Goodbye 2011, Welcome 2012!

Some bakes and cakes that I made in the last 2 weeks. Tq beautiful people!

It felt like yesterday we breathed into 2011, now we are almost hopping into 2012. I have achieved lots this year, but there have also been loads of setbacks! Am happy and grateful for both!

Think I have done so much baking this year that I could ever imagined...and making macarons has become a don't sweat the small stuff thingy! Sure I still make volcanoes instead of happy feet, but I think I have mastered a few tricks! haha!

The thing that I cherish so much this year would be the friendship that I made with fellow bakers via the net...technology rocks ok!And no one can take that away!

I will pen down my goals for 2012, but I would be leaving my oven to chill in the entire month of January, except for several confirmed orders! So...Happy New Year 2012 you alls, live healthy and productive!Muaaahhhsss!!

That Joie De Vivre

You know I was talking about our Ayer Baloi abode....we decided to drive back last Saturday, after attending a dear friend's nephew's wedding reception... Dr Wafiy is no longer a chubby boy I use to know, he's now married!!

The reception was in Kak Nabilla's house in Shah Alam, and boy, what a traffic we had to drive through before we got to the gates of that joie de vivre....5 hours instead of the usual 3 hours (max)! Luckilly it was drizzling and raining intermitently...so the weather was cool, and the little ones Hajar and Muhammad were sleeping throughtout the journey....I too, slept!

Once we arrived, I unloaded my stuff...err err baking stuff, cleaned the kitchen, while hubs and fil went to get some Tomyam and Fried Rice from our usual gerai tomyam...I didn't do any baking till the next day!

I had baked Rima's Black Forest Cake the night before, so, after breakfast on Sunday, I decided to prep and finish assembling that cake. I call this cake shabby messy cake....I didn't have a spatula to do the topping nicely, but, this cake was divine. It was very different from my memory of the Black Forest Cake that I had from Batu Pahat, those days...the taste was real! Sour and a tad bitter, but nice!

...and we had this for supper and breakfast and lunch! A Berries Tart that I ordered from the wonderful bubbly http://4cakesinacup.com/ Sherina! Well, the tart was supposed to last till the bbq on Sunday, but hey who could resist...even fil was asking for more!

I made this Butterscotch Congo Bars, which was a bit dry, I left it in the oven a tad too long!

...and made this Cream Cheese and Lychee macarons! Heavenly!

Khadijah preparing garlic bread!

Ann and Izul, on the night of the bbq!

Hmm...special guests!  Cik Min!...and her family decided to drop by.....also Dianne, another food blogger whose inlaws are from Benut! They really made my day! We ate and we yacked till almost midnight!

After the bbq!

New wooden windows! I thought the works in progress were only in the kitchen...nah...they are all over the house!

Vintage mirror from Rengit!

Clockwise, Ketupat Nasi, Lepat Loi and Burasak....bought this for dinner on Monday...the food there was so good, so much so I was always hesitant to cook, they were better off bought from the warungs and they were cheap too!

We left that joie de vivre at around 5.30 am on Tuesday, arrived at 8am, I filled this macarons and left for office! Cinnamon Coffee Macaronswith Salted Caramel and Lemon Zest with Lemon Black Pepper Ganache, made for The Dessert Table's photoshoot and their appearance in Rasa Magazine in March! tqs Farida! 

I want to go back to that joie de vivre! That's all I can say!

Sugar Buns

Hi you alls! It's the time of the year that people let their hair down and chill and relax! I, on the other hand will only be going for a holiday with my hubs in January! I have busted my leaves, but driving to work when a lot of people are on holiday, means there is less traffic!

I have not been trying new recipes lately, been pretty occupied with my orders...and been having visitors at home. But last Saturday, I made this Sweet Buns...well, I call this Roti Naik! According to Rina who has kindly shared this recipe, you can use this basic recipe to make just about any kind of bread that you wish.

So, I decided to make Sugar Buns...the kind that I like to get from any bakery. I started making this after breakfast while piping some macaron shells, and the buns were ready in time for tea! 

Ingredients

200g bread flour

100g plain flour

6g instant yeast

55g sugar

140g milk

1 egg

1/2 tsp salt

45g butter

1/2 tsp bread improver

Method

Well, this was how I made them...I didn't print instruction that Rina gave me!

Warm milk, sugar, salt and butter on medium fire just to get the butter to melt, stir the mixture and add dry yeast. Add the bread improver. Cover with a cling film and let it rest for about 15 minutes or until the mixture becomes frothy.

In the mean time, in a large bowl mix the flours together and break an egg. When the milk mixture is lukewarm, add the mixture into the flour mix and knead the dough becomes springy. Cover with cling film and let is rest for about 45 minutes or the dough has doubled in size.

Punch down, and I divided the dough into small portions, lightly knead with butter and made them round balls, place in an 7 inch cake tin, sprinkle some sugar, let it rest until they rise a bit. Bake at 170C for about 25 minutes!

Heheh! This is Rina's method!

1.Combine all ingredients in a mixer, except the butter.

2.Beat at medium speed until a dough is formed, and then add in butter.

3.Continue to knead until an elastic dough is formed.

4.Cover the dough and let it proof for 45-60- minutes.

5.Flatten the dough on a lightly floured surface.

6.Divide the dough into about 55g each portion and rest for another 10 minutes.

7.Shape into round balls and arrange on a greased baking tray.

8.Cover and leave to rise for 45 minutes until doubled in size.

9.Bake in a prehaeted oven at 190C. 

Voila! There you have Sugar Buns! Easy peasy and definitely they are nicer than store-bought ones!

I have some pictures my recent bakes and macarons, they are still sitting in my memory card, not so rajin to down load, so enjoy this collage of some of the macarons that I have made so far! Enjoy :p

Fairy Cakes!

....think by now you would have guessed that I simply love Butter or Vanilla, Victoria Sandwich Cakes or simply Fairy Cakes...they are all variations of Butter Cakes! They are dead simple to make, the kind that you can whip after dinner and enjoy soon after, and most of all they are not pretentious, plain yet not boring! 

I made this sometime last week, didn't have time to try a more complicated recipe as I was busy making macarons...well, they were not that many macarons, but enough to occupy my nights before I hit my sack!

I took this recipe from Nigella's How To Be  A Domestic Goddess book, but I use a different recipe for my Vanilla or Butter Cake orders. This recipe is for those who are in a rush, as you can simply throw all the ingredients in the mixer or blender...I have a friend who uses a blender to make this dainty cakes, or like me I like to whip them using my old wooden spatula!

Ingredients

250g butter, soft

250 sugar

250 self raising flour

4 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 or 3 tbsp milk

a pinch of salt, I added

Method

If using a food processor, just dump all the ingredients and whisk at medium speed until the batter is creamy and all the ingredients are incorporated. Do not overbeat or you'll work the protein in the flour and the cake will be "liat"!

Otherwise, like me who used the traditional me method, cream the butter and sugar and vanilla, add eggs one by one ( I dont usually beat the eggs vigorously at this stage, too much bubble will create too much air in your cake, hence, a dry cake!), add sifted self raising flour in 3 additions and last add the milk. 

Bake at 160C for about 20 minutes, if baked in this cute paper cups, or longer if baked in loaf tin.

Here's some scenes in Ayer Baloi, hub's cousin's wife's side came to bersanggar on the way to the pengatin lelaki's house!

 

Guess whose toes are these!!??

The bikes that accompany the pengantins!

A normal scene in the kitchen (almost done!) That weekend I spent about 70% of my time apart from my sleeping time here!

Khadijah on the new deck that is still w.i.p!

Mak Arah's Nasi Lemak breakfast on Sunday before we returned to KL! Her Sambal Bilis is da best! 

I made some macarons last week, and no cakes!

Some of the macarons that I made for kenduri aqiqah, thank you Azrina!

...and this were some macarons for The Dessert Table's kenduri doa selamat, thank you Farida! Last week's macaron fillings were, Macadamia Brittle with Caramel, Salty Peanut Butter, Cookie Dough Buttercream, Raspberry White Choc Ganache and Passion Fruit White Choc Ganache!

Have a nice weekend you alls, I will be busy preparing for next week's bakes this weekend and next week as most orders are for gifts for friends and relatives celebrating X'mas!