A few more signings Yay!

I had such a good time in Minnesota a couple of weeks ago. I was so happy to be able to reschedule and meet you guys. Thank you to those that came out to say hi. And now Im just as happy to share that Ill be visiting a few more cities before the end of the year. The first one is this Friday in San Francisco and Ill be signing books if you want to stop in. Its at the Chronicle Books headquarters. Super cool. Then, at the rest of the locations, Ill be signing Cake Pops Kits since it will be out in November. Yay! Hope to see you soon.

Here are the cities for the rest of the year:

BOOK SIGNING

San Francisco, CA
Friday, October 21, 2011
12 2 pm
Chronicle Books Corporate Headquarters
680 Second Street
San Francisco, CA 94107

KIT SIGNINGS and books, too.

Orlando, FL
Saturday, November 12, 2011
12 2 pm
Barnes & Noble
2418 East Colonial Drive
Orlando, FL 32803

Phoenix, AZ
Friday, November 18, 2011
7pm-8pm
Barnes & Noble
21001 N. Tatum Blvd.
Phoenix, AZ 85050

San Diego, CA
Sunday, November 20, 2011
1pm-2pm
Barnes & Noble
10775 Westview Parkway
San Diego, CA 92126

Austin, TX
Thursday, December 1, 2011
7pm-8:30pm
Book People
603 N. Lamar
Austin, TX 78703

And now a little recap from Williams-Sonoma in Edina, Minnesota.

Things started out great with sweet smiles and cute treats.

< /a>

Like these Loon cake pops theyre the Minnesota state bird and they have some serious piping.

Everyone was super nice.

I even had friends stop by. Hi Sue. Hi Chuck. Miss you guys.

And Sue, the pumpkin cookies you brought were ridiculously yummy.

This is Jennifer from Mon Petit Cupcake. She also brought cute cake pops. You cant see them really good in this photo.

But thats ok, because you can see them in this one. This is her Pop Stars photo from earlier this year. She made these the first time I was supposed to visit MN. It was so thoughtful of her to make them a second time.

Plus, she brought tons of delicious cupcakes and macarons for my mom and I to feast on. Thank you so much, Jennifer.

Actually, thank you all for bringing your bright smiles. It made my day.

And this young lady brought me something else. A tiny little handmade replica of my book.

Its so cute with all the characters from the cover.

And pages from the inside, too. Amazing.

Youre awesome Sarah! I love it!!!

These girls made an unbelievable 9-hour drive one way just to make it to the signing. I was amazed. Still am.

I only hope you two did something else to make the drive really worth it.

Shaina from Food for my Family came with Amanda from I Am Baker. She brought Eddie, too. Love the bib, Amanda.
So great to meet you guys finally.

Of course, my mom came too. If it werent for her, I wouldnt be doing any of this traveling. Id still be on dialysis and feeling terrible. But we are both doing great! Its been an amazing year.

Here is a slideshow of the pics from the signing. If you were there and would like a copy feel free to use it from flickr.com.

One more thing. Do you remember the chewy chocolate meringues I made from the Home Baked Comfort book? The recipe was from the Salty Tart in Minnesota.
So I had to stop by and check out their treats while I was there.

So glad I did, too. It was hard to choose from all the deliciousness on display.

But we finally narrowed it down to a few.

They were all fantastic. But I have to say, the brioche was definitely my favorite.

Now its on my must-make list. Anyone have a good recipe?

Or anyone know of any must-visit cupcake shops in the cities Im visiting? Or ice cream or doughnut shops. Im flexible. : )

Hakataya Noodle Shop @ Sunnybank, Brisbane

There appears to be no end to my adventure in Japanese cuisine. Continuing on with Japanese food and me, we have got Hakataya Ramen today.


With Hakataya, the events leading to this lunch was very much an adventure of its own. We wanted to try this place but twice we were put off by the long queue and decided to eat elsewhere. On the third attempt, we decided we will pop by on a Friday early night only to find out it was sold out!


Finally in our fourth attempt, we braved through the queue and was finally rewarded a bowl of ramen.

Despite the long queue, their system is simple but very logical. You queue up and you will be served once there are empty seats available. You put your order, pay up and wait patiently for a mere 5 minutes before you are rewarded.

For AUD 13, you get a bowl of Ramen with the richest pork stock one can get with melt in your mouth pork belly (char siew). According to the flyer, the stock is cooked over 39 hours, meaning somewhere somehow, a container of stock is being cooked continuously daily. The portion of noodles is not plenty but you will be happy to know you can get a free bowl of noodles (only) if you ask for it. Add some grinded sesame and you are good to go.

One of the variations uses chili but I feel the spiciness overpowers all that goodness from the rich pork stock.

A must try.

Address and contact details:

Verdict: 4 stars out of 5 stars. They are opening up another outlet so lets hope the quality remains but the queue is shorten. Now I don't have to envy all those in Malaysia screaming Hallelujah after a number of pork ramen shops have opened.

Authentic Penang Nasi Kandar @ Restoran Kok Siong, Puchong

The truth is that it is hard to find a decent Nasi Kandar in Klang Valley, at least one that could satisfy a Penangites craving. I could understand the lack of enthusiasm towards Nasi Kandar among KL people because I have to agree with them that it is more like an overpriced curry rice over here. It is also sad to know that the more popular Nasi Kandar chains like Pelita and Kayu are being used as yardsticks for our famous Penang Nasi Kandar, when in fact a hardcore Penang Nasi Kandar lover would gladly choose Kampong Melayu or Shariffs on any given day for the authenticty and affordability.

So when a colleague recommended me a Nasi Kandar at a coffee shop in Puchong that actually tastes like Penangs, I jumped to try it. I never doubted his recommendation at all because besides him being a Penangite, he is one of the hardcore Nasi Kandar lovers I mentioned earlier. Turns the boss did not put up the word Penang on his stall for nothing, his curry dishes do carry that unique spicy flavor of a true Penang Nasi Kandar. Well, of course it is not great as Kampong Melayus or Shariffs. But given that you dont need to travel all the way to Penang for the best ones, this particular stall at Restoran Kok Siong is probably the next best thing.

Two of the better stuff here are the fried chicken and mutton cu! rry. The fried chicken smells wonderful, has a crispy crust yet moist and tender on the inside. This pretty much explains why it is the most popular item here. And it is constantly being replenished with fresh ones from the kitchen nearby. I could say every fried chicken picked by the customers are the right-out-of-the-oil kind, so fresh that you can even see hot steam being released when the uncle chops them into smaller pieces.
The mutton curry on the other hand is cooked to the right tenderness, not too tough nor too soft. And we all know for a fact that a meal wont be cheap if it has mutton. But over here, you will be glad to know that they dont skimp on the portion it is easily double of what other food operators would give.
Anyway, regardless of what item you took, the uncle will always sprinkle a spoonful of crunchy bits (from the fried chicken?) on your rice. Man, those stuff are really quite the awesome.

Now about the price, I wouldnt call it cheap since it is still Nasi Kandar we are talking about here.. but at least it is reasonable that you feel you do get what you paid for. For example, mutton + fried chicken + egg and some vege costs RM13, while mutton + egg and vege is RM7.50. So heres a shout out to Penangites in KL, if you have been craving for authentic Penang Nasi Kandar you know where to look now!

Penang Nasi Kandar (pork free)
Restoran Kok Siong (next to Tesco Extra)
Jalan Bandar 16, 47100 Puchong
GPS Coordinates: N3 02.165 E101 36.973
Business hours: 10am to 4pm daily

Racks @ Changkat

Stating the obvious: Changkat Bukit Bintang has a nice new set of Racks.

Baby back pork ribs _ slow-braised & glazed with sweet marmalade on the spit for sticky succulence. Among the best in town, absolutely.

Racks is pork paradise from start to end. At some other outlets, pulled pork sandwiches come out as perfunctory creations with bland, stringy meat. Here, it's a hearty heap of slow-cooked Boston butt (pork shoulder), satisfyingly stuffed into a bun with house-made apple-chili jam.

Even the ubiquitous pork burger isn't taken for granted. The tender patty contains a surprise, prepared with bits of oven-baked tomatoes inside for a understated zing. With a look that seems stripped down to the basics, it might be even tastier with toppings of cheese & egg, but those are not truly necessary.

Streaky bacon sarnie, a British favorite. Come to think of it, Racks might be for pork at Changkat what The Magnificent Fish & Chips is for fish on this street. As a bonus, the service team is more than praiseworthy _ warm, welcoming & wonderfully helpful.

Even oysters can't escape the hog here; Pacific mollusks cushioned with Parma ham. Racks' starters are encouragingly inventive: customers can also try buttered asparagus draped with prosciutto, spiced Oxford sausages wrapped in speck & grilled peaches tucked in Parma ham.

Pork crackling with Racks' signature "Torture" spicy sauce. Slightly too hard to bite into; worthwhile for sharing in a large group, but two of us had a tough time finishing this.

Char-grilled gammon with fried eggs, pinto beans & potatoes. Looks like luncheon meat at first, but this cut from a hog's hind legs boasts all the meatiness of a bona fide steak.

How do you like them apples: Racks' apple cocktails are intoxicating. Our favorites would be the Apple Ginger Harvest (brandy, ginger beer, apple juice, fresh lime) & Big Apple Lemonade (bacardi apple rum, amaretto, homemade sours, sprite).

Zebra Cheesecake Cone

"Black with white stripes or white with black stripes?"

Zebra Cone: Creamy, milky sweet white choc cream cheese mouse alternately layered with rich dark choc cream cheese mousse, served very chilled.

This photo was taken with the Olympus VG-110, a small but powerful, 12 megapixels 4X zoom and you stand a good chance to get it when you make a comment on my posts. Dang, the photo is sharper than that taken by my DSLR which is probably on some wrong mode.

I have decided to wake up early to make my jellies in the morning so that I don't go into my frantic mood when the afternoon rain comes and takes away the light. The Internet was erratic last night and I had to go to Hub's office at 11 pm to upload my photos.

'Zebra' butter cake made the rounds of many food blogs last year and I just think it such a cool cake. Zebra butter cake (which is not the same as zebra cake, which is a cake decorated with, oddly enough, pink and black stripes) is a variation of the old fashioned marble butter cake where alternate horizontal dollops of cream-colored butter cake batter and dark choc butter cake batter are arranged in the cake pan and given a stir to give a marbled effect when cut. That was then. Now someone has come out of the box and came up with alternate vertical layers of butter cake batter and choc butter cake batter which results in a Zebra print when cut. I tried it once but it didn't come out looking anything like any animal print but here! 's the < a href="http://cherryonacake.blogspot.com/2009/02/zebra-cake.html">perfect zebra butter cake for you to drool over.

But this Jelliriffic! thing has made me think hard about what to make. Most of my ideas jellies for this Challenge so far are from things around me: the bunga telang for Jelly Kinabalu was grown by a neighbor, the green butter pesto was made from basil from my garden and so on. I need to thick out of the cone!

We've been informed that the moulds can be steamed but can't be baked but I loathe (did I just say that? Wey would say "So old-school mom" like he did recently when I said I've lost my "mojo") to do that because I don't want to risk damaging or tarnishing those beautiful shiny babies! So what can I do instead of a butter cake to get a zebra print? Gelling mediums such as agar or konyakku would not be suitable because they are runny. For the colors not to bled into surrounding layers, the batter or liquid must be viscous. What can I make that's viscous and doesn't need to be baked or steamed?

It struck me one day as I was sending Wey to tuition. Chilled cheesecake. Yes!And so that's how this jelly came about. I wrestled between a choc-orange cheesecake and a white choc-black choc cheesecake. In the end, I used the best of both flavors: white choc and Cointreau. Can you imagine the yum?

I put in too much of the first spoonful because I was afraid that the two batters will just run into each other if they were too thin. Although I didn't get the zebra stripes, I think you can because I didn't get it with the zebra butter cake either. I just can't do zebra prints I guess but I'm pretty happy that the two different colors didn't di! ssolve i nto each other. This.was.seriously.good. Especially when served very cold. Seriously good. You get the message. Now order a Nick Munro mould and make a zebra cone!

p.s. the answer is black with white stripes.




Thanks to N, who was visiting, I finally took the risk to line my moulds with greaseproof paper. It works! Just make sure the paper is lined smoothly and that the tip of the mould needs to be doused with warm water.




Zebra Cone (makes 2 cones)
The Basic Mousse:
125 gm Philly cream cheese, room temp
1 1/2 to 2 tbsb caster sugar to taste)
1. Whisk the cheese and sugar together until fluffy.

The Choc:
2. Melt 50 gm white choc melts with 2 tbsp cream.Cool & add 1 tbsp Cointreau.Melt 60 gm dark choc with 3 tbsp cream. Cool.

The Custard:
1/2 egg yolk
1/3 cup milk
1 tbsp sugar

3. Whisk the egg in a bowl. Heat the milk and sugar, stirring until! sugar i s all dissolved. Remove from fire. Slowly drizzle the hot milk into the egg yolk, whisking the yolk with a small fork or whisk. Return the milk-egg mixture into the pot and heat under a gentle flame, stirring all the time, for 1 minute until the custard is steamy and hot but not boiling. Cool.

The gelatine:
3/4 tbsp gelatine
50 ml water
4. Stir the gelatine and water over a gentle flame until all the sugar is dissolved. Cool. Chill in fridge until just syrupy.

5. Mix the gelatine into the custard, stirring well to blend.
6. Divide into two equal portions. Mix one portion with the melted white choc and the other with the dark melted choc. If the batter is too runny, chill it a while but do not let it be too chilled or it'll be hard to run between the layers.
7. Prepare two Nick Munro moulds (line with grease proof paper) and scoop alternate layers of batter onto the center of each previous layer. Cover and chill for at least 3 to 4 hours.

Get Your Jelly On! Day 19 - The Decadent One (Smoked Salmon Mousse with Caviar)

I've decided to give mid-week blues a bit of boost...the decadent way.


Instead of a jelly, I decided to go for a savoury mousse.





Not any ordinary mousse but a luxurious one topped with lots and lots of caviar.


One does love this a lot - the soft luxurious mousse that touches your tongue with a whisper while each caviar egg pops in the mouth.





There's also the savoury kick on the end that makes you crave for more and more.






Believe me, I just shot the picture and swiped a bit from the top and I could not stop eating it.


One suggest you alleviate the guilt with some crackers but hey if you're suffering from mid-week work blues, just throw wind to caution and pop bits of this decadence in the mouth.


Smok! ed Salmo n Mousse with Caviar (Makes for two moulds)


2 pieces smoked salmon
180ml thick cream
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon gelatine powder
1 tablespoon water
lumpfish caviar


Blend smoked salmon, 60ml cream and butter together. Sprinkle gelatine powder over water in a bowl. Leave for 1 minute. Heat up in a small pot till it melts. Mix with smoked salmon mixture. Beat remaining cream until it forms soft peaks. Combine with smoked salmon mixture. Line the mould with cling film or greaseproof paper that has been greased. Chill for 8 hours or overnight. Remove from the mould. Add as much caviar as you like. Slowly enjoy the decadent treat with plain crackers.


Reminder:Support the cause by buying a Royal Selangor Nick Munro pewter mould as all proceeds go to breast cancer welfare association. Also, do remember to submit your suggestions to booliciouskl@gmail.com or leave a comment for the mould to win the Olympus camera VG-110. For more pictures, seethe Flickr setfor all the whole Royal Selangor Jellyriffic challenge. To view, all the jellies, see this link tothe Royal Selangor website.

Monaco Club (Kemang)

Monaco is the most interesting club to have opened in Kemang in 2011. Located near 365, in Saberro House, it looks intimate and more chic than what we are used to for Kemang nightlife (apart from SHY). They have live music by local bands early in the evening on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, and then a DJ playing House/RnB/Disco depending on the night. Check their twitter for detailed info: http://twitter.com/Monacojakarta.

I remember that during my first years in Jakarta, there was already a club Monaco and it was quite popular with the French expat community. It is too early to say if Monaco will be a hit or not, but I wish them good luck!

So far, I visited Monaco on a Friday night, a bit early at 23h45 and it was rather empty. I'll update this page in the coming months to let you know how it goes.

Opening Hours:!
From Monday to Thursday: 6pm to 2am
Friday and Saturday: 8pm to 4am
Closed on Sunday

Monaco
Saberro House, Jl. Kemang Raya 10a, Jakarta, Indonesia
Phone number: +62-21 71794491
Mobile: 085811271127 (Citra)
BB: 277A7277

Photo credit: Photos from the facebook page of Budweiser Indonesia

Carrot and Ladybird: Baby C's Homemade Birthday Cake

Just before the big day approached, we asked Baby C what type of cake she wanted for her birthday. Her response was "Carrot and Ladybird Cake". She always tells me that she loves the cakes that I make for her, so I scratched my head hard and visited the nearest baking supply shop to get some ideas. I found these cute ladybird cake toppers, and to complete the equation, I decided to bake a carrot cake.

I've made this carrot cake several times, it is pretty easy to make. The recipe can be found here. In Step 2, instead of using a 20cm square cake tin, use a 18cm round sandwich tin. For the cream cheese frosting, you need about 100g cream cheese, 50g unsalted butter, 1/3 cup caster sugar and 1 tsp vanilla extract (instructions to make here - Step 10 & 11). For the birthday girl's name, we cut the carrot into thin slices and cut out the letters using a cookie/alphabet cutter.

Birthday cake for Baby C

Cute ladybird toppers

Complemented with some cupcakes from Delectable Su

A very happy, birthday girl

Say carrots!

Making a birthday wish... mmm next year I want a ********** birthday cake!

Not only a pretty sight... delicious too!

Full set of photos can be viewed here.

*Cake toppers from this shop: Bis Ingredients, 30-A, Jalan Suarasa 8/4, Town Park 1, Bandar Tun Hussein Onn, 43200 Batu 9, Che! ras, Sel angor.