Xmas Gift

Had a lot of rum left over after macerating dried fruits for future fruitcakes. So decided to put together a simple xmas gift for BoozeQueen. The idea did come from her anyway :) Mixed raisins and sultanas and place them in these dainty glass bottles. Add rum. Then, designed a few labels and stuck them on. Add a ribbon and tadah!

Rediscovering beach holidays

Time is such a precious commodity with 2 young kids. We are always constantly doing many things at the same time and after a while, this becomes a habit. One that affects even our holiday plans. No longer wishing to go on beach holidays as I feel that precious time is wasted by not doing anything during the few days at the beach. Ideally, holidays should be spent checking out other interesting cities that offer different ways to spend the time.

However, my mind is changed after spending the last few days in Bintan. Not doing anything and letting the mind & body take a break from the hustle and bustle of city life is a good thing! I now feel refreshed and have more energy to take on the challenges of daily life.

Looking forward to the next beach holiday!

Apple Crumble Cake

My colleagues and I had been at the receiving end of another colleague's mother's generosity for the past few weeks. SK's mom had been bringing her tea time goodies to office 2 to 3 times a week. Her repertoire of goodies is amazingly wide, from asian snacks, japanese food, western pastries...and my favourite is her peach crumble. Unlike the usual crumble, her peach crumble is very light. I searched through my recipe books for a recipe that I thought could replicate her peach crumble and found a crumble cake recipe in 'Cafe Cakes' by Australian Women's Weekly. So I adapted the recipe and baked it as my contribution to a Christmas potluck party.

The original recipe called for pears but since I did not have any at home, I replaced the pears with apples. The apples were first simmered in a cinnamon sugar syrup to sweeten and infuse the apples with the aromatic cinnamon scent before adding the apples to the crumble cake mixture. In a Christmasy mood, I further spiced up the crumble cake with a dash of nutmeg and more ground cinnamon. While the apple crumble cake is very yummy, it is a much heavier cake than SK's mom's version, so I guess, I still need to ask if she could share her recipe with me :)

Apple Crumble Cake
(Adapted from Cafe Cakes by Australian Women's Weekly)

Cinnamon Syrup
500 ml water
190 gm castor sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
3 small green apples (about 360g)

Combine water, sugar and cinnamon in a large frying pan; stir over heat without boiling, until sugar dissolves. Add apples and let them simmer uncovered until just tender (about 5-10 mins). Drain apples

Cake Mixture
100gm castor sugar
50gm brown sugar
125 gm unsalted butter
pinch of salt
2 eggs
225 gm self raising flour
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Beat butter with both sugar and salt until light and fluffly. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just combine. Add vanilla essence. Add flour, ground cinnomon, ground nutmeg; beat at low speed until just combined. Divide and spread mixture into ramekins. Top cake mixture with half apples and half crumble topping. Repeat with remaining apples and crumble topping. Bake at 160 degrees for 1 hour. Cool cake in tin

Crumble Topping
75 gm plain flour
75 gm sugar
65 gm unsalted butter
pinch of salt
75 gm shredded coconut.

Decorated Christmas Cookie Trees

Finally got to use the xmas tree cutter that my sis bought back from Japan. I really like the chubbiness of this cutter and found it amusing that the land of super slim people actually stock such a 'fat' cookie cutter.


The cookies are made for the little kiddos attending my older girl's playgroup xmas party. Icing the 4o+ cookies and drying them in our humid December weather really takes alot of time! But it was really enjoyable. I think I will probably make more decorated cookies in future, and got to practise my icing skills too!


Had a bit of leftover dough and decided to try the stained glass cookie that I had read from Martha Stewart's site. Looks deceptively easy but it's really not. The smashed up hard candies get super sticky in our hot weather, and ended up sticking on the fingers rather than staying put nicely in the cut out hole. But the end result is quite pretty!

Recreating Memories

Tried this cake the first time at Tamade Restaurant when i was barely out of my twenties. My friend HZ was raving about good this cake was and insisted that we travel to Tamade to try it...and boy, was it good. Cakey exterior with a molten chocolate surprise. Still remembered how the tartness of poached pear accompanying the cake had complimented the richness of the cake perfectly.


A decade down, recipes for this cake can be found everywhere and many home bakers have replicated the dish. I had been collecting recipes for this cake for a while, but didn't have a chance to attempt it as I didn't have any ramekins. After grabbing a few ramekins from my favourite Daiso @ Vivocity, I decided to make use of my precious stash of 66% Valrhona Feve and set out to recreate my memories.

And it was a success! Use of good chocolate is a must for this recipe, as the taste of the chocolate is really the focal point of the this dessert. Pairing the cake with some strawberries and good quality vanilla ice-cream truly compliments the rich chocolate taste of the molten lava.

Molten Lava Cake
(Recipe from Anna of Sugar-Inc)

60 g Unsalted butter, cubed and soften
80g Caster sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla paste
2 small eggs (about 50g each without shell)
60g Plain flour, sifted
180ml Whipping cream
200g Valrhona Pure Caraibe Feve (66%), melted & cooled

1) Whisk butter and sugar together until light and fluffy using a balloon whisk
2) Add in egg and vanilla paste and blend till smooth
3) Stir in the sifted flour until it is combined
4) Then, stir in whipping cream until blended
5) Lastly, added in the melted and cooled chocolate.
6) Fill ramekins with mixture and baked at 180C for 10-13 mins,
7) Cake is done when toothpick test at the side of the cake emerge with a few loose crumbs.

The 10 min Cake

Bitten by the baking bug but no time to spare to bake? This cake is the answer. Super quick to whip up but does not compromise on taste. (and saves time on washing time since electric mixer is not required). The result is a super moist, tender crumb accompanied with the fragrance of browned butter.

Blueberry Yoghurt Cake

200g cake flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp baking soda
130 gm sugar
200 g plain yoghurt
1 small egg (about 55 g with shell)
50 g dried blueberries, presoaked in water for about 20mins
100g melted butter

1) Greased cake tin with butter and preheat oven to 160C
2) Stir cake flour, baking powder and baking soda. Sift and set aside
3) Beat egg and add plain yoghurt. mix well
4) Add sugar into the mixture and mix until incorporated
5) Add drained blueberries
6) Add sieved flour and mix lightly
7) Add melted butter. Mix lightly to ensure all melted butter and incorporated into mixture
8) Pour mixture into cake tin till till 1/2 full
9) Bake for 45 mins. Check doneness with clean toothpick test.