WElcoME 2010!!

Time just pass so fast after my 25th birthday! So fast it scares me sometimes!COncluding the Year 2009; much has happened, some good some bad.. but most importantly I enjoyed every bit of it!

1) I got married! Preparing for a wedding is hectic but was definitely worth it!
2) I started this blog! A little space where i can share my bakes, food and happenings!
3) I graduated from NTU! Was a long 5 1/2 years for struggle. The process is definitely made more endurable by my mates in NTU!
4) Getting my house keys and renovating it! Can't wait for it to be completed in Jan 2010!
5) Ran in several runs most importantly completed 21KM in standard chartered with hubby!
6) Finally set foot on the land of the rising sun - Japan! A place where I definitely will go again.
7) Felling in love with flea markets! Not jus because of the money made but the atmosphere and company made me keep going back!

Well these are just some of the things that had happened in YR2009, I shall keep the not so good ones to myself since i would like to start YR 2010 on a lighter note. In any case, these not so good things shall be overcomed as times pass and bringing people closer... =)

So much for YR 2009 so what are my resolution for YR2010?
1) Settle down in our new home soon!
2) Start selling some of my creation - cupcakes/cakes
3) Start learning how to drive

Well, not sure these can be consider resolutions or more like wishes.. Last but not least, I sincerely wish all my readers, family and loved ones a Happy new year ahead! Good Health and Huat ah!!!!

Flea Affair @ China SQ CentRAL

This is my second flea for the YR 2009 and i am still loving it despite having to wake up early in the morning to set up the store. This time round bro and WX managed to come and support Sis and me!

Big thanks to C for this lobang! The place was good with air con and toilet just nearby.. =) I am proud to say although the crowd was not as much (so the other tendants who has been there for previous weekends said) My sis and I managed to earn the stall rental of $45 and with a nett earning of $60 over bucks.. Yay!

I met and chatted with some really nice ppl, eat tibits, talk nonsense and made good money! WX was really motivated to sell stuffs too after seeing sis and me.. and so I am happy to announce:

Our next FLEA AFFAIRE still @ China SQ Central will be on 7th MARCH 2010 Sunday Level 1B Booth 79!!!!!!! Do come and support! There are levels of different other stalls selling all sort of things!
For this March Flea, sis, WX, bro and me will be sharing selling our stuffs..so please SUPPORT!! Yay! =)

PS: For those who are interested in renting a space as well you can go to L2B of China SQ and look for Micheal and Stacy's store (right side from escalator).. they are the nice organizer of this weekend bazaar. Do note that you must rent the stall for 4 weekends straight. Total cost will be $180. I did heard from Stacy the rental may increase later on so action fast fast to get good price!!

ReCipE ReQuest

Coraine.. apologies for the long wait ... here goes the recipe for the Brownie Cheesy cake and Icing.. =p

Brownie Cheesy cake
Ingredients:
190g dark chocolate, chopped into pieces
50g butter
2 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup plain flour
1/4 cup self-raising flour

Cream Cheese layer:
90g butter
250g cream cheese
1/4 cup caster sugar
3 eggs
3 1/2 tbsp flour, sifted
2 tsp vanilla extract

Direction:
1. Grease and line a 16x16 cm square cake pan
2. Preheat oven to 180 degrees
3. Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler, set aside to cool
4. Best eggs till thick, add sugar gradually till creamy
5. Fold in sifted flour, followed by chocolate mixture until well combined
6. Spread chocolate mixture to the base of cake pan
7. Top with cream cheese filling
8. Bake for 30mins until firm. Allow to cool in cake pan.
9. Refrigerate brownie until set

Cream Cheese Filling Direction:
1. Beat butter, vanilla extract and cheese together till creamy
2. Add sugar gradually and beat till fluffy
3. Add in eggs, one at a time until it is completely combined
4. Fold in flour and mix until well blend.

Icing
Ingredients:
100g Icing sugar sifted
1 egg white ( you can replace this with powdered egg whites more hygenic and longer shelf life.)
a little bit of lemon juice.(optional)

Direction:
1. Beat the egg white roughly then add in the icing sugar
2. Add in lemon juice or other flavouring as desired at this stage.
3. Add in water/milk to adjust the mixture of the consistency as desired.
4. Add colouring to icing as desired.

ChrIstMaS Eve CeleB

Good People...Good Food... no better way to spend Christmas Eve..
I am not those kind of person who fancy to squeeze in the crowd and countdown to christmas.. Tried before and was really sweaty, no toilet, no bus home and tiring... And so .. every year the 3 of us XL, PX and I would have a small gathering to countdown and gift exchange to christmas. This year my bro, sis, WX , Mum and Dad join in the BBQ and gift exchange with exceptions to my parents.

Instead of log cake i did 8 cupcakes since i have a lot of ganache and icing left from my log cakes and Wilton class.. but ended up we were too full to eat any of them.. pity..

After the sumptous dinner, talk, gifts exhange and laughters, XL, PX and I continue our countdown and celebration at KBox @ Clementi. We joined in their countdown which includes participating in their game. XL won us 1 round free drinks and it was the first time i cannot finish my drink in KBox!

Well.. I shall not bore all of you with words.. will let the pics do the talking.. =)

ChrIstMas Bailey's LoG

This log cake was created for a christmas eve party organized by T and H. Both are long time friend of hubby and they are always the one who initiate and organizes nice parties and gatherings at their house.Which i feel requires a lot of effort and a big heart. Christmas eve is no exception. It was a pity that i could not be there as I had a BBQ with my own family and friends as well. And this made me feel even more obligated to bake something for their party. And since it was a pot luck party, I felt it is most appropriate.

For this cake, i spend the longest time in thinking what flavour to make. I did not want to stick with the conventional chocolate ganache or chantilly cream, which i felt was really boring since i can get it easily from any bakery for 20 over bucks..
And then Tiramisu came to my mind. Why not combine Tiramisu Cream with Chocolate ganache? And so I tested it out on my first trail.

My dear bro and his classmates who were having a BBQ on the weekend before christmas eve, became my testers.. hahaha.. A fun bunch of ppl to be ard with.. full of jokes and laughters. I had good reviews from them and some pointer of improvements.

With those valuable hints in mind, i made the log cake for the pot luck the day before 24th after work. I am not really satisfy with the rolling of the sponge on the second time as the timing was a bit off for the cooling procedure. But I still manage to produce the cake for my Hubby to collect the next day. I was really anxious to know whether they like the cake or not. And according to hubby, they did and i was really glad and relieve to know that. Phew! A pity is that i overlook that their kids cannot take Baileys.. hai.. if I knew, I would have make little cupcakes for thr little ones.. Till next gathering ba... =)

* Dear T & H,
Thanks soooo much for your christmas gift! I know what to do de! First one i am testing is the Green tea Tiramisu!
We have started putting 1 dollar coins in the little bear .. hope to fill it up soon! Yay!

Wilton Cake Decorating Course 1 - REvIeW

This entry will be a wrap up/summary of my 4-day Wilton Decor course. As some of you may have read from my previous entry that I have enrolled myself in a 4-day course to learn the proper techniques of cake decorating as my own self taught skill sucked big time! =p And so for the 4 Saturdays of the month of December, I spent 3hrs at BIY with a bunch of other baking enthusiast to learn decor skill from our very experience teacher Kathryn. She is really nice and patient with all of us. For those who are interested, below is the course outline. I did not really take pics for all the lesson so please bear with my limited pics of this course.. =)

1st Lesson:
Basically teacher will go through the student kit which is included in the course fee. Aside what is provided, student are also asked to buy a few more things that are being used, such as the clown head since 1 of the lesson teaches us on how to pipe clown body. You can share a pack of 6 clown heads with your classmates if you dun wan to spend too much.. that's what I did.. hiak hiak...
You will also be taught to make your own piping bag out of baking paper and also to fix the tip securly to your piping bag for easy application.
Homework will be given for you to prepare for Lesson 2 as all the hands-on will start from then.
You will be expected to bring an iced cake at least 6", you can either bake or buy ready ones from bakeries or Giant. 3 portion of buttercream icing with 3 different consistencies and colours. All icing recipes must follow the Wilton Icing recipe.

2nd Lesson:
Start practicing some patterns on the practice board. Then will be how to make a rose base. Rest of the time will be used to decorate the cake you brought with the Wilton rainbow pattern. You will be taught how to trace the pattern onto a cake before applying the icing.
Actually all the icing can be re-used and so you can save time and effort in icing prep since it can be quite tiring with all that washing... (-_-")

3rd Lesson:
This is the most relaxed day. You will be told to practice on more patterns and futher pipe the rose petal onto the base, which will eventually form a full bloom rose.. really pretty and nice. You will also learn how to pipe a clown for the lesson which are really cute and easy to make.

4th Lesson:
You will be expected to bring an 8" cake at least 3" in height for the final decoration which must include the rose pattern, shells and some other pattern at your own desire.

At the end of the lesson you will recieve a certificate! Here is Mine! hahaha...

overall i really enjoy the classes, really feels like going back to kindergarden everyone sitting at the table playing and testing out new stuffs. Although i really fread all the homeworks and washing up the ever oily buttercream icing.. which later on i found a new friend which can help me with this problem - Hot Boiling Water! Yes! super effective! Truth is the Wilton Icing is reallyyy sweet and i feel is only suitable for decorations and not ice the whole cake, which is good enough..

I have also come to know some new friends in the class with same common topic on baking and food. I have also taken pics of their creation..

* To all classmates in Wilton Course 1:
Hope we can stay in touch and join stage 2 together soon! Glad to know all of you through this course! Happy baking and hopw to see more creations in your blogs and FB soon! Yay! =) Wishing all of you a Happy New Year!

MIA - ChristMAS SeAson =)

Yea.. dear all... it has come to the time of the year.. A season of love and giving.. To me it is also the season of baking. I am busy every week with my baking Wilton COurse. A lot to prepare.. but really enoyable.I am proud to say I have learn some new tricks and techniques in cake decorating..

With the limited time, I really have no energy to make cookies for all. But I do have 2 log cakes and cupcakes to make for some special people.. I know I still owe dear coraine some resipes to be posted here.

Do give me sometime for all these updating, most prob will be doing these updating after this week when i finally have more idle time.

Before I forgot I also have a flea market going on this Sunday 27th Dec @ China Square Central Basement.. Do come see see look look if you have the time on Boxing day ! YaY!..

Last but not least do look out for my updates on all the stuffs I have been doing for the month of December. And In the meantime wishing all of you a Merry Christmas!! Muacks!...

NeW COoKie Cutters & X'MaS TrIal..

Not long ago, before i went on my holidays, I bought several cookie cutters both online and at Red Man. A combination of both Disney's chracters and also cutters for Christmas. I have decided to make Lemon zest cookies for my collegues and friends as their christmas gift.

For the trial, I tested out the cutters which i shortlisted (out of the many other cutters i bought) that I might want to give my friends as gifts. I also took this chance to try out royal icing. They were really pretty and easy to make. Just that I really need some more practice on my piping and also to practice more on obtaining the right consistency of the icing for a better application. But overall I really like what the icing effect on my cookies.. I may even use them for my cupcakes deco.. =P hehe..

And so here are the pics... Enjoy~! =)

Cheesy ChOcO BrOwnie

Proudly presenting my first bake after my holiday! This is my warm up to the major baking session i am planning to have to bake cookies for my friends and collegues for christmas!


I got this recipe from my favourite magazine - Food and Travel. Several brownies recipes were featured in the October issue and i chose this to try plainly because i love chocolate brownies! The taste is really rich.. I added in lemon to my cheesecake layer to balance the sweetness of the chocolate brownie layer, which i find it quite nice. I kinda like how this bake turns out. Not too sweet. But as usual like all brownies does, it is very filling and you cannot have much after 1 small piece. Goes really well with ice-cream too!


Bro did feedback that the cheesecake layer was not that nice with the brownie and that I should change it to another type of cheescake.. hmmm.. maybe I will try that sometime.. but personally that combi might be too thick and rich to swallow.. Will see how when I try it..

Next... My long awaited cookies... going to use my new cookie cutters.. *EXcited* =)

Back To REALity...

Yes! I am back from my 11days Backpacking Honeymoon from JAPAN.. I am exhausted but totally enjoyed myself there. It was a really good experience, especially to go with Hubby. I am totally clueless with MAPS and he is a genius with it. But of course there were arguements here and there during the trips mainly over what to buy... I am always asking for more... hehe..
Everything there is sooo nice and is really hard for me to choose... I think only for those out there who had been there can understand my feeling. We did a lot and is A LOT of walking during these 10 days to really nice shrines, temples, parks and palaces, and not forgetting Disneland and FujiQ Themepark. I totally *hearts* Mt Fuji, maybe because our pace there was the slowest and we get to enjoy hot baths and breathtaking sceneries...

Anyways, I got what i want and is happy and contented.. Thanks Lao Gong for tolerating me throughout the trip and for the wallet..

In total we spend $2700 per person without buying the JR Pass which we have contemplated for a long time whether to buy or not. Apparently it is possible to do without one. Just that a lot of planning is required. Now I am starting to save again for a probable trip in March with my galfrens.. =p

Oh well.. back to square one now.. what should I bake next? I have yet picked up my pace in training for runs... and is really lethargic to do so. I still have my new house reno to take care of.... and the list for that will go on and on and on...
How to start???!!!

Here are some pics for all to see so I can stop whining.. Enjoy~ =)

pUFFING uP A hOLIday@x@

To all my dear loyal follower.. I will be going for my honeymoon for the coming 2 weeks!! Will be back with more bakes after my long awaited rest! =)

Would love to test out my new cookie cutter when I get back! Yeah!

Cuppy Fun !

Finally! I took the time and effort to settle down and finish what i have promised. Yes .. The cupcakes...and it turn out nice and lovely.. I will definitely make them again.. and prolly reduce the cake sugar a little so that the sweetness of the whole cupcake with the sugar art and glace woule not be too overwhelming.

In all I tried 4 types of designs this time round but fail to make some buttercream due to the lack of butter in stock.. well.. maybe for my next bake.

Seriously thinking to sell these cuties officially.. what do you think?

BUZy FleA & YQ+JH = ForeVer BliSS

First.. i must confess that I was so tired after my Flea Biz and Bouquet making.. I did not make the cupcakes that i have promised... Nevertheless, I am determined to do it this weekend (plus garantee plus chop!)

Well.. this entry would not be on bakes.. then what about?? Yes.. My successful Flea Biz and Wedding Bouquet making...
As all who have followed my blog would have know that my sis, jp, hsm and I joined a major flea market organised by mediacorp radio FM95.8. I am very proud to say that it was a huge success and we made some good money!! It was really tiring at the end of the day but it was all worth it! I am still having muscle ache still till today.. Running a business is definitely not easy.. but most fulfiling...

Woke up early next day to buy freah cut flowers from the nursery to make the wedding bouquet and corsarge for YQ's ROM recept at Botanic event. For those who missed the news. On 20/09/2009, there was a 168 couples solemnizing at the Botanic Garden and one of them is YQ and JH. And they were really lucky to have the MP Mr Lim Boon Heng dropping by at their solemnization table and took a photo with them!! and of course Hubby and I were also very lucky to have witness this and most importantly the nuptial of my good fren in Uni!

Enough said .. I shall let the pictures do the talking..Enjoy =)