Boat Race 09

The Oxford & Cambridge Boat Race

If you haven’t know, this is one of an important annual event between Oxford & Cambridge at River Thames since 1829.

while waiting for the battle to begin @ 1540hrs, I got myself a BBQ beef burger to generate some fats to beat the cold…

 I’m at no sides. Congrats to Oxford though at the same time I feel for Cambridge when their heads were down with disappointments (cos I’ve train hard and lost races too). It’ll be a good motivation to work even harder in preparation to challenge Oxford next year for a rematch!

Drooling,

Juanie

MOF @ My Izakaya

For the first time Kel is craving for ice cream before I do! I think any ice cream would have done the job for him yesterday and we passed by Ministry of Food at Suntec City, he was keen on the Japanese soft serve ice cream and I was ogling over the mince with rice~

Seriously, the mince with rice is not bad. I could just have that with teriyaki salmon anytime – which was what I did. My previous favourite place to go for mince with rice was at Marina Square but they have since down-slided.

The sushi was value for money, I would say. And of course, the red bean rice ball ice cream dessert hits the right spot.


Warm love,
Starningblue

Choc Green Tea Marble Cupcake

I love baking marble cake. I love the marbling effect. I literally stop myself from marbling too much.

Missing the butter and chocolate marble loaf I made eons ago, this time I make cupcakes out of chocolate and green tea marble. A recipe I collected from a blog I have lost touch with.

Look at the mini cupcakes I made from the leftover batter not enough to make a normal cupcake. So cute!

However, the taste of this is not as expected. First time I make marble cake with yogurt, turns out it smells sourish and the texture of the cake is overly sticky and dense. Not fluffy and soft.

I really want to learn trouble shooting with baking. Not just to dump the bad ones and forget about it. That's why I signed up for baking class (don't even know if it is still going to happen) and that's why I want this book!

Regardless of my emotional ups and downs in the kitchen, one constant supporter I have always is Chester. Ever eager to do a taste-test, ever loving and protective of me walking in and out of the kitchen just to make sure everything is okay.


Warm love,
Starningblue

Choc Fudge Cupcakes

When work doesn’t tire me out too much and the baking itch gets to me, I trawl my recipes. For this Choc Fudge Cupcakes, I didn’t really need to do a quick dash for grocery, I had all that was require. Great~

The recipe called for frosting but I wanted to use up the box of After Eight Mints sitting in the fridge. When topped onto the cupcakes fresh from the oven, it just melted decadently.

To be honest, I love cakey brownies instead of the fudgy chunky version. In comparison, this recipe made the fudgy chunky cupcakes… *which my sis readily helps herself to more*

How do you identify from the recipe whether it is fluffy and cakey or moist and fudgy? I really need that baking class that I signed up for (it got postponed due to lack of participants! Yikes.)


Ingredients

3/4 cup unsalted butter
170g semisweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup sugar
4 eggs, separated
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn cream of tartar

How to

Heat oven to 170C. Grease line muffin pan with baking cups. Place butter and chocolate in metal bowl; place over medium saucepan of simmering water. Let stand until melted; stir until smooth and cool to room temperature. Whisk in sugar and egg yolks. Stir in flour and baking powder.

In another bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar at medium-high speed till egg whites peak. Fold a quarter of the whites into chocolate mixture. Gently fold in remaining whites until well mixed.

Fill muffin cups two-thirds full and bake for 25mins. When baked, cool on wire rack for 10 min. Remove from pan and cool completely.

Hmm, miss the brownies I made for Christmas~

Warm love,
Starningblue

Ice Cream Parlor

Since its ice-cream week, I thought I’ll contribute something too.

Morelli’s Gelato since 1907

Some says its the Rolls Royce of ice creams.

Freshly made daily in the Italian traditional artisan method

Heavenly!

Drooling,

Juanie

What's your flavour?

This is ice cream week, not only for myself but also for 8 Days. (weekly local magazine) 20 pages dedicated to worthy licks with full images to tempt and Ice Cream Awards 2009 to boot. As for myself, a tub of Baskin Robbin’s Pistachio Almond was small treat from JB last weekend. *indulgence*

Flipping through those pages was totally uncomfortable; makes me want to reach for my Baskin in the fridge! With the features of various ice cream joints in Singapore, I realized I have tasted most of them and until this week, I had no idea I love ice cream that much! *grin*

Just imagine staring down at write-ups on Island Creamery, The Daily Scoops, Haato and my all-time love Haagen Dazs, just to name a few to start you on some popular ice-creameries over here.

From 8 days, do you know your frozen desserts?

Ice Cream Contains milk, cream eggs (some not), must have at least 10% fat
Gelato From Italian word to freeze ‘Gelare’. Less cream but more milk than ice cream, usually less than 7% fat. The smoother, denser consistency comes from 50% less air than ice cream!
Sorbet No fat! Just water, with sugar and flavourings, usually fruits.
Sherbet Like sorbet, with milk.

How enlightening is this? I never favoured sorbet or sherbet, too zingy for my liking and now I know why I like Haagen Dazs to bits – soo creamy because of the low air content in their ice cream! *and they pride themselves for that!* Totally good stuff~


Worth a mention and a try, The Ice Cream Gallery is voted for Best Boozy Kick. Be rest assured I will be there soon enough to taste the raved rum and raisin.

So, what’s your flavour?


Warm love,
Starningblue

Rainbow Cupcakes

I was just sipping my coffee mourning another week’s work ahead when my lovely colleague opened that white box to offer me these rainbow coloured mini cupcakes; I’m all smiles and really, she made my day.

These yummy cupcakes are as bite-sized as a small chocolate truffle. Love how the steamed cake melts in my mouth then presents the brown sugared coconut beneath.

After I tasted this a few years ago, I realized I have rarely seen this sold anywhere! Only once have I bumped into a street stall selling traditional Malay cakes and treats where they stocked many flavours of the rainbow cupcakes. *my colleague ordered from a home baking contact*

Apparently, this is made on special occasions (weddings, new year…) in Malay culture. The internet does not provide much details on this so no recipe, no references!

Although I did find one recipe kind of similar to this, I would have to try it out to know if that is THE ONE.

Stay tuned :)


Warm love,
Starningblue

Cheese Brioche

Hot piping mini Cheese Brioche just out from the oven

a little surprise in the brioche… cheese oozing out

For someone who likes a quick fix, the process of making this seems like forever as I spent hours on it – kneading & waiting for it to rise, kneading & waiting for it to rise again. Its my first try and was surprised that it actually did turn out to be bread-like ~woohoo.  Was worried during the process as my dough doesn’t look right.  The bread itself was flavored with black pepper cheddar cheese but what tops it was the melted cheese nugget within. It still needs perfecting though.

I need some help in finishing them…

Drooling,

Juanie

I ate gold

Last new year, dad mom and I went for yummyslummy jap food in jb before I flew to melb and we saw this at the counter;

And I finally tried this gimmick. Honestly, it doesnt do anything to the shoju. But its really, really pretty=)

I heard of hearsays how expensive these metal flakes can cost, but I guess we were 'lucky' because it didnt burn a hole in my dad's pocket(haha) Restaurant owner told us that Japan will produce similar drinks like this to celebrate their new year and to welcome prosperity.

So, the next time you visit jb, dont forget about this jap place!

Although I have no clue where it is..

xo

Smell the flowers and Appreciate

Being unwell really throws me off sync. Be it the irritating migraine, bloated tummy or the discomfort that is no stranger to most women. To be at my best, I need to feel well, be well and eat well!

Pardon me as I zip in and out of here, blogging whenever I have the frame of mind. It has been a rough month for me; the most I want to do is to be on the couch cuddling up to Chester and resting my day away. *but no, I am at work*

Believe it or not, food is (still) my comfort when I am under the weather. There are periods of the month I eat everything, anything. There are times when I sniff a bit and I hunt for soup. This is Korean food week - am craving Korean spicy food.

How blessed am I to have what I want in a jiffy, I would find what I need almost all the time. Not all of us are so lucky.

I have just added the badge of BloggerAid to the side bar on this blog yesterday. BloggerAid got me excited when I read about the campaign to publish a cookbook from submitted (and tested, of coz!) entries compiled. All proceeds go to World Food Program. Good idea!

Well, I have yet to decide if I have any worthy recipes to submit but we can do the least by passing this on and creating a little awareness for this initiative. Feel free to visit BloggerAid through this link or click on the sidebar badge to find out more about what other bloggers are doing to help.


Warm love,
Starningblue

Save the best for the last

When I was in adelaide a few weeks back, Toi's sister was so hospitable that she woke up at 7(when we slept at 2) to make quiche for us. How kind is she!

I remember it was the morning before the trip to adelaide hills; we begun the windy road up for koalas and cute bats. Even when feeling giddy, I was greedy enough to try to gobble down one of them on the car. It was that good. But after that I think I felt even giddier -.-

Toi sister used a 3-year long recipe.. Crustless but still nothing short. Cheese lovers will enjoy this!

MmmMmm.. Im still waiting for the recipe..

Germany

If you recalled, last Christmas I buggered off to somewhere white and cold backpacking. I like to call it my traditional year end soul searching trip, to round up the year, to start afresh for the new year.

I’ve chose a small town in Bavaria, Germany… anything just to run away from bustling cities.

Bavarian Pretzel. How can I missed that.

~

You know you have to try Schweinshaxe (pork knuckles) when you are in Germany. To me, my trip is not complete without this classic meal, commonly served with Kartoffelklöße (potato dumpling). Its goooood.

And of coz, accompanied with German beer – Helles.

Completing the meal with warm Apple Strudel + vanilla ice cream - Münchner Apfelstrudel. Heavenly! It tastes so different from the ones I had before.

Address: Ritterstr. 6, 87629 Füssen, Germany

~

Start off with Beer… or actually shandy - beer mixed with sprite.

One of the traditional Bavarian soup called Leberknödelsuppe / pork liver dumpling soup.

Since I didn’t managed to try out Weisswurst (white sausage) which is a tradition Bavarian sausage, I’ve pick another Bavarian dish - Nürnberger Bratwurst, which is small, thin grilled sausages served with potato salad.

Address: Schrannenplatz 10, 87629 Füssen, Germany

~

This is Schneeballen (snowball). Theses chocolate, coconut or almond balls are actually strips of dough weaved together with amaretto marzipan, marzipan, nougat etc fillings. I never tried them myself as the shop was closed but this is yet another bavarian sweet treats…

The common junks that keep me going… Have you guessed why I returned unwell?

Other related posts on this trip:

1. Quark Ballchen

2. Refreshed

Drooling,

Juanie

Honey Mustard Chicken

Even though chicken thighs give better flavour, I prefer chicken breast strips instead to cut down on fats and also coz its boneless ~ easy to consume.

Simple ingredients, simple steps.

Mix wholegrain mustard and honey, season with salt and ground black pepper to taste. Brush the mixture all over the chicken and bake for 25-30mins in 180ºC preheated oven - brushing the chicken occasionally with pan juices.

Try having it with crunchy lettuce…. or Chunky tomato & red onion salad.

Drooling,

Juanie

Chocolate Cupcakes

• 100g Butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 100g self raising flour
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• Topping (melted white/ dark / milk chocolate)
• chocolate chips / sprinkles to decorate

1. Heat oven to 180 degrees.
2. Cream butter & sugar together, then beat in the eggs and flour. Add cocoa powder. (add some milk if mixture is too stiff)
3. Spoon into paper cases/muffin tins. Bake for 8 minutes. Cool.
4. Top with melted chocolate & decorate.

Made this out of the blue when a sudden rush for baking hit me and no surprise my cupboard is never prepared for times like this. Couldn’t even turn them into pretty colorful cupcakes. Still I’m glad my improvised version didn’t fail and no worries, I’ve given the proper recipe above.

Next time I shall be better prepared.

Drooling,

Juanie

Japanese Curry Rice

Can’t believe our last trip to Japan, Kel and I did not have Japanese Curry Rice! Or maybe he did but we missed out the photo-taking.

I dig Japanese stuff. Not only the country’s splendid scenery and cleanliness, its culture but also the food, those cute innovative products and how courteous Japanese are (though they may be declining requests from you); even the people at the embassy are nice! They have such a way of life it is a science.

Whether or not we are planning for a trip to Japan, *which we are planning for Osaka & Kyoto, it’s so exciting!* Japanese Curry Rice at Liang Court basement food satiates our appetite for something Nihon. This is such a comfort it feels almost like fast food.



Forget about diluted curry sauce, Japanese Curry is meant to be thick and creamy, just like how it is here. This stall sells everything curry. Have it with pork or chicken cutlet, croquettes, beef stew… you name it.

Walk yourself to Meidi-ya supermarket after burping to find always fresh Japanese fruits and vegetables to bring home.



Warm love,
Starningblue