Baby Shower Cupcakes

This is one of my recent creations for a friend’s baby shower. Since the mum-to-be did not reveal the gender of the baby, we had to use ‘neutral’ colours. Therefore, the conventional pink for girls and blue for boys were crossed out.

There were two types of decorations:
a) Baby in pram

b) Baby under the blanket

The only problem was that the milk chocolate buttons I used was too dark for Asian baby skin tone. I should’ve used white chocolate buttons instead. Well, have to remember that for next time.
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Baked Cheesecake

I love baked cheese cake. It is not too rich but still tastes good. This simple ‘mix-everything-in-a-bowl-and-bake’ recipe came from my previous Japanese housemate. I have slightly modified it to my liking.

Dan had it almost every year for his birthday and hasn’t complained yet. :-) So, I guess it must be really good or he is being very polite.

Birthday 2008

Ingredients:
1 box of Philadelphia cream cheese
200ml of thickened cream
80-120 grams of castor sugar
1 tablespoon of milk
2 eggs
3 tablespoon of flour
* Fruit is optional: Passionfruit, mango, berries, etc

1. Preheat oven at 170°C.

2. Beat cream cheese and castor sugar until light.

3. Add in thickened cream, milk, eggs, flour and fruit (optional) and continue mixing until well combined.

4. Pour mixture into a greased cake tin a bake for 30-40 minutes.

5. Let the cake cool before removing from the tin.

6. Refrigerate for at least ½ hour before serving. Top with any type of fruit or cream to your liking.

Birthday 2010

Birthday 2007

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Tiramisu

Tiramisu is definitely one of my favourites. Not only it is easy to make, it is very tasty too. What can go wrong with mixing coffee and cream?

I found pictures dated back in 2005 where I made the first Tiramisu for Christmas. Since then, it has been my tradition to have it every year....almost! Here are some pictures of Tiramisu I have made recently.

I am quite pleased to see the improvement in the cake presentation.

This is the adapted recipe from Y3K Cookbooks.

Ingredients:
1 packet of sponge fingers

Coffee mixture:
75 grams of instant coffee granules
500 ml boiling water
50 ml of Kahlua liqueur

Tiramisu Cream:
5 egg yolks
250 grams of castor sugar
250 grams of mascarpone cheese
500 grams of whipping cream

1. To make coffee mixture, dissolve instant coffee in boiling water. Mix in Kahlua liqueur after the mixture has cooled down.

2. To make the Tiramisu cream, beat egg yolks and sugar on high speed until soft peaks form. Add in mascarpone cheese and beat on medium speed until well-combined.

3. In a separate bowl, beat whipping cream until firm.

4. Fold in whipped cream into no 2.

5. To assemble the cake, dip sponge fingers in coffee mixture. Place in a single layer over the loose-bottomed baking pan.

6. Spread half the tiramisu cream over sponge fingers.

7. Repeat layers with sponge fingers dipped in coffee mixture and tiramisu cream.

8. Refrigerate overnight and decorate as you wish.
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Bamboo Basket

The Bamboo Basket reminds us of our favourite restaurant in Malaysia, Dragon - I.  Although it may not come close in terms taste, it is one of the best we’ve had in Brisbane.

To get your taste buds racing, the restaurant allows passers-by to see right into the kitchen where the chefs craft their delicious dumplings. Looking on, they make it look so simple as they churn out perfectly simmetrical dumplings one after the other.

My favourite is definitely the Xiao Lung Bao (soup dumpling). Delicious soup broth with succulent pork - a recipe for success.

Another pleasant surprise was found in the deep fried prawn wonton. Even though it is deep fried, we could still taste the freshness of the filling.

Next, we tried 'Shan Dong Style' pork dumplings which appear to be a steamed dumpling that has also been pan fried on one side, leading to an interesting mix of textures. Whilst not our favourite, we still give it a Thumbs up for the fresh, juicy pork and interesting and crispy pancake-like crust.

For mains, we shared a spicy hand-pulled soup noodle with sesame and peanuts (Dan Dan Mien). Simple but delicious.

Overall the meal was a bit pricey when compared to other Asian restaurants. But given the ambience and location, it's actually one of the more affordable restaurants around and definitely worth a visit.

This is our second visit to Bamboo Basket and it certainly will not be our last, as long as they keep serving up those delicious Xiao Lung Bao (soup dumpling) at least.


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Heart-shaped mini cake made with love

I was looking through the pictures in my cakes collection and came across this one. This sparks a special memory as it was a gift from Dan on our first Valentine’s Day.

Made with love, a dozen white chocolate heart-shaped mini cakes with pink butter cream icing, topped with a heart chocolate. And yes, it came in a pink basket too.

The taste?  Well, all I can say is that I married him a year later, so it must've been very impressive.  ^_^

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