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Showing posts from March, 2011

Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta

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I was drooling when I saw the picture of David Lebovitz's Perfect Panna Cotta on his website . It looked perfectly smooth and silky, made me wonder if it tastes as good as it looks. So I tried to make it myself. But the problem is, I couldn't unmold my panna cotta, it stubbornly sticks to the cup. Feeling disappointed of not being able to get the silky look, I just took a picture of it with the cup. About the taste, I think it tastes similar to milk pudding that is made from agar or jelly powder. But I think I like milk pudding better than panna cotta, because the taste of gelatin is just a bit weird in my tongue. Panna Cotta Recipe

Banana Breadcrumbs Pudding

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I had some very ripe bananas left from baking my son’s birthday cake; they were getting bad and pleaded to be used soon. I also had some breadcrumbs that were already mixed with melted butter and didn’t know what to do with them. Then I got the idea of making banana bread pudding. There’s a recipe that I like so much; it calls for bread slices that were soaked in melted butter so the pudding has a touch of savory taste. So I just substituted them with the breadcrumbs. And oh, I had some cream cheese frosting left over too, and I added it into the eggs and milk. Turned out really good! I didn’t bake it ala au-bain-marie , I did regular way and extended the baking time until the pudding had browned and the surface cracked a little bit. It’s delicious! Perfect to be served warm in rainy afternoon, even better with vanilla ice cream. Banana Breadcrumbs Pudding Recipe Source

Up and Beyond!

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I was thinking about Up movie by Disney-Pixar when brainstorming ideas for my son’s first birthday cake. I love the movie so much; it’s so beautiful and inspiring. Besides, my son loves balloons; he would act joyfully whenever he spots balloon sellers on the street with their colorful balloons. So I thought the decoration of the cake would be about them (the balloons, not the sellers). I browsed a baking supplies store for colorful balloon miniatures, looked in a gift shop for real balloons, baked a cake, whipped some frosting, et voila! I came up with this cake. The blue box that I used for placing the cake represents sky, the cake represents clouds, and the balloons are hopes and dreams, flying above the sky to reach the star (the biggest balloon). The cake was actually sugarless banana bread so my son could eat his cake as much as he likes. The frosting was a mix of cream cheese, whipped cream, and shredded cheddar cheese (yep, no sugar added). I made it plain white with fluffy

Orange-Poppy Seeds Cake

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I still got tons of poppy seeds from previous cheese cake , so I browsed the internet for more recipe using them. Orange and poppy seeds seemed like a good combination, and they did. But I used yogurt instead of water like the recipe called for, so the cake had this sour taste. I did that because I had a cup of nearly expired plain yogurt in my fridge and didn't want to waste it. Maybe I wasn't supposed to pour the whole cup to the cake batter. It was too much. Orange-Poppy Seeds recipe is from Natural Cooking Club mailing list

Smoked Beef and Chicken Pie

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Got chicken? Some smoked beef and cream? Why not baking this easy-creamy pie then. you don't need to make the puff pastry from scratch, just stop by the store and grab some. This pie would be suitable for breakfast, nice as an afternoon snack. Enjoy while still hot and watch the cheese melt in your plate :) Chicken Pie Recipe

Double Cheese Honey Lemon Cake

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Get enough of cheese cake already? Well, don't, because here's more :) My brother still asked for more cheese treat so I made him this. This honey-lemon flavored cheese cake has melted cream cheese filling, it might remind you of chocolate lava (I'm gonna make that someday). Poppy seeds were added to the cake batter to give a bit crunchy sensation. They give prettier look too! Double Cheese Honey Lemon Cake recipe is from Sedap Magazine.

Lori's Cheesecake

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Another good cheesecake. This one was baked without au-bain-marie method. The ingredients are very simple: crust as base, cream cheese, sweet condensed milk and eggs, so the cheese flavor really stand out. My brother who works in Bali is currently home, he loves cheese, and he likes this cheese cake so much. Lori's Cheesecake Recipe

Cookie Parade

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Cookies! Many variations of them, all taste great. I love cookies because I can store them in a jar, ready for anytime snack. Whenever I feel hungry, I just reach them and start nibbling :) Top left: Crisp Chocolate-chip Cookies . Top right: Chewy Chocolate-chip Cookies . Middle left: Jacques Torres' Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies . Oh yes, I'm crazy for chocolate-chip cookies, especially the chewy kind. I've tried many recipes and this one is the best so far. And they come in giant size! Middle right: Lemon Meltaways . Imagine a citrus cookie covered with powdered sugar... Perfect choice when you had too much chocolate cookies :) Bottom left: Japonais Sandwiches . Some kind of macaroons with peanut butter filling. Light and delicate. Bottom right: Chocolate-Orange-Cappuccino Cookies . Enough said :) Top left: Snicker Doodle . Simple ingredients, chewy texture, cinnamon and brown sugar flavor. Top right: Surprise Cookies . What's surprising? When you take a bite, you