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The month of February was filled with so many events and projects that I could hardly find time to get down and mess around in the kitchen for long. Firstly, there was the 15-days long Chinese New Year celebrations (lots of food and photos, I’ll get to posting them soon, hopefully!) and then, I had a couple of Valentine’s/Friendship Day celebrations with my dear friends (photos again, soon!). On top of that, I’m also tied down by a record amount of school projects and assignments in this final semester of college. That explains my absence from February’s Daring Bakers’ Challenge which I heard took 10 hours to complete! Great job you guys and gals!
It wasn’t till the week long mid-semester break last week, that I could find a little time off from all the slogging to bake this Banana Phydelity. The “break” came in time for me to catch up with and finish up some work and at the end of it, I felt like treating myself to some home-made desserts. SZ and I went on a dessert hunt the other day and tried the “Baked Banana in Phyllo Pastry” and signature dish, “Grand Marnier Soufflé” from Infuzi at Biopolis. The desserts were pricey and quite disappointing. The only saving point was the vanilla ice-cream that came with both desserts. It was really light and smooth, and I could see all the tiny vanilla seeds in it. We preferred the Baked Banana over the Soufflé, which we thought was too ‘egg-y’ for our liking and had only the slightest hint of Grand Marnier. You have to be really lucky to scoop out a spoonful of soufflé that had Grand Marnier in it.
I’m really pleased with my decision to join the Daring Bakers. Although it has only been 3 months since I joined, I managed to experiment with so many baking techniques which I have avoided in the past for fear of failure and inconvenience. My first challenge involved bread making from scratch, and that’s without a bread machine! In the second challenge, I had to make a genoise cake covered with coffee buttercream and decorated with marzipan mushrooms for the Yule Log. This month, the daring bakers were celebrating the arrival of the new year with lemon meringue pies!
It’s time to reveal this month’s challenge! The daring bakers have been occupied with churning out Yule Logs this entire month!
To be honest, I had a hunch that December’s challenge would involve something that relates to the holiday season, and the yule log was one of those things I secretly hoped Lis and Ivonne would pick. I remember checking the DB’s blog every hour hoping to see the challenge posted hehe..
Indulge in these decadent cupcakes that are dense, moist and rich. The chocolate espresso cupcakes are guaranteed to satisfy your tastebuds! They are not overly sweet and carry a tinge of bitterness from good quality Espresso. The aroma from the combination of chocolate and Espresso is heavenly!
Craving for a bite out of these cupcakes? They can be found on SweetHut’s menu. Get some and have a taste for yourself!
That’s right! I am now part of the awesome group called Daring Bakers! It’s hard to not notice this group if you read food blogs because a good majority of the food bloggers out there are part of this magnificent community. At the end of every month you will get to see what the Daring Bakers have been up to when the entire group posts about their findings on the same recipe.
The challenge for November is hosted by Tanna of My Kitchen in Half Cups, on the topic of Potato Bread. Yep, this is a yeasted bread that needs proving and kneading. Nope, we are not allowed to use the bread machine, we have to do it with our bare hands! This sounds like an exciting challenge for someone like me - one who has NEVER baked bread or even thought of baking one (not when you can get cheap loaves of bread off the shelves these days).
The recipe which Tanna provided included many details and tips on how to handle the dough. Hearing comments from other DBakers about how gooey and soft the dough was made me wary of the difficulties I might face ahead, but it also made me more excited about getting the challenge done!
Here, I present my very first Daring Bakers report!
My cousin is having a BBQ birthday party tonight for her ‘lil boy! In my family, whenever someone holds a party, the rest of us will usually contribute a dish or two just like you do in a potluck. Nevermind that there is already enough food at the party, it has become a habit for everyone to turn up with something extra.
My mom asked me the other day to think of something to make so I can bring it to the party. I browsed through my collection of recipes and read all the food blogs I frequent to gather some ideas. I wanted to try a new recipe, something I’ve never made and have always wanted to. In the end, I picked apple strudel!
The apple strudel I had in mind was the layered version you find from Ritz Apple, served with creamy custard. Almost all the recipes I found online were that of the tradition German apple strudel where the apple filling is wrapped inside the pastry. I searched high and low for recommendations on the type of pastry to use - strudel, puff or phyllo; ways to make that creamy custard - think Ritz Apple and Beard Papa Cream Puffs, not tradition custard cream. After much research, I ended up using a combination of recipes and adjusting the methods to get what I had in mind.
I’ve been wanting to try this easy recipe for a long time now, but I got tied down with school so I couldn’t find the chance to do some grocery shopping. On Tuesday, my group meeting ended earlier than expected and I was done with FYP for the day. Seeing as it was time for lunch and I was still in school, I asked XY if she wanted to meet for lunch. After lunch, I realised I had nothing else to do for the day (maybe some assignments and projects due in the week) so I coerced XY to dump her FYP and travel back home with me haha…
It was then that we decided to drop by Finest (that’s the NTUC that is classier that what you find in the neighbourhood towns) on our way home. Hurray! Figured this would be the best time to get what I need for the sausage rolls. We spent 2 hours in Finest browsing through the shelves and displays! This reminds me of when I spent about the same time shopping at Walmart in USA for the first time with Kailing! Ahh memories!
My first attempt at this cake was when I had to make a birthday cake for a colleague. The birthday girl is pretty health-conscious, so the usual Tiramisu, chocolate cakes and cheesecakes were out of the question. In the end, I settled for fruit based cakes (not those laden with cream and topped with fruits) such as blueberry coffee cake, carrot cake and the final decision - banana cake!
It was rather risky to use a recipe I’ve never tried before to present as a birthday cake. I had my fingers crossed and hoped for the best! The result - a moist and delicious banana cake which wasn’t too sweet. I toped the cake with some whipped cream and nuts, then drenched it with drizzles of chocolate sauce. Perfect!
