holla

I  know.. the lack of updates and the MIAs...

Works been, well, rather time consuming lately... and that doesn't really take me away from baking... it just kinda take me away from updating this blog.

I've made some creations, but unfortunately with my rather poor photography skills, the photos turned out really blah..

Oh, and the  battle between the carrot cake and the marble cake? I made them both, but my marble failed miserably with an uncooked center and a seriously hideous marble effect. Oh well, I guess I aren't that artistic after all.

I promise I will put up the carrot cake recipe really soon, and hopefully baking a second batch... so.. stay tuned

Cream Puffs

Made my first ever choux pastry creation - cream puffs, and it turned out to be amazing!

I've got raving comments on it, and it just gives me so much more motivation to make second (or possibly third) batch of puffs!

Recipe adopted from Joy of Baking.

Cream Puffs

Indecisive

It's been one of those nights when you really feel like baking, but have no idea what you wanna make.

I've been blog hopping, bake books flipping, and googling, and still can't draw even an ounce of inspiration! And that frustrates me a lot. What's more, to add salt to wound, I've had a fail bake last night.

I attempted an Amish bread. It actually turn out alright, just that I didn't lay the dough in the pan well enough that the bread sort of get "folded". I am beginning to wonder has my recent pastry making generate an automatic "fold the dough in three thirds" mode whenever I lay hands on dough?

But anyways.. the bread didn't taste like a white bread at all (well, I wasn't sure of what Amish bread was until I googled it while its in the oven baking, and realized it wasn't white bread at all). It's kinda like a sour dough bread, and of course, since I am envisioning a white bread, well, this is considered a "failed" bake.

Well back to my indecisiveness, I am torn between a carrot cake and a marble cake. Both aren't exactly my favorite, but I really want to try swirl a marble cake batter and see if I've got the artistic touch of creating a wonderfully marbled effect. And carrot cake? Well, cause I stumble across a recipe that seems so scrumptious that I want to give it a go.

So, the battle between the marble and the carrot. Who will win? We will know in a couple hours (or days) when I next bake.

Cheerios!

Kaya Buns

So here's what's been baked in the oven some weeks back - Kaya Buns (the mini version).

It's rather simple, just follow the bun recipe exactly to the tee, and you get a really soft and delicious bun dough.  For the bun dough recipe, please click here. (Did I not mention that All Recipes has always been my favorite?)

As for the filling, you can use anything and everything (that's edible) actually.  This round, I am using what we called Kaya.  Kaya (or Srikaya) is a coconut egg jam that is like a spread. It's a really popular bread spread here in Malaysia, and if you're not from around this part of the globe, try your local Chinese grocers. They will usually have it. 

So I used one can (approximate 430 ml, can't remember the exact content) of Kaya to fill up these buns.  For easier handling, pipe the spread into the bun dough, and then seal the buns.  I put them in little cupcake wrappers so it looks slightly more presentable. 

And I have to say, they do look (and taste) gorgeous :) 

Kaya Buns

Lemon Bars

Joy of Baking is one of my favorite site for great baking inspiration.  I've tried a couple of her recipes, and I'd say they all tasted really good!

And of course, you probably guessed it - this recipe is from her as well. 

This is my first trial on the lemon bars (for Stephanie's recipe, please click here), and it's not too shabby for a first bake.  My only setback was my shortbread is a little crumbly when I tried to move it from the wire rack to a serving plate, then again that's probably cause I did not let it sit and cool properly. 

Other than that, this recipe is a must try! 

p/s: I sub the white granulated sugar for the lemon filling with brown sugar. 

Lemon Bars

Pigs in Blankets

Well, except I used cocktail chicken frankfurters instead of pork.

So it's chicks in blankets, maybe?

It is a really simple recipe to follow. For the pastry, just refer to my earlier post on the puff pastry recipe. (I can't link the post!! Blogging on mobile does have its downside)

That recipe will make slightly over 50 pigs in blankets, depending of course on how thick you roll your dough.

Basically, to assemble this yummy snack, prepare egg wash ( I used 2 eggs with approximately 2 tablespoons water, beat together). Roll and cut your puff pastry dough into a small rectangle - the width should be slightly shorter than your sausage, if not same width. The length approximately slightly over twice the diameter of the sausage. (I am horrible in giving precise measurements, aren't I? Well, just make sure you can make one complete 360 degrees roll on your sausage and you're good to go).

Then, using your trusty pastry brush, brush egg wash on the surface of the dough on which you will lay your sausage on. Why? The egg wash will help the sausage remain attached to the pastry while being cooked in the oven. Else, your pigs are not snugly tucked in their blankets.

Okay. Then just roll your sausage in your pastry, brush egg wash again at the edge to stick the pastry together. Then brush the assembled rolls with eff wash to get the lovely golden hue off the skin.

Pop your pigs into a preheated oven (180 Celsius) and baked for about 12 mins, or when the pastry turned brown.

Pigs in Blanket

Mini Croissants

Bake of the week:  mini croissants.  

My first croissant baking experience.  It definitely is a lot easier than I thought, but very, very time consuming.  Even more so than the puff pastry. 

It took me literally half a day to wait, chill and knead these babies. But the result, well worth the effort! 

I maybe posting the recipes up in another post. So for now, just enjoy the photo ;) 

Mini Croissants