Christmas highlights

I've solely enjoyed the festive season's baking and tasting all sorts of Christmas treats;) Here is my highlights!

For the porters I made chocolate cupcakes. With cocoa powder and white chocolate, they should be a nice warm up sugar supply. I also made a panettone. I used the giant cupcake mould to shape the bread, and it came out like a.... hat of some kind...., but it had a very nice Christmassy taste;)

We visited Andy's mum and dad over the Christmas.
On Christmas Eve, we had cheese raclette and pancake for dessert. It was a great fun to make pancakes on the table:)





Moving on to Christmas day, following the tradition, Christmas pudding was lit up nicely. Home-made custard and sherry trifle with extra thick cream and Steve's cheese cake made my stomach more than full...

After a little rest on Boxing day.....,


On the bank holiday Monday, Andy's uncle, aunt and cousins came around to Andy's parents' house. There were 14 people in the house! Thanks to the well-organised buffet by Chris and Pete, we enjoyed a nice dinner. And of course..., desserts;) cupcake, apple tart, cheesecake, trifle....
I couldn't choose one, so I tasted them all.... so full, so good...

Andy's birthday cake

It was Andy's birthday yesterday. We went to a pub and restaurant called HUB in Osaka.

I made a Strawberry Tea flavoured Swiss roll and brought that to the pub ;b

The soft sponge, and strawberry marshmallows in the middle of the cream might not be a classic birthday cake, but it was easy to cut and serve... It was important for me to serve it quickly since I brought the cake in secretly in order not to be noticed by the pub staffs... Cheeky...;)

When we go back to the UK and have Andy's 30th birthday party properly again, I'll make a bigger and more sparkly cake and put 30 candles on it... huh, just an excuse to make another cake..?

Nangoku Shirokuma 南国しろくま

Icecream again! Tonight, we had the famous (in Japan) Shirokuma Ice!
The Shirokuma I knew of was a simple stick type milk ice, but these ones we got from my uncle were milky icecream with some fresh frozen fruits inside in a cup and more satisfying;)

There is nothing better than having icecream in a heated room in winter. What a treat!

Ah by the way, Shirokuma （しろくま）means Polar bear in Japanese.

あいすまんじゅう Ice Manju

We visited my sister's place tonight. I love their house because they've got lots of sweets, snacks, and icecreams! My sister used to be a icecream monster but she's not having any at the moment because of the little boy in her belly. So...,
Andy and I helped to consume some of them ;)
I got "Ice Manju", which is a vanilla icecream with red bean paste (Azuki) in it. Quite heavy, especially after dinner, but strangely it goes down well. This is what I call a real Japanese icecream!!

Okinawa!

We've been to Okinawa, south coast of Japan. Pure blue sea, tropical fish, hot weather, and unique Okinawa food and sweets made me feel as if I was abroad again!

One of the most popular sweets in Okinawa is the purple sweet potato icecream. I specially like the one from the biggest icecream company in Okinawa called Blue Seal Icecream.

Potato and icecream does sound odd, but strangely they go well and kind of addictive....

Since I got back from Okinawa, I've been finishing up The World of Sweets.com website. Hopefully, it'll be out pretty soon:)

Mizu Ame (水飴）

Peanut butter, marshmallow fluff, jam... I love things in a pot...
Mizu Ame (pulling candy in English) is one of them too. My parents got the stretchy treat for me from a famous Mizu Ame shop in Nara, Japan.

Pull a spoonful of candy with a pair of chop sticks, and do the pulling action. It's quite fascinating to see the candy's colour changing although I always can't wait for the candy to go creamy colour and eat it immediately...

Let's see how long this whole pot of sticky candy last... I think it'll be only a few days for that to be destroyed by the greedy monkey...

Choco iPhone case

Yes... it's not a real chocolate... but who cares when it's cute and sweet...

There are so many unnecessary but funny stuff in Japan. This one is a chocolate iPhone case. It comes with a outside packages. I thought it smelled of chocolate, but it's just my mind got tricked by the precious fake chocolate.

I love these stupid things in Japan:)

After blowfish...Mango sorbet

We are now in my home town, Osaka:)

Last night we went to my sister's husband restaurant. We had his restaurant 5 year anniversary course menu, which include posh Japanese beef and blowfish! Yes, blowfish is so tasty and delicate. It's one of the most expensive fish in Japan, so I took this opportunity... I went bit greedy, ate quite a lot... humm, yummy yummy..;D

Having had lots of food and drinks, I was next-to-explosion full... However, there is always a space for desserts, right? We were served mango sorbet. The icy refreshing treat went down nicely and made me kind of sober again:)

Thanks to my sister and sis's hubby for a lovely Japanese meal;)

5th Nov, our wedding day:)

On 5th November, we got married in Las Vegas. One of the most beautiful days of my life:)

After the ceremony, we went to the Las Vegas sign and cut the wedding cake that Andy's mum, dad and brother arranged for us. The cake had our name and pretty little flowers on it, and of course, the buttery cream was lovely.

We went to the Eiffel Tower restaurant in Paris hotel for a push dinner;)
Followed by the lovely starter and main, we had a nice surprise from the restaurant. They gave us a pretty chocolate mousse with congratulations on the plate. What a treat:)

For the dessert, we had their signature souffle..... when they came to the table, my mouth was wide open... the biggest souffle I've ever seen....
We shared pistachio, granmanie, pumpkin and caramel for eight of us. Amazing texture and flavour. I was so full but couldn't help having them more and more...

Massive thanks to our families who took part in this beautiful day:)

Hello, Las Vegas

We've arrived in our next destination, Las Vegas!

Just before we checked in Mandarin Oriental where we are staying, I've found a beautiful patisserie. Bags, champagne, shoes and more of those posh stuff made of sugar are nicely displayed in the window. They are truly the edible art... huh? you wouldn't eat? well, I'd love to if I could...

It seems that they like making thing with sweets in Vegas. I've found a statue of liberty made of jelly belly. That was very impressive too. Unfortunately, it was covered with glue so I couldn't eat it ;(

Our first dinner in Vegas was buffet. Yes! They've got the ice cream machine! I filled up my cup with vanilla flavoured icy treat...  Standing in front if the machine I thought.. let me have a taste here first.. a lick became a mouthful, and before I know I was having other cup....
With hot caramel sauce, beautiful....:)

I've got the feeling that I'll find fun sweets here in Vegas...

Bye bye NY...

Last day in NY...
I've been waiting for this moment. It was one of my priority in NY. New York bagels!.. one with Philadelphia cream cheese & the other with peanut butter and jelly:)

Generous potion of cheese and peanut butter was exactly what I wanted. Nothing sexy or sparkly, but casual and sweet, that's honestly my favourite dinner:)

What I've found in NY, day2 & 3

On the day2 in NY, I was still feeling the cheese cake from the night before in my stomach...  so I decided not to taste big cakes but enjoy looking at them instead....

When we were wondering around the city, I found the M&M shop and the Hershey's shop. There I was like a kid in a toy shop again. In M&M shop, they've got huge tanks of chocolate with a lot of different flavours as well as funky novelty goods. Even for non-chocolate lovers, it is definitely a fun place to visit. While the M&M shop was spacious with 3 floor, the Hershey's was compact, but still they've got a good enough varieties.


On the day3, I was much more recovered from the jet lag and we've decided to have a super-tourist-day;)

First, the Statue of Liberty. When went on a helicopter tour to see her! When we are waiting for the flight, they gave us cookies. What a nice surprise! I like the service in America:) The cookies are those American type, crunchy outside and soft inside, yummy yummy;)

On the way to the Empire State building, we popped into Seven Eleven. Here Andy got excited when he found the slurpee:) With the icy cola and orange, we got on the subway....

Back in London, I have my favourite sweet and creamy drink called "flangelico banana smoothie" from our local bar, Sam's. Before leaving off to America, Ben, the bartender at Sam's gave us the recipe so that I can have my drink even when I'm away. Thanks to Ben, I've got my drink in NY! But..., remember we are in America! It was twice as big as the original!!

I've got one whole day left in NY, my search for American sweets continues....

Big Desserts!

We've just got back from dinner. Our first night in NY City, so we decided to have something that looks like a real American diner.

I had salad which was huge that I had to leave to save some space for the dessert. I also had a little taste of Andy's sides, the corn cake (they call it corn cake, but it looks like a muffin...) and the apple compote. Corn cake was quite savory and the kicks of corn grits were something bit different. The apple compote was nicely done too though I was bit surprised by the fact they served it as a side menu for the main.

And yes, the dessert, New York Cheese Cake! They serve the cheese cake from a famous cake shop called Roxy. My first mouthful..., oooh this is what I call cheese cake! It's so rich that I felt like my mouth was covered with creamy cheese. There is no fancy top ups on this cake. It's just a pure, ultimate cheese cake. Seriously, taste-wise and potion-wise, it is one of the best cheese cake I've ever had, a must-try!

What I've found in NY so far...

There are cakes (or food in general..) in NY everywhere. I'm like a kid in a toy store:) The cakes in shops and cafe are so cute, especially the big muffins topped with colourful chocolate, jellies and cookies are lovely.

On the way back to the hotel, I found Sugar Free Jelly Belly. Although it's sugar free, they are as sweet as the original and flavours are the same. I found them a little softer, but I won't be tell the difference between the sugar free and the original. My favourite flavour, buttered popcorn was in it too, yummy:)

Haven't I tried a proper American dessert yet? no..., I haven't... we've been walking around whole day, and getting distracted by the big buildings. We're gonna get food now, so I'm hoping to try a real American treat:)

I'm in New York!!

Last few days, I was busy packing up and getting ready for our trip to America and Japan. We left London yesterday and got on a plane to our first destination, New York! This is my first time in America, so I'm really excited!

Before we got on a plane, we got Starbucks chai tea latte and this skinny lemo poppy seeds muffin (btw, I always think they shouldn't call it "Skinny" when they covered the muffin with incing sugar, which is of course lovely for me...)
We saved the muffin till we sit down and all settled on the plane. The lemony ran through nicely my tired boy, and then I drifted into a nap....

Since I'm not in my kitchen next few weeks, I'm going to to try sweets and desserts everywhere we're going to visit:) Exciting stuff:)

La Trompette

Tim, Leah, Andy and I went for dinner at La Trompette, one of the best restaurants in Chiswick, London. After lovely appetisers and amazing main courses, we moved on to exciting desserts:)

I was so thrilled to try the desserts from a Michelin stared restaurant.

Tim had the sticky date pudding, Leah had the creme brulee, Andy had the pear and blackberry crumble, and I had the apple tart tatin.

Ooh, la la..., honestly..., they never let you down. They were so good! I can't tell which one was the bast though I really like my apple tart.

Of course, the meal and the service was excellent too! Everyone, this is how you get a star!

Thanks for the lovely evening to Tim and Leah;)

http://www.latrompette.co.uk/

Doughnuts Parade

They are not colourful cheerio...., but mini doughnuts:D

This time I used the Mini size one. Plus normal size for the remaining mixture. Instead of using butter, I tried with crunchy peanut butter today. The result was pretty good. They've got a lovely peanut flavour:)

I'm a bit addictive to making doughnuts....

Ingredients;

Flour 130g

Baking powder 10g

Sugar 50g

Salt 1 pinch

Egg yolk 1

Egg 1

Milk 75ml

Peanut butter 50g

1. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix well.

2. Add egg yolk and egg, mix well.

3. Add milk, mix well.

4. Add melted peanut butter, mix well.

5. Pour the mixture into the doughnut baking tray.

6. Bake in the preheated oven (190º) for 8 minutes.

Tala Doughnut Making Set

Jelly Belly, Ice Cream Parlor Mix

Exciting discovery (at least for me...)! I didn't know there is an Ice Cream flavoured jelly belly!!

These sweet beans are really addictive. Once I poured them into a glass bowl, they were gone before I know.

There are 5 tasty flavours, Strawberry blonde, Birthday cake, Apple pie, Mint chocolate, and Chocolate. My favourite was a combo of the birthday cake and the strawberry.

Hummm, yummy yummy..., I'm going to get more of them....;)

Ice Cream Parlor Mix Jelly Belly Beans 200g bag

Andy's midnight protein bar

Baking week is still on...? Andy has made protein bars for a midnight snack. Considering it was the first attempt, they looked quite good...

Here is the chef Andy's comment..;D

"You know what, that was pretty damn good my first attempt. It was really tasty you know!" says Andy. Look how confident he is! I should try harder not to be taken my patisserie position in the house!

I'll have them tomorrow. (No sweets before going to bed for me....)

Ingredients;

Whey92% protein powder 2 heaped tbsp

Peanut butter 2 heaped tsp

Oats meal 3 tbsp

Dried apricot 7 (chopped)

Dried raisin 2 tbsp

Egg white 1

1. Combine whey and peanut butter together to make crumble.

2. Add oats meal, dried apricot and raisin to 1.

3. Add egg white in 2, and make a dough.

4. Push the dough out like a 1cm thick biscuit, and cut into bar shapes.

5. Bake in the pre-heated oven (220º) for 8 minutes.

Baked Alaska

Day 7 of the baking week. We've made a healthier version of Baked Alaska.

Frozen yogurt made by the ice cream maker, covered with a thin french style pancake, topped with meringue, although it didn't have a thick creamy pleasure you get from an authentic Baked Alaska, this fresh yogurt treat definitely went down well after dinner.

Ice cream maker is a great gadget for both making a traditional creamy ice cream and refreshing frozen yogurt!

See this little hero:), Magimix Le Glacier 1.1 Ltr Ice Cream Maker (White)

Doughnuts:)

Day 6 of the baking week, and happy weekend!

Today is... everyone's favourite, Doughnuts.

I've recently bought a doughnut making kit, which has three types of doughnut making trays, an icing syringe and a jam inserting thing. (See the product, Tala Doughnut Making Set)

So, these aren't fried, but baked. Therefore, I suppose they are bit healthier than the normal fried ones. The other good thing about the baked doughnut is that once you made the mixture, you can just bosch them in the oven, not like fried ones, which you can't leave the frying pot..., simply awesome...:)

Thank you Cows..., Swiss roll

Day 5 of the baking week, and happy Friday! I've made a special effort to show my appreciation to Cows, who let me have their lovely milk and cheese everyday ;) I'm a big fan of them...

This cow pattered Swiss roll is great for something bit special, and also it's not as complicated to make it as it seems.

Ingredients;

Flour 60g

Sugar 60g

Egg 3

Vanilla extract 1tsp

Cocoa powder 1tsp

Black food colouring

-----

Fresh double cream 150ml

Sugar 2tbsp

Vanilla yogurt 1tbsp

1. Sift flour twice. Pre-heat the oven to 200º.

2. Prepare boiled water in a large bowl (let's call it "Bowl A").

3. Prepare a little smaller bowl (let's call it "Bowl B") than the bowl A, and combine eggs and sugar in it. Place the bowl B on top of the bowl A so that the bowl B is warmed up from outside.

4. Mix the egg mixture with a hand mixer well until it becomes fluffy and almost like a meringue.

5. Take out the bowl B from the bowl A, quickly add the flour, and mix with the hand mixer until the flour is mixed in thoroughly.

6. Take a table spoonful of the mixture in a small bowl. Add cocoa powder and food colouring in and mix.

7. Place two pieces of baking sheets on a baking tray. Drop the black-coloured mixture on the tray randomly, and spread so that it looks like a black patches of a cow.

8. Pour 5 into the tray.

9. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 10 minutes.

10. When the cake is done, take it out on a cake cooler rack. Place one of the two baking sheets on the top, and turn it up side down. Peel off the other baking sheet slowly to prevent damaging the surface. Place the same baking sheet back on, and cover the cake with slightly wet tea towel. Let it cool.

11. Prepare the cream. Combine cream and sugar in a bowl, and mix until it is stiff. Fold yogurt it.

12. Spread the cream on the cake. Roll it carefully. Wrap the cake with a cling film. Let it cool in the fridge.

Spanish yogurt cake

Day 4 of the baking week. Easy and simple, Spanish yogurt cake:)

This cake is incredibly easy to make, yet looks quite proper. All you need is one of bakers best friends, Hand Mixer! Great recipe for busy mid weekdays.

Ingredients;

Flour 180g

Baking powder 15g

Sugar 100g

Yogurt 125g

Butter 125g

Egg 3

Lemon juice 2tsp

Icing sugar

1. Sift flour and baking powder together. Melt the butter in a microwave. Pre-heat the oven to 180º. Grease a ring cake tin.

2. In a large bowl mix eggs and sugar together with a hand mixer until it is fluffy.

3. Add melted butter, yogurt, and lemon juice into 2. Mix them thoroughly.

4. Add flour mixture into 3. Mix them thoroughly.

5. Pour the mixture in the ring cake tin. Bake in the pre-heated oven (180º) for 45 minutes.

6. When the cake is cooled down. Sprinkle icing sugar.

Cinnamon Roll

Day 3 of the baking week. Here comes the Cinnamon Roll.

This sweet bun is popular in the Scandinavian countries. Specially in Sweden, 4 October is the day called "Kanelbullens dag (meaning "cinnamon roll day)". That must be the day I can eat those sweet buns like crazy...hummm, one of my sweet dreams....(See http://www.kanelbullensdag.se/).

With these rolls, I've spiced up the recipe a bit, and add peanuts butter and maple syrup.

Ingredients;

Strong flour 200g

Salt 1tsp

Sugar 15g

Dry yeast 7g

Egg 30g

Milk 90ml

Water 20ml

Butter 30g

Maple syrup 1tbsp

-----

Cinnamon powder 1tsp

Brow sugar 25g

Peanut butter 2tbsp

Butter 1tbsp

-----

Egg 20g

Water 10ml

-----

Icing sugar 50g

Lemon juice 2tsp

1. Mix strong flour and salt together in a large bowl. Warm up milk and water to the body warmth, and mix with yeast.

2. Add 30g of egg into the flour mixture, followed by the yeast mixture.

3. Knead the mixture until it becomes a soft dough.

4. Place 3 onto a floured surface, and knead well.

5. Knead in the butter and maple syrup. Continue kneading until the dough is smooth.

6. Put 5 back in the bowl and rest it in a warm place for 30 minutes to 1 hour to prove.

7. Punch the dough, reshape and rest it another 15 minutes.

8. Meanwhile make the fillings. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon powder together.

9. Mix peanut butter and butter together and microwave them to melt.

10. Roll out the dough into 1cm thick.

11. Spread the butter mixture on the dough, and then sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture on top.

12. Roll the dough towards you.

13. Cut 12 into 6 pieces and place on a baking tray. Rest it for 45 minutes to prove.

14. Pre-heat the oven to 190º. Mix 20g of egg and 10ml of water together. When the dough is proved, brush it with the Egg mixture.

15. Bake in the pre-heated oven (190º) for 30 minutes.

16. Cool the cinnamon roll. Mix icing sugar and lemon juice and pour on the cinnamon roll.

Sachertorte

Day 2 of the baking week..., please welcome Miss "Sachertorte"!

This super rich chocolate cake originally from Vienna, Austria is a must-try for chocolate lovers. The moist chocolate texture coated with a thick chocolate garnish looks professional, yet quite easy to make.

Ingredients;

Plain flour 45g

Cocoa powder 45g

Baking powder 1tsp

3 Egg

Sugar 90g

Butter 15g

---

Dark Chocolate 100g

Double cream 80g

Apricot jam 2tbsp

Water or Liquor of your choice 1tbsp

1. Sift Flour, Cocoa powder and Baking powder together. Melt the Butter in the microwave. Pre-heat the oven to 180º.

2. Beat the Egg and Sugar together until it becomes white-ish and foamy.

3. Add 1 into 2, and fold in gently.

4. Sprinkle the melted Butter into 3, and mix.

5. Pour the mixture in a cake tin.

6. Bake in the pre-heated oven (180º) for 30 minutes.

7. When the cake is baked, cool it down on a cake cooler.

8. Make the chocolate garnish. In a little pot, heat the Cream up (DO NOT boil it). Turn the heat off and add the chopped chocolate. Mix well, until the chocolate is fully melted.

9. In a small bowl, mix Apricot jam and Water/Liquor, and microwave it to warm it up.

10. Slice the cake in the middle. Spread the apricot jam mixture and chocolate garnish.

11. Put the top back on and pour the chocolate garnish, and cover the cake thoroughly.

12. Cool the cake in the fridge.

Ginger cake

This week is a baking week, so I've started this sugar rushing week with a sweet and spicy Jamaican ginger cake.

With grounded fresh ginger, ginger powder and crystallised ginger, this moist Jamaican sweets has got the kick of ginger literally in every bite;) This cake differently satisfies my ginger craving.

Ingredients;

Flour 160g

Brown sugar 140g

2 Egg

Butter 125g

Baking powder 1tsp

Ginger powder 2tsp

Cinnamon powder 1tsp

Vanilla extract 1tsp

Ginger wine 1tbsp

Fresh root ginger (grated) 1tsp

Crystallised ginger (chopped) 1tbsp

1. Sift Flour, baking powder, ginger powder and cinnamon powder. Pre-heat the oven to 180º.

2. Cream butter and sugar together.

3. Add eggs into 2 one at time.

4. Add grated root ginger, chopped crystallised ginger, and ginger wine into 3. Fold them in.

5. Pour the mixture into a cake tin.

6. Bake in the pre-heated oven (180º) for 45 minutes.