Sunday, December 27, 2009

Christmas Purple Potatoe Cupcakes

i bought a lot of sweet purple potatoes from my trip to Lembang this early December. in bahasa it called "ubi ungu". people usually steam/bake and eat them directly like steam/baked potatoes. it tastes sweet and smells very good. it has a deep purple color that no food coloring is needed when added in a cake recipe.
this is originally a Pumpkin Cupcake recipe i took from joyofbaking.com, simply switch the pumpkin puree with purple potatoe puree. when baked, the color turn to greenish in the inside, not as good as the top. maybe some chemical reaction to baking soda? not got it...

despite the color, it turn out a very delicious and moist muffin. i recommend to skip the cinnamon when using purple potatoes so its original taste and smell could come out. really a good recipe, i definitely will make another batch next time.

add a little fondant trees & snowflakes... merry christmas everyone...

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Bali... where sun always shines...

Jimbaran beach
Pura Uluwatu

Kokonut suites Seminyak

Amphithreatre Garuda Wisnu Kencana

Red tree at Uluwatu pathway
we took early vacation to Bali last week and spent 5days there. the sun is too strong for December, no rain at all.
we lodged in Tune hotel Kuta for the first 2 nights and spent the rest in Kokonut suites Seminyak.
Tune is a budget hotel, everything is new and clean and stylish but very tiny, no space for extra luggages. it cost around US$ 20/night for bed only. only suitable for backpackers or couples who need hotel for a good night sleep and bath.
Kokonut suites is quite opposite. we rent a 2-bedrooms villa with dining & living room. very clean, cozy & quite luxury. it has a swimming pool (that become our private pool on this low season), small gym & cafe, and the services are very good. it cost around US$ 125/night include 2 pax of nice breakfast.
after 2days exploring Bali under the sun, a lot of walking & sweating, i found myself very exhausted, so it's really nice to have a break in a cozy villa, 1 or 2 nights is enough to recharge the energy.
actually 5days is never enough in Bali, there are many scenes i'd love to shoot, i promise someday after i get my dream canon EOS 7D, i will go back alone, travel light and shoot pictures as much as i like...

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Ben 10 cake for birthday boy

Ben 10 recently become very famous among kids, included my 4 years old. i found this model in nina pierre's blog which original source from www.thecelebrationcake.co.uk. i think this model is more simple than to create the 10 aliens figurines :)

i never craft before and i know i'm not good at all in crafting, so this is a trial project, i hope i can explain the steps clearly.
first, prepare a egg shape of fondant for ben's face (mine is less chubby). cut 2 olive shapes of white fondant and place on for his eyes, round 2 green tiny balls and flatten them on the white
olive for his retina, repeat for 2 tiny black balls and 2 tinier light green balls for shiny effects. then shape 2 small sausages to resemble his eyebrows and place above each eyes.
second, prepare a small pyramid shape of fondant for his nose, use small bone tool to smooth the edge (my pyramid is too big).
third, prepare a small sausage shape and curl it to resemble the ear, using bone tool to smooth and indent the hole
fourth, using a small oval cookie cutter, indent his smile
fifth, cut various shape of triangle to make his hair
it's a little bit difficult to make the omnitrix since it should be small size, so i don't make too much details. and i found that black fondant is really sticky and difficult to work with.

i love this yellow :)

Monday, August 17, 2009

Birthday Mini Cake

Another year gone by... time is moving so fast and it's my birthday again. 33 years old now, i hope i am getting wiser in living my life. recently i really can't catch up with baking and i missed last birthday bake due to pregnancy blues. So from now on i promise to myself at least one cake a year is a must, especially one my birthday.

this is a mini cake made from round chocolate sponge cake and fondant cover. i will try to write the method here, hope you can understand.
- bake a sheet of your favourite chocolate sponge cake
- cut 3 sponge cake with round cookie cutter diameter 8cm
- stack them together with buttercream to resemble a tube around 12cm high
- cut a circle using round cutter to fit the top of the cake
- use a textured rolling pin and roll ivory fondant
- measure a piece of fondant as same height & round of the cake for covering the side of the cake
- divide into 4 equal pieces and leave them for a while
- place them one by one to the side of the cake and smooth with your hand
- finish by attaching daisies, ribbon and number (all of them are made by using fondant cutter)

it's a bit diffcult to make it perfect, since the fondant is very soft to stand upright, and the texture is easily flatten when pressed too much. and it should be eaten soon cos' i notice the cake begin to swing to one side on the 3rd day :)



Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Yam Cake

I like to eat yam bread with yam filling, i wonder whether it's really made from real yam or only concentrate. (you can see real yam at the background). My husband like to eat steamed yam with shredded coconut and sugar. i don't really like to eat that way, it feels very dry and hard to swallow. we found a good yam in fresh market couple days before and i decide to try a yam cake recipe from Sedap magazine.




Kue Talas (Yam Cake)

100 g flour
50 g sugar
60 g vegetable oil
50 g yam, steamed & mashed
25 g coconut milk
35 ml water
2 drop pink coloring
1/8 teaspoon violet coloring
4 egg yolks
4 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon salt
60 g sugar


methods:
1. process yam, coconut milk, water and food colorings in food processor or blender
2. stir vegetable oil into yam mixture
3. sift flour, stir in sugar
4. pour in yam mixture into flour and stir gently. add egg yolk and stir until combined
5. beat egg whites and salt, drizzle in sugar slowly and beat until soft peak
6. fold into yam mixture gently until combined
7. pour into 30x25x3cm pan lined with paper
8. bake in oven 190c for 20minutes until done



i used a 22cm chiffon pan but it's too big, the batter only reach 1/3 of the pan. after 1 hour, the top already done and brown, but it shrink back a little when cooled. i think the pan is too high that the cake is not baked perfectly.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Chocolate Cake

it's been a long long time since my last bake, and this is the first time after deliverying gwen, i visit my kitchen again. during the pregnancy, kitchen makes me sick the most, especially the smell of garlic being fried, yucks! and i lost my baking mood at all, like i've never been into it so much all this time. so after settling for a couple months now, i decide to try a simple recipe but yummy chocolate cake recipe for my premiere. taken from KOMPAS newspaper, it's a kind of sponge cake but more delicate since more yolk is used, and it's easy :)



Chocolate Mint Cake

ingredients:

12 egg yolks
3 egg whites
120 g sugar
60 g flour
30 g cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp mint essence
120 g margarin, melted

methods:

preheat oven to 190 c. sft flour and cocoa powder. beat egg and sugar until firm, fold in flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and mint essence. gently fold in melted margarin. pour into 28x28x3 pan and bake for 25 minutes.

you can use any kind of icing for this cake, from rich ganache to simple chocolate buttercream. i used ganache in this picture, it really good! very spongy..