Eating myself silly

The day starts with baking - Lemon Blueberry Cake
And breakfast was a yummy bowl of prawn mee & a treat from the pops - hainanese curry puff.

The loaf cake was up to standards. Nothing beats a good lemon cake that's just bout moist enough. The blueberries chase away any bitterness from my overdosing of lemon zest and in my eyes, make it O! so pretty when i slice it up.
Having it hot straight from the oven beats it for me. The lemon glaze over the crust was perfect, with some of the sugar crystals solidifying again to give it a diamond-like gleam.

Mom was impressed.

In the afternoon, we headed off to Marriot Hotel for high tea. Gosh. Am i stuffed!
Think it was about round 4 or 5 that I decided I honestly had to move on to the dessert table before I pass out and hence, be forced to forego the really good stuff.
Now I was very nice about my dessert plate and didn't fill it too much. I just wasn't confident of my stuffin' abilities anymore. It was getting to the point where the food was up to my neck going down my neck, so imagine -- where would it go when you have gastronomical scarcity problem? YOU WILL BE SICK!
To avoid such an unladylike and unsightly mess, the plate was only 80% filled -- check out the negative (white) spaces above. In clockwise order: chocolate mousse, strawberry tart, watermelon (trying to seem a little health-conscious), banana crumble (oooh this was sexy) and the ultimate coffee cake (fuckin' good)
i was very impressed with the coffee cake. it was unbelievable. it was rich and espresso-ey. the cream wasn't too overpowering and did a good job of toning down the hit of the coffee. the cake was moist enough but held up well and was so light and fluffy. i was terribly tempted to grab some more. but the only problem was that my tummy was beginning to show and not out of pregnancy from my ricesack of a top. Despite being prepared, I just am not made for buffets!!! One day, I want someone to erase any idea of 'buffet' from the face of this earth! It's just not right. It's too much of a temptation and epicurean for a person like me. LOL.

Well, today was a feasting day for me. I shall not regret it! Maybe tmr though. when I get up in the morning: instead of feeling refreshed and beautiful, I'll feel bloated and spotty.

Someone love me despite this?

Lemon Cherry Think-of-me Muffins with Maple Syrup glaze

It's finally hit me!! I'm leaving Spore in 2 days time, and thus begins my long-waited university studies. Terribly nervous, darned excited, worried, exhilarated & so terribly melancholic too. My baggage has exceeded its limit. I hardly think I'll be able to move out of the terminal with 2 crazily heavy & large suitcases AND with myself strapped down with my laptop & large tote. Thank God I believe in miracles (someone have a little faith in me). Folks out there, do say a little prayer for me too that I can get to my university safely and without hurting anyone else either. I can already foresee maybe a broken toe (considering I keep dropping my luggage on my toes yesterday when I was trying to weigh them), a black eye, maybe a papercut from my x-ray sheets...GOSH! I can only hope.

Anyway, thinking that I've only 2 days left, I just had to say a temporary goodbye to my beloved oven & bake something for the family once again. Wouldn't hurt to fatten them a little so I won't feel so out of place when I come back home for Christmas all pudgy, round & wobbly :) And ah-hah, what did I think to bake today? My favourite food! MUFFINS!!! Of course, I was v determined to make large, oversized, giant muffins but think they didn't turn out that way. Just very dense, juicy pieces. But I'm still overjoyed with my non-texas-sized muffins because the flavour was just wonderful. something interesting yet mild enough to match the quiet sentiments & racing thoughts in me now. It's what I say would look simple & so ordinary but would be quite a sensory explosion in your mouth.

This recipe involves the use of a whole can of dark pitted cherries (abt 1,1/2cup or less if you're worried abt the moisture) so expect a nice juicy muffin :) Also, to mask a little of the heavy syrup taste (which I find a little too fake for my liking), I added grated lemon zest. I love lemons with just about anything. Fish, the ham in my sandwich, roasted chicken, of course lemon poppy seed cake so why not add em here? If you want an even greater tang, add a squeeze of juice as well or you can save the juice for a superb lemon glaze -- all you have to do is squeeze the juice into a saucepan & heat it after stirring some icing sugar into the pan. this is really great & it's easy to control the sweetness as to your liking. :)

Towards the end, if you're a chocolate fan, throw in crushed/chopped bits of dark chocolate. What I used here was Lindt Extra Fine Dark Chocolate 70% dark. I believe you can make use of whatever chocolate you have sitting around or whichever suits your taste the most. Milk, white, dark, extra dark. You choose!

Whenever I make muffins, I take joy in the fact tt I can cater to every single person in my family -- be it the chocolate-hating mother, the sugar-fearful dad, or the chocolate-obsessive sisters of mine. I cut the maple syrup glaze for my dad, didn't add any chocolate for my mom & drizzled a pretty generous amount for my sisters and slightly less for the currently-dieting me. :p Finally, would just like to say, this recipe was just something I wanted to give my family. It's simple & full of taste. luxurious & indulgent but not something as great and earthshaking as I would like to think. :D So just enjoy this, with a cold beer on a hot day if you'd like, or over good coffee & the morning paper.

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
a can of dark pitted cherries, drained & patted dry
maple syrup for glazing

Preheat 190dC.
Cream butter with sugar & salt. Beat in eggs one at a time.

In separate bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, mixing until just incorporated.

Add grated zest (and a squeeze of lemon wedge for juice if you want) & fold carefully. Next up are the cherries. Fold in carefully & break a few pieces & watch how beautifully the cherry juice blends into the batter. It's really quiet beautiful :)

From here, spoon generously into muffin cups & bake for 30min.

Once they're done, remove em from the oven & immediately brush maple syrup onto the tops. A heavenly smell shall waft up your nose from here. It's a smell I find so hard to describe! The scent of the cherries, the lemon twang and that luscious maple syrup scent is just too great to try to put words to it. I have only one solution for it. Let it cool for bout 3-5min & then grab one and DIG IN!

Good ol' Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

It's been months since i've baked anything in my loaf pan & it's been letting out a yearning call ever since. From way up to my bedroom, it's been calling, blending its throaty cries with the seductive entreaties of the poppy seeds mel gave me for christmas. So what was i to do? Ha.

I'm quite a fan of quick breads. They are very traditional things and are great for any occasion or lack of occasion. My mom loves these babies (esp banana breads) for tea or a poor excuse of lunch. In my case, i can eat em anytime, breakfast,lunch,supper or even have some for a late night movie snack. And if you do the glaze syrup just right or try to garnish it up real pretty, it can even become a jazzy gift for someone. This recipe is pretty amazing but if you want it just right, you've gotta leave it to cool completely & then wrap it up tight like a mummy in clingwrap for a day before eating it. This causes the poppy seeds to unlock its secret flavours fully but because i'm impatient and hungry and thought "Hey i've already soaked them in milk for over an hr, figure i'll just eat it now", I sliced it up while it was still nice & warm and ate it while watching some crazy Buzz Lightyear show with a bottle of cool Long Island Tea. Fabulouso! The poppy seeds are wonderfully crunchy (psstt..they're illegal in some countries..like Singapore) and the lemonyness of the bread really socks you in the gut. One reason is that the lemon syrup poured over the cake while hot soaks into the cake all the way to its base so you really taste the citrous fruitiness while you munch on those blue-black glamour moles and lemon zest all the way to your toes. Honestly, it's like falling in love...not that i've ever but you get my point. :) However, if you're not a lemon fan, i suggest you reduce the amount of zest in the bread and the amount of juice in the syrup because my lil sister couldn't take it really. Lemon Poppy Seed Bread (recipe by Beth Hensperger from Art of Quick Breads)

Ingredients

3tbs poppy seeds

1/2 cup milk

5 tbs unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

zest of 2 lemons

1/4 tsp salt

Lemon syrup:

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Combine seeds and milk. (As I always say, use full- fat milk for the best impact but i'm always using my favourite low-fat, note: not non-fat, milk because i find the results are still as rich & up to standard) Let this stand for an hour to macerate & meld its flavours.

Preheat oven to 170dCelsius.

Cream butter & sugar. Add eggs one at a time and beat.

Combine flour, baking powder, lemon zest, salt. Add this dry mixture to creamed mixture in 3 portions, alternating with the milk-seed mixture. Beat just until smooth and pls, no longer. Pour into 9x5" loaf tin, then smoothen the top with the back of a spoon so that it can bake nice and even. For quick breads, you always want it to bake til its nice n golden brown with that line or crack down the centre. So watch it carefully. This bakes for 55-60min.

10min before bake time ends, combine sugar and juice in saucepan over low heat. Stir gently with a wire whisk. When cake is done, pierce the loaf about 12 times with a toothpick and immediately pour hot lemon syrup over the cake, covering the top completely. Cool in tin for 30min before removing from tin to wire rack. When cool, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let stand at room temp overnight before serving. (of course i didn't do that! :D)

Hello Christmas!

Potluck dinner tonight and my contribution was a Lemon,Yoghurt & Blueberry Cake. Got this recipe from Comfort Zone, a low fat recipe adapted from one of Alice Medriech's recipes. Thought the cake turned out fabulous! Tasted fantastic but mine turned out a little too moist because i was way too generous with the blueberries. (Used nearly 2 punnets instead of 1) So the cake was so fragile I had quite a bit difficulty removing it from the springform pan base. Despite the little amount (5tbs) of butter used, this cake didn't stick at all and i didn't even bother with greasing the pan. Amazing. The lemon glaze of the recipe was so simple and tasty too. Lemon juice with powdered sugar. It went fantastically well with the cake. I used 5 1/2 tbs of powdered sugar. Worked just perfectly.

And I used a slice of leftover lemon and some blueberries to garnish the top of the cake so it wouldn't look too empty. 2 sprigs of mint from my garden too.


Well I'm so terribly satisfied with this cake I can't wait to make it again when there's the occasion and best of all it uses yoghurt and tastes so much like a cheesecake of sorts! (low fat style :D)









And even better news to end the night, my aunt started asking about the price for a cake this size. Goodness! Interest in one of DIVANA's customised whole cakes! I'm excited. And am so glad I'm finally free of studying to enjoy baking and trying out recipes and thoroughly building up that mutual love affair with my oven.

I know my dad too is loving it. Fat paunch he has! Well so after the cake was done moved on to the roast chickens. This is one of my favourite chicken recipes. Pot-roasted Chicken with Sweet and Sour Sauce. It's from Jamie Oliver's 'Happy Days with the Naked Chef'. and it's a wonderful recipe, using the wondrous taste of fresh pineapple, peppers, fennel seeds and balsamic vinegar.
It has a twangy sweet spicy (from the chillis. used chilli padi instead of normal chilli. asian flavour) that's very unique and chicken meat has never tasted better. If the recipe is wanted, just email me or leave a comment asking for it!

So the dinner went pretty well. There was just too much food. But what really caught my attention was the chocolates table! My aunt bought some chocolates from Italy. Apparently you can find these in Cold Storage supermarket stores as well. The CREMINO ones are hazelnut chocolates and the other ones she had were large chocolate balls with nuts or crunchy bits in it. Soooo yummy. I'm in heaven. Christmas is heaven! Christmas is gorgeous. Christmas has made my tummy 10 times larger than it already is! God bless us.