Tuna Casserole topped with Crispy Hash Browns

Its coming to the end of November. It's getting colder in the states, hotter in Australia and same ol' humid in Asia. This pronounces holiday season, we would gain a few pounds, know a few more people, learn a few new things and 2011 would pass. 

Having Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Years in mind, I started to crave for Casseroles. Rustic, Sticky Crispy Carbo casseroles. Being too lazy to head out for groceries, I had to think up a way to combine the ingredients at hand. I was recently gifted with some chinese sausages. For those who has no idea what that is, the closest I could describe is a sweet chorizo. I had a spicy can of tuna and handfuls of Macaroni, Spaghetti, Egg Noodles and Hash Browns.

So, here we have, 

Six Layer Chocolate Rum Cake with Swiss Meringue Rum Buttercream

Have you ever thought of being a little kid again? Where days went by without you worrying about what's going to your hips and thighs. Where running around 5 minutes made you perspire like 45 minutes extreme yoga. Where eating 2 slices of cake was "awww, so cute".

I do. A lot. You would know that exact second when I decide to indulge my inner child. Especially when i proclaim random resolutions like "I ain't sharin' my burger!" or "All meat no vege!" or "I'm eating straight from the pot!" Unfortunately, I kid not.

That's where the 6-layer cake comes in. And the rum...is just to congratulate us for getting over being a 5 year old. The cake I was looking for is a "black" cake. When I was searching for "the" recipe, I go to my favourite cake site and found this. However, things seemed a little too professional. Hence, I went to my new favourite site and found this same recipe. Who could resist challenging themselves, when 2 trusted individuals have tried-tested the recipe. 

Portuguese Egg Tarts

Don't we always have a reason for choosing what we bake. Especially when your to-bake-list is growing to be as tall as you are. I find myself wanting to bake brownies when I'm feeling down, lemon meringue pies when I'm busy at work, cookies when I'm hungry at work, Hamburgers...possibly any time of the week. Then, there are the miscellaneous items. This one goes to Mr Kelvin. I'm honestly just trying to be funny. At the same time, "Dem! those pictures made me crave for egg tarts!"

Let's cut to the chase. Portuguese egg tarts! I would never have known if it weren't for Auto-correct (Thank you, Steve Jobs) that I have been misspelling Portuguese. First, I must say, I didn't use puff pastry. I used the flaky pastry recipe from this post. Reason: I am not confident enough to make myself some puff, plus, this flaky crust isn't that far apart (aside from the 50+ less layers of happiness).

Second, this egg tart filling recipe is not my own recipe. I found it in a mysteriously secluded website around 3 years ago, when copyrights didn't cost you millions of greens. Unfortunately, the only thing i could remember was that it had an all pink background. However, do not get worked up about it, the recipe  does not differ much from other recipes. You see, custards/ Egg yolk + milk + sugar is bound to taste awesome! 

Lastly, I've baked this a few times too many. However, I've always used a ready-made puff pastry. Hence, for those of you who need to whip up anything quick and impressive, this one goes to you. Remember, the excess egg whites could easily be stored to be used for other cakes such as "Angel food cake, White Eggs cake, Buttercream, etc etc". And if you have extra shells, this is one awesome way to add another dessert to the menu.

Honey Granola - Request for tips

Need a snack fix and not feel guilty? Garrett popcorns too expensive for you? Cheetos makes your teeth yellow? Here's a quick fix! Granolas. Get it in the oven in 8 minutes tops. Bake for 20 minutes, mix it around, bake for another 20 minutes. Smell that? Yeap, it's done! Take it out from the oven. Let it cool. And you've got your snack and breakfast.

Right at this point, I would like to share with you a happy parcel I received from my mother. (Thanks mom!) I'm nothing but a mere junior at all of this. Hence, when friends asked me how did i manage to produce pretty pictures, I was embarrassed. I look forward to playing around with these new little gems. However, before i begin, I need tips from you (yeah, YOU) pro's! So, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave me some tips/ comments on how to improve my pictures or email me or poke me or something. I'll send you a lollipop! 

A few things I can't alter: 

1. Stupid angles where the daylight chooses to shine in my apartment. 

2. My running speed to chase after the ever-so-changing angles of the morning sun.

3. My camera lens.

4. I have no clue on how to use the P's F's V's X's whatever they are :(  (if someone can teach me)

5. My ability to learn no. 4.

6. My ability to annoy people in 5 seconds. (If this matters)

Back to the Granola, this is my second try with Granolas. Unlike the previous "Honey Granola without Honey", I followed the recipe. I would have to admit my previous try was as yummy but less healthy. This tells you... tweak the recipe, heck, re-vamp your own and just play around. 

Flaky (Almost like Puff Pastry) Apple Pies

After various mishaps in the past, from deep within my stomach, i remind myself "people exaggerate". The most delicious steak is not the "most" delicious steak. The tastiest soup are probably too tasty for human beings. And the most buttery cake would probably be butter itself with a tablespoon of flour. So, as i search for THAT "best apple pie" recipe once again, I had to admit, I was full of doubt and distrust.

I google'd "Flaky pie crust recipe" and when the results popped up, my mind was chanting "people exaggerate, people exaggerate, people exaggerate". I was proven wrong. Aside from the 5% reviews commenting on the difficulty of working with the dough, everyone else described it as the perfect flaky pie crust. The pictures, unfortunately, weren't convincing. I choose to group myself with the unfortunate 5%, and put the recipe aside. 

Boom ba da Boom. Look at how each piece of the crust separates itself from the other? That's "flaky". So, you ask, which recipe did you end up using? Moving on from that recipe, I went on to search more "pie crust" tips. I ended up clicking to my all time favourite food blogger, Smitten Kitchen's Pie Crust Tips and remember her cute little apple pie cookies? Coincidentally, that was the same pie crust recipe!

Mango Upside Down Moist Chocolate Cake

Firstly, let me start by warning you, you're going to want to make these. So get prepared to buy some cocoa. I took 30 minutes to get the batter ready and left it to bake for 1 hour whilst meeting my girl friends for dinner. When we came back, the dessert was ready.

This cake isn't the fluffiest cake you will ever eat, neither is it the prettiest classy girl in class. However, I assure you, you would want seconds and thirds, each a thicker slice than before. It's so very chocolatey yet not sickeningly sweet, perfectly moist yet not buttery, airy yet dense and with a simple addition of citrus/fruit, it's simply addictive. 

Before we begin with the cake, I would like to thank all of you for the support. I am utterly grateful that I have people reading putting up with what I have to say. So here's to all our hopes and dreams! :)

Mango Upside Down Moist Chocolate Cake! So you follow Jes' blog and you ask yourself, "ooh... mango? she said she hated mango cakes? Caught ya!" Let me explain. I love mangoes, as a fruit, especially these ones from my mother's hometown. These mangoes were from a village called Pasuruan in Indonesia. Even in the capital city, Jakarta, these mangoes are rare and much more expensive than other mangoes. 

This mango is called Mangga Harum Manis, translated to Fragrant Sweet Mango. They're so sweet and fragrant that it is difficult to cultivate (due to attracting insects). Hence, when an aunt of mine brought 10 of these mangoes to my arms, ripening at the same time, I had to come up with something. Whilst I would prefer to have them the way they are, it's almost impossible to consume all 10 within a few days. Hence, I decided to whip up a mango chocolate cake (chocolate because I love it) for the usual friday "gathering" with the girls. In conclusion, no you did not "catch me".

Cheddar Cheese Cookies

There are always a few recipes which would remind you of old times. Today, I'd like to share with you one of mine. As a kid, I was the odd one out to pursue kitchen-work. Hence, my baking endeavours were limited to cornflake cookies, chocolate cheese mousse cups, checkerboard cake, ice cream cake and failed Sacher torte. (Ambitious much, at 13 years of age?) - Nobody told me to start out with the basics.

It was difficult, when the environment I was in do not support baked goods or western cakes. Hence, baking was seen as a pile of cleaning rather than an anticipation. Fortunately, when I was in Australia, I stayed with a family who appreciated baked-goods and the friends around me are always amazed by that little ability i have.

Thus, I baked, day and night, midnight and ungodly hours, I baked. Soon, little paper pouches with ribbons, cupcake moulds and fancy containers were often received well. Then, these treats came. The first time I baked these was @ 3 am for an early class. 

I made 4 -5 pouches and was shockingly received well. Ever since, my girl friends and the family I was staying with would occasionally ask me when I would bake them again. However, due to the heavy kneading labour required, (not to forget we all hate repeating the same recipe over & over again) I seldom baked these cookies.

Angel Food Cake

Its coming to the end of October and this year has been going way too fast. Some of us are now with children, some of us are working adults, some of us are studying and some of us living the dream of being a full time baker. Yet, we all have one thing in common... We love to serve that perfect dish just to see those smiles.

Sadly, that doesn't come easily. It is with practice, many many finger-crossing, many many more short little prayers and most of all, research and study. Even then, we have days that just go wrong. Days where butter decides to fail us, days where cream goes bad for no reason and days, weeks, months and years of little accidents that consistently, persuasively and unfailingly happen to us.

 Well, this one goes to you. When exams are coming, when work is overwhelming, when kids are a little annoying or when life is just a little more than hard to get by. Cheer up! Stop your busy schedule, take a stroll, look up the sky and take that moment to smile. You're not alone, my friend.

So here's a lot little extra sugar for your day!

I decided to color it marbled pink because:

1. the friend i wanted to cheer up loves pink, it always makes her a little bit happier.

2. I'm not a pink lover, I love Angel Food Cake's white as cloud color.

3. Its NBCAM. It's gotta be pink! 

Mango sponge mousse layer cake

 There were a few stories I had in mind for this post

One, was how this doesn't fit in with the fall/thanksgiving/halloween mood everyone else is experiencing. Two, was how much I love reading other fellow (not-to-mention superior) food bloggers! Hence, seeing as everyone is with their apples, cobblers and puddings, let's do something different here in the tropical country! Three, was the vast number of Mango cakes sold in every cake store, yet not too many a solid recipe posted on the internet. Thus,  my believe that my friend is out to test me and my skills.

Then I chose this story. A story of what i've gotten myself into when i decided i was able to bake layered cakes. Frostings! Frostings! Frostings! I love simple frosted cakes. Those with 7 different types of fruits and 8 different piping methods, they're not my cup of coffee. Most likely because I love cream but I know they're bad (for my hips) and so my conscience tells me that cream tastes bad. And remember how i suck at frosting?! I still do. But i ain't givin' up.

 My point is, I don't really have one. The reason for this blog was just to journalise what i've accomplished, do what i've been loving to do, pursuing to be what i want to be. Conquering each and every ingredient possible (not a fan of mango mousse or mango cake- purely under the request of a friend) and meanwhile, if i'm able to meet some new friends, and make the old ones go gaga, wouldn't that just be a treat?!

Quiche Frenzy - Traditional Quiche Lorraine. Spinach & Brie, Potato crisp quiche. Chicken breast & mimolette quiche. Self-saucing Chocolate Rum cake quiche.

The results for the rainbow cake was shocking. All of a sudden, friends and family no longer looked at me as the kid playing with play-doh. In layman's term, the rainbow cake was served to test and nobody's dead (except for Steve Jobs, may he rest in peace).

So, this week I promised to bake something savory. I'm never good at this. After-all, the food I like to eat are limited to warm and cold salads, occasional chunk of steak, ocassional burger fetish, sandwiches, eggs, cheese, soups and traditional Indonesian dishes that uses at least 10 different spices that i hardly can translate to English.

My friends often ask, how can I be a "chef" or "baker" if I don't eat. I'm not picky with food, i hardly hate any specific ingredients except eggplants and olives, I just do not have the stomach. I love cakes. I love them to death! However, I don't mind eating a bad cake (over and over), I'm easily impressed over simple presentation or just melted chocolate. I do have a few comments for cake stores who act all high-and-mighty but have bad cakes, yet, I do not have my set of passion to finding the best cake in town.

Atmosphere. Atmosphere is utmost importance to me. Even if the cakes were meh-ok, even if drinks are a little overcharged. That traditional overly midget wooden coffee table, sofas that do not have matching colors, songs played in an acceptable volume and people who serves cheerily. I want that. I want to open that. That's how I got to this quiche.