Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Demam..

Oleh kerana peristiwa semalam, aku dilanda demam. Oh tidak!! Apakah yang telah berlaku semalam? Chewah! cam suspen je. Actually takde apa2 pun. Kete aku breakdown masa kat LCCT. Semalam, aku menapak jauh sikit, drive all the way to LCCT sebab nak ambik chocolate from a friend, Cana.

Oleh kerana Cana takmau aku bayar for the chocolates, maka aku bake kan utk dia Chocolate Banana Bottom cake. Instead of buat squares with chocolate chips, aku baked dalam bundt pan. Sorry! Lupa nak ambik gambar coz I was running late semalam. Aku janji dengan Cana to meet at Coffee Bean LCCT at 3.00pm, luckily aku sempat sampai kat situ before 3pm. But kete aku pulak buat hal. Just before aku masuk parking kat LCCT tu, kete overheated. Alhamdulillah, ada parking spot. Kalau tak, memang nangis la aku sorang2 kat situ.

Sementara tunggu enjin sejuk, aku lepak kat Coffee Bean tu 3 jam! Kesian Cana, sebab terpaksa melayan aku bercakap.. hahaha.. sorry yek Cana. Tapikan, aku nak cerita something. Semalam masa kat Coffee Bean tu, aku beli sandwich tuna. It cost me RM18.90 for the sandwich. Baru ngap semulut, tiba2 aku nampak rambut!!! GRRRRRR!!! hampeh sungguh!! Berasap kepala aku. Dah ler aku tengah lapar. Nasib baik ler aku complaint dengan penuh berhemah. Budak cashier tu nak ganti with new sandwich, but aku dah tak lalu. Aku suruh dia refund duit aku je. Teruk betul Coffee Bean LCCT tu.

Anyway, at 6pm, hubby came. Dia risau aku balik sorang2 with kete yg ada problem. I reached home at 8.15pm. Alhamdulillah Wan tolong hantar the girls pegi tuition. Sampai rumah, badan dah start seram sejuk, macam nak demam. Tengah malam, aku start demam. Hari ni dah ok, but badan semua sakit2, joints semua rasa sengal seperti tuan dia jugak, sungguh sengal hari ni.. hehehe..


Sunday, October 16, 2011

Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Aiyo! Niat aku adalah untuk update blog everyday. Tapi so far, hanya berjaya update every 2 days. I'm so sorry. Semalam aku teramat la busy nya. I slept late, at 5am, pastu pukul 6.30am bangun, solat subuh and start masak nasi minyak hujan panas for k.mei. She ordered nasi minyak for 30 orang makan. This time, dia bagi another type of basmathi, which memang takde lagi dalam market. It's not Pusa 1121, instead it's a long, beautiful grain called Special Basmathi. Erm.. memang special pun. Bila masak, nasi jadi sangat lembut and fluffy, not as long as Pusa, tapi definitely tasted better than Pusa.

Ada yang nak beli ke? Aku rasa next year baru masuk market Malaysia. That beras Abg Zainol dapat as hamper raya from Bernas. Aku lupa la pulak nak ambik gambar nasi minyak semalam. Eh! kejap! rasanya ada lagi nasi minyak dalam peti. Erm.. but aku dah goreng, campur dengan daging nasik minyak and ayam. Most probably nasi tu dah patah sikit. Later aku godek dalam peti ok.

As for now, aku nak tunjuk hasil baking last week. Aku ada banyak sangat stok green apples. Dah boring buat apple and date cake, so I tried something different from Joy The Baker.




Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake
Adapted from Joy The Baker
makes two loaves

For the Dough:
2 1/4 teaspoon (1 package) active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water, about 105 to 155 degrees F.
big pinch of sugar
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour (I used 4 3/4 cups of flour)
1 cup warm whole milk, 105 to 115 degrees F.

To Make the Dough:  In a small bowl, mix together yeast, warm water and pinch of sugar.  Stir together until yeast is dissolved and set aside for 10 minutes.  Yeast will foam up.  That’s how you know it’s alive!
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, add the sugar, butter, cardamom, and salt.  Blend on medium speed until pale in color and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Stop the mixer, scrape down the bowl, and add eggs and 1 cup of flour.  Blend on medium speed until thoroughly incorporated and creamy, about 1 minute.  Stop the mixer and add 2 cups more cups of flour, foamy yeast mixture, and warm milk.  Blend in medium speed until the flour disappears.  Mixture will be very wet.
Add 1 1/2 to 2 more cups of flour.  Blend until the flour is almost incorporated.
Dump the dough onto a lightly floured work surface.  Knead for 5 to 8 minutes by hand.  Dough will be glossy and just slightly sticky.  Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a towel and let rest in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled in size.
While the dough rises, make the apple filling and the streusel.

For the Filling:
3 large apples, peeled and cut into small cubes (I used Fuji apples)
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
pinch of salt

To make the Apple Filling
Toss together diced apples, lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch, nutmeg and salt.  Leave at room temperature and set aside until ready to use.

For the Streusel:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt
pinch of cardamom
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 egg and sugar for brushing and topping the dough before baking

To make the Streusel Filling:
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and cardamom.  Add butter and, using your fingers, work the butter into the flour mixture.  Break up the butter into the mixture, until thoroughly incorporated and crumbly.  Set aside.

Continue on with the Dough:
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
When the dough has doubled in size, dump it out onto a lightly floured work surface.   Use a large knife or a bench knife to divide the dough in two.  Roll each dough piece into about a 10×14-inch rectangle.  Sprinkle with half of the streusel mixture.  Add half of the apple mixture over the apples.  Add a bit of the apple juices too.  That’s fine.

Starting from the longest side, begin to roll the dough.  This isn’t like a cinnamon roll, you don’t have to roll it into a super tight swirl.  Fold in about 1 1/2 to 1-inch folds.  Keep the seam on the bottom.
Repeat the same steps for the second piece of dough.

Carefully lift roll onto the prepared baking sheet. **Now is a great time to freeze or refrigerate the coffee cake  dough for later baking.**  Take a pair of clean scissors and slice into the dough leaving about 3/4-inch of dough still attached.  Slice at 1-inch intervals.  Carefully begin to curve the sliced dough into a semi-circle/horseshoe shape.  If some of the apple juices escape, that’s ok    Cover with a towel and let rest in a warm place for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Brush dough with egg wash and sprinkle with raw or granulated sugar.  Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through.

Remove from the oven, allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving.  Best served warm with hot coffee.  Coffee cake will last, well wrapped at room temperature, for up to 3 days… or 3 hours.
**  If you decide to freeze the dough, place it in the fridge to thaw the evening before you’d like to bake it.  Once it’s thawed, slice it according to the above directions.  Allow to come to room temperature, and allow to rise for another 30 minutes beyond that.  Wash with egg and sugar, then bake.
**  If you decide to refrigerate the dough, simple take it out of the fridge, slice according to the above directions.  Let come to room temperature, then allow to rise for 30 minutes beyond that.  Brush with egg and sugar, then bake.

Friday, October 14, 2011

New York Cheese Cake

Iman wanted Oreo Cheese Cake for tea. Tapi biasa la, mama iman ni sangat la tak suka biskut oreo tu and anything creamy and cheesy. So, aku cakap kat Iman that I dont want to bake cheese cake. Bila tengok muka dia sedih je, rasa kesian la pulak. Setelah puas google recipe, akhirnya, aku cuba Joy Of Baking nye recipe.

Memang sedap!! Mula2, bila tengok kena guna 1kg cream cheese, rasa nak demam kejap. Tapi the result, peh! memang best!! Cheese cake aku came out perfect. Pastu ada la sorang pakcik aka hubby, yang tak sabar2 nak makan cheese cake tu. Baru keluar 1 jam from the oven, dia dah nak makan. I took out the ring from the springform pan, and potong the cake. Dah tak pasal2 kek aku sunken kat tengah. huhuhuhu.. Sedih betul.

And that pakcik, dengan happynya makan cheese cake yg still warm. I had to pasang balik the ring and biarkan the cake dalam peti overnight. Luckily, kek tu still as sedap, cuma rupa je la hancus sikit.

 Ni rupa kek setelah di sejukkan dalam peti overnight

Ni rupa kek yg baru je keluar from di oven dan disejukkan for 1 hour. Lawa kan? 


Ps : Recipe aku upload later yek.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Chicken Balls with Soy Sauce

Actually this is a very simple dish. My Korean SIL, Mina, selalu masak this dish, but using fish balls or fish cakes. Tak sure what it's called in Korean. Next time aku jumpa dia, I'll ask. This time, instead of using fish balls, aku guna chicken balls. Sedap! Boleh guna any brand of chicken balls. My advise is, buat sendiri chicken balls tu. Err.. but aku kan, tak kuasa nak buat sendiri, aku beli kat frozen section at Jusco. hehe..



Ingredients
1/2kg of Chicken Balls
2 biji bawang besar - potong wedges
3 crushed garlic
2 tbs of kicap manis
2 biji cili merah - potong panjang

cara2
1. Panaskan 3 tbs of minyak, masukkan crushed garlic. Goreng for 1-2 minutes
2. Add chicken balls, goreng sampai chicken balls fully cooked, add bawang besar, cili dan kicap manis.
3. Biarkan for another 2-3 minutes, hidangkan.

Makan dengan nasi panas, sedap sangat2! Note that I didnt add any salt or sugar sebab chicken balls tu dah ada flavour. :)

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Mengopi With Girlfriends

Speda came for UIA convocation on Friday. So, aku pun apa lagi, terus la make a date on Saturday with this super busy prof from UIA Kuantan. And Leene and Dila jadi mangsa jugak. hehe.. But unfortunately, last minute, Dila kena cancel our date. Huhuhu.. sedih sungguh. Leene berbaik hati nak pick up aku kat rumah. Tak kuasa sebenarnya aku nak drive kat area Old Town Taman Melati tu, nak cari parking memang bercinta. Lagi2, malam weekend.

I baked two cakes for the occasion, carrot-less carrot cake and red velvet cake. Kebetulan, Normi ordered red velvet cake for her daughter, Aqilah's birthday. Aqilah specially requested red velvet cake yang aunty Shidah buat. Walaupun Aunty Shidah dah more than 1 month tak bake, alhamdulillah, menjadi jugak the red velvet. Thank you Aqilah for placing ur trust in me! hehe.. Finally, I managed to shake off the jinx! Tapikan, my carrot cake, telah menjadi carrot-less carrot cake sebab aku lupa nak letak grated carrot, sedih betul. Nasib baik ler still sedap. *sigh*...

Photos courtesy of Leene. TQ babe :)



 Me and my red velvet cupcakes! Iffah decorated the cupcakes. TQ sayang.

 Speda, engkau makan satu bijik cupcake saje tau! :P

 Red Velvet Cupcakes

 Carrot-less Carrot Cake.. sob sob

Bila bergossip, memang la seronok :)

Monday, October 10, 2011

Kitchen Aid For Sale

The kitchen aid 5 Quartz order is now open. Please email me at shidah219@yahoo.com. Shipment is for December 2011, expected date of arrival is somewhere late January 2012 or early February 2012.


Thursday, September 8, 2011

My cake!! Urgh!

What happened when u lost ur baking mojos? A "broken" cake I guess. That was what happened yesterday. Iman ada jamuan hari raya kat sekolah. I was supposed to bake a cake for her the nite before. But I dont have milk, and I was too lazy to go out. So, pagi semalam, aku pun buat ler cake. My heart wasnt really into it. I havent been baking cakes for more than 3 weeks dah. I just lost it.. I cant find my mojos even now..

It was a simple enuff to do cake, the devil food chocolate cake. No matter how limited the time is, I always managed to bake this cake to perfection. But yesterday was a disaster. The cake crumbled when I flipped it on the cooling rack. I guess it resembles how I feel inside. I wanted to cry. Everytime aku bake, my failure percentage has always been almost 0. But not yesterday.

Iman waited kat pondok guard at her school, hoping for mama's freshly baked cake, but only to be greeted with store bought cake. Takpe la kakak, nanti mama buat lagi ye. Cake semalam, mama buat popsicle cake je la

*sigh*.... 

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Gambar Raya?

Errk.. Sadly, this year, kita orang lupa nak ambik gambar raya. I did bring back my camera, but I was on a different planet sepanjang cuti raya, and in the end, langsung tak ingat pasal gambar raya.

 Boleh tak gambar ni aku letak as gambar raya too? Ni on the way back to KL. I love this photo. This is them, on happy days :)

 This photo was taken on 1st day of raya. My friend Yeen made a comment, pesal gambar raya aku semua bertema kan katil. hahahhaa..


With my BFF, Sally, 25 years of friendship. TQ Azli for the photo :)

PS : I lost more than 5kg during Ramadhan. 

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Selamat Hari Raya

After two weeks of MIA, I'm back!! Thank you everyone for the support. I really appreciate it especially the emails, sms-es and calls. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Sempena hari raya yang mulia ni, izinkan aku memohon maaf diatas segala kekurangan, terlebih, tersalah, tersilap, dan segala2nya. InsyaAllah I'm back for good :)


Thursday, August 18, 2011

Lost....

The truth is, I've lost my blogging mojos. I updated my blog daily, but, there's no essence in it. Too many things in my mind now. Some days I feel like crying, some days, I feel like laughing. But the crying days came more often that the laughing days. Bila K.Lili post a beautiful doa on her blog, I cried buckets


"I know you are there ALLAH. I know you see my tears. 
I know you hear my prayers. I know you are testing me.
And all I ask from you is to strengthen my Iman, so I can handle the struggle in life and have patience.
I love you my Lord. My Allah. Please keep me safe." Ameen.  
 

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Pandan Coconut Cake

Bila cakap pasal Pandan Coconut Cake, aku teringat Silver Bird cake. Their pandan coconut cake is the best. But it's sold chilled, so bila nak makan, kena thaw. Dulu, masa aku mula2 beli, it was selling at RM4.90. Now dah naik to RM6.90. Dah lama aku tak beli.

Semalam, entah apa hantu yg dah merasuk, aku teringin sangat nak makan cake tu (sebenarnya nak try bundt pan nordic tu.. hehehe). Setelah puas google recipe and study few recipes, aku decided to use the recipe by joy of baking. Bila kek tu dah masak, aku was at awe with the result. I should have bought nordic pans earlier. True, as Rima said, you can never go wrong with Nordic.

I baked the cake for iftar semalam, pagi tadi aku bangun, cuma tinggal 1 slice je lagi. Separuh telah dihabiskan oleh Shariff dan Raina! Luckily aku sempat merasa and hubby pun sempat makan last nite. I give some to Nisa and Ju.I love this cake a lot! It's very moist and soft. Bau cake pun sangat harum because of daun pandan and santan.







Pandan Coconut Cake
Adapated from Joy Of Baking

Ingredients


6 large eggs - separate

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (170 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 3/4 cups  granulated white sugar, divided

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

300ml coconut milk/santan
120ml of air daun pandan (from 4 helai daun pandan yang di blend)

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Method
1. In a mixing bowl sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.


2. In bowl of electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Gradually add 1 cup of the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.


3. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and santan mixture, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.  


4. In a clean bowl of your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, (or with a hand mixer) beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup (50 grams) of sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. 

5. With a rubber spatula gently fold a little of the whites into the batter to lighten it, and then fold in the remaining whites until combined. Do not over mix the batter or it will deflate.


6. Pour into the prepared pans, smoothing the surface with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake for about 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in center.  


7. Place the cakes on a wire rack to cool, in their pans, for about 10 minutes. Then invert the cakes onto a greased rack.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Perfect Cake?

Among other things that I ordered from amazon are nordic pans. The result?



Perfection!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Barang from Amazon. Yay!

Rumah ku yang bagai tongkang pecah..

 
One row of kotak

 Another few more boxes at another corner

 Eh! ada lagi few more boxes kat different corner

Luar pun ada!! 

TQ K.Siti tolong angkatkan the boxes!! Kitchenaid pun semua dah selamat sampai, alhamdulillah. Thank you to those yang ordered the kitchenaid. Rumah aku dah jadi tempat borong pinggan mangkuk. TQ Suzana!! *muahs*.

A Day at Bookxcess

We went to rumah K.Mei semalam. Takde pun niat nak pegi bookxcess. Tapi bila dah sampai rumah K.Mei, tengok jam, baru pukul 12 noon, rasa macam rugi la pulak kalau tak gi mana2. So, K.Mei pun ajak pegi Bookxcess. Kalau duduk kat bookxcess, seharian pun takpe. I love going there. I can sit and read the whole day kat situ.

Sampai je kat Amcorp Mall, rasa nak demam kejap tengok parking yang penuh. Aduhai! Aku terlupa kejap yang Amcorp Mall on weekends is always crazy. The flea market kat ground floor is an attraction. Every weekend, penuh dengan manusia because of the flea market. Luckily it didnt take me long to find a parking spot. Kita orang lepak kat situ sampai pukul 3pm.

At 2pm, ada story telling for children kat situ. Iffah wanted to join the session. Iman and Zuleika were like bleh.. Dia org cakap it's for small kids. And true enuff, they were the only young adults there. Hahahaha.. The rest, kanak2 ribena yang berumur bawah 6 tahun. Terkulat2 muka dia orang duduk kat tengah2 tu.

 Iffah segan sangat, dia duduk kat tepi rak buku kat belakang tu. 

 Look at Iman's trade mark, the brooding expression. 

The animated story teller.