Cakes 101 (for me at least)

Dan, teringin jugak nak bake best macam The Kitchen Guardian. So I did these.

First up, the Victoria Sandwich cake.

Tak berapa jadi; hahah. Got confused over the french-butter (!) measurement. And then also got the meringue butter cream wrong (the meringue turned to scrambled egg whites..) And had to redo that. Dan terlupa pulak letak fresh strawberries on top.

Namun, anak2 kata sedap (they are my #1 fans after all). Dah pesan kat semua orang suruh bawak sorang sikit pergi ofis. But turned out there isnt enough to give away pun. Habis disapu dek my fan club.. What a bless.

And brownies. As taught, I bakes these in two separate pans. The first was what can I say? Sedap nye.. The second was undercooked and when I baked some more it turned out somewhat crispy!

Namun, we took it up a notch and served it with ice cream. Decadent of course. Tapi takut nanti jadi macam Americans makan dessert tak sedar alam.

I am thinking of making the devil's choc cake this weekend. InsyaaAllah. Must keep the inspiration rolling, people!

Have the greatest weekend.




~ xoxo

So Sedaaapp

Let's talk about inspirations.

What inspires you? A book? Some smart person you met maybe. Or a new experience. Travelling. Or people who are really passionate about what they do?

Personally for me all the above, I think.

I was at The Kitchen Guardian class the other day. Sangat2 seronok (I was going to type teruja.. macam skema lah pulak). Thank you Yati for organizing. Maybe I should say thank you KTTM.

Kek dia punya lah sedap nye. We did devil's food cake and sandwich cake. Sedap. Brownies pun buat; tapi saya rasa brownies saya pun sedap.. haha. Boleh challenge la brownies cikgu!

And of course I have photos ~

Hobi cikgu adalah baking dan photography. Belajar dengan Saiful Nang lagi.. She is really good in what she does. That I must say (I posted this photo and Ilyas said, mama buat yang mana? haha. Tak tahu semua cikgu yang masak. Kami tengok dan tangkap gambar / ambil video je. Hopefully we learnt something!)

A slice each to take home.

Brownies. FYI brownies mesti ada layer yang shiny tu. Kalau tak it'll just be like a choc cake yang tak berapa jadi..

 The strawberry and blueberry sauce was seriously sedap. It reminds me of a similar sauce I did like 20 years ago..

Dan baking studio yang sangat comel.

Yummy! Love the caramel that trickles on the sides.

Cikgu berpeluh2. Students ambik video..


Let's get baking everybody! Get inspired.





~ xoxo

Sembang-sembang

What's the next best thing to blog about other than babies, let me ask you.

My take is food. Naturally.

We were at Me'nate recently for a birthday makan2 (tapi kami tak lah makan wagyu..) Never had that place been busy like it was that night (thanks to the Azwan Ali episode I reckon). Sampai ada ofis mate pun nak ajak makan2 kat situ (me : seriously?)

Anyways. We did BR on the 31st. But found that flavors on 31st are always limited. Yang sedap2 selalunya tak ade. Kami mungkin tak nak pergi on 31st lagi. It has turned out to be a marketing scam..

Dan pleased to say we managed to visit nasi kandar ganja after all at the Yong Suan Restaurant in Ipoh. Boleh la. The tapau queue was long. But if you are eating in, you should just go ahead and get yourself a seat. Namun saya fikir masih tak boleh beat Nasi Kandar Beratur di Masjid Kapitan Keling Pulau Pinang. Ataupun mungkin saja kari Suberi di AU3!

Dan saya masih lagi mencuba untuk siapkan fotobook2 saya, although I have completed one on Hobbiton (teramat cantik, jadi yang itu yang saya terpaksa siapkan dulu!) Anyways I have too many photos. Gambar2 saya dalam tiga camera dan beberapa handphone (yang mana semuanya penuh gambar). Nak pilih gambar pun mak aiii.. weeks. But I am getting the hang of it. Wish me luck!

Dan. Saya terjumpa ~

Sural al Insaan Ayat 25 - 26; terjemahannya:

Dan sebutlah dengan lidah atau dengan hati akan nama Tuhanmu (di dalam dan di luar sembahyang), pada waktu pagi dan petang;

Dan (dengan apa keadaan pun maka) pada sebahagian dari waktu malam sujudlah kepada Tuhan (dengan mengerjakan sembahyang), dan (seboleh-bolehnya) bertasbihlah memujiNya (dengan mengerjakan sembahyang Tahajjud), pada sebahagian yang panjang dari waktu malam.



Selamat beramal dan berusaha untuk hari2 yang tiada diketahui kepayahannya. 

~ xoxo

Life's Pleasures (Itu Nikmat Allah Sebenarnya)

Jarang pagi2 saya dapat menung dan tak buat apa2. Tapi the other day I did. It felt like I cant make my bones move or do anything routine.

I have a sort of new cookbook. I was looking for a pies and quiches and stuffs-like-that cook book. Specifically one by Paul Hollywood actually, but bought this instead. Which I looove.

Eric Lanlard is based in London and had cooked for Madonna and Elton John. And has made pastries for Michel Roux. And I love his Baking Mad series on Unifi (of course. You've got to watch Unifi. Seriously.)

I love the sun that shines through the kitchen windows (oops, window actually). And Luqman made me an omelette for breakfast (which was sweet of him. He makes the best oozing cheese omelette in the house in fact).

And then decided to make this Seafood and Potato Pie for dinner (click on the recipe for a larger view). It looked yummy. I had to make do with what I have in the fridge. Smoked haddock? Dont know what that tastes like. Scallops? The fresh ones are much too expensive and the frozen ones tastes like rubber. And I gag on mussels. So I only put fresh fish and shrimps.

The pie cooking in the oven.

After. I actually forgot to get a photo before everyone dig into the pie. But it was yum, of course (is there any doubt about that? But my pie wasnt as pretty as the chef's in the photo above).

I made the pie again after this triumphant dinner. But with frozen fish this time. And what can I say? The chefs are always right. Use fresh ingredients all the time.

You should give the recipe a try.


And also. On another note.

I suppose I will love Delinn forever for saying that my life nampak tenang. Dari apa yang dibacanya di blog ini. MasyaaAllah.

Dan Alhamdulillah. Sesungguhnya Allah amat pemurah.

Dan Alhamdulillah juga Allah memberi nikmat untuk merasa cukup dengan apa yang dikurniakanNya. InsyaaAllah akan lebih bersyukur dari ini sentiasa hendaknya.

Namun. Air yang tenang blah, blah, blah.. (which sounds so cliche. Can I say something like, just because the snow on the mountain look pristine doesnt mean there wont be an avalanche, instead?) But I am sticking to my own blogging principles - no whining on-line (walaupun ada juga whines yang terlepas). Di blog ini yang baik2 saja nak diceritakan. Bukanlah bermakna hidup sayalah yang paling best seantero.

Cerita perihal kekecewaan, kekusutan, kesilapan dan kekesalan takkan ada kesudahan. Jadinye cerita2 begini biarlah disimpan diam2. Let's not air our closets in public.


Ayat 59 At Tawba

Dan (amatlah baiknya) kalau mereka berpuas hati dengan apa yang diberikan oleh Allah dan RasulNya kepada mereka, sambil mereka berkata: "Cukuplah Allah bagi kami; Allah akan memberi kepada kami dari limpah kurniaNya, demikian juga RasulNya; sesungguhnya kami sentiasa berharap kepada Allah".

Take care, darlings.





~ xoxo

Happy Weekend!

Yeay, it is Friday! It has been a very packed week.

What are your plans? We are baking sample cookies for Christmas orders! Or for any occasions, for that matter (weddings, birthdays, aqiqahs, etc etc. Just give me or Iman a call). We will attend a wedding too. And I still have beading projects that need completing and the Ar-Raheequl Makhtum to finish.

That's about it I suppose.

I am sharing photos of activities from other weekends -- barbequing! (please bear with me)

This is Ilyas at the gas bbq set. Hubs bought this particular model because - quote, nak bbq dengan arang lambat and takes too much time/effort. Yang ni senang & cepat.

This is the next bbq set we have. Hubs bought this because the gas set was too simple to use. Quote, tak ada challenge; tak ada thrill (I personally translate it as not manly enough).

This is the third bbq set we have. Hubs bought this even before he started using the second one. He bought this because -- quote, yang bulat tu kecik sangat -- yang tu kalau nak smoke boleh la..

(Me : Speechless)

Our friends thought we are the ultimate, extreme bbq fans (and I suppose they are rather correct, come to think of it. Otherwise we wouldnt have three of these things out on our front porch).

That was like a few months back. So last weekend I said to the man, if you are not using the small set you should sell it on mudah.com or somewhere. He said yes I am going to use it. When said I? Tomorrow was the comeback.

So that was sort of how we got to finally use the set last weekend.

And, these are some of the stuff we had cooked on the fire (gas and charcoal). I think the ones done on the charcoal taste much better.

And if anyone would like to have a bbq, please just invite yourselves over (but do give us advanced notice). We can have anything from sirloin to salmon, chicken and sausages and anything in between including prawns, calamari, kerang and burgers. There can be potatoes, corn and pineapples on the side.

We have got them all (please take me seriously!)

And if you are looking for a bbq set yourself, try finding it at Ace. The bigger outlets will be your best bet. Maybe at IPC or Publika. High end bbq sets at Bangsar Village and IPC look like real killers too (if you are willing to depart that much cash for them). Happy bbq-ing.






~ xoxo

Pizza-licious (Talk About Being Inspired!)

So I came back from Tim's Teapot Terrace thinking I must make (even) better lasagna. Learn how to make a decent chicken pie and a killer quiche.

And ended up making pizza instead today.. (there was co-incidently, this great show on pizza on AFC today).

Anyway. I blew the dust off my Jaime's Naked Chef cookbook and rolled up my sleeves for the dough. According to the recipe you must knead the dough for 5 mins. That might not be long if you are watching tv or on the phone, but 5 mins of kneading is one serious workout. Dah letih baru teringat my KMix actually has a hook that can knead dough for me (humpfh!) I will use that next time.

These days I only use plum tomatoes in my sauce. They make a whole world of difference, trust me.

I said, you look like you've got some muscles, please can you punch down the dough for me (the second time around)?

See how beautiful the dough look? I was pretty impressed myself.

And I have to have lots of mushroom on my pizza.

And olives for hubs (I seriously need to learn to love olives). Why oh why didnt I get those pitted ones?)

And anything with tomatoes has got to have fresh basil (from the garden - not that I have a garden come to think of it) on it these days.

Voilà! (But. Pssst - you can tell I have a problem with the oven from the uneven color of the baked cheese)

Anak2 kata sedap (I put lots and lots of cheese, salami and pineapple for them, mesti lah sedap). Personally I dont think I can serve this to any guests yet.

So no recipe at this point. Nanti saya pandai then I will share.

So what's your inspiration these days?





~ xoxo

Chill Out

Kata Aida dalam whatsapp, you must go have dessert at this place in Melawati. Tim's Teapot Terrace Cafe.

I thought I have not seen this place before. It is not on FB (well not exactly).. Setelah mencari2 dan bertanya, kata Zuf it's somewhere in the Damai Hospital area, on the smaller lorong. Hmm.. saya mencari lalu terjumpa. And made reservations for dinner.

The place is small; the back half of the Teratai Sari home furnishing shop. On the same row with Damai Hospital. So yes, you park on the street behind the hospital.

But it is so pretty. Tiny teapots adorn the shelves. The lighting was perfect. There was in fact, nothing to fault with on the ID.

 Love the pomegranate and orange tea that was served in colorful matching teapot and cup (drinking tea has never been this enjoyable in fact. I need to get pretty tea sets like this).

We love the quiche (sedap like it just melts in your mouth); chicken pie and lasagna (and here I am thinking my lasagna is sort of unbeatable..!)

 Beautiful decorated place (all teapot-themed. Love).

And I simply adore the way dessert was displayed. On various interesting cake stands. There was chocolate nutella cake, red velvet, trifle, dan lain2.

They only have the drinks menu. Seem like the food was cooked on whatever the chef felt like serving for the day (or so I think).

But whatever it is, you must come here and have a feel of the place. The food was quite good, and the ambiance even better. You might want to make reservations first (as seats are rather limited).

I came away thinking this is how I'd like to cook (talk about inspirations!).





~ xoxo