A little get away & Almond Marble Bundt Cake

A week back, my hubby and I had to make an urgent trip back to California. As urgent as the matter was, it however only took us a morning to settle and the rest of the trip was free and easy. We caught up with a couple of good friends, renewed stuff, dine at our favorite restaurants and settle more stuff. It was a nice get away but I just wish that it wasn't so short. But I can't leave my kiddies with the family too long, had to get back to them ASAP. It all seems like getting back to reality. :P

If you ask me, it ain't easy leading two lives...one in States and one in Singapore. But the truth is, it is even harder to give it all up. So I guess you can say we are taking all possible chances to keep things going the way it is now....so eventually if we do have to make a move again, it won't be so tough.

Anyway, I would like to share with you folks my little journey back to California ...again. It also serve as a "record" for me, so I can reminiscence about it when I see this post next time, lol! I will post mostly photos and write less. Please be warn of a super long post ahead. :P

Is it just me, or the sky overseas is just a wee bit more beautiful to look at? Call me dreamy if you want, but I love staring at the skies, the mountains and the plain fields there...kind of relaxing if you ask me.

I have to say Spring is my favorite season. You literally get to stop and smell the flowers...because it is everywhere. This flower bed is from our friend's front porch. Lovingly taken care by his parents, heehee. :)

A simple yet delicious breakfast at our favorite bagel joint, Noah's. Nicely toasted with a generous spread of our favorite cream cheese spread. ;)

Although this year's temperature seems a little lower then normal, it was still nice to enjoy the cooler weather there. And would I miss checking out the local farmer's market while I'm there, of course not! :D

Seems a little quiet for a market isn't it? Well, we were there pretty early so the crowd has yet arrived. I actually enjoyed it. :)

Besides the colorful array of Spring vegetables, it was still a little early in the season for fruits there this time. But there was one stall that caught my attention the whole time when I was there...even when I walked away...I wanted to go back to the stall again, lol! What's so captivating? See for yourself!

I wish...just wish I can try every single one of these breads! Lol! Every loaf, baguette and buns were nicely baked to perfection and the smell...oh how do I tell you about the heavenly smell, hahaha!

This particular bread stall is call Bay Bread. So if you ever see the stall itself, don't miss it, try out their delicious bread, you definitely won't regret. My hubby and I tried their cheese baguette and hazelnut chocolate croissant....it was super delicious!

I even bought 4 different varieties of bread back to Singapore and it was still very good (flaky, crunchy and soft inside) after toasting it in the oven. Super yum! Okay okay, moving on....shopping!

Ahhh....Los Gatos downtown. Gotta be one of my favorite places in California, hahaha! Although a quiet little town, it still has it's charms in it. Not only it has my favorite burger joint there (Read about it in my previous trip back), it also has 2 major kitchenware stores and several great boutiques there (yes, Banana Republic). :) Which kitchenware stores? Sur La Table and William Sonoma of course! I think I spent a good 4 hours shopping there. ;)

Showing some of the stuff I manage to scuffle back this time. If you haven't notice, I'm a real sucker for cookware / bakeware and cookbooks...don't we all? Lol! I especially love the Nordic Ware® Quartet Bundt Cake Pan. I bought it mostly because I couldn't decide on the shape I want, so getting this 4-in-1 is perfect. I tried it out immediately with a simple pound cake recipe from one of the cookbook I got.

I baked a simple Almond Marble cake. Unfortunately I didn't do a good job and not doing justice to the cake pan. *sigh* Out of the four small cakes, I think only this shaped turned out most decent. BTW, notice the honeybee plate? It's a set of 4 desert plates. Heehee, that is also one of them "presents" I brought back for myself, hahaha! Oh come on...it's HoneyBee!

The marble cake still turned out very fine and delicious, my family liked it. :) I will attempt it again, but perhaps with some simple changes to it. For those that are still interested, here is the recipe which I got it from my new cookbook 点心烘焙白科。　

Ingredients for Almond Marble Cake: (makes 4.5 cups)
Plain batter:
125g unsalted butter, room temperature
175g caster sugar
1/8 tsp salt
3 large eggs
250g cake flour (I used 100g plain + 150g cake flour)
2 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp fresh milk

Chocolate almond batter:
50g semisweet (65% cocoa) chocolate melted
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
30g almond meal /powder

Method:

• In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together till it's creamy. Add one egg at a time till well combined before adding another. Then add milk and combine.
  
• Add in flour and baking powder to the mixture and mix well.
  
• Divide the batter equally into 2 portions. Set one aside while the for other portion, add in all of the ingredients for the chocolate batter. Stir well till just combined.
• Using a bundt pan of your choice, alternating the plain and chocolate batter, scoop into the pan till it is 3/4 filled. Then use a chop stick, swirl it around a couple times to create the marble effect.
• Bake in the oven for 25 mins for mini pan or 35 for bigger ones or till the tester comes out clean.
• Remove from oven, cool in pan for five minutes before unmoulding. Slice and serve when cooled completely.

Hey all, thank you for dropping by to read my post today. Oh yes, before I forget, just wanna show you all that 10 chiffon I baked up last week...well in case you wonder did I pulled it off. Yes I did! *phew*

10 chiffons in less then 11 hours, sounds a little crazy but it's doable. :) The trick was to bake 2 chiffons at one time. I just double up the recipe for a 20cm tube pan and repeat it 5 times. 3 different flavors, Orange, Strawberry and Oreo. Kindly refer to my past posts for recipes. ;)

Okay all, hope you all have a good week ahead! Cheerio!