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!

Happy 45th Birthday Singapore and My 3rd Blogger Meet up

Happy 45th Birthday Singapore!

Yes, 45 years, that's how many years of independence Singapore has gone through. Amazing as it is, this little country went through a lot and achieved more then many expected. The people, the nation and everything that made it what it is. I would not say it is all perfect, but it is a great place to stay in which I can call home. Being away from my homeland for more then a decade and finally this year we have made our way back here again. As the saying goes, "No matter where you go, home is where your heart is".

In lieu of the celebration, The Istana (Singapore's President's adobe) was open to public yesterday. How can I miss that! So my family and I went there early yesterday morning full of enthusiasm. :) Little did we know that there are thousand of other eager Singaporeans and visitors that had already made their way to Istana much earlier then us! The queue to go in was way way long.

As you can see the place is packed with people, young and old. There seems to be a kids drawing competition going on and there was even live band performance at the open field. The weather was spectacular (same as today, yippee for NDP!) and we had a brisk walk to the main building.

Got to see all the "treasures" inside and the place where the ministers and all VIPs' meeting hall etc. Overall a nice experience and I am glad I made this trip with my family. :)

I know, very ambitious of me, I actually have a Food Blogger gathering right after my trip to Istana. I left my hubby and kids shopping in the nearby mall and drove off frantically to a long awaited gathering with a group of foodies just like me. ;) I was really happy to be able to make it to this gathering, in fact honored to be invited once again, heehee. Come to think of it, I got to meet up these lovely blogger all together 3 times. ;) Although different places, different people (some still the same) ....it was all absolutely worth it all. Check out the "goodie bags" I snagged over at the party yesterday. ;D

I was late but not the last to arrive and was warmly greeted by our sweet Pei-Lin and of course the rest of the other blogger. ;) I was a little reserved at first since I only knew 3 of them, but everything went so easy after we started chatting away. All of them were nice and pleasant people with the same passion as me...how great is that?! We will never run out of topics to talk for sure, lol! Who are they? They are :

• Pei-Lin from Dodol & Mochi
  
• Edith from Precious Moments
• Jane from Passionate About Baking
• Grace from Kitchen Corner
• Jess from Bakericious
• Aimei from My Baking Cottage
• Shirley from Kokken69
• Zhuoyuan (Baker Tan) from Baking Library
• Josephine from Sugar & Everything Nice
• Yan Ee from Sweeter Side of Life
• You Fei from Loving Baking

These great bloggers made a whole lot of delicious food at the party. Sure beats any buffet you can find outside! All homemade, wholesome and super delicious! I was really stuffed at the end but happy of course...should have wore something more loose, lol! Since everyone did not got a photo of the Ban Guan Kueh I made for the party (it was still in the steamer when everyone was snapping away!!), I shall post a photo for all to see, heehee. ;D

Ban Guan kueh has always been my all time favorite and I was SUPER glad I finally got the right recipe for it! I was really happy that there were no complains while the other blogger tasted it, heehee. I felt bad for not making something more for those nice people....whom actually took their precious time out to gather together and brought wonderful food to share. I do hope that we will be able to meet up again soon (think it will happen since everyone is so eager) and hopefully I won't have to rush off like this time and not being able to chat more with everyone.

But within that short period of time, I truly enjoyed myself in the whole duration! Chatting and snacking on the good food and talking about more food, lol! I have to give special thanks to dear Pei-lin to put this together for us and coming down all the way from Malaysia to spend her holiday here. Also thanks to Edith for opening her lovely house to us and allowing us to have this gathering in such and lovely and comfortable environment! ;D

Being surrounded by foodies like me made me so at ease and I am sure everyone there feels the same too. I regretted not being able to meet up with You Fei as I found out that she arrived just after I left! Oh well, we catch up on FB okay my friend? Lastly, thank you all that came for the party yesterday, thank you for your time, your friendship and of course your yummy food. ;)

I will not be posting the food that the other bloggers brought to the party as I realized they took much nice photos than me! So go browse theirs. ;) As for the National Day cupcakes I made, it's chocolate buttermilk cupcakes with white chocolate whipped cream topping. Made them just for the fun of it all. ;)

Okay, got to go make my wholewheat pizza for dinner tonight and catch the NDP live on TV....thanks for dropping by! You have a great day now! Cheers!

Anniversay Dinner @La Folie

Just Friday, I had the opportunity to attend a lovely wedding from my husband side of the family. Frankly speaking, it's been years since I last attended a wedding dinner and I actually had a good time. Reason was moments during the dinner I was actually brought back to the sweet memories of my own wedding. :) The opening walk down the dinning hall, filling the pyramid of champagne glasses, grand toast on the stage with our family and friends. Although it's been so long, it still fresh in my mind how wonderful it has been. Back to the wedding I attended, I had a pleasant surprise!. It was the gift for the guests...I almost felt that it's made for me, lol!

Sweet isn't it? I'm lovin' it! Let me write out the engrave words : A heap of love; A spoonful of affection; A dash of tenderness; A pinch of joy. :) I guess all these do contribute to a good marriage, agree? If you haven't notice, the spoons are in the shape of a heart, so cute. With this new tool, I hope my bakes will be baked with more love and care. :)

Incidentally, it's me and my husband's wedding anniversary this month. We are fortunate enough to celebrate our anniversary during our recent trip in California at a nice French restaurant call La Folie in downtown San Francisco. This is a lovely restaurant that we have already been 3 times and still enjoy every time we dine there. Although the last time we dine at La Folie was about 7 years ago, I still have fond memories of the food I had there.

The restaurant ambience was nice and romantic. I actually made reservations weeks ahead and they gave us a nice window table. :) The servers were really friendly and patient, which made the whole experience better.

May I add that the french loaf was super yummy! The crunch when you tear into it was like a music to my ears! ;D Wish I am able to make such delicious loaf next time. :)

We were first served a couple complimentary starters from the chef (how nice). The first one was this Wagyu Beef Tartar served like a crostini style. Taste? Not bad. :)

Next complimentary starter was this Whipped pastis egg contains a poached egg yolk topped with a strip of chive and a dollop of sherry vinegar-whipped cream. The cream topping is drizzled with a touch of maple syrup and garnished with fleur de sel. I like this one...perhaps because I love the taste of soft boil egg But with the rest of the flavors combined...super-yum!

My husband ordered this Hudson Valley Fore Gras, meaning goose/duck liver in plain English. That gamey taste is actually quite good plus the soft, smooth texture makes it slowly melt in your mouth, excellent. :)

For me, the actual liver is a wee bit overwhelming for me. I much prefer the pate version., so I ordered the above If you ask me how it taste like....I would say "it taste like butter, fore gras butter!"

My main entree is Butter Poached Lobster over English Pea Ravioli, topped with shaved Asparagus and almond salad. It is very good! I love the lobster together with the pea ravioli...it compliments each other very well.

My hubby ordered Lobster and Morel Mushroom Risotto in Asparagus and Lobster broth. It's so good too! The creamy risotto is so flavorful!

This small little dish containing Hibiscus ice shavings over cardamon pana cotta. It's actually a palette "cleanser" before our desert arrives...interesting. But the Hibiscus is like Ribena but more on the sour side. The pana cotta was silky and blends well with the citrus shaving.

My husband's desert, Valrohna Chocolate bread pudding with Champagne Sabayon (the sauce) and petite Strawberry Sorbet sandwiched between 2 caramel squares. I give it an 101 score....love the strawberry sorbet....so creamy even though it's sorbet!

My Warm Bittersweet Chocolate Fondant cake...reminds me of mine, that is why I ordered it to taste the real thing! It is indeed heavenly! The soft gooey inside the fondant plus the creme anglaise sauce was perfecto! However the brandy cured dried fruits were a bit strong for me...good thing my husband devour them, lol!

Some sweet bites to end the meal...compliments from the chef again. I enjoyed it all so much! If only I am not so full...I would have gone for more food! Wonder if the head chef is taking in any apprentice, lol!

Overall I felt pampered and satisfied....an excellent dinner with my best man....what more can I ask for, for our wedding anniversary?! If you do go by San Francisco downtown, check out La Folie...I am sure they will not fail to impress you.

La Folie website
2316 Polk Street, San Francisco, CA
(located between Green & Union)
415-776-5577 e-mail: lafoliep@aol.com

Meant to put up a recipe at the end of this post...but after looking at this super long post...I thought better not! I promise I will put up in my next post soon...thanks for coming by with me to La Folie! You all have a great week ahead!

Good Old Times Part I & Feather Light Cheesecake :)

Have you got a chance in your life where you leave everything that was hanging on your shoulder behind and go thousands of miles away just for a week? And immerse in a world that you once adore so much? I did. Lucky me because I have family that can help me with my kids. Lucky me because my loving husband wants this for us. :) Although partly because there is a matter that require our presence there. :P But I definitely benefit from it, a getaway that I am really looking forward to. Yup, we went back to California for a week. Although i did miss my kids dearly, but I knew they are in good hands. :)

The sunny, yet still cooling summer weather, with plentiful fresh produce and summer sale! I got to do shopping, yes, real shopping in a mall. Sound a little sad isn't it. Haven't done that since February. :P Walking around shopping aimlessly without any time restriction was such a leisure for me...at some point I felt guilty about it! I even got to meet up with an old friend which I too miss dearly. :) Will get to that later...

Although it was just a week (minus all that boring flight time), I was truly grateful for it. At some point, I was hoping I can capture every moment and post it up for all my dear readers to see. But that will be a way too long post and I don't think I have that kind of time at hand. :P So a little summary, just like last time, hope you guys will take a walk back memory lane with me on my journey back to my good old times back in California.

First stop, Mountain View Farmer's Market in Bay Area. It's there every Sunday, packed full of locals and farmers with produces in season. I was real lucky to be there at this peak season where there is a great abundance of summer fruits & vegetables. Look on...

Yes...summer squash! It comes it several cute shapes and colour but taste wise is pretty much the same. It's such a versatile vegetable, grilled, salad, stir fry or even in baked cakes...yummy! ;)

Sweet Bing cherries...they come only in early summer and I love the dark red ones because it's taste is much more intense, almost like tasting cherry wine. ;) I even managed to "smuggle" some home, so you should be seeing some cherry bake from me soon. :)

Doughnut peaches...you see me right, it's like white peaches but in the shape of a doughnut! Aren't they look the cutest? They taste the same as the usual white peaches but much sweeter and juicier then the yellow ones. It's pretty rare in Asia if I am not wrong. :)

One of my all time favorite fruit, sweet pluots (some call them plums)! I actually have a similar specie, which is a plum tree growing in my very own garden inside my California house. When I was there to see it this time, I actually saw it fruiting! Too bad I'm too shy to ask my tenant for some, lol!

Another wonderful fruit/vegetable in summer is vine ripe tomatoes. They are actually sweet tasting and making pasta sauces and pizza with these babies are just super. :) I remember I will make my own pasta sauces and can them during summer so I have a constant supply during winter time. :)

I love fresh mushrooms! I remember I will always buy a pound or so of variety to either stir fry or add into my pasta, yummy!

These fresh cut flowers are such delight too. Buying home a bouquet every Sunday is always a treat for me. :)

Fresh plum blueberries are just so inviting! Don't get me started on the health benefits on eating blueberries! And I love baking with them....yes, I've packed some home too, lol!

Check out the stuff I bought at the market. Don't the berries look good! Some yogurt and I am good! And since they are in season now, they are pretty sweet. It's too bad I can't bring these back to Singapore, else it would be great to bake a trio berry tart! ;) Also got some plum jam and wildflower honey. ;) Might as well bring some jam back since I can't bring the fruits back. ;)

In the later afternoon, my husband and I drove up to San Francisco and went for a walk near Golden Gate Bridge and Baker's Beach.

Doesn't this place look like some place in Europe? Well, it's Baker's Beach in CA. It always takes me away to peaceful trance with the sound of the crashing waves and cooling breeze. You get to see this wonderful view of Golden Gate Bridge at Baker's Beach, so great right! But watch out for the nudist beach just around the corner....not that there's anything wrong with it of course. :)

Sunset at Golden Gate Bridge....really does made it look golden. I swear I can just watch the sunset right there, but its getting freaking cold! Lol!

Check out those steep slopes...it's like that all over SF. Never park your car neutral if you know what I mean. :P But that is the distinct feature of SF, love it! ;)

Perhaps it's the time difference, but me and my hubby were not that hungry that night. So we decided to head over to Ghirardelli Square to our all time favorite ice cream palour. Yup, call us young at heart or sweet tooth, but we love the idea of just having ice cream for dinner, hahaha! Shhhh! Don't tell my girls! Lol! We really had a blast that day....wish it didn't have to end so soon. :P

Think I should pause for now about my journey back to California. Don't want to overload you all with so much stuff and photos at one time. Will post up Part II later on when I have more time. Now, I want to finish this post by sharing with you all my last bake before I traveled, Feather Light Cheesecake from Alex Goh. There are several blogger out there that has successfully bake this cake and I knew I just have to try it out myself. :)

I made this cake for my girls because I know they will miss my baking when I'm away. This is pretty similar to the Japanese Light Cheesecake I made before. My girls loved it....too bad I did not get a chance to taste it myself. :P Here is the recipe for my reference:

Ingredients for Feather-Light Cheesecake:
250ml fresh milk
20g butter
125g cream cheese @ room temp
50g cake flour
3 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
80g caster sugar
pinch of salt
2 tbsp cocoa powder, mixed in 1 tbsp hot water

Method:

• In a saucepan, place cream cheese, milk and butter in it and heat at medium heat. Using a whisk and make sure everything is melted and well combined. Place aside till needed.
• Grease and line an 8" round pan with parchment paper.
• Add the egg yolks and vanilla into the cream cheese mixture and stir well.
• Whisk flour over into the cream cheese mixture till well combined, making sure there are no lumps in it.
• In another large mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites till foamy. Add salt and cream of tartar and continue to whisk. Gradually add the sugar in and beat till stiff peaks.
• Gently fold the whites into the cream cheese mixture in 3 portions till well combined.
• Scoop 1/5 of the cake batter out and mix in the chocolate paste. Set aside till needed.
• Pour the remaining cake batter into the prepare pan and scoop dollops of the chocolate batter over the top. Using a butter knife or toothpick, swirl the batter on top to make marble patterns.
• Bake in water bath @ 160°C for 50minutes or till the tester comes out clean.
• Remove the cake from oven and let cool completely before chilling it in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
  

Since my girls love this so much, think I will come up with a different version next time. Perhaps not using chocolate paste but something else to create the swirls on top.

Hope you all will try out this lovely recipe. It's not that hard to prepare at all and you can bake up this yummy cake at your very home. Have fun!