More chocolate
The Chocolate Review: Askinosie Chocolate After reading an article about gourmet chocolates and the higher demand now present here in Singapore. I decided to pay the promotional booth at Taka basement a visit to probably get myself a bar of Askinosie Chocolate. Also since I've heard of this brand ever since a fellow baker of mine used Askinosie cocoa powder in her bakes, I was intrigued by the rarity and novelty of the product.
Motivation
Motivation
Motivation is hearing...
"Just tried your cake and its nice! Thanks for it. And of course I'll definitely get your cakes again. My Family likes it too. Keep up the good work." - Iris
Looking forward to the weekend with a glass of riesling...
for those interested in grabbing a slice, visit here
sweet potato cake
The Cake Slice: Sweet Potato Cake
Served up over a Thanksgiving dinner at my auntie's place. (how apt!), everyone cast one look at the cake and it's rival, the chocolate fudge lana cake and decidingly choose the chocolate one. DUH! ain't such a hard decision of course. Thanks to the few who politely had a slice of the cake despite bursting at the seams from the delightful satisfying dinner.
Really glad that I made this cake, though I probably wouldn't make this again since most people aren't open to the idea of having sweet potato in their cakes. oh well.. still it was a fine choice!
Visit the blogroll for the cake slice bakers to get a look in at the action!
Cake:2 medium or 1 large sweet potato (12 ounces)
3 cups of cake flour**
3 teaspoons of baking powder
1 and 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of cloves
5 eggs, separated
2 and 1/4 cups of sugar
1 stick plus 2 tablespoons of butter, at room temperature
1 and 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 and 1/4 cups of milk
(**The recipe calls for cake flour and if you only have all-purpose flour on hand, you can substitute 3/4 cup (105 grams) all purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons (30 grams) cornstarch.)
(*If fresh sweet potato is not available where you live you may use canned sweet potato, yams, and pumpkin puree)
Makes a 9-inch triple layer cake, serves 16-20 people
1. Preheat the oven to 400F degrees. Prick the sweet potatoes in 2-3 places, place on a small baking dish and bake for 1 hour or until the potatoes are very soft. Remove from the oven and cool slightly.
2. Reduce the oven temperature to 350F degrees. Butter the bottoms and the sides of the pans and line with parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper also.
3. When the sweet potatoes are cool peel off the skin and remove any dark spots. Cut the potatoes into chunks and puree in a food processors. Puree until smooth. Measure out one cup of potato puree and set aside.
4. Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves. Set aside.
5. In the bowl of electric mixer add the egg whites and attach whip attachment. Beat on medium speed until egg whites are frothy. raise the speed to high and gradually beat in 1/4 cup of sugar. Continue to beat until the egg whites are moderately stiff.
6. In another large bowl with the paddle attachment, combine the sweet potato, butter, vanilla, and remaining sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl after each egg yolk is added. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients and milk in alternately in 2-3 additions. making sure to begin and end with the dry ingredients.
7. With a large spatula, fold in one fourth of the egg whites into the batter to lighten. Then fold in the remaining egg whites until no streaks remain. Making sure to not over mix or this will deflate the batter. Divide the batter among of the three pans.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let the cake layers cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then turn out the cake layers onto a wire rack and cool completely at least 1 hour.
9. To assemble the cake, place one layer flat side up on to a cake stand. With a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch round tip and filled with chocolate cream cheese icing, pipe border around the edge of the cake. Fill the center with the orange cream filling smoothing it to the edge of the border. Place the second layer on top and repeat the process.Place the third layer on top and use all the chocolate cream cheese frosting to cover the top and sides of the cake.
Chocolate Cream Frosting:
makes 3 cups
10 ounces cream cheese*** at room temperature
1 stick of butter at room temperature
16 ounces of powdered sugar; sifted
1 and 1/2 ounces of unsweetened chocolate melted and slightly cooled
(***1 cup of cream cheese maybe substituted with 1 cup pureed cottage cheese OR 1 cup plain yogurt, strained overnight in a cheesecloth OR equal amounts of neufatel cheese)
1. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar to cream cheese butter mixture. Making sure to scrape down the sides the sides of the bowl. Then beat until light fluffy 2-3 minutes.
2. Measure out 1 cup of frosting and set aside.
3. Add the melted chocolate to the remaining icing in the bowl and beat until well combined.
Orange Cream Filling:
1 cup of reserved cream cheese icing from above.
2 tablespoons of frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed1/4 teaspoon of orange extract
1. Stir together all the ingredients until well mixed.
let my hair loose
My Haze of Comfort
a picture speaks a thousand words... So what is it you do when you're stressed out?
Whether it be staring out the window at the crippled cricket performing hippy dance moves, or listening to re-runs of melancholics songs on my computer, it all serves it's purpose, all in will, to create a vacuum of space in time for me to indulge in empty thoughts and a little tinge of self-pity. Don't we all? Yes, but the most satisfying of all activites would have to be spontaneous late night baking. The need to fill in the empty wicker bread basket at home just made it more compelling.
So between the piles of hand-written notes and hot mugs of coffee, there was a little dosage of dough-loving action and patient waiting. At the end of the long night, all that stood in the end (pun intended) was the lovely loaf of fresh wholemeal bread ready for prep-ing up to the office in a crown of rich butter and splotching of purple jam for mummy. A very aromatic and extremely soft loaf might i add. Must say that those lessons paid off well. haha. Mum was delighted of course..
To add to my list. My latest loot of single origin chocolate again from Xotique Chocolatier consisted of 5 tiny bars of gourmet chocolate that ripped $50 from my wallet. Money that I was glad to spend of course... This time, I recieved information from Boss, Phyllis that the latest shipment of Amedei's Porcelana had finally reached the stores! F.y.i Porcelana is a single-estate dark chocolate that is made in such rarity that every single bar produced is marked single-handedly by a serial code! I've got mine! hehe. The rest of the collection consisted of mainly Valrhona; Grand Couva originating from cocoa beans from Trinadad (hence i'm expecting it to be a little acidic) , Manjari and Araguani. The last mentioned has probably been the only one I've tasted so far. A dark chocolate consisting of 72% cocoa has a slight note of liquorice due to the use of brown sugar in the making, there is also a slight tinge of raisins and a rich fruity taste behind the bitter chocolate notes. And i might say, I really enjoyed this one. Still waiting to sample the others soon!
What can i say.. a little bit of chocolate a day sure keeps the system loaded and happy!
So what makes you happy?
can't believe after all that typing, the cricket is still doing its hippy dance moves in front of my window...
I will rest in you
Lord, I'm in the dark,
Seems to me the line is dead when I come calling.
No one there, the sky is falling;
Lord, I need to know.
My mind is playing games again,
You're right where you have always been.
Take me back to you,
The place that I once knew as a little child;
Constantly the eyes of God watched over me.
Oh, I want to be
In the place that I once knew as a little child,
Fall into the bed of faith prepared for me.
I will rest in you,
I will rest in you,
I will rest in you.
Tell me Im a fool,
Tell me that you love me for the fool I am,
[and*] comfort me like only you can,
And tell me theres a place
Where I can feel your breath
Like sweet caresses on my face again.
Take me back to you,
The place that I once knew as a little child;
Constantly the eyes of God watched over me.
Oh, I want to be
In the place that I once knew as a little child,
Fall into the bed of faith prepared for me.
I will rest in you,
I will rest in you,
I will rest in you.
I will rest in you,
I will rest in you,
I will rest in you.
In a dire state of mind now. Some explosion of thoughts. Perhaps it ain't too bad to have been William Kemmler after all.
Soon to update on the food tasting, dessert outing and calendar's carrot cake. Meanwhile, do tune in to this lovely song on my jukebox.
so far
Just lugged my heavy-ass car back into the carpark after a roundtrip drive to Babe's house to pass him back his handphone that he left at my house. It was mostly a silent drive, despite the blasting music in the background to keep whatever that's left of my live brain matter circulating, I was empty inside. Emotionally and mentally drained. Isn't there someone to rescue me from my dire state of mind?
Had the pleasure of speaking to a few individuals these past days who had aspirations and dreams of setting up their cafes some day. Some of them with the intentions of throwing me part of the web. These small talks all happened in a single day. One of them being a very satisfied customer of mine who was interested in the prospects of a future business. I was in awe to think that so many were holding the same thought as me. Perhaps it ain't such a good thing after all seeing that they might become potential rivals. But then again, a part of my interest that had been slightly stagnant in the recent months was stirred up again. Like a flurry of emotions and explosion of goose feathers from a torn pillow case..i was suddenly set thinking about what I really wanted in life. Suddenly, some aspects that i held highly were reduced to dust. I think i'm lost again...
With an exam looming ahead tmr and a food tasting(courtesy of hungrygowhere again) session at curry favor on thurs and the dessert hunts the next 2 fridays with my beloved foodies. I'm excited, yet pretty worn out from it all.
Right now, I've got to focus. Meanwhile, here's a song, written and sang originally by Chelsea Lee. a beautiful number called 'so far'. Enjoy...
alternate state of mind
Trying to get in that study mode ain't all that easy. At least not to me... right now, I can only nudge the button to ignition repetitively to no avail. No spark, no start, no detonation. Gawd.. I'm certainly heading for a cliff if we continue this way.
Sorry TWD, you won't be seeing much action in this department for the next 3 weeks or so cause I'm rather 'wrapped' up in school matters. Promise I'll be back to conquer more recipes soon!
If you do the math, it's only 2 days and 13 hours to my first paper... dreading that very moment. Things I want to do after exams, .. *hmph* too many to list. Right now, I'm staring at a darn beautiful beach on my computer screen and dreaming of a holiday trip. Sun, sweat, sea.. give me some of that man. I so want a tan badly, been feeling that my face has been getting fairer. Don't quite fancy the idea of that. haha. Strange..
Alright, I admit, this entry is going nowhere. My brain reduced to mush with nothing close to constructive remarks to make. Gotta make a move and head back to the books for now. Hearing your Dad exclaiming online about your mum and younger brother's ongoing trip in Taiwan and the good cheap Japanese fare they indulged in ain't exactly a very enlightening experience...
Ciao...
state of mind: Dreaming of carrot cake and pastries on Fri...
of songs and awards
For those who enter this blog (hopefully with you sound system on); I'm sure you'll be greeted with music of some sorts. Irritating to some, melodious to some. If you belong to the latter, then do please feel free to shutoff the music whilst you read on.
For me, laying these songs on my site is just a way of expressing my feelings at the moment. An outlet for me to share some of my favourite songs with my readers. And presently, we've got several new songs added to the ever-changing collection. One of my favourites, is 1,2,3,4 sung by the Plain White T's; a song introduced to me by Charles (psss.. THANKS!) Though suffering from a slight cheesiness when it comes to song lyrics, it still passes off as sweet and innocent after while. And definitely make for easy listening. Another song that I love is John Mayer's Gravity. Again another song that is perfect for those sleepless nights. With beautiful lyrics that seem to amplify every part of my life at present. So I hope you guys enjoy the music! Do leave your comments if you do or if you have any favorite songs for those sleepless nights.
Meanwhile, I've recieved another blog award! *woots*..
given to me by my dearest friend and fellow TWD blogger Michelle of Flourchild. Thanks dear! and to play along.. guess I've got no choice but to answer these questions.Darn.. and i never knew these could stump me!
7 things I say most Often
- I'm tired
- Cool Bengs!
- I love you
- I want to bake!
- I can't find my...
- Stop it!
- Where are we going?
- Scaled the highest peak in Peninsula Malaysia and got struck by lightning
- Played hockey for my school team
- Participated in 2 bake sales
- sleep walked to my brother's room and pee-ed on the chair (thinking that it was a toilet bowl)
- Fired a GPMG and threw a grenade (no..i'm not terrorist..)
- Ran for money (my dad paid me when i was 11 yrs old to run 1.6km under 8mins)
- Toured the Great Ocean Road (Australia)
7 things I do now
- Get into a frenzy over upcoming exams
- Bake some more despite the exams. order..bah!
- Go for food tasting sessions and search for the best dessert places
- Dream about a better future
- Blog
- Bitch about school to my boyfriend
- Sing aloud to songs on the radio
7 things I want to do
- Take up photography and get a better camera
- Plan for Xmas desserts
- Attend Le Cordin Bleu
- Sky dive
- Go for a makeover
- Be with him
- Be happy
7 things that attract me about the opposite sex
- Kindness
- A beautiful pair of eyes
- Behavior whilst amongst friends
- Love God, God fearing
- Honesty
- Sincerity
- A big strong chest
- Brinjal
- Cai poh with egg
- Green and Black's White Chocolate
- Preserved Olive Vegetables
- Carrot Cake (both american style and fried singaporean style)
- Japanese food!!!
- Butterscotch Peacn Ice Cream
7 4 people I want to pass this award to: (could only come up with 4.. gulp)
- Laura of She's Cookin Now!
- Jo of Sugar and Everything Nice
- Rachel of Sweet tarte
- Carlo and Carmella of The Food Duo
I just love reading their blogs! With all those recipes and delightful photographs. Betcha be hooked.
So to those I have tagged. Feel free to play along by copying and answering all the qns on your blog as well and Passing on the award to 7 more bloggers that you appreciate!
Sour Cream Pumpkin Pie
Sour Cream Pumpkin PieArt you Eat #5 (Autumn Edition)
It was after the episode of the pumpkin cupcakes from TWD that I was hooked on using pumpkin as an ingredient in my bakes. Pumpkin, once roasted and pureed existed in such a wonderful form. Both rich and insanely moist. Combined with all the spice that usually accompanies it, it was destined for greatness. At least under my palate, given that I had such a knack for sugar and spice.
Also since I had a little bit of sour cream left in the fridge. I thought to myself why not? Pumpkin = moisture, combined with sour cream, it should yield the most beautiful product with a lucious texture. And holding that thought in mind, I scanned through my books for an apt recipe. And viola! oh no!!! not another Dorie Greenspan recipe again? I shouldn't have... oh.. whatever...
Good for Almost Everything Pie Dough
- makes enough for a 9-inch single crust -
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 sticks very cold (frozen is fine) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces
2 1/2 tablespoons very cold (frozen is even better) vegetable shortening (non-trans fat), cut into 2 pieces
About 1/4 cup ice water
Procedure
Put the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor fitted with a metal blade; pulse just to combine the ingredients. Drop in the butter and shortening and pulse only until the butter and shortening are cut into the flour. Don't overdo the mixing—what you're aiming for is to have pieces the size of fat green peas and others the size of barley. Pulsing the machine on and off, add 3 tablespoons of the water—add a little water and pulse once; add some more water and pulse again; and keep going that way. Then use a few long pulses to get the water into the flour. If after a dozen or so pulses, the dough doesn't look evenly moistened or form soft curds, pulse in as much of the remaining water, or even a few drops more, to get a dough that will stick together when pinched. If you've got big pieces of butter, that's fine. The dough is ready and should be scraped out of the work bowl and on to a smooth work surface.
Shape the dough into a disk and wrap it. Refrigerate the dough at least 1 hour before rolling. (If the ingredients were very cold and you worked very quickly, you might be able to roll the dough immediately—you'll know: the dough will be as cold as if it had just come out of the fridge.) The dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 1 month.
Once the dough is fitted into the pie plate, refrigerate it again. If you don't have time for a longish chill, just keep the pie plate in the fridge while you preheat the oven.
To Partially Bake a Single Crust: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil (or use nonstick foil), fit the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the crust and fill with dried beans or rice. Put the pie plate on a baking sheet and bake the crust for 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and weights and, if the crust has puffed, press it down with the side of a spoon (or lightly prick the crust). Return the pie to the oven and bake for about 8 minutes more, or until the crust is very lightly colored. Transfer the pie plate to a rack and cool to room temperature before filling.
- makes 6 to 8 servings -Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours
Ingredients
1 9-inch single crust made with Good for Almost Everything Pie Dough (see recipe below), partially baked and cooled, or one 9-inch tart shell made with Sweet Tart Dough, partially baked and cooled
2 cups (canned) unsweetened pumpkin puree ( i used 1 cup homemade pumpkin puree)
3 large eggs, at room temperature (i used 2)
1 cup (packed) light brown sugar (i used 1/4 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup light brown sugar)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups heavy cream ( i used 3/4 cups heavy cream)
1/3 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
Pinch of ground cloves
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoons dark rum
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Lightly sweetened lightly whipped cream, for topping
Procedure
Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat and put the pie plate (or tart pan) on it.
Put all of the filling ingredients in a food processor and process for 2 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Alternatively, you can whisk the ingredients together vigorously in a mixing bowl. Rap either the work bowl or mixing bowl against the counter to burst any surface bubbles, and pour the filling into the crust.
Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 300°F and continue to bake for 35 to 45 minutes longer (20 to 25 minutes for a tart), or until a knife inserted close to the center comes out clean. (If you don't want to create a slash in your masterpiece, tap the pan gently—if the custard doesn't jiggle, or only jiggles a teensy bit in the very center, it's done.) Transfer the pie (or tart) to a rack and cool to room temperature.
Serving: Pumpkin pie and whipped cream are naturals and, if you've tested the pie's doneness with a knife, you might want to serve the whipped cream as a cover-up. I like this pie chilled, but others are fans of it at room temperature – decide for yourself.
Storing: Like most pies, this one is best served the day it is made. However, you can make the pie early in the day and keep it refrigerated until needed.
Verdict: I love the warmth of the pie combined with the crispy and flaky pie crust. The pumpkin and sour cream melded together to form a rich and velvety texture that I loved. Kudos! By the way, this is my entry for Art You Eat #5 : Autumn! Please stay tuned for the round-up to!
yellowpiehole
Just a little special for my readers out there. Read carefully if you're suffering from some hardcore shopping cravings!
I've recently made purchases from Yellow Pie Hole . (do please check out their site.) Open their webpage and I'm sure the whimsical little carvings and pendants will put a smile on your face. Take for instance the little dinosaur pendant! my gosh.. how cute! Pair that off with a plain tee top and you're set the rock the town!
Another plus point is the incredibly patient owner who kindly attended to my requests when some minor mishaps occured during the course of delivery. Kudos to her!
photos courtesy of yellowpiehole.livejournal.com
