Tuesday 28 September 2010

a bit of disaster sourdough donuts

a bit of disaster donuts

this is what happens to a lazy person, who always find a shortcut to everything.
a bit of disaster donuts or may i say, fried dough?
i dont know why, but when i was frying the doughs (okay, lets just call them 'dough' because they are kinda nowhere near donuts) i have this warm feeling about some memory i had in Germany few years ago.
with a typical crowded tourist spot, wet windy winter and a cute fried dough seller involved. it was so random, and hazy, the memory.

a bit of disaster donuts

okay, anyway, i was in a VERY BIG donut mood. i'd kill for krispy kreme's crullers, oh my, the cakey and tender glazed cruller.
no, not french cruller, not deep fried pate a choux. apparently, krispy kreme has a different kind of crullers.
and also, i have my newly breed sourdough starter and i thought why not use the wild yeast as the leavened for my donuts plus i'll get that slight 'tang' of sourdough im crazy about.
so i went for my trusty.... google.com and searched for sourdough donuts, found many but chose the one that looked easiest.

and your lazy baker went with that one.
about one hour later... TADA! very dense donuts!
not exactly what i had in mind, very far far far aaaaway from the krispy kreme cruller i was craving.
but these fried doughs are actually NICE, its.... errr.. a fried dough.
its crispy on the outside, which is a plus for me. has a big sourdough taste, like what i hoped for.
and even nicer when they are all glazed. I LIKE!
but i'll look for different recipe next time and throw away my laziness and DO the "roll out the dough and cut using donut cutter"
and since i am still in a very big donut kick, maybe i'll make and post another donuts recipe. chocolate cake donut, hmmmmm...

a bit of disaster donuts


SOURDOUGH DONUTS (i really forgot where i got the recipe, seriously!)

1/2 cup sourdough starter
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk

1. sift the dry ingredients together. mix remaining ingredients together and add to dry mixture.
2. bring dough together gently with your hands. sprinkle some flour onto a work surface and turn dough on to it, knead it gently about 3 times to help bring the dough together.
3. (this is what i really should do instead of shaping the donuts bare-hand and singing) roll out to thickness of 2cm and cut using donut cutter.
4. heat about 8 cups of oil (just enough to deep fried the doughs) to 350 F (okay, really, who am i kidding with?! i didnt use thermometer, i didnt know the temperature, i just dump the dough in the really really really hot oil) and fry until golden brown.

VANILLA GLAZE

1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. mix together all the ingredients and stir until smooth

Sunday 26 September 2010

sourdough pancake with caramel irish cream sauce

sourdough pancake with caramel irish cream sauce

I’m 22 years old and I’m starting my Sourdough Starter! Hoorah for that! So basically, sourdough starter is a wild yeast, its sour and has a weird, but nice smells once you’re using it in a baked goods. I started mine five days ago and sure I will keep feeding it forever and passing it to my future daughter when I die. Okay, too much future talking. After 5 days of starting and the sourdough has finally ready. Its all bubbly and frothy with strong fermented smell, just like alcohol. I used the first ¼ cup for sourdough pancake. Remember, that sourdough pancake is not your usual light and fluffy pancake. Sourdough pancakes are dense and chewy and that tangy taste from the sourdough is very addictive.

sourdough pancake with caramel irish cream sauce
sourdough pancake with caramel irish cream sauce

I paired the pancake with caramel Irish cream sauce, because I’m in the mood for caramel sauce. But the pancake is just wonderful by itself, okay, well, maybe a tablespoon of butter on top and a drizzle of maple syrup would be wonderful also.

sourdough pancake with caramel irish cream sauce

click here for the recipe and more from me for Dujour Magazine

Friday 24 September 2010

while im away

foods i had while im in Bali Island
foods i had while im in Bali Island
foods i had while im in Bali Island
foods i had while im in Bali Island
foods i had while im in Bali Island
foods i had while im in Bali Island
foods i had while im in Bali Island
foods i had while im in Bali Island
foods i had while im in Bali Island
foods i had while im in Bali Island
foods i had while im in Bali Island

i was in Bali Island last week.
lying and lazing by the pool. enjoying the sun. spraying protective tanning oil non-stop.
reading one great romance novel. about two people, one day and 20 years.
eating, non-stop also.
daily stop to hard rock hotel bakery just for their AMAZING orange honeycomb donut.
taking foodie pictures. and only foodie pictures, only foods.
alas, forgot to take pictures of my fabulous size 18-self in a fabulous turquoise blue swimsuit.

anyway, these are 7 things that i learned from my holiday:

1. i HEART sport bar in Bali Island, its my favorite place for male-hunting :p
2. M&S at Bali Island has a big range of beachwear/swimwear, a range that does not exist in Jakarta :(
3. i dont mind getting tanned.
4. my big and bulky DSLR camera is not for this kind of holiday and i really need Olympus Pen camera.
5. i love a beach only when its quite and not crammed with too many people.
6. i prefer waffle over pancake.
7. i like walking, seriously!

Monday 13 September 2010

hazelnut and butterscotch chocolate fudge brownies

hazelnut and butterscotch chocolate fudge brownies
hazelnut and butterscotch chocolate fudge brownies

Lets talk about my America obsession. Since my early days of baking craze, I tend to bake American baked goods from American recipes and I’ve become this American addicted and obsessed about American culture. Whew! That’s a lot of American. I used to daydreaming about a very good quality of Belgian chocolate in my chocolate cake, but now, all I want is Reese’s peanut butter chips is my chocolate cookies. So as you can imagine, the saddest of all is not being able to find those American baking ingredients where I live.

I’m obsessed about those bakeries in America. From magnolia bakery to retro bakery. I’m obsessed about American baked goods like brownies, chocolate chip cookies, cupcakes, pies, cookie bars, you name it. And it makes me think that, if I ever, own a bakery, I want it to be all American bakery. Not in a patriotic way, only to be like those bakeries I adore.

hazelnut and butterscotch chocolate fudge brownies

Fyi, I don’t want my future bakery to be so pretty like Laduree’s, too fancy. I want it to be rustic and has that grandma’s kitchen feeling like magnolia’s. with retro fan and black and white checker tile, oh wait, no, rustic wooden floor. Anyway, it’s the menu that I already have or at least, I have already wrote in my journal.

And this hazelnut and butterscotch chocolate fudge brownies is in the menu, its so chocolate, so dense and really fudgy with bits of hazelnut and butterscotch chips. So easy to whipped and so easy to bake. Just remember that you will get chocolate knock-out from this brownies, yes you will.

hazelnut and butterscotch chocolate fudge brownies

click here for the recipe and more from me for Dujour Magazine

Saturday 11 September 2010

a picnic, spontaneous!

a spontaneous picnica spontaneous picnic
a spontaneous picnic
a spontaneous picnic
hazelnut and butterscotch chocolate fudge brownies
a spontaneous picnic
a spontaneous picnic
a spontaneous picnic

went to grandparents' house for a big family get together in 'the' big day of Moslem's world.
had a spontaneous picnic in grandparents' ridiculously big backyard.
laid down and took pictures of what i see.
enjoying an apple and a square of knock-out hazelnut and butterscotch chocolate fudge brownies, i baked the day before.
wore my very cute birkenstock clogs, purple.
and my new rolled up boyfriend jeans. all praise boyfriend jeans, they are just soooo comfy!
under a pink umbrella? it added the whole cuteness from my clogs.
too bad i left my clubmaster, well, it was a spontaneous picnic after all.
the sun was annoyingly crazy-hot.
was, quite fun, the spontaneous picnic.
but, a planned picnic would be even better.
lets have one!

Thursday 9 September 2010

BAKERY MUSINGS: storefront

i always love paris boulangeries.
they always have the same storefront with rustic look and loads of pastries in their window display.
sometimes with very pretty canopy.
and that's how i want my future bakery's storefront looks.
rustic, with drool-able window display and soft-pastel colors.

Paris, shopfront in the Marais
Poilane, Boulangerie, Paris
Boulangerie storefront in the Marais
DSC03512 Boulange de Cole Valley storefront
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all pictures aren't mine, they are from various websites.

Monday 6 September 2010

pink birthday cake

this is my entry for whipped

pink birthday cake
pink birthday cake

Cupcakes are cute, pretty and irresistible. But sometime layers cakes are just equally cute, pretty and irresistible. Sometime a slice of layers cake is more tempting than a cupcake. Sometime layers cake screams birthday louder than a cupcake. Last Thursday was my 22nd birthday and I had a big and tall carrot cake with cream cheese frosting from my favorite bakery. I couldn’t stop adoring the layers inside the cake, they were so gorgeous and…delish.

Looking back to my birthdays in my early life. I always got a pink birthday cake, with clowns or balloons or ballerina or swans or other vintage figurines on top. The years when such things as fondant and edible picture have not exist. I love those years! When cakes were only vanilla, chocolate or lemon. When there was only vanilla buttercream or chocolate glaze. When colors were so soft.

pink birthday cake

Cake slice always have a special place in my heart, just next to a cupcake. Maybe if baking a layers cake were less messy and exhausting, I’d bake layers cake more often. Too bad, for me, baking a layers cake is always an all-day baking affair with extra buttercream mess here and there and mount of dishes. And that is why I always opted for cupcakes almost every time.
But it has been a long time since I last baked a layers cake, I couldn’t even remember what kind of cake it was. So, I think my birthday will be the right time to bake a festive layers cake, with pink buttercream and sprinkles. With simple vanilla cake and vanilla buttercream. Lets just forget the carrot cake for a while and after all, there is no such thing as ‘too much birthday cake’ right? A birthday girl can always have two or even three birthday cakes right?

pink birthday cake

So I fought with all the mess that happens every time I bake a layers cake. I used my favorite-favorite-favorite-go-to vanilla cake from magnolia bakery’s recipe and my always go-to vanilla buttercream. The result? Well, it’s a vanilla birthday cake with pink vanilla buttercream. Its special, in its own way.

pink birthday cake

click here for the recipe and more from me for Dujour Magazine

Saturday 4 September 2010

yay! simply happy yay!

my birthday cake, carrot cake from my favorite bakery

2nd september was my 22nd birthday!
i dont have a wishlist, a birthday wish.
except, those regular prayer for my family.
but my personal birthday wish? no, nada, zero!
i think i will just live my life the way it is, keeping the faith that someday, i'll have an adventure around the world.
i'll move to New York as soon i finished my design school, i dont know how, but i know i will.
i will live in a cozy and small apartment, in williamsburg, brooklyn. i dont know how, but i know i will.
but before my big fat move to New York, i will travel across india, finding everything before im losing everything.

but before, i will just loving my life :)