On Hiatus

Cappucino Squares with White Chocolate Frosting

M insisted that she helped with the cutting!

Till next time...

Gateau Tiramisu

Always wanted to make Tiramisu but the thought of using store-bought-pre-made cakes in a cake, never appealed to me. Even the yummy-ness of Tiramisu wasn't enough to entice me then. Yes, of course I could've baked my own cake for the purpose of Tiramisu! This recipe didn't call for a store-bought-pre-made cake, so I was game.
Told J & M, this was an 'adult' cake, seeing that it is doused in bailey infused coffee syrup! :-)

I will bake this especially for V when she comes a-visiting!

Tele-pathetique?

We laugh about this!

The BFF and I have this weird thing going, dunno how to explain it. But if you've had the rare privilege of having one, you'd know what I mean. To the 'untrained' eye, it would seem that we 'copy' each other. That could and would be true in high-school when we saw each other 24-7..or almost! But 2o years down the road, having established our 'own' lives and living apart for ALL those years, its pretty hard to keep 'copying'....

Anyhoo....

One of the very few shopping items of mine upon coming 'back' from DownUnder were your typical baker's ingredients...your creams, butter and of cheese! Why? Been meaning to re-attempt my cheesecake and that alluring Gateau Tiramisu, I have reading up about for months in my recipe book!

Yes, those ingredients are still in the fridge!! This morning going through the 'stuff' I would need to pack away with me into my 'new' home, I see all these lovely ingredients (I searched all over KK to find!) and thought ..

" I really must try that gateau before these cheeses turn blaaah - either later this week or next!..."

And so it follows during my usual house-hunting-running-errands escapades today, I get an sms from the BFF about her Tiramisu. I smile and thought "how uncanny....again" but it doesn't surprise me. Incidents like these are not new to us. Aye?

Anyway, I may just hold back till next week to make the gateau but with Melbourne trip impending, I might not get the chance to and my cheese might just get a visit from Mr. Mouldy!

Stay tuned for Gateau Tiramisu! Am thinking if I should go get Kahlua as called for by the recipe but I have Baileys in my pantry. How lah?

Coffee & Chocolate

I've baked many version of chocolate cakes, with varying results. Some extremely disappointing, some luxuriously decadent. 'Old Fashion' chocolate , that turned out dry; triple chocolate coffee that was so moist and rich; hazelnut chocolate brownie (my all time favourite!), the most gooey brownie ever, just to name a few!

Anyway, this week's baking was this beautiful piece of work; a moist , nutty and 'dense' chocolate cake topped with Chocolate Icing. As you know, I don't 'really' eat my baking but this one, had to be an exception to the rule. It's simply divine. Would be 'divin-er' if the icing had been purely dark chocolates. Next time, it would be!

Had them with Coffee. OMG moment!

Baking & Packing up

I very rarely bake the same cake twice, safe for some 'favourites' and special requests from friends.

Ironically, the baking experience for me isn't so much about the cake! I bake to serve to others and 'rarely' eat what I bake. I get a kick from scratch-baking and trying out different recipes while exploring baking methods and secrets. Of course its also about perfecting the art of dressing up the cake - giving it the 'professional' touch.

My mother shakes her head at my penchant for trying out new recipes JUST for the sake of trying them out. To my pragmatic mother, baking means 'using up those carrots, pineapple leftover' after she'd juiced the living daylight out of them suckers! A pile of flour and a stash of molasses, and voila, you have cake! That's mom! Her cake takes on the nature of a toffee more than anything else! Everybody loves it, yours truly included!!

But this is me. The more tedious, the better. I've also come to realise that anyone who cares to take the trouble to bake a cake, CAN actually bake. No doubt about that. Trouble is, very few venture into the abyss of baking!

Baking is not only about technique or skills (through practice, anyone can master either) but also (perhaps even more so) about recipe in your hand. If you get a 'good' and well recommended recipe, you certainly luck out! Armed with a few basic skills and tools, teamed with a tried and trusted recipe, you can truly make an impression! If you have the misfortune of landing with junk ones, then you are left high and dry with an embarrasment of a cake sitting in the fridge till your friendly friend, Mr. Mould turns up! Thank goodness, Mr. Mould doesn't make his appearance on my cakes! Thanks to my killer of a fridge AND I my innate ability to 'coerce' others to eat up my 'experiments' , quick smart! * wink*

Baking is also about freshness and quality of ingredients required by a recipe. Honest to goodness, I only recently realised Mom's Bicarb Soda that I've been using, expired in 2006! You'd think I would notice but nooo....tsk! That sodden bottle was quickly tossed out with the rest of the garbage!

The ingredients here are also less than sub-standard! Even the condensed milk, very much needed for my signature cheesecake, isn't the same kind that I am used to! You'd think with the same 'brand' it wouldn't care which on continent you're baking on, it SHOULD be same! But nooo..the ones here are more runny, less creamy and disgustingly sweeter...blech! Don't get me started on the creams! Even TH and cake supply shops fail to stock simple ingredients like these!

Oh but they stock piles and piles of flour! Flour of every kind! Flour! Flour! Flour! Coming out of their ears! No wonder their cakes here are so lacking in flavour and texture! Its all about the flour and not about the INGREDIENTS! Flour! Flour! Flour! Flour and sugar! That's what cakes here are made off!

Ok, that's enough.

So today's chocolate cake (pics coming up!) would probably be the last of my cakes for a while. I am packing up in view of my 'new' home!

Then it's off to Melbourne for a week! My shopping list is growing by the day!

Btw, vpa73 what would you like me to specially bake for your visit back? :-)

Miss M Torte

It was not Sacher Torte that was to be today; it was this gorgeous little number....

chocolate cake, layered with buttercream laced with a splash of orange!

Albeit named after my little angel, this cake is actually what the BFF and I would 'classify' as a sinful indulgence. Yes, repentance is almost always required, simply for falling into temptation of indulging and in some case, over-indulging!!

The chocolate cake lends itself to be dense, very textured and light tasting (no cooking chocolates here, just your average drinking chocolate powder..). But paired with the delightful orange buttercream, it's what indulgence is made off!! The buttercream is light, airy, smooth and melts in your mouth!! Yet, holds its shape well even when piped on to the cake!!

Anyhoo, we had this for dessert tonight, after a satisfying meal of Bah Kut Teh, Soto Mee and Sambal Brinjal. Don't you just love the West-meets-East fusion? or CON-fusion??

M had 2 servings of 'her' cake. I was pleased!!

Incidently this was also Mr. Darcy's and my 10th anniversary 'celebration' cake......

Indulgence

Need to make some Sacher Torte!! So need some almond meal!

Earlier this week I was hankering (or rather Mom was) for some Tiramisu. Truth be told, I've never attempted it before! Going to use some of the Baileys sitting in my cabinet but needed to duck down to the shops for some Mascarpone.

Still no Mascarpone.

Sacher Torte looked more err...sinful. I think repentance is called for now!