of muff-cakes and whimsical names

With the new presence of the muffin tray (brought over from sg by kai) our baking experiments have since revolved around making muff-cakes. Muff-cakes as the name entails are something in between a volcano-erupting muffin and a small but decadent cupcake, layered with often too sweet icing. While muff-cakes are decadent, they usually do not rise as high as muffins ought too. Nonetheless, the amazing thing about muffins, cupcakes or muff-cakes is that you get to be extra creative.. throw in all sorts of ingredients to see what works and what doesn't. Best of all, you'll be the first to taste your new product - now that's what I love about experimental baking :)

So, since we have been making a lot of them, i've decided to dedicate a post just to my beloved muff-cakes! so far, we've made good ol' banana muffins (our crowd favourite+voted by 'part 3' of our clique as his top favourite, ), strawberry cupcakes with delish icing (adapted from martha stewart) and our latest experiment: whimsically named after one of Shakespeare's best plays - in my opinion at least- A Midsummer Night's Dream. Why the name? With our vanilla based cupcake, with dark chocolate filling and framboise icing, everything just seemed to fit. The dark chocolate was clearly reminiscent of the night and raspberry, the epitome of summer fruits. Hence, the Midsummer Night - our successful first experimental muff-cake (below)!











the strawberry cupcakes were made in honour of yan neng's 21st birthday celebrations. armed with a recipe and a box of strawberries, we set of to discover the miracle that 'pink things' are edible! with a pseudo horror story from jia about her pink cookies, the pinkish looking muff-cake batter turned out to be ultra-delish with subtle but yummy strawberry infused into the atoms and particles of flour, butter and sugar. so the pink muffin with strawberry muffcake not only turned out to be edible, it also turned out to be v. good. so yay!to us, for making another pink thing, but this time much more accepted by the 'taster/tester' group!















These little cakes are delightful things packed full of calories and definitely not one for a girl on diet. but hey, whoever said that yummy things that can induce happiness with just one bite were not sinful? happiness here indeed comes with a price, non?

quintessential breakfast

Under the massive category of 'food' lies the extremely versatile pain, more commonly known as bread. Well, at least for me, bread is breakfast in London and bread was breakfast that my mum would prepare for me to munch on the way to school (whenever I overslept). The things that one can make with bread are endless.. from French toast, to grilled ham and cheese on white bread, and bread and butter pudding!

But bread on its own, or with a spread still tastes absolutely amazing! Peanut butter (crunchy and smooth), jam in all of its crazy varieties and of course, everyone's favourite- nutella.

However, the one thing that i miss so much, especially being away from home, is Kaya. Yes, the coconut-y, egg-y, pandan infused, sugared spread that i grew up on. The kaya toast that Singaporeans relish for their morning breakfast, only 5 minutes away from home in a nearby kopitiam, alas, is about 14 hours away from me. Weekend morning breakfasts of kaya toast have always been with my family, and even with my lovingly bubble-wrapped bottle of kaya brought over from Sg (that i finished in 4 weeks), it is just not possible to get the same euphoric feeling with the first bite.

Then there's Chubby Hubby. With his recipe posted on his blog for the amazing Kaya spread, and tips from jia's mum, who happens to be an expert, we decided to try a shot at it. And why not? for the first time in london, i was able to enjoy proper kaya.

with bread lightly toasted, generous amounts of kaya, and a dollop of butter to go. yummm.

my favourite time of the year

chinese new year for me has always been about the food, the people, and people eating the food we make. at my grans, everything is painfully handmade - from the little nuggets of pineapple tarts to the handcrafted claw-shaped cashew nut cookies. no preservatives (which means validity to polish them off before they go bad), but every bit as good as store-bought.















while i wasn't able to spend pre-cny baking with my gran, or cny visiting my relatives, being able to bake for people at jia's completely made my week. we didn't really get down to cooking dinner for her guests who came for supper, but i went absolutely crazy in the kitchen. i say, this is what happens to a girl that has been deprived of baking. essays are most definitely not a good substitute. so bake bake bake.

with some research and after ploughing through the multitude of recipes,we decided on some things that we could make for the party! my haul included- butter cookies, banana fritters, egg tarts (we went crazy!) and banana muffins and jia made pop-repeatedly-into-your-mouth springrolls. doesnt it sound good already?

man, do i wish i was back home.