It is fun

I always enjoys having friends over. Perhaps it is my personality or perhaps it is as a homemaker and getting friends over is hard as most of them are working in the day.

NH and I are both bloggers and after one meet up, we became friends. It reminded me so much of penpals when we were young. Then, we don't have the cyber world and go through letters to make friends. Now it is so much easier and faster I should say.

NH enjoyed baking too. In fact, I think she is crazier than me. I marveled her energy as she has two young kids in tow and maidless too. Perhaps it is the same passion that drawn us together. Somehow, I feel comfortable chatting with her about everything under the sun especially when it comes to baking.

I love her nature too and somehow the chemistry between us just clicked. Geesh, I hope she felt the same way as me. hehehe.

Anyway, I invited her to come over to bake some cakes for her daughter's farewell treats to her teachers (yes, they are moving out of here). I am glad that the gathering is possible as I will be leaving in three days' time and she will be out of Singapore by the time I come home.

I proposed a vegetarian cupcake recipe that I somehow couldn't get it right. The centre is always wet and it sure takes a long time to bake. I am glad to say that we finally get this right. Though NH didn't quite like it but my hubby said it is good. For me, I think I will work on this Easy Bake Chocolate cake further.



As little C is allergy to Chocolate, we wanted to bake Oreo Butter Cake but I realised that I didn't have yoghurt. So we decided to try a White cupcake instead. Since I have never baked a white cake before. Wrong move to add in Almond Extract as kids generally dislike the taste and smell of almond. The cake is soft and fluffy. Will I try this again, perhaps but will definitely change the flavour.



I had a really enjoyable afternoon with NH and her kids. Hey let's do this again when you are home for holiday.

Bon Vogage NH. Keep in touch.

White cupcakes
Recipe: 125 best cupcake

What you need:

132g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
148g castor sugar
57g unsalted butter, room temp
2 egg whites
1 tsp almon extract
2/3 cup buttermilk

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degree.

Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add egg whites one at a time, beating well each addition.

Mix in almond extract.

Beat in flour and buttermilk alternatively. 3: 2

Scoop batter into pan and bake for 20 - 25 mins.

Cool on rack

Biscuits?

PW, CY and I were talking about coming together to bake a cake as we all love to eat and bake. Set the date, and being me the hopelessly forgetful one, I got the date wrong and promised my kids for an outing. Plenty of apologies and then we set another date. This time round, I made sure I bold it in RED with the date and day!

Unfortunately, CY's mom was sick and need to be hospitalised. PW and I decided to go ahead. This morning, I received a sms to say that PW's boyfriend is ill and she is sending him to the doctor.

Guess, we have to postpone our little bake a cake session but I was already itching to bake and thus remembered last weekend article. I quickly cut out the recipe.

You see, I am still searching for THE recipe that matches my favourite scones.

Okay for some, this is known as biscuits and for some this is called scones. When I was young, I read about such item in story books. Thus when I was backpacking in UK in my mid 20s and chanced about a café that offered scones and clotted cream on the menu, I was determined to try it. Back then, I wasn't impressed by it at all. In fact, I didn't like it at all.

Many years later, when I was in my early 30s, a colleague offered this to me. I had my scepticism at first but I didn’t want to be rude so I took a bite. Gosh, it was so good that I wish I had more. I soon found out where he bought it from and since then, it was no turning back. I love it to bits. It has a buttery and yet light feels to it. So far, to those who know about this little shop along Beach Road totally agree with me that it is really good.

My search begins for a recipe that matches my "ideal" scones but to date, I have yet to find one. Thus when I read about Dan Lepard's Rich Scones featured in the Sunday Times, I thought he might have the answer.

Though the scone is light and "tall", it didn't match my expectation. It lacks the buttery flavour despite me using a top grade one. Perhaps 50g is a little too little to achieve the taste.

Next time round, I think I will increase the butter. Not all is wasted though because this recipe does yield that kind of texture that I was looking for.

Verdict: The next day test, it is dry.



I will try to modify this in my next round of adventure.

What you need:

225g plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
50g unsalted butter, softened
2 tbsp castor sugar
1 egg
50ml milk, cold
25ml double cream cold
1 egg lightly beaten with a little milk for glazing
a small pinch of salt

Method

Preheat oven to 220˚C

Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl.

Add sugar and then rub in the butter until a crumbly texture forms. Set aside.

Beat egg, milk and cream together and mix with the flour mixture.

Knead very lightly to form a dough. DO NOT OVER DO IT.

Place the dough on a floured surface and shape to form a 2 cm thick disk.

Cut it with a round cutter and place it on a lined pan.

Brush with egg wash and bake for 10 – 12 min or until golden brown.

Cool on rack.

Serve with either jam or cream.