Deja Vu

I think many food bloggers have a common problem. We avoid making the same thing too often. Because if we did, we would run out of things to blog about! But we all have recipes we turn to again and again, don't we?

So I baked white chocolate and cranberry jam cakes again. But it wasn't for myself! My classmate, Daisy, placed an order for these and a dark chocolate version (dark chocolate, peanut butter filling, nutella topping) to bring back to Indonesia for her family for Chinese New Year. Now I'm really glad because she placed the same order last year. Which means they were well received by her folks the last time!

And that makes me a happy girl.

I think I did a better job this time round with the cakes because they were more fluffy and had a moister crumb than those last year. And the white chocolate ganache isn't grainy like the previous time. I just have to work on spreading the topping on the cakes because I don't seem to be able to do it without getting the crumbs all over and destroying the smooth toppings, especially with the nutella. I think it has to do with the consistency.

More practices needed!

Valentine

心, originally uploaded by Ms_evinrude.

New Year Detox

First of all, let me wish you all a Happy Lunar New Year! I know I should have done that a few days ago, but hey, there's 15 days to it! (i suddenly realise how similar this is to my Christmas greeting) And of course they say it's better late than never. (Did I say this too for Christmas?) For you who doesn't know what the Lunar New Year is about, wiki is your friend!

With all the celebrations going on, all the food and booze, it's really about time we all got a detox. And what better way than salads?! You know how much I love salads. They're oh-so-easy to prepare and even more so when you buy wash-and-toss salad mixes from the supermarket. It's the first time I got the a salad veg mix from the supermarket and it's a change from the usual ice-berg lettuce that I always use for my salads (because it's like the cheapest salad veg around!). And it's so convenient.

I don't really have a recipe for this 5-minute salad but if you really want something, I could tell you how I mixed my vinaigrette. As usual, I think you should just add whatever you like to your salad. I love nuts in my salad because it adds texture and I'm not keen on eating like a cow. I added lightly salted cashews and almonds this time, because I love cashews. I also added some corn (after I took the photographs) for added sweetness.

I admit I wasn't eating healthy all the time. In fact, I've always liked salads but with mayonnaise or thousand island. And I've only started using healthier dressings like vinaigrettes recently. I think it's also because I like stronger flavours and I don't think I could ever evolved to eat salads only with olive oil.

Now, if you really need to know, I mixed some apple cider vinegar, olive oil, about half a teaspoon of honey, pepper and about 1 teaspoon of soy sauce together to get the dressing for this salad. I don't even remember the proportions. But you know, taste test!

Have I succeeded in keeping my blog alive and reminding you that it's time to stop the new year binge?

Birthday Baking - Part 2

Okie! I'm back with the recipe! Did you miss me?

White Chocolate Orange Cake with Cranberry Jam

Ingredients
100g white chocolate
110g butter, softened
120g granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 heaping tbsp grated orange zest
160g all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
120ml milk

50g sliced almonds, lightly toasted
4 - 5 heaping tbsp cranberry jam, warmed
1 tbsp icing sugar
2 - 3 tsp warm water
icing sugar, to dust

- Preheat oven to 180°C.
- Melt chocolate in a double boiler or in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water, making sure that the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water.
- Beat sugar and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until light and fluffy (~ 3mins). Meanwhile, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, allowing to mix 30secs between additions.
- Add melted chocolate and orange zest. Beat for 30secs.
- Fold in 1/3 of sifted flour mixture and then 1/2 of the milk.
- Repeat until all the flour has been well incorporated. Do not over mix.
- Bake in a greased and lined 7" baking tin for 35mins or until a testing pin inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. If the cake is browning too rapidly, cover with aluminium foil.
- Turn cooked cake out to cool on a wire rack before proceeding to assemble.
- When cake is cooled, slice into 2 rounds with a large, serrated knife. I find it easier to cut by placing turning the cake and cutting slowly from the circumference to the center. If the cake has a dome, even the top by cutting the "extra cake".
- Spread cranberry jam generously over the bottom half of the cake and top with the other half of the cake.
- Mix 1 tbsp of icing sugar with the warm water, 1 tsp at a time, to get a paste. Spread this thinly over the top of the cake.
- Sprinkle sliced almonds to cover the top of the cake.
- Dust with icing sugar.

I think I did mention about messing up the cake quite a bit. In order to provide you with full information and also entertainment, here's what happened:

(In no particular order)
1. I was lazy and skipped lining the tin so the cake got a little stuck. And a part of it broke while I tried to, frantically, get it out of the pan. But I pieced it back, so you can't see it.
2. I used a mixture of white and brown sugar so the cake wasn't as white as I would like it. It's got nothing to do with taste, but if you wanted it to look better, I'd suggest using only white sugar.
3. I wanted to make a white chocolate ganache for the outside of the cake, but due to miscalculations, it just wouldn't thicken up. So I have a lot of chocolate "sauce" left.
4. My almonds were more than lightly toasted. They were quite, erm, well-browned. So I covered up with icing sugar so you wouldn't notice.
5. So in my recipe I've included an icing sugar paste to spread over the cake. It's to act as *glue* for the almonds to stay on the cake. As you guessed, I didn't think of it when I was in the middle of trying to fix the above 4 problems of my cake. And my almonds were falling all over the place when I cut the cake.
6. I think 5 glitches are enough for a poor birthday cake.

Birthday Baking

Here's what I promised to be up by this week! My belated birthday cake! I kinda messed up quite a lot here and there, but that'll come later. Fortunately I was able to do emergency rescue procedures to salvage the cake and make it look presentable!

I don't have much time to post today, so I won't have a recipe yet. But let's hope it'll come soon, okie? =p