English Tea and American Delight

It has been almost 2 weeks since I last baked, I closed all orders on 28.6.2009. Been having contractions, more intense and closer, but the signs that I have been waiting for has yet to make their appearances...bila oh bila!!??

In the mean time, the pressure to bake is mounting...and the kids and hubby also have been complaining that they miss the little cuppies.....so, last weekend, I did as planned i.e. wiped my kitchen and kitchen cabinets, washed the toilets.....hah...legaaa, baru nampak rupa! Somehow, I could still find those corners missed or sengaja ignored by my maid...that was Saturday.

Sunday, I prepared the baby's stuff, cot and cleaned up the mess in my room and the boys' wardrobe.....still not quite done with my room, there are still books and papers strewn everywhere! Err, I don't mean to exaggerate, but think I have more books than bajus, ha ha!!

So, after all that cleaning up, I went down to cook up something in my kitchen......Great Chocolate Chip Cookies, the recipe I bumped into while blog-hopping...it's the soft type cookie which is best to dunk in your milk! So, here's the recipe:

Great Chocolate Chip Cookie

100g granulated sugar

120g light brown sugar

115g unsalted butter, I used tatura salted and tambah a pinch of salt lagi!!!sedaap...lagi lemak!

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp baking soda

200g plain flour

200g semisweet choc chip, I used Herscheys! Yum!

130g walnuts or pecans, I used macadamia...tu je yang ada dalam dapur I!

Cream the sugars and butter until smooth, add in the egg and vanilla extract. Later, fold in flour and soda mix. Last, fold in choc chips and nuts. Using 2 tbsp, scoop the batter to form a ball, place about 5 cm apart on baking tray sprayed wt baking spray (senang kerja for me!), bake in 130 degrees Celsius (my ovenlah)...pas tu apa lagi....makanlah!!!

Then....yesterday pulak, I decided to bake Victoria Sandwich Cake for hubby...he's been harping about it this whole pregnancy...and guess what? Yesterday, he bought a slice from Harrod's foodhall KLCC, which cost a megabomb of RM15 per slice, only to taste an English version of kek gulung with strawberry jam in between, kwang kwang kwang......point to note...sapa sapa yang ada hati kat my hubby, better pass ujian his taste bud Beryani Udang and this Victoria Sandwich Cake...but anyone who wants to berguru with me is more than welcome, ha ha!!!

So, here goes the recipe, which originals were from MIL and Madam Nigella, which I have tweaked a bit, playing around with milk and golden syrup....

Victoria Sandwich Cake

250g butter, leave soft, I used tatura
250g caster sugar, I used 220g because I added golden syrup
5 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp golden syrup, I used Lyons, can get it from Cold Storage
2-3 tbsp milk
280g self-raising flour

Cream butter and sugar, add egg one at a time. Add in vanilla extract, golden syrup. Add in (my malas way using ms kmix!) or fold in a scoop of sifted flour and alternate milk to get a smooth batter. Pour into equal portion of batter into 2 x 21 cm shallow baking tin. You can line the tins with parchment paper, but...the lazy Yani just sprayed with baking spray. Bake at 130 degrees Celsius (Yani's oven..you should know the temperament of your darling ovens!!). Leave the cakes to cool completely, then, spread strawberry jam in between the layers of cakes, or better still sandwich with jam, fresh strawberries and fresh cream.....sprinkle the top with caster sugar....devour with hot earl grey tea....hmmm MIL lalu pun tak nampak!!!

Happy caking!!xox