Mac Cupcakes for Foreign Affairs

Wanie just moved to a new department and thus these cupcakes occurred. The forever peanut-butter lover ordered nothing else but that (the vanilla cupcakes with peanut-butter filling). 

There's nothing much to say about these little devils, just that I got the idea from the net. Some moms who bake made cupcakes decorated with computer icons. So I kinda improvised from that.

Designer's Cups

Another birthday. It's usually birthday, isn't it? Or some other celebration. That's what cakes are normally for.

This time, it's designer's brand. I have thought about this for some time, and this is just the appropriate time to make them since the birthday is for a young lady who's going to turn 24.

And this one is just some additional I made for Un. He's visiting some relatives over the weekend, so I made something for him to take to them.

It's good to have birthdays. They make me less bored and less lazy. ;)

Easy Lasagna

After not having so much success with the macarons, I decided to make lasagna for dinner. This also my first experiment, but with this I was pretty sure it won't screw up so much like those macarons. And though it might not look pretty here, it is definitely soothing to the palate and soon enough, all my frustration about those feetless macarons of mine went away.

Meat Lasagna

250g instant lasagna (it has to be instant so u don't have to pre-cook it before layering)

Meat sauce:

2 tbsp oil

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 can button mushroom, sliced

500g mince meat

5 tbsp tomato puree

2 fresh tomatoes, diced

2 cups chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

a pinch of basil

1. Heat oil in a saucepan, add onion, mushroom and garlic, cook until soft.

2. Add mince meat, cook until brown. Then stir in tomato puree, diced tomatoes and chicken stock.

3. Season with salt, pepper and basil and let cook for 20 minutes.

Cheese Sauce:

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp plain flour

2 cups milk

125 g mozzarella or cheddar cheese

1. Melt butter in a saucepan, stir in flour and cook for 2 minutes over low heat.

2. Remove from heat and stir in milk.

3. Return the pan back to heat, stir until thick and smooth, then add in the cheddar.

4. Season with pepper and salt as needed and stir until cheese melts.

Assembly:

1. Preheat oven to 180C and pour 1/4 of the meat sauce into a lightly greased baking dish.

2. Alternate layers of lasagna, meat and cheese sauces, ending with cheese sauce layer (make 4 layers).

3. Sprinkle with grated parmesan if desired and bake for 30 minutes with the dish covered in foil.

4. Remove foil and continue baking for a further 15 minutes until the pasta is cooked through.

And the Macaron War Begins...

Today was my first attempt of making macarons after many, many days and months of being a lazy ass. I used a basic recipe for the macarons and made some dulce de leche for the fillings. The result, as you can see, is not too satisfying but nevertheless, I am proud to have finally tried making these buggers. Just compare my job to these lovely ones from Paulette...

Whipping up the meringue was easy, I just had to make sure there were no traces of oil in my utensils or else the egg white won't rise. The baked macarons looked like they wanted to grow feet (really, they looked so promising, but still, I get no feet, only a few almost had feet). They tasted great, however, but I had a hard time removing them from the parchment paper. I ended up eating all the broken ones in my attempt to remove the little devils.

Now if anyone of you readers want to join me in this war, I'm leaving the recipe here, in this post.

Basic Macarons

3 egg whites (make sure they are at least a day old, that's what I was told)

1/4 cup of caster sugar

1 cup icing sugar

1/2 cup ground almond

1. Whisk the egg whites like you're making a meringue until it turns foamy.

2. Then add in the sugar and whisk again until the egg whites become glossy with soft peaks forming.

3. Add the icing sugar and the ground almond to the meringue and fold together to mix. The batter should be very thick now and flattens if you dropped a dollop of it on a surface.

4. Pipe circles of the batter from a piping bag onto a parchment paper placed on a baking sheet, leave them out for an hour at least and then bake them at 315F for around 10 minutes, till you see the feet form, then lower the temperature to 300F and bake for further 3 to 4 minutes with the oven door slightly ajar.

5. Let cool and remove from parchment paper and serve with the dulce de leche filling sandwiched in the middle.

The name dulce de leche may sounds a bit daunting, but really, it's easy and it's just made of caramelized condensed milk. Ahah! So don't fear, believe me, the making of the macarons are what anyone should be scared of. 

Dulce de Leche Filling

1 can of sweetened condensed milk

1. Boil the can of milk in a pot of boiling water for an hour. Always make sure the can is always immersed under water all the time. (And remove the paper label outside the can, before you dunk it in water!)

2. Cool the can before opening or else the condense milk might spurt into your face. Whip the milk in a small bowl until smooth and keep refrigerated till you're ready to use it.

There's another way of making this, but I'm telling you the easiest way of making it. My dulce de leche went well but it was a little too runny to hold up between the macarons. Maybe I should just settle for some ganache or buttercream the next time.

So, good luck to you and to myself too. Till my next macaron war, I reckon I'm gonna be successful the next time around.. Tata!

Soccer Again

Another male birthday. Now these here, don't be taken aback..., are cheesecakes in cups. I can't help from feeling strange when making these. I have always believe that cheesecakes should always go bare and naked. They are best eaten that way.

But anyhowsoever, what customers want customers get. I was asked to make these cakes that way so I made it. I also noticed that it's generally better to have more than a set of nine cupcakes in order to make a full fledge themed cupcakes. Nine is just too few.

Lazy Days

Eventhough I am on my semester break at the moment, I am still one lazy ass. Thus, lately, I didn't produce anything much from my kitchen. Well, I did made some churros the other day, but I didn't have any cameras with me so I don't have their pictures here to testify to that claim. Nevermind, those churros were pretty easy to make, I'll probably make them again next time and have the photos, and the recipe posted over here.

So, because I am lazy, my last quest of making birthday cupcakes has led me to take their picture in the muffin pan and not in the cake box or at least, on a cake board. That explains how lazy I was, right?

I also made some birthday cupcakes for my friend's dad. She asked for freestyle cupcakes, which I like because it gives me so much freedom to do anything with the little devils. I have been eyeing these football team cake toppers for a looong time so I bought them eagerly to go with the daddy's birthday cupcakes.

The cupcakes were turned into a football field (I made the grass from dessicated coconut which was tinted green) and I piped some line on the cupcakes to represent the football field better.

And these above, were the kamasutra cupcakes again, only this time they were ordered by the ever loyal Madam Zalwanie!

Teaching Day

Yesterday was teaching day. Guided a girl from class making some cupcakes for her special friend. Devil's Food was the easiest to make, so that was what I made her do.

We made some cream cheese fillings and fill them in the cupcakes. We wanted to have Manchester United emblem on the cupcakes, icing drawn, but was too risky to attempt. So, we sticked on some paper logos on to toothpicks and placed it on the cupcakes centres.

All in all, the day was considered a successful one.

Happy B'day Arsenal Fan!!!

From a sister to a brother. These were made for a birthday boy who happens to be a die-hard fan of the Arsenal football team. They are the ever favourite peanut butter filled cupcakes again. I have to say that I have made a lot of these within the past year. This and the oreo cheesecake. They seems to be my best produce so far.

Here's a cross-sectional view of the cupcake. See that thick filling of peanut butter in the center? That's the thing that make my heart fell for this little thing. Truly, truly nutty!

P/s : Mimi, I hope your brother likes it.

Love n Sex

I made this kamasutra cupcakes last night for a lady who wants to go home to her hometown in Malacca today. She wanted something to surprise the husband. I hope these little darlings will do just that.

It did cost me some time to actually find the names of the sexual position..., but hey, I made it at last!

In addition to those kamasutras, she also wanted something lovey dovey and romantic. Purple and pink was her choice of colour and I simply turned 9 cupcakes into lovestruck icons.

Hope you're satisfied with them, girl!

Chocolate Hazelnut in Citrus Suit

Another classmate of mine ordered 'freestyle' cupcakes. And when she said 'freestyle', she made me happy. Cos 'freestyle' means I can do whatever I want with them. Unfortunately, I was not so free at the time she ordered them because at the same time I was also handling another huge order.

Nevertheless, I didn't compromise the cupcakes, I managed to make these chocolate cupcakes, with chocolate hazelnut filling in their centres. And of course, here, as you can see, they're disguised in 'citrus' make-up.

Little Boy's...

My classmate's little boy just turned four last week. Made these for his little party at a day-care.

I love these blue cups. Simplicity and clarity.

I made 50 chocolate devil's food cupcakes for this batch.

I kept the design light and whimsical. I have to say, it's my identity to not have too many colours on a series of cupcakes. And I try as much as possible to make the deco minimal and neat. After all, cupcakes are meant to be simple.

Ana's Purple

For a lady who just turned 23 last week. Ordered by her room mate who happened to be a chocolate lover, so the cakes are chocolate. But the colour purple, is the birthday girl's favorite.

More to come in the next fortnight. Good thing, but phew..!

Road Signs

My good customer placed another order. Her usual favourite - Pnut Butt (vanilla cupcakes with peanut butter filling).

I took the opprtunity to decorate the cupcakes with road signs. Simple, but cute enough to be placed on cupcakes.

F1 Fever

These were made in conjunction to Formula 1. Patterns are challenging enough for me but it was a good call. I managed, I guess...

I'm kinda proud of the cars and the F1 logos. But come to think of it again, I'm almost always proud of my produce. And to Miss Izura, I hope you like them as much as I do.

Cupcakes A La Sprinkles for MIS

These Sprinkles imitation cuppies was made for my MIS class yesterday. That's it. Only 25 pieces, enough for everyone. One person each of course. And I made them smaller than usual. Don't ask why. Hehehs...

Fid texted me today to ask about macarons. And I don't make them. But then I thought, maybe I should make them. Lovely French macarons with fillings would be great. I'll give it a trial run next month. Just you wait, little macarons!

Wedding Gifts

These were for another wedding. Order was made by my regular client, for her staff's wedding. She asked for a cake and fifteen mini cakes in the flavor of peanut butter.

This job was different since I had to use lots of sugarpaste to work with. At first I planned to make my own sugarpaste but I didn't dare to put this job at risk. You know, in case my sugarpaste didn't turn out good. So, as usual, I bought ready-made.

I really need to start making my own sugarpaste. The next semester break, I'll put my hands on it. Anyways, I like the peanut butter cake. It was tasty. It's just too bad for peanut butter haters.

Wedding Favors

The last school holiday saw me doing this cookie favors for a wedding. This is only my fourth cookie job and I seriously think that it can be improved.

Also, I think i might need an assistant for this kind of job. The decorating part almost drove me up the wall! But nevertheless, when everything's done, it was satisfaction all over again.

The Many Birthdays

So I have not been here for a loooonnngggg, time. But it doesn't mean I quit the hobby. Am still active. In fact maybe too active that I don't even have the time to update this blog. But here goes. Most of them simplified...

There were birthdays in january and February 2008. The job was an ass job and a shoe job.

I think the ass was a bit too round...I couldn't think of a way to make them sag a bit. But I suppose, perky ass is alright?

Adam is 3

Today, a friend's child celebrated his 3rd birthday. I have never made birthday cupcakes for kids, so this was my first experience.

The caterpillar could be longer, but the 4x4 box limits it.

And I am no good when it comes to drawing figures/faces of superheroes. So my attempt to do Spidey wasn't successful. Here, I manage to do Superman's logo, nevertheless.

I hope the parents and Adam himself like them. To Intan, if you're reading this, making these for you makes me nervous, because you are one good cook and I was so scared if I let you down. But anyways, let me know of what you think of them... :)

Super Easy Peanut Butter Pudding

Hi peanut butter lovers! This is like the easiest pudding ever. Or you can call it simple cheesecake or pie or whatever you wish to call it. I had some leftover peanut butter from the last cupcakes I made for Wanie's family. So before it expires, I thought it will be better to turn it into something edible...

Let me share this with you.

For the crust/base :

24 pcs of peanut butter sandwich cookies
60 g soft butter

Crush the cookies with a food processor or a mill until they look like fine sand. Then, in a mixing bowl, combine the cookie crumbs with the soft butter and rub them against each other until the mixture is thoroughly mixed and the texture similar to wet sand. Press this into the bottom of an 8 inch springform pan. Refrigerate this for at least 30 minutes.

For the filling :

225 g cream cheese
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup whip cream, unwhipped

Mix in the cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar and vanilla and whipped them on medium speed until the mixture turns fluffy and the sugar completely dissolved. Next pour in the whip cream and stir until it is well combined. Now, pour this peanut butter cheese mix onto the prepared base and refrigerate for at least 5 hours, it will then be ready for everyone to enjoy.

Here, I topped the pudding with some coarse chunk of roast peanuts for garnishing. Happy trying!