Strawberry Custard Tart

Hairdressers.

They're either people you'd love or people you'd hold a grudge with. 

I went to a reputable saloon a few nights ago. I was excited. I was anxious. After directing the lady very specifically, she began prepping my hair. And that moment her hands touched my hair, I apologized to my previous hairdresser.

As she combed pulled my hair like you would to feathers of a chicken, ignoring the constant clicks of my impatient tongue, I knew I was in deep mumbo jumbo.

Then the first cut.

I stared at the mirror.

(scissors snapped) "Wait a second." 

(scissors snapped) "No.. no.. That wasn't 2 inches."

I sit there, my hair as a hostage. As the scissors continued its path of destruction, from the corner of my eye, on the floor, lay my hair 4 maybe 5 inches long. 

(scissors snapped) "you..."

(scissors snapped) "you..."

(scissors snapped) "F*ck you bitch!!!"

"F*ck.... (scissors snapped) you..."

Grapes Marbled Pound Cake for 2

Are you timid?

I often brag about my bravery. At the age of 6, I held a big white snake around my shoulders. At the age of 8, I was in a cage with a mother tiger and its cubs.

I often brag about these conquests. However, the fact that I was crying whilst barely touching the snake and the fact that it took 3 zookeepers to calm me down was hardly discussed.

Yes, unfortunately, I am timid. The first time I discovered that cockroaches can fly, after a second of cursing, I dropped down to the floor and played dead. Realising they also have the ability to sense fear from their prey, I flapped my hands in an attempt to camouflage, ran under a table and held my breath.

Guest Post: Chic & Gorgeous Treats

Disclaimer: All Pictures and recipes in this post are by Joanna from Chic Gorgeous.

Jo from Chic & Gorgeous Treats is here for our very first guest post! 

One of the first blogs I followed when I started blogging was Chic & Gorgeous Treats. After I found her Amanda's Pink Rainbow Cake, it was a one-sided admiration. And her recent Earl Grey ice Cream post changed this admiration to jealousy. Thus, the post was dedicated to me (coughs*).

Through our exchange of emails where I feel like the pauper and she's the queen, we realized our equal love for baking. We talked about food for hours and after several rounds of begging, I was promised 100 Jo-baked-cookies each month for immunity fees. Please do visit her site for some awesomeness!

Hi there fellow Pencil & Skirt peeps! Gosh, I am lost for words at the moment..LOL. That's usually not the case as Jes and my other friends can assure you that I am a chatty person in life. Right now, I suddenly feel like a sense of pressure on my shoulders. That's maybe because I am trying to win some hearts here too.. [I'm only joking!] I think it's best I share with you how I feel, since it's only appropriate, you know just like the Oscars? To be honest, I am thrilled and feel really honoured that Jes asked me to guest blog for her. Plus I am No# 1..yeayy!!! Not to mention she "loves" my treats over at my blog [You do right Jes?..coughs]. So that says a lot and sure got to mean something right? I have to say after getting to know her, I felt like I found another fellow new buddy. We both are so deeply passionate about baking that it isn't funny one bit. Who knows? We might collaborate and work on bigger projects one day. To kick start the guest posting on her blog, I have decided to make a simple decadent light and healthy treat. Perfect to kick off those hot sunny days and quench the thirst. Hope that you will enjoy it as I much I did preparing these Raspberry Lemonade Yogurt pops for you. If only I could hand out to you all for samplling.. I would ;). ENJOY and do pop over to Chic & Gorgeous Treats to give me a holler. Cheers~

Me: How did you realize your love for baking?

Jo: This is a good question. When I was back in high-school, we had Home Economics as one of our subjects. We had to cook and of course baking was involved. I can still remember that very day. We attempted to bake Chocolate Cake. Guess what, my baking failed. The cake came out hard as rock. 

(nods) I feel you, sista'. My first cake was used as punishment "if you lose the game, you have to eat".

I will let you in on a secret. "We actually used instant cake mix". Now, not sure where it went wrong, but I swore then that I will never bake again. 

Kind of like the time I swore "I will never eat m&ms again". 

So how'd you start baking again.

It started maybe around 4 years ago, when I used to throw my friends parties and had cookout sessions. 

I always love to end the meal with something sweet and delectable. That's when I started to get my hands dirty and give it another shot in baking. Of course there were flops, but somehow I persevered and continue to experiment. The more I practice, the better I became in a way.

(relieved) I'd thought God was unfair and made you a genius.

So here I am, obsessed with making sweet treats, and continue to strive to do better. 

What's your goal?

My aim is to become a pro in cake decorating and continue to make really good old classic cakes. Hopefully that dream will come true.
Talking about Classics, what's your most unbelievable fetish when it comes to baking?

I am not sure if I have a fetish in baking. Does making anything pink counts? Or any sweet pastel colour counts? I suppose in terms of fetish in baking, I really love the colour PINK, shabby chic, and glamorous designs. To be honest, I am pretty anal (laughs at word "anal"), I like to have everything I make in perfection.. So I tend to dream of designs, which I never seem to follow anyways as it tends to be dependent on how I feel that day.(laughs)

Ah yes, the good old mister-mood. 

What would you hate to happen whilst baking?

The thing I fear most, is when the cake falls apart while transferring from the cooling rack to a cake base. 

(shudders) We all hate that..

Maybe I am not gentle enough.. or maybe because the cake was too moist.. Also the humidity that constantly ruins the frosting. It just makes it harder to pipe designs on our cake. Which means I will have to constantly work with the air-condition on in order to bring down the level of humidity.

Precisely! Thank you, Asia!
Okay, lastly, how do you deal with harsh criticisms, if you have any.

I think everyone will have their own opinions. So the best is just learn to let go and take it with a pinch of salt. I am no saint and it isn't always easy to just laugh it off. But it's part of our life growth. However, I stay by this motto as much I can "If you have nothing nice to say, best to hold in peace"

That's what a saint will say, Jo. For me, its "Let me at em, just let me at em!"

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

Lying awake, tossing and turning, I realised. I missed baking. With my most trusted apparatus I was born holding, my wooden spoon, I decided it was time for a cookie recipe to succeed.

My long-awaited desire to try recipes by Russell from Chasing Delicious was well rewarded. Thus, announcing my victory against the cookie army. 

Yes!! I won you little pieces of cunning devils.

Grapes Breakfast Cake

Back when I was studying, my cousin had a habit of cooking up snacks to prep me for my exams. Then, she would knock on my door (occasionally shocked to see the state of my well-being) and wish me "all the best". Hours later, as I walk out the exam hall, I would receive an enthusiastic message from her asking how i did.

As time goes, I started to miss these little things. So, I'll be passing on this sweet habit to all of you.

This cake is a tribute to examinees, particularly those who are "winging" it and those who are caught dancing to Billy Jean with a neon colored head band and drum sticks made of crumpled lecture notes (definitely not me).

Its a simple Breakfast cake. Not too sweet or sour, not too dense or light. Perfect for exams and fricking delicious.

Bread And Butter Pudding

Amongst the lines of family visits and many more dinners, I managed to wiggle into my tiny skirt which isn't tiny at all (They're a tad smaller than those required to fit The Hulk). After jumping, rolling and with the help of holding my breath, I defeated the tiny skirt. This means I could have a whole pot of Bread and Butter pudding to myself. It seemed like a good idea.

Once again, please head on over to Pencil Kitchen's facebook page.

Bread and butter pudding. Its bread spread with butter baked in a smooth soft custard pudding. And for the boozy lovers, a very rum sauce.
And have you had bread butter pudding cold before? Let sit in the fridge overnight and you have yourself a cold dessert for summer.

The original recipe was Nigella Lawson's Croissant Pudding. However, one of my house rules is to never leave a croissant to stale. So I used leftover raisin bread. Raisin breads are originally sweeter than croissants or white breads, so I reduced the sugar by 1 tbsp but the above recipe is for white/wheat breads. And this recipe is by far the best bread butter pudding i've ever had. Not to forget, the very Rum sauce, I assure you, addictive.

Need a new skirt to contain all these awesomeness,
Jes

Milk Tea and Aged Wooden Board

Recently, Blogger has deleted all my pictures. (GASP)

Yes, ALL my pictures. In an instant, all my posts turned into an Alien invaded corn field.

Secondly, I've finally obtained that level of self-destruction and decided that I'm cool enough to create a facebook page. Please go over and like it so I feel loved. Needy, i know.

After the previous wooden board tutorial, I was barely satisfied. I wanted more. I wanted to have an antique feel. I wanted to age the wood. And since aged wood are not very much available for a decent price, I had to faux it.

What you will need:

White Paint

Black Paint

Darker/Lighter shade of Paint to the wooden board color

Brown Paint (suitable shade to the wooden board)

A bristled Paintbrush (Rough brush)

1. After creating your wooden board, what you need is to create shadows or highlights to the board. In this case, a darker shade of the color of board (lighter if your board is dark painted). On about 1/3 area of each plank, paint with the darker/lighter shade. Be random to look natural. Do not paint rectangular shades. 

2. Darken the Edges and corners of each plank This will create a worn-out-in-the-sun look.

3. On the black edges and on areas that will be over used, paint quick white strokes. With a rough bristled paint brush, you can create the natural cracked effect. (Always start with small amounts of paint. You can touch up when its not enough)

4. Lastly, use a brown shade that is suitable for the color of your board (I chose mustard brown for purple) and paint very little areas of the board that will be MOST used. It will give the almost-chipped effect to the board. 

5. Let dry and remember, woods are very forgivable. If it looks horrible right after painting, give it a chance to dry up. It will come together soon enough. 

By "popular" demand, like 4, here are "Milk Tea Sachets". When I checked, I realized most of them are made here in asia. If you see one of these in your local chinese store, purchase it and give it a try. They're delicious. But for homemade milk tea, here's how we have it.

Homemade Milk Tea

1 tea bag (Black Tea preferably)

1 1/2 cups water

3 tbsp Condensed milk (or more if you like it sweet)

1. In boiling water, drop in the tea bag and stir until preferred depth of color (I like it tense).
2. In your preferred mug, pour in the condensed milk then add the hot tea.

Traditionally, the condensed milk is left at the bottom of the mug so that we can choose how much of it we would like to mix into the tea. However, with milk tea sachets, all you need is hot water and some milk if you prefer a more milky taste.

Cookie Pants up,

Jes

Chocolate Mousse Pie with Peanut Butter Fudge Sauce

It's momsie's birthday.

I'm lucky that way, mom's birthday is always close to Mother's day. Meaning, I get to save a hundred bucks more than you every year. (might be the reason for my "success").

I was stumped for this post, people. I have no clue how to write for my mom. Then, I thought of what I do best, baking.

When I think of my mom, I wouldn't think of a rainbow cake or a cheesecake, I wouldn't think of a 3-tier cake with lilies or daisies, I wouldn't think of a cake at all. A Pie. But no, not an apple pie. She's funkier. She's addictive, she keeps you on your toes. Then, just when you think you got her figured out, she splashes you with a layer of crazy.

This pie is amazing. The chocolate mousse is healthy and light but dark and bitter. Topped with a crazy chocolate peanut butter fudge sauce, enveloped by a flaky crispy crust. That's how she is, obviously amazing yet still holds surprises at every corner.

To Momsie: I love you the way I loved you 10 years ago. I thank you the way I've thanked God for you. I'd cry and grab your feet when you leave the way I did back then. Happy Birthday and may you grow younger this year the way you did last year.

Wooden Board and Strawberry Jam Granola

You know how all the cool bloggers have those cool boards in their cool photographs and their cool personalities? (you know who) I'm obviously jealous, I mean, how unfair can life get! They're not only beautiful human beings, they're great bakers, have a good supply of mason jars and have cool wooden boards! Come on! So let's kick them in the butt and show them what the little people can do.

Homemade Wooden Board

Enough wooden planks for size desired. + 2 

Wood glue

Paintbrush

Desired paint color

1. Align planks to check for fit. Making sure the 2 planks used for glueing at the bottom is long enough.

2. Take out one plank at the end and glue that one first. 

3. Parallel to the first plank, glue the rest of the planks accordingly, making sure to leave enough gap for weather expansion/contraction.

4. Leave for one hour where glue is most wet then, stack weighing objects on top of the planks. Set aside overnight. (It's good to do this on a free area)

5. Mix some water paint with water. This is so that the paint doesn't over-coat the wood. We want some of that wood texture to surface.

6. Pain another coat if needed for depth. Set aside overnight

I painted the planks with a shade of grey before painting it with the Tosca paint. A mixture of dark blue, sky blue, dark green, light green, dark purple and violet. As you can see, i was desperate.

 Voila! Tell me, did i or did i kick butts?

If that didn't hurt their butts enough, I'm serving ya'll with a great granola recipe.

Milk Tea Muffins

What happens is, when you're a coffee person but your Mr isn't, you compromise. So I started drinking milk tea with coffee. Guess what, it's addictive. 

Of course, I had to make milk tea goodies. For this, you would need Instant Milk Tea Sachets. Your favorite brand. 

Recipe from Epicurious adapted for the milk tea version.