Devilishly Moist Chocolate Cake ..... I Am A Baker!

Hi ya peeps! I just realised that it has been almost 2 months since I last updated my blog! urgghhh! Yes, I have been busy, very very busy! Things move in flashes when you work on your own! I am not complaining, but I realise that you achieve more when working on your own....baking ...the baking business is doing fine alhamdulillah....Mondays were usually my rest days, but I have busted that the past 3 weeks. Otherwise baking, err work starts on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and a bit on Sundays. I usually go out on Mondays, have lunches with my friends and stock up ingredients.

Have I become a millionaire!? Nope, but I am definitely happy now, I don't have to think to say that...Do I worry about my income...yeah a little bit, just a little bit, I put all faith on Him!....and the other best part is most of my customers become my friends...what more can you ask!?

I check my messages on Mondays too! But, of late I have not been trying new recipes, well, I have tried a few recipes but have not had the time to update them here. I have started my classes in September, there will be no classes in October, but there will be classes in November....hopefully in my new premise which I will be renting. Renovation works are now on the way.....and I can't wait to release new modules. It will be easier when I could decide on the timing and venue!

I have not resumed my mengaji classes since we left for raya puasa, the kenits Hajar and Muhammad have been down with chicken pox, so they were at home with me, and I was grounded!

Anyway...here's the recipe that I made in Ayer Baloi...please excuse the pictures, we couldn't wait till the ganache sets before we dug into the cake....it was super delicious....and I used Van Houten cocoa and blocks and some herscheys dark chocolate in the ganache. So, no excuses for not trying this recipe....

Ingredients the recipe belongs to Tish Boyle!

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cups cocoa powder
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 2/3 granulated sugar
1/3 cup (80 ml) corn oil
2 large eggs
1/3 cup (80 ml) milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup(240 ml) boiling water

Method

Preheat your oven at 165C, prepare 3 9 inches round cake tins...I used a casserole bowl.
Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda , salt into a mixing bowl. Mix them on  low speed till well mixed. Add sugar. Add oil and mix on low speed till the mixture become crumbly. in a separate bowl mix eggs, milk and vanilla...add this mixture into the dry mixture until well blended. Still on low speed slowly pour boiling water, and scraping down the mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared pans.

Bake for about 40 minutes, let cool. and garnish with chocolate ganache.

For my chocolate ganache I boil 200g dairy whipping cream (at least 30% fat content) and pourt onto 200g dark chocolates. Set it to the consistency you wish, I just poured mine right away on the cake.

Enjoy enjoy enjoy!

Nite peeps...my work this week begins tomorrow! Have a brilliant week!

Faith Food Fashion....Post Ramadhan....

Hi yaa peeps...it's almost a week when we first celebrated Eidul Fitri, and we are still celebrating. The mood is still strong, especially for the Johorian, I must say.

For me, since hubs and I have the luxury of choosing our off days, hubs have decided that we spent more time together in Pontian, Ayer Baloi....but I do not wish to blog about that apart from the new swimming pool that hubs constructed behind the old rumah pusaka. It was a dream came true for him!

I wanted to reminisce on what I have or not achieved during my Madrasah Ramadhan experience....I have done more Terawikhs than I have ever done before all in solitude...at the wee hours of the morning...it was an experience that I pray I live long enough to do it again (better) next Ramadhan....I have done more solat sunats than I have ever done before , too! And the serenity and calmness....only you and the Almighty knows. I also did my first ever Solat Tasbeeh...syukur for this with Ustazah Fatma... but I only got to verse 44 AlBaqarah ....blergh...I must continue with my Quran reading......

...so...post Ramadhan, I will continue with my Quran reading and possibly join the Quran reading classes on Monday till Wenesday in Surau Bukit Mulia, inshaallah....

...Ramadhan this year was also the first month I was salary -less....did I peep into my account...no....I just left to Him to determine and make sure that I have enough...and Alhamdulillah I had more than enough even though baking frenzy was only during the last weekend before Syawal....so total submission is really the way to go folks!

I must also say that I have been blessed that I have met more people of the flocks that I wanted to be (not that I do not want to be with you...)...it's all in the doa....

...and now, what about food and fashion...I really think they are similar but of different nature...food evolve and change like fashion...people talk about food as much as they talk about fashion...right! People don't just talk about dinner or coffee...much like fashion, people talk about the producers, the craftsmanship, the ingredients, the style....Look at how Butter Cake evolved into Victoria Sandwich Cake...and from a simple cake sandwiched with preserves, I have added buttercream and fresh fruits! Food is not all about the same flavours and tastes and colours....with styling, one needs to do contrasts and mix and match...ohh....I so love this area...a new repertoir in my menu and it is so fun to do! I am a sanguine, I need to be happy, to evolve and change you see......and the result...you will see a great combination of flavors and colors! Inshallah... 

....and I'm one couldn't help notice my obsession with this blue lens aviator, hehe...love it! We need to evolve like food and fashion!

So...Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri, Maaf Zahir dan Batin.....

xoxo Yani thekitchenguardian

Cold Wordless Monday...Butterscotch Strawberry Crepes

....as if I were in Aber...

picture from google

...Aberystwyth, view from Constitutional Hill, we would climb this hill on Sundays when the sun is out....

...kept on playing this song during my last few weeks in Aber, it was my final exam week, papers Tax and Company Law.....toughest for me....

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...at the other side of the world I made strawberry and butterscotch crepe for breakfast yesterday...

To make the crepe, recipe I tweaked from Donna Hay's November 2012 issue

Ingredients - Crepe

1 cup flour sifted, mix with

2 tbsp sugar

in a separate bowl whisk 4 eggs with 1 cup milk and 1 cup single cream

whisk the liquid mixture into the flour mixture

let the mixture rest for 20 mins

fry on a non stick pan 1/4 cup mixture

To make the butterscotch sauce

Ingredients - Butterscotch sauce

melt 150g brown sugar,add 100ml double cream and 1 tbsp butter, I added a pinch of salt, too

Voila!

xoxo Yani thekitchenguardian

Jom Buat Roti Jala!

I'm pressed for time, so this post is going to be a 'rojak' of some sort!

We went back to Ayer Baloi last weekend, after the photography workshop and the little ones' Lorna's classes. Got in Ayer Baloi at around 10 pm, unpacked and made a batch of macarons! From the last bake I still have not got it right with the oven there! Slept at 1...and the next day I baked some more!

While in Ayer Baloi, there is no need to cook, the food from the warungs are so good and reasonably priced! But I made Sambal Bilis with Belimbing Buloh on Monday as requested by MIL. ...and while I was hovering in this rm2 shop in pekan Ayer Baloi, I saw this mold to make Roti Jala! 

I searched for Mat Gebu's recipe, and made Roti Jala on Tuesday for breakfast. We left for KL at noon! 

Ingredients
1 cup APF
3/4 cups water
1/2 cup fresh milk, I used evaporated milk, didn't have any fresh milk at that time
2-3 drops yellow colouring
1 egg
3 tbsp melted butter or olive oil, I used butter
pinch of salt

Method
Using a blender I blitz all the ingredients together, and started my kirai mengirai!

Tqs Mat Gebu for this recipe. Now I can say that I like Roti Jala, as so far I have never been satisfied with those that I bought. And I must add that making this kueh tradisional is not easy. I had to tweak the consistency of the batter by adding a bit more water...and at the end of the whole session, my kitchen tops were full of those dots from the batter! Haha, but it was well worth making especially when having them with Chicken Curry!

...and the other activities....

Life's a beach in Ayer Baloi!...from Donna Hay's latest issue!

...errr giving my hand at food styling, LOL!

Making my favourite macarons, Coffee Macarons using Illy Espresso Powder! I like!

I also made shells in orange, pink and green! 

Sloppy Muhammad!

Hubs wanted Pavlova and......errr look at the error, the shadow on the bowl...cewah after attending that class, I can comment!

and Rainbow Cake ...and cupcakes for Hajar!

Sandwiched with Blueberry Filling, sedap! ...angkat bakul sendiri is fun!

Roast Chicken for dinner!

Yusof's favourite...Sambal Kicap! Pound using a mortar and pestle 2 clove garlic, 5 birds eye cillies, 1 tsp salt, 2 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tbsp fried onions (if available), squeeze some lemon or lime and mix with some soya sauce! I used Habhal's Sweet Soya Sauce! We had this with Cencaru Bakar!

We munched Mee Siput with Sos Cili...a lot!

...so, that's it and I delivered this macarons this morning for AHA and Syed! Passion Fruit, Coffee, Blackcurrent, Apple Cinnamon and Milo Cheese filling! 

Have a wonderful weekend! I'll be busy baking! :p

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!