt it was worth every penny spent... *no words to describe*. Dessert upon special request was their well-known tiramisu. this i felt was wonderful. not only was the presentation awe-inspiring, the dessert itself was scrumptious... *YUMZ*.. Verdict: angus steak house is a good place for special occasions. but do be prepared to burn a LARGE hole in ur wallet. hehe.


the rest of the night was spent at Attica which launched their new 'guilty desires' night. loved the DJs as usual.. they reallie do knoe how to work the crowd... looking forward to going back more often.. my fav club!!! woots...

Oreo Cookie Cake

Oreo Cookie Cake -- a tribute to Oreos

What is black, round, crunchy with a super soft and not to mention sugary sweet cream centre? tt wld have to be the OREO COOKIE!

without a doubt, the oreo cookie is a trademark of the nabisco corporation, an indomitable icon of the biscuit world, something tt cannot be mimicked. henceforth the lack of competition in this type of biscuits as compared to the other kinds, etc, peanut butter, blah blah. There are several ways of eating this little delight, twist it, lick it, dunk it, being the most famous one. others lyke the rather strange pairing off with chunky peanut butter before popping it into ur mouth, may seem quite gross to some but a delight to others. in other words, its personal.

For me,my prefered style of eating this little gem wld be to twist the sandwich open with both fingers, dip the creme side of the biscuit into a glass of cold milk till it becomes semi soft before putting it to my mouth, allowing the soft biscuit to melt within. Then the other side i eat no frills... slightly bitter, with its crunchiness still intact... all these away from the watchful eyes of the public of course, u never wanna be caught laughing out aloud of teeth as black as soot! *hehe* Wat's yours?

This cookie was the inspiration for a bdae boi's cake as suggested by his close fren. Much to my relief as it spared me the effort of having to rack my brains again. Two layers of moist chocolate cake sandwiched btw fresh vanilla whipped cream and chunky oreo bits in btw. This was topped off with more cream and crowned by several more pieces of the lovely cookie.. certainly made for the oreo cookie fanatic *praying tt he is one*. haha.
In the end, it got good reviews from some in the crowd. Thank guys.. *phew*...was in a state of paranoia thinking tt the cream wld melt alongst the way to school given the warm temperatures outside. Thank goodness everything was still intact when i reached the destination... Now gotta think of alternatives to whipped cream for school deliveries. too much risk at hand. *argh*

Meanwhile its off to bed early for me. More orders arriving tmr, plus its Mummy's not to mention my aunt's bdae as well (since they are identical twins). Gosh..i smell double trouble already. *tee hee*. Sleep, i crave for slp. my threshold draws near. Perhaps its time to back off a little...

overworked

feelin' the heat

*phew*..feeling the heat nowadays. as u can see from my recent posts, entries have been nothing more than mere reports of my baking escapades? what happened to my ramblings? my journey of emotions. all these seem to lost in a flurry of flour, cocoa powder, and whipping cream. But fret not pple, the cry baby in me still ain't gone yet. just sorta worn out from everything. it appears as if i'm working full time. Having to juggle school, tuitions and baking isn't tt easy a feat as i deemed it to be before. Guess i've learnt. Takes so much from u, sucks ur spirit dry.. but thank goodness for the baking stints...they are so awe-inspiring. having to bury my head to think up ideas, to butter my fingers and soap the whole kitchen down after every job just keeps me going. Thanks to everyone who has ordered from me, u guys are my inspiration....

Next up, orders for tmr's BIG day( someone else's of course), and more orders for the week. *woots*..having so much fun!

starry eyed surprise

Starry Eyed Surprise

Cake for the Stars...

Recieved an order from a very enthusiastic mum for her little gurl's bdae during the previous wkend. her likes, chocolate and the colour green which i got the inside scoop from her brother. Well, it so happened tt she wasn't too big a fan of green tea so my initial choice to bake the Matcha Chocolate Cheesecake had to be postponed till another occasion.

I then settled for somthing a little fuss free. the Chocolate mousse cake. courtesy of donna hay. (totally dig her book! simple, minimal yet so stylish!) to add a touch of green, i baked sugar cookies on a stick and decorated it with green icing. decided on the stars kinda look as i though the dark background of the cake gave excellent room for any sort of decoration to stand out. and hence i settled for the galaxy theme with many stars in the sky. addition of the silvery balls of sugar helped to recreate the scene. I loved its turn out, took a while to admire the cake after it was put together. Stole a cookie in the midst. it was delicious. crisp and fresh out of the oven. lets just hope it stays that way. Meanwhile, i waged war against the butter, flour and chocolate swirling ard the kitchen. Orders orders and more orders. I love baking... hate cleaning up the mess after though.

so there i was, emerging from the kitchen, exhausted and hot. Gingerly peeled off my apron strings and laid down to rest. Hmph..wait a min, i haven't got a apron do i? pity.. was thinking of getting one though. they just are such pretty little accessories to have. plus i was hoping tt by putting one on, somehow one's capability to bake is enhanced? *wishful thinking*.. haha. yeh.. but who cld resist a cute little apron? or a not so hot mama in an apron? haha.. Woops.

oh gosh..look! these are absolutely irresistible. a cheeky little apron or a sleek gorgeous apron from nigella lawson, one which sexiness oozing off its edges. Wow...i want one of those.. *sigh*...

apart from the tuitions and baking. a minor mishap took place when i was getting ready to leave the hse with my bakes for delivery. Beautiful cupcakes nicely frosted and packed, ready to be eaten in the trembling hands of its new hungry owners. somehow, my *tupid butter finger syndrome decided to act up just at tt moment and the cake box slipped off my fingers and took a rough tumble on the floor. i knew i was done for.. i sat on the floor, breathing slowing down to a raspy overdraw, tears welling in my eyes. stress.. it swept over me lyke a immense tidal wave. I felt helpless, all alone... i knoe it may sound silly but i was actually a case of a mini breakdown due to a cake accident. What's wrong with me?!?

oh before i forget. happie bdae Wei Ying! hope u lyke the cake! *=)*

National Day

Singapore's Birthday

pretty much had a nice time out with the aero peeps at padang having our mini picnic and viewing the national day procession. the atmosphere there was lively, probably due to the huge crowd tt had gathered in tt one part of the island. it was so packed to the extent that movement to outside one fullerton was almost impossible. But thank goodness we were able to settle down on a cosy spot on the grass patch on padang with some floor mats courtesy of our dearest uncle rooney. Xie xie ni. Food was sponsered by Pingting and I. there were chocolate muffins, sandwiches, sausages and my lemon poppyseed cake which proved a little too soury for most to withstand. oh well, guess my fetish for sour stuff is kicking up a notch lately.

strange.. the turnout was pretty good. 10 pple, mostly couples but it was better than nothing i figured.

At least we did enjoy ourselves out there and the weather was very forgiving. with slight winds and alovely breeze blowing across the crowded field throughout the entire evening.

the fireworks which were the highlight of the show were nothing to shout about. but then again, tt was our whole reason for going in the first place, so we did pay slightly higher attention to it. they were not bad i must say but nothing impressive. All in all, it was a great gathering with the aero peeps. relaxing and laid back. think we shld do this more often yeh guys.. haha. oh well, tts all from me, exhausted after today. *yawnz*.. think i've gotta hit the sheets earlier tonight.

Au revoir...

Date with Karen

Date with Karen!!!

my gosh..haven't seen this gurl in ages. miss my french bimbo BIG TIME!!! haha. well.at least we got to see each other lyke after 7 months. first stop, cosmetics department. lyke DUH!!! its karen we're toking about here. hehe. then we settled for an early lunch since our dear girl was starving. Went to Akashi jap resturant at paragon. ate, toked, gossiped and bitched for about 2 hours plus! my my..can't believe we're discussing future career plans already. haha. But then again, its great fun toking with Karen. despite her super uber bimbo attitude, i think there's more than meets the eyes to her. someone ambitious, capable and independent. *smilez*. we shared a heart to heart tok... things always makes sense when u're toking to Karen. *hmph*..someway or another... Its always amusing how 2 pple lyke us, with characters that span from one side of the personality gauge to the other side of the spectrum cld be frens. Oh well...

next stop was City Space Bar, by Karen's recommendation of course. It was by far the nicest bar tt i've been to with the most beautiful view of the entire city skyline. Situated on he 70th floor of the swissotel, its window seats offered a spectacular view of the city and the marina bay. it was no wonder tt u cld spend hours on end staring out into the bright city lights while sipping on a cocktail whilst listening to the soothing voice of the lead singer of the band. its definitely a MUST go for couples as it is super duper romantic. wld probably agree to anyone who proposes to me there. haha. *tee hee*..just kidding. but truthfully, there wld make an excellent spot for secret rendezvous as well as chill out spots for close frens. 5 Stars!!!


so plan is tt we MUST meet at least every 2 months okie? till u become the power business woman and i the baker with the flour in my hair and 3 kids running and screaming ard the place. hehe.

miss ya always girl... pls make urself free for poor me sometimes okie? *muackz*..

anyway today is National Day!!!! happie birthday Singapore. gonna watch fireworks later with moi aero mates. Woots! YAY!.. haha

recent updates

Twisted thoughts

again, here's a random post about everything that has happened as far. Watched 'knocked up' and 'secret' recently. Reviews for both are excellent by my prespective. Knocked up involved very fresh comedy lines, nothing over-used or cliched. Hence, it does offer good chance for a hearty laughing session. Secret starring Jay Chou does not pale in comparision and has a splendid storyline to boot. I must say tt it was pretty touching, however i wasn't in the mood for tears tt day so the tissues were spared...

thanks to my babe. i got my hands on some of the macaroons from obolo as well as a box full of assorted cheesecakes and entrements. *gosh*..swear i'm getting fat already. but its okie once u lay on ur eyes on these dainty cakes. *drools*..

the macaroons on the other hand were a major disappointment. Firstly upon looking on them. their bright colours looked slighty dubious. i was apprehensive about tasting them. and trust me..these caused a droop in my lips after the taste test. as silly as it sounds, i felt sad at eating these. they were just such a let down tt i had no words to describe them. it just returned my old impression of macaroons to its original status. Evan!!! i want ur macaroons again! boo hoo *sobz*

midnght baker once more

Midnight Baker once more...

Strangely, orders have been picking up in recent days. Guess pple are just more prone to ordering cakes when the school term is about to start. Pretty strange a trend. but oh well, at least it keeps me occupied. plus it allows me to use my creative edge... the more common practise nowadays wld be customers contacting me for their need of cakes whether it be for birthdays or personal consumption yet not knowing what exactly do they want. Even any amount of prompting is in vain in such a circumstance... my attempt at trying to understand my clients character before making suggestions for cakes are somewhat frustrating yet interesting and fun on the other hand. Fitting a cake to the style of the befitter is somewhat lyke finding a perfect shirt for a man. has to look good on him and suits his taste... A challenge indeed.

This wkend, i was given the task of baking for Ruth (abi's sista.) oh yesh..here's a happie bdae greeting going out to the sweet girl!!! and here's the cake i made for her birthday upon the request of her sister who asked me to work with a gothic theme. i was lyke 'HUH' when i heard tt. i mean..'gothic?!?!' wat in the world is that supposed to mean? wld tt mean i had to dye the whole cake black..tt wld just be plain scary. haha. so i decided to venture out from the theme and feature something saccharine on the surface but deep and dark on the insides. Hence i came up with this Chocolate rum Strawberry Cheese Charlotte. Forgive me for the long name yar. but tts the only way to describe the layout of the entire cake.


On the inside was rum soaked chocolate sponge layered btw cinammon infused cream cheese with whole strawberries to boost its flavor and honeyed appearance. On the outside, the cake was then topped off with more cream cheese and a generous layer of cocoa powder and then surrounded by lady's fingers held together by a delicate bow.

hoped the family enjoyed the cake though... pretty apprehensive about the taste of this cake... though i hold certain doubts tt its result is one measured better than edible. *sigh*

Next up was a coffee themed cake ordered by a fren on behalf of his bro's godparents. now this wasn't too much of a challenge since coffee flavoured cakes were fewer and hence the choice wasn't too hard to make. so this is it after the jump, a aromatic walnut coffee cake with coffee cream.

Now the exhausted baker has to hit the sheet. She craves for sweets and sugary stuff no more.. just her beauty sleep. Nite!

Macarons

Macarons -- food for divine beings

As i type this post, my eyes feast on the macaron laying beside me on a nice white platter... it stares at me seductively, calling out to me. I yield to its beckoning and raise the decadent little treasure to my lips and take tiny nibbles off the sides.

*pauses to finish up the macaron and lick up the scraps*

Oops..sorrie for the abrupt pause over there but i just cldn't control myself. the verdict is out, macarons are desserts meant for divine beings.

Contrary to my intial beliefs that the macarons were over-rated and are quote, unquote "empty shells with uber sweet innards", i now do understand fully the whole hype about it. so sorrie Evan for the initial harsh comments. i swear i've converted now! haha. In fact recently, a friend of mine responded with much enthusiam after seeing my msn nick being macarons. mind u, he is a guy with not much of a sweet tooth but someway or another fell under the spell of macarons as well.

Thank goodness i came across Evan's website. After looking thru her wonderful pictures or rather drooling at them. I was drawn to the amazing spread of lovely colours and intriguing flavors. i knew tt i had to order some... and to prove my suspicion wrong as well. after a tough decision, i settled for the 3 flavors Pistache, Sesame Noir and Cafe Noisette. After meeting up with Evan (short for Evangaline) at Sembawang, my eyes were already drifting towards to the beautiful box of macarons before me. Albeit for the minor time delay, i must say tt Evan is a very sweet young lady with an affinity for baking. And needless to say, the macarons tasted as good as they look. I was swept away...

Being FRENCH pastries..we all knoe tt we had to savor them slowly perhaps with a cup of tea as accompaniment. ARHHHhhhh... hehe. For me, i loved the pistachio flavored the most, beautifully garnished with chopped nuts. the cream was nutty tasting, filled with essence of real buttercream with a strong hint of pistachios, the cream being a lovely light green in hue was certainly appetising to the eyes. Just wish that there wld be new flavors..perhaps Chai Tea? tt wld be gorgeous.. *hinting at Evan*.. hehe.

Btw, my taste testers Rina and Weiyi both loved the macarons and raved about them... lovely... thanks Evan...