Birthday Cakes for Two awesome people

December month has always been the month of celebrations, parties, birthdays.......what I meant is that, this month particularly has the most of all these celebrations. In my family itself, I have 5 persons celebrating their birthday in this month. For friends, I think I have more than a dozen of them celebrating their birthday in December. That's why, I have always like this month, because most of all December is the month of Christmas.......the joyous and most wonderful celebration of the year.....I just love Christmas, ever since I was a little kid.

So, this December, besides my 5 family members celebrating their birthdays, I have 2 very good friends that I have met in early 2009, and in a very short period of time, we became very good and close friends. We basically share the very same interest and that's how we became so, so close. Sometimes, when I think about it, it's like I have known them for ages already. I'm really glad that I have these 2 ladies as friends, as they have brought a lot of laughter and joy to my life and that has really made my life more colourful and more fun. Being with them, I don't have to pretend, and I felt very comfortable and what I like the most is.........we just love to EAT!! Hahaha....

Both of their birthday falls in December, Joanne's on the 19^th Dec and Winnie 's on the 20^th Dec. Since this year I have started to bake, they have always teases me in my baking. I decided to bake a personal birthday cake to both of them as a surprise and a token of my love to them. It never occurred to me what I wanted to make as I was so clueless in making birthday cakes. The idea just came around and that's what I came up with........LOL......Hope you like it girls! Happy Birthday to you TWO, you girls are the best thing that ever happen to me in 2009!! Love you both! xoxo

This one's for Joanne - 'Fresh cream Sponge Cake with Longan topping'.

This one's for Winnie - 'Fresh Cream Sponge Cake with Peach topping'.

Coffee Meringue Cookies

As you all know, I'm a coffee lover and an addict too, I must admit.....hehe. Whatever recipes that I saw that has something that called for coffee or chocolate, I will be very delighted to try it out. Same goes to this recipe that I saw in one of my MiL's cookbook, it's called "Coffee Meringue Cookies". Well, as some of you would know the meaning of 'meringue'....it is a type of dessert made from whipped egg whites and sugar. This would be my first attempt in making a meringue. I got very a very good advice from my sister in KL telling me that whenever you need to whisk egg white and sugar, always make sure that the mixing bowl and the beater are free from oil. If not , the egg whites will break up and you'll never get the level of 'peak' you need.
Therefore, Tip # 1: I rinse my mixing bowl and the beaters with hot water and air dry it before I start to whisk Tip #2 : When seperating the egg white from the egg yolk, do not let even a single drop of yolk fall in to the whites, this will also affect the whisking process....aiyo, you must be wondering what a 'prima donna' egg white I'm dealing with........LOL
So, with the main 2 tips given, I'm sure you will be able to achieve the 'peak' that the recipe called for.........as to be frank with you, meringue is actually a very easy cookie to make.....the kung-fu is all in the whisking of the egg whites and sugar. I followed every single steps the food called for, as it is quite straightforward and easy to understand................and the end result, my kids, especially Ian and Angelica, who just adores coffee as much as their Mummy, loves it so much ^-^ . During the baking of the meringues, the whole kitchen was filled with coffee aroma and the kids just can't wait for it to come out of the oven.......what's more, there is a 'cooling off - period' of another hour after the baking time is up.........LOL, "percubaan" (testing of patience) I call it. These cookies are so, so light and airy.....I meant really light in weight and airy inside, it just melts in your mouth....hmmmm
So, pick up your whisk and get started.......Happy Meringue Baking!


COFFEE MERINGUE COOKIES ......FOR THE LOVE OF COFFEE 
This recipe is adapted from my MIL 's Y3K Cookbook - My Secret Recipes Series Vol.9 

Ingredients
(A) 3 egg whites
(B) 50 gm caster sugar and 120 gm icing sugar (I would suggest you cut down as I find that it's a bit too sweet, maybe 20 gm for caster and 100 gm for Icing sugar)
(C) 1 Tbsp coffee essence
(D) 1 Tbsp cornflour

Method

1. Beat egg whites in a mixing bowl with a handheld electric beater til it foams. Fold in ingredient (B) in several small batches. Add in ingredient (C) and (D) and beat well till soft peaks form. Do not overbeat.
2. Spoon mixture into a piping bag fitted with nozzle no.22. Pipe meringue onto a baking tray lined with non-stick parchment paper, all speced apart.
3. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 100~C to 120~C for 1 hour or more until the meringues are dry and crisp. Cool quickly and store well.

Tips: Always bake your meringues in a very slow oven. To ensure meringues hold its shape after baking, switch off the oven, leave the meringue in the oven with oven door ajar for at least another hour......hehe, testing your patience ^-^, as there will not be a sudden change in temperature, the crisp touch of the meringue will remains better.

It's good to be BACK!

Hi there everyone! I'm back.........hehe, from my niece wedding and also from my holidays in KL with the kids!! My blog must have been so, so quiet for quite sometime.....hehe, luckily I didn't see any mushroom growing here yet, LOL.
Anyway, here's wishing you guys "Happy Holidays" and as Christmas is just around the corner, I'm sure you guys must be very busy shopping for presents, and those who loves to bake, will be busy baking cookies for this wonderful season. I'm back and haven't been baking for the last 2 weeks. The last baking that I did was  that batch of cupcakes for my dearest niece's wedding. Like I said, I'm back, so does the baking, hehe.
Today I will start to refill back the pages of my blogs and this will be some pictures that I have taken during my niece wedding and also my holiday with kids in KL and also Genting Highlands.
It's been a great wedding and a great family bonding time, those love and laughters that I have missed, are all back again and the holiday that I had with my kids, were a really great one, though my Hubby was unable to join us. I hope the next family holiday, he will be able to join in, me and the kids will be looking forward to that day to come.

28^th November , 2009 – My Niece Wedding Day

Cupcakes that I made for Siew Yee's wedding 

4^th -12^th December, 2009 -Holidays in KL and Genting Highlands with the kids

Cream Cheese Butter Cake

I know a lot of people would prefer the old traditional plain butter cake. My MIL taught me to make a traditional butter cake when I first started to bake, that was 3 months ago.......time really flies! I was so happy that the first butter cake turned out smooth and buttery. After that, I find that just plain butter cake is too plain........and was forever trying to add something to it so that it comes out with something more unique, not that the traditional one is not special.......but to me, it's just too plain a butter cake :P
Then, I bought myself a "I Love Butter Cake" cookbook by Kevin Chai. I have tried his "Chocolate Cheese Butter Cake" and it was a hit, everyone ate that cake gave their thumbs up.....^-^  So, last night was one of those nights that as usual, the kids asked me to bake something for them to bring to school the next day........ and even though the clock shows 8.45pm, I agreed to bake for them......Initially , Ian asked for something that has coffee in it, but too bad......I ran out of coffee and Hubby haven't replenish the coffee bottle, so tough luck Ian.
So, there again, I stand there next to the bookshelf running my fingers through those cookbooks and......Butter Cake came to my mind, as I would thought that this would be the simplest cake and requires no 'hard to get' ingredients. I chose to bake this "Cream Cheese Butter Cake" instead of the plain one is because I'm also trying to get rid of the block of cream cheese sitting in my fridge for a week already.
So, measured up all the required ingredients and started. But, hey, to tell you the truth, this book is really worth investing, as I this is the second recipe I tried, and it too came out perfect, and even my MIL praised me for it , the cake was really smooth, moist and rich in both butter and cheese flavor......yummy!
Happy Cake Baking.....fellas!

CREAM CHEESE BUTTER CAKE

200gm Butter (I used 220gm , cos that's the last batch of butter in the fridge, so get rid of it, haha)

200gm Cream Cheese 

250gm castor sugar (I used only 150gm)

5 eggs

250gm Plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

3 tbsp strawberry jam ( I didn't because I was a bit lazy to decorate)

Method

1. Grease and line 20cm (8 -inch) baking pan. Preheat oven to 180~C.
2. Beat butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add in eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition.
4. Fold in sifted flour and baking powder, mix until well blended. Spread batter into prepared tin.
5. Spoon fruit jam into piping bag and pipe circle pattern over the top. Bake in oven for 35-40 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.

Happy Baking!

Horlick Doggies Cookies

Doggies, doggies, and more doggies........that's the topic that is hot in the house recently since Preston (my new Lab puppy, for those of you who doesn't know) is here. The kids just can't stop talking about dogs, watching dogs related movies (like 'hotel for Dogs', 'Space Buddies', 'Beethoven II', 'Beverly Hills Chihuahuas' and gosh......countless) and hey, they even asked me to bake dog cookies too......LOL
It came as a coincident too that the other day when I was busy surfing the internet, I opened up a few tabs and browse around looking for something interesting among my few favourite food bloggers. Hey, something caught my eye and I browse back and saw this "Horlicks Doggies Cookies" made by Happy Home Baking. It looks so cute and adorable and I called Angelica to come and have a look, and she was beaming with joy, asking me to make these immediately.
OK, I promised her that i will if I can get all the required ingredients in the house.......well, God forbids, I do have everything. She told me she would help me out in the assembling of the ears and nose of the doggies. Ian came in and offered to help in assembling the eyes instead....so three pairs of hands are always better than one ^-^  So, my job is to roll out the dough into small balls for them to do the assembling. Hey, Mummies out there, if you would like to do some fun things with the kids, maybe you can try this cookie recipe and let your kids join in the fun.......some quality and fun bonding time ;)

                                  The doggies in the hot oven...

HORLICKS DOGGIE COOKIES

Ingredients 

(makes about 48-50 cookies)

180gm butter, soften at room temperature

80gm Horlicks (original flavour)

200gm flour

25gm cornflour

25gm milk powder

Filling
100gm Chocolate chips

For the Doggies

some chocolate chips for the nose

some chocolate rice for the eyes

some Coco Crunch  for the ears

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 140~C, line  1- 2 baking trays with baking paper/ parchment papers and set aside.
2. Sieve flour, cornflour and milk powder together, set aside.
3. Cream butter and Horlicks for about 3 minutes at low speed. Do not overbeat.
4. Put in flour, cornflour and milk powder and beat for about 1 minute to form a dough.
5. Divide the dough into 10gm each. Flatten each of the ball on your palm and wrap 3 chocolate chips into each of the dough and wrap it up and roll it back to a ball.
6. Insert 2 pieces of Coco Crunch to form the 'ears'; 2 pieces of chocolate rice for the 'eyes' and a chocolate chip (the tip of the chocolate chip is used to poke into the ball)  in the centre for the 'nose'.
7. Bake at 140~C for about 25- 30 minutes, depending on individual oven.
8. Leave the cookies on the tray to be cool on the wire rack before storing  them in an airtight container.

Tips: If the cookies becomes soggy after a few days, toss them back into the oven on a tray, bake at low heat (150-160~C)  for about 5-7 minutes to get them crunchy again ;)

Happy Doggie Cookies Baking !