Author Archives: Dariel

SHORT GETAWAY

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Yes finally a short getaway trip with frog to phuket tomorrow! We will be going with SY and YF too. Our first holiday trip with them and will be staying in Phuket till next Monday. Wohoo! Time to relax and enjoy the beach, sea, sand, seafood and shopping! Stay tune as I will blog on the local food in Phuket.

I had not been blogging these few days as I am down with flu and busy with work. Still a lot of post to be blog about and publish. I hope that there will be internet access in out hotel so that I can continue blogging in Phuket. Looking forward to the trip and Phuket here we come !!!  :-)

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 A lot of things to be done after the trip:

 Christmas order on my red velvet cupcakes and scones from my sis, aunty and friend.

Getting Christmas gifts for my friends and family.

Clearing outstanding matter at work.

Blogging.

Although I am busy, it is a good thing after all to do things that I enjoy doing. I am glad that my family and friend love the red velvet cupcake that I had baked. It really brightens up my day when they compliment my baking.

 I will be back! 2 more days to weekend! Yeah!

Time to go zzzz… Medication had taken drowsy effect.. Good night! zzz

MARBLE CUPCAKES

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I had finally decided what to bake on this lovely Sunday morning.
Marble cupcakes! Love the two tones colour of the cupcake and the marbled
effect when the cake is sliced. Got this cupcake recipe from the book Cupcake
Heaven edited by Jennie Milsom. In the recipe, the marble cupcake is topped
with creamy frosting and chocolate chips. However, I had changed the frosting
to chocolate cream cheese frosting with chocolate rice instead. I am not a fan
of frosting that is too sweet and by using cream cheese the frosting will not
taste that sweet but at the same time taste delicious.

Here are the Ingredients Used for the Marble Cupcakes:

150g (5.5oz) butter, at room temperature

150g (5.5oz) butter, at room temperature

3 large eggs

125g (4.5oz) plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat the oven to 175 ˚C (350˚F). Line two 12 cup muffin
pans with paper cups.

Step 1: Beat together the butter and sugar until pale and creamy.

 Step 2: Beat in the eggs one at a time.

 Step 3: Sift the flour and baking powder over the top, then fold in.

Step 4: Divide the mixture into two bowls. Stir the vanilla extract into one; sift the cocoa over the other bowl and fold in.

Step 5 and 6: Place alternating spoonfuls of the two batters in the paper cups so you finish with distinctive dollops of brown and white batter.

Bake for 20 – 25 minutes until well risen and golden brown. Remove the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

The chocolate cream cheese Ingredients (Recipe by Mrs Fong):

250g cream cheese

170g melted chocolate

Whisk cream cheese till soft. Add in melted chocolated and mixed well.

It is so easy to make this frosting and as you can see from the recipe above, you need not to add any icing sugar to it.

This is how the marble cupcake looks like:

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 I had topped it with chocolate cream cheese frosting and sprinkled with some chocolate rice. I love the combination. Yummy!

Tips:

  1. Remeber to allow the cupcakes to be cool first before adding the frosting to it (if not the frosting will melt).
  2. Use Valrhona dark chocolate for the chocolate cream cheese frosting.

 I am also submitting this marble cupcakes post to Aspiring Bakers #13: Enjoy
Cupcakes! (November 2011) hosted by Min of Min’s Blog.

CUPCAKE MAKING CAMP – (CHRISTMAS THEME)

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 With Christmas around the corner, have you decided on what
to bake or cook for Christmas party? 2 weeks ago, I had attended Mrs Fong
baking class on cupcakes making (Christmas Theme). This is my 2nd
time attending her baking lesson. The first class that I had attended is the
making of pineapple tarts   that is one
year ago.

The cupcake making camp is a one full day class from 9am to 5pm. In this class, I will get to learn 2D and 3D fondant design, different type of frosting and different type of cupcake making.I had enjoyed Mrs Fong’s baking class as we are able to hands on from making the cupcakes to decorating the cupcakes with fondant, cream and frosting.I believe in hands on for baking so that I will remember what I learnt and Mrs
Fong will walk around in the class to tell us if we are doing the right things.
The class is very interactive and she will go around table to table to see how
we are doing and correct us if our baking technique is wrong. In this class, I
had learnt how to do 2D fondant and 3D fondant design. It is so fun but it really
takes a lot of effort and time to complete one fondant design and now I
understand why those cupcakes with 3D fondant design are so expensive. Below are some pictures that i had taken for the class.

 The very cute 3D fondant snowman and angel that i had made @ Mrs Fong’s class.

Below are the pictures on what other students had done in their cupcake design:

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 Angel

Hopefully the pictures above can give some fondant design ideas for decorating the cupcakes for the upcoming christmas.

I really enjoy myself at Mrs Fong’s cupcakes making class – Christmas Theme and I learnt a lot in this class. I am looking forward for Mrs Fong Chinese New Year cookies baking class if she is conducting. Click here for pineapple tarts making class conducted by Mrs Fong.

Click here if you wants to know the upcoming baking/cooking classes conducted by Mrs Fong.

Stay tune for the next post on the fondant that we had used on the class and the colouring as well. Yesh i am looking forward to the ice cream making class with my best friend next SundaY morning! Cheers!

Have a great weekend ahead~! ~I am still thinking of what cupcakes to bake for submission to Min’s Blog. The due date is nov 2011. Time to start thinking!

Stay tune! :}

TWELVE CUPCAKES

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 I had heard a lot of good. reviews from magazine and blogs on Twelve Cupcakes open by Daniel Ong and Jamie Teo. Happen to be at Millennia  Walk on Tuesday and got these cupcakes from Twelve Cupcakes level 1. I really love the décor and ambience of the cake store- It is very cosy, neat with yummy decorated looking cupcakes placed nicely in the glass counter for customer to choose from. Think they are having a promotion right now after 7pm, 3 cupcakes for the price of 2 only.The staff told us when we are in the store. Each cupcake cost $3 and the daily special cost $3.50. I have wanted to try their red velvet cupcakes but was already sold out.  However their other cupcakes looking delicious too and i took some time to choose for my 3 cupcakes. The cupcakes are put in a pink cupcake box. So Sweet!

 Cupcakes from twelve cupcakes

My Selection of Cupcakes

PB Chocolate CupCake

Cookies and Cream CupCake

Mocha CupCake

The cream on top of the cupcakes is not too sweet and overallsweetness of the cupcake is reasonable. I had eaten cupcakes that is so sweet that I do not eat the creams/frosting. However for these cupcakes from Twelve Cupcakes, I had eaten the whole cupcake including these cream. The cupcakes are moist and soft. Although the cupcake is not very big in size, the taste of it compensates all. Quality food. Not too sweet but rich in flavour!

The cupcakes are worth a try and they have another store in United Square #B1-60. I just saw from twelve cupcakes facebook wall that they are opening their 3rd store soon! Hopefully they will update soon where will be their 3rd store location.

Cheers!

Twelve Cupcakes

SMRT CIRCLE LINE MAKAN SESSION

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[Nuffnang] Congratulations! You are invited to our 4th Makan session with Ieatishootipost – I can’t believe my eyes when I saw this mail in my inbox! *Roll Eye*

 I am so happy and excited to receive the mail today indicating that I have been selected to be part of the exciting Makan Session with my favourite Top Blogger Ieatishootipost! I had sign up this last month and been waiting for their reply as there are only 20 attendees for each session!

With the opening of the Circle Line network stages 4 & 5, SMRT is hosting a makan session where 20 attendees get to join the famous food blogger and eat for free.

This is a great opportunity for me to know where to go for yummy Peranakan food introduces by Ieatishootipost. I have been reading his blog and I am so happy to be able to meet him in person on 3rd Dec 2011. Looking forward to the makan session at Buona Vista!

 Brief Makan Session Itinerary

  1. Meet at Your Favourite Top Blogger at the respective MRT Station
  2. “Take attendance” and Introduce yourself
  3. Short walk to the food place from the respective MRT Station (Est. 5 to 10 mins only!)
  4. Begin our ‘Makan Session’! Yum Yum
  5. Up close session with blogger
  6. Photo taking time!

You can click this link to sign up for the SMRT Circle Makan Session with famous blogger!

24 Sept 2011 to 25 Feb 2012

 Cheers!

CORN SOUP RECIPE

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Finally one more work day to weekend. This week is considered short due to the holiday this monday. 4 work days and finally to sat! Wohoo.

I had tried cooking the corn soup this monday using my friend recipe and within 20 minutes i had cooked a pot of delicious corn soup. It is so easy and yummy. I love corns! 

Here is the recipe for the corn soup:

MAIN INGREDIENTS

  1. 1 can cream corn
  2. 1 can chicken stock (399ml)

Ratio 1:1

ADD ON INGREDIENTS

  1. Mushrooms
  2. Chicken thighs cut into cubes
  3. Crab Meat
  4. Corns
  5. Small Prawns

Steps: 

  1. Mix one can of cream corn with one can of chicken stock in a cooking pot.
  2. Let the soup heat to boil.
  3. After which add in the ingredients that you will like to add. Example mushrooms, chicken cubes, crab meat, more corns or even small prawns.
  4. Slowly heat the soup to boil.
  5. Off the gas cooker and immediately add in 2 eggs to thicken the soup.  

 It is so easy to prepare and yummy delicious too. If you love to eat spring onion aka ’chong’, you can garnish lots of them and it is ready to be served. 

 Best to serve hot.

It took me about 10 minutes to prepare the ingredients and another 10 minutes for the corn soup to be cook. The above recipe is enough for 4 – 5 people. 

Try it over the coming weekend and i am sure your family will love it!

 

CAKE POPS CLASS AT SCOOPY’S & CREAM

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Have you ever heard of cake pops? They are bite size cakes on the lollipop sticks with colourful and interesting design. You can design the cake pop with whatever design you can think off, wrap it up nicely and is ready as a gift. Cake pop is popular for birthdays and special theme party where children or even adult will be attracted to it.

I have always wonder how the cake will stay nicely on the lollipop stick and how do I coat the cake with different colouring that I have wanted? Happen to chance upon Groupon website having discount on cake pops making class at 50% discount. Without hesitation, I had purchased the voucher and signed up for the cake pop class. I really love Groupon as the website really offers great deals at promotional price.

The class was held at Scoopy’s & Cream in Downtown East E!Hub level 5. The theme for the cake pop making was actually Halloween. I had attended the class last month. Here we go!

Scoopy’s & Cream

The teacher was very patient in teaching us in doing the cake pops and there were 2 more teachers that go around and answer our queries in cake pops making. We actually did hands on in making the cake pop from moulding the shape, putting the cake to the stick and finally designing the cake pop. I had fun doing the cake pop and below is the picture of my moulded cake pop. The teachers there are very friendly and they really make the class interesting by preparing lots of colourful melts and cake decorative for us to design our cake pops.

Moulded Cake Pops

The final product. Colourful and beautifully decorate cake pops.

With the right class size of 10 students, I guess everyone benefit from this cake pop making class as the teachers try their best to share their knowledge with us and ensure everyone are able to make their own cake pops. Thumbs up!

I am so proud of the cake pop that i had done! After completion, all you need to do is to wrap it nicely with colourful ribbon or theme colour ribbon and is ready as a gift!

I really enjoyed the cake pop making class taught by Scoopy’s & Cream and understand more in cake pop making.

With Christmas around the corner soon, perhaps you can do your own cake pop and give it as a gift for your love ones or friends! Start thinking of the design now.

I will also try to make cake pop to see if i can apply what i had learnt. Time to head down to buy the ingredients for the cake pops. Stay tune for more updates!

HOMECOOK FOOD GATHERING

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Recently we had organised a gathering at our friend’s place. It is very nice of him to whip out many delicious home cook dishes for us. It makes us feel so warm and at home. Thank you friend for having us.

Here are the photos of the delicious food that he had cooked for us:

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Stew Chicken With Carrots & Potatoes

Marinated TopShell

Steam Tofu with Mince MEat Garnish with lots of ‘Chong’

 Corn Soup

 Simple dishes but cook with love and sincerity. Perhaps we should organise more of this gathering so that we can share recipe with one another not forgetting lazing in the house after a full meal. We had really enjoyed ourselves that day with yummy home cook food and of course the right company of friends.

Stay tune for my next post on the recipe for the corn soup. It is so simple to prepare and delicious too. Thanks friend for sharing the recipe with me.

Cheers! Mid Week and looking forward to the long weekend!

DRAGON GATE RESTAURANT – DIM SUM BUFFET

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Some backdates:

I have been looking around for affordable dim sum weekday buffet for our friends gathering so that we can enjoy the food and make use of this opportunity to update one another with our lives. Since it is our poly mates wedding on a Sunday, few of us had decided to take leave on Monday, take a break from our work and have dim sum buffet and not forgetting shopping therapy session.

Happen to chance upon some food blog giving review on Dragon Gate Restaurant and best of all it cost less than $20 for weekday dim sum buffet. It is located at HarbourFront centre and they had quite a spread of dim sum in their buffet list. With that good price and location, we had decided to have our dim sum buffet at Dragon Gate Restaurant. Oh not forgetting to mention, they will need at least minimum of 4 adults for the dim sum buffet.

The restaurant is very spacious with round dining table + 10 chairs and it feel like we are attending another wedding dinner. Looking at the dim sum menu, we are quite happy with the spread of food they offer considering the price of the buffet. They also have free flow of porridge and hot desserts at the counter too. Photos mean more than words, here are some of the pictures of the dim sum we had ordered.

With so many meaty and fried stuffs, it is good to order some green vegetables to go along with the dim sum.

 Overall the dim sum is good and we are happy with the variety of dishes available with the price that we pay. A good place for gathering and affordable food. We will definitely come here again for the dim sum.  

Here i ended off the post with some of the photos taken with my good friends and frog @ the restaurant:

Stay tune for more posts.. Really looking forward to Year End, with baking classes, birthday celebrations, holiday with frog and our friends and not forgeting Christmas! Wohoo!

M&M TOPPED CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

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I had baked chocolate cupcakes for frog 30th birthday. It is easy to bake and you can do fanciful frosting and decoration at your cupcakes.

 

 Very colourful right??

Here is the recipe for the chocolate cupcakes:

For the cupcakes

150g butter

100g sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

200g plain flour

2 tbsp cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

8 tbsp milk

For the icing

1 egg white

200g icing sugar

1 packet m&m chocolate

Method

Preheat the oven to 180  degree celcius an line  a muffin pan with 12 paper cups.

Cream the butter until light and fluffy, then one after the other beat in the sugar, eggs and vanilla extract.

Mix the flour, baking powder and cocoa to the creamed mixture with the milk.

Alternating additions of dry ingredients and milk.

Spoon into the prepared paper cases and bake for 25 to 30 mins.

Icing

Beat egg white until semi stiff, then mix with icing sugar to make a smooth thick frosting.

Put a little of the icing on each cupcake, decorate with as m&m and allow to set before serving.

*Tips: Let the cupcakes cool down before putting the icing. If not the heat from the cupcakes will cause the icing to melt.

Store in air tight container for up to 2 days. Freeze for up to 3 months.

Makes 1 dozen.

Go ahead and try this recipes for your love ones.

I am glad that frog loves the cupcakes i had baked for him. :)