Indulgence

To most people especially girls, chocolate is heaven. Honestly, I'm not a big fan of chocolate though. But once in a while, I do indulge myself in some chocolate desserts, and I must say when it's done right, it tastes like heaven.

Peasant Food

March 7 2011: The rain is back, it hasn't stopped since Friday... it's the dreadful drizzle that never ends... to fend off the lousy mood, I invited my girlfriend over for porridge, served with pickled vege, fried anchovies, salted egg and fried eggs with pickled radish.

Orange Polenta Cake

London is a place that grows on you. There are enough annoyances to drive you crazy like the weather, the signaling problems on the tube… but there are also plenty of reasons to like it. It’s conservative yet exuberant, it’s quaint!

Finding a Jewel in the Crown...

The sky was overcast, the mood was melancholy, but I was out with my girlfriend having a nice time wandering the cobbled streets of The Hague. The cold occasionally numbed my lips so much so that I felt retarded when I spoke and was trying to hold back my saliva.

Chocolate Tart

I loved playing tennis so much that I never missed training even in winter, those were my days in London. Though I played quite a fair bit of tennis then, I was not good at it, just loved hitting the balls and being in the sun!

Kahlua Tiramisu

I first attempted to make tiramisu because I was inspired by a friend who told me it's one of his favourite desserts. I browsed the net for a recipe, mixing it with one from my school and adding a touch of my husband's idea, and there... the inception of my version of a tiramisu.

Banana Rhapsody

The sun was shining so brightly today that I couldn’t resist taking my bicycle to the beach. Passing by woods, parks and canals, I zigzagged my way to Scheveningen, a nearby beach suburb. Found a nice spot, laid out my beach towel, and was reading a book written by Jeffrey Archer, And Thereby Hangs A Tale (love his novel Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less). 

Apple Fangipane Tart

Apple tart, apple tart, you get apple tart in almost every cafe you go to in The Hague, in The Netherlands, the same for herring, potato chips, croquette, stamppot... a typical dutch apple pie is a mix of apples, sultanas, cinnamon and cloves encased in a sweet crumbly crust. But I wanted something different!!

Czech Pastry

Koláč is a traditional pastry from Czech Republic. It’s slightly sweet and light, baked with fillings and topped with a crumbly mixture of sugar, flour and butter. You find this in every Czech home, grandmother’s recipe handed down from generation to generation, usually eaten with coffee or tea at breakfast, after lunch or simply any time of the day especially during the summer months when fresh fruits are abundantly available in the gardens and markets.

Overcoming the fuss of baking

There are plenty of recipes online and many baking books on the shelf to choose from, in fact, too many that I often don’t know which one to choose! The only way to know if a recipe works is to try it at least once. And many times, the different measurement systems make it seem so daunting... well, that’s what I find anyway.

Financier

Financier is a small french cake, light and moist and has, traditionally, a rectangular shape. I've always wondered why it's called Financier, a search on the internet soon quenched my curiosity. Some say the name Financier is derived from its traditional shape that resembles a gold bar.

Simply Lemon

A friend once asked me to bake something delicious but something not too sweet nor chocolatey for a dinner he wanted to host, I immediately thought of lemon tart, a baked lemon tart!

A Bit Thicker or A Little Softer?

Custard powder or corn starch? I’m curious to find out if it makes any difference despite being told that the two are inter-changeable. So my girlfriend (who is an avid custard cream lover) and I did an experiment together, making pastry cream based on the same recipe with 3 different type of powder – corn starch, normal custard powder and gluten free custard powder.