Pink and purple....and everything nice

"Salam Zaitgha, nak bertanyakan pasal cupcakes, bole order lagi tak untuk this Saturday?"....came an sms sometime last Tuesday. Took awhile for me to answer as I was looking forward to go the 2nd Makcik Blogger gathering in Shah Alam. After some time management thinking, i replied the sms with " Insyaallah boleh, tapi kena collect at 9 .00 am on Saturday as i have an earlier engagement after 12"...the replied was an ok and the sender proceeded with the details of her request....tup tup on Thursday morning, another sms came in from her....she had already banked in the payment. She asked if the cuppies could be collected on Friday night instead as she just found out that the occasion was on Saturday morning at 10.00 am. The cuppies were for her niece aqiqah in Tampin. I agreed as it would be better for me to bake the cheesecake and fruits tartlets for makcik bloggers do on Saturday morning. God works in His mysterious way. The cuppies were collected near Komuter Station at about 9.00 pm that last Friday night.
Come Saturday morning, i woke up at 7 and started with the base of the tartlets, while its in the oven i mixed the cheesecake batter, easy peasy with the help of food processor he he.....base baked, put the cheesecake in the oven and prepare the tartlets custard and cut the fruit.
At 1.30 Zay fetched me and of we went to Shah Alam, with hand drawn map from Kay's email as the printer refused to function for me haissshhh.......the traffic was good but due to my poor drawing we ended up coming from the opposite of the actual route given ha ha ha....a few missed and turned, we arrived Kay's home....Kak Ezza had done the run up of the event here...Just to say that i enjoyed the time surrounded by all the makcik bloggers and of course the food....so enjoy the pictures....
Former Miss World??
Love this picture, all were so santai....the 2 pictures above i took from Zay's FB, thanks mam...
Our president and Cahya




the glorious food




the cuppies for the aqiqah..

sms received from the customer when i was at Kay's place
"Salam, just to say that your cuppies are so great, so yummy and very2 nice designs. Everyone just love the cuppies"

What i had been up to last week.....

Aaahhhhh.......alhamdullillah, i had completed another big task on my own but of course with the support of my boys, the young and the old . This time the old boy a.k.a the hubby assisted me a lot as the boys were in school during the days. He helped me on Friday night even to the extend that he went to 7 - 11 at midnight to get masking tape to really ensure the boxes i used were secured enough to hold hundreds of wedding favors.
This customer of mine called me in Sept last year and confirmed her order for the favors in Oct. She paid me 80% of the total amount by Dec. She requested for hantaran sets for both side boy/girl later and paid me in full for the 2 sets. After that, she requested for a wedding cake and paid me right after i told her on price. How i wish more people are like her. With prompt payments like this, it made things easier for me to plan . I would get the non edible things first like cake boards and boxes, the casing, the ribbons etc etc etc....And true enough, it was a smooth sailing for me preparing for her request and mind you she added birthday cake and cupcakes for the family birthdays only last week for last Thursday celebration. Also helped that i had invested on huge mixer after my first project..
Birthday cuppies for cousin's wife.
Birthday cake for MIL
Her 'rezeki' to have these gorgeous strawberries with melted choc drizzled on top on the cheesecake for her hantaran to hubby.
Choc Crumble cheesecake with layers of strawberry jam and melted chocolat under the generously sprinkled sliced almonds.
Vanilla cupcakes with cream butter cream rosettes with white ribbon rolled sugar paste.

Wedding cake of 3 kg++ butter cake with butter cream topping and gum paste flowers.


the wedding favors


One box at the back, 2 big boxes on the back seat of my tiny car...you think i should get a bigger car??

p/s
feedback from the customer, a thank u email from her

Just wanna say a really big thanks to u & family for the wonderful cakes & cupcakes..
Sume mmg yummy sgt2…
Insyallah in future will order from u again…
Ur cakes/cupcakes mmg juz nice.. tak manis sgt.. but tak tawar la off course..
Nicely done.. congrats to u..

Blue on blue engagement gifts......

Blue, blue my world is blue, blue is my world if i am without u ...ha ha ha....i did not, sing i croaked he he hoping for a rain soon as its very hot for the pass few days.....These blue hantaran were send to KL together with a few boxes of fruit tartlets, a few jar of cookies and the cheese cupcakes. I passed by my apartment in Setapak and felt so nostalgic about the place where i started a phase of my life as a wife and a mother . So much changes within the last 2 years i got lost looking for the house. My 2nd boy was with me and requested that i drive by his old school in Danau Kota. He was so excited showing me where he used to wait for the school bus and eating his favorite roti chanai ha ha ha....as though i dont know that...then i just 'lepak' in Pandan at my sister's house as she was on long leave.

Another what a week??........

Was traveling up and down Sban - KL until last Thursday. FIL still in GHKL. He was complaining of chest pain on and off. The doctor said the operation might be postpone. So on Friday, BIL and MIL went to KL as that they could bring the FIL home and of course dear hubby would meet them in the hospital. I didn't get much words from any of them until hubby reached the house after 10 pm that Friday night. He told me that the doctor had checked with the IJN specialist who attended to FIL's case and they decided to do the operation on Saturday. That morning, we went to Shah Alam to send Diwali cookies, we didn't know the time of the operation. Received a call from SIL that it would be at 11.00 am, so we couldn't see the old man before the ops. We went to Taman Kencana to send rendang for my sis's Raya Open house. We went to an open house do in Balakong. Then went to the GHKL to see my FIL. He was doing fine but he has to stay in the ICU for a close monitoring, Only 2 persons could see him at one time and i took turns with my boys. The hubby was with the father the whole time we were in the hospital.



On Sunday, both hubby and i tided up our neglected house. I vacuumed, he mopped the floor, i cooked, he attended the outside of the house. A few of hubby's office people came over to the house on Monday. I cooked my signature rendang, baked cheesecake and mini choc cupcakes on Sunday and fried chicken, fried cabbage with sotong on Monday itself. MIL cooked beef salai with belimbing masak gulai chili api.



Our guests had lunch and had cheesecake slices, the cupcakes for desserts and Lavazza coffee to finish off the lunch. I had the chance to show off the cupcakes on the cupcakes tree which i bought a few months ago from Wilton. The cheesecake mostly i made upon request hence there was no picture of a cut cake before. But here, i can show the cut cake for you to drool ......I didn't take picture of the guests though.....

Happy Birthday Abang....

I had mentioned somewhere sometimes ago that month of August is my good month for the whole year. That was because many life altering occasions happened to me in August. One of those was the birth of my first born on 17 August 1993. Just a year after i got hitched he he...He is a true blue Klite, once in a while asking me if we ever moved back to KL. (betul2 anak mak nih ha ha ha).He was an easy baby for the 9 month i was carrying him and until now. His ambition changes like the four seasons in the west ha ha ha.....he wanted to be a teacher once, chef at one time and doing something with astronomy the last i was updated a few weeks ago. He requested a tiramitsu for his birthday cake. He wanted the original version not the one frosted with that white2 cream he said.....ha ha ha...

Gadgets and Boston Cheesecake on moody Tuesday morning.....

I feel very lethargic lately. And i am always in the foul mood. But i try very hard not to show the moods swing to the children. I know why i am in this quandary and i hope i will be able to pick myself up soon....on last Friday 25th April, a year had gone by since my dad passed on. Still i miss him, still i long to just call him to just pouring my heart out when i am feeling a little down. Abah, al fatihah for you and mum.
I am also feeling so lost knowing a friend is going so far away for a greener pasture who was with me when i was once at the bottomless pit of my life....

But,
when i am feeling blue, i bake....its very therapeutic and i baked cheesecake this morning. I am also showing the few gadgets that i used today. I just love red little juicer and grater that i got from Ikea. The scale which my hubby ordered online and the food processor that i bought here in Seremban a few days after i decided to be very domesticated ha ha ha. I wish i had Cuisineart but heyyy ..... just have to be thankful maaa......i just love this machine to bit, cheesecakes are just a blitz away with this and it can make a mean sambal belacan too. If i had to make sambal belacan in big portion, this the gadget i use. Of course, nothing beat the batu tumbuk but heyy...if you need to feed 10 - 15 people or more, this is the one to use to reduce the mess and the hassle of pounding away. Using blender makes the sambal very watery which is not to my liking....






















This is my version of Boston Cheesecakes recipe loosely adapted from Fantastic Cheesecake book by Alex Goh. I did not have enough cream cheese to follow his recipe to a T, i had to tweak it a bit here and there.




































The original recipe ( my changes would be in blue)
750 gm cream cheese - 500
150 gm castor sugar - 100
30 gm flour - 1 tbs
1/2 tbs vanilla - 2 tsp
zest of 1 lemon
2 tbs lemon juice - half lemon
2 eggs & 1 egg yolk - 1 egg and 1 yolk
150gm sour cream - 100 gm

200gm digestive biscuit + 2 tbs soft butter - pulsed and pressed for the cake base and keep in the freezer while mixing the rest. (I used 7 in springform i/o 8 in )
Cream the cheese, add in the rest of the ingredients in the above order, mixing each thoroughly before the next one. Pour the batter into the prepared biscuits base. Bake in water bath for 60 - 70 min ( or until set) in 150 degree preheated oven. Take out the water and let the cake cool in the oven with door slightly ajar....Cover and refrigerate for a few hours. Can enjoy it plain or with topping like blueberry or kiwi or whatever....i only have the blueberry...

Happy Birthday Son...

My eldest boy was borned on 17th August fourteen years ago. He was an easy baby even when he was still inside me. I did not have morning sickness and my unusual craving was only Big Mac Meal value. Ate that unhealthy thing almost every other day throughout my pregnancy. And until today i cannot bring myself to eat that damn thing anymore ha ha ha..... He is as tall as i am now at 14. Asked what cake he wants for the birthday and he said blueberry cheese cake with no fancy decoration as he knows i cant decorate anything even if my life depended on it.....

The recipe calls for fresh blueberry but being where i am , its not something available all the time, as such i used blueberry topping. I got the recipe from Food Network site here; Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars.

I pray for many more birthdays for him and he ate almost half of the cake at one go...

Chocolate Crumble Cheesecake

This is the cheesecake which made me hook to baking. I learned to make this cake from owner of the bakery shop near my sister's home which she frequented often. So i sat for almost 2 hours watching the lady demonstrated on how to make this cake and a few other recipes. I was fidgeting as i was not used to just sit at the same place for long. But, after taking a bite of this cake i said to myself...wow! yummmyyyyy.....4 layers of goodness; the cake base, the cream cheese, the crumb and the crunchy almond flakes.....then i discovered many recipes from the internet, and my interest in baking soars......

Here is the recipe for the cake

Chocolate Crumble Cheesecake

Cake base and crumble
325g Supersoft flour (Superfine can too)
125g castor sugar
190g butter
1 egg size A but B will do too
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sour cream or alt 100gm whip topping cream + 2 tbsp lemon juice

Cheese layer
500g cream cheese at room temperature
50g castore sugar
1 egg size A

melted chocolate/any flavor of jam( i used strawberry)
almond flakes ( abt a cup )

1. Heat the oven at 180 C
2. Grease and flour the sides and bottom of a 9 in loose base cake tin
3. Mix the flour and sugar well
4. Cut in butter until crumbly and reserve 1 1/4 cup of the crumble.
5. as for remaining mixture, add in baking powder, baking soda, salt, sourcream or the alternate, the egg and mix them well.
6. Spread the batter evenly in the cake tin.
7. Then, beat cream cheese, castor sugar and the egg together till incorporated.
8. Pour over the batter and level off
9. Pipe the melted chocolate over the cream cheese - see pic below or you can be creative here, i just used small plastic which i cut the tip to pipe the choc
10. Spoon the jam as you wish
11. Sprinkle with crumble then the almond flakes
    
12. Bake for 45 - 50 mins or until skewer inserted into the center comes out clean
13. Cool in the pan for 15 min, the remove the side of the cake tin.
14. Enjoy warm or cold.

Note: after 30 - 35 in the oven, cover the cake with grease proof paper to avoid the flakes frm burnt.

I know...i know the name is a bit misleading but thats what that lady call this cake. Btw, whats in the name as long as its yummyyyy.....