My 1st Gingerbread House

I made my very 1st (or should I say 3rd? cos the other 2 collapsed) gingerbread house this Christmas! Yippee finally I hand built a house which I had always wanted to (but lack the enthusiasm to push it thru)!!! And I made it to put on top of a birthday cake...simply love the cheerfulness from the colourful chocolates and am glad it was a hit with the kiddos!

Thanks Shirley for the opportunity to make this cake for the birthday boy! Happy 12th birthday Kevin Richard! Also, thanks for inviting me to join in your BBQ party, your mum's curry chicken was tasty and was happy the Vadais were to you and your mum's liking....

Had a lunch invitation on boxing day from my hubby's fren and I made my very last batch of gingerbread men for 2010 to give to the children....added scarfs for the 1st time and it sure made the men look more suave = ]

Time to say goodbye to Xmas and hello to 2011!

Dad's Birthday - Green Tea Chestnut Cake

 

It was dad's birthday and my sis asked me to make a more masculine cake with green tea when I suggested a strawberry cake...I'm fine with the idea since I have baking green tea powder at home. We were stucked with what filling to pair it with when I remembered I had candied chestnuts. It was a good match with the green tea. So here it is...Green tea cake with chestnut cream filling!

I made the wordings out of gingerbread to give it a festive combination. The cake wasn't too sweet and I love the texture of the cake. Soft & fluffy...Bro was my good supporter as he went for 2nd slice while my hubby gave up his slice to me readily as he struggled with the bitterness of the green tea powder. I kind of miss the cake already the very same day....

Gingerbread Babies

My very 1st gingerbread man made his debut almost 10yrs ago at my 1st company(SGH) Christmas party...I packed them as door gifts. It made very deep impression from my colleagues to my managers to even my director. Back then gingerbread man wasn't as common in bakeries as compared to recent years...

Last year, I had the opportunity to conduct classes for my gingerbread cookies(can still remember how the guys were better then the ladies =D ). It was stressful and fun at the same time as I have never in my life thought that I would be doing this. I was pretty worried that I could not answer questions posted by students or my teaching method was not conducive. My 2nd class was definitely better than the 1st....with my new found confident I definitely would like to do more of this if opportunity arises.

Over the years my gingerbread cutters has grown in collection from mini to big and even those with snow caps(boys & girls). Others include stars, xmas tree, bell, angel, house. Some I bought them myself, some my sis got from Thailand and a friend bought a set for me from the US. But I still prefer to have them in the shape of the men as they are named.

This year I made the mini couple to give to my SGH colleagues as a surprise from their secret angel (they will play a game call angel & mortal every year)...but my angel helper Irene said those who know me knew they were from me (good to know that my gingerbread men n me are well remembered =] but then no suspense huh)....

It's heartbreaking for the motherly Mala to hear how others find pure joy in choosing the parts to sacrifice 1st (I can imagine her reactions)...For me, as long as it brings joy and festive mood to the receiver, I have achieved my purpose (even if they are too soft-hearted to eat them and decided to keep them for the eyes only).

Cheers to a joyous Christmas everyone!

Coconut Gelato

Oh I forgot to blog about my very first homemade gelato using Yochanna's recipe and it doesn't require any ice cream maker. I found the recipe slightly overwhelmed with sweetness otherwise velvety. Not sure why my gelato melts extremely fast...it's so fast that I can't even get a nice pic of it. In the end this is the only photo I did not delete from my album....Will definitely attempt other flavours soon....

Chilled Cream-O Cheesecake

Made a chilled Cream-O cheesecake for my hubby's friend birthday which falls on 12 Dec. He invited us to the house so I decided to make a cake for him. Not sure if it's Phoon Huat Gelatine, the cheesecake turned out pretty soft thou I followed the recipe. Previously when I used it for my tiramisu it didn't harden much as well. Nope they have not expired....Looks like I better get the bake king brand next time.
 
Cream-O is similar to Oreo(still the best)....under the same brand they have another range call Dewberry which had raspberry and blueberry flavour. I love them.....the cookies have a savoury taste and when eaten with the jam it is just so addictive. You gotta try it...they are easily available now even in those ABC shop which tends to sell them slightly cheaper.

Besan Thosai & French Toast

Wow it's been almost a month since my last blog....

Reason for my absence was my mum had an ops and I was there for about 2 weeks to look after her and when I was back home I kind of lost my momentum to do anything (including housework =p)

Last week I found this recipe for Besan Thosai...if you remember i bought the besan flour for ladoo and used it for dohkla too. Besan thosai is not found in eateries here and those who tried it (myself, hubby and his fellow worker) love it very much....with his worker persistently saying it's very nice and asking what it is.

This eaten as it is is already very tasty but if you want more flavour and variety you can try to add tomato and cheese or eat it with yoghurt etc...hubby love it with my curry chicken.

Here's the recipe:

1 cup besan flour (easily available in mustafa)

1/4 cup rice flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 cup shredded cucumber

3/4 cup water

Just mix everything to a smooth batter. Put a scoop into a hot pan w/o oil and immediately use the ladle to spread it out. Drizzle some oil onto the thosai and flip it over once the sides the bottom is nicely browned.

Today I made French toast for breakfast since I have a few slices of bread left. Then I remember I had picnic ham so I put them in for added flavour.

This is simple to make and yet tasty. All you need is eggs, milk and sugar (i didn't bother with exact measurements). Mix till sugar dissolve, dip the bread in and pan fry.