Baker Girl

Pictureless Friday

2011-11-25T20:08:00.000+08:00

Wow... this year my blog has just been really quiet. I mean, really quiet. While I was digging through my files, looking for pictures to upload... I realize I don't have any because all my best and most creative ideas.. well... happened last year. Baking has kinda slowed down this year, why?

Well firstly I'm older and probably more mature, and therefore less giddy with excitement and creativity beyond bounds, meaning I don't drop everything and run to the kitchen to bake new stuff every day.

Secondly I've become more frugal-conscious, which means I try not to turn on the oven so much, because the price of electricity... is whew - crazy!

Thirdly, as a result of that, I've picked up a great number of new hobbies this year - sewing by hand, historical sewing, cooking, nutrition, healthy baking, knitting, crochet, and different home-crafts other than baking. Well, it's just that knitting with chopsticks and RM2 yarn, is well, a lot cheaper than firing up the huge and fancy oven, which I treasure.

But that doesn't mean I stopped baking. In fact, I've been developing some new ideas and recipes. I've been doing a lot of herb-related things, and got my garden going. I mdke salve, tinctures, and herb butter blends.. I baked chicken and rice. And I've been doing lots and lots of reading on homesteading, wilderness baking.. and building my own oven... I think video is going to be a really neat and cool new way of sharing information on the internet. The blog world is abuzz and alive with great bakers, and photographers. If I want an edge I've gotta be presenting some new and sustainable concept.

But this friday won't be too pictureless meantime. To prove to the world, that I have not lost my interest in baking... walah (the Malaysia "voila")... a baking activity in India (baking in India was an experience in itself I can tell you that)

(Photographs by PL)

Outdoors with the sun shining, the dogs under the counter, the flies swarming, the chickens rummaging, without measuring scale, measuring cup, but with a splendid team of most enthusiastic and helpful cooks, who couldn't keep their fingers of the cadbury...

Using Lemons and Limes Part 2

2011-11-22T13:25:00.000+08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n15MX6COew&feature=related

Using Lemons and Limes

2011-08-16T15:28:00.002+08:00

1) Wash well

a. Pesticides, wax

b. Sterilize with ozone

2) Grate rind

a. Microplane grater – careful!

b. Save to make cake – Rose Levy Berabaum’s Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake

3) Squeeze juice

a. Knife/Fork

4) Lemon Honey Drink

a. 1 tbsp lemon

b. 100ml water

c. 1 tbsp honey (to taste)

i. Stir all with a plastic/wooden spoon and drink fresh

1. Good to start the day with

5) Plant seeds

a. Rinse seeds in a sieve (prevent fungi)

b. Plant fresh in soil

6) Lemon Hair Rinse/Household Cleaner

a. Take lemon skins, soak in a jar of (preferably) warm water

b. Infuse some herbs in

c. Use!

7) Compost Lemon and Lime skins

Cranberry Walnut Swirl Bread

2011-07-12T16:41:00.001+08:00

Who can spot the pinky swirl? Nice and tall double-loaf. Mummy likes this one :)

Malaysian Crepes...

2011-07-09T19:50:00.000+08:00

It that that time of the year for crepe again! I decided to go with a Malaysian flavor - Pandan crepes layered with kaya and syrup.... mmm???

Does anyone want the recipe>?

Quintessential Corn Muffins

2011-06-01T18:53:00.000+08:00

Rose Levy Beranbaum's cookbooks are by far my favorite. I would highly recommend it to serious bakers as the recipes are tried, tested and proven to be wonderful!

Her corn muffin recipe, from her Bread Bible was originally meant to include blueberries, but I have done without them. Sour cream is the special ingredient here. Not too sweet at all, fresh, and tasty! I make them in batches of 3 - 5 and load the muffin cups extra high (producing high domes and mountain peaks). There are soo.. light and fluffy with great flavour.

A Unique Purim Twist

2011-04-30T13:48:00.001+08:00

Do you love eating mooncake skin during the Chinese Mooncake festival? Well, here's a twist for you! Mooncake skin, sweet apple/honey filling, and haman's-hat-shapes. These triangular confections are sweetly unique - appropriate for any festivity, but especially for Purim.

A Passover-Inspired Meal

2011-04-30T13:22:00.000+08:00

Here's my first experience cooking a kosher for passover meal. It was kosher for passover - inspired, except for the kosher part ;) I really cannot blowtorch the whole kitchen and boil all the utensils.(Read this article for the modern history of Matzo... really interesting!)

We had every part of the seder, and improvised, except for the shank bone, which we did not manage to obtain.

The boiled egg (beitzah) broke into pieces :) We had some REALLY bitter chinese herbs for maror, lettuce with salt water as dressing for karpas.

I made flour+water round matza, and that was the most authentic part of the meal (100% atta flour) I made my own charoset with apples, almonds, cinnamon, honey, and raisins - really tasty, and really looks like mortar.

For the main meal we had a Ashkenazi staple - latkes! Potato pancakes, with nothing dairy and absolutely no flour inside. In fact, there was absolutely no dairy in the meal. I made beef patties for meat - yum! And I deepfried crisp potato skins as a special treat! Ribena substituted kosher wine (hee hee)..

Below is the improvised matzo bag with compartments - a large napkin.

Here's the recipes I used:

Matzo

3 parts all-purpose/atta flour

1 part water

Heat oven to 220C or higher. Stir flour and water until well combined. The dough should be soft but not sticky, the texture of modelling clay. Flour rolling surface well. Roll a portion the dough out very quickly with rolling pin, into a thin sheet, as thin as possible, use the cake/pie pan bottom to cut to shape. Invert dough onto the pan bottom and pierce with a cake comb/fork all over. Grease the cake/pie pan lightly with oil and bake. If you are making square/rectangle matzo, you can use a pasta machine to roll out the shapes. Bake until golden brown but not burnt. The matzo will be crisp and hard. For a more tasty matzo, add olive oil, salt, or even honey. You can use egg, if you wish - use a recipe for egg-based pasta.

Latkes

6 potatoes- washed and peeled

3 eggs

1/2 large onion, peeled

Salt and pepper to taste

Grate onions in your food processor using the smallest grater. Grate potatoes using the largest grater. Transfer to a mixing bowl and stir to combine. Break in eggs and season with salt and pepper. Stir well and fry heaped spoonfuls with oil over low fire until golden brown.

Meat patties:

1 kg beef

2 eggs

Salt, Pepper, grated onions, and worchestershire

Mix ingredients, and fry a test patty (to ensure that there is enough seasoning.) Shape meat into balls/patties with hands and gry.

Charoset (which makes a really good raw, vegan, parve, jam)

A sprinkle of cinnamon

A handful of almonds

2 soggy, yucky, apples

A handful of raisins,

A drizzle of honey

A splash of wine (I did not use this)

Blend almonds in food processor. Add in everything else and blend. (Feel free to improvise your own recipe with whatever you have on hand.) This goes really well with toasted bread and butter.

Fried Potato Skin - Take the potato peels from the latkes, examine them to remove bad spots and greens (there were none) and then deep fry. I stir-fried them again before dinner to make sure they were crispy enough

I hope these recipes may be help to you!

Shalom,

Beka.

Challah for Shabbat

2011-04-30T13:06:00.000+08:00

The joy of Shabbat dinner is one of sharing, and breaking the bread of fellowship.

We had and a milchig-free dinner! All meat and no milk ;) parve challah served with honey, or balsamic vinegar, rosemary and olive dip. Mummy whipped up a colorful salad, and baked roast chicken (seasoned with herbs (esp rosemary olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon, etc. - no butter ;0 )

A milchig dessert, Dream Whip rose, a chocolate ice-cream cake (Rose Levy Beranbaum's cocoa souffle roll layered with banana, nestle choc ice cream, and drizzled with hersheys ). Daddy, as usual, made double shot espressos.

This is our second "kosher" meal. We cannot keep kashrut laws (even Cold Storage has few items marked "K"), and we cannot observe the 613 mitzvot, nor do we strive to, but it is fun and natural to share our table with love, hospitality, and kosher-inspired food :).

Read more about Challah here:

Mini Cakes

2011-04-28T11:07:00.003+08:00

Shalom! I've recently baked two of these little cakes and decided to share them here on the blog.

Both are 4-in wide brownie cakes, one with coffee custard the other banana custard. (No recipe, just whipped up). I have made some amendments and improvements to the brownie cakes - tastes better every time but still long way to go.

Chocolate fondant (cocoa powder + sticky BWY fondant), and chocolate plastic. This design is based on a family heirloom belt bought by my grandpa in the US a long time ago. Cocoa gave it a tarnished and rusty look that I wanted.

And this cake is a simple miniature cake with red fondant flowers. I am still practicing basic things like covering a cake with fondant...

Lots of Country Seed Bread - 10 Loaves

2011-04-21T17:20:00.000+08:00

Really Easy to make Country-Seed Bread Recipe. We make them in bulk for our family, and freeze them to last.

Frosty Apple Peel Roses

2011-04-19T17:18:00.000+08:00

Leftover apple peels, cooked and boiled until soft, shaped, and frozen until frosty :)

Twinkies Experimentation

2011-03-09T12:52:00.000+08:00

My brother loves twinkies. I tried to make them a few times. This is from an experiment a looong while back.

You can see that I baked them upright in a foil mold. It was finicky to work with. If there is next time, I'm going with horizontal molds - not vertical!

Cooled, Opened,

Filled with a soupy, sweet, spur-of-the-moment white vanilla frosting

Filled by this "Cake Derator" I got when I went to the Malaysian Cake Decorator's Anniversary Outing :)

Bake with Beka: Making Latkes

2011-01-18T16:34:00.002+08:00

Bake with Beka: Making Latkes from Rebekah Mui on Vimeo.

Here's a super-simple method of making delicious potato pancakes!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato_pancake

My simple recipe found in the video is as follows:

You'll need:
3 large potatoes
1 large onion
3 eggs
1/2 cup flour (I used wholewheat)

Method:
1) Peel the Onion
2) Scrub, Peel (Optional), and remove blemishes from the potatoes
3) Fit your food processor with the largest grater and grate potatoes and onion
4) Switch the grater to the dough blade and measure in flour. Add in seasoning to taste (salt and pepper)
amd process the mixture until well mixed. Finally Break in eggs one by one.
5) Empty the latke batter into a bowl
6) Heat some olive oil in a nonstick pan, then ladle in heaped scoops of the batter, and fry over low heat until very golden brown.

Serve latkes warm. Latkes are a simple and delicious accompaniment to steaks, sausages, and other European-style meat dishes. Latkes are traditionally made during Channukah. I ate these latkes in a sandwhich with challah and egg omelettes!

Mount Olive Butter Cake

2011-01-04T13:55:00.001+08:00

And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives,

which is before Jerusalem on the east,

and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

(Zechariah 14:4 KJV)

Wedding Cake

2010-12-16T12:07:00.002+08:00

Rice, Rice

2010-12-16T12:06:00.001+08:00

During the last school holidsy, cousin Jeremiah came over to stay with us. He and Sam cooked several times, and we even made scratch lasagna (meaning, we made mixed and rolled our own pasta) but used a precooked sauce. Isn't this so chunky and delicious? The picture speaks for itself.

This is mushroom rice :) I made it myself. It's a quick-and-easy one-bowl lunch.

THE Traditional Challah

2010-12-09T13:24:00.005+08:00

Baking With Beka: Making Challah from Rebekah Mui on Vimeo.

The Bread Bible at the Book Depository

Recipe by Rose Levy Beranbaum - the Bread Bible

(I adapted the recipe slightly, combining with the sourdough challah recipe on the blog found here: )

Quote:

Dough Starter (Sponge): minimum 1 hour, maximum 24 hours

Minimum Rising Time: 4 hours

Oven Temperature: 350°F. (tent with foil after 30 minutes)

Baking Time: 45 to 55 minutes

Makes: A 14-by-6-by-4 1/2-inch-high-loaf

Equipment: An 18-by12-inch baking sheet, lightly greased with cooking spray or oil or lined with a Silpat or parchment; a baking stone OR baking sheet

Dough Starter (Sponge)
INGREDIENTS
MEASUREMENTS
WEIGHT

volume
ounces
grams
water (70o to 90o F)

2/3 liquid cup
5.5 ounces
156 grams
instant yeast
1 teaspoon
--

3.2 grams

unbleached all purpose flour

1 cup
.

142 grams

3 large eggs
scant 2/3 cup liquid
5.25 ounces 150 grams
(weighed without shells)
honey
2 tablespoons
about 1.5 ounces
40 grams

1) Early in the morning or the night ahead, make the sponge. In a mixer bowl or other large bowl, place the flour, yeast, water, honey, and eggs. Whisk until very smooth to incorporate air, about 2 minutes. The sponge will be the consistency of a very thick batter. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and set aside, covered with a plastic wrap.

Flour Mixture and Dough
INGREDIENTS
MEASUREMENTS
WEIGHT

volume
ounces
grams
cider vinegar
1 tablespoon

unbleached all purpose flour (use Harvest King)

4 2/3 cups (plus 2 to 3 tablespoons for kneading)
23.3 ounces (plus 0.7 ounce)

662 grams
(plus about 20 grams)
instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons
.
4 grams
salt
1 tablespoon
0.7 ounce
19.8 grams
2 large eggs
6 tablespoons (3 fluid ounces)
3.5 ounces 100 grams
(weighed without shells)
honey
6 tablespoons (3 fluid ounces)
.
120 grams
corn oil
1/3 liquid cup
2.5 ounces
72 grams

2 ) Combine the ingredients for the flour mixture and add to the sponge. Whisk the flour and the yeast. Then whisk in the salt (this keeps the yeast from coming in direct contact with the salt, which would kill it). Sprinkle this mixture on top of the sponge. Cover it tightly with plastic wrap and let it stand for 1 to 4 hours at room temperature. (During this time, the sponge will bubble through the flour mixture in places; this is fine.)

3); Mix the dough.

Mixer Method Add the eggs, oil, honey, and vinegar. With the dough hook, beat on medium speed (#4 if using KitchenAid) for about 5 minutes or until the dough is smooth and shiny. Lightly sprinkle some of the flour for kneading onto a counter and scrape the dough onto it. Knead the dough, adding a little flour if necessary so that it is just barely tacky (sticky). (The dough will weigh about 3 pounds, 5 ounces/1504 grams)

Hand Method Add the eggs, oil, honey, and vinegar. With a wooden spoon or your hand, stire the mixture until the flour is moistened. Knead the dough in the bowl until it comes together, then scrape it onto a floured counter. Knead the dough about 5 minutes, just to begin to develop the gluten structure, adding as little of the extra flour as possible. Use a bench scraper to scrape the dough and gather it together as you knead it. At this point, it will be very sticky. Cover it with the inverted bowl and allow it to rest for 20 minutes. (This rest will make the dough less sticky and easier to handle.)

Knead the dough for 5 minutes or until it is very elastic and bounces back when pressed with a fingertip. Add a little more flour if necessary so that it is just barely tacky (sticky). (The dough will weigh about 3 pounds, 5 ounces/1504 grams)

Both Methods

4); Let the dough rise. On a lightly floured counter-top, round the dough into a ball. Place the dough into a 4 quart dough rising container or bowl, greased lightly with cooking spray or oil. Push down the dough and lightly spray or oil the top of the dough. Cover the container with a lid, plastic wrap or a damp towel. With a piece of tape mark on the side of the container approximately where double the height would be. Allow the dough to rise, ideally at 75 to 80 °F., until it has doubled, 1 to 2 hours (to 2 quarts).

Gently deflate the dough by pushing it down, give it 2 business letter turns and allow to rise a second time. (The second rising takes about 45 minutes to an hour, or refrigerate it overnight.

Flatten the dough gently by pressing down on it, so as not to activate the gluten, making it stretchy. If desired, for best flavor development, the dough now can be placed in a larger container or wrapped loosely with plastic wrap, placed in a 1 gallon plastic bag, and refrigerated overnight -- in which case give it a turn or two first. Allow it to sit a room temperature for 20 minutes after dividing in 4 pieces and preshaping into logs.

Glaze

INGREDIENTS
MEASUREMENTS
WEIGHT

volume
ounces
grams
lightly beaten egg
2 tablespoons
.
33 grams
water
1 teaspoon
.
.
Optional: poppy seeds
4 teaspoons
.
12 grams

5) Shape the dough, glaze it, and let it rise (See Pages 72-74 of the Bread Bible)

Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces (214 to 217 grams each). Shape them into little logs, cover them with proofer or greased plastic wrap—no need to rest unless refrigerated overnight as they get more gluten development. Start by rolling one piece of dough on the counter into as long rope, 13 inches. (Keep the rest covered while working with one-at-a-time.) Taper both ends of each dough rope to about 4 inches down so that they are narrower than the rest of the dough rope. (Allow the ropes to rest covered if stretchy.)

Starting from one tapered end, (middle, if doing a 3 strand braid) braid the strands. Pull the dough more as you come to the ends of the braid so that it comes to more of a point. Pinch the strands together at the end of the braid.

Don't allow too much bulge in the middle, i.e. braid tightly so that it doesn't spread when rising and baking. Push the ends together a little so that the loaf is about 14 inches long by 4 inches wide by 2 1/2 inches high. Place the loaf on the prepared baking sheet.

6) Brush with glaze and cover. Let it rise about 1 hour.

7) Preheat the oven: 45 minutes before baking preheat the oven to 325°F. Have the oven shelf at the lowest level and place a baking stone or baking sheet on it before preheating.

5) Glaze and bake the challah. Remove the plastic wrap and brush the challah all over with the egg glaze, going well into the crevices of the braid. Sprinkle the top with poppy seeds if desired, tilting the pan slightly to have access to the sides.

Quickly but gently set the bread onto the hot baking stone or hot baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes., then tent loosely with a large sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil, and bake for another 25-35 minutes or until the bread is a deep golden brown and a skewer inserted in the middle should come out clean. (An instant read thermometer inserted into the center will read about 190°F.)

6) Cool the challah on a rack.

I dream of Chocolate

2010-12-08T19:03:00.000+08:00

The ideal chocolate dessert?

Italian Chocolate Affogato Brownie.

A unfortunately not very photogenic dessert.

but it's rich, semi-sweet, piping hot, chocolate-chip loaded square of gooey homemade chocolate brownie,

topped with super-rich semi-sweet ultra-dark gooey and creamy homemade chocolate ice cream,

sprinkled with crunchy 1/8inch sized fresh roasted peanuts,

drizzled with hot, homemade, sticky caramel with that confectionery deep brown glow,

and drenched in two tablespoons freshly-ground, freshly brewed, creamy, black-as-soot, Cuban double-shot espresso, the kind that's so bitter it makes you jump at first sip.

While eating, do not fail to savor the blend of crunchy, gooey, smooth, creamy, cold, hot, and sticky. Close your eyes. Think... chocolate.

photo from Chocolate Siztas, which doesn't seem to have much to do with chocolate except for this photograph :)

Rules of Good Eating by Rebekah Mui

2010-11-23T17:33:00.002+08:00

Prevention is Better than Cure

The statistics should scare us. Disease, cancer, and obesity are on the rise. Poverty is on the rise, but so it excessive spending of the rich. In developed nations, obesity is a killer. In underdeveloped nations, malnutrition takes many lives. I am not here to present statistics. You can check them out yourself.

*Links
http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/publications/facts/obesity/en/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malnutrition
http://www.obesityinamerica.org/statistics/index.cfm

Development And Health

Nations are on our way to becoming developed. Look at America - homosexuality, promiscousity, premature sexualization of young children, obesity, etc. are rising. Society is becoming even more evil and corrupt. Is that what we want for our family? Do we want to be a "developed" nation, in the sense that an elect group people can buy food that they want, drive cars that they want, and kill themselves with pleasures that today satisfy and tomorrow destroy you? People just want to do what they want and ignore the consequences, while other people are barely have enough food to eat or clean water to drink. Some people die because they have no choice, some people die because they had the choice to do otherwise, but it was too difficult, too troublesome, and just "not worth the effect" to them. Is that the kind of society that we want to raise?

Development has its good. The rise of technology saves many lives because health care is available. However, it also destroys many lives, because people who eat over-processed and unnatural food, a result of food technology which allows us to eat wonderful, tasty, food. People eventually get sick.

According to the World Health Organization:

As incomes rise and populations become more urban, diets high in complex arbohydrates give way to more varied diets with a higher proportion of fats, saturated fats and sugars. At the same time, large shifts towards less physically demanding work have been observed worldwide. Moves towards less physical activity are also found in the increasing use of automated transport, technology in the home, and more passive leisure pursuits.

Example 1: Honey and Sugar

Ask yourselves - why is it cheaper to buy sugar than honey? Sugar kills many. It causes diabetes, and many other problems. Honey, however is a natural sweetener. You cannot have too much of it, because you will vomit. This is a natural prevention for over-consumption. It has much good, unlike refined sugar, which is terrible for us. However, poor people cannot afford to buy honey, but can afford to buy sugar, which was subsidised. You cannot force people to choose honey over sugar, but you can make it more readily available.

Links on both sides of the issue (Key word: MODERATION)
http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/honey-vs-sugar.html
http://www.honey-health.com/honey-8.shtml
http://www.truthaboutabs.com/health-benefits-honey-vs-sugar.html
http://www.brighthub.com/health/alternative-medicine/articles/13379.aspx

Free Choice?

People cannot decide for themselves what is good for them. Every one will "give in" to their own desires. If most young people had a choice, they rather feed their tastebuds with deep fried, processed, cholestrol-packed fast-food than eat a good, wholesome dinner of whole wheat bread, tofu, brown rice, etc.

Wheat is too processed today. Much of the healthy, edible, parts of the wheat are thrown away in favor of a smoother, tastier, and softer result. Of course, one cannot eat too much of anything. Too much wheat and too little fruits, and it will affect your glucose rate, and you may also end up with scurvy in the worst case . Lack of sugar or fat is just as bad as no fat. Glucose levels in otherwise healthy foods are bad for you. Too much soya causes cancer. Butter is wonderful for you, but too much of it will simply make you fat. Don't just focus on one aspect of food - for example the calories or cholestrol. Take the food as a whole. For example, some health-consious people only eat the egg white as it is cholestrol free, but they forget that the egg yolk is full of essential nutrients and protein! People are afraid to take dairy because of its fat content, but then they need to take calcium pills. Fiber, for example very good for us and prevents many diseases, but needs to be consumed with plenty of water.

Links:

Whole Wheat:
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=66
http://www.healthcastle.com/whole-grains.shtml
http://hubpages.com/hub/Benefits-of-Whole-Wheat
http://chetday.com/wholewheat.htm
http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/benefits-of-whole-wheat-6417.html

Egg Yolks
http://chetday.com/eggyolk.htm
http://www.cholesterol-and-health.com/Egg_Yolk.html
http://healthmad.com/nutrition/is-eating-egg-yolk-bad-for-your-health/

Principles of Good Eating - balance them

1) Eat as natural as possible. Eat food the way God created it, as a whole package. Avoid processed foods. Avoid over cooking your foods.
For example, juices are nice to have, but eating the fruits whole is better, because most juicing systems do not really juice properly, and you end up wasting vitamins and fibers. If you take the fruit as a whole, you will have no problem. http://www.marksdailyapple.com/whats-wrong-with-juicing/

Eat whole grains - they are full of fiber. Eat potatoes with the skins (boiled, not deep fried). Eat them with a little salt and not with a pound of butter.

Drink milk, not with meat, but with breakfast. It's filling, full of good fats, natural calcium, and tastes wonderful. What about blending whole fruits into yogurt? Smoothies are really healthy and filling.
Eat the grape with the skin and swallow the seeds.

Use your common sense to get the most out of your money. Try not to waste food parts. If it is not good for eating, simply throw it into your garden and bury it in the soil.

Juicing: . http://www.marksdailyapple.com/whats-wrong-with-juicing/
Potato Skin: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-nutritional-value-of-the-potato-skins.htm
Fruits: http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/t042600.asp

2) Eat a variety Don't concentrate on one particular food. Eat a variety of vegetables, fruits, carbohydrates, and proteins. Experience a variety of natural fruits and vegetables

http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga95/variety.htm

3) Eat in moderation. Don't binge on anything. Too much of a good thing will kill you.

King James Bible Proverbs 25:16
Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.

How: http://hoodiaandweightloss.com/hunger-and-appetite-suppression/learning-how-to-eat-in-moderation/

4) Eat local Our bodies have adjusted to the foods available locally. You don't have to spend a lot of money to buy imported blueberries, for example, when you could easily find bananas or papayas in much larger quantities. It's more worth your money.

Why: http://fogcity.blogs.com/jen/2005/08/10_reasons_to_e.html

5) Eat Free of pesticides, herbicides, and drugs. Don't eat pills or supplements. Your body was not made for eating funny-colored tablets. Maybe pharmeceutical companies and money-makers want to convince you that you need to take Vitamin C supplements, but why buy pills when you can eat papayas? You can't overdose on Vitamin C if you eat if the way it naturally is found in nature! If you eat a moderate, healthy, natural, diet, you will have less to worry about by way of health. Its ridiculous to think that you can eat a couple of pills then splurge on fatty meats, deep fried oils, animal intestines, etc and get away with it!

http://www.mindorgasms.com/modern-medicine-bad-for-your-health/
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/modern-medicine-versus-nature.html

6) Eat Frugally - Not expensive. It's okay to splurge on a special occasion, but don't be deceived by clever marketing tactics. You can eat healthy, natural food, without spending hundreds of money at the organic shop.

How: http://www.wisebread.com/healthy-frugal-eating

7) Eat only what you need. Our body's needs are simple. We need to stop feeding ourselves and feed our bodies. Stop letting your food eat you and eat food instead!

http://m.wikihow.com/Eat-Properly

8) Eat Simple Don't be obsessed with eating healthy. Don't spend too much time being consumed with eating healthy, buying health foods, and cooking complicated meals. There are so many important things in your life, like your family. Your body serves you, and you don't serve your body. If you are a wise and good master, you will have a happy servant.

http://zenhabits.net/simplify-your-eating-habits-and-meals/
http://www.coreperformance.com/daily/one-small-change/6-lessons-for-simple-eating.html
http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2008/04/simple-life-my-journey-towards-simple.html

9) Eat Wholesome Don't waste or throw away parts. You are throwing your money away, because you paid for all the parts you don't like as well as the parts you like. Apple skins can be eaten. Don't eat the core - it wasn't meant for you to eat. Apple seeds contain cyanide and overdoses (in the unlikely case of you collecting a whole jar full of apple seeds and eating them all at once) can kill you. Keep a compost bin to recycle organic waste. Learn to do simple gardening, for example, grow chillies. Your waste will feed the chilies which will feed you. In the end, you benefit from saving the waste. However, what parts should I eat and what parts should I not eat? Well, the best and scientifically proven guidebook to eating is the Bible - yes, it is. It gives life to all who find it.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Healthy-Whole-Foods-Eating---The-Basics&id=166918
http://bicycling.about.com/od/cyclingforabetterbody/a/whole_foods.htm
http://www.suite101.com/content/eating-whole-foods-to-achieve-health-a207407
http://www.suite101.com/content/eating-whole-foods-to-achieve-health-a207407
http://cancerdietitian.com/2010/03/why-eating-whole-foods-not-processed-is-important.html

10) Eat... And drink. Drink lots of water. Drink at least 2 liters a day. It is essential to your health. Try to drink a glass of water before dinner, to prevent
http://nutrition.about.com/od/hydrationwater/a/waterarticle.htm
http://www.wikihow.com/Drink-More-Water-Every-Day
http://www.dumblittleman.com/2007/07/9-great-reasons-to-drink-water-and-how.html
http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-Drinking-Water-Is-Vital-and-Important-for-You&id=5009999

11) Eat According to Biblical Guidelines - Most important! God created our bodies and He knows what is best for them.

Here I outline the Biblical guidelines for eating, which is not the same as the Rabbinical guides to eating kosher! There is are a lot of differences! Key: Eating Rabbinically kosher is biblical, but eating Biblical may not strictly Rabbinically kosher!

I shall eat and was made to eat from the beginning:
1) All fruits, grains, herbs, and vegetables (Genesis)
2) Honey
3) Breast milk (for babies only)

I am permitted to eat and drink (after the Flood, because of the state of sinful man,)
1) Certain meats (such as poultry, mutton, and beef) of
2) Certain insects
3) Fish with scales
4) Milk (but not with meat)
5) Wine, with meat with (instead of milk), but getting drunk is forbidden. I suggest if you

Animals that:
1) Chew and Cud AND
2) Have cloven hooves

However,
1) Never eat blood
2) Never eat fat
3) Never eat entrails
4) Never eat the meat of a milk-producing animal with milk
5) Seafood without scales
6) Never eat animals killed by strangling
7) Never eat food offered to idols

These are the best and healthiest guidelines! The things that I can eat and was made to eat, I eat. The things that I am permitted to eat, I eat moderately. The things I am forbidden/strongly advised not to eat, I should not eat at all or, if I really love them, once in a long while. Keeping the law will never save us, but it is full of life and wisdom. A mom that tells her son not to smoke is not purposely trying to restrict his happiness or make him miserable, and he is still her son even if he does persist in insisting to smoke, but for his own good, for his own health, for his own life 's sake, and out of love for his mother, he should just do what she says.

We can still be God's children whether we eat pork or not, but He told His precious people not to.

Biblical Eating: (More to come on that later!)
http://www.enduringword.com/commentaries/0311.htm

Some Benefits of Eating Kosher
http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Top-Five-Benefits-Of-Eating-Kosher-Meals/1154566
http://www.aish.com/jl/m/mm/48945306.html
http://www.wellsphere.com/wellpage/benefits-of-kosher-foods
http://www.helium.com/items/1543396-health-benefits-of-kosher-food
http://www.becomenatural.com/blog/2007/01/kosher-for-everyone/

Also, fasting is medically proven to be healthy. Don't just fast = live a fasted life.

http://www.healthpromoting.com/Articles/articles/benefit.htm
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1834
http://www.medindia.net/news/healthwatch/benefits-of-fasting-53257-1.htm

Don't just fast = live a fasted life.

*Caution about links throughout the article: I may not agree completely with the values, conclusions, facts, message, etc. of the links. I try to present both sides of the issue. What I"m trying to encourage here is healthy, common-sense, moderate eating! Please notify me if the websites linked have inppropriate content!

Super-Recommendation by the author-

IBLP Basic Care Bulletins
http://iblp.org/iblp/discipleship/totalhealth/
http://iblp.org/iblp/discipleship/totalhealth/carebulletins/listing/

Challah

2010-11-14T20:07:00.058+08:00

Dear readers, I have just found my favorite bread recipe for now - Rose Levy Beranbaum's Traditional Challah from the bread bible! You won't believe how delicious and rich the bread it! So light, fluffy, and the loaves are just a gorgeous brown with a crisp crust. Here's her website, and here's the recipe.

You start with the sponge, and cover it with flour and let it sit overnight in the fridge. Look how the flour gets cracks from the active starter, that eventually bubbles through!

I kneaded the double-batch by hand. Look how the before-after contrasts! It was fun, but the dough was sticky!

Really, big, batch of dough.

I let it rise overnight in the fridge - that's why the flavour was amazing.

I followed the Bread Bible's instructions for four-braided challah. It took me awhile to get the technique. That was fun!

The small, braided loaves.

Brushed with egg glaze, risen, and now baking!

Look at that splendid crust!

I need more practice with the braiding. These, by the way, are dairy free (parve) and are a special for shabbat. Traditionally, two are made, because Moses (or Moshe) commanded the Israelites to collect double manna for Shabbat. One (symbolically) is for friday, and one for saturday.

This is a nontraditional, sweet, buttery bread with chocolate-smear, like a kugelholf.

Look at that FLUFFY interior, and its just as fluffy with wholewheat!

I so happened to have a little ball of dough leftover after braiding the largest loaf. It became the "Cohen's Portion" (Wiki on Challah Mitzvot). How fun!

This is the giant challah. I love the braided appearance, but mummy complains its hard to store in the freezer because of its irregular size, so next time it goes into a bread pan, but I still want to braid it :)

This was a gift.

No, I have yet to make a Challah cover. We don't really keep Shabbat laws. I hope that we can have a lovely Shabbat dinner one of these days, with roast chicken and potatoes, honey, wine, parve cake, grilled vegetables, etc.

This is whole wheat challah - fluffy and full of flavor. I intend to use Atta whole wheat flour next time, as it has a fine grind, and still is very good whole wheat.

Red Roses Anniversary Cake

2010-10-27T19:42:00.000+08:00

"O, my love's like a red, red rose

That's newly sprung in June"

Thus said Robert Burns.

Twenty,

red,

roses

Sweet,

Set atop a plate.

Tis' to commemerate

A 20th Anniversary

Petals,

adorn the golden plate,

also called a cake board.

The cake, a delectable brownie,

Swathed in bittersweet eau de chocolat,

Sweet, yet not to sweet,

Enrobed in the aroma of cacao, fat, and sugar,

What we call,

Chocolate.

Golden butter, pure, was creamed,

Sugar was stirred in,

Egg yolks beaten to pale ribbons the color of dusky sunshine,

Egg whites, white, stiff,

yes, gloriously fluffy.

Cocoa and water, combined and cooked,

Little morsels of chocolate chips

Sifted flour, delicately aerated.

The cake was baked cooled, and frosted,

Then glazed with a whole glass of thick eau de chocolat,

Set upon a fine board,

and waited.

Red fondant flowers,

One by one formed,

Petal by petal thinned,

Bud by bud modelled,

Each rose with a indentity of its own,

Each trying its best to resemble its counterpart in nature,

Then arranged upon the cake,

Red upon deep black-brown,

And finally, the last touch,

Red petals fall upon the plate,

to adorn its sides.

As if each rose had spread its wings,

And shed its outer petals.

The baker was tired,

Her hair was a mess,

Her elbows were covered in gel food coloring,

But she hopes she did her best.

Cupcake Designs

2010-10-07T11:57:00.000+08:00

UPDATE!

2010-09-24T18:53:00.000+08:00

Excuse me,

It has been AGES since i have updated regularly. Its not like i haven't been baking - I HAVE, its just all the numerous problems with lighting, camera cards, and plain laze-ness added in, so I just never got around to posting anything!

I have mostly been working on developing whole-wheaten, natural, and efficient baked foods. I have also been baking lots of healthy and healthier (there IS a difference between the two) breads and muffins. No, I have not stoppe Cake Decorating,

but you see I have found greater hobby, and that is studying the Torah, well not just the Torah, the Tanakh as a whole, and also the B'rit Chadashah too. See my other, later, blog that has exceed this one by 10 posts! Well, all I can say is the Torah (Teaching) of God is life-giving as a whole and I just can't get enough of it. So.. ahem... priorities get fixed in place very quickly.

This is my "Blessing Cupcake Tier" of 70+ cupcakes, + a miniature cake, all Rose Levy Beranbaum's Downy Yellow Butter Cake decorated with Swiss Meringue Buttercream an fondant flowers. I did it specially for a wedding vow renewal at my church.

LQ and Jemima helped me with the flowers. They did a great job. Aunty J came over and bake the cupcakes with me. Mummy built the amazing rotatable one-of-kind cupcake tier out of Chinese new year cookie plastic containers and cake boards and a tv-rotater. Its so beautiful. She spent the whole day building it! Daddy sponsered the project, church family project. Lots of fun and lots of work. The whole service went well. Samuel and I played the entrance "Pachelbel's Canon in D".

Make you own cupcake wrappers

2010-06-23T21:37:00.000+08:00

This looks like a LOT of fun! I haven't tried it yet, but I totally intend to for fun! Mummy thinks its xiao (hokkien for crazy) to make lots of these, but comparing the effort of making homemade ones and buying the expensive sort I'd go with making my own any day!

Anyway, i was thinking things like stiff wrapping paper, sequins, tinfoil, craft-punched stuff will make the covers look really pro! Happy baking... and cupcake-liner-making!

I heart lasagna!

2010-06-15T20:15:00.002+08:00

It's been a month!

2010-06-07T20:56:00.000+08:00

Hey... it's been a month since i've updated. Hmm... I'm trying to think back on wht I've baked and I'm scratching my head - those little bits of biscuit and muffin and bread... the things I'm too lazy to take picture off. Looking back to last year, I think I did a lot more baking, but now I'm slowing down - not losing steam but being less "here and there" and everywhere...and I have yet to make much chocolate roses these last two months... I think i'm recovering... also trying to concentrate other things. So what have I baked today? 23 overflowing downy yellow butter cupcakes with swiss meringue frosting for my dear friend Jemima's birthday! She came over in the morning and we made cupcakes while her mom went out and bought food for a victorian tea party for her! She sure got a surprise when she got home. She decorated some heart sprinkles on the cupcakes to make them look like clovers.

Miniature Fondant Fruits of Malaysia

2010-05-10T20:20:00.001+08:00

These were fun to make out of fondant . I would like feedback and tips about the techinique of making these :)

Bananas - not very real. I used clay caning techniques to make the insides, every one of these can be cut open to reveal banana and seeds

Group photo :)

Guava

Honeydew with seeds inside. Cut open to reveal seeds

Mango and slices of mango

Seafood Chocolate Cake

2010-05-06T16:48:00.000+08:00

No... not a chocolate cake baked with seafood! A special cake decorated with chocolate plastic lala and fondant oyster... the cake is the Perfect All-American Chocolate butter cake from the cake bible, and the icing is custard fudge. It was fun and difficult at the same time. Cake took me 1 hr to mix, FOUR HOURS TO DECORATE!.... phew!

Hearth Bread from Bread Bible

2010-04-28T13:39:00.000+08:00

Discourse here. Stone ground wheat berries and flax seed!

See how beautiful and crisp the hearth bread is. The holes are so beautiful. I did all the rises and the whole 24 hr sponge starter in the fridge. It was the night the electricity went out, and I couldn't open the fridge and check my starter until the electricity came back. Meanwhile I slept. The minute the electricity came back I woke up and ran downstairs. It was a good thing the starter was fine.

The only con to this bread is the high baking temperature. I can't do this too often, or else the electricity bill will "rocket sky high"

Swan Cake

2010-04-20T13:12:00.000+08:00

This was for my last yrs birthday - a bit messy bcos I was trying to make this into a pond. this is a great way to use up dried fondant - blend in the blender, and it comes out just like rocks!

White Velvet Butter cake

2010-04-05T20:38:00.001+08:00

Another delicacy from the Cake Bible, this 9-inch sloped cake was baked in a glass pan, spread with Custard creme mousseline, dribbled with melted chocolate, then topped with custard creme swirl roses. It was for the March birthdays in church.

With the Cake bible I take extra care in follow the recipes, as meticulous as an excited 15-yr-old girl can be, but it really is worth it with the wonderful cakes that result from such detailed instructions!

Beka Bakes Brownies Video

2010-03-29T20:18:00.002+08:00

Bread Pictures

2010-03-29T20:17:00.000+08:00

I just came back from Melaka.... here are some pictures of my country seed bread (recipe link here) baking... which now will be much improved by the addition of the Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum to my collection.

Country Seed Bread Variations
Oat Seed bread
1)1 cup rolled oats, 2 tablespoons millet, 2 tablespoons wheat berries, and 2 tablespoons of buckwheat groats, soaked for 8-12 hrs in about 3 cups of water and drained. Reserve water. Oats at this stage can be cooked in the microwave and eaten, it will be mushy, but other seeds still firm and chewy after being cooked for 2 minutes.
2) 1/3 cup ground flaxseed (20gms)
3) 4 tsp yeast (13gm), proofed with 1/4 cup sugar (50gm) in reserved water mixed with filtered water to make 2 1/2 cups. (475gm) Water microwaved for 30 seconds to 90 degrees fahrenheit, then another 20 seconds to 100 degrees, it is lightly warm to the touch. Proofing took 5 mins 30 seconds from addition of yeast and sugar, but I was only able to use it at 14 mins.
4) While yeast proofed I mixed 1/4 cup canola and sunflower oil and 15gms (1/2 tablespoon) of salt in the mixer and added in 6 cups of bread flour. To this I added the proofed mixture.
5) Added in a further 52 gms of wheat germ, and 375 gms (3 cups) of wholemeal flour. The mixer kneaded the mixture with a dough hook at minimum then speed 1, then I added in 336 gm of bread flour gradually. THe entire kneading process took 8:18:9 mins.
Dough weighed 1742 gms, or around 1.7kg. The bread's 1st rise was for about 1 hour 10 mins, after which I shaped it into loaves, let it rise for 45 mins, then baked it at 180c

Beka and Samuel on Kuali.com

2010-03-16T14:09:00.000+08:00

Go and check it out: http://kuali.com/

Here's Samuel: http://kuali.com/books/review.asp?file=stories/2010/3/12/443sibli&sec=stories

And here are our recipes (brownie and meatballs): http://kuali.com/stepbystep/

I don't have much time to talk now, but do go and check it out. That's what I have been working on for the past few weeks, thus I was not able to post much.

Tiramisu!

2010-03-09T14:30:00.001+08:00

Here are some of the small ones I did. Uncle Chew has pics of the big one... it looks even better! Mascapone is very expensive, this was only possible bcos of Tesco's nearduedate bargain counter.

Cake Bible

2010-03-08T12:56:00.000+08:00

The Proper pudding consistency for chocolate water... and me with the Cake Bible. I have a piece of plastic to protect it from baking smudges... but there are a few already :(

2010-01-22T13:46:00.001+08:00

Dear readers, (Written Tuesday, 18/1/10)

I am sitting down at my desk, taking a short break from my baking to stop and tell you what I’ve done today. Today I have tried my first recipe in the Cake Bible which Mummy and Daddy bought last week. Mrs. Beranbaum is very detailed and I like the way she scientifically approaches baking. And today I have begun with Lesson 1.

Baking cakes on my own for last year has been a great experience. I have used my own recipes and improved on them, and did all kinds of funny things, including make mistakes, which all turned out well in the end. I seem to have this knack to turn cake failures into something presentable.

Today I baked my second cake in the whole year, and my first recipe from any RLB book. This second cake has been in many ways very similar to my first, which I made last week and will post later, and yet in many ways an improvement.

To tell you the truth, though I have been warned against this in the internet, I took many liberties with the cake I made, the Buttermilk Country cake. Doubling it is no issue to me, since I just have to be careful not to forget to double any ingredient. I decided I didn’t want to go to the trouble of separating 8 eggs, so I searched the book and came across Rose’s ratio for egg yolks to egg whites, which is 2: 1.5, which I doubled to 4:3. SO then I decided to use 4 egg yolks and 3 egg whites. After noting down the different weights, I broke four eggs and separated them. The egg yolks came a bit short so I made up the difference with whites. I was sure this whole egg thing would work out, but I knew it would make a difference in my cake as compared to Mrs. Beranbaum’s original.

Another thing I did was to use fresh Tesco milk instead of buttermilk. This cake is for my Great-Uncle Joshua’s birthday and I was not sure how all my relatives tonight would take the tangy buttermilk taste. Besides, the only buttermilk I know here in Malaysia is substituting two tablespoons of milk for lemon or apple cider vinegar and letting it sit. (Not counting the time I whipped 1/8 cup of fresh cream into ¼ tsp of butter and 1 tsp of buttermilk…. haha). Anyway, that made the cake taste milky.

Furthermore, I used salted butter and then put in ½ a tsp of salt to make it just right. (Mrs. Beranbaum says to cup down 1 tsp for every cup of butter )

I also did not have any cake flour on hand so I subbed with 1/8 cup of cornstarch to ¾ cup of All purpose for every cup. I also ground my own icing sugar out of castor sugar and sifted it because I don’t want to waste icing sugar, haha… gov subsidy removed already, sugar very expensive lah! Oh and I cut down sugar by half – something risky yet I know I HAVE to or else everyone (including me) will complain it’s sweet. As it is, 200gms of sugar is stil a lot!

The cake was mixed, exactly per the plastic-protected Cake bible (You don’t want to know what I can do to books while baking… ). The batter was a little soupy, and did not look buttery but was milky in color.

While it baked I cleaned up and prepped the icing. My recipe for icing is simple: 1 part sugar, 2 parts butter. Most cake decorators told me to double the sugar, resulting in a very firm and stiff icing that is very sweet! It also is so stiff it peels off a layer of the cake when frosting, which means I have to crumbcoat. I dislike that recipe, somehow. I like half the sugar, it makes the icing less sweet, very buttery and smooth, and SO EASY to apply to the cake! It is incredibly tasty because I flavor it.

The icing recipe I used for this cake, which I created on the spur of the moment,

250gm salted butter, 100 gm icing sugar, and 55 gm mixed nuts, creamed. The nuts must be blended until slightly sticky, when the oil have released from the nuts. The oil from the nuts will release its aroma into the buttercream, making the cream very tasty and no tooooo sweet, in fact a nice nutty with a hint of saltiness.

The filling was just the nuts, coarsely blended, with a tsp each of honey, evaporated milk, and homemade pnut butter. You can put anything you like that will bind the nuts together and to the cake.

I applied a thin coat of Butternut Cream, as I called it, to the stacked cake and let it firm in the freezer. Surprisingly I didn’t need all of the icing, still had some left over. The butter firms very well and so I only needed 2/3 of it to coat the whole cake. The whole process is: Smooth cake with spatula and (clean!) fingers, let it firm in freezer, repeat until cake is SUPER smooth like faux fondant. The butternut cream firms so well I can shave smooth the sides, just like fondant. I then applied fondant flowers with piping jelly, and coated the whole cake with piping jelly to make it shine. Piping jelly is sweet and not really necessary, but gave the cake a nice shine. BTW<>

Mummy tells me to take a little batter out of each cake and made a cupcake, so I can be sure the cake turned out fine without having to cut it. The moment I took a bite of the little cupcake I knew that cake was going to be wonderful! It was delicious, tasty, incredibly moist and milky. Not too sweet, not too dry, not to sticky- just right! Daddy told me I can’t go wrong if I follow the recipe. Mmm… I could tell this cake is one class above the normal “butter”cake I make. It is simply scrumptious.

The cake was a success. All the Grands loved it! We ate half that night, and the rest Mama kept for their tea the next day. The cake was delicious, and the butternut cream was what it special, Mama said. I’m glad we got to celebrate Grand Uncle’s birthday with him, and pray he will have many more happy ones. Thanks to mummy n daddy for buying the book and letting me make the cake, and most of all I thank God for giving me the skill, abilities, and resources to bless my beloved Yeye Mama, Kuche, Grand-Uncle Joshua, and Grant-Aunty Elizabeth. Happy Birthday Grand Uncle!

Ps, I have been improving on my fondant flowers, this was the first cake I made this year, and check the flowers out!

My style, grandma's style

2009-11-16T20:03:00.002+08:00

Hi All,
This is a new section of my Baker girl blog, labled "Style by Grandma". I split my blog into 3 sections, as you can see above.

My beloved PoPo is a wonderful at sewing, and from her childhood till now she has been sewing beautiiful dresses and clothes for herself, my mom, my aunts, and my uncles when they were small. She also makes handtowels, covers, curtains, quilts, potholders, and the list just goes on and on! Now she even makes dresses and pajamas for her 7 seven grandchildren. I really appreciate all the love and work she puts into all the clothes she makes - they are all sturdy and very well sewn, none of them have ever torn (as far as I remember). mummy's 70s dresses were preserved for perhaps 30s years till now, where I take them out once again (she outgrew them :) and enjoy.

So, I shall b posting some of Popo's handiwork soon, besides some other things which I have interest in, like past-dressing, vintage styles, and civil war clothing.

I hope this will be of interest to my readers, especially because this was originally a baking blog, now expanded to include some of my other hobbies and interests too!

Beka :)

Domed Cupcakes with rich butter frosting

2009-10-23T13:03:00.003+08:00

Swiss Meringue Buttercream Swirls

The whole set

1-m custard mousseline swirl with Wilton Choc heart spirnkles

1-min SMBC flower

DOME! Yay!

A Grand Cheesecake for Granny

2009-09-28T12:45:00.004+08:00

I was surprised when I asked Mama what cake she wanted for her birthday to receive the reply, "Cheesecake lah... cheesecake is nice"

I decorated it... started simply with some strawberries, white choc piped out with a parchment bag cut to shape, and then topped with choc curls... didn't even plan it... just did it... somehow i'm the kind that has NO idea what my cake will look like when I start, just trying out new techniques and then blending them togather in the end. Sometimes it works... sometimes it's not as nice as I like... i'm pretty happy with this one!

Sushi... sushi,... sushi??

2009-09-28T12:43:00.005+08:00

Cute? This was my next order from lady who ordered my first cake. She requested for the sushi deco to be packaged seperately so she could place them on the cake with some banner or something.

All these sushies as made out of chocolate plastic, rolled buttercream and fondant, so naturally they don't look EXACTLY like real sushi.

What do these look like? Fish eyeballs? Chocolate stuffed with green tea jelly?

Calamari ring with crabmeat and wasabi?

Rolled two colors of choc plastic togather. CHoc plastic with just a hint of black gel coloring is pure black! SO this is supposed to be jerky with wasabi

Sorry for the blurness... soy bean sushi with wasabi wrapped in seaweed?

My favorite - and, according to my aunt, the only one who actually looks like sushi! The crabstick is made with rolled buttercream rolled up and painted!

A Chocolate Fiddler

2009-09-28T12:41:00.014+08:00

Hi all...
Another quick update - here's a choc figurine I did for fun, to knead and soften my choc plastic a bit... as I play the violin and love Little House on the Prarie and Fiddler on the roof, I created a plump little fiddler that sat on a rock, poised erect.
Btw here's me and my precious cello.... And violin... next time maybe I'll make a chocolate cellist?

Microwave Strawberry Jam

2009-09-28T12:41:00.013+08:00

Homemade Super-Easy Microwave Strawberry Jam!

After having good results with the super apple jam from The cook's collection, I wanted to try out strawberry, and it so happened some strawberries were on the bargain counter that day, so I took some home, let them sit in the fridge a few days, then used a recipe from a very good microwave cookbook (where i got my cheese and choc chip recipes)

The results were not as "jelly-firm" and not colored like the storebought ones, and I stored them in St Dalfour's bottle. Sam is a great consumer of strawberry jam and we have lots of empty bottles

Here it is:
500gm strawberries
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 cups sugar.
1) Wash hull and cut strawberries in half
2) Cook with lemon juice in a big casserole dish uncovered for 4 minutes on high.
3) Mix in sugar well. Cook uncovered for 17-20 minutes until jam jells when tested on a cold saucer. Stir occasionally.
4) Pour into hot sterilized jars, seal well and label. (Omit this step if you have a brother in the house who will finish it in a week)

2009-09-22T21:13:00.002+08:00

Haven't updated it sooo long! COuldn't find the XD card adapter... which was behing Samuel Mui's speakr the whole time. Must have dropped behind there accidently. But now I have the adapter, and must update.... so these are bit of leftover mini Chocolat Muses that I had oni a little bit of time to decorate.. so nothing fancy, just dribbling and oozing with chocolate.. I should be Chocolate Girl not baker girl.... hm.... and of course nuts and some gourmet cadbury tiramisu and rum choc

BTW: Accidently figured out how to make choc jimmies: Pipe out choc with a plastic piping bag cut real small, then draw the thin lines all over clear film wrap draped over a bowl or plate. Let them set, then gather up the cling film and scrunch to break the choc up.

Country Seed Bread from All recipes

2009-09-05T11:29:00.003+08:00

Country Seed Bread
SUBMITTED BY: Donna Beth PHOTO BY: esther
"Enjoy this light, nutty-flavoured loaf toasted in the morning, or as a foundation for your favorite sandwich. Toast seeds for a nuttier flavour."

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
• 3/4 cup water
• 4 teaspoons honey
• 4 teaspoons canola oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/3 cups bread flour
• 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 3 tablespoons flax seed
• 4 teaspoons sesame seeds
• 2 teaspoons poppy seeds
• 1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
____________________________________________________________________________

This is an absolutely delicious bread recipe. My mom and I use this as a base for most breads - replacing seed with nuts, raisins, oatmeal, muesli, and replacing flour with ground buckwheat groats, etc.

It's delicious!

Here's a step-by-step to make it simple.

1) Warm the water to 110 degrees celsius,

2) Measure and stir in honey

3) Stir in yeast with a fork (remove thermometer first or you’ll have trouble shaping it)

4) Let it sit for 10 minutes or until frothy, as such

5) While waiting, measure your salt into the mixing bowl

6) Add in Oil

7) Add in wholemeal flour

8) Add in high protein flour

9) Add in nuts/seeds

10) Pour in yeast/water/honey mixture

11) Knead in stand mixer/by hand/bread mixer until the dough springs back quickly when pressed
(For stand mixer, mix with dough hook at minimum speed for 1 minute to combine, then at speed 1 untl done)

12) Grease a bowl and place dough to rise in oven with a mug of boiling hot water
(Remember to remove dough hook)

What-to-do-when-ur-cake-no-rise

2009-09-05T11:10:00.004+08:00

Banana Pops – Cake Pops of the Future

Cake pops… think sticky, think cream cheese, think rich and stuffing, think of the endless stuggle to get them to stay ON the stick… think of pros. Think of copying other ppl’s ideas? But ever heard of Banana pops? Nope, I’m sure u haven’t ‘cos it’s something new… an accident really, that turned out to be something quite interesting.

Pudding pops are great stuff for beginners because it really requires no mess. Banana pops are chewy, soft, and can even be molded. That why they’re invading the Cake Pop Kingdom.

What are they? Okay I’ll tell you. It’s this.

That started like this (ignore the waffle)

Gooey mushy cake. If you want to try this, do the recipe here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Banana-Cake-VI/Detail.aspx , BUT FORGET THE BAKING SODA… Try it out first, don’t make too much.

I was sooo tired and disappointed when my cake didn’t turn out. So upset with myself that I tortured me into stuffing these down my throat every day for a week. A week later, I wanted to try cake pops, so I popped the mush of a cake into the blender for a session.

The minute I lifted off the cover I was in a surprise. The bits of cake had separated into little crumbies like shortbread dough in a food processor. I quickly got a bowl and poured them out, rolled the whole thing into a ball, and there:

So here are some banana pops:

And why not some rainbow-colored ones for children? It’s like fondant, except not so stretchy and pliable, but MUCH easier to work with than crumbly sticky cake pops. It’s pretty much like working with pie dough.

Set them on a tray:

You can coat them with chocolate,

Cocoa:

Make them into roses:

And more! Just try it out and tell me what you think.

Indulgence Brownies

2009-08-18T13:42:00.004+08:00

See Beka's bakery for more information on my September Special discount

Beka, Sandra and Samuel's Pizza

2009-07-31T13:06:00.003+08:00

Ok Sandra kee came over and we made pizza... about 2 months ago so it's HIGH time I post there pics...

Cakies... cakies.... oopsie

2009-07-24T13:24:00.003+08:00

These pretty roses sit nicely on the cake, don't they? And doesn't this cake have a story?

It's Le Chocolat' Muse Ccovered with swiss meringue buttercream, and topped with lotsa roses. For Pastor and his family.

Took this sweetie cake to church, hurried through the deco so could get it there in time, and these pictures were hurried. Got it safely into the fridge and after service, some1 found the cake had somehow slid and knocked the side of the box, and got diplaced plus smearing cream all over the box..... ok oni on 1side... but I stayed cool "Ok I'll take it home to fix and bring it back for service tomorrow morning" good thing I have extra icing in the fridge! Came back and fixed it up real fine! I took my time that night and next morning to smooth the sides perfectly.... looked even better but alas, no pictures... so imagine thisn ice and smooth and you get the picture :)
Some corny muffins... supposedly Kenny Rogers clone. Nice, and fluffy full of corn

Cheesecake for Yeye and Mama's Anniversary. Lemon cheesecake topped with ganache and strawberries. On the way to their house the cake slide and the precarious ganache started sliding out so I drizzled extra ganache around the sides and it looked yummy, but bad photos with my handheld.... so this is it - imagine this with drops of choclate oozing everywhere and you get the picture. On my blog, you need a lot of imagnation and my photo-taking talents hasn't arrived yet.

Minicakes Galore

2009-07-21T19:01:00.004+08:00

Hiya all! Been lazy to update.. have beenbaking baking baking lots of breads and stuffs... Can't believe it's been more than a month...

Ok i'll start off with some minicakes i made for the MCDC competition,
didn't win but i'm still happy with what I made! Enjoy! More to come...soon

2009-06-22T20:28:00.003+08:00

w Page 1Hi All,
I've been SO busy baking I haven't had time to post what i've been baking... haha. Anyway here's some quick shots.

A minicake. Been up to them for the MCDC competition. THis is the only one I'm not entering.

And something dribbling with chocolate

And more chocolate

And even more chocolate

It's called a croquembouche.

more mini cake, an inside view:

My Second order:

Happy birthday EMILY!

And pecan pie. 3 of them and counting

Pizza and Cheesecake and more coming up soon!

A day's work of baking.

2009-06-01T19:37:00.003+08:00

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Saturday night I made the great weeping coffee meringue pie, also featured here.

Pecan Pie

Quiche-Quiche

And the Cuppies: Italian Meringue Buttercream

Aren't these swirls cute? Shows how much I learnt in class, and 1 class really makes a difference. The color of the BC is SO cute becos I used brown sugar... so got peachy color. Daddy's cam is great.

AH my favorite choc roses...

My lovely cuzzins Eunice and Rachel were here, so they were given the task of liberally sprinkling the cuppies with hundred and thousands. They had fun!

Ok I will post up a pic of the whole dinner/tea later (at 5:30 we started eating, was in such a rush!).

Menu:

Profiteroles with Creme Mousseline

Pecan Pie

Two Quiche Lorraines

Banana Cake

Butter Cupcakes with Italian Meringue Buttercream

Pasta Salad

Japanese Jelly

etc.etc. So you know what I spend the whole day on today. =) Ravioli coming soon. The cuzzins of mine - Handsome Boy John and Slim Jim Jerimiah are here to stay the week during the hols

All in a day's work

2009-06-01T19:21:00.002+08:00

Whew! My feet are aching and I'm awful tired... cos.. cos... I've been baking straight from 11am to 5pm! Gong-gong and Popo came up from melaka for the day and me and mummy undertook this fun task of baking tea. I'm still grateful for the Kenwood Premier Daddy bought.. saved us a LOT of work!

Ok, I started out with making the pie doughs for 2 quiches and a pecan pie. Saturday night I made the great weeping coffee meringue pie, also featured here.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2447/3585308452_ccd14577d7_m.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3553/3584501559_2c75c59bd6_m.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3640/3584498351_9fec35d7cc_m.jpg

Cupple 'o' Cuppies and Cuppie Class

2009-05-29T19:14:00.003+08:00

Joy's cuppies

My cupcakes

Deb's cuppacakkes
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These are pics from last Sat. Deb, Reb, and Joyce went over for a cuppie class by Miss Eunice from Dolce Cupcakes. Do check out web. Anyway, the great sifu Miss Eunice taught us buttercream swirls and roses, fondant piggies, and other things. Yes, I did buy a Wilton 1m from Chang Tung on the way home! Even had dessert of crunchy, crumbly, Apple crumble... yums. Thanks Eunice for the class. Hope for another class soon!

My Fahsion Piggy:

Anyway, that night I came from church with a huge but fun task - 49 cuppies for churcht tmrw. Used the swirls and fondant skills.

The set:

Design 1: The swirl... or whatever it's called!

Design 2 A star-tip flower with a choc curl... for aunties who don't like too much frosting!

Design 3: Fondant flowers (see above, they are the white ones)

Aunty Annes... Anyone?

2009-05-12T18:08:00.006+08:00

This little discovery was fueled when my bored bro bought an AA's Pretzel for, horror of horrors {insert high and inflated price}. Then came the search, and thanks to CDkitchen, I now have a full-fledged AA pretzel recipes. Slaved for TWO HOURS on my feet rolling out the pretzekl dough and I can assure u the first few looks nothing like Auntie's.
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/352/Aunt_Annies_Soft_Pretzels13849.shtml
Started with this:

Rolled out this:

Baked these:

Got these:

Mmm... Made then last night... and almost finished by now. Bro loves them and they taste the same, maybe better than Aunty's Annes. Love them fresh out of the oven and brushed with globs of melted butter.

2009-04-29T20:39:00.001+08:00

Hey all,

Made this cake today as a bday present for a 4-yr old in my church. He wanted "a scarry dinosaur that goes ARRRRRRRR "

Was at first. Finally got brain wave, inspired by me bro.

Anyway, this ENTIRE cake was covered with white choc plastic and decorated with white and dark choc plastic. So nice and smooth. Inside is Choc indulgence brownie with whipped ganache. Need to work on and smooth the little details on the dinos and on the cake, but I'm overall kinda pleased with the results of this experiment.

Story: Momma Dinosaur decides to build her nest on my cake. She is tries to fend off a starving climbing T-rex while a skinny, sneaky, dude tries to get her precious darlings.

My first ORDER!

2009-04-26T20:27:00.004+08:00

Yay! Beka's Home Bakery has had it's first business.. literally, Click here to look at the Cake

Aunty Anne's dinner

2009-03-28T13:06:00.004+08:00

A nice surprise for dear Aunty Anne. Samuel and I cooked with Mummy. I made quiche and NY cheesecake. Samuel made baffalo wings, and Mummy made soup and quesedilla. Aunty Anne brought salad, too. The cheesecake was a 1/2 pd mini cheesecake, with strawberries!

Aunty Anne's Birthday Dinner

2009-03-23T20:05:00.002+08:00

Beka's Chocolate Indulgence

2009-03-07T12:12:00.003+08:00

Beka's Pies

2009-02-09T12:51:00.005+08:00

Take an ordinary apple pie...
and turn it into a bed of roses...

More pies and quiches coming soon!

Beka's Cookies

2009-02-01T23:02:00.003+08:00

Hi all my readers,

Due to pressure from many, including Ah-Chew, "Beka's Bakery" is now open... ah... in my imagination

These are some things on my cookie menu:

These being Uncle Chew's favorite, they are sugar-free and savoury, crisp and cheesy, with a cornflake crunch. Great for both cheese-lovers and diabetics!

My very healthy oat cookies...
My grandmother loves these! They are healthy, chock full of oats, raisins, nuts and other goodness.. and temptingly chewy!

Melting moments - smooth, crumbly, buttery goodness that melts in your mouth!

Choc-Lovers will LOVE these DOUBLE CHOC COOKIES - Choc full of choccy chips and scrumptiously chewy!