my first madeleine was from delifrance and i thought it tasted pretty good. last saturday i bought a madeleine tin, at long last, and tonight i tried baking a batch. it was fantastic; the small dainty cakes were light and airy, and had a pronounced butter taste.
they are incredibly easy to make.
the reason i always shy away from making whole cakes is because i really have no aptitude in decorating them. i think chitz decorates cakes excellently! that’s why i prefer to stick to cupcakes you see, because they’re so tiny and cute, and that makes decorating them easier. with whole cakes you need to fiddle with the layers (i am horrible at slicing them into even layers) and i never seem to get that glossy nice finish when applying ganache/cream.
the reason i obliged was because this order was from a friend whom i know personally; from his brother actually. i used this recipe that was recommended by chitz, and i hope it turned out well. the three layers were sandwiched with chocolate ganache and fresh strawberries. it was then topped with more chocolate ganache, and ganache stars were piped all around the bottom border of the cake. it is really death by chocolate. 
the top was decorated with MORE chocolate ganache stars and maltesers.
ps: faidz, i hope your brother and his friends liked it!
i think these are very happy cookies. i couldn’t stop smiling when i took these babies out of the oven. the cute little hearts, the burst of colour from the m&ms… 
chitz was right, these cookies held their shape and the flavour of the maple syrup came through very well. i used the maple syrup i got from vermont, from last year’s blogging by mail package!
i realised that i never really bake loaf/dry cakes. i don’t know what’s the actual reason for this… probably because i think that cookies are more popular with the people around me. i decided to bake one today to use up the block of cheddar cheese which has been sitting in the fridge for nearly two months.
recipe taken from here.
what do i do when i get restless after a few pages of dense sociological theory readings? i bake.
a half-used punnet of strawberries, two more white chocolate squares nicely wrapped in foil… after a little bit of pondering i decided to make strawberry and white chocolate muffins.
now tell me, who could ever resist such a name? no, i did not coin that up. i believe i got this recipe from a library book – a couple of years ago! (there’s a ‘march 2005′ on that piece of paper) it must’ve been one of those instances where i would spend my time in the library while waiting for the boy to book out from camp in the evening so we could have a couple of hours together. (oops, sidetracked. sorry)
i thought i’d make a batch of brownies because i caught sight of a tub of vanilla ice cream in the freezer.
these little pieces of heaven actually lived up to their name. i think this is the closest you could get to utter dampness and fudginess without being wet or soggy or undercooked. it’s sticky rich and perfect with ice cream. the interesting thing about this recipe is that it calls for brown sugar instead of the normal caster sugar. that lends a sort of unique taste to the brownie, which might be acquired, but i loved it.
yesterday a very bad cookie craving hit me while i was in my 10-hour-essay-hibernation mode. the only biscuits around were oreos… i had 5 with a glass of cold milk, but that didn’t hit the spot. so after the essay was done, i baked a batch of these as a reward for myself. needless to say, i had a few and went to bed a happy girl.
115g butter, softened
115g peanut butter
1 1/4 cups plain flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla essence
220g chopped dark chocolate/chocolate chips
1. preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius. grease 3 baking sheets. beat butter and peanut butter on high speed for around 30 seconds.
2. add 1/2 cup flour, sugars, egg, baking powder, baking soda and vanilla essence. beat until combined, then add remaining flour and chocolate. mix until well combined.
3. shape dough into 1 inch balls and flatten slightly with fork. bake for 8-10 minutes. cool on baking sheet for a couple of minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.
these were delicious; the texture was a cross between crispy and chewy. even the boy who doesn’t take to peanut butter enjoyed them. the taste of the peanut butter came through wonderfully, not too overpowering and neither was it too subtle.
i wanted to make chocolate pudding yesterday, but realised that we’ve run out of cornflour, so i switched to this:
2/3 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup water
custard:
2/3 cup milk
3/4 cup cream
2 eggs
4 egg yolks, extra
1/3 cup caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1. preheat the oven to 150 degrees celsius. place the sugar and water in a saucepan over low heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. brush the sides of the pan with a little water to remove any sugar crystals. increase the heat and boil for 8-10 minutes or until the syrup is a deep golden colour. (this part is very tricky because the caramel mixture can scorch very easily)
pour into 4 ramekins. set aside for 5 minutes to allow the caramel to set.2. to make the custard, place the milk and cream in a saucepan over low heat and heat till warm. place the eggs, extra egg yolks, sugar and vanilla in a bowl and whisk until well combined. slowly pour over the milk mixture while whisking well to combine. strain and pour over the caramel in the ramekins.
3. place the ramekins in a water bath. bake for 35 minutes or until the custard is set. remove from the tray and refrigerate until cold. to serve, dip the base of each ramekin into hot water for 10 seconds, invert the creme caramel onto a plate and serve immediately.
i think my caramel was a bit overdone, but both the boy and i liked it. my mum, however, said that the texture was a bit dense. if i do this again, i will lessen the amount of cream and increase the milk. otherwise, i think it was a pretty okay first attempt.
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