Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake

I was superbly excited when I finally got my grubby hands on Nigella Lawson's 'How To Be A Domestic Goddess'. Truth be told, I don't think she is that great a chef nor do her recipes and methods inspire that much confidence as far as weight and health are concerned. But I gotta admit, I love her spunk. I love how she is unabashed and unapologetic about what foods turn her on. And I like her delivery of the above, her quirks and lack of patience, her dark English jibes. The thing I love most? It's the way she describes her methodology and consistencies. The journalists were onto something when they said her makes love to her food.

I thumbed across this particular recipe and felt my knees go weak. This is what I have spent 20 years (ok ok.. 20 + a lot more years) seeking for... the answer to all Ails, the better than a miracle, Miracle, the Romeo to a Juliet, the PERFECT CHOCOLATE CAKE! The recipe intrigued me and I could almost taste how perfectly soft and moist it would be because it uses all 250ml of boiling water!

Everything went like clockwork and I was almost assured of success because if you had watched Nigella's shows, you would quickly realise that she doesn't have much of a knack for folding flour nor the patience to take things a step at a time. Most of her recipes are done with appliances.
Need to mix ingredients with a wooden spoon to a crumblike texture? Blitz it. Need to mix ingredients from wet to dry? Blitz it.
Need to stretch out the dough? Blitz it.
So in such fail safe, hardy conditions, how could I fail?

I tend to have quite a bit of problem with foreign recipes because firstly, the humidity in Asia tends to kill most methods such as creaming or icing a cake. Secondly, I have a temperamental oven that blows me off in pufts of smoke whenever I crank temperature up or down.
Yes yes... it is time to buy a new one. I am always open to donations! =)

Well... the only dreary part of this cake would be having to incorporate by folding flour and boiling water, spoonful by spoonful into the intially sticky mixture. I was worried about over-folding and wasn't looking forward to a loaf of chocolate rock for my efforts. At the final stage, when the mixture was quite liquified, I added 2 tablespoons of boiling water and before mixing it in thoroughly to the mixture, I added a tablespoon of flour. Quite expectedly, the flour reacted to the liquid rather badly and started sulking in little lumps. Ye Gawds!

After much pacing, placating and cajoling my cranky oven, the cake was done. I almost wept with chocolate joy after my first bite. I was as near heaven as any sinner will know! You know how as a kid, one would think SaraLee is quite da bomb? Well... this is my adult 'Da Bomb'. It is moist and soft beyond comparison. Nigella wasn't wrong when she placed this as her first recipe in the Chocolate section.

I modified it to my tastebuds on my second attempt, I reduced 375gms of Dark Muscovado Sugar to about 280-300gms, ensuring that the sugar comes straight from the fridge and is not lumpy. And I reduced the water from 250ml to 200ml. And of course, I went out and bought me some patience when folding in flour and boiling water.

Take a look... the pics may not say much (kill the photographer NOT the author of the recipe) so I can only encourage you to experiment with this recipe once. Just Once... and revel in the gorgeously dark trove of a loaf, and feel the velvet silkiness sliding down your throat. Everyone who tried this thinks I'm a master chef. For that... I shall never ever reveal the recipe! *Evil Glint in Eye*
You may give me your firstborn after you have tried it... =P

Mothers' Day Back To Basics: Carrot Cake

I have always loved Carrot Cakes in general. This was also whence I had my very first tasting of Cream Cheese Frosting... mmm the memories of it all still brings forth a delicious froth of sweetness in my mouth. Being an avid reader of Baking Bites' Blog, I decided I had to give Baking Bites One Bowl Carrot Cake a whirl. The receipe and her anecdote can be found in the hyperlink above.

However, being Asian in an Asian country, I have to first make it known that the carrot cake I'm talking about here, is not the savory carrot cake that some asians are known to have for breakfast or lunch. This is not the savory steamed cakes that I can only assume is made of mashed white carrots and flour, steamed into large blocks and then cut and fried, or massacred into bite sized pieces, fried with eggs, dashes of soy sauce, sweet sauce, oil and chilli. Rather, what I am talking about is the sweet dessert that's tantalisingly substantial on its own and divine with cream cheese frosting. When I was much younger, I always wondered where the carrot was in the brown speckled cake. It was through this bake that I discovered carrots really were added in it! (Ok... I am known to be 'duh' at the most inopportune of times)

I started topping up my pantry throughout the week, and finally got down to baking during one humid Saturday. After shredding 2 carrots and draining them, the weight of the carrots went from 180gms to 90 gms! I never knew carrots had this much liquid in them! So back to the shredding board, I added another carrot for good measure.

Then another horror discovery that I had all of 200gms of AP Flour. I decided to substitute the rest of the required amount with Self Raising Flour. Another surprise of the day was that after shifting the flour in with the baking flour, the flour level rose substantially when measured. I wonder why I've never bothered to measure sifted flour... hmmm.

Orange Juice? Some of the bought oranges got eaten. So I used only 1 Blood orange juice and zest for both the cake and the frosting.

Then calamity hit when I realised I was out of brown suger (at this point, I hear you asking what groceries did I actually buy throughout the week eh?). Alternative? Scrounged out a pack of dark molasses sugar. This was the point where I thought the cake would explode in my face when baked. Strangely, the cake turned out beautifully at 32 minutes on the dot.

I could never resist having a slice of warm cake after smell of spices have been wafting around the house... and it was as good as expected. Substantial, every spice working together in perfection to make its presence felt and yet did not overwhelm. I am unsure if my substituition caused this but the cake is quite crumbly when piping hot. After a day, the crumbliness wasn't as pronounced anymore... the wonders of science and action and reaction of compounds I suppose.

In my haste, I forgot to take a pic of the cake unfrosted but here is one taken just before the entire cake is devoured. Mom loved it and said I should consider selling these... she did make mention that she disliked the frosting but she has never liked frostings so I can understand her biasness.

However, all said and done, this will go into my Book of Sucesses! I loved it although I might tone down the confectioner's sugar in the frosting as well as to reduce the level of spices for the more delicate tastebuds out there. In fact, I'm thinking of not adding orange zest nor juice completely.

So here is my most awful picture to date:

Chockylit's Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Cupcakes with Ganache Icing

Recently, there seemed to have been a lull in the flogs I'm following until I chanced upon a fantabulous Cupcake Flogger, Chockylit. I loved her site so much that I had to try one of her receipes straight away.

Two things went south, right off the bat.
1) I kinda forgot I am in the Tropics and didn't note that the Ganache Icing might need a little fridge cooling before piping.
2) I sometimes bake as a destresser and this time round, I started baking at 11pm on a Sunday, with work looming overhead the following day.

The process seemed quite daunting for there were 3 major things I had to do.
1. Bake the cupcakes
2. Prepare the Peanut Butter Filling and fill the cupcakes with it
3. Prepare the Ganache Icing and ice the filled cupcakes.

I didn't take heed when Chockylit mentioned how decadent a dessert this would be. I did reduce the sugars just a wee bit. In retrospect and after tasting the end product, I think I may just reduce the amount of sugar content next time. Also, my Ganache is a little too sweet for I only used 50gms of Valrhona Chocolate (61% Cacao), 65gms of Belgian Dark Chocolate Couveture, and the remainder was semi-sweet chocolate. I might just change the proportions to contain 70% dark bitter chocolate and the remainder with 30% semi sweet chocolate.

I now share Chockylit's view that this is my favourite chocolate cupcake receipe. I refrigerated the cupcakes uncovered, simply because I did not have any container small enough to fit into the shelves of the fridge and yet high enuff to encase the icing of the cupcake. I would cool them at room temperatures for at least 4 hours before consumption. The cupcakes tasted really soft after the rest.

Here are my step-by-step results though I would implore all reading this NOT to compare my pics with Chockylit's Peanut Filled Chocolate Cupcakes and Chocolate Ganache:

Ok bad photography... kill the photographer. I love that distinctly flaky chocolate top appearance on the left and right rows.

I found it so much easier to pipe the peanut butter filling in then to slather it on. It doesnt look much here, but truthfully? I will attempt to use just this peanut butter filling concoction and 'ice' it over the cupcake tops. Just like the way Marmalade's does for their Elvis, or was it Nutella?. Either ways, it tastes exactly like the slightly pricey ones at Marmalade's. Superbly delicious!

Finally, the floppily done Ganache Icing. Yes... I will TRY to curb those baking tendencies at midnight next time round so I won't rush thru presentation, and of course, I will always remember to cool the Ganache in the fridge should it get as runny as this.

Result: I love this decadent cupcake. My 'victims' did too though even though the sweetest tooth-ed of them all liked the peanut butter filling more than the Ganache.

Green Tea Ice (Powder to Make Green Tea Ice Cream)

I was lurking around yet another Japanese Supermarket in hopes of finding more stuff Matcha when I came across this delightful little treasure:

Unfortunately though... the instructions are in Japanese although the pictures seem self explanatory. Add 1 satchet of the powder to 150mls of milk, mix well and freeze?

I wanted to be sure this was all there is to it and hence asked Obachan, who has kindly agreed, to help me translate the instructions. If this turns out to be the receipe for rat poison... I will update. hehe

Carrot Cake and Otah (Asian Spiced Fish Paste)

In most of Asia, we do so love our starch and carbs. So much so, that sometimes for breakfast, we have meals that are like an entire course in itself. My family has such habits over the weekends when everything slows down a notch or two and we can enjoy a leisurely breakfast together.

One of the regular breakfast foods we have is Fried Carrot Cake. Over here, we are not referring to the carrot cake with cream cheese frosting that is literally a cake. The ones we have here, uses white carrots (I think?) and it is a smooth paste that is steamed, before being fried, cutting the cake into tiny bite sized portions. We have two versions, the 'white' and the 'black' and it is usually fried with eggs and spring onions. The white is fried as is, the black is a sweet black sauce.

Recently, mom bought another version of this Carrot Cake also known to locals as 'Cai Tao Kway' (Loosely translated to mean Carrot Top Cake). It is about the size of an index finger and it is pre-fried. I have tried this before, piping hot with a warmed otah. Otah is another local speciality. It is a fish paste mixed with herbs and spices, spread onto banana leaves measuring 15cm by 3cm. It is then placed on one of those small grills and toasted till slightly burnt.

I forgot to take a pic of the Otah in its entire glory, but this is what I had for brunch yesterday. It is quite delish if not overly carb filling and not something I can take too many times in a month.

Fried Carrot Cake and Otah

Does it resemble french fries? It probably has the same amount of oil since it is soaked in as much oil during the frying process.

This is the famous Otah.

Quite a nice match if I do say so myself.

Taipei Food Shopping

I just got back from a little getaway to Taipei with some friends. I didn't expect myself to be astounded by the multitudes of really great tasting stuff in their convenience stores!

Sure... the food streets served pretty palatable stuff, but if you aren't used to the unique taste of the sauce that covers most of their foods, you might not enjoy the lunch and dinners there.

Food shopping started innocently enough, we initially wanted to get some bottled water from the convenience stores and maybe a bottle of Green Tea Milk to quench our touristy thirst. In the end, a pack of Green Tea with Milk, led to Green Bean flavoured Milk, leading to Instant Beef Noodles with real beef within, to Pineapple Cake, to Sun Biscuits, to fast dinners on the go, to pastries and cakes and bread. The possibilities of food you could get in a singular convenience store was mind boggling. The best part was that every random food/snack we bought tasted darn good!

We also ventured into the town called Wu Lai filled with authentic aborigin-like sweet desserts hand made by the locals. This is where I went nuts over their mochi. You name it, they can mochi it. Things like Sakura Mochi, Blueberry Mochi, Green Tea Mochi Cake, Molasses Mochi covered with a dusting of peanut powder, Black Sesame Mochi, Peach Mochi, etc.

I travelled with a small little luggage, less than half full. I came back with the luggage bulging, a straw bag measuring 1metre x 1metre, and a duffle bag measuring almost a metre in length. All of these were brimming with mostly foodstuff such as :


Green Tea Mochi Cake. One of my Favs. The mochi isn't too sticky where you have trouble cutting a little piece each day as a snack. Goes great with a cup of hot Matcha too. They had it in Cherry Blossom Flavour as well but that was a disappointment. Perhaps their Mochi is too intense a taste for me to discern the fragrance of Cherry Blossom within.


My Favourite-test Drink To Date:
Green Bean Flavoured Milk
Tourists fall in love with a particular country or sight, or even people... I fall in love with food and drink. Sounds like such a Glutton. *sigh*











These are quite simply, the most delicious Rice Puff ( 小米) Crackers I have ever tasted. There are tonnes of varieties amongst which are rice malts, sakura, black sesame, original, etc. Loved it.


This packet of Milk with Green Tea (抹茶奶绿) is my second favourite drink during the trip. Mmmm...







Lu & Sons Sweetened Instant Green Tea Milk.
My third choice of Drink. You just scoop a tablespoon into a mug, add either hot or cold water, and you have a mug of frothy Green Tea Milk. I wonder what would happen if I added Milk instead of plain ole water?

The infamous 'Tie Dan' (铁蛋) from Dan Shui. Quite literally translated, it means 'Steel Eggs'. The ones here are vacuum packed hard-boiled quail eggs, baked in the oven with a variety of flavours such as original Tea, Herbs & Spice, Black Pepper, Garlic, BBQ, Spicy Hot, etc. I got at least one pack of each. *Sigh*





This is the Taiwanese' answer to Beef Jerky. Large slices of beef, semi dried but still moist enough to chew on. It has an array of tastes within, spicy, sweet, a little tad of herbs. Mmmm... Oishi!





These were bought by word of mouth from folks back home. I think they originated from Hong Kong but I guess it transcended into something the Taiwanese could do well too. It is a square little cake with a filling of semi thick pineapple jam with loads of texture.



I walked into a very girlish candy store in XiMenDing because I saw one panel of the display window stacked with pic on left. I was wondering what sorta marketing theories these people were conjuring, stacking feminine products in the display window. I realised much later, that all of the above pics were edible candy. Warped but cutesy. A little too reminiscent of the cutesy stuff Japanese gimmick stores have though. I had to buy these nonetheless... too odd to pass.

Obachan's Matcha Pound Cake

I couldn't resist buying a new brand of salted butter the day before. It's from New Jersey and weighs about 400gm per pack. The neat thing about this butter is that it's not one huge slab with markings on the wrapper for every 25gm. It comes in 4 individual sub-packs and each are marked to the max of 8 tablespoons per sub-pack (coming from the metric system, butter measured in tablespoons was new to me). I also bought some unsalted french butter and decided the next day would be Pound Cake day.

I woke up early to experiment on Obachan's Matcha Pound Cake. I started laying out all my ingredients only to discover I didn't have Cake Flour. In the end, I had to run to 4 different places before I managed to get a semi-substitute. I bought 'Top Flour' from the bake shop I frequent instead. When I asked the staff if they knew what percentage of protein or gluten strength this contained, no one knew. Resigned, I bought the 'Top Flour' with an ominous premonition.

It might surprise some to know that I actually went thru home economics class as an O level subject during my teenage years. This means I had to sit for exams on Theory as well as Practical aspects of Cooking. It also means that I should still have some notion of elementary science of Baking. For afterall, regardless the number of years since I sat through such exams, these science theories still hold true.

After I creamed the softened butter with sugar, I got careless and tipped over too much egg at one go. No amount of high speed whipping would stop the curdling that occurred thereafter. For those of you who are interested, curdling is when the fat receives an overwhelming amount of contrast liquid at once, such as egg, and hence separates. The appearance would be something akin to oil & water not mixing but gathering together in tiny lumps. The way to prevent this is to always introduce the egg into your creamed butter, by the spoonful (i.e. Whip, add 1 tbsp egg, Whip, 2 tbsp egg, and so on till the batter is more liquified and well mixed, before adding in the rest of the egg).

I was disgusted with self for such a rookie mistake. I was left with no alternative but to keep the mixer on high and gradually add in the egg, tablespoon by tablespoon. Theoretically, after curdling has occurred, we were taught to stop adding egg altogether and fold in flour to bind the two. I decided to continue adding the egg since the receipe given seems to yield a fairly small loaf. Thereafter, I folded in the twice-sifted flour and although the mixture was visibly smoother and together, deep down I knew something would go wrong with the end result.

I then mixed a little warm water with my terribly expensive yet miniscule tin of Matcha, groaning at how little was left. This was then mixed in with a little of the original batter, so I now have two batches of batter. Plain and Matcha flavoured.
(Note: This little tin measuring 8cm in height, cost me approximately 5.50 Euros, akin to daylight robbery if you ask me. See my pretty little precious Matcha? : )
It was then that I noticed the oven temperature had not been keeping a steady temperature during the preheat process. Hmmm.

I was deciding between pouring the two mixtures in batches onto the loaf pan and then swirling it with a toothpick or to give the mixed batter a few swirls before pouring it into the pan. I followed the latter.

After pouring the swirled batter into my NON-STICK-greased-lined-greased-again, loaf tin (I won't even begin to narrate my horrific nightmares when young, of my cakes sticking to the aluminium cake tins during the final Practical Bake exam, falling off in chunks when I forcibly upturned and shook the baked goods from the cake tin, to lay on my exam Presentation Table, complete with Menu, Fine Dining Cutlery & Crockery and flowers), I then proceeded to do something I had never done. I proceeded to knock the air outtav the loaf tin by dropping it repeatedly from a height of about 5cm. This feels strange, I have never had to sift flour, fold it into batter carefully and then knock the carefully incorporated air at the end.

In the end, it wasn't the preparation process that killed me. It was my cranky oven that did it. Obachan mentioned she had problems browning cakes with her oven (they still look fantabulous btw). I should introduce her to mine. It has problems cooking the insides of cakes and cookies properly, resulting in me having to go into overtime with the baking time and usually burning the tops of my cakes, and the rising of the cake hampered. Next to my oven monster, her oven is a dream come true.

I realise that my oven preheat temperature was too hot and inconsistent, leading to the browning of the top too quickly, causing the expanding liquid batter below to rise later, breaking the crust formed on top. I resolve also, to be more generous with the Baking Powder the next time round when using Top Flour, for this flour's characteristic seems to resemble a higher tensile strength, yielding a lower rise in cakes. I should also learn to be more light-handed when swirling marble cakes in future. (p.s. This Matcha Marble Pound looks NOTHING like Obachan's Matcha Marble pic. Refer to hers for inspiration please)

Pound cakes are Mom's favourite, whilst anything Matcha is mine. A mix of these two seemed like a good idea for the twain to meet. I loved it that the cake was only subtly sweet and the taste of Matcha was quite distinct. Yay!

Mom later revealed that she liked her pound cakes sweeter, and she didn't care much for the Matcha. I then decided that I might as well put all that butter to good use and whip up another Marble Pound Cake, this time chocolate and looking at the receipe, it seems to be slightly sweeter.

I will blog this tomorrow as it is now way past 2.30am. I will be bringing both my Matcha Marble Pound Cake and Chocolate Marble Pound cakes as breakfast for two of my closest colleagues tomorrow. Will report their responses in my next blog.

Verdict: Success in Taste. Needs improvement in appearance. Should also start saving for a new oven (donations anyone? hehe).

Aussie Nougat

A friend of mine, at my beheist, brought back an unusual form of Nougat from Australia. Ok, it was more of my physical threats that he bought these for me.

The story of how I got these Nougat is kinda strange. One day, whilst chatting over the internet, this friend of mine told me to start writing down certain words. After the fourth word in one week, I had to be bribed to continue doing so without a reason. I accepted the bribe for the heck of it.

After which, it turns out these 12 words he gave me were questions to a pop quiz on aviation. I was to find out what the actual meaning of those aviation slangs he had given me over the course of 2 weeks. Again, I decided to push my luck further by asking if I would get a prize for doing the quiz. Then finally, I asked if I would get another prize if I got all the meanings of those words correct.

So, he is finally back in town and I got these:
1) Aussie's Honey Roasted Maccademia Nuts (juz coz I am his friend... hehe)
2) Previously delivered Book on Aviation or WWII (for doing the quiz)
3) Aussie Nougat (coz I insisted I got all terms correct otherwise Google should be sued! He sorta insists I am getting them coz he is always kind to dumb animals. hehe)

The Nougat I am used to eating comes individually wrapped and in a large bag of about 25 pieces. This friend has never seen nor eaten Nougat and so when he saw those individually wrapped ones, decided it was too cheap a gift and hence bought me these:

I have never seen a block of Nougat and much less the different kinds of flavours they come in. I love the name of the honey used in these two blocks:

Truth be told, I could never taste the difference in honey no matter where they come from. To me, honey tasted like honey and there was no differentiation. After tasting the Leatherwood Honey used in this block of Nougat, I am now a reborn Honey believer. The name of the honey may have nothing to do with wood but the intensity of the honey as well as the earthy taste and smell is something I have never tasted.

I have yet to try the Ironbark Honey... but I can't wait. Oh! Before I forget, this is how it looks like after you chop em into bite-sized chunks:

Lori's Simply Sinful Cheesecake, a Cranky Oven & a Potluck

For a long time now, I have had the suspicion that my oven was not telling me the whole truth, and nothing but the truth when it came to its temperature. I finally got a proper oven thermometer and nearly gagged at the hefty price of 15.50 Euros. Ah well, all for greater bakes eh?

With my spanking new thermometer, I was ready to play kitchen doctor to my old Technogas convention oven. When I placed the thermometer into the oven to start my tests, I started hearing this cranky-ticky sound (more crank than tick) . I was even half afraid it would blow up in my face (Can you envision the headlines: Girl Dies in Oven Blast BEFORE baking her cheesecake!). I realised that not only does the temperature mark of my oven not read true, but the temperature within does not stay constant. (Does that mean the treatment for this patient is to tell him to R.I.P. and get a brand new oven?)

Anyways, with the ingredients for Lori's Simply Sinful Cheesecake already in the fridge, I decided to take my chances and bake anyway. I read that it was really important to ensure there were no lumps and hence, spent some time creaming my creamcheese (parodoxical rhetoric?) before adding the condensed milk. I had to use my untrustworthy sense of estimation here for an entire can of condensed milk weighed 397gms when the receipe only called for approx. 325gm.

My crust had a bad time because it had to bake in the ticking bomb of an oven first. The temperature was so hard to control that the crust had to sit in the oven for at least 30 mins before I was satisfied that it was sufficiently baked. Thereafter I said a silent prayer that the crust would turn out fine and not crumble all over itself in distress.

Similarly, I was more edgy when it was time to bake the cheesecake/crust concoction. In the end, I spent the entire 50mins babysitting the oven, staring at the thermometer every 5-10mins. Adjusting the temperature ever so slightly to achieve the 180degree celsius heat required. Each turn of the knob took at least 10mins to effect and hence, it was a rather harrowing and backbreaking task. Would you believe I actually brought my novel out to read throughout this hour?

The receipe I tried out was great except that I used granulated sugar instead of castor sugar and hence, I could taste the crunch in the cookie base. I ended up topping the cake with blueberries so that I could cover the slightly overbrowned appearance at the top of the cake. Here is my creation (once again, excuse the bad photography):



Ok to be frank, in my elation that Lori's cheesecake receipe was practically foolproof, I forgot to take a proper pic of the cake after it was topped with blueberries. The taste of the cheesecake astounded me. My colleagues told me that this tastes like a cheesecake from a good bakeshop, less the slightly tough crust (my fault, not Lori's). I also found out not many people like a thick crust. But after tasting Lori's Cheesecake receipe, I must say the crust is actually pretty good at cutting thru the cheesyness of the cream cheese.

A couple of days later, I was invited to a potluck by some friends. Being quick to notice that no one had offered dessert, Lori's Simply Sinful Cheesecake instantly came to mind. I was nervous on the day of the potluck.

When I arrived at the potluck, I was surprised that no one commented much on my cheesecake. Most of em had their maids cook for them, the late comers bought stuff on the way over. Nevertheless, I sat thru the entire dinner and drinks till late. When it was time to have the cheesecake, friends started oohing and ahhing and asked when did I have time to pick it up since I had a packed schedule that day. Blinking back my confusion, I told them I simply rushed home in a cab and got it outtav the fridge before rushing to their place. There was a moment of silence before everyone started chirping at the same time. It seems that the cake looked so professionally done (with my store bought plastic see-thru cover and maroon base) with the decoration, shape and smell that everyone had naturally assumed that I had bought the cake. My My!

I was nervous that the taste of the cheesecake might not live up to its over-emphasized appearance and when realised that due to the inconsistency of my oven, the crust was superbly hard, my heart fell. It took a guy two hands to cut thru (oops!). I had also swirled a couple tablespoons of the blueberries into the mixture for continuance to its blueberry-ed top. Everyone finished their cheesecake and those who loved harder crusts, ate their cheesecake first and then actually picked up the crust to eat as a biscuit. Gosh... the compliments were overflowing and my head got so inflated that it almost couldn't fit thru the doorway of the host's house when the party was over.

Again... coz everyone was so eager to eat the cheesecake that I never got a chance to unveil my digicam from its pouch to take a pic of the cheesecake in its entirety. Here is another bad pic of my slice of the cake:


Thanks Lori.. you saved my life!!!!
Verdict: SUCESS!

My Fluff Ball

No, I have not lost it and decided to experiment baking my dog.

I just wanted to take the time to introduce my most faithful kitchen invigilator. Everyone, meet Crissy. Crissy...? This is Everyone.

This is one of her favourite positions to take when I am experimenting in the kitchen. This is a position for when things smell good. For the times when things dont smell so good, she is on all fours, ready to bolt should there be signs that the oven's gonna blow. On occassions when I am puzzled at some process in the experiment, she cocks an ear with her head tilted to one side, as though asking "You sure about that buddy?"

Of course, she also hangs around me in the kitchen with an ulterior purpose, to catch the ingredient crumbs that sometimes drop onto the floor unnoticed.

Hmmm... I love this fluff ball of mine.

Matcha Mochi with Anko Filling (Red Bean)

It all started when I had my first taste of Mitarashi Danggo (Sweet Glutinuous Rice Balls covered with Soy Sauce). I was surprised because I had expected the soy sauce to be salty. The entire concoction was sweet.

This got me surfing the net for danggo receipes and tripeed into the bigger world of Wagashi instead.

Strangely enough, I got sidetracked and started reading about how easy it was to make mochi. I even read about mochi being made into savoury dishes.

So after ensuring no oven baking was required (read my earlier blog on making Rachel's Fuwa Fuwa Soy Milk Cakey) I set about creating my first ever batch of Mochi filled with Anko (sweetened red bean paste). This was how it turned out:

They didn't taste half bad although I could be a little more light handed with the Katakuriko Flour (Potato Starch Flour) and also I might reduce the amount water from 1 cup to 3/4 cup.

Instead of adding all ingredients together and nuking it, I decided to boil the water and add it into the well-mixed flour and sugar combo, stirring vigorously once boiling water is added.

Here's the simplest receipe I have found:

Mochi

1 Cup Mochiko Sweet Rice Flour (Glutinous Rice Flour)
1 Cup Water
¼ Cup Sugar
Katakuriko Flour (for dusting) [Optional: Matcha Powder]

1. Mix Mochiko flour, sugar & Matcha powder in a bowl.
2. Add boiling water to dry mixture, stirring thoroughly.
3. Cool for a few minutes. Cut & Serve.

4. For filling: Dust mochi with Katakuriko or Kinako to prevent mochi from sticking everywhere. If you don't have these, you can just put the mochi on cellophane.
6. Variations for Filling: You can add red bean paste, ice cream, chocolate, etc. in the middle if you want BEFORE you dust. Add a teaspoon of filling and pinch edges closed.
* Variations for Dough: Add a few drops of food coloring into batter for color variation. A few drops of flavoring (strawberry, grape, orange, blueberry, etc.) may also be added. >> For chocolate flavor, stir about 1/4 cup melted chocolate chips into mochi batter before cooking.

Rachel's Fuwa Fuwa Soy Milk Cakey

I promised myself when I decided to do up a flog to record my little hits, mishaps and misses, that I would get a proper oven thermometer and have my oven temperature properly assessed.

Well I was so enticed by Rachel's Fuwa Fuwa Soy Milk Cakey that erm... I decided to go ahead and try it anyways.

I followed the receipe to a T, right down to the dish towels pseudo water bath. The only two things wrong was that

1) I didn't ascertain if my oven gauge is at the exact temperature required

2) I didn't run out to get a baking tin 12cm in diameter (used a 16cm one instead)

I should be too ashamed to show pics of this particular flop, but well... that's the beauty of the internet. No one really knows who I am so here it is:



As you can see, the poor thing didn't even rise above 2cm. The bottom of the cake was still semi-wet and felt more steamed moist then moist cakey. Obviously with such a bad combination, I was unable to taste the lightness of the cake as Rachel had indicated.

I did this 4 times (since I had a 250gm slab of cream cheese). Results:
Cakey 1) Too sweet, too soggy
Cakey 2) Still Soggy
Cakey 3) Baked without water bath or wet dish towels, same results
Cakey 4) Added Matcha but I guess 3/4 tsp was too little to taste

Sorry Rachel, I will endeavour to do your receipe proud again some day, but right now, it is just my "Fuwa Fuwa Fwah! Fail" cake.

Sakura... Sakura... *Clap Clap*

I have been yearning for the past couple of days for the taste of Sakura. Not so much that I even knew what the taste was, but more like I wanted to know what it really tasted like.

So I was meandering around yet another Japanese Supermarket when I came across a Japanese Snack Counter. Springing from the escalator to the snack counter, I spotted pinkish concoctions and hoped fervently that these were the Sakura Mochi / Daifuku I had heard so much about. True enough, "Christmas" came early this year!

To be frank, ever since I came across the holy grail of a Japanese flog (Food Blogging) called Obachan's Kitchen and Balcony Garden written by a true blue Japanese lady with Western influences, I was awe-struck.

My salivation was dripping onto the floors whilst I read her flog on Sakura Mushipan and Matcha Swirl Bread, especially the entry where she described the taste of the salted distinct taste of the Sakura leaf she was tricked into eating by her nana.

Anyways, perhaps it is my age now, but after trying the Sakura leaf, I think I understand what she meant when she said she hated it as a child, but has now grown to savour the sharp contrast of the salty taste leaves, against the sweetness of the mochi. I loved the taste of the salty contrast against the sweetness that was rolling around on my tongue, so much so that I even contemplated eating the little nobby stem of the Sakura leave.

In retrospect, I didn't taste the Sakura as much as smelled the slightly cloying sweet scent of the flower. I didn't taste much of Sakura in the mochi either, but I guess since I smoke, subtle taste may sometimes be lost on my tastebuds (almost same thing with tasting Osmanthus flowers for the first time, it was more of a non-distinct honeyed taste and no smell kinda experience).

Nevertheless, I am thankful to Obachan's flog, for allowing me to have at least tasted what Sakura is all about. I know now I am more of a Sakura leaf cruncher than a flower eater.

My Current Country of Crave: Japan

My current country of craving?
Japan! Actually it all started when I got introduced into the world of Anime. Don't get me wrong, I used to be like you sniggering at the "loser" adults who spend most of their time watching animes and proclaiming it to be their first love. In fact, I couldn't even understand what animes were all about.... they are cartoons aren't they?

However, after a particularly stressful phase in life, I decided to bore my brains into pure and unadulterated boredom by watching Anime. I am a closet Anime fan.

Along with Japanese Anime, I got intrigued by the world of Japanese food, culture and language. Hence, I was shopping in a Japanese Supermarket one day, sussing ingredients for Mochi and a Cheesecake, when I came across this little purse lookalike with a little tingly bell attached.

I coerced my best buddy who was trudging along grudgingly, to get this for me as her relocation present to me. The irony is that she's the one relocating to join her husband in Kazakhstan in another couple of months.

I decided that as my very first flog, I am going to post this cute little purse as a commitment to my current Japanese crave and as a tribute of the going away buddy.