sugar crawler blog

chocolate meringue pie

2011-11-30T18:33:00.002+07:00

finally! a recipe! chocolate meringue pie, a recipe worthed months of waiting.
recently im in a retro-with-a-dash-of-southern-life living obsess and what else should i make other than pies to live up to that obsession?
this is a crowd pleaser dessert, serve with whipped cream instead if you are not a meringue-loving person like me.

chocolate meringue pie

1 9-inch pre baked pie crust

chocolate filling
recipe adapted from baked cookbook

1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons chocolate malt Ovaltine
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cornstarch
5 large egg yolks
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
5 ounces dark chocolate (60 to 70 percent cacao), coarsely chopped
2 ounces milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons whiskey (I used bailey's irish cream)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan, whisk together sugar, Ovaltine, salt, and cornstarch. Add egg yolks and whisk until combined; mixture will look like a thick paste. Slowly pour in milk and cream, whisking constantly. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly; let boil for 30 seconds and immediately remove from heat.
Add chocolate, whiskey, and vanilla; whisk until well combined and mixture has cooled slightly. Let stand, at room temperature, for 15 minutes. If a thin skin forms on the filling while cooling, whisk until skin is gone. pour filling into the crust. Refrigerate for 4 hours before serving.

meringue

2 large egg whites
4 tablespoon white sugar

in a large mixing bowl beat egg whites and salt using stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment until fluffy, add sugar gradually and continue beating until stiff peaks form.

assembling.

preheat oven to 400 F.
take out the refrigerated chocolate pie while making the meringue, spread filling on top of filling right up to edge of crust. bake for 15 minutes or until meringue is lightly brown. chill the pie for at least 4 hours before serving, best served cold.

Lolita Bakery. Barcelona.

2011-10-08T13:24:00.004+07:00

so i was in Barcelona last summer, nothing big, just Barcelona and few other cities in spain.
and oh, paris, milan, lisbon, frankfurt, amsterdam.
okay, IT WAS BIG! i spent a month travel through europe.
and it was AMAZINK!
now, being a sweet tooth and glutton slave i am, of course tasting, gobbling and eating my way through the whole journey was in my agenda.
its a shame really if im being honest here and tell you all that my favorite sweets were boxed or bagged artificial laden snack from rest area mini-markets.
but i know, you want to read and see pictures of something fancy.
i like everything fancy too, you know.
its okay.
so here i am, with fancy bakery review.

Lolita bakery is located in Barcelona, its near the famous Gaudi's Casa Mila.
never thought that i'd come across a bakery in my way to Casa Mila, but there it was, a cute bakery (with a cute cupcake man behind the counter.)
i stopped immediately because it was the cutest bakery i have ever seen. i swear.
it was very hot in Barcelona, the temperature might reached 35 degree Celsius and it was just slightly cooler inside the bakery.
but the cupcakes and their frosting were survive.

they had various flavors of cupcakes.
from red velvet, carrot cake, chocolate chip, chocolate and many more.
but i went with the red velvet, blueberry chocolate and carrot cake.
other than cupcakes, they also had muffins, brownies, bars and layer cake.
i had the apple crumble bars.
the cream cheese frostings on top of each cupcake i had seat perfectly under the mean summer heat.
fyi here, i brought along the box of cupcakes to Casa Mila to take pictures and literally admiring the architecture and maybe teared up a bit to see Gaudi's work.
so yeah, the frosting were a surviver.
maybe they're using stabilizer? could be.
anyway, all the cupcakes were good, just good.
the cake weren't moist and the taste were just, i dont know, standard?
the frosting were just good, no, it was better than the cake actually, i liked it.
although not great. but really, i liked it.
but the star was the apple crumble bars, which i forgot to take picture of.
but please trust me. it was greeeeeeaaaattt1!
the crumble and the crust were very buttery and married perfectly with the sour-ish, cinnamon-y and sweet apple filling.
i finished it in just two minutes and it was not a small bar.

overall, the Lolita bakery is worthy a visit if you're in barcelona.
its cute, its good and its just next to Casa Mila.
yes, its very very very touristy.

#FIRST

2011-08-18T09:11:00.000+07:00

i still remember the day as if it was just happened yesterday, whilst it was actually three years ago. i had flown thousands miles from Jakarta to London with a certain mission to get my first Doc Martens.
that day, was cloudy and windy, like any other London day in summer. i took a bus ride from my hotel in London's suburb area, it was a rather long bus ride to covent garden and i was very excited that i forgot about my breakfast.
i remember, that it was saturday, covent garden was packed with London's youngs, art performers and tourists. i walked cluelessly, i didnt knew exactly where the DM shop is located, i stopped few times to ask some locally look people for direction. the rain came down, for few minutes, then stopped for few minutes, then it started again for another few minutes before it stopped. i was wet, hungry and exhausted, it wasnt easy being a tourist in London.
i almost gave up, i have a thought about 'not meant to be' and 'ordering online' but then i turned left and i saw that yellow and black building and people carrying big yellow paper bag. few steps forward and i was in Doc Martens store, i swear i could hear birds singing with joy.
i knew clearly which DM i had to get, it was a white 8 eye floral boots, i asked the shopkeeper about that particular boots and my size, and they do have it. it was meant to be.
back then, i didnt knew that doc martens need to be broken into before they become yours forever, so i wore them the next day to go around london, the result? feet disaster for a couple weeks. but it was worth it.

ps: the story may sounds really dramatic, but i swear with all my heart it was what actually happened, i am that dramatic.
pps: i now live happily with two pairs of docs, that white 8eye floral boots and pink pearl 1461 3eye shoes i bought in paris which has another dramatic story to tell. i am looking forward for my third pair.

well hello there!

2011-04-01T20:59:00.004+07:00

it would be one cheesy line if i said "how i've missed blogging!" right?
no, i didnt miss blogging, i got kinda bored with it so i ditched the whole blogging thing for a while.
but i found some pictures just few minutes ago and i cannot resist the urge to share few and tell you all some stories.
few things i want to share and i hope my 82 followers enjoy those.

1. this picture is so glorious, i believe this is where my chocolate cake obsession first started. oh the whole enormous chocolate cake.. oh chocolate cake obsession..

2. this is how my future will look like. period.

3. my favorite girl went to San Fransisco and she brought home these american goodies for me, can i say hallelujah?! and, finally, i could get a taste of hostess dingdongs.

4. then me and my future bridesmaids met up for dinner, we had a good amount of laugh and like the best dinner, so good dutch foods for dinner.

5. found the cutest Hello Kitty dessert tiers.

6. found the cutest man alive

7. as you may have noticed, i love love love instagr.am

8. found the man of my life, the man that makes such a big impact in my life, the man that changed me, he could be the love of my life and he's my Indiana Jones. he simply makes my life turned upside down.

9. I OWN A KITCHENAID MIXER NOW!! AAAARGH! AFTER YEARS OF WAITING!! AAARGH!

10. im done with baking business, im done, done, done. effin bye!

i went on a picnic, like a month ago.

2010-11-21T20:21:00.003+07:00

i feel like blogging, but i dont know what to blog.
so i'll just share pictures from a picnic i did a month ago.
it was super fun, i made pretzel roll sandwiches (egg mayo, chicken mayo and smoked salmon with cream cheese) from scratch plus picnic chocolate loaf cake (recipe by me!).
my friend P baked kiwi, strawberry and cream cheese puff pie and W made mini lasagna.
both were REALLY good, i think we (P, W and me) make a delish trio.
and the cute thing was, the location, it was at my gran's backyard.

spiced apple tart

2010-11-11T08:56:00.002+07:00

I’m so excited about the recipe I have to share so lets get down to this spiced apple tart! The original recipe was a Normandy apple tart from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home To Yours book, but my family and I cannot have an apple dessert without that hint of cinnamon or spice. Is it the same for you? So I added about 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon to the applesauce and another dash of ground cinnamon to the egg wash. Now if you are a non-spiced apple lover you can just follow the original recipe and use vanilla. The tart crust on the other hand, is a different story, its really good, its almost overshadows the whole apple tart itself. I don’t know whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing. Its perfectly crumby and shortbread-y, just perfect. Love it!

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

candy apples

2010-11-11T07:07:00.002+07:00

ps: sorry that this post is a little late, but i have so much going on in my life now, good stuffs for sure. will blog the detail soon :D

***

I know caramel apple, its sticky and addicting. But candy apple is new for me, my friend went to Germany last summer and she posted picture of a candy apple she had there. I thought it was a red caramel apple (silly! I know!) but then she explained that it was a candy, solid rock hard candy covered apple and it was really good, she told me.

I Googled candy apple and found that it is really easy to make one, just have a candy thermometer ready and you are all set for candy apples. Okay, maybe a good apple also, I went with royal gala apples, because I like them. It took me only 30 minutes to have the candy apples ready, so, yes, it’s a dead easy sugary treat. I think this recipe is perfect for those who celebrate Halloween, pack the candy apple in a clear cellophane bag and color the candy with the usual Halloween colors like purple, orange or even black. I’ll definitely make these again for Halloween with those colors.

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

a soft pretzel, okay, no, a love letter to my current crush

2010-10-23T19:00:00.002+07:00

dear, you, the one that inspired me to wrote Jack And doris.
i just want to tell you that im a big fan of romance, but i dont do romance.
i dont do infant talk, i dont play cute.
i do girly stuffs but im not a girly girl.
i embrace my crazy super short haircut and no, im not going to grow it longer.
im not smart, my teeth arent pretty, i have pimples on my face.
im a bit boyish, i stay up late to watch football, my favorites are converse and doc martens.
im a dumb at sketching. im a messy student.
im sassy, im mean, cruel, i tease and laugh to some people.
i eat fast and messy, pretty much like a pig.
im LOUD! not cute loud, im a what-the-hell-loud.
i, maybe, dont do marriage.
i want to go to Congo, Rwanda, Karachi, Afghanistan and all other conflict zones.
im not religious.
im not an it-girl.
i dont have many friends.
i dont know if i can fill the shoes that the other girl has left you.
because im nothing like her, im all i've said above.

but here is the good news, i can make a very good pretzel!
really, i make a wonderful, soft and chewy pretzels.
the end.

WONDERFUL SOFT BUTTERY PRETZELS (adapted from allrecipes.com)

* 4 teaspoons instant dry yeast
* 1 teaspoon white sugar
* 1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
* 5 cups bread flour
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 1 tablespoon melted salted margarine

* 1/2 cup baking soda
* 4 cups hot water
* 1/4 cup sea salt salt, for topping
* 1/2 cup melted butter

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.

4. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with sea salt.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, until browned. brush melted butter using pastry brush to each pretzel while hot.

chocolate crackles cookies

2010-10-22T09:11:00.001+07:00

It took me about one year to finally bake these cookies, and boy did I regret it. If only I’ve baked the cookies from the first time I bought Martha Stewart’s cookies book, I’d be famous by now. In my opinion, these chocolate crackles are the perfect cookie-slash-brownies cookies.

They are very chocolaty, cakey, fudgy and chewy. They are really good with everything, tall glass of cold milk or a big cup of coffee or even a pretty cup of hot tea. But I personally like tall glass of cold milk. And now I’m thinking about making peanut butter chocolate crackles cookie sandwich, you know, a dollop of sweet salty peanut butter frosting sandwiched between two chocolate crackle cookies.

Oh my, heaven! Or maybe, I’ll throw in one or two cups of peanut butter chips to the dough and call it, heaven on earth. But for now, I’ll enjoy these cookies, by it very perfect chocolaty self and call it a day.

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

Doris and Jack

2010-10-10T18:46:00.005+07:00

Dorris and Jack, how can i describe this couple? well, let me just tell you their story.
Dorris and Jack met in University, they were both majoring in Design and knew each other since their first day in Uni, although they weren't friends, well, at least they didnt until they became classmates in one particular class.

it was the first day of new semester, Doris had travelled to Europe on that holiday and got home with plenty of european experience. she just got out from a bad relationship with her childhood sweetheart (whom she always thought is the one she'd be married to) and had no expectation about romance whatsoever. but then she saw jack and noticed that there is something different about this guy, its weird, but he looked pretty cute and did he get his tan worked? that was the very moment when doris fell in love with jack.

Doris needed just a couple days learning about jack from here and there, and found out that they got many things in common, one of them is traveling. other than that, jack is an eternal adventurer and an artist, those were just another reasons for doris to fall just even deeper. then Doris spent months trying to figure out about how jack's feeling about her, it was not easy to do since jack is a very quiet person and 'stiff' according to Doris's bestfriend. i remember Doris told me that jack "has no expression whatsoever", i laughed so hard.
and came another holiday, Doris went to this very beautiful island, she was still madly and hopelessly in love with jack that she decided to write him a postcard, she wrote "lets find some beautiful place to get lost." she mailed it.

came new semester, the first day of new semester. Jack smiled to Doris when they saw each other that morning and jack told doris that he has secretly love doris for quite a some time. the rest is history.

they are a very fun couple, they have travelled so much, together and got lost. doris has made the ever so quiet and stiff jack laughs, and jack always there for doris, he is so gentle and charming and just full of love. he protected doris as if doris was a this very fragile pink rose petal. i adore this couple so much, and they simply make people's heart flutter, they are just too cute to be true.

they graduated from Uni together and sadly had to parted because doris moved to New york while jack had to stay in their hometown. they got into long distance relationship for a couple years but then jack has had enough and flew all the way to new york to visit doris and took her to paris. they spent the most romantic weeks in paris where jack finally popped the question while they had their breakfast. doris choked, speechless for few minutes but immediately said yes.

their wedding was a lovely, casual and intimate affair amongst friends and family. filled with booze, pretty cupcakes and music.
they vowed to love each other for the rest of their life, she promised to always bake him his favorite chocolate chip cookies and he promised to move with her to new york. their final words in their vow was "to travel the world with each other or to just stay home and grow old together."

now the couple is living in new york city, brooklyn to be exact. doris works for a magazine and jack is a photographer. they still fly back to their hometown frequently and continue making people's heart flutter everytime they see Doris and Jack together.

what to do with your pizza dough

2010-10-04T15:36:00.002+07:00

I went to Bali Island and all I got is a fabulous homemade chocolate honeycomb, it had been sitting in my fridge for a week. It waited for me to go all creative and use it in my baked goods. So I went with cream pocket and touched it up with chocolate and crushed honeycomb. I always love cream pocket, well, how can you not love a cream filled something?

Cream pocket is much like a calzone only its filled with pastry cream and commonly served as a dessert. Imagine having a thin and crispy pizza crust oozing with sweet creamy pastry cream after few slices of margarita pizza. It’s a heaven! Add chocolate glaze and crushed honeycomb now it’s a, crunchy, crispy, creamy, chocolaty heavenly dessert.

You know what’s the best thing about making a cream pocket? You can actually use the leftover dough for margarita pizza. Just spread tomato sauce, sprinkle some grated mozzarella cheese and few basil leaves. Heaven and heaven!

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

some brilliant stuffs

2010-10-01T19:56:00.003+07:00

gonna be an another quick post here.
just want to show you all about how amaziiiiink these food stylings from Ikea's new book.
just brilliant, mad brilliant, pretty too!
found this via sweet designs blog

and please read this post from sweetfineday, this makes my heart flutter.
a rock concert in New York with male friend and strangers.
i heart and i cant wait.

a bit of disaster sourdough donuts

2010-09-28T18:51:00.004+07:00

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.

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...

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

sourdough pancake with caramel irish cream sauce

2010-09-26T20:06:00.003+07:00

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.

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.

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

while im away

2010-09-24T17:25:00.002+07:00

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!

hazelnut and butterscotch chocolate fudge brownies

2010-09-13T18:40:00.002+07:00

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.

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.

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

a picnic, spontaneous!

2010-09-11T20:49:00.003+07:00

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!

BAKERY MUSINGS: storefront

2010-09-09T09:49:00.002+07:00

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.

all pictures aren't mine, they are from various websites.

pink birthday cake

2010-09-06T08:38:00.002+07:00

this is my entry for whipped

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.

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?

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.

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

yay! simply happy yay!

2010-09-04T18:14:00.002+07:00

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 :)

butterscotch chip cookies

2010-08-30T14:16:00.001+07:00

There are days when all I want is lying in my bed, watching all Grey’s Anatomy episodes, wearing only boxer and baggy over-sized T-shirt, skipping shower and praying that my boyfriend would never see me like that. I call that my comfort day, in my comfort day I only eat comfort food and I wish I would not regret eating the comfort foods.

In my mind, comfort food is something easy, simple and sinful. Talk about chocolate chip cookies we are. I used to get chocolate chip cookies craving every now and then, lucky me, I’m good at chocolate chip cookies baking, I even have my very own recipe that got very good rave from my friends and family. But when you bake too much of chocolate chip cookies, you’ll get bored of the cookies and decided that chocolate chip cookie is no more that appealing.

Although, I was longing for the texture of chocolate chip cookies, how chewy, soft but crunchy at the same time. Longing for the vanilla and brown sugar scent of the cookies, I still haven’t got my chocolate chip cookies craving back. So butterscotch chip cookies it is! So i used butterscotch chips instead of chocolate chips in the cookie dough for non-chocolate chip cookies. It was a very good decision because when im baking the cookies, the kitchen smelled wonderful and the cookie itself is just as wonderful.

For this cookie recipe, I went with the very first cookie recipe I used way back then in my early baking craze. Its just so easy to whipped with very good cookie result. Crunchy on the edge and soft and chewy in the center. this is why I always fancy kid’s cookbooks, yes, the recipe comes from a cookbook for kids.

click here for the recipe and more from me for dujourmag.com

girly and cookie

2010-08-26T19:35:00.002+07:00

Joanna hosted a cookie swap in her new york apartment with her girlfriends.
i want to do this too, with my girlfriends of course. but chances are 1.) i end up baking all the cookies 2.) we get scared by the cookies calories.
but maybe i'll host a cookie swap somewhere in the future, with my future girlfriends, in my future new york apartment

pictures belong to Joanna

banana marble cake

2010-08-24T12:28:00.003+07:00

I had bananas sitting nicely in my pantry, and I only had milk, flour, sugar, butter and vanilla. What should I make? Banana cake of course. So I browsed my baking books for banana cake recipe and all the recipes I found required brown sugar for banana cake. And when no brown sugar required in a recipe, it required sour cream. Both ingredients I though I don’t have.

And the quest for banana cake recipe continued, until I found Lots-of-Ways Banana Cake in Baking from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan, fyi, have I told you that one of my future plans Is become just like Dorie? Jetting between Paris and New York, writing books about baking, baking for loved ones and sells cookies? Yeah, that’d be perfect.
Okay, anyway, yeah lots-of-ways banana cake by Dorie Greenspan, it’s the most flexible banana cake recipe, with alternatives ingredients choices. Here is what she says, “the inspiration to bake a banana cake always seems to strike when a bunch of bananas are mottling on the counter, but just because you’ve got the fruit doesn’t mean you have all the ingredients you need, which is why I created this amazingly flexible cake. No coconut? Skip it. No brown sugar? Use white. No coconut milk? Use milk, buttermilk, sour cream or yoghurt.” Isnt it the most wonderful recipe? I wish every other recipes could be this flexible. and by that time, i've found my baking bible.

So I was set on baking this recipe, I opened my cupboard to get flour only to found a bag of brown sugar, looking so pretty. Just beside my fabulous Lindt dark chocolate. There, I changed my mind. I went with my big first recipe crush, this banana black and white chocolate, simply because it involves chocolate and banana. Both my favorite. And no, I wasn’t sorry, how could you be sorry with marbled banana chocolate cake? Its moist and light at the same time, although maybe a bit short in banana flavor.

click here for the recipe and more from me for DujourMag.com

if i ever..

2010-08-21T20:19:00.003+07:00

own a bakery, these are exactly how i want it to be, well, of course with majority pink color and a touch of yellow and egg blue here and there!
lovely!

pictures belong to enjoy cupcakes

strawberry and cream cupcakes

2010-08-14T13:27:00.002+07:00

for me, nothing screams summer more than berries. okay, probably beach and frilly summer dresses scream summer even louder, but berries are the creme de la creme of summer, for me at least. and my favorite berry? all of them really, because i love blueberry, raspberry, blackberry and every-berry else. but now if you ask me, what berry i buy most of the time? its strawberry! strawberry is just so tempting for me. they are so red, sexy and juicy. and for me, the perfect summer dessert is something creamy, light, fresh with a touch of strawberry. last summer one of the most memorable desserts i had was a strawberry mousse cake with strawberry sauce and this summer, its must be this strawberry and cream cupcakes, okay, no, i lied! this summer, i love that japanese strawberry shortcake from local japanese bakery here in Jakarta and in fact, this strawberry and cream cupcakes i made is inspired by that japanese strawberry shortcake.

this strawberry and cream cupcakes have a basic vanilla cupcake based with chopped strawberries in the bottom, baked, cooled and frosted with very light whipped cream just minutes before being served. and the best way to enjoy this cupcake? using plate and fork so you can have the three parts altogether, the buttery vanilla cupcake, juicy strawberries and the light and creamy whipped cream. and a cup of tea if possible, to wash down or maybe a glass of icy lemonade? your choice, either way… this is just a perfect summer cupcake.

click here for the recipe, my entry for Dujour Magazine

just words

2010-08-02T18:59:00.004+07:00

note to self: go to local mall and buy cotton candy, go to kinokuniya and buy cupcake pencils (one for me, one for her), get back to baking and keep away the laziness.

wishes: i wish for money, for me to buy pretty scrapbook papers, to make kawaii purchases at kinokuniya store, to make sending swaps a lot easier.
i wish i stop gaining weight.

god forbid: me to make impulsive buy at kinokuniya store for those pretty japanese books, i know i cant read it, i know i cant read japanese.

have i mention: that kinokuniya is probably my most favorite store? because right now, i cant think of anything else

welcome august

2010-08-01T07:59:00.002+07:00

just one month before my big fat 22nd birthday!
and, well, you know me..
i always love birthdays.
well, okay, i love my birthday!
and hey, mOM.. or friends.. here im giving you an obvious hint of what i want for birthday. :D

OKAY, I WANT PINK KITCHENAID MIXER, MA!! it had been two birthdays since im putting a pink KitchenAid mixer in my wishlist. okay, just saying.

*hot pink? anyone?*

and oh, I WANT TOKINA WIDE LENS AF 11-16mm f/2.8, OKAY MA? OKAY PA? OKAYYYYY?
(forgive me for the use of caps lock)

and Ma, Pa.. of course you guys know that i also want that olympus pen camera right?
what.. i hear whatttt? ungrateful child? greedy?
geez..

okay enough with the over-pricey fancy schmancy stuffs, lets get to the more 'realistic' stuffs

*bullseye doll from toy story 3, i saw this at Watsons. and i dont mind getting the woody, jessie and buzz altogether also*

*i saw this at kinokuniya and was in good deal, when i ask Ma about whether the book is worth to buy, she said "you already have too much baking books" errrr, duhhh..*

*im all about food/drink flavored lip balm/gloss and im also all about cupcakes, so this is surely in my next amazon.com purchase*

*SURELY MY NEXT AMAZON.COM PURCHASE, seriously Ma, there's no such thing as "too much baking books"*

*what can you say? puffy..cupcakes..stikers.. on amazon.com..im serious..*

*MAAAAAA! please let me use your credit card and get this dreamy floral printed jegging! its from evans.co.uk, please ma please.. this is what i want the most!*

*im building a kawaii stationery and stikers collection.. and i think i'll start with kawaii sticker sacks and memo pads from kinokuniya*

all pictures from amazon.com, evans.co.uk, kawaiishop.com, weheartit.com

Hazelnut Jam Thumbprint cookies

2010-07-24T17:43:00.002+07:00

If you’re having a tea party like my blog crush Lola, then these cookies are perfect for the tea party, they are nice, sweet and a fancy companion to a cup of tea. Not to mention that they are also pretty. Maybe various jams would make them even prettier, like apricot or blueberry. I used plain old strawberry.

I liked the texture of the cookies, they are really crunchy and nutty on the outside and soft in the inside. Although, frankly I like them better after few days in my cookie tin, certainly crunchier. And one thing, the better the quality of the jam the nicer it’d taste. I used my regular grocery strawberry jam and it was too sweet, well, next time I’ll use apricot!

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

salted butter caramel ice cream

2010-07-19T15:41:00.003+07:00

David Lebovitz wrote that this ice cream is better than Berthilon’s Glace Caramel, I don’t know, I’ve never been to Berthilon.
But I surely know that this ice cream tasted exactly like caramel candies.
Buttery with strong sugar burnt taste and slight hint of salt.
Also I went all fancy with this ice cream, I used French butter and Fleur De Sel from Bali ocean.

Now lets talk how I made it without ice cream machine, here’s the article from David Lebovitz about how to make ice cream without ice cream machine. Go read it and I bet you’d think, “Man, this is easy!” because I thought of that too. But then, after total 3 days of making, freezing and waiting, I thought, “this is not easy.” It’s a long time of mixing the ice cream batter and break the crystal water to make the smooth silky ice cream.

And the result? It is a smooth ice cream , tastes so good like I mentioned above and worth those 3 days of making, mixing and freezing. But this ice cream melts too quick under the sunny summer sun. so make sure to finish the ice cream soon after you take it out of the freezer, though it wont be a big problem for an ice cream this good.

click here for the adapted recipes from David Lebovitz and more from me for Dujour Magazine

cocoa shortbread stars

2010-07-17T09:19:00.002+07:00

whew! its been a quite long time since i last baked cookies.
and now i miss it! baking cookies is so easy and relaxing.
i baked this for my friend, she asked me to bake her chocolate cookies and i can have her used movie tickets as the payment.
why used movie tickets?
that's another story in another post.

my mind went straight to this recipe.
i've been meaning to bake this cocoa shortbread since i first got the book.
but i kept making recipes other than this one.
and now i regret it.
because this one is dead easy cookies.
SERIOUSLY!
and they taste dead good as well.

and what is the best pair for this cookies?
a nice fancy tea.
my lord i love this cookies!
wonder how good it'd be if i drizzled the white chocolate.

COCOA SHORTBREAD STARS from Martha Stewart

Ingredients
* 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
* 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
* 1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
* 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
* 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 2 ounces best-quality white chocolate, coarsely chopped (i omit this)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Pulse flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt in a food processor to combine. Add butter and vanilla, and process until mixture comes together. Shape the dough into a ball.
2. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thick; cut out shapes with a 3 1/2-by-2 1/2-inch star-shape cookie cutter. Space 1 1/2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake cookies until firm to the touch, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cookies cool completely on wire racks.
3. Melt white chocolate, stirring, in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Drizzle chocolate over tops of cookies. Let set before serving, about 30 minutes. Cookies can be stored in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

i will just let the pictures do the babbling

2010-07-14T08:34:00.002+07:00

but then i thought of you, i thought...maybe, well, just maybe..
living the average life with you would be just as fine.

XOXO

HEY ALL LETS JOIN SWAP-BOT! its super FUN!

2010-07-12T16:34:00.005+07:00

yes! hey all!
do you know that im now addicted to swap?
i do private swap on flickr, i join international public swap on swap-bot.com
oh you know, the joy of receiving something other than bills in your mail box.
and now after i've completed 9 swaps on swap-bot.com.
i can host my own swap and guess what?!
what swap i hosted? its a CUPCAKE swap!
yes, its I LOVE CUPCAKE related stuffs swap.
and it goes like this...
you prepare a package of cupcake related stuffs (cupcake baking supplies, stuffs with cupcake in/on it).
stuffed it in a business size envelope, although you can always go with bigger envelope.
and mail it to your cupcake loving partner, and have fun!

to join this swap, the newbie must sign up to swap-bot.com first (FREE!) and well fill your profile.
than go to I LOVE CUPCAKE related stuffs swap, click to join the swap.
that's all!
and if you already a swap-bot member, you can just click this link to go to I LOVE CUPCAKE related stuffs swap.
and have a joyous snail mail fun!

hazelnut and chocolate cupcakes

2010-07-11T14:23:00.002+07:00

recipes and babbling, click here.
yes, every weekend i'll be posting recipes for dujourmag.com
and you can just head up to dujourmag.com for the stories and recipe.
dont worry, i'll still posting and giving and spoiling you with food porn, babbling and recipe here too.
its just you'll get a bonus recipe every weekend at dujourmag.com.

XOXO

life is uncertain

2010-07-10T14:18:00.002+07:00

the best sky high layers cake comes from Ranch Market Bakery.
no kid!
layers cakes who scream "im an american style cake!"
"im not pretty fancy!" "but im huge, tall and just plain GOOD!"
now these are the cakes that made me want to eat nothing but cakes all day long.
no kid! they are 'that' good!

im not much a pretty fancy dessert lover, i dont eat dessert only because they look so beautiful. fyi; sadly, some times i date man only because how he looks.
anywhoooo.. yeah, im not that type of dessert eater.
i dont give damn for those cute little tarts with cute little fruits on top or cute little glass filled with chocolate mousse and this and that.
gah! i get turned on by pictures of homemade pies that look ugly but somehow makes me drooling.
i HATE over decorated cupcakes with fondant and this and that.
i prefer my cupcakes to be plain pastel color buttercream with sprinkles.
i LOVE myself a sky high chocolate layers cake with no decoration, just plain chocolate.
i think the only pretty dessert that i fall in love with is japanese style strawberry shortcake. plain white cream with strawberries.
that's it!

so guess how i excited i was when i saw these layers cakes sitting nicely in ranch market bakery's display window.
and that was the first time i see them.
before, only cute little desserts in that display.
and what made my eyes went even bigger? LAYERS CARROT CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING!
that looked similiar with the one i had, i am crazy with in dubai.
i chose the carrot cake and Ma chose steve's brownie cake.
we couldnt wait until we get home, well, beside that it was 11 am and we had no breakfast before.
we dug through our cake, and i was literally screaming "OMG MA! THIS IS THE ONE! THIS IS THE CARROT CAKE I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR IN JAKARTA"
while Ma "OMG THIS BROWNIE CAKE IS HEAVEN!" yes, we're that obessed-dessert-obsessed mother and daughter.

we finished the cakes in just less than 5 minutes, and we went to walk around a mall for hours to burn the cake calories but who are we kidding for?!
because Ma went back to ranch market bakery the next day, without me..
but she brought home two slices of steve's brownie cake, a slice of banana caramel cake and a slice of rich chocolate cake, plus Ma got tempted by fancy raspberry mousse in a cute little glass.
and she said "no carrot cake for today" with sad face.

this is the steve's brownie cake, im tossing between having this or the carrot cake for my birthday cake.
i especially love the candied walnuts and the chocolate, oh.. im drooling!

and this is the rich chocolate cake. i cant explain what it is consisted with.
one thing for sure, THEY ARE GOOD!

caramel banana cake, banana cake with caramel frosting, still GOOD but my less favorite.

the pretty raspberry mousse, now i have to admit that this is actually good, very light and tasted very summer-ish with all the berries. a good alternative for those butter ladden very rich cakes.

and now, the secret.. while im typing this, Ma is out to ranch market to do some grocery shopping like always and of course... i asked her to bring home cakes and cakes cakes.
OMG IM SO BAD! whatever, i will eat nothing but the cakes for today..tomorrow..and the next day..
seriously!

new doll!!

2010-07-08T14:05:00.004+07:00

its been a long time since Ma bought me a doll, maybe like 3 years ago somewhere in europe.
i placed all my dolls in a box and store them in my house's storage.
now i feel sorry for them.
gah! maybe the first thing i'll do after i kick my brother out of my bedroom is gathering my old dolls and give them a proper space in my room.
oh by the way, the doll above named Usa after United States Of America.
is it cheesy?
well, nothing too cheesy for me of course.

talking about bali!

2010-07-06T13:03:00.004+07:00

gabi does look really pretty, right?
and now i crave bali even more.
and... a red hot swimsuit like gabi's above also.
i want....

holiday and no vacation

2010-07-06T12:40:00.003+07:00

forget paris, forget london, forget singapore, forget hongkong.
i want bali.
oh okay, i WANT, no, i NEED paris and london and singapore and hongkong.
but lets get real, money is tight.
and ma has forbid me to go on a 'real' vacation until i finish design school.
but im craving bali now.
the an hour flight from jakarta, bali.
the sun, the atmosphere.
the fun i had last time im there.
with my girls.

they look so fine

2010-07-06T12:34:00.001+07:00

so this is my favorite world cup 2010 ad.
Pele, Maradona, ZIdane for Louis Vuitton.

days in paris despite the subtitles

2010-07-05T08:58:00.002+07:00

im a dreamer, huge dreamer.
and my dreams are big-beyond-the-borders.
i spent loads of time dreaming, day dreaming, you name it.
and i also spent loads of time, doubting those dreams.
i easily got scared by future.
then one thing has turned my life upside down, okay, not that'upside-down' but pretty much changes how i see life and future.
im becoming a more cheery person, no more skeptical thoughts.
i do believe that dreams do come true.

im hoping that this blog could be my keepsake box.
something to open later in the future and find many things from my earlier days of life.
to see, what achievements have i made.
what recipes have i baked.
what pictures have i drooled at.
what arts have i made.
what stories have i typed.

anyway, i'll leave you with screenshots from my favorite i-love-this-movie-because-this-is-pretty-much-how-i-want-my-future-to-be-like-movie. 2 Days In Paris.

chocolate marshmallow cupcakes with pink mood

2010-06-27T16:11:00.004+07:00

okay, so im feeling like 'pink' this morning, i dont know..
by the way, im gonna keep this post short with my babbling but looooong with pictures!
so lets just talk about the cupcakes.
this cupcakes is a hybrid child of hummingbird bakery's chocolate cupcake and marshmallow cupcake.

the only reason why i didnt make the actual marshmallow cupcakes or the actual chocolate cupcakes is just because my friend dani asked and literally begged me to bake him chocolate cupcakes.
he kept buzzing me about this, whilst im juggling with my interior design final assignment and baking cupcakes is the last thing i want to do.
but today.
now after im 98% done with the final assignment, i could bake him cupcakes.

i still have the homemade marshmallow from last week, sitting nicely in lock&lock box.
"okay, i'll make the marshmallow cupcakes then" but i remembered that dani wants chocolate cupcakes. "okay, chocolate cupcakes it is."
problem solved? no, nu'uh!
i didnt have the heart to keep those homemade marshmallow any longer, so i had to use it immediately.
it was really confusing, "chocolate cupcakes or marshmallow cupcakes."
i could make the marshmallow cupcakes with chocolate frosting just like how its written in the book.
but i wasnt sure that dani wants vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting.
he wants plain chocolate chocolate cupcakes.
but i need to use that marshmallow.
if you were me, by this point i bet you'd already have the perfect solution.
but not me.
fyi, i have a slow brain.
i need a while to thinking and making good decision.

gah! so then i thought, why not make chocolate cupcakes with marshmallow filling?
its perfect!
its gonna be good, chocolate + marshmallow, its perfect, once again!
it took me few hourse to find the solution.

so off i was to the kitchen, this morning.
like i said.. feeling all pink.

now pictures below are the not-so-step-by-step pictures.
please enjoy :)

the recipes in the hummingbird bakery cookbook have a bit weird method.
for this chocolate cupcakes for example,

*you start with mixing the flour, cocoa, sugar, salt, baking powder and butter until you reach a sandy consistency*

*you whisk together egg, milk and vanilla the pour it to the mixed ingredients below*

*after that, mix them all throughly but dont overmix.*

i've read that many people are dissapointed with this cookbook.
but seriously, i followed all the instructions to T and all i got is a very good chocolate cupcake. although the only downside is it yielded only 10 perfectly domed cupcakes. not 12.

*the dirty little dishes, seriously, do you need to see that?*

okay, lets proceed..

*only 10 cupcakes*

*now this is the marshmallow and the red food coloring because i didnt have pink marshmallow whilst i want a pink marshmallow.. so why not just the tint the melted marshmallow pink?*

*the pink melted marshmallow*

*i used apple corer to make the hole and filled them all with spoon, but honestly, it was a serious messy and sticky deal*

fast forward to an hour of cooling and all those butter, powdered sugar and cocoa for the buttercream frosting.
i present to you, a very very yummy chocolate marshmallow cupcakes.

my verdict about this cupcakes?
seriously yummy and the marshmallow filling is a compliment to one another. perfect, hence the buttercream frosting.. too sweet and grainy, i dont like it.
but come on, the only frosting i can tolerant with is cream cheese frosting.
anyway, enjoy the pictures.. i heart them :*

Gli Azzuri cupcakes

2010-06-26T08:35:00.004+07:00

gli azzuri cupcakes i did for my best girl aina's brother.
she was the first person who ordered cupcakes from me months ago and that was why i decided to open this tiny little online bake shop sugar crawler.
and fyi, im taking a little break from the business now, i want to focus on my design school, stop wasting time and finish the design hell soon.
i can do whatever i want to do after i finish the school, you know, including pastry class in Le Cordon Bleu, Paris or photography class or just sail across seas and challenge my life.
although aside from the 'school' reason above, i also dont feel like doing cupcake orders nowadays. doing cupcakes that doesnt fit my mood.
i dont want to ruin my baking hobby so i'd better take a step back from the business and have fun with my hobby.

these cupcakes i did whole-heartedly for aina is the last cupcakes order i want to do for now, no im not quitting from the business, just take a long undefinite vacation from it.
i'll still bake of course, i have tons of recipe waiting to be tested.

so aina, i heart you my friend and i hope you enjoy these last cupcakes from Sugar Crawler.
happy birthday masnuk! stop being sassy :p
XOXO

homemade marshmallow

2010-06-19T14:53:00.003+07:00

holy mother of..!! i made my own marshmallow!
homemade marshmallow!
gah! no one i know would ever thought about making their own marshmallow.
NO ONE!
marshmallow is always a sweet treat you get at supermarket.
correct me.. not just any supermarket, marshmallow is kinda rare in indonesia.
oh, i talk too much about the downside of indonesia.

anyway, im watching FIFA World Cup 2010 now while typing these.
its #NED vs #JPN now!
quick trivia, nederland and japan used to fought over indonesia.

onto the marshmallow.
when i first got my new favorite cookbook a.k.a Baked new frontiers in baking.
the first recipe that caught my eyes is this marshmallow recipe.
this recipe using sheets gelatin, unlike any other marshmallow recipe i've seen before.
it must be a fate that i've own sheets gelatin for while in my cupboard with the exact number of sheets this recipe needs.
okay, maybe not.. i only owned 6 sheets and the recipe calls for 12 sheets.
just okay, for halving the recipe.

this marshmallow has different texture with the usual marshmallow i get from store.
this is really soft and fluffy and springy, just like how the book described.
they need loads of powdered sugar for coating otherwise they'll get really sticky.
loads of powdered sugar will resulting in a way too sweet marshmallow.
so next time maybe i'll sub half the sugar with cornstarch.

since i dont really snacking on 'plain' marshmallow (way too sweet!) im gonna use this for marshmallow cupcakes or krispies treats.
or hot chocolate with homemade marshmallow, now that would be goooood.
oh wait, i've done that..

now the recipe

Marshmallow from Baked: new frontiers in baking
Makes 2-3 dozen marshmallows (depending on how you cut them)

6 sheets gelatin
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted, plus more for dusting

Grease an 8x8-inch pan with shortening, using a paper towel to rub it lightly and evenly onto the bottom, sides and edges of the pan. Set aside.
Put the gelatin sheets into a medium microwave-safe bowl and fill it with very cold water to cover by several inches, adding a few ice cubes to keep it cold. While they soak for about 10 minutes, move on to the rest of the recipe.
Place the sugar, 1/4 cup corn syrup and 1/4 cup water in a medium saucepan and stir gently. Clip a candy thermometer onto the pan, and place it over medium-high heat. Bring it to a boil, checking it occasionally--you are looking for it to eventually hit a temperature of 235-240 degrees (soft ball stage).
Meanwhile, pour the remaining 1/4 cup corn syrup into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. By this point, the gelatin sheets should be very soft--drain them well and give them a quick wringing out, and place them back in the microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high until the gelatin is completely melted, about 30 seconds. Turn the mixer on low, and very slowly pour the melted gelatin into the corn syrup. Keep the mixer running while you check the sugar syrup.
Once the syrup reaches 235-240 degrees, pull it from the heat. Carefully transfer the syrup to a large, heatproof measuring cup or a similar vessel with a spout for easy pouring. Turn the mixer up to medium speed and slowly pour the sugar syrup into the gelatin mixture. When all the syrup has been added, crank the speed up to medium-high and let it go for about 8 minutes--the candy will turn white and fluffy. Add the vanilla and salt and increase the speed to its highest setting for 1 more minute.
Pour the marshmallow into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Sift confectioners' sugar evenly and generously over the top. Let sit for about 6 hours.
Use a knife to loosen the marshmallow from the edges of the pan and invert it onto a confectioners' sugar-dusted work surface. Dust the marshmallow slab with more confectioner's sugar and cut into whatever size pieces you wish (a pizza cutter works great here). Dip the sticky edges of the marshmallows in more confectioners' sugar, patting off the excess. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

millionaire's shortbread

2010-06-13T13:53:00.002+07:00

long story short, i love TWIX! love love love!
my favorite candy bar! caramel, chocolate and shortbread.
that's heaven, definitely.
there are few names for these bars, millionaire's shortbread, chocolate caramel bars and of course, homemade twix bars.
any name you just cant go wrong with chocolate, caramel and butter ladden shortbread.

these bars are so good, i almost thought about finishing them all.
although there was a downside about this recipe.
the caramelized sweetened condensed milk.
no, i wont use that again next time.
i'll use real caramel. butter ladden real caramel.

and also, even though i said that i hate the caramelized sweetened condensed milk.
im actually 'okay' with it.
i got to a conclusion that my sweet tooth has largely increasing.
im OKAY with caramelized sweetened condensed milk?! WTF
i used to think that sweetened condensed milk is too sweet, it makes me dizzy.
and now, i dont even have the heart to giveaway this millionaire's shortbread.
i crave the super sweet filling, the caramelized sweetened condensed milk.
how could i?
this is a BIG DANGER!

its just, this is a perfect recipe for sweet tooth monster.
messy.
with oozing caramel in every bite.
and perfectly falky shortbread.
and chocolate.
please die.

Millionaire's Shortbread
- makes 24 bars -
Adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

Ingredients
Shortbread
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 /12 cups all-purpose flour
1 large egg yolk, slightly beaten
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Caramel filling
28 ounces sweetened condensed milk (two 14-ounce cans)

Chocolate glaze
6 ounces dark chocolate (60% cacao), coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened, cut into cubes
Procedure

For the shortbread:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. butter the bottom and sides of aa 9-by-13-inch baking pan.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the sugar and butter together until blended
3. Add 2 cups of the flour and salt and beat until well combined. Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat for a few seconds, or until just combined.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Dust the top of the dough and your hands with a little flour. Use your hands to gently work the dough into a 6-by-6-inch square. You will have to turn the dough and sprinkle the top with flour as you go. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup flour on the surface of the dough. Fold the dough over and knead until incorporated, then flatten the dough into a rectangle. Transfer the rectangle to the prepared pan and press it into the pan.
5. Prick the dough all over with a fork and bake in the center of the oven for 20 to 22 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

For the caramel filling:
1. Put the sweetened condensed milk in a large microwave-safe bowl. Cook on 50 percent power (medium) for 4 minutes, stirring briskly halfway through, until smooth.
2. Cook on 30 percent power (medium-low) for 12 to 18 minutes, until very thick and caramel colored, stirring briskly every 2 minutes, until smooth.
3. Pour the caramel filling over the cooled shortbread and place the pan in the refrigerator until cool, about two hours.

For the chocolate glaze:
1. In a large nonreactive metal bowl, combine the chocolate, corn syrup, and butter. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and cook, stirring with a rubber spatula, until the mixture is completely smooth. Remove the bowl from the pan and stir for 30 seconds to cool slightly. Pour the mixture over the chilled caramel layer and use an offset spatula to spread it into an even layer.
2. Put in the refrigerator for 1 hour, or until the glaze hardens.
3. Remove the pan from the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving so as not to crack the chocolate glaze. Cut into squares and serve.
4. The bars can be stored in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for up to 4 days.

when in doubt, make banana muffins

2010-06-11T06:20:00.002+07:00

this is gonna be a short post, i warn you!
this is about banana and how this banana muffins have become the root of my popularity, my mom loves them.
enough said!
these are very easy to make.
take only 10 minutes of measuring and mixing.
and 15 minutes to bake.
super fast breakfast treats that will pleased the crowd.

i've posted the recipe somewhere here, so just look for it here.
happy reading, happy drooling and happy searching for the recipe.
and please do make this, this is a fool-proof recipe for every non-baking person who wants to bake.
you know who you are :p

International Goodies Swap

2010-06-05T21:19:00.002+07:00

do any of you who happen to stop by to this blog, interested in an International Goodies Swap?
please leave me comment or email me if you are interested about this.

thank you XO

rich kahlua chocolate mousse

2010-05-31T17:04:00.004+07:00

first, i have a confession i feel very guilty about.
i finished those two cups i used in the pictures or about half of the batch i made.
and now i sit on my bed, with my macbook and blogging about this.
instead of doing my school assignments.
whatever, that goes my favorite word.

so the story begin with, i was craving for chocolate mousse.
the classic and rich chocolate mousse.
i cant remember when was the last time i had a very very very nice chocolate mousse.
not just melted chocolate folded with whipped cream.
i started browse for the recipe.
i wanted a quick browse, so i used these keywords.
"smitten kitchen chocolate mousse recipe" "david lebovitz chocolate mousse recipe" "pierre herme chocolate mousse recipe"
and the award went to... smitten kitchen! just because i heart her.
NO! i lied!

david and pierre's recipe all made from raw egg and doesnt contain any cream.
i wanted the real deal, that means i wanted cream.
the smooth creamy chocolate mousse. not just foamy.
but creamy.
i dont mean that i misjudged the non-cream recipes to quick.
i had make those kind of chocolate mousse before, the foamy chocolate mousse with a hint of eggy smell. eew!
i dont want that kind.
so what if those are low-fat chocolate mousse?
i still want the luscious creamy one.
the one that makes you feel guilty about.

and good gracious god, was that right!
this one is out of the world good!
so creamy, so luscious, so decadently rich, so full of fat.
and i had two serving cups in an one sit.
kill me!
but the good side, two cups is the limit.
you cant handle more than that.
this is definitely not a light dessert.

and oh, make sure you use the best chocolate you could find, i used lindt of course because that's what i have.
also, i used kahlua instead of cognac. just because.
and before serving, i splashed a tablespoon of kahlua on top and MAN! it was a best thing to do when you're facing a cup of chocolate mousse.
add a splash (or two) of alcohol.. and chocolate sprinkle.
but cocoa powder is fine, just dont forget the splash of alcohol!
and this is the link to the recipe from the always so wonderful deb :)

*nyamm!*

peanut butter cups with oreo twist

2010-05-26T13:48:00.003+07:00

my guiltiest guiltiest guiltiest pleasure in the whole world is peanut butter oreo.
meaning, me and my bed and tv/magazine and a jar of creamy peanut butter plus a sleeve of oreos.
that's very guilty, my friend!
who taught you to befriended oreo with peanut butter?
ummmm.. Lindsay Lohan taught me.
i LOVE the parent trap and there was a scene where LiLo or the twins eating peanut butter with oreo, and since that, i've been eating my oreos with peanut butter.
and since that, im in love with peanut butter-chocolate combo.
and since that, oh since that....

yesterday, i got the making something crave.
not baking but making.
something easy but super delish.
the devil crossed my mind and told me to just forget it and do my favorite guiltiest pleasure that i mentioned above.
but hell no, i wont stop on an oreo or two, its gonna be a sleeve and i'd cry my as* off (literally).
i determined to do something, to make something.
even though i'll just ended up munching on those.
but at least i work on something.
not just laying on bed.

i've been eye-ing this homemade peanut butter cups recipe for a long time.
i have never taste reese's cups and please, i know that's a shame.
but i cant find reese's in jakarta and everytime i go abroad, i prefer to skip on groceries candies.
although i always wanted to taste them.

so i browsed my bookmarked recipes file on my blackberry.
got my lazy self up and start preparing to do them.
in just one hour i could sink my teeth on them.
so its not much a work.
since i only used a very few dishes and made a very little kitchen disaster.
so yes, its hardly a hardwork.
but MAN! the end result is just FANTASTIC!
the added of oreo in the peanut butter filling gives more of JOY.
peanut butter chocolate joy.
as i usual, i like my peanut butter chocolate to be heavy on the salt.
so i also added like 1/4 teaspoon of fine sea salt.
and holy moly not cannoli, its just PERFECT!
the crucnh of crushed oreos.
the tartness of peanut butter.
the salty hit of sea salt.
the bitter sweet of lindt dark chocolate.
OMG, i was in heaven.
well, i am in heaven.... since i still have like 12 of them in my fridge.

oh life.
and here's the step by step pictures.
because believe me, they are just crazy easy.
and crazy delish!

first, here's a link to the recipe i used, from have cake will travel

*you start with melted chocolate*

*place a heaping teaspoon of melted chocolate in each mini cupcake liner and spread it all over the place with the back of a spoon. repeat with all 12 liners, refrigerate, i used my silicone liners and they make it so much easier, a whole lot easier*

and for the filling

*these are the most basic ingredients, peanut butter and crushed oreo*

*stir together peanut butter, vanilla, salt, oreo and sugar. it should form a sort of paste, make sure all gets incorporated really well. the chocolate should be hard by now, so divide peanut butter paste into all 12 liners, pressing down gently to make sure the paste goes everywhere*

*top with heaping teaspoon of chocolate*

*spreading carefully so that none of the PB paste can be seen. chill in fridge for at least 15 minute or until completely harden*

and now please enjoy!

holy cookies

2010-05-21T08:19:00.004+07:00

yep! these are holy cookies!
crispy salted oatmeal white chocolate cookies.
just HOLY s*%@!

i grew up among people who think that cookies should be crunchy and crispy.
no such thing as chewy and soft cookies, those are underbaked cookies.
make underbaked cookies and yes, you are a baking moron.
and me.. i love soft and chewy cookies.
my mom is kinda a snob who always do groceries in international supermarkets.
and her daughter a.k.a me, always got her chocolate chip cookies fix there.
from chips ahoy to pepperidge farm.
and those are always the soft ones.
so i grew up eating soft cookies while surrounded by crunchy cookies eater.
i always look for soft cookies.
oh my effin god, i love soft cookies!

although, i still love few indonesian traditional cookies which is always crunchy and i also like famous amos's crunchy cookies and oh, not to mention asia's oreos.. which is crunchy!
and why asia's oreo? that's something to talk about later.
so i get the crunchy cookies crave often.
truth be told, i didnt get the crunch/crisp crave when i browse for 'oatmeal white chocolate cookies'
i got the crave AFTER i found this recipe and read all the comments.
i couldnt wait, i baked those ASAP!

the recipe clearly told you to use high quality white chocolate.
but pity me, i used compound white chocolate for praline making.
butttttt... i went with my fancy sea salt for the sprinkling.
so i guess, i make the even?
and also, i used quick cooking oats instead of old fashioned rolled oats.
i got my cookies just like how the recipe promised me.
thick and shatter-y with a hollow in the middle.
oh my goodness! i just love them!
the sprinkling of sea salt added a whole new party in my mouth.
although, 'people' think that.. the salt is weird.
so maybe next time i'll skip the salt when i make them for 'people'
but other than that! OMG these are just the holy cookies of the crunchy an crispy cookies.

link to the recipe, from smitten kitchen

black and white cookies

2010-05-19T08:02:00.004+07:00

i baked these to celebrate... i dont know, my changing of plans?

anywoo, i love these cookies.
this is my type of cookies, cakey and a bit fluffy.
i wish i could find chocolate chip cookie recipe that resulted in a cakey and a bit fluffy cookies.
beeecause, that's my kind of cookie!

onto the black and white cookies

i love the black part!
the chocolate part!
i ate the white first to get rid of it and save the best for last.
a.k.a the black part
omg omg i'll make these again, definitely!
although next time i'll try to make them perfectly round shaped.

and about the 'black and white' pictures..
come on!
dont you think that black and white cookies deserve black and white pictures?
no? they dont?
really?
oh okay, whatever.
here i give you the 'full color' version..

link to the recipe, from yours truly ms. martha stewart

the traveller

2010-05-11T19:27:00.005+07:00

you know you will never hold me right?
you know that i wont stay right?
there will always more for me, and i wont stop asking for that
i wont stop searching for that.
i will leave, eventually
and there is nothing you can do about that.
i will sail across the sea and i will sail across another seas.
i will drive across the country and i will drive across another countries
i will fly across the globe and i will fly and fly and fly
i have dreams and those are big.
some of those are not here.
and i have to go to find those, those will be my friends
just like how my camera is.
you know that i love you right?
but i love my dreams even more.

i will leave you, but i will leave more people in the future.
you'll be not the only one.
you'll get to know those people, you'll sit with those people
drinking your mojitos because that's my favorite drink.
you and those people will remember me.
you'll remember how hot-headed, rock-headed i was.
you and those people will laugh and wonder.
"where is she, i miss her, is she okay?"

i will be okay, because..
i choose to leave, i choose not to stay.
there will only my camera and me at the end of the day.
but i know i'll be happy.
i know i'll live my life to the fullest.

images from........somewhere, i forgot

sunday morning means nothing

2010-05-09T09:07:00.004+07:00

dear my love
i remember benjamin and daisy and their duplex, how they had fun days.
i remember i said to my mom "that's the kind of life i want"
and mom said "dream on little girl"

dear my love
but now you are here.
sleeping in my bed, sorry, our bed.
we live in that city that never sleep and we love every second of it.
you wake me up every early early early morning.
because that's the time when you got home.
just in time.
sipping our coffee and watching the sunrise.
because that's our favorite thing.
you ask me to bake banana muffin but i refuse and say "have you ever get tired eating my baked goods?"
you laugh and kiss me hard.

dear my love
i have to take shower, its monday and i have a job to keep.
unlike you my rockstar, my beloved rockstar.
and frankly, i envy you
i wish i could stay up all night and sleep all day.
just like you.
i kiss you and realize how bad you smelled.
lets just take shower together.
you grin, i know you like it.

dear my love
we do nothing.
we just hugging each other under the shower.
feeling each other's skin, smelling each other's breath and wishing that we could hugging each other all day long.
that would be silly i know.
but remember, i have a job to keep.
i should get ready.
i know you'll tease me, trick me to bed.
but sorry, i have a job to keep.

dear my love
you decide to walk me to get a breakfast and postpone your sleep.
we are walking down the street.
the street of the city that never sleeps.
i take a long deep breath and smelling every single scent of the street.
i love those scents. i love this city.
i met you here, my love

dear my love
we had our breakfast, bagels and coffee.
i know i know, typical.
but i always love it and you mocked me because of that.
but you've grown to love that.
you've grown to love everything that i love

dear my love.
stop kissing me.
you go home.
have your sleep.
finish your painting.
whatever you have to do.
i have to go now.
i have a job.
a job that i love

dear my job
i love you.
i love you.
i love you.
i've been with you all day long
and now i have to go back to my love.

dear my love
you texted me. said you've had your sleep.
said you miss me.
said you have early gig and wish i could stop by and watch you
so my love. i take the subway.
im watching you, im hearing girls screaming for your name.
but i know, you're looking at me from that far and tall stage.
those deep blue eyes are mine.
i cant hold a smile just thinking about that.

dear my love
we walk back to our itty bitty apartment.
im in your arm.
im safe there.
i know it, i always know it.
we are going to sleep together tonight.
finally.
after a week of midnight gigs here and there.

dear my love
you tell me the surprise.
the surprise you've hold all day long.
you've sold your paintings.
a gallery proposed to contract you.
you let go your music career.
you choose your paintings

dear my love
you say the magic words
"come with me to paris"
i shrieked.
you say
"bring your cameras, your life, your job"
i cant say anything, i love paris, i love you
you say
"we'll have a new adventure in paris"
i believe that, i kiss you and i say
"yes yes yes, turn out i love you more than i love this city"
you gazzing and smilling and say
"i know that"

dear my love
we always know, dont we?

images from snippet and ink.blogspot.com

cookies and cream cheesecake cupcakes

2010-05-06T18:30:00.004+07:00

okay, so..
i dont know which one is yummier, the almost naked didier drogba on vanity fair's current issue or these cheesecakelettes.
although, i baked these couple weeks ago and saw didier drogba's picture this morning but still.. they are worth to be compared with each other..
may i say that im a true blood (if that's not exaggerating!) manchester united fan and seeing that there is slightly large possibility about MU not going to get their 4th premier league title in a row is kinda hurting.
but i still cant resist drooling on didier drogba whose club is MU's number one rival.
sorry lads!

and the cheesecakelettes? never thought that im a cheesecake person but.. maybeeee..just maybe....im indeed a cheesecake person!
SHOCKER! i know right?!
just as shocker as how i could drool on didier drogba..
see they do have something in common
eineewaaaayyy..
yess, im a cheesecake person, a cupcake person too and also cookie person, duhh! kill me!
i always like cheesecake and always gobble them up everytime i got the chance, i crave them too.
but i always on hunt for cupcakes, im crazy about cupcakes, i love baking cupcakes.. I LOVE CUPCAKES!
but choose one, its gonna be like choosing between jose mourinho and pep guardiola, okay, i talk too much about football in this post, forgive me.

yeeeeah, i love them both.
i love cheesecake and cupcake equally.
its a beautiful world i know.
so these cheesecakelettes are just PERFECT!
its a cheesecake in a cupcake form.
just perfect perfect perfect.
and yummy yummy yummy.
oh, the always so smart martha stewart.. and her team of course.

click here for the recipe, the link is directed to one of my favorite blogger.

ps: cheesecake never fail me, i always been a good cheesecake baker, from the first time!
pps: and here's a link to the ever so yummy almost naked didier drogba (plus bonus almost naked cristiano ronaldo, pato, eto'o, landon donovan, kaka, muntari etc)

parisian beauties cupcakes

2010-05-05T19:39:00.003+07:00

set of parisian beauties cupcakes i did for margie, she's a very well pampered gal and a make up avid, she dreams about going to paris (well who wouldnt?) so these stuffs i drew on cookies and cream cupcakes are just perfect for her!
happy birthday marge!

purple-themed cupcakes

2010-05-05T19:34:00.002+07:00

here is set of purple themed cupcakes i did for feli, the flavour were the always favourite blueberry red velvet.
i wonder people, i wonderrrr...

im getting bored with my collection of sprinkles, i need more! i need new sprinkles!
sprinkles sprinkles sprinkles, please ebay and etsy ship to indonesia!

i've always been the artist

2010-05-02T18:03:00.002+07:00

i know im an cupcake artist, i make edible art on cupcakes and i too, make cupcake art.

this gonna be us in years from now

2010-05-01T18:44:00.002+07:00

(rockstar)

i miss you, my man

tiffany blue red velvet cake balls

2010-04-27T21:46:00.002+07:00

ahhhh the ever so pretty and cute and adorable cake balls.
and i made them with tiffany blue color.
these gonna make a good wedding dessert.
i used magnolia bakery red velvet cake recipe for the cake and colored white chocolate compound with tiffany blue food color for the coating.
i absolutely sure that this kind of blue, white and chocolate are the cutest colors for wedding.
if only it isnt too "public"
geez, what im blabbing about?!

this post has no point other than me, showing off these very gorgeous pictures of cake balls.
nothing more.
i love to show off.
im that kind of girl.
trust me!

enjoy!
and of course you know that you can always order these from me, with your choices of cake+frosting based and color palette.

manchester united cupcakes

2010-04-24T14:19:00.001+07:00

set of manchester united cupcakes i did for hanif, such details, eh?

i listen to the words

2010-04-20T19:57:00.003+07:00

i want to be married to this man (after anderson of course!).
i cant imagine how many beautiful words he'd whisper to my ears.
how many beautiful songs he'd sing to my ears.
he's sooo number two in my list of favorite performer EVER!

a whole lot more

2010-04-19T12:27:00.002+07:00

im thinking about making a whole lot more from sugar crawler, this eeny-weeny-teeny cupcakes/cookies business i have.
i dont want to stop at just the real cupcakes/cookies, the ones you can actually eat.
i want to do a lot more.. like t-shirt? canvas tote/shopper bag? stickers? pencil case? oh my god.. the sky is the limit!
god's miracle if i the apparel business could turn out like johnny cupcake's?

i'll ask my friends for helping with the designs but for now.. i'll start with these two below.

you'll see these on canvas bags, t-shirts and stickers, SOON! i promise :D

these brighten my 30 minutes of baking oreo cup-cheesecake

2010-04-18T12:50:00.002+07:00

OMG im so in love with these!
images from flowers in may

so this is how i do it

2010-04-18T08:30:00.002+07:00

long story short, im a one woman show.
meaning, its a one person business
oh, im talking about sugar crawler by the way.

i shop for the ingredients, i measure, bake, frost and decorate those cupcakes all by my self in my basement kitchen aaaaand..i clean the kitchen my self. although mom sometimes (most of the time!) help with the dishes.
i do this business for fun, well, i take this business seriously but i do the business for fun, get it? oh well..

there are times when i have to reject orders due to my responsibilty as an university student, an interior design student.
but frankly, there are also times when i dont give damn thing about my assignments and just do the orders, just because.. :D

i see my cupcakes as an art, i love playing with colours and that's why most of my cupcakes sets are based on colour palette.
and that is too, why i love sprinkles..because they are soooo colourful and fun!

well, that's it for now.. im going to have my sunday breakfast a.k.a beef filone sandwich from starbucks, just YUMM!

i heart london cupcakes

2010-04-16T12:12:00.002+07:00

i heart london and union flag cupcakes i did....just for fun! using leftover cupcakes from previous post.
im thinking of sets of city/country themed cupcakes! weeeee FUN!

spiderman head cupcakes

2010-04-16T12:10:00.002+07:00

i did these couple days ago, arrays of blueberry red velvet spiderman head cupcakes mixed with chocolate covered chocolate cupcakes with words, ordered by mrs. Laura.

cupcakes update

2010-04-16T12:06:00.002+07:00

okay, these are cupcakes i did from few weeks ago for my little miss loyal customer, kiky and the flavors were blueberry red velvet. what is it with blueberry red velvet, heh?

red color palette smileys and sprinkles cupcakes

thank you cupcakes with smileys and ties

magnolia bakery vanilla cupcakes

2010-04-02T10:29:00.004+07:00

hey, its easter today!

when christmas is the festive one and valentine's is the pink one.

then easter is the cute one.. im talking about holiday, fyi.

seriously, easter is so cute..

who can resist such things like bunnies, chicks and pastel colours?

i made sugar cookies for last year's easter.

and this year, i just dont have time for the ever so exhausting sugar cookies.

then cupcakes it is.

i coloured the cupcakes with pink and soft blue-greenish colour.

just perfect for the cute easter.

i have told you about my new york city obsession on previous post and i think that's enough.

magnolia bakery.

i spent days browsing on internet about magnolia bakery and reading every single article i found.

now that's an obession without doubt.

the ever so loved and hated magnolia bakery cupcakes.

some says they are fab and some says they are 'ick'

and me say.. 'fabick'

okay, kidding!

fab for the cake part and ick for the frosting part.

the cake is moist, fluffy, light and very very vanilla-y.

just the type of vanilla cake i've been looking for.

*even though i slightly over baked them and that's why they looked more like chocolate cupcakes, but they still tasted GOOD*

while the frosting is sickeningly sweet.

just too much sugar!

not for me, obviously.

i prefer creamy and light frosting.

and chalky, grainy, over sweet frosting is definitely a big NO!

although this magnolia bakery fosting actually tasted like paddle pop rainbow ice cream.

and frankly, me like it a bit.

just a bit, oh okay, BIG TIME.

i liked licking the sticky frosting on my fingers.

how i wish i just a s skinny as aina so i could dip all my fingers in the frosting and lick it one by one.

inch by inch..

but really, the frosting is good when not paired with anything

magnolia bakery vanilla cupcakes
Makes 24 cupcakes

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Line 24 muffin tins with cupcake papers.
In a small bowl, add the flours; stir to combine; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream the
butter using an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and
beat for 3 minutes or until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition,
beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overmix.
Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling about 3/4 full. Bake in a 350° oven for 20-25
minutes. Cool the cupcakes in the tin for 15 minutes. Remove cakes from the tins and cool
on a wire rack before icing. Ice with tinted Vanilla Buttercream.

Vanilla Buttercream Recipe
Makes enough for a 2-layer 9-inch cake or 2 dozen cupcakes

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
6-8 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add in 4 cups sugar, then the milk and vanilla. On
medium speed of an electric mixer, beat about 3-5 minutes or until smooth and creamy.
Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well (about 2 minutes) after each
addition, until the icing is thick enough for good spreading consistency (you may not need all
of the sugar).
If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly. Use and store the icing at
room temperature because icing will set if chilled. The icing can be stored in an airtight container
for up to 3 days.

**If making a 3-layer cake, use the following proportions: 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, 8-10
cups confectioner's sugar, 3/4 cup milk, and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract.

friday cupcakes

2010-03-26T13:29:00.002+07:00

friday themed cupcakes i did last night for my aunt tata's office.
the flavours were blueberry red velvet and chocolate covered chocolate.
im sooo in love with those smileys and i heart friday cupcakes.

these are first batches of my MIKA CUPCAKES/TREATS, yess.. im going to work my as* hard so that i can go and watch MIKA performing in singapore on june!
ao please, buy cupcakes from me or brownies or cookies or...oh just, PLEASE?

banana pudding

2010-03-25T07:24:00.003+07:00

okay, short story..
i just bought more from magnolia bakery cookbook, well, my mother and my brother bought that for me.
as a return.. i promised to stop getting crazy haircut.
yes, i always have a crazy haircut.
apparently they sick of it. im not.
now im finding a way to bail on them.
i love my super short-boyish-crazy-haircut.

back to the cookbook.
i have an obsession about new york city.
about those bakeries in new york city.
i have an obsession about magnolia bakery.
period.
about sex and the city, of course.
about cupcakes, duhh!

i've made the vanilla cupcakes, with the icing.
but i'll post it next.
promise!
no i wont finding a way to bail on that.
not funny.
what?!
sorry.

but this pudding?
OMG!
sooo goooooodd!
its inspired by magnolia bakery famous banana pudding but i didnt make it that way, i made it my way..FROM SCRATCH!
using mixed of custard and whipped cream, slices of banana and vanilla wafers.
my god! YUMM YUMM!
layers of those?
i couldnt stop munching on them.
i gave them to my grammy.
im fat and keeping banana pudding in my refrigerator would only make me even fatter.
period!

soooo..the recipe?
mixed of custard and whipped cream, slices of banana and vanilla wafers.
the layer is depend on you.. the more layers the merrier.
you know you love me.

this last picture is taken by my brother.
thank you, i like this picture!

first comes...wedding

2010-03-20T19:48:00.003+07:00

duhh! what is it with me and wedding blogs lately?
seems like im in a wedding crave.
yes, can i have a wedding without a marriage?
well, i always been the wedding girl.

while i cant wait to watch this 'our family wedding' movie.
im a sucker for wedding movie.
and puhleeease? dont you think that america ferrera looks so beautiful in her wedding dress?
oh i love her!

my favorite wedding blogs so far
snippet and ink
100 layer cake
and wedding inspirations from a cup of jo

chocolate eclairs with irish cream filling

2010-03-17T09:16:00.003+07:00

my mother is more like a father.
now im older.. im more like a mother.
and my father? he remains a strange person who loves me. but he is still a stranger for me.
why my mother is more like a father? because she is always been the fun one, the good cop one, the money source one (TeeHee!).
while she is still the 'home' one, the warmest place one, the mother.
why im more like a mother? because.. i like baking, im starting to like cooking (altough im not really sure about this one), i like stuffs that most mothers would like.. like kitchenware, dinnerware, weddings.
well, maybe im just a girlie girl.
anyway, my mom never shop for a kitchenware or dinnerware just because she likes it.
she shops for those just because we need those, so no fancy pretty kitchenware or dinnerware in my house.
up until my time finally came.

yesterday afternoon, when it was time for me to take pictures of these eclairs.. i got so frustated by this very few choices of plates in my house.
and i wanted something diff for these eclairs..
i want a dreamy, pink, dash of paris tea party in my pictures.
i searched the entire kitchen (my mom's not mine!), open every single cabinets and boy was i happy when i found pretty and vintage tea sets and dinnerwares..
not much, but pretty much, OKAY!
my guess, those are from my mom's wedding.
my guess, there were PLENTY of them.
my guess, those have been with my mom all the way from one city to another.
my guess, those are 22 years old!

now im thinking about wedding registry, can i have a wedding registry without the actual wedding? oh, can i? can i?

now talking about the eclairs..
they were good although im not really satisfied with the end results.
the choux pastry was good, but not the perfect ones.
but filling? the pastry cream? OH LA LA! boy i was good! what would you actually expect from bailey's irish cream pastry cream? of course a GOODNESS!
the chocolate glaze? it wasnt really a glaze.. it was a ganache.
leftover ganache to be exact. my fault.
im thinking of so much bake perfection of eclairs will come in the future.
i want good eclairs, GREAT eclairs!
and im actually thinking of assorted eclairs.. many possibilities of eclair flavors..
hmmmm..

and for the recipe.. you can just go to this favorite blog of mine.
and for the bailey's irish cream pastry cream i used the same pastry cream from the recipe above. only i omitted the vanilla bean and added a splash or two of bailey's irish cream. YUMMY!

dear today, chop chop chop

2010-03-10T06:05:00.003+07:00

image from here

haircut, yeah!
singapore, yeah!
new dvds, yeah!

so those are my current needs

bailey's irish cream cupcakes

2010-03-07T06:38:00.002+07:00

whoozsh! new semester have started.
whoozsh! i've bake something in the basement kitchen.
and its irish cream cupcakes!
frosted with cream cheese frosting!
sprinkled with green sprinkles.
so its like..errr.. happy st. Patrick day?
kidding me?!
i dont even understand it..seriously.

anyway..
talking about the cupcakes..
they were so heavy, dense and even more in the muffin side than cake side.
yesss, the texture was so heavy.
the smell..was so irish cream!
paired with cream cheese frosting is the best.
thank god i left out the splash of irish cream in the cream cheese frosting, otherwise the cupcakes would be so much spiked cupcakes.
not a good thing, noooo..
overall.. these are good-heavy-dense-alcoholic cupcakes.
i ate one, good thing.

the recipe came from crazy about cupcakes book.
and the book has kahlua cupcakes recipe too, which is next in my list :p
and oh, i should stop taking pictures late at night, only depending on small aperture and weird-too bright lighting in my parents's bedroom.
yess! STOP!

irish cream cupcakes

ingredients
2/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temp of course
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temp
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups Bailey's (or your favorite generic Irish cream)
2/3 milk
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Insert 24 liners into a cupcake pan.
2. Pour yourself a glass of Bailey's over ice to enjoy while baking.
3. In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes with a stand mixer. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the liqueur, water and instant coffee. Mix well.
5. In third bowl, thoroughly combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
6. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, alternating with the liqueur mixture. Beat on medium speed for approximately 2 minutes.
7. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for about 20 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched.

cream cheese frosting

Ingredients
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Place cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl. Using a rubber spatula, soften cream cheese. Gradually add butter, and continue beating until smooth and well blended. Sift in confectioners' sugar, and continue beating until smooth. Add vanilla, and stir to combine.

chocolate chocolate chip muffins

2010-03-05T11:16:00.002+07:00

no, i didnt bake this in my basement kitchen..
i baked these.... like a week ago and somehow forgot to post it.
but tell you, these are hit in my family.. very very chocolate!
im a big fan of muffin top and these had the kind of muffin top i like.
crunchy with melting chocolate chip.
serve warm! the best! with cold milk!
HIT!

nigella lawson's chocolate chip muffins

INGREDIENTS
250g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Half-teaspoon bicarbonate soda
2 tablespoons best quality cocoa
175g caster sugar
150g chocolate chips (plus more for sprinkling later)
250ml milk
90ml vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract

1.Preheat the oven to 200C and fill a 12-bun muffin tray with paper cases.
2.Weigh out the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Pour all the liquid ingredients into a measuring jug.
3.Mix both together – it will be a runny batter - then spoon into waiting muffin cases.
4.Sprinkle more chocolate chips on top then cook for 20 minutes or until the muffins are risen and springy.

in the basement

2010-03-03T12:43:00.003+07:00

image from google.com

big good news! i've got my own space for kitchen.. means, MY OWN KITCHEN!
its in my house's basement! its still empty at this very time although i have started packing my stuffs from my mom's kitchen and move it to that basement.
of course i dont have the proper kitchen furnitures for all my stuffs, just yet.
but maybe in a month or so, i could get the proper kitchen furniture/sets/cabinets.
nothing too fancy or pretty like the picture above.. but nice enough for me :)
since its in the basement, i'll need air conditioner.
then my very own refrigerator.
oh much things to do! super excited and super grateful :D

hot colors-lemon blueberry cupcakes

2010-03-02T09:30:00.002+07:00

weekend cupcakes i did for kiky, and thank god! it was lemon blueberry cupcakes..

dear night, please stay young i have cupcakes waiting to be frosted

2010-02-27T21:40:00.002+07:00

when i think about success, i think about is this the life i want to live?

dear today, fly me to..

2010-02-27T19:13:00.003+07:00

india or israel..
i miss being a tourist.

dear today, i need to bake

2010-02-26T18:34:00.003+07:00

im quite disappointed with this semester's result.
i dont know how many years are there until im done with these interior design school sh*t!
i really need to bake today, i just feel like need it.
but i cant, i dont know why.. i just cant.. i feel like i cant bake.
weird'oh!

dear today, please give me good cupcakes

2010-02-25T16:48:00.002+07:00

dear, why there is almost no good cupcakes in jakarta?
okay, i've tasted the good ones before and really satisfied but it was just two times experience! PLEASE!
just two times good cupcakes experiences!

i bought these cupcakes today from Y&Y restaurant and truth to be told, im disappointed by these.
the cakes were so dry and crumbly.
the chocolate frosting tasted weird.
but okay, the rum raisin frosting was..okay..
the biggest disappointment came from the red velvet cake.
so dry so crumbly, it isnt red velvet cake! its the opposite of red velvet cakes!
PLEASE!

dear today, dear father

2010-02-24T20:17:00.002+07:00

image source

would you be a brown sugar and let me keep a dog?
i want german shepherd.. and hey, it could be a guardian dog too, right?
please father, please..

dear today, bye @ayudoescupcakes

2010-02-23T21:24:00.005+07:00

image source

GASP!
oh dear, would you like to try my chocolate cake?
its really good, maybe i could win your heart and take you to my bed?

i deleted my personal twitter account, personal as in i have my friends and family in my friends list.
yes, goodbye, goodbye!

but do follow @sugarcrawler for latest update about my baking activity :D

some like it dark...and ugly: devil's food cake

2010-02-23T15:55:00.003+07:00

made this for my mom since she's an avid chocolate eater
she took a bite and........nothing...
nothing, no expression, no comment, no compliment nor critique

and me? i like it! im in heaven, i beat famous bakeries's chocolate cake!
and the best of all, i like things simple.
so this simple devil's food cake is the right dessert for me.
i dont really fancy a fancy and chic dessert.
i get excited by simple frosted and sprinkled cupcakes, simple frosted layers cake and oh, just keep it simple and classic please.
give me something over decorated or something made with fondant, GAH! no thank you.

may i say, this cake is the most decadent and chocolate laden cake i ever made.
i used lindt dark chocolate for the ganache, news flash: i bought 2.5kg of lindt dark chocolate yesterday :D
and droste cocoa powder for the cake.
soooo, good chocolate makes HUGE impact on a chocolate cake.
too bad, the oven i used is not in it best.. something i dont really like about the cake's texture.

anyways..
i really think i'll win every chocolate-maniac-men's heart out there with this cake.
oh, maybe just make friends with chocolate-maniac-people maybe?
you know you love me, XOXO chocolate cake girl

recipe from david lebovitz

Devil's Food Cake
one 9-inch cake

There's a certain amount of discussion about when to use natural vs Dutch-process cocoa powder, which I explain in my chocolate book, if you're interested in the details, but I've made this cake with both kinds of cocoa powder and no one's refused a slice cake made with either.

For the cake:
9 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1½ cups cake flour (not self-rising)
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
½ cup strong coffee (or water)
½ cup whole or low-fat milk

For the ganache frosting:
10 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
½ cup water (or cream)
¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter

1. Adjust the oven rack to the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter two 9" x 2" cake pans and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper.
3. To make the cake layers, sift together the cocoa powder, cake flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a bowl.
4. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, or by hand, beat together the butter and sugar about 5 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated. (If using a standing electric mixer, stop the mixer as necessary to scrape down the sides to be sure everything is getting mixed in.)
5. Mix together the coffee and milk. Stir half of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, the add the coffee and milk. Finally stir in the other half of the dry ingredients.
6. Divide the batter into the two prepared cake pans and bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.
7. To make the frosting, melt the chopped chocolate with the water (or cream) in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until melted. Remove the bowl from the pan of water.
8. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk them into the chocolate until completely melted and the ganache is smooth. Cool until spreadable, which may take about 1 hour at room temperature.

To frost the cake:
Run a knife around the inside of each of the cakes which will help release them from the pans. Tilt one cake out of the pan, remove the parchment paper from the bottom and invert it back onto a cake plate. Spread a good-sized layer of icing over the top. Top with the second cake layer and spread the top and sides with the remaining icing as decoratively as you want.

Storage: Cake is best the day it is made, although it's fine the next day. Store at room temperature under a cake dome. Just be sure to keep cake out of the sun in the meantime.

dear today, i cooked

2010-02-22T19:31:00.003+07:00

hell yes! i cooked!
and it tasted GOOD, actually!
fyi, im not much a 'cooking girl'
im a 'baking girl'
i hate cooking, it smells bad..
i loathe the smell of raw garlic or raw fish

but i think i'll continue this cooking activity
as long my fingers dont have to meet raw garlic... and nothing with bad smells!
and..only simple things.. low-fat things, fat people's diet things..
i dont want the smell of those ruin my body's already nice fragrance ;p

colourful cupcakes and graduation cupcakes

2010-02-21T15:18:00.003+07:00

2 dozens cupcakes i did for kiky..
like always, the flavors are blueberry red velvet and chocolate.
dear, customers.. there are many other flavors in sugar crawler's cupcakes menu and they are really nice also..
how about lemon blueberry? cookies and cream? peanut butter chocolate?

anyway, these cupcakes sets are my favourite so far, i heart the colours :D

*graduation cupcakes*

*colourful and sprinkled cupcakes*

oh march please come quick

2010-02-20T17:51:00.004+07:00

image source

im sooo waiting for march to come.
my brother's birthday, my first cooking class, a smidgen of chance about me finally getting my dream KitchenAid mixer, alice in wonderland movie!
can you believe it?
march please come quick.
and lets wish that all good things will happen in march, AMEN!

blue and white cupcakes

2010-02-19T20:09:00.003+07:00

these are 2 dozens of cupcakes i did for linda this morning, 1 dozen of chocolate and 1 dozen of blueberry red velvet, geez, people do love my blueberry red velvet, dont they?
the color is blue and white with a dash of black :D

*man, i should improve my decorating skill, SOON!*

ps: im sooo becoming a cupcake girl, like you know.. that girl you know because she bakes cupcakes? like "hey, that's the girl who bakes cupcakes" yeah, like that.

thick and chewy oatmeal raisin cookies

2010-02-17T20:24:00.004+07:00

well, these cookies are from weeks ago. like weeeeks ago even before my macbook crashed, i just forgot to post this :D

do you mind if i talk about millie's cookies?
like the BEST cookies i've ever tasted?! like my first oatmeal raisin cookies?
like the first decent food i had after more than 20 hours journey to london?
okay, i lie about 'the first decent food' because i had two cinnabon rolls before in dubai and also, i had very nice desserts on plane..so yes, i lied.
whatever!
oh heathrow..

back to millie's cookies.
i ate my first oatmeal cookie in like, whoosh, two seconds! no kidding
it was the best, chewy and soft and buttery goodness cookies. frankly, i like the oatmeal cookies better than the chocolate chip.
it was all so buttery and vanilla-y without any hint of cinnamon nor spices.

as always, i tried to recreating that cookies and i failed misserably.
its a nice cookies, really. its just not the one i craved.
its so spicy and too soft.
not the buttery chewy i wanted, i expected, i had in my mind
sooo yesss, the search is still on for the perfect oatmeal raisin cookies

ps: i should invest on fancy rolled oats, yes, i should!

i got the recipe from the always awesome smitten kitchen

Thick, Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick or 4 ounces) butter, softened
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt (I often use a half teaspoon, but I like more salt in my baked goods)
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Stir this into the butter/sugar mixture. Stir in the oats, raisins and walnuts, if using them.

At this point you can either chill the dough for a bit in the fridge and then scoop it, or scoop the cookies onto a sheet and then chill the whole tray before baking them. You could also bake them right away, if you’re impatient, but I do find that they end up slighly less thick.

The cookies should be two inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake them for 10 to 12 minutes (your baking time will vary, depending on your oven and how cold the cookies were going in), taking them out when golden at the edges but still a little undercooked-looking on top. Let them sit on the hot baking sheet for five minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool.

crunchy oatmeal almond chocolate chip cookies

2010-02-16T14:53:00.003+07:00

TeeHee! told you im craving crunchy chocolate chip cookies.
well, i made them this morning, this early morning and guess what? i 80% literally created the recipe.
and it worked! :D
sooooo crunch just how i want them, although i think i still have problem with the baking time because somehow the cookies are slightly underbaked while the look are just perfectly golden brown.
the ones got overbaked slash too brown surprisingly dont have the slightly underbaked problem.
so i think, the baking time isnt right yet.
anyway.. i'll definitely make them again!

and oh yeah, talking about the recipe.. i used some old-skul cookies recipe and tweaked it here and there until this crossed my mind "its not even the basic recipe anymore, this is my recipe! hell!"
and oh, fancy my lego people mit? its really cute isnt it?
wanna know a secret? i never use it for the actual baking, too cute to handle hot pans :p

crunchy oatmeal almond chocolate chip cookies

ingredients
150g unsalted butter
50g confectioners sugar (i think i'll use granulated sugar next time)
40g brown sugar
1 large egg
1 egg yolk (you can omit this, really)
1 tsp vanilla extract
210 cookies flour
25g powdered milk
1/4 tsp sea salt
40g ground almond
100g quick oats, process to fine ground using food processor
chocolate chips depend on your taste (i used about 100g)

directions
*preheat the oven to 150C, line cookie pan with parchment paper, mix together flour, powdered milk, ground almond and salt
*using mixer on high speed cream the butter and sugars until pale and fluffy, mix in egg and yolk, mix thoroughly. add vanilla
*mix in the dry ingredients using wooden spoon (i used spoonula) and do not overmix. add in the ground oats and chocolate chips
*form balls of the dough using two teaspoons and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

ugh man! that's a lot of XOXO

2010-02-15T09:41:00.003+07:00

still in the mood for valentine's day? well, im not!
valentine's oh valentine's.. what is it with valentine's anyway? have i told you that the only thing i like about valentine is the colors? oh, have i? yes, i have..

so these are valentine's day cupcakes i did last weekend, blueberry red velvet remains favorite, ick! why do people love that blueberry red velvet? ick! i dont get it!

anyways..enjoy the pictures :) and crumbs and doilies is my inspiration

*minnie mouse valentine's day blueberry red velvet cupcakes*

*valentine's day blueberry red velvet cupcakes*

*classic blueberry red velvet (with cream cheese frosting) cupcakes*

*valentine's day chocolate coated tie-dye vanilla cupcakes*

*valentine's day cookies and cream (with cream cheese frosting) cupcakes*

*home sweet home chocolate filled red velvet cupcakes, i know.. not valentine's!*

so let me explain here..
blueberry red velvet cupcake is red velvet cupcake filled with blueberry preserves, chocolate coated tie-dye vanilla cupcakes is colorful vanilla cupcakes topped with chocolate, cookies and cream cupcake is, well, your ordinary oreo cupcake and finally, chocolate filled red velvet cupcake is red velvet cupcake filled with chocolate ganache, it makes your red velvet cupcakes even more chocolatey :)

well well.. so that's it.. and im now craving crunchy chocolate chip cookies

sunday love day vomit

2010-02-14T07:18:00.006+07:00

found via cup of jo

have i told you about santiago? hmmm..no.
okay, i'll tell you now.. santiago was really gorgeous i met him in paris last summer, the first time i saw him..all i wanted to do is run to him, stay in his deepest hugs and use his chest as my every night pillow.. all i wished for is money, so i could fly back to indonesia, pack all my stuffs and move to paris so i could be with him forever and ever (NO! i would move to paris anyways even there's no santiago for me)
it was a heavenly two hours of my life, fell in love with an angel. too bad, i didnt have the guts to just go and tell him "je tombe amoureux de toi" or "im falling in love with you" no, i didnt have the guts.
he was really beautiful, curly dark hair, olive eyes, body as great as the sculptures you find in louvre, cute lips i wanted to gobble :p

sometimes, i think one of many reasons why i really want to back to paris as soon as i can, is to go find santiago and tell him those words i was too afraid to say. je t'aime

linzer cookies

2010-02-13T17:00:00.003+07:00

dear,
i love cold pizza
i love the smell of book store
i love nutella and salted margarine, TOGETHER!
i love messy bedroom
i love older men

those are few of strange things i love, oh.. and my macbook is back sane :D

i love linzer cookies
i love linzer torte i had in lucerne
i love that small bakery in lucerne
i love lucerne, cold snowy lucerne :)

i love martha stewart :)

i dont like valentine but i love pink, although my mom said female my age shouldnt fond pink, pink is for little girl, cute little girl with round eyes and thick long black hair or me years ago, years ago like YEARS ago! whatever mom, seriously!

i dont like valentine but i love baking something valentine-y

i love these cookies, these are GOOD! i used blueberry jam instead of cherry..

(almond) pecan linzer cookies with (blueberry) cherry filling

Ingredients
* 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 3/4 cup pecan halves, toasted (i used almond)
* 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar, plus more for sprinkling
* 1/8 teaspoon salt
* 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
* 1/4 cup granulated sugar
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1 large egg
* 1/2 cup cherry jam, strained (i used blueberry filling)

Directions
1. Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl; set aside. Pulse pecans, confectioners' sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a food processor until finely ground (but not wet); transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
2. Add butter and granulated sugar; mix on medium speed until fluffy. Mix in vanilla and egg. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix until combined. Halve dough; shape into disks. Wrap in plastic; refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thick. Refrigerate 20 minutes. Cut out squares with a 2-inch fluted cutter. Cut out centers of half the squares with a 1/2-inch heart cutter; reroll scraps. Space 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake squares and hearts until pale golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to racks to cool.
4. Meanwhile, heat jam in a small saucepan over medium heat until reduced and thickened, about 7 minutes; let cool.
5. Sprinkle cutout cookies with confectioners' sugar. Spread jam onto uncut squares; top with cutout ones. Store in an airtight container up to 2 days.

Chocolate covered coffee mini cupcakes, with valentine's day decoration!

2010-02-06T13:45:00.005+07:00

soo yes I'm still using iPhone to do this blog update, embarassing I know.. The pictures are way too big because I had to use iPhone's Photoshop with no resize tools, I'll change the pictures immediately when I get my MacBook back sane, so please just enjoy these oversize pictures :(

I made these mini cuppies specially for my friend dinda, dinda the coffee addict and dinda the sweet treats addict, so consider this as my early valentine treats.
The cupcakes recipe came from my favorite baking book, cupcakes from the primrose bakery cookbook, the cupcakes were great! Spongy and rich although the coffee flavoured wasn't really strong, so I'll definitely increase the amount of espresso powder next time. Yes there will be next time because this is definitely my go-to coffee cupcakes!
As a finishing I dipped them in melted chocolate so it is coated with chocolate, I actually wanted to do the classic way with caramel frosting but then this thought hit me "man! Valentine is coming!" soooooo bye bye caramel frosting and welcome pink buttercream.

Aaaaand the recipe

coffee cupcakes
yields 48 mini cupcakes

ingredients
110g unsalted butter at room temperature
110g demerara sugar
120g light brown sugar
2 large eggs
125g self raising flour, sifted
120g plain flour, sifted
1/4 teaspoon good quality vanilla extract
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
125ml whole milk

preheat the oven to 180C or 350F and line 12 hole mini muffin tray with cupcake cases

in a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugars until the mixture is pale and smooth, which should take 3-5 minutes using an electric hand mixer. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing for few minutes after each addition.
Do not worry of the mixture splits a bit after adding the eggs, this will not affect the outcome.

Combine the flours in a separate bowl. Mix the vanilla extract and espresso powder with the mill in a jug and stir to combine. Add one third of the flours to the creamed mixture and beat well. Pour in one third of the milk and beat again. Repeat these steps until all the flour and mill have been added.

Carefully spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, filling them to about two thirds full. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes until slightly raised and golden brown. To check they are cooked, insert skewer in the center of one of the cakes, it should come out clean.

Remove from the oven and leave the cakes in their tons for about 10 minutes before carefully placing on a wire rack to cool.
Once they completely cool, coat them with chocolate and decorate

to decorate
melted chocolate to coat
pink buttercream to decorate

Banana muffins

2010-02-05T14:21:00.004+07:00

damn I love technology!! I love iPhone! If you've been following my twitter you must've notice that my macbook is crashed and I've been out of non-blackberry internet for few days and that sucks! Now I'm posting this using iPhone. I baked this banana muffins few days ago, now these are hit! My family raved about it and me......well, me LOVED it! Oh okay then.. Gotta go now, i just finished baking chocolate covered coffee cupcakes with valentine decoration and now my mom's kitchen is a disaster, gotta do the dishes Now and also cleaning the buttercream mess.

so click here for the recipe :D

banoffee pie

2010-01-31T08:37:00.003+07:00

if you've been reading my blog from one post to another post, you'd notice that i like to write about foods i tasted from places I've been. maybe one of few reasons i love to baking is because i get the crave of those sweet treats i tried before and some times i just cant find the same one in jakarta nor indonesia. so the only way to re-create those is by baking them by my self, although the result not always satisfying.
and honestly, travelling is my number one passion, i loooove to travel here and there and fortunately i've been to many places, but that's a story for another post. so please do forgive me if i write a lot about my travel experiences :)

so what im going to write here is about this banoffee pie, banoffee pie is originally a british dessert, and if you've been to the great britain, you'll notice that their desserts are always always always too sweet. frankly i've never been to america where they always say that american treats are always way too sugary. CMIIW so i dont know whether the american treats/dessert are sweeter than the british's or not. but for me, OMG, british treats/desserts are way too sweet.
anyways, back to the banoffee pie.. this banoffee pie is OH-MY-GOD-THIS-IS-TOO-SWEET-SORRY-I-COULD-ONLY-EAT-ONE-SLICE kind of dessert, get what i mean?
maybe i should use my own toffee recipe and not by boiling a can of sweetened condensed milk.
i actually liked the combination of the crust, banana and whipped cream..seriously, the toffee ruined it all.
but this lead me to an idea to make banana cream pie, how about that?

aaaaand the rccipe..

banoffee pie adapted from bbc good food's

Ingredients
* 300g digestive biscuits
* 60g margarine , melted
* 397g tin Nestlé Carnation sweetened condensed milk
* 3 large bananas , sliced
* 350ml double cream
* 1 tbsp icing sugar
* 50g cocoa

directions
before all: boil unopened tin of sweetened condensed milk and cover all with water for 3 hours, check regularly, you dont want the tin to be boiled dry, make sure its all covered with water, completely cool the tin before use
1. Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Crush the biscuits in a food processor then add the melted butter and pulse to combine. Press the mixture into a 24cm tart tin, with a removable base, in an even layer. Transfer the tin to a baking sheet and cook for 10-12 minutes, until lightly toasted and set. Leave to cool then gently release from the tin and put on a serving plate.
2. Spread the caramel over the biscuit base and chill for 1 hour. Arrange the banana slices over the toffee. Whip the cream and sugar together to form soft peaks and spread over the bananas. use the cocoa powder to decorate

morning all! its saturday, M&M's cookies

2010-01-30T08:46:00.005+07:00

*ugh, hideous light.. i should stop taking pictures at night*

oukay, i baked these few days ago even before the pink and chocolate cupcakes, well actually right after i got the goodies sheila brought me from singapore. duhh! i know!

i actually called these cookies soft and chewy chocolate button M&M's cookies. because i used martha stewart's soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies recipe, omit the chocolate chips part and changed it with M&M's and chocolate buttons. why chocolate buttons? because it has the same shape with M&M's and i wanted my cookies to be filled and oozed with chocolatey goodness, yada yada yada..no, i lied, i ran out of chocolate chips and that bwas the only reason why i used chocolate buttons instead.
anyways.. these tasted extraordinary good for those who love chocolate and M&M's, for those with extreme sweet tooth. but not for me.. its good, but i prefer the classic chocolate chip cookies.
i packed most of these cookies for my brother and his friends at school (he's in high school and you know, boys their age eat everything). my brother came home with this great news about how his friends went GAGA for the cookies. TeeHee? :D

sooo.. this is the recipe

soft and chewy chocolate buttons M&M's cookie
adapted from martha stewart's soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies
Makes about 3 dozen

* 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
* 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
* 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
* 2 large eggs
* 1/2 cup chocolate buttons
* 1 1/2 cups M&M's

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate buttons and m&m's.
2. Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
3. Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the center, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

pink and chocolate cupcakes for stephanie

2010-01-29T10:59:00.004+07:00

red velvet blueberry cupcakes for stephanie's birthday, well, you can see no blueberry here because i injected the blueberry jam in the center of the cupcakes.
have i told you that i love injecting something into my cupcakes? heehee.. and have i told you that i love the color palette of these cupcakes? hmmmm.. i think, i do make some improvement :D
and this is the recipe of my go-to red velvet cupcakes

thank you caroline for trusting this rookie baker, whilst you work for the harvest :p

*ugh! im running out of this sprinkles, cheap ice cream sprinkles i bought in tesco express and i cant find the same sprinkles in jakarta, IRONIC!*

are you?

2010-01-25T09:05:00.003+07:00

yesterday, my brother asked me.. "are you a sweet tooth?"
damn hell, i cant answer it.. so after few minutes i said this "i thought im not, but apparently.. yes i am"

i never consider my self as a sweet tooth before because i always like savoury foods but when i dig deeper and remember.. the only thing why i always choose savoury over sweet is only because i have this thought in my head about sweet has more calorie than savoury.
but when im not in hey-im-on-diet mood, i just loooove sweets, when most people got toothache over macarons, well, tell you this.. IM NOT! i dont really like macarons i got in jakarta, not because the sweetness they have, more because.. its not that tasty.
but when i went to paris and bought laduree's macarons in charles de gaule airport (though i ate it when im back in wales) MAN! IM HOOKED! soooo.. yes i do like overly sweet macarons.

oh, i dont get the sugar crave that much actually.. when i got it, i usually just eat one or two bites of it..
and also, i dont eat my baked goods... i just eat one when its still freshly baked and one the next day. well, errr.. quality control? :D
or more when its really good.. or when i really like it.. like chocolate chip cookies. and oh, when i have nothing else to eat.. trust me, it happens a lot!
but thanks god i never have to finish all my baked goods all by myself. i'd rather throw them away :D

but its different with savoury foods, i could eat lot of them and pretend that it was my breakfast..or lunch.. or dinner..

sooo, am i a sweet tooth? well... i dont have the answer :)

yesterday love!

2010-01-25T08:27:00.002+07:00

ummmmhh, its monday today and the exams are over.. the holiday is here means i'll always have time for baking and doing my favorite things without being bothered with my assignments, heehee.
i can wake up late! though im actually a morning person :D
oooooh anyway, i just want to show you what sheila, the friend i mention in previous post brought me from singapore.

yay! lots of sweets and im telling you, those are for baking purpose.. well, except the twix bars, they're for me and my brothers to munch, have i told you that twix bar is my favorite? i LOVE twix, unfortunately i cant find twix bar anywhere here in jakarta.
and oh, the snickers, mars and m&m's? yes, they're for baking.. im thinking about m&m's cookies, snickers cookies, mars cheesecake.. geez, sugar coma and fat coma.
sheila also brought a veeeeeeeeeeeery cool freddie mercury tee, uugh, LOVE!

and this, i found this in sogo foodhall yesterday and my eyes were literally went out from my face (hmmmmm..okay, weird)

coarse sea salt! so long table salt.. and the coolest of all is this is a sea salt from bali..
i've read somewhere that coarse sea salt makes lots of goodness in baking and oh, i cant wait to make sea salt chocolate truffle!

look at it, they do look like crystal mets dont they? teehee! im gonna savour this thing and always use it everytime i bake chocolate chip cookies, because you know.. i love salty sweet chocolate chip cookies.

and last..

its just my ever so late new year resolution to start reading classic literature, well lets see..

strawberry cheesecake for my goodfriend sheila!

2010-01-24T09:32:00.003+07:00

seriously, this cheesecake looks so professional, it looks almost like one we bought from bakery isnt it? uggh! love love love it!
my good friend whom i love, sheila.. been asked me to bake strawberry cheesecake for her, she even wanted to order one from me, hell noooo..
anyways, after months of strawberry cheesecake promise, i finally managed to bake it for her. i baked it three days ago since cheesecake requires a few steps of cooling before its ready to be eaten, well, its cheesecake, its best eaten cold, isnt it?

i used my go-to cheesecake recipe, which needs 1kg of cream cheese and leading you to fat coma.
heehee, but it tastes sooo good, blends well with the fruits or jam or preserves. i baked blueberry cheesecake once using this recipe and trust me, it was heaven... guilty heaven actually.
though i still want to try another cheesecake recipe but depending on this one when i have cheesecake crave, this recipe is more than enough.

and no recipe.. not because i dont want to share the recipe, its just the recipe is in indonesian language and i dont really want to transalate it to english. too lazy.. its sunday and i dont want to use my brain.. *seriously*

music in my ktchen

2010-01-23T12:47:00.004+07:00

i've been listening to these two songs lately when im baking and i thought i should let you all know.

"why do you let me stay here" from she and him
click here to download the song

"never forget you" from noisettes
click here to download the song

from now on i'll regularly post musics i listen to currently so that you could know what's the theme song behind my baked goods. though i usually listen to same old musics over and over. :D
hmmm.. okay then, the sky is getting cloudy, i should take pictures of strawberry cheesecake i baked for my friend.. hurry, before the rain comes down. bye for now! :)

all pictures are from last.fm