A snowy treat ^^

It's snowing already where my Big pig is. I miss him.

This cake is inspired by him, and his little brother, Baby pig. Baby has just been crowned the overall winner for this year's poetry slam, woot-woot! This is my interpretation of the snow-capped mountains in Missoula, Montana, in one of his winning poems. ^^

Snowy pillowy cheese cake (inspired by vivianpangkitchen, dapurcomelku, secubitgaramnor67)
1 pillowy soft cake
Cream cheese frosting (use your favorite recipe)
125g cheddar cheese, grated or shredded (white chocolate is a good idea too ^^)

1. If using a whole cake, halve the cake into 2 layers. Spread cream cheese frosting over one layer of cake. Top with the other slice of cake. Again spread cream cheese frosting all over to cover the cake.

2. Sprinkle/cover the cake all over with grated/shredded cheddar cheese.

As you can see, the cake looks nowhere like it was covered in snow, haha! This is the result of taking too many short-cuts.. and using ready-grated cheese. Don't be like me. :p

Now, had you not cheated, and had your cheese or white chocolate grated, you would have a beautiful "snow" covered cake like below ^^ Makes a wonderful festive gift for family and friends!

Well, this is as snowy as it is going to get in the tropics. ^^

Lime cotton cheesecake

I really don't know if I should call this ogura cake or cotton cheesecake.

If you look at the ingredients, it's the ratios of eggs, fat, liquid and flour of the ogura cakes I've been using lately. Now compare against a cotton cheesecake recipe, you'll probably see similar ratios too, maybe with a mix-in of corn starch, and a wee bit more fat!

It tastes the same. Not kidding. Same texture too.

Lime cotton cheesecake (recipe adapted from bisouatoi and kimmycookingpleasures)
250g cream cheese
120ml milk
45g butter
6 egg yolks
zest of 1 small lime
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp rum
65g cake flour, sifted
6 egg whites
120g caster sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1. Place a baking tray filled with water in the lowest rack and set the oven  to 180C,

2. Put cream cheese, milk and butter in a oven-proof bowl over a pot of simmering water. Whisk mixture till melted and smooth, and remove from heat. Leave to cool for about 5 minutes.

3. Add egg yolks, lime zest and juice, and rum. Mix till combined.

4. Fold in the sifted cake flour.

5. In a clean bowl, beat egg whites till foamy. Add in cream of tartar. Then mix in the sugar bit by bit. Continue beating the egg whites till thick and glossy, and stiff peaks form, around 4 minutes.

5. Fold 1/3 of the meringue into the cake mixture till well mixed. Then gently fold the rest in till combined.

6. Line the bottom of an 8-inch round or 9-inch square baking tin with grease paper. No need to grease the sides. Pour cake mixture into baking tin and give it a good tap against the counter to remove air bubbles.

7. Turn down oven to 150C, place baking tin on the 2nd lowest rack and bake for about 1 hour 15 mins (75mins), till the top is nicely browned and the skewer comes out clean.

8. Remove cake tin from oven and give it a tap against the counter. Invert cake and leave to cool. Once cooled, release cake by gently pulling the cake from the sides with your hands, or with the help of a knife. It should be removed quite easily.

As you can see, I finally decided on cotton cheesecake. The use of butter skewed it in its favor. I just hope nobody comes after me for messing up their recipes. I have put link-backs if that helps. ^^

Anyway, a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. ^^

Carrot fruit cake with lime cream cheese frosting

Next to the built-in oven that came with the apartment, my Kenwood electric mixer is the other item that gave me the most joy during my early baking days. ^^

It paved the way for an "upgraded" baking adventure and contributed greatly to my much needed post-Mum therapy in the following years. Well, time flies, and it's been 9 years since big brother and SIL (Chubby pig's papa and mama) bought it for me when they saw me working on a cheesecake mixture for 45 minutes, with a hand held electric mixer/beater. Hey, amateur mah.. 45 minutes is about right, since there's no mention how long one is supposed to beat the cream cheese! Don't laugh. ^^|||||

I first made this carrot fruit cake way back in 2006, and I remember clearly how much big brother enjoyed it and how he said "it's good enough to sell!"! ^^ Yes. That made me very happy. I think it's the first time, and probably one of those rare times ^^|| (haha!) I ever get to hear that! ^^

This cake is for him.

Carrot fruit cake (recipe from Umah Thevi, printed in the Women's Weekly, April 2006) 

250g butter

250g caster sugar (I reduced a little to 200g)

6 medium-sized eggs

1 tsp vanilla 

250g self-raising flour

150g mixed fruits

3 medium-sized carrots, grated (squeeze the juice out a little if possible)

50g hazelnuts, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 180C. 

2. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy about 3-4 minutes.

3. Add eggs one at a time and mix well. Stir in the vanilla.

4. Fold in the flour in 2-3 batches. And mix in the mixed fruits and grated carrot till well combined.

5. Pour batter into a greased 8-inch baking tin, and bake for about 40-45 minutes, or till the skewer comes out clean.

Lime cream cheese frosting (use your own favorite recipe)

250g cream cheese, softened

120-160ml whipping cream

60-80g icing sugar, sifted

some grated lime zest

1. Beat softened cream cheese for about 10 minutes till light and fluffy. Fold in icing sugar and lime zest.

2. In another bowl, beat whipping cream till light and fluffy, or stiff peaks form. Be careful not to overbeat.

3. Mix cream cheese with whipped cream gently. Chill in the fridge before frosting.

  

This isn't the usual carrot cake recipe. So don't expect a carrot cake. The carrots are barely there, just a hint here and there, amongst the fruit mix. But I like it just the way it is. ^^ 

Well, I've made it exactly as per the recipe before and it's great! So you should try this too. It really is the perfect cake to share with family and friends, no need for any frosting if you ask me. Of course, you can always give it your own twist.. like I did, but I'm just too lazy to note it down. Just think rum.. lots of rum.. ^^ ^^ ^^

I like how this cake turned out as a birthday cake with the frosting and all.. a little old fashioned, but it's oh-so delish. Just the way I like it. ^^ 

S'mores pie

I blew RM85 on a blowtorch. Crazy? Definitely.

Why would I possibly need a blowtorch? Why, to make s'mores pie, you see. Not just any s'mores pie, but one that is toasted just right with a blowtorch. Crazy? Definitely.

A week back, we had dinner at A Pie Thing, and well, Baby pig fell for their s'mores pie. Of course, I had to open my mouth and say I could do it too, oops! So you know why. By the way, the savory pies, smore's and the apple crumble pie at A Pie Thing, are really good. Their "very popular" Elvis, sadly, didn't work for me. Well, 1 "so-so" out of 6 pies we had, ain't bad at all. You might want to check the place out if you're around Damansara Utama in the evenings. ^^  

S'mores pie (inspired by what we had at A Pie Thing)
1 baked shortcrust pastry, use your favorite recipe
Chocolate ganache, use your favorite recipe
Mini marshmallows

1. Fill baked shortcrust shell with chocolate ganache till almost full.

2. Leave to set in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

3. Place mini marshmallows over chilled chocolate filling. Toast marshmallows with blowtorch or broil in the oven till it's well charred, or caramelizes. Serve immediately.

3 lines of instructions? That's it? Yup. It's really that simple a pie. More so if you have leftovers ie. chocolate ganache, and shortcrust pastry in the freezer! Half the work all done.

1st attempt, too shy with the blowtorch ~ not charred enough ^^||

Just so you know, kids love this stuff! Ok, adults too ^^. I made this today upon Baby's request for his sleepover party. I need to say this, don't be put off by the charred bits.. they are the best part! In fact, my 1st attempt using the blowtorch, I was too light handed in charring the marshmallows, which didn't feel as toasty melty enough. I made sure they were charred properly in my next attempt, and the caramelized crunchy bits are incredible! This pie is simply aawesome because of the charred caramelized bits, melty soft marshmallow, ooey goey luscious to-die-for chocolate, and of course, the flaky buttery crust!

And to make the blowtorch investment count, Baby says I just need to make more s'mores pie. Duh. ^^

Happiness is...

An unexpected gift from a dear friend. Thanks, friend ^^ I love it!

A bit of this, and a bit of that bread and butter pudding - made to satisfy a late night sweet craving ^^!

~ serves 2-3 

bread, preferably stale bread

some softened butter

1 egg

milk, enough to cover bread

sugar, to taste 

a handful of raisins

a pinch of cinnamon powder, or two

1. Butter bread slices.

2. In a bowl, beat egg, milk and sugar together,

3. Place bread into a greased baking mould, and slice/tear bread into smaller pieces to fit. Scatter raisins all over.

4. Pour egg/milk mixture and make sure the liquid covers the bread. Spread cinnamon powder evenly over the bread mixture, and leave bread to soak for 15 minutes. Don't bother soaking if you don't have the time.

5. Bake in a preheated oven of 180C for 25 minutes, or till the crust is nicely golden brown. Serve warm ^^

A tea towel personally chosen and paid for by my dearest 12-year old Chubby pig ~ you had me at "aunts are special".. aaawwwwww ^^ and a little something from chubby momma and papa ~ a vintage kettle in grey-tones olive green and mocha, my kinda colors

A long awaited (2 years!) recognition from the almost-thirteen Baby pig ^^ dated wrongly, to keep up with tradition 

And sweet, sweet roses and gerberas from Baby pig and his momma ^^ that brightened my day! 

HAPPINESS IS.. KNOWING I'M LOVED