BC's Blueberry Muffin

Guess who's back ?!
Yes it's me! Alive and well.
I was down with flu last week. This time around, it hit quite badly, even right now, I still got traces of the illness. *cough cough.. sniff sniff...*

Anyway, I've been craving for some blueberry muffins. When I told Ms. Oriana that, she said, "Try Betty Crocker's blueberry muffin. It's quite yummy! It's fluffy and moist." Honestly, I usually don't trust instant cake mix. Some of them taste quite artificial and the texture is just weird. But this time around, I brave myself to follow Ms. Oriana's suggestion. Being a baker herself, I trust her judgement. ;)

I've got the packet 2 weeks ago, but only got the chance to making it tonight.
Surprisingly, it's quite yummy. She's right. it's very fluffy. The texture is also not bad. For a lazy baking, this one is quite good. You just add milk and egg, stir stir stir.. transfer to muffin tray, bake it for half an hour, and you get fragrant muffins. Given the option, I'd rather follow my own traditional muffin recipe. This one is a bit too sweet for me. :)

Betty Crocker's Lite Blueberry Muffins

B's out. Enjoying her blueberry muffin and Yorkshire tea.

Lulu the Sound Engineer

Every birthday is special as it is a celebration of you. Yes, you were wonderfully and fearfully made. God knitted you carefully together in your mother's womb. His eyes saw your unformed body. He even knows the number of your hair. You are indeed very special.

Lulu the Sound Engineer turned 25 last week. To mark his 'quarter of a century' birthday, he requested a special cake. A not-so-sweet cake in the shape of Sennheiser HD 201. The inside is Victorian sponge with shredded cheese and strawberry.
Sorry Lulu, the cake is no way near the real Sennheiser you wanted. :( I should have listened to Mom and put the headphone as a cake topper instead. It would have been much nicer that way. Another lesson learnt the hard way.

This cake is another attempt of the Indonesian Cheesecake. It turned out very nice. The texture is quite different from the one in Indo, but I'm quite happy with how it turned out. It was golden, fluffy, and fragrant. Simply yummy!

Victorian Sponge
Layered with Buttercream and Fresh Strawberries
Topped with Shredded Cheese

Since I baked a big cake, this is how the left over turned out. Very minimal decoration as it was already way past midnight and I had an early class the following day. At least it was yummy...

Happy Birthday, Lulu! Many happy returns to you!

New Commissioning

B is back!
After finishing up all uni assignments, I'm ready to bake again. No, it's more like.. I need to bake again. I guess it has become a part of me, so deeply ingrained, that when I don't do it for quite some time, I miss it very much.

Oh oh! I have been commissioned to make something unique. A very special one because it's quite rare. Its existence is not easily found in Google or Youtube. So exciting!

Stay tune for any update about this cake. :)

Every Girl's Dream

Still remember Mr.Strong from my previous entry?
Right after tasting Mr.Strong and loving it, Madame Ho order this cake I'll be talking about.
So once again, thanks to darling Mrs. Citro who ordered Mr.Strong!! XOXO.

Madame wants a cake for her sister's birthday by 9th of Oct. So I asked her what sort of cake she would like to have, a cake with external beauty or one with inner beauty. Cakes with external beauty refer to the fondant cakes, which are very pleasing to the eyes. For me personally, taste wise, cakes with inner beauty are more satisfying to eat. That is because you can get more variety in flavours and textures. On the other hand, fondant cakes need a firm base to support the heavy fondant decorations. Then I told her that if she wants a very satisfying cake, then she should get the dark chocolate orange gateau. My quality controllers say that the DCOG was really a perfect match made in Heaven! Nothing beats that cake so far. As Madame was actually looking for a very chocolatey cake, the DCOG would make a perfect choice.

I was a bit unsure about the deco. I put a slice of orange in the previous DCOG, but this time, the ribbon was pink. So orange, won't do good to the overall colour of the cake. While I was assembling the cake, an inspiration perched on my mind. Why not do a fondant butterfly! PINK butterflies!

Premium Chocolate + Ribbon + Pink + Butterflies = Every Girl's Dream

The birthday girl was very happy. She messaged me on msn,

vanessa says:
BEBE!!!!!!
the CAKE is FANTASTIC! oh my goodness!
thank u soooooo much!! =D
my sis refused to let me see it till it came out
then i saw the cake
SO PRETTY!!!!! (cos i love that shade of pink)
then after blowing out the candles n all, i served the rest first
then their reaction all "WAH!!!!"
hahahaha
so i had my bite...
WAHHHHHHHH!
the base is so nicely textured, n the mousse!
fuyoH!!!!

I'm very happy to find out that they loved the cake, that they enjoyed eating it as much as I did making it.

Happy Birthday, Vanessa! Hope you've had a great time with your loved ones!
Thank you guys for allowing me to be a part of your special day.

In case you're wondering what's with the title, my dear Joanne said this after seeing the photo on Facebook, "Waaaahhh...chocolate, ribbons, pink, butterflies. Every girl's dream!"

the perfect winter comfort food

Those of you who have been to Melbourne or are currently living in Melbourne will definitely know for sure that Melbourne is famous with its "4 seasons in a day." It may be Spring at the moment, but cold weather still occasionally pays a visit. Last Friday was one of those cold Spring days.

Earlier in the week, I got Sticky Date Pudding request from dear friends of mine (thanks to Lala who publicly promoted my Sticky Date Pudding and even rated it as one of the best she had ever tasted so far ;) XOXO). Considering I will be leaving Melbourne soon *sobs*, I better squeeze it in between my schedule. After checking the weather forecast (Yes, you need to do this when you live in Melbourne), I found out that Friday will be a gloomy day, with the temperature topping of 16C. So last Friday, i made the sticky date pudding.

I have to say that Sticky Date Pudding is one of my favourite desserts, especially during Winter time. The warmth and the fragrance of the pudding, combined with the sweetness of the butterscotch sauce ... hmmm... it is just oh-so-Heavenly! Top it up with vanilla ice cream and voila! You get a perfect winter comfort food.

That is the picture of the very first Sticky Date Pudding I made last year.
Still remember Esther's expression when she tried it, her eyes just lit up with happiness. She gave that pudding two thumbs up and a big "super yummy" ;) (thanks for the photo!)

So last Friday, I re-lived the same scene.. ;)
Sharon said, "Wah Bebe, this is SOOO SHIOK!!! I can have this for my dinner too!"
Carilyn kept hmmm-ing satisfactorily and putting big smile on her face while keep digging on the plate. She was satisfied!
John said, "Very nice! Enak!"
Ivan said, "Enak banget, Be!"
and
Bebe said, "I'm very happy!!"

Hahaha.. yes! Indeed, I was very happy, to be able to share my baked goodies with my friends.
Nothing beats the joy that comes from seeing people happily eating what you bake/ cook for them*. When their eyes light up with satisfaction, all the effort and hard work of creating the goods is paid off. It warms your heart up and leaves you excited and joyful for quite some time.

Oh, and yes, I do put a generous amount of love and tender care into my cakes. It makes a huge difference!! ;)

*(except for things that comes from my Creator. I won't discuss that here for my baking cannot be compared to His greatness. The joy that He gives is indescribable, far greater than this joy I am talking about. And when you get to know Him, all the things of this Earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace).

Happy Birthday, Mr.Strong!

Bebe is still WIP-ing!!
3rd batch from last night turned out to also be a major failure.

3rd batch
-The Pseudo Dark Chocorange Cake-

She still can't believe what happened last night.
Never before in her entire baking experience she encounters something like this!
On the brighter side of it, the pseudo dark chocolate orange cake tastes good. :)
At least 3rd batch is not going to the bin. Her 'quality controllers' will be more than happy to devour it tomorrow.

So after a quick run the the nearest convenience store, she managed to secure a 4th batch of the same dark chocolate orange cake in the oven!
Half baking time has elapsed. It looks good at the moment.
Be good, baby!
*fingers crossed!*

...@12.25pm ...

Delivery time..
Baby #4 came out of the oven... NICELY !!!
HALLELUJAH!!
hohohoho
It is currently sitting on the table.. cooling itself down...

....@5.00pm...
Mr.Strong is DONE !
Bebe can't complain at how Mr.Strong turn up considering there were so many things that went wrong at so many level.

So.. here's Mr.Strong...

Happy Birthday, Mr.Strong!

(photo by Jojo)

Work In Progress

Bebe is upset!!!
It seems that tonight, all the evil forces is working up against her and her chocolate orange cake!
ARGHHHHHH !!! ><"
Bebe is frustrated!!!
It seems that tonight, the brain, the hands, and the ingredients don't want to cooperate well. ARGHHHHH !!!! >.<"
So many wrong things at so many level.
Bebe feels like crying now!!! >.<"

Problem like this has never cropped up before!
The chocolate was clumpy.. the butter didn't blend in well...
2 batches went down the rubbish bin!
It was ULTIMATE disaster!
Look at this!! Ugly brown thingy!!

Bebe has however managed to whip up the third batch which currently is sitting in the oven.

OH!! the red fondant Bebe bought last time doesn't have nice consistency. Hopefully it will work out fine tomorrow.

Bebe is scared.
Bebe is praying hard.

*Dear Lord Jesus, please help the cake to set nicely. Please don't let anything go wrong again. I'm tired but am thankful for everything that has happened today. including the 2 batches down the drain. May this lesson always be imprinted in my mind that i won't repeat the same mistake in the future. Amen."