candy of my heart

the moments frozen in time :)

i've just got back from Malaysia recently and the heat in Adelaide now is really getting on my nerves. sigh. but to be frank, i think it really is just because i haven't got enough of Malaysia yet and i so soo want to still be there right at this very moment. but oh well, it's my fault in the first place that i have to come back this early. no one is to be blamed but me, myself, and i.

quite a lot went on while i was at home. i met new people, those i never imagined i could ever get to know. i did new things, i felt new sensations, i knew old things that i came to forget, and some other small significant stuffs that are every bit important in my life.

when it comes to baking, well, i did not bake much. maybe it's because i felt quite intimidated and felt childish to be so eager to bake when everyone else was not as eager and seemingly they were just trying their very best to cope with my passion to bake and at times, tried to conceal their nonchalance by giving out excuses. it's not that big a matter i know but i was too much of a child myself (that, i have to admit) to not bother about even such trivial matters.

but most of the times i think i was just too lazy. hahha.

BUT.

since there was abigem's birthday, i was determined to make him cupcakes! and fyi, abigem is my cousin linda's boyfriend. and fyi also, that was the first time i've ever made cupcakes for someone's birthday. so, you could guess just how excited i was! i even found a nice box that would go with the cupcakes perfectly well. sooooo...

taa daaa!

aaandddd

i made the cupcakes out of my own recipe and believe me, it tasted reaaaallly good that i went like uuuuhhh sedapnye sedapnyee uuuhh seeedaaappp okay maybe that sounds a little exaggerated but really, they were GOOD! even mama said so. even blachan! even miamOn!! but the downside of it all was...

i couldn't figure out why, but the cupcakes deflated and there were large crates right at the middle of my cupcakes!! i just didn't and still don't know why that had happened! does anyone have any idea about this?? tell me tell me pleeeaaaseeee!

so, since i was super duper creative (yeah rite) i decided that i should fill the crates up with chocolate!! i used the extra truffles batter that i made before, melted it and tweak tweak tweak et voila! i've got myself a chocolate mousse (?) and to bring out the taste i sprinkled some coffee powder (instant 3 in 1 or was it 4 in 1? tesco coffee mix was more like it) into the chocolate mousse (?) and and and

okay enough about the chocolate mousse (?)

i made chocolate-coffee(the coffee mix yes)-mochaey (???) buttercream to go with the rest.

oh they tasted yummy yes they did but well...come to think of it. don't you think that all those stuffs mentioned above would have made the cupcakes just a tad too... err... sweet??!!

daaaaaggg. they said it tasted great but yaaa, too sweet!! haha!

what with the unexpected extra chunks of chocolates right in the middle of the cupcake after all the really sweet (but still, mochaey? i guess) chocolate mousse (?) they had to go through before being able to actually sink their teeth into the actual cake inside... gahahaha!

my bad my bad.

but i have to admit though, i really think those cupcakes are the cutest ever! well, the cutest that i have ever made that is. haha. and the most heartfelt too :)

oh, i've got those cute little heart-shaped sugar decorations (is that what people call them?) from tesco at a really looowww price. i never knew such things ever existed in tesco. well, i never even knew i looovee to bake! hahah.

aside from those winner cupcakes, the rest were okay. i suddenly discovered that i really loveee food and the afc channel had been my very best buddy ever since. i made some simple stuffs, cooked some meals, and oh, i made my first ever mac n cheese! i learnt the recipe just by watching restaurant makeover! oh trust me it was gooood. hahah. at least i and miamon seemed to think so. well, everyone thought it was good. pity i didn't have the time to make another for miamon as she had been asking me to make more so badly. well, not that badly but, daag. you get the picture. ahaha.

aandddd since mama had been saying over and over again just how much she would love it if i could make her a pie because she really loovess pies... so, being the good daughter that i am (trust me, i am being sarcastic) i made a pie for her! a meat pie! i made it for our trip to cameron highlands just recently!

when the pie came out, i felt quite proud of myself to have been able to make such a pie (though i should say the top looked a bit burnt). so, the first thing (well, not the first thing exactly but, yeah) i did when we reached our apartment in cameron was i took the pie out and sliced it and...

and...

and i took a bite.

and...

and i figured that... the bottom was uncooked!!! completely!!! i was like, OMG!

aaanddd it turned out that in all the rush, i forgot to set the oven to heat top and bottom. i just heated the top part of the oven. bummer!!

aaaandddd everyone made fun of me and my pie. daagg.

but all in all, i had a GREAT holiday. it was GREAT fun and i know GREAT moments like this are not going to last that long now. well, what i'm trying to say is that...

well, kak ya is already off married to someone. and i know, next is going to be someone, and there's going to be another next, and next, and next, and...

and i know that we cousins are not going to be able to hang out like this anymore.. if ever we could, i know it just would not be the same.

what with work and all.

it makes me sad whenever i think about this no. sad, really sad. i really don't ever want to let go of these times. the times when we can be carefree as we are now. moments when i can sit at the back of skuter ego mama, with linda going round and round the lake gardens. syok ooo ronda lake hahha. and moments when we feel so grown-up as to being able to go out all by ourselves with either me or linda driving the car. hahha. i know, these moments won't last forever. they won't last long in fact. they just remain.

a picture of us at putrajaya. this was when we were on our way to jb for kak ya's wedding. we had GREAT fun the four of us. hahha. that's abi in the white shirt, linda in the black sweater, aidil in pink, and me on the right end of the pic! i really like this pic. especially cuz i think my legs look thinner than usual in it. gahahaha. well, at least i think sooo!

okay, nuff babble for now. it's a long long entry i know. but yeah. it's been a while right?

baker at heart,

chikabaker ♥

the foodie that i am

it's slowly coming back to me :)

i am at a lost really. i don't know just how i should describe this but i haven't had my usual urge to bake recently. and maybe just maybe, one of the many reasons to this could have been the fact that i didn't do very well in the previous exam. i did really badly, actually.

it's not that i think of me having baked my way through 2009 to have been a big mistake. no, that's not it honestly. i just don't have the heart to bring myself to betray my very passion towards lovely cakes and delectable desserts over something of which i know, had occurred plainly because of my faults.

no, that's not the reason why i haven't been baking lately.

maybe, just maybe it's because of the lack of interest towards the whole deal that i feel from my mama. but i do know that i, at times, well most of the times really, am a bit of an emo over such small matters.

so, i guess no. that too, is not the reason why.

if that's the case then, i could say that it simply is because i was just not in the mood. you see, i am quite a bit of a mood person actually. i need to be in the mood to be on the move. that should explain why i haven't been around an oven, or a fridge to that matter.

but do not fret.

the mood is slowly coming back to me yes it is. after all, i loooovee to watch the afc channel on astro and ooh how i adore those lovely, impeccable desserts those chefs seem to always make with no effort whatsoever. i think they are amazing those chefs.

and without a doubt, i really am a foodie. a committed one even. i just, love my food. any food.

i will be back in my apron in no time.

baker at heart,

chikabaker ♥

corn custard pudding

after the longgg pause.

i'm back to baking. err, but in this case i guess it's more to freezing than to baking haha. due to the lack of oven in abang li's humble abode here in the middle of nowhere, err puncak alam, so i'm left with no choice but settle with cold desserts in order to fulfill my crave for making sweet desserts.

see.

this was my first attempt at making a cold pudding. i believe so... can't recall if i've ever made any before. at first, i thought of using some agar-agar but i ended up using none because i just wanted to try whether or not it would stiff up just fine with only cornflour. and it did! happy happy me :)

i made a cinnamon sauce to go along with it but mama said that the sauce was a tad too sweet and she used it (without me knowing!) as a substitute for coconut milk to make bubur chacha! DO NOT try this at home cuz the bubur chacha turned out really weird, what with the cinnamon taste... gahahah. tu la sapa suruh curi sos orang kan. hahah.

oh well, the pudding was okay. not that good but still, my first attempt people! haha. maybe it's just that i'm not really in the mood for puddings right now. i'm more into...angel cakes...

oh yumm. but no oven!

and ouh yesterday when i went out shopping with sharep, we looked for creamcheese and argh the price! it's a far cry from those in oz! i mean, it's a lot more expensive! i knew this before but seeing this with my very own eyes felt really different. it felt...

it felt like i won't be able to make any cheesecakes for these whole two months!

gaahhh!

okay two months won't be thaat long would it? after all, i've got lots of plans for this holiday and that two months will be gone in no time. and i'll be back in adelaide again, waiting for another year to pass before i could be back again in Malaysia >___<

oh wutever, just savour every moment that i have here.

okeh sotong goreng tepung, kari ikan keli, ayam goreng kentaki, and cendawan goreng up next!

oh life's a bliss if you really live it is it not?

happy happy me :)

oh the recipe! i almost forgot! gahahaha.

corn custard pudding

ingredients

pudding

• 4 eggs
• 2 cups full cream milk
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornflour
• 1 cup canned corn (i don't know what it's called but i call it jagung dalam tin. ahaha)
• 2 cinnamon sticks

sauce

• 2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick

how to

pudding

• beat eggs and sugar until fluffy, add milk and cinnamon sticks, and stir well.
• stir over low heat and add cornflour gradually, a little at a time stirring well after each addition. stir until you get a thick consistency.
• add corn into mixture and continue stirring until the mixture is thick enough or it coats up the spatula.
• pour into a container and refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours.

sauce

• combine all ingredients and stir over low heat.
• cool to room temperature.

serve while it's cold.

it's really easy to make! but i'm not really sure about the ratio though... gahaha. that's a silly statement but yeah, i made this like err... two days ago i guess? didn't have time to update since i was busy going out, eating, sleeping...

haha. but don't worry. the recipe's still alright!

happy err... monday people!! ^___^

baker at heart,

chikabaker ♥

salam aidiladha

these past few days

has been one of the most dramatic chapters of my life really. a lot of things happened, some stuffs went on in my head, i did some thinking, and i came to a conclusion. no, i am not going to tell you what the conclusion is here, but it should be fair to say that it got me thinking more rationally and i could finally stand up once again and face my faults with... with... dignity, yet along with some regrets. and get over it. start anew, a lesson learnt. good for me.

i've also been wanting to make lots and lots of desserts lately. truffles, trifles, icecream cakes, cupcakes, you name it i bake it, or rather... freeze it perhaps? lol. but unfortunately, due to some... something?? the ingredients bought were left untouched and i just happen to only sit in the kitchen, and stare at those many packets of icing sugar on the shelf. i don't know why. inspiration? yes, inspiration did strike what with me watching the adorable chocolat movie, i should be more than eager to start making batches after batches of chocolate truffles. but noooo, i have made...errr...ZERO batches?!!

maybe it's just that i'm too worn out now. i just wanna go home...

oh by the way, today we made pizzas, cupcakes, and farah made mi kari earlier this morning for the eid al-adha celebration. but we didn't really celebrate much no we didn't. no mood for celebration. we just stayed in and spent the whole day together, baking, and stuffing ourselves up. it has been a really nice day, all warm, and cozy despite the chilly breeze blowing in through the back door as it rained really heavily. but i liked that feeling though. it's like, we are all safe and warm inside, safely tucked away from the cold rain outside.

i like that feeling :)

i think i'm gonna make a batch of truffles tonight. maybe, perhaps.

maybe i just need some time to sort my mind out. or maybe, myself... or my life perhaps.

baker at heart,

chikabaker ♥

a chocolate cake perhaps?

the not so moist moist chocolate cake :)

i had a terrible headache earlier this evening, i suspect it was due to stress. diagnosis : tension headache. so, something had to be done. a moist chocolate cake had to be done.

and it turned out that the moist chocolate cake was not that moist! so i guess it really is not a moist chocolate cake. instead, it's just a... a chocolate cake perhaps?

well, i looked up for some moist chocolate cake recipes on the net and tried to come up with my own recipe, considering the fact that i didn't have much ingredients on hand.

that should explain the not so moist moist chocolate cake. haha.

as for the toppings, initially i had it in my mind to pour chocolate ganache all over the top of the cake, letting it spill over the edges looking all yummy and... yummy. scrumptious. delectable. seducing. chocolatey. okay enough vocabularies. back to the topic. okay i wanted to use chocolate ganache as the topping but, BUT. i didn't have any thickened cream in my stash which i reckon is a major element in the making of a chocolate ganache. so, i tried to just use cooking chocolate and butter... and i got... CHOCOLATE! only that it's softer and had a more mousse-like texture.

okay wutever, so i said.

anyways, i had GREAT FUN at decorating the cake. haha. at least it made me happier :)

i spread the not so ganache chocolate ganache (???) over the top of the cake (which i had flipped upside down so that it would have a more even surface) and sprinkled some (err. a LOT) drinking chocolate powder over the not so ganache chocolate ganache. oh, not to mention that it's actually acap's (yang kacak itttu!) and haha i'm so sorry for having 'accidentally' used your cadbury drinking chocolate powder :D

and yeah, the chocolate curls too!

oh the cake is scrumptious. i LOVE it.

chocolate cake perhaps?

ingredients

cake

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1 cup dark cooking chocolate (melted)
• 1/2 cup milk (3 tbsp milk powder + 1/2 cup water)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder

topping

• 1/2 cup milk cooking chocolate
• 2 tbsp butter

how to

cake

• beat butter and sugar until fluffy and add eggs into batter one at a time, beating well after each addition. add flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt into mixture and mix well.
• add melted chocolate into batter and lastly, pour milk into batter and mix well.
• pour batter into a well greased (preferably lined also) pan, tap the bottom of the pan and bake in preheated oven at 175 C for 35-40 minutes.
• let cool.

topping

• using the double boiler method, melt chocolate with butter and stir until well mixed.

i really actually wanted to gobble up on some really moist chocolate cake but oh well. though it's not as moist, but this cake sure is a winner!

baker at heart,

chikabaker ♥