My Hatching Day!!!

Yup! It's my birthday!. So far, Ive received wonderful wishes from my dear friends and families. Call me self-involved or needy,  but I love happy birthday wishes :) Wishes are all I need now to keep me going strong..So far..what have I achieved at this age of 33? Thank you Allah for giving me such a wonderful, understanding and supportive husband who is always there for me. He never fails to look into the positive side of me.. Having 2 adorable children is the best thing I have in my life. Abang Emran  the apple of my eyes and Suri is the noor of my eyes. Both are the love of my life forever and ever...I feel so blessed to hv such a wonderful father and lovable family whom I can count on at all times. Alhamdulillah, Im happy with what I do, I have and certainly look forward for more brighter future ahead. My best years are still ahead of me...dgn berkat dan iziNya..hidup pasti akan menemui kebahagian. Whats my plan for this birthday? A belated birthday celebration with hubby soon! Thinking of going for a quiet and intimate birthday lunch with him on Tuesday (after im done with the marking) and heading home to see my children! Dearies..Im coming home soon!!! xxxx00000




Wishlist for my 33rd birthday...Amin Yarrabal-Al-Amin... 

1. Umrah ( kalau ada rezeki, teringin utk menjadi tetamu Allah SWT)
2. An expert cake maker :)  ---nak masuk kelas baking very soon! Looking forward to make new friends along the way.
3. A good cake mixer (love those reddish high tech cake mixer often used by Nigella)
4. Beautify my small heaven on earth (my house, of course!)
5. Trying my best to change from the old me to the new me..insyaallah, moga dibukakan hati dan minda untuk berubah ke arah yg lebih baik..
6. Excell in my work..
7. Be a devoted mommy to Emran & Suri
8. Enjoy life to the fullest by indulging myself in simple pleasures of life...
9. I need to watch what I eat! More yoghurt and healthy snacks..enough junkiess!!
10. Another addition to Anuar's clan? Amin...

Ok, dearies..gtg..***love***

Busy Bee.....zzzzzz

Me..with work...sigh!

Assalamualaikum wbt...hoping that all of u are in pink of health dan sentiasa dibawah lembayung Allah SWT, insyaallah. Sorry for not updating my blog with latest recipes..sincere apologies from me. There are some few things I need to get done and let it be out of the way before I can start trying new recipes. It is the end of semester..work is piling up...assignments to be marked, carry marks need to be ready for students' viewing, exams to be invigilated, interviews, outstations...and list would go on and on..Come on Syahreena!!! You're a soccer mom!! Go! Go! Go!

Recently few things happened. I lost a dear friend of mine (warga Fakulti Pendidikan) allahyarham Mohamad Arif. Such a bubly and kind person. Arif would always be the joker in the group whenever we go for working trips. Teringat masa sama2 di Mukah..I bought for him some muffins and cupcakes because I pity him for not able to go out cos a lot of markings need to be done by him as he was exceeding the deadline given. Kenangan bersama arwah akan tetap dikenang dan semoga roh arwah ditempatkan bersama insan2 yg soleh, insyaallah. Beliau dijemput di usia yg sangat muda iaitu 30 years old. Ajal dan maut ditangan Allah. Semoga beliau memperoleh ketenangan disana..farewell my friend...

Now lets go back to where I left in terms of my work..ok last week, I brought the family to Malacca as I had to attend an interview workshop and recently, couple of days ago, just got back from JB interviewing the ASASI TESL students. I had great time interviewing the candidates but from my personal point of view, the parents of these kids were being very demanding. Some of them would just enter the room without salam asking for directions as we were busy interviewing the candidates. I still remember last time when I had to go for an interview, I would tell my mom not to wait for me cos I need to deal this all by myself without any interruptions from my family..kids nowdays are soo different..they will let their parents do the talking....hmmm...macamana nak berdikari kalau mcm ni?

Ok, now Im packing my stuff again, off for matric marking starting tomorrow till next Tuesday at Flamingo Ampang. Surely I will miss my apple & pumpkin pie..Hopefully, daddy will bring them to visit me while I mark the papers at the hotel...

After all of these are done....tak sabar rasanya nak masuk kelas baking. I need to learn some new techniques.puasa pun dah nak dekat...raya nnt tak payah beli kiuh :) Dear friends, I will be updating soon with my latest recipes. Hopefully I can make some nice cookies too. Ive been wanting to come up with an album specially dedicated to kids' food (breakfast, lunch and dinner) Insyaallah, hopefully that can be materialised too....

Thank you for taking some of your precious time dropping by to visit my humble blog..I really appreciate it very much. xx000 Hope to see all of u again in another entry..soon!

New Chef in the House

Memperkenalkan my little kitchen helper..Enna Suri. Kerja tak berapa sgt, tapi becok mengalahkan Chef Wan..Ada je benda nak cakap. I snapped these pictures early in the morning when she played as a host for a  morning tea gathering with her little teddies. According to Suri, she invited mama teddy, baby teddy and daddy teddy for the tea. She served her guests with some homemade goodies :) .. a plastic cake bought at Toys R us :-)

                                        

                                                    

                                      

Carrot Cake with Maple Butter Frosting..

Ok, Im still in the traditional mode. So, what other cakes can be considered as the traditional ones? Tiba-tiba teringat the strong smell of cinnamon, nutmeg and ground allspice..Aha! Jom kita buat Carrot Cake. This cake is a good, quick and easy to make dessert cake for friends and families. A nice way to end your dinner..Btw, there is a story behind the making of the cake that I want to share with u...After thinking of what cake to make on a beautiful Saturday noon..without much thinking, I went to the mixing of the ingredients. Punyalah bersemangat nak buat sampai lupa nak check whether have I still got some baking parchment left or not. Alhamdulillah, kek naik dgn gebunya tapi disebabkan tak ada baking parchment, masa nak turn over the cake from the tin..berlaku satu accident. The cake which had been rested on the rack for half an hour suddenly jatuh berderai2 when I wanted to turn it over..Punyalah sedih yg amat sangat..Luckily there were some parts yang tak jatuh..So I used those to snap some pictures to share with all of u here..Tu yang frostingnya tak berapa kemas. Well, not too bad for a first timer heh? There's room for improvement. So, kalau nak baking, the first thing to get is the parchment! I will nail it down in my skull..for my next baking session...Oh, one more thing friends, kalau ada yang cuba my recipes, can you share your opinion and the results you get after making the cake? Saja, nak tukar2 pendapat..and still Im in the process of learning too
**hugs**

Here's the recipe for a traditional Carrot Cake....

Ingredients

450gm carrots, peeled and chopped into tiny pieces
175g all-purpose plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1 tsp of salt
2 tsp of ground cinnamon
4 eggs
 2 tsp vanilla extract
I cup of brown sugar
90g of granulated sugar
300ml of sunflower oil
115g of walnuts, finely chopped
65g raisins
walnut halves for decorating

For the frosting

75g of unsalted butter - room temperature
350g icing sugar
50ml maple syrup

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180c. Choose a rectangular cake tin. with baking parchment and grease it lightly with some melted butter.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate soda, salt and cinnamon into a bowl. Set it aside.
3. With an electric whisk, beat the eggs until well blended. Add the vanilla, sugar and oil; beat to incorporate. Fold in the flour mixture in three batches.Fold in the carrots, walnuts and raisins.
4. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 40-45 mins until springy to the touch. Stand for 10 mins and turn it out from the tin.
5. Make the frosting. Cream the butter with half the sugar until soft. Add the syrup, then beat in the remaining sugar until soft. Spread the frosting over the top of the cake. Using a metal spatula, make decorative ridges in the frosting. Decorate the top with some crushed walnuts if u like...

                                                                  Jom Minum Petang!

Lets go traditional...

This delicious cake is also known as Marbled Cake because of its distinctive appearance. The marbled effect comes from the swirl of plain and chocolate batters. A word of reminder for the ladies..this cake is fattening (rasa secubit dua tak apa..hihihi) cos it uses 10 eggs and a generous portion of butter and not forgetting the addition of semisweet cooking chocolate to the chocolate batter. However, it is still a great cake for feeding a crowd. According to the English way, they normally serve this cake with fresh custard or pouring cream. I like to eat it on its own, especially the minute  it comes out from the oven. I had a jolly good time swirling the two batters together...

****nice to eat while its hot****

Ingredients

115g plain (semisweet) chocolate, broken into squares
350g plain flour (all-purpose)
1 tsp baking powder
450g butter at room temperature (extra for greasing later)
650g sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
10 eggs
Icing sugar for dusting

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180c. Line the base of the pan with baking parchment. ( acuan sama macam buat kek chiffon)
2. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of hot water. Stir occasionally and set aside.
3. In a bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. In another bowl, cream the butter, sugar and vanilla extract using an electric whisk until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, two at a time, then gradually incorporate the flour mixture on LOW speed (very important to put it on low speed)
4. Spoon half the batter into the prepared tin. Stir the chocolate into the remaining batter, then spoon into the pan. Using a metal spatula, swirl the two batters together to create a marbled effect.
5. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Usually I will first use 180c for the first 45 mins and gradually decrease the temperature to 150c in the middle and finish off with 100c towards the end. Kalau panas sgt, takut terbakar bahagian atasnya.
6. Insert a metal skewer and if the cake comes out clean, maknanya kek sudah masak. Allow to stand for 15 mins then transfer to a cooling rack. To serve, dust with some icing sugar.

A fruitful day for me. **Happy!**

Yayyy! I managed to produce two cakes today. I made a traditional marbled cake nicely swirled with melting chocolate..and a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. So far so good, both of them looked pretty resting on my little island in the kitchen. the whole house smelled like a homey bakery and it can anytime beat the smell of a potpourri :) Suka bau kek yg sedang dan telah dibakar. Seronok tengok kek yang dalam proses untuk menjadi dan happy bila melihat my kids circling the cake trying to have a taste of it. My kids are not keen eater of sweet things, tapi bila mommy dia sibuk didapur...mulalah masing-masing menyebukkan diri :-) Ok, back to the news of my new baking...so, for today we had a very satisying lazy noon together...makan kek sambil tengok tv...Simply heaven!! Pictures and recipes will be uploaded soon! Time to sleep...zzzz...Good nite! A loong day tomorrow! Working...

                               ****************Every cake is a piece of cake*************

Coconuty and Lemony

I tried something different 2 weeks ago. As I was flipping through my collection of recipe books, this particular recipe caught my attention. It has such a weird combination as the ingredients. Coconut with lemon? I guess the coconuty taste is being balanced with a hint of lime. Without putting much thought into, quickly I dashed to my favourite baking shop, Bagus in Seksyen 13 Shah Alam and bought the needed ingredients. After done with the baking, boiled myself a cup of tea, lazed in front of the tv and had a taste of it. Sedap! The cake is not too sweet.  The fresh taste comes from the lime and the cream cheese works wonderfully to the overall taste of the cake. Selamat mencuba!
Ingredients

225g self-raising flour
225g caster sugar
225g unsalted butter at room temperature
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
50g dessicated coconut
grated zest of lime
2 tbsp of lime juice

For the icing

100g icing sugar
Grated zest of 1 lime
2 tbsp lime juice
300g cream cheese at room temperature (I like to use Philadelphia cream cheese)
15g dessicated coconut

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180c. Lighty grease the tin and line with baking parchment. Sift the flour into a large bowl, add the caster sugar, butter, eggs and mix until well combined. Mix in the coconut, lime zest and lime juice. Spoon the batter into the tin and level the top. Bake for 1 hour or until risen and springy to the touch. Leave to cool for 5 minutes in the tin and cool completely on a wire rack. Carefully cut/divide the cake into 3 layers using a sharp knife.
2. To make the icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl, add the lime zest and lime juice and cream cheese, and whisk until the mixture starts to thicken. Taste to make sure it is according to your taste. Add some sugar if you like it really sweet) Spread the three layers of the cake, then sandwich them together. Scatter the toasted coconut over the top to decorate.

Memang sedap..You will be transported temporarily to heaven when enjoying this cake...heheheh...

Orange and Lemon Cupcakes

Cupcakes are lovely to look at and delicious to be served to anyone at anytime of the day. I love making it because it uses very minimal ingredients and most of it can be found hidden in your own little cupboard. Just search whatever that you can find, throw them into the batter, place it nicely in the oven and after about 20-25 minutes..you will get yourself a warm and fluffy cupcakes. For this particular dainty and pretty cuppies, Ive used grated zest and juice of an orange and some grated lemon zest too for a fresh taste. These angels would be an ideal for a girly tea party ( hmm, I may do some for Suri's coming birthday in October) or a children's birthday party. Not only children will love the fresh taste and colourful look of it, Im sure the adults  would be thrilled too!! Now..let us go to the ingredients...happy baking peeps!!!

Ingredients

200g  unsalted butter, room temperature
200g caster sugar
3 large eggs
200g self-raising flour
finely grated zest and juice of 1 large orange (worth to get a really fat and juicy one)
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
sugar sprinklers, to decorate

For the icing

50 g unsalted butter (always use SCS or Golden Churn)
125 g icing sugar
juice of 1 lemon
few drops of natural yellow food colouring (optional)
few drops of natural orange food colouring (optional)

Lets get to the messy business...

1. Preheat the oven...always preheat it in advance, so that it will be at the right temperature when you put the cuppies in...
2. Place the butter, sugar, eggs flour, orange and lemon zest in a bowl and beat until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Add the orange juice, a little at a time, until the mixture is of a dropping consistency.
3. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases and bake for 25-30 mins until lightly golden brown, risen and springy to the touch. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
4. To make the icing, beat the butter and icing sugar together in another bowl, then strir in the leomn juice. If using colouring, put few dots into the mixture until you have the desired colour..
5. Use piping bag with the right nozzle of your choice (depending on the shape and size you wish to have)
and decorate with sugar sprinkler. If your little angel wants to help..this is the fun time getting them to sprinkle these beauties on top of each cake.
6. Serve them with a nice gentle smile of yours. The smile will surely add to the magical taste of it!!

I gave some of the cuppies to my neighbour on the day I made them. Rezeki jiran tetangga :-) Semoga murah rezeki saya..insyallah. So, what are you waiting for? Birthdays coming up? Selamat bercupcakes!! Forgot to mention earlier, these angels can be stored in an airtight container for several days.. Easy, economical and delicious too!!