The Calm Before The Storm

image

Good morning from my part of the world, I’m about to dash out of the door to do my errands plus an extra trip to get my baking supplies, yes the baking frenzy will start from today onwards. I love the season of giving, each year I baked different goodies to send to our friends and family, definitely  watch out this space!

Since my better half left an hour ago to do his workout, my daughter is officially on Christmas break and now at gymnastics training, I’m gonna have my 10 minutes of calm with freshly baked Madeleine, chocolate sauce and coffee before heading out, namaste.

Cupcake We Love

T1

Back on popular demand, The Naked Cupcake is taking prime spot on our dining table. My darling husband event suggested that I warm them up 10 minutes prior serving it since it came pretty close to Lava cake in structure and taste (which I might give it a try one day soon). Come to think of it, this Toblerone filled Chocolate cupcake would go well with decadent Vanilla ice cream, gotta go!

T2

Hello Summer

citrus

Yes it is officially Summer in the Philippines now, the temperature just getting hotter and hotter each day made us dreading the outdoor. I’ve been putting ice pack inside my daughter lunch box to keep her cut fruits and vegetables fresh and crunchy. Also stocking up on fresh Citrus fruits in our fridge to add flavours to our water, my daughter loves anything with oranges and lemon.

Made this Citrus cupcakes with Italian Buttercream today, I’ve added fresh orange juice, lemon and calamansi in the cupcake batter and made candied orange peel for the topper, LOVE it!

On that note, here’s one of my daughter favourite Orange joke;

Why did the orange stop rolling down the hill?
Because it ran out of juice!

Birthday Stories

murakami-1

“Have a Good Time”

Yesterday it was my birthday.
I hung one more year on the line.
I should be depressed.
My life’s a mess.
But I’m having a good time.

I’ve been loving and loving and loving.
I’m exhausted from loving so well
I should go to bed.
But a voice in my head says,
“Ah, what the hell.”

Paul Simon

Centrepiece

lunch centrepiece-1

Weekend gathering is my favourite time of the week, in my opinion, nothing beat edible centrepieces for the table. If you are looking for unusual ideas for your next party there are plenty of ideas in the world wide web. Be creative is the key, use fresh fruits that is in seasons, mixed low and tall fresh flowers, and last but not least is to display your dessert. My favourite thing to do (obviously) is freshly baked cupcakes on a pretty glass serving plate preferably with a lid.

My daughter knows that once I’ve got the dessert on the table, dinner is nearly served.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

 

Nangka

jackfruit-1

One of my favourite Tropical fruit for cupcake flavours, Nangka (Indonesian for Jackfruit) has distinctive fragrance that remains event after baking process, the texture otherwise changed from chewy to soft bite, similar to apricot. In the process of getting the perfect taste and texture of the Nangka cupcake I’ve tweaked my buttercream recipes since I preferred lighter and creamier frosting than the usual buttercream that I made and it works, my Nangka cupcake is now perfect, absolutely delicious.

Last weekend my better half went cycling up to the Mountain in Tagaytay and brought me a wheel of ripened jackfruit, such a coincidence, I’ve promised my fellow BSM Class Reps mums I will cook authentic Balinese lunch this week and I know exactly what I will make for dessert!

I’ve cooked up a storm (as always), made my version of Balinese Nasi Campur (nasi barak, be siap pelalah, be genyol, ati be siap, rendang be sampi, pepes salmon, jukut pecel) served with krupuk udang, dessert were Bubuh Injin and Nangka cupcake. We’ve had a blast, I’m sharing the food photos here.

PS. I love cooking these dishes, it brings so much memories of my family and the Island of Gods  ❤

image

image

image

image

image

Tiffin

red-1

I’m a big fan of stylish food carrier.  One of my favourite item in my cupboard is this Japanese lacquered tiffin box, its very versatile (I’ve used it to carry freshly baked madeleines, crackles, marshmallow dipped in chocolate and lot’s of cupcakes), the vibrant colour guarantee turns heads at dinner parties and such a great conversation starter as well (Where did you get THAT?).

Chocolate cupcakes; checked. Red Wine; checked.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a social event to go to.