Garlic Prawn Pasta

Everyone has their favourite pasta. Some like theirs creamy, while others prefer tomato based ones. I'm a huge pasta fan and though I usually prefer mine with a tomato base, I think my preference has been tweaked a little.

It all started when I heard from some friends that I should try the Garlic Prawn Pasta from Coffee Club. They all agreed that it was phenomenal. But I was a tad sceptical; I mean, it sounds rather plain - I imagined just some garlic and olive oil. Guess what? It wasn't phenomenal, it was mindblowing!

The first time I tried it, I shared it with my sister because we weren't really hungry and we finished the pasta in less than 15 minutes! You should have seen us. We were both slurping up the noodles enthusiastically. When it was all gone, I thought how nice it would have been if it were a bowl of neverending pasta.

What's so great about it? The flavour. They are rather liberal with their garlic and the prawns are fresh and succulent. It's deliciously tasty. It really is a simple pasta dish relying only on olive oil, garlic and chillies but somehow it manages to pull through really well!

Both occasions when I had it, I didn't manage to snap a shot because well, it was so yummy that I forgot!

So anyway, the pasta was on my mind for days and weeks and I thought, how difficult would it be to make something like that?

That said, I went on my own garlic prawn pasta conquest. I realised that even though I had the garlic, and chillies, there still lacked a certain flavour. It wasn't tasy enough. I thought it had to do with the salt. But eventually, I thought why not try some chicken stock? And amazingly, it worked. Although I'm not sure if that's what they use. I have a feeling that seasalt would work too. But I don't have any in my kitchen currently.

I've made my version of garlic prawn pasta a couple of times already and my sister likes it so I guess it's not that bad? So now, when I crave for some, I know I can just whip one up without having to go all the way to Coffee Club.

It's really simple, this dish. I realised that I'm very much into natural olive oil based pastas now - like Aglio Olio and all. My next conquest is pesto.

What's your favourite pasta recipe/combination?

A is for Apple

A slice of warm apple crumble from Calendar's

Apples are quinntessential fruits.

Why do I say that? Open your fridge, and tell me if there's at least one apple sitting there. I know most people keep apples in their fridges. When my parents go fruit shopping, apples are a no brainer.

I have apples at home everyday. Sometimes it's red Royal Gala, and other times, it's green Granny Smiths. Dad loves buying fruits and it's always fun when he gets into his 'fruit-crazes'. Sis and I always have a good laugh about it when we reminisce the times when he would buy home huge amounts of papayas, or mangoes; depending on the season. Seriously, I kid you not! Apparently when he is in an 'orange' mood, there'll be loads of oranges in the fridge. It's quite fun actually. That's one reason why I love to open the fruit compartment in my fridge. Sometimes I'll be surprised by a lovely ripe mango or some starfruits and on certain days, just plain 'ol apples.

Apples are awesome, in my perspective. Afterall, they do keep the doctors away, no? Some like theirs crunchy but I like mine soft. Weird eh? When I mean soft, I mean a soft bite - those tend to be sweeter. Crunchy hard apples have a more tangy bite. Hmmmm haha that's applogy talk! I like apples by itself but I think the best way to have them in dessert form is a la pie or baked.

Baked apples exude a certain sweetness that simply hits home. It's that homey feel you get - the warm and soft sweet flesh that goes so well with cinnamon, brown sugar and raisins. Mmmmm.... Superb. Although I like apple pies I haven't made them. Have only made apple crumble and just recently, apple cobbler.

Today I want to talk about both apple crumble and apple cobbler. I'm really fascinated at our ability to play around with flour and come up with so many variations of something good and simple.

Those of you who bake often might know the difference between a crumble and a cobbler. A crumble is when you mix dry ingredients like oats, cinnamon, brown sugar and flour with butter till coarse crumbs form and then you simply sprinkle them over your prepared fruit dessert. Cobblers however, are usually made with wetter ingredients like milk and eggs. So what you pour on top is usually a wet batter that covers the entire surface of your fruit dessert.

I know crumbles and cobblers aren't exactly common desserts found in Asian countries like Singapore so I was ecstatic when Calendar's sent me a huge 1.7kg apple crumble to try. You might remember me posting about their carrot cake the other time. Well their chocolate cake and apple crumble is really worth a mention as well! But I'll comment on their apple crumble today.

Calendar's uses coconut in their crumble topping, which gives it a nice sweetness which I love!



They make theirs with fresh apples (duh!) and plenty of raisins and cinnamon. I really like my cinnamon so naturally, I adored their apple crumble. Once again, my family was won over by their apple crumble. Let me tell you, we finished the apple crumble within 2 days! Can you imagine? hahaha... I told you my family eats well.



Tastes even better warm. Dang, I wish I had some vanilla icecream to go with it. If you haven't tried apple crumble in your life and are simply too lazy to make one yourself, please do yourself a huge favour and order one from them. You have my promise that you won't regret it! Have I ever lied?

Since that apple crumble, I've been thinking alot about apple desserts. And it helped that we had so many Granny Smith's at home the other day. Mum asked me to quickly eat them. But I thought, hey instead of forcing myself to chomp on all of them (haha, okay, it wasn't as if she wanted me to finish them all), I thought why not make some apple crumble. However, I realised I didn't have coconut or rolled oats and I wanted to try something different anyway so I googled for an apple cobbler recipe and found one easy one. It called for walnuts too and I happen to have some at home so in I went to the kitchen and within an hour, we had some yummy Apple Walnut Cobbler to chow on!



I sliced the apples really thinly so you can't really see them here. But it tasted really good. Simple and so easy to make.



Honestly, I didn't know the difference between an apple crumble and an apple cobbler until I tried out this recipe. I mean, i've always heard of peach and blueberry cobbler but I never really thought or researched into how they were made. But hey, we learn something new everyday, no?

Oh and I change my mind.... - A is for Awesome Apple Crumble/Cobbler. I love my apples! :)

___________________________________________________

Apple Walnut Cobbler

Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup walnuts -- coarsely chopped
4 cups tart apples -- thinly sliced
1 cup flour -- sifted
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg -- beaten
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/3 cup butter -- melted

Directions:

Combine the sugar, cinnamon, and 1/2 cup of the walnuts. Spread the sliced apples in the bottom of a greased baking dish (8x8). Sprinkle the apples with the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl. In a large bowl, combine the egg, evaporated milk, and melted butter. Stir in the combined dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Pour over the apples in the baking dish. Top with remaining walnuts.

Bake at 325F (170 degree celcius) for 50-55 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

This recipe for Apple Walnut Cobbler serves/makes 6

Chocolate Fondant

Chocolate has got to be life's greatest pleasure. Or at least, in my view that is. Nothing gets me smiling in excitement than a tub of good chocolate icecream or a bar of dark chocolate. It's no secret. I adore chocolate and allow me to repeat again - I do think that it's God's greatest gift to man. Blame it on my sweet tooth. Desserts rock my world and boy am I so glad that I don't have an chocolate allergy. Imagine that! How horrible it'll be eh?

If chocolate is my poison than chocolate fondant should be the secret to my heart. I'm a sucker for this molten chocolate cake. What can be better than eating something that you think or rather looks like a simple chocolate cake, only to have you finding a rich and decadent liquid chocolate centre once you've cut through it?

I used to think that it was a tricky dessert to make. Until I chanced upon a simple recipe from VideoJug. Woke up this morning to bake cupcakes for an Amplify event today and couldn't resist making myself some chocolate fondant.

Check out the molten centre:



So now tell me this is heaven....

Do yourself a favour this instant and whip one up yourself and chant together with me: "Chocolate is a lady's best friend".

_____________________________________________________

Chocolate Fondant
Adapted from Video Jug's Chocolate Fondant Recipe.

66g chocolate
33g flour
66g sugar
66 g butter
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.

Melt chocolate and butter in a bowl using the double boiling method. Set aside.

Whisk eggs and slowly add in sugar and mix till airy and fluffy.

Sift flour in the chocolate-butter mixture and mix.

Add egg mixture to the chocolate-butter mixture and mix well.

Pour batter into ramekin and bake for about 6 mins (duration depends on how big your ramekin is. I put mine in one medium sized ramekin so it took longer, about 15 mins. but if you're using a few smaller ramekins, 6 mins should be sufficient)

Viola... your own chocolate fondant!

Mortar & Pestle

A while ago, I attended an interactive event at the National Museum. Part of the Food & Culture Series, this 2 hour long session was conducted by Christopher Tan, a writer and cookbook author. You see his name in the papers everyweek giving recipe and food advice.

'The Mortar & Pestle in Southeast Asian Cuisine' - that was what it was all about. Ya, sounds a little bit dry and I was almost expecting a history lesson. But it was much better than that. Kind of a like a fun cooking class actually. We learnt the benefits of using a mortar & pestle and by the end of the session we were all converts. It's fun actually.

We have a mortar & pestle at home but I hardly use it. Usually Dad's the one who touches it but in recent years, it's been left in a lonely corner. Dad uses the food processor for his 'rempah' because it's too much hard work I guess, to use the mortar & pestle.

But seriously, this amazing kitchen tool needs more credit. I learnt how to make two dishes at the session and one of them has a very strong Thai accent.

First you need to make a coriander root, garlic & white pepper paste. Then you use the paste and cook it with prawns and serve it with sticky rice. Apparently you an use it to marinate seafood before you barbecue it. It's seriously amazing stuff. I never knew that coriander root could do so much. I'm really impressed. This paste is really simple to make. All you need is a tsp of white pepper corns, about 3 tbsp finely chopped coriander root and 10 cloves of garlic. Use the mortar & pestle and grind it to a paste. Trust me, it's worth the effort! Right Dot? *winks*

Turning Upper Thomson Road P-I-N-K

It's no secret that I like eating at Miss Clarity Cafe. In fact, it's my most favourite place to hang out, and enjoy food at affordable prices.

Whenever I step into that cafe, I'm immediately transported to a pink girly world where I find myself being more chirpy and cheery than before.

This cafe brings back memories simply because I've had many gatherings there including friends' birthday celebrations. Those in Amplify will know what I mean! haha and we'll always make a racket when we go there.

Anyway in case those of you don't know, Miss Clarity Cafe has another outlet at Upper Thomson Road now. Their Purvis Street outlet still exists but they've simply expanded and you'll be happy to know that the other outlet is as lovely as its first.

Pink and pretty, the Upper Thomson Road outlet is more spacious and I personally love the location. I dropped by the new place last week and am glad I did. Seeing Nora again was like being reunited with a family member. :) She's that dear to me. haha, whenever I visit after a long time, she'll always ask me where have I been. She's a sweet lady.

So while I was there, I had quite a bit of food which kept me very full until late that night. We had cheese fries which I simply dig. They melt cheddar cheese instead of using some lame'ol ready made cheese squeeze. Really made all the difference.



Allow me to rave about the Papa de lamb. Dot was craving pasta and wanted to eat pappardelle pasta so bad. So we ordered this dish with slow-braised lamb shank. There wasn't an inch of disappointment with this. Braised for 4 hours, the lamb was tender and really delicious. Topped with a tangy tomato concasse, this dish was the clear winner for the night. It soothed our appetites and plastered grins on our faces.



Finally, the paella dish was on the menu so I had to try it. It came out in a little black pot with all the seafood on top (i ordered the seafood one) and looked really yummy. We tasted it and found it to be a bit different from what we expected. It was good, no doubt, but I think it could have done with more flavouring. So we asked Jonathan (the chef) and he told us that he took a different twist. It was cooked with tomatoes and saffron but not meant to be too strong and overpowering. I have to admit that I've never tasted an authentic paella from a Spanish restaurant so I believe I can't say much.

Oooo dessert was something altogether. We had the chestnut cream meille feuille. It's bascially wafer-thin crisp pastry (filo i think) sandwiched in between chestnut cream. Eating this was a dream. I totally digged the pastry and the cream was good too. Lovely



Next was the hot favourite (or so we heard) and one forkful later, we understood why. The top is kind of like a chocolate truffle cake while the bottom was cream cheese. The cheese is so smooth and creamy that it slides down your throat and it was a perfect fit, pairing it with the dark mysterious and equally smooth chocolate truffle. Chocolate truffle is a little like fudge so it works out pretty good. Oh yes, this cake is called Twin Divine. It was indeed divine I must say.



Jonanathan made us a green tea souffle too. I quite like the green colour. This souffle's light and airy and I like the green tea taste.



Here's a peek at how the interior looks like.



Much bigger eh?

I think I might visit here more often from now on. I think this location is more suitable for birthday celebrations.

What can I say, Miss Clarity is going places and I'm happy for them :D

___________________________________________

Miss Clarity Cafe
2050 Upper Thomson Road
(beside Longhouse Hawker Centre)

Every cupcake needs a tier

I'm feeling very excited. So excited that I have to share it with you!

Cocoa & Butterscotch now offers customised cupcake tiers and we just had our first order!

It's for the lovely birthday girl Clara :)

Hi Clara, if you're reading this, here's wishing you a Happy Birthday once again! We really hope you liked the tier.

Here are more photos:



In case you're wondering about the design, well it's original and based on Clara's two favourite colours: blue and white. The birthday tag you see up there is designed by Dot, my favouritest designer in the whole world who happens to be my best friend and baking partner-in-crime! She's awesome - was the one who conceptualised the entire tier actually. Kudos girl!

Here's a shot of the entire tier with a vintage feel (after some colour tweaking). I like it because it makes the blue pop!



And so you must be wondering what are these two girls doing? First they sell cupcakes, cookies and lemon curd, and now they sell cupcake tiers too?

Hey, why not ya? Both of us noticed a surging trend for cupcakes instead of the usual cake. Weddings now order cupcakes and some rather celebrate birthdays with little cuppies. So we thought why not provide a customised cupcake tier option for those of you who order our cupcakes!

It's pretty easy really. Just let us know your prefered colour combinations, what feel you'd like and viola, we will conjure one up for you in no time :D

Of course this option is only for those who order our cupcakes. Seriously, a tier really makes all the difference. I wish I had one for my own birthday! haha...

So, if you have a birthday coming up and would love to have a tier of your own, complete with cupcakes, then email us at cocoabutterscotch@gmail.com

Oh, and you really don't need to wait for a birthday to get one :) These tiers are perfect for afternoon tea parties too.

Do check back on our Cocoa & Butterscotch site for more updates!

My simple, sweet and spicy birthday

I'm a lucky girl, a very happy, satisfied and contented girl who turned 23 yesterday.

So lucky that I ended up with a huge 2kg carrot cake to eat all by myself and that's just what I did.

You know what people say about girls who turn 23? Their appetites grow too and so does their mouths.

That's what happened to me. I made my way through the entire 2kg of carrot cake and ended up with a very happy belly.

And then something interesting happened....

you won't believe me...

a carrot grew out of my ear...

hahahaha!

:p

Sorry but I really couldn't help it! Just feel like being silly. Somehow, I think turning 23 is kinda fun - you don't feel too old and you don't feel any younger. I feel the same actually. Maybe wiser and taller than I was at 13? Duh! heh.

But hey, I wasn't lying about the 2kg carrot cake.

The lovely people from Calendar sent me their carrot cake because they had read on my blog about my love for carrot cakes. Apparently their carrot cake is one of the best and I got to try it first hand. My verdict? Darn right they are... those people who rave about their cakes. It's made the typical American way; and owned by an American, no less.



Their carrot cake is moist and chockful of walnuts and raisins; even the cream cheese frosting is delish.



It has only been a day but the cake is slowly disappearing. My family loves it. I had some again for breakfast this morning. They taste really good warm.



I popped mine in the microwave for a while and it's superb. Heard that their apple crumble and apple pies are to die for. Cannot wait to try them!

Thanks Calendar for making my birthday extra special!

So you must be wondering what I ate for my birthday? haha...

Hear this... I had dessert first before having my dinner. :p

Hey, I'm sure you're not surprised! My sis and I were in town and simply couldn't decide what to eat. It's Singapore remember? The food paradise and for me, when given too many choices, I get rather fickle...

We went to Paragon to check out Canele because I had heard alot about it and wanted to check out their macarons (i'm in a total macaron craze right now). Their macarons were sold out though. But we shared a slice of black forest and gateaux chocolat.



Oh my, I tell you the cakes were splendid. Check out the gold foil:



Haha I feel like a queen after ahem eating that bit of gold foil.

Anyway this cake had whole cherries and the cake has kirsch. You should have seen the look on our faces!

The chocolate cake was even better. It was flourless I think.



Simply gorgeous. That's how I'd describe it!

We were so happy with dessert that we walked out of the place with huge smiles.



What about dinner you ask. Haha... we had pasta at Bakerzin. I had the Aglio Olio and sis had the cream mushroom pasta.

The aglio olio had 6 whole chilli padis.

Can you guess what happened to them?

5 ended up in my brave mouth.

Yea, don't you know what a spice queen I am?

But erm, I won't advise you to put all 4 in your mouth at one go. It's dangerous. Trust me. I had a whole spoonful of my sister's cream sauce and it wasn't enough to douse the fire. Tears were trickling down my face. It was seriously fiery but hey, it had that certain kick that I really dig. I'm a daredevil don't you know :D

And so, that's how my birthday went - simple, sweet, and spicy... just the way I like it.

An Fu Restaurant

Does this scare you???

"Not for the faint-hearted" the email stated.

That disclaimer was quite redundant I thought. Especially since it clearly stated Sichuan. hahaha... not that I would be fazed, but seriously, it only made me look forward to it. The email had a long menu attached to it, most of which just made me curious. Having never experienced authentic Sichuan cuisine, I was more than game.

It was to be a fiery night with a generous amount of peppers and chilli oil.

RED was the colour of the night. Everything looked RED.

I went home with red lips still pounding from the heat and believe me when I say that my lips were still stinging this morning.

This is what you get when you voluntarily indulge in yet another of the deliciously exciting Makansutra gatherings organised by Makansutra forum members. The exuberant K.F. Seetoh was there too. The entire restaurant was filled with us foodies, some of whom are food bloggers like myself.

Perhaps I'll just cut and paste the entire menu here:

Cold dishes:
1) Cold chicken in spicy sauce 口水鸡
2) Sliced pork in garlic sauce 蒜泥白肉
3) Pork tripe in chilli oil 红油肚片
4) Black fungus in Vinegar and ginger sauce 醋姜黑木耳
5) Preserved mixed vegetables 开胃什锦

Hot dishes:
1) Tyrant Crab 霸王花蟹
2) Salt and pepper prawn cake 椒盐虾排
3) Chongqing Fried chicken with dried chilli 重庆辣子鸡
4) Water boiled beef served with plain noodle 水煮牛肉配拌面
5) Hometown style Duck 家乡风味鸭
6) Cold Wok Fish slices 冷锅鱼片
7) Assorted mushroom and fungus in chicken oil sauce鸡油真菌
8 ) Ma Po Dou fu 麻婆豆腐

Dessert:
Water melon with white fungus.银耳西瓜盅

See what I mean? I really didn't know what I got myself into. All I know is that I was going to go with an open mind and empty stomach. Thank God I'm a chilli person. My chilli threshold is rather high.

There are plenty of photos and since almost everything was cooked in Sichuan peppers and peppercorns, it won't make a difference if I try to describe every dish one by one. The food was yummy, though I heard that this wasn't as authentic as it should be. Well well, a Sichuan greenhorn like me won't be able to tell the difference anyway.

Enjoy the photos and if you cannot take spices, I reckon that you just scroll quickly.. haha lest you be frightened by the oily redness. They do use plenty of chilli oil mind you.

People who cannot take chilli should NEVER visit this restaurant. I mean it! hahaha... okay I'll just go ahead and tell you about this person at our table who simply cannot take spices. That poor dude was sweating so much and hardly touched the dishes. I found it hilarious but not in a rude way... haha... oh gosh... I bet he regretted coming.

Anyway, I'll let the photos tell the story...


Cold chicken in spicy sauce


Sliced pork in garlic sauce

Okay, this one.. I have to talk about. The highlight was more to do with the garlic sauce. It's basically this bowl of red chilli oil with minced roasted garlic... Very fragrant and tasty... The pork tasted great with the sauce. Put lots of it on my rice.


Pork tripe in chilli oil



Black fungus in Vinegar and ginger sauce



Preserved mixed vegetables

That which you see is a very webbed duck's foot. I didn't eat the foot but I ate most of the vegetables. The foot looked raw! No way was I going to eat it... Hardly anyone at our table ate it. Well only one but I think he just put it on his plate. haha.


Tyrant Crab

Ahh... this one is HOT. there were sooooo many Sichuan peppers under the crabs. When I was eating it with my bare hands I knew that my eyes would sting when I try to take out my contact lenses from my eyes tonight. This is the bomb.


Salt and pepper prawn cake

A mild dish, this was rather light and easy on the tummy.


Chongqing Fried chicken with dried chilli

Tried to figure out if it was duck or chicken but concluded that it was chicken. The duck one came out soon after and it looked as if they used the same sauce. My duck photo was too blur so didn't put it up.


Water boiled beef served with plain noodle

You cannot see the beef because the thick oily chilli laden soup has covered it! But I like this dish. The beef was tender. The sauce was tasty too. But like I said, there's so much oil.... Half the time we were wonder if the people in Sichuan province really consumed that much oil everyday.


Cold Wok Fish slices

Totally fell in love with the fish. Tender and melts in your mouth. But I made the mistake of drinking the oil. You see that glistening layer on top? Yea that's the oil. I thought it was clear soup. hahaha


Assorted mushroom and fungus in chicken oil sauce



Ma Po Dou fu

This was a tad disappointing. There wasn't enough flavour. Sure it was spicy but it was flat as well. No omph!



Oh the pot sticklers (guo tie) were yummy...

and haha I took the liberty of taking a photo of the chilli oil of one of the dishes so you have a better idea of what I mean when I say oil-laden dishes.



Scared yet?

Here's the harmless dessert:


Water melon with white fungus

Someone actually wondered if the dessert was going to be spicy as well. Haha, I wouldn't be surprised if it were! They served dessert earlier because apparently some peoples' tongues were on fire and needed serious dousing!

Honestly, the food was not that scary. Well to me at least. I thought it could have been spicier. I think I really like Sichuan food. Can't imagine how it must taste like back in their hometown...

____________________________________________

An Fu Restaurant
#01-06/07 Balestier Road
Tel: 6254-3266
Open 11:30am to 3am

Now the KitchenAid rests...

It's 3:05pm on a Sunday dated 22 July and two girls were having lunch at MOS Burger @ Compass Point. Suddenly, one of them looks at the other and suddenly two smiles just broke out.

"We did it!"

Yes we did it. We baked for two whole weeks and packaged God knows how many cupcakes, muffins & cookies. I smelt like cookies and cupcakes for most of the two weeks. And I do think the butter has seeped into my pores. Maybe that's why I feel heavier! This is what happens when you don't have time for lunch and simply feast on your own cupcakes and cookies. Trust me, the smell just calls out to me. But it's okay, I have time to go back to my usual running regime. hahaha....

So how does it feel? Good actually. Both Dot and I are satisfied with the bake sale and we're glad we did it. Honestly, without her help, and constant push I probably wouldn't have lasted the two weeks. I've had two previous bakesales both of which was a solo stint. Now that I have my dear Butterscotch, it's so much more fun. She's not just my lovely assistant but my cheerleader of a friend. I couldn't have asked for a better partner. When it comes to baking, lots of patience is needed! Especially since there's the oven there and you know how edgy people get when it's hot. I know I do. I admit there were times where I just felt agitated for no rhyme or reason. And when that happens, it's good that the people around you understand and remind you of why you're doing this.

This July Bake Sale was Cocoa & Butterscotch's first venture and trust me, there'll be lots more good things to come. In the mean time, I have one small favour to ask of those who bought our baked stuff:

If you're free, drop a comment or email us personally at cocoabutterscotch@gmail.com to tell us what you thought of our cookies, cupcakes, muffins & lemon curd. Feedback is always good! oh yes, and you can always tell us what you like (or not) about the packaging too!

Oh, and THANK YOU for all your support. It was a great pleasure meeting you personally. I'm sorry I couldn't meet you all - but that means you've met Dot :) (that's in case you were wondering). Yea, sometimes when you bake, the oven doesn't have a pause button!

There you have it, a closing post to end our July Bake Sale.

Though we are currently not taking any more orders, we welcome customised orders (ie. weddings) and we're still selling our lemon curd but at a smaller scale - $10 per small bottle.

Take care ya'll and have a fantastic week!

bleu & jaune

One week of baking and i'm really feeling it.

and there's still one more week to go!

i'm a perpetual cookie/cupcake scented girl - seriously.

it's getting to me. i haven't had time to run or do much. when i'm not baking, i'm resting. when i'm not doing anything, i'm baking. it's just me, the Brandt oven, a cool white trusty KitchenAid, my two capable hands and Dot.

thank God it's only two weeks.

yea ya, you're wondering, Cheryl! if you cannot 'tahan' (malay for endure) two weeks, how are you going to become an actual pastry chef!

hmmm. good observation.

answer: i don't know!

i'm just taking it as it comes. maybe it's because i don't have industrial-sized equipment. imagine how smoothsailing everything would be if i had huge ovens and huge mixers!?

anyhow, enough day-dreaming. this bakesale, i've sold 3 jars of lemon curd. wonder why it isn't popular. you should taste some. trust me, once you've had a teaspoonful, you'd want an entire jar. try it with some vanilla ice-cream - the result is phenomenal!



Cocoa & Butterscotch do love our blueberries and lemons!

Bleu & Jaune - enchanting both of them!

Do visit our official site: Cocoa & Butterscotch for some beautiful wallpapers designed by Butterscotch (D0t).

Here's a montage of what i mean:



looks untidy here but you should check them all out!

Bakin' & bakin'

Been baking for 4 days straight but it feels as though I've been baking for weeks!

A typical day begins with me taking the butter out of the fridge at about 7am and me going back to sleep for a bit. I wake at 9am then start to prep the ingredients. The flour gets sifted, the eggs get beaten, the muffin pans get lined and I get my apron and start to get ready for the day ahead.

Surprisingly, things haven't been that hectic. I'm usually done before 6pm. It's been smooth sailing as well - thanks to Dot :) She manages almost all of the packaging. We're pretty satisfied with the way things are going. I've gotten positive feedback about our goods.

But of course, we always appreciate more feedback. So you, if you have bought our stuff and tasted them, please feel free to leave comments ya...

Here's more shots for you to munch on...



Sprinkling crumble topping onto the blueberry muffins.

Man oh man, there's nothing more exciting than exploded blueberry muffins.

Dot and I go ga-ga over them:



I guess their name: Blueberry Burst is befitting!

Then there's our Swirly Whirly Nutella Cupcakes.



I have so much fun doing the swirls. That's the best part :)

I get a kick out of seeing the final product after it gets baked.



There are alot more photos but I'll post them up another time.

For more information, visit my Cocoa & Butterscotch site. We have some cool wallpapers you can download from there too! :)

Tata...