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At one weekend, I went back to Basildon as usual by train. At the station, the train was delayed so I went to the bookshop nearby & flipped through some food magazines. I wanted to baked a cheesecake when I got home so when I saw there was a section on cheesecake in Food & Travel. I bought the magazine without second thought. All the cheesecakes in t
It was my sister Kelly's birthday so I wanted to make her a mascarpone mousse cake filled with fresh raspberry. However, the supermarket closest to my place wasn't open on Easter Sunday. Instead I baked this decadently dark chocolate torta with the bittersweet chocolate & coffee sauce. The recipe is adapted from Willie's Chocolate Bible which has been in my
March supposed to be spring time but in London the weather is freezing cold. My mum's birthday and mother's day are in March so we always celebrate together. For this reason, I flipped through a few cookbooks & wrote down a recipe even though I didn't feel like baking recently. To suit my mum's taste bud, I made this entremet with crunchy streusel, nutty praline geno
Amongst those small cakes, my all time favourite is the buttery French madeleine. Ever since Jenny baked some madeleines at home, I fell in love with the moist & crumbly textures. Madeleines are easy to make & all the ingredients are in my cupboard. There are 3 flavours: earl grey, cranberries & chocolate. My favourite is certainly the chocolate flavour.
I just moved out from the flat I had lived for 2 years & I'm living with my sister who just started working in London. To be honest, I have no idea how things will be with her after all I don't have much experience living with family since I stay in UK. I don't have time to manage the blog, so I'll keep it updated very slowly… Moreover, I don't have t
Thanks for all the emails & greetings, I'm now getting better :) This year is a very important year to me, as I'm finishing my Ph.D study and will be writing up my thesis. As time goes by, I'm getting anxious & stressed. Sometimes, I have the thought in mind that why I have chosen to do a Ph.D? Being a patisserie sounds more fun, I know it's not as easy
I'm in the middle of downturn in my life, I'm feeling I can no longer cope with any more stress & pressure. When I should go to the college, I stay in my room shutting myself up. Unable to tell, unable to refuel, as time slips away, I'm getting ever more suffocated. I want so much to escape from here, there's no exit I can see of but I can only stay at a hopeless
Happy New Year! A long overdue post! I should have updated 2 weeks ago but I thought I couldn't write any more as I have a few reports to write. Alongside with that, I started this year resolution with a photography project 'A Photo A Day' in January. If that's going well, I'll extend it to '365 photos'. Furthering my obsession with caramel &
The dessert I've chosen for the closure of 2013: chocolate tart with caramel mousse & caramel pear compote. One that includes all my favourite flavours over the year. Chocolate, caramel & pear. Wishing you all a very Happy New Year & hope to see you next year. Recipe (make 8 x 10 cm tarts) Pâte Sucrée au Chocolat 150 g unsalted butt
Can't believe Christmas is one week later, it felt like times had gone so quickly. When I think of last year Christmas, it's almost like it's yesterday. Before Christmas, I've finally made some cake pops which I always want to try. I wrapped the cake pops & macarons baked by Jenny with cellophane & ribbons, & turned into nice little Christmas presen
This was the birthday cake I made for myself last week. I was planning to make a mousse cake with honeydew melon, coconut & pineapple. But I didn't have time to get all the ingredients so I changed my plan at the last minute. I flipped through piles of cookbooks cosily on the sofa. I can't find the combo I like so I took a few recipes from Le Goût Authentique Retrouvé by
Well, I made this cake 2 weeks ago & I should have updated the blog last week. But I just couldn't get in the mood to write. I get overwhelmed with my thoughts lately, mainly because I'm stress about my work. A lot of tasks to be completed, experiments to be carried out, parties to attend, cakes to be baked… Back to my obsession with cake & c
This post isn't about me, it's about my sister, Jenny. I was invited to be her guest to the afternoon tea party at Le Cordon Bleu in London. A place where she has trainings to become a superb patisserie one day. On that special day, I went to Le Cordon Bleu with my mum & brother just for the tea party. Indulgent entremets, lovely pastries & freshly
I'm totally in love with these classic & elegant French shortbreads. It is originated from Bretagne (Brittany) in France. This is not a traditional recipe which just uses butter, egg & flour. This recipe from cakechef is much more sophisticated with a thoughtful consideration of taste & texture. The ground almond makes it even more flakie
On the train back home, I was thinking of baking rose & strawberry streusel bars. But, when I got home I realised my mum had throw away my rose jam. So, I changed my mind & made these rose & lychee entremets. You might have noticed I've already made few lychee entremets. Yea, this is another one :P It's a little difficult to see from the pi
I realised I haven't made entremets & mousse cakes for a few months now. Making delicate & pretty entremets is one of my passion in baking. It feels amazing the moment I finish the decoration, take a photograph, then taste it, and of course to share the joy with you here. Have you noticed whenever I make entremets I like to combine different f
Can't believe it's the 5th year of this blog. In the beginning, the blog was begun as a journal for my handmade jewellery. Then, I started to bake & soon addicted to it. After getting a micro 4/3 GF1 camera, I had learnt a lot when I used it & so did the baking. However, after getting the expensive Fuji x-pro 1 camera a few months ago, I haven't been taking phot
Hi all, I have to apologise for my absence for the last few weeks. I was injured on a hiking trip in Wales & took a week resting. After that, I'm busy with my Ph.D project so I don't really have time for baking & I'll do my best to keep this blog running. I've never used a madeleine pan to bake madeleines… because I didn't think there's a need for it.
Continuing with my favourite flavour--caramel, I baked a 6" caramel pudding cake but I didn't take photos of it as I wasn't really satisfied by the look. I love it very much so I baked it again in the weekend. The roses are blooming in the garden so I also made rose petal jam. The colour was gorgeously vibrant, just like a red jewel under the sun. To some
Cooking can be an inexpensive hobby, but we all know those cooks who can spend a fortune on exotic ingredients and fancy kitchenware. You can get some lovely deals using internet discount sites, but it also helps to know have some fun and frugal recipes in your repertoire. Make your own baking mixes. Pancakes, and biscuits, and muffins, oh my! All of these go
In my last post, I made the salted caramel frosting for chocolate cupcakes. I really like the frosting so I decided to bake a carrot cake for that. After frosting, I also made some spiced caramel macadamia nuts for garnish. On a rainy day, enjoy the cake with a cup of coffee for an enjoyable tea time :) Carrot Cake with Salted Caramel Frosting &
Went food shopping & picked a few pots of double cream as they're on sale. I decided to whisk up a quick & easy chocolate cake but soon changed my mind & baked them in small muffin tins. Once I baked the chocolate cupcakes, I thought I should frost them. I don't always frost cupcakes, in fact I avoid doing so. I find frosting & icing are overly swee
Last week, I went to Barcelona for a short break with my sister. I walked around the city just exploring & taking photos. After the break, I made these pear & caramel entremets. I saw the red wine pear entremets posted on Evan's Kitchen Ramblings & that reminds me of this recipe which I've designed a while back. Finally got the chan
I have to apologize for abandon this site for a month… Things get a bit hectic in my work & I got a bit demotivated recently. Of course, one of the reason was that my new camera was sent back to Fuji for servicing. I got my camera back so there was no excuse not to bake & photograph. Last weekend, I went to Basildon & took the chance to make this choco
Stop baking cakes for a while, I’ve been looking for new breakfast ideas as I’m bored with muffins & pancakes… I recently have afternoon tea with scones & pies so I thought it shouldn’t be too difficult to make scones. The most interesting recipe is 30-min scone & the recipe I used only needs 3 ingredients: whipping cream, wholemeal self-raising flour & sugar.
I baked this cake for my friend’s birthday. I first saw the recipe from cake chef, which is a Japanese website showcasing Japanese patisserie. It’s called Cremeux, meaning creamy & smooth. The cake is composed of 3 layers: almond genoise, white chocolate yogurt mousse & mascarpone mousse. I really like the mascarpone mousse & white chocolate yogurt mousse combo, b
Sunset at Southgate. Scenes from Tenby. Scenes from Tenby. Sunset at Angle. Scenes from Talybont Reservoir, Brecon Beacon National Park. Afternoon tea at Old Barn Tea Room, Brecon Beacon National Park. Scenes from Clun Gwyn waterfall.
I spotted a Korean post about these brownies baked in egg shells a few days ago. I couldn’t resist to bake it for Easter, it’s fun & interesting :) The creative idea is originated from Sandra Mangas & Cupcake Project. Both of them have amazing food blogs, full of inspirations & amazing recipes. It was sunny & bright the next morning so I set up a t
I was quite excited last week as I bought a new camera, Fujifilm X-Pro 1. As much as I like my old camera GF1, I think it’s time to upgrade. I took a few shoots in the front garden, it’s bright & sunny so flowers are blooming. To celebrate my sister’s birthday, I baked a chocolate genoise filled with layers of berries. We had an incredible tea time, we
March is a very busy month, family birthdays & mother's day. I've baked 3 cakes including this one this month. I made 'Jasmin' again for mother's day since my mum likes it. My sister Kelly suggested to put in some bird's nest (??) in the jelly so I did. This time I made it into a simple round-shape & garnished with white chocolate shards. Spring has come & ca
I baked this rose angel food cake from egg whites left after I made the chocolate concerto. I was thinking to bake a lavender one instead of rose but I just couldn’t find it from all those tins & jars in my kitchen. My sister isn’t fond of the rose fragrant, she prefers lavender but I think it's alright. The cake is not overly sweet, tender & ethereally light. I co
March is a busy month for me, birthdays & mother’s day, all these take almost all my weekend breaks. Last week, I made a chocolate mousse cake as a birthday cake. Even though I wasn’t happy about the photos, I’ll post it on my blog anyway. The cake tastes great, not very sweet, rich & divine, just how I like it to be. I made a 8” square but it was a bit thin, I think
It was a pleasure to be invited by Matt from foodforfriendsyeah to write a food photography guide for his site. I have to admit that I’m not very good in writing photography guide & I think there’re lot of great food stylists/ bloggers who are much better than me but I had to give it a try. If you’re ever interested in how I take my food photos, you can read the entire story
I have to admit I was delighted when I completed the challenge to make this lovely dome-shaped cake. I’ve had an urge to make this cake as it had been in my mind for 2 weeks. I could have made this earlier but I didn’t really have times, plus this would make a lovely birthday cake for my mum. I made a red wine poached pear mousse cake for my mum’s birthday last year & she wa
It’s my friend’s birthday and she had special request for a baked cheesecake. So, the night before I met her, I baked, not one but two small cheesecakes. The recipe was actually for a 8” cake but we’re going to a historical & lovely town called Lewes. It’s not a good idea to bring a giant 8” cake around. The little cheesecake turned out great with simple arr
This is one of a few cheesecakes that I'll make again, not only because it's simple to prepare, yet the result has never failed me. It's more like chocolate pots de creme, smooth & rich, I once called this killer chocolate cheesecake. It's absolutely chocolatey. A little inspiration is topping with chocolate ganache & dark chocolate sprinkles. It is freezing in Lond
Valentine's day is coming so I thought it's a great time to bake this lovely red velvet cake. I've bookmarked this recipe (for who knows how long...) when I'd first seen it from Dear Pig's blog (chinese). She baked the cake & simply garnished it with red rose petals. It looks so perfect & I couldn't think a better way to decorate the cake. To be honest, decorate a cake wi
The mousse was very easy to make, I almost always have the ingredients in hands. It just happened that I had some white chocolate & blackberries, not very usual as I always stock dark chocolate & raspberry. Anyway, I whipped them up in the morning, piped in a silicon mould & freeze. Later, I popped them out & simply arranged with some rose syrup & blueb
This lovely mousse cake is when East meets West. The subtle, sweet & fragrant oolong mousse with crispy Asian pears coupled with the chewy & moist pecan brownie. When it melts in the mouth, I can feel the delicacy & sweetness, gradually overtaken by the rich & nutty chocolate brownie. I've chosen to use Asian pear over William pear. William pear us
One word to this chocolate cake, DIVINE. Fall in love instantly with this moist & melt-in-the-mouth chocolate mousse cake. I added a little variations to the recipe. I really like the subtle note of Grand Marnier matching with bittersweet chocolate & I used muscovado sugar to increase the richness & moisture. I baked a small 6" cake instead of 8", on
I almost forgot to share this recipe, the photos were lost in my endless photo library. I've created a new portfolio from 500px as you can see I've added a new badge & a new tab at the top :) So, I'm reorganising my photo library at the moment. A snapshot of my 500px wall. I found the photos from the library & then I've to find the recipe... Lucki
On New Year day, I'd gone home to celebrate with my family.We had hotpot & dumplings :)Hotpot is simple to prepare but it's absolutely tasty, also very enjoyable with family & friends.On new year's eve, I didn't go out for countdown but baked a simple yet delicious chocolate whipped cream cake.I brought that home for desserts after the meal but my sister also made two delicious cakes.I too
This is the first time I've tried to test the recipe from the book ????????????????? (Le Goût Authentique Retrouvé by Hidemi Sugino) my friend bought it for me from Japan in September.I've tried to make Pomme d'Eve but the recipe wasn't his, I might give it a try sometimes. Evan from Evan's Kitchen Ramblings has tried many desserts, all of them look gorgeous. The recipe I chose to give a c
Winter is the time for chestnuts.The lovely smell of chestnut, the rich & moist texture, the sophisticated note of rum all give to subtle & nutty flavours.It's great on its own or as an accompanied to a hot cup of tea or coffee.Also, a great way to celebrate winter. Wish you all have a merry Christmas & happy New Year. Recipe (4" x 8" pound cake):Sweetened Chestnuts200 g ready
I baked these lovely cupcakes for my breakfast last week.As a chocoholic myself, putting chocolate truffles inside is what I always do.I usually warm the cupcake in a microwave so I'd have a melting chocolate centre, plus it's great with a cup of mocha :)These cupcakes are moist, fluffy & light! Recipe:150 g cream cheese170 g whipping cream2 eggs (L)130 g icing sugar150 g plain flour1 tsp
I designed a cheesecake on a tart & drew it out.I went shopping & bought all the things I needed.At the end, I made something different. Things don't always go as planned but it happens.The cheesecake is great, I like the orange slices on the side & the ginger biscuit base. I think the cake will look prettier with the cream on the tart but there was no whipping cream left when
Last week, I made a chocolate mousse cake for my birthday.I always wanted to make an earl grey chocolate mousse cake & finally got around to make it for my special day.I wasn't happy with the decoration overall, I wanted a dome shape & the chocolate ganache wasn't smooth.I wasn't going to post this but it did taste really nice & rich so I decided to post it anyway.I might try to
Chocolate cake again!The glory of autumn & winter is when I'm craving for chocolate & don't feel guilty of having too much of it.I baked this dark chocolate & hazelnut cake on a cosy Sunday morning.This is a true chocolate heaven, very rich & dark chocolatey.It's very moist & dense, almost like the texture of a brownie.It's best serving in a small slice with a cup of tea or c
When the weather becomes colder everyday, it is time for comfort foods.Chocolate always work wonders for me.These madeleines are much better than a piece of dark chocolate.A subtle hint of cinnamon with a rich & soft centre.It feels really good with a cup of tea in the evening. I have joined Springpad, it is a multi platform notebook or organiser for mobile devices (Android, iPhone &
It all started when my sister Jenny baked these lovely cookies months ago.Since then, these cookies are baked twice a week.I didn't really get my hands on these cookies since Jenny bakes batches of cookies.Then there was a week & there was no cookies left.My mum started to complain & murmured that there was no cookies left.She is cheesecake lover, also a cookies lover.To keep her happy,
