Baking List.

These are some of what I intend to do this year. Hehe.

Banoffee Pie

Blueberry cheesecake

Cream caramel

Macarons

Rainbow cake

Whoopie Pie

Choc fudge brownies

Cream puffs

Now, tell me you're salivating. LOL.

* All images are from Google.com

Tiramisu.

I always end up baking/doing something which I don't intend to in the first place. Initially wanted to bake blueberry cheesecake but felt like having something which was coffee based hence came tiramisu. Honestly I did it in a jiffy, less than 30 minutes and I swear and not to brag or anything but this baking sesh was the easiest yet the tastiest thing I've made so far. I myself was caught by surprise that it turned out awesome! Lol.

To the next thing that comes abruptly,
Bakerella wannabe xx

Ps: still missing Bibik :(

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting & Pizza Pavlova.

What I baked last Sunday for our family tea *wink* Although the merengue didn't turn out to be exactly how it should be, everyone seemed to love it! Instead of it being crispy and flaky, it was a lil bit chewy. I found out that I didn't whisk the batter long enough but I guess this is one of the ways to creativitize (if there is such a word) pavlovas - hence, I came up with 'Pizza Pavlova' lol :) And after having learned the actual way from an expert - my personal teacher, Aunty Lolo, I will try again soon. Hopefully the next time my pavlova will look and taste better!

As for the red velvet cupcakes, alhamdulillah, it tastes just precisely how it should taste! So proud of myself please haha. It's my second time baking them (first was for the bridal shower) and this time, I reduced the quantity of sugar for my cream cheese frosting. Some say it's still tad too sweet, some say it's just fine but I prefer to lessen the sugar. Not good lah manis manis. Hehe.

Next recipe on my to-bake list is blueberry cheesecake. Wee!

*Ps#1: I'm so sorry, I know I promised to blog on the Bridal Shower. I've been awfully occupied. Will do that pronto ya!

*Ps#2: Do vote for my sister - Zuhairah Zahir (#5) for CLEO Cover Girl Search. Grab the April issue, cast your vote(s) and drop them at any DKNY store nearest to you. Would be very happy if you guys help! :D

Ice Cream Cuppies!

Last weekend I finally baked the long awaited ice cream cone vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting and hidden chocolate buttons in the cone!! Trust me I was excited to the core doing this! Actually I was asked by my bestgirlfriends (BGF) to bake a cake for Dot's karaoke bday party, but instead of baking a cake, I decided to make cupcakes, but I wanted it to be slightly different. It was my first experience baking cuppies and making buttercream frosting therefore I should give myself a pat on my back! :D I also received orders for victoria sandwich and apple crumble and little miss adek (my super cute niece) helped me baked them. You should hear her say the word 'crumble' - the thought of it makes me smile alreadyyyy :)) So feast your eyes ladies and gents!

This weekend's baking sesh will be for someone special - my husband for his 26th birthday. Can't wait! ♥

Victoria Sandwich.

Now, who wants to taste a piece of my jam and cream Victoria Sandwich? :)

Moist Chocolate Cake.

I did it! Double layer moist chocolate cake with bittersweet chocolate ganache! *jumps of joy*

Last night we went to Lala Chong, Ara Damansara for my best friends' bday dinner. Usually, we'd go to fancy places but Dot (of PLT) and I decided that we should venture out and go for something simple albeit with very good food so we were torn between two - Fatty Crab or Lala Chong. Since Lala Chong offers more option as compared to the former, we decided on Chong's.

If you've been there, tell me that you go back with a hugeeeee and happy tummy cause I know I sure did :) We ordered lala masak sup with cili padi, fried kailan, chicken with spicy lemon sauce, another type of chicken dish, crab (alamak, I don't remember what was the exact name) and not forgetting the sole reason of why I love coming to Lala Chong - the fried man tao! It's really good, I can bet you on this.

Anyways, instead of buying them a cake and/or presents, I decided to bake a cake for them. This time, I finally tried to make chocolate cake. All this while, I always have this feeling that it's not that easy to bake chocolate cake - being that the ingredients are quite a number and people's expectation of a chocolate cake is that it MUST be good. But with a bismillah, I faced the challenge! I was anxious at the fact that the cake is actually for someone, or rather some people so of course lah nervous gila.

So when the time for cake cutting came, I was already being all apologetic and putting up my disclaimers etc but ... they loved it! They even complimented that it tasted like the reputed Jenny Hong's moist chocolate cake. Boyy, I was relieved or what! Hehe. Legaaaaa! I must thank all of the people who gave me the baking tips cause this time I really did it according to the mistakes I've learned and the tips I received. Thanks dears!

I'm now a more confident bakerella in the making and in fact, mom said .. "If you're really serious in baking, I'd get the Kitchen Aid mixer for you." OMG GILA TAK NAK SERIOUS? "Serious ma? Serious, serious! Nak pleaseeeee!" Hopefully this hobby will make a good outcome for me, insya Allah. Maybe I'll try baking cheesecake or red velvet cake next. So many recipes to try out but I believe that we have to master the basics first then venture into a more advanced level :) Wish me luck!

And to Nurul and Sakinah, happy 26th birthday again. May Allah shower you with His Grace and may you achieve success in everything that you do. Love you both xx

Spaghetti Bolognese.

C'mon, I can't just be baking and not cooking right?

Hence, not so recently - in fact before all the baking hype started, I cooked spaghetti bolognese for my family - my own and in laws. It was one of the days that I was on medical leave but I felt like eating spags for dinner that I asked my husband to get all the stuff for me to cook.

As he got back from work, I began cooking. Well, this type of bolognese is not your typical spaghetti bolognese that you eat at the restaurants but rather, it is a family own recipe. I don't use oregano or that range of spices but instead I just used tomatoes, chilly and tomato sauces, tomato puree, tomato soup, chilly powder, a little bit of salt, added with celery, carrots, button mushrooms, and sprinkled cheese in the gravy. Not forgetting, the whole load of mince meat (this isn't the proper recipe guys).

Once it was ready, I served them hot, topped with shredded cheddar cheese and voila! Bon appetit!

Now, did I just strike your hunger pang hard? Peace!

* But I should really get started with Malay dishes. Bibik nak balik dah! Uwaa!

Butter Cake.

Right. I know I said I was going to write about me in the next post (i.e. this post) but I have so much to share that I decided to kiv that and write about something else here.

This might bore you non-food lovers but just to tell you that I did bake the butter cake I told you about!

Honestly speaking, the cake was awesome! Not to brag or anything but the taste was absolutely right - sweet enough to tickle your taste buds, it was fluffy and moist. Though the cake cracked again (yes, I know I wasn't supposed to pour the entire batter into the tin and have learned my lesson to lower the temperature once the batter is in the oven), it didn't ruin the taste.

So to cover up the cake a lil - since I didn't quite like the brown top, I dusted icing sugar and voila, my very own butter cake!

I can't wait for my next baking session. I intend to make either moist chocolate cake with chocolate ganache or victoria sandwich.

If you have any baking tips, do let me know! I'm more than happy to hear some! xx

Banana Cake.

So last week I checked off one item on the baking list. I baked banana cake!

Not to boast or anything but I think it tasted quite good *phew* (although the cake cracked much). My cousin and husband - being huge fans of banana cakes, became my very own food critiques and they too confirmed to what I tasted. It was "sedappp" as said by them. In fact, Hashley ate most of it. Hehe. Thanks for being such a good sport Say :)

Maybe I'll try to bake butter cake next. Once I've mastered this, cupcakes will follow suit. Wee.

Signing off,

Bakerella :p